possible. She could not be attracted to the man who had destroyed her reputation, and nearly her career and her life, as well.
âLet me go!â she demanded.
âWhere are you going?â he asked. âWeâre stuck in an elevator. So we might as well make the most of this opportunity.â The hand not clutching her hip slid up her back to her head, which he held in his palm while he pressed his mouth to hers.
As their lips connected, Muriel felt a jolt she wanted to attribute to shock. But she knew it was something elseâsomething that had her nipples tightening and heat streaking to her core: lust.
He kissed her tentatively, at first, just skimming his lips across hers. Then she gasped at another jolt of desire, and he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue inside her mouth. His kiss was hot, passionate and wild.
And that was how it made Muriel feel: hot, passionate and wild. She didnât want to desire this man, of all men. But he was so damn good-lookingânot to mention muscular and skilled.
He was a master kisserâso good that he nearly made her come with just a kiss. But then he began to touch her, too, moving his hand from her hip up her side to cup a breast.
She sucked in a breath, which pushed her breast against his palm.
He gently squeezed, and her breath hissed out between their melded lips. And he groaned in response. He pulled back slightly and moved his hand to the buttons on her sweater, easily flicking them open.
She wore a camisole beneath the sweater. But it was one of her friendâs designs, so it was super sexy with bows holding it up at the shoulders. Once heâd pushed the sweater from her shoulders, he reached for one of those bows.
If he pulled it loose, the camisole would slip down, would reveal her breast for him to see and touch...
She wanted his hands on her. She wanted him.
But she couldnât. Not really. Not after what heâd done to herâto her reputation, to her savings and to her sense of self-worth.
The only way she wanted Ronan Hall was...on his knees begging for her forgiveness. And she knew that wasnât very damn likely to happen. Ever.
Not until sheâd inflicted the same hell on him that he had put her through.
RONANâS HEAD SNAPPED back with the force of her slap. But he only grinned. Even though his cheek was stinging, that kiss had been totally worth it. He could taste her still on his lips. She was so damn sweet.
How could she taste so sweet when she was such a hard and vicious woman? Yeah, heâd needed that slap to bring him to his senses before he did something stupid, like pull that bow loose on her shoulder.
What would she do if he did that? Slap him again? Seeing her without the camisole, that would undoubtedly be worth another slap, though. He could see her tightened nipples pushing against the thin silk. She wore nothing beneath that camisole but her honey-toned skin. He wanted to close his lips around one of those distended nipples and tug at it until she cried out and begged for more.
His fingers still on that bow, he toyed with the end of it. One tug was all it would take.
But then she smacked his hand away and shoved him back with her palm against his chest. âDonât you dare!â
âDonât dare me,â he advised her. He was the kid who would have stuck his tongue on the icy flagpole with the first dare. He wouldnât have even needed to be double dared. He lifted his hand toward her shoulder again.
She jerked up her sweater and wrapped it tightly around herself, as if he would have forcibly undressed her. As if anyone would need to. On all those billboards and magazine covers, she wore barely more than her seductive smile. Usually just a few scraps of lace or silk.
âWhat game are you playing?â he asked her. She was not a modest woman, but she was a cunning one. Those forged documents proved that. âGame?â she asked, her husky voice pitched higher than usual with outrage. âYouâre the one who kissed me.â
âYou trapped us in this elevator and climbed all over me,â he pointed out. Was she trying to seduce him? Or just sexually tease him into madness?
âI fell on you,â she said. âAnd I did not trap you.â
He snorted. âI wasnât the one playing with the control panel, punching in every damn floor before you stopped it entirely.â
âI stopped it,â she said, âbecause I wanted to stop you from harassing Bette anymore.â
âIâm not going to harass Bette,â he said. For oneâSimon would kill him if he did. The guy was already furious with him over some things Ronan had said to her. Poor Simon had fallen hard for his mousy former assistant.
But then, maybe Bette wasnât that mousyâto a guy who liked the sexy librarian type.
That wasnât Ronanâs style. He didnât want someone repressed. He wanted someone as wild and adventurous and as into sex as he was.
Muriel stepped in front of the elevator doors, as if she could stop him. âNo. Youâre not talking to Bette at all anymore.â
He didnât want to talk to Bette. He didnât want to talk at all. He wanted Muriel back in his arms, her body pressed to his. She was the one, the female who might finally match his appetites in the bedroom and wherever else they might dare to do it...
âWeâre stuck here,â he reminded her. And as he said it, the elevator rocked and creaked.
And Muriel gasped and shot forwardâstraight into his arms.
âDid you fall again?â Ronan teased her. âI wouldnât think a supermodel would be as clumsy as you are.â
Despite glaring at him, she remained in his arms with hers locked around his shoulders. âDidnât you feel that? Weâre falling again.â
âIâve never fallen before,â he told her. âSo Iâm not about to fall now...â And especially not for a man-eater like Muriel Sanz.
Then he realized what she meant even before she murmured, âI was talking about the elevator.â Then she started laughing, and as she laughed, she stepped back and dropped her arms from around his shoulders. âI wasnât talking about falling for you. You canât believe I would actually fall for you.â
He narrowed his eyes and glared at her. She made it sound ridiculous that she could care for him. Plenty of other women claimed that they had. But then, he hadnât had the relationship with those other women that he had with her. Actually, he hadnât ever had a real relationship with anyone.
Just sex...
And
