wanting you has nothing to do with revenge, Vanessa. It has everything to do with the intensity of my desire for you.”
A part of Vanessa wished he hadn’t said that one word, a word she’d been battling since meeting him. Desire. Cameron Cody wasn’t a man a woman could ignore—at least not a woman with any degree of passion in her bones. There was something about him that grabbed you, snatched your attention the moment he walked into a room. It was something that went beyond just a handsome face and a well-built body. There was something perilous about him, something downright lethal. She was convinced that beneath his civilized side there was a part of him that could be downright ruthless, unrefined and plain old raw. Some women were drawn to such men, but she wasn’t.
“I care nothing about the intensity of your desire for me,” she finally said. “I just want to be left alone.”
“I’ve left you alone long enough.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said I’ve left you alone long enough,” he drawled smoothly and in a way that had those same goose bumps reappearing on her arms. “I’ve given you more time than I’ve given anything I’ve ever wanted.”
Fire flared in Vanessa’s eyes. She couldn’t believe the audacity of the man. “And should I feel grateful about that?”
Cameron moved a step closer. “It’s not gratitude I want you to feel. Right now I want you to feel something else altogether.”
Before she could blink, he stepped closer and pulled her into his arms. His mouth descended upon hers, snatching her next breath. For some reason that she didn’t understand, instinctively her lips parted at the same time she felt strong hands wrap around her. Before she could register anything else, before she could regain total control of what was happening and stop it from going further, Cameron inserted his tongue into her mouth.
The moment she sampled his taste, just as bold and daring as the rest of him, she gasped. Then she moaned deep in her throat when her pulse rate escalated. Suddenly, she felt a spine-tingling sensation race through her body, along with an intense need to put all she had into this kiss.
The kiss was everything she’d hoped it would not be, the kind of kiss that drew her to him like a magnet. It was the kind of kiss that did more than give her a sampling of his taste. It was feeding her in a way she had never been fed before. His invasive tongue was doing things a male tongue had never done in her mouth before, making it an art. With other men, she had considered kissing a chore, something that was expected of you.
But Cameron was taking the art of French-kissing to a whole other level. It was downright scandalous, all the things he was doing. But a part of her didn’t want him to stop. And he was getting her to join in the erotic byplay, something she had never done before.
She felt herself drowning in his sensuality, getting smothered in the passion. And she knew if she didn’t put a stop to this madness now, he would claim a victory; the same way he did with anything else he went after. And she refused to become another one of his claimed possessions.
With more strength than she’d thought she had, she pushed herself out of his arms and inhaled deeply to regain control of her senses. She felt flustered and knew she probably looked it, as well. But to her way of thinking, he maintained a calm demeanor, looking totally in control, programmed and completely at ease. His coolness made her even angrier. It also proved what she’d said earlier. The man had no feelings.
“That should not have happened,” she snapped.
“But it did, and it will again,” he said with strong conviction in his voice. “We are two passionate individuals, Vanessa. The reason you didn’t fight me off just now is because you’ve been aching to taste me just as long as I’ve been aching to taste you. And things won’t stop there, sweetheart. They can only go further.”
“No!”
“Yes. You can’t fight me on this. Becoming mine is inevitable.”
“Like hell!”
A small smile curved his wide mouth. “Actually it’ll be more like heaven. That I promise you.”
She took another step back. “Don’t promise me anything, Cameron. Just stay away from me.”
“Sorry, I can’t do that.”
Her mind registered his words but she refused to accept them. “I will fight you with every breath in my body.”
“You do that. And at the same time I plan on claiming you with every breath in mine.”
“You know nothing about me!”
“But I will. I intend to get to know everything about you, Vanessa. Count on it.”
Knowing that continuing to exchange words with him was a complete waste of her time, she angrily moved around him to leave his home, pausing only to snatch her red straw hat off the table.
Chapter 3
“Mr. Cody, what do you want me to do with the basket that Ms. Steele brought?”
Cameron forced his gaze from the window where he watched an angry Vanessa make her way down his palm-tree-lined driveway toward the path that would lead her back to her place. To say she was highly upset with him would be an understatement.
He turned slowly, took a deep breath and let it out before asking, “Where is it?”
“I placed it on the kitchen table.”
“Leave it there. I’ll take care of it.”
“Yes, sir.” She turned to leave.
“And, Martha?”
She turned back to him. “Yes, sir?”
“If Vanessa Steele ever returns, whether I’m here or not, she is welcome.”
He was certain that after overhearing his and Vanessa’s conversation, his housekeeper probably thought that this would be the last place Vanessa would show her face again. However, if those were her thoughts, Martha was keeping them to herself. “Yes, sir,” she said instead. “I’ll make a point of remembering that.” Then she left the room.
Moments later, curiosity drew Cameron to the kitchen to see exactly what Vanessa had put in his gift basket. Like a kid in a candy store he started pulling things out, smiling when he saw the oatmeal raisin cookies she was famous for, the ones he’d heard Morgan rave about so many times.
As he began putting everything back in the basket he saw that her intent was for him to have a picnic without her, since there was just enough of everything for one person to enjoy. That was thoughtful of her. But then, from what he’d learned of Vanessa, she was a rather thoughtful person, which was why she was involved in so many community projects. But, as he’d told her, there was a lot about her he didn’t know, and since he intended to marry her relatively soon, he needed to continue his quest to get to know her.
Ten years ago he had vowed never to become involved in a relationship with even the remotest chance of becoming serious. He had made it a point to be totally honest with women he dated, to let them know up front that there were
