sultry, smoky violet. ‘Don’t do this, Alexi,’ she whispered breathlessly.
‘Do what … tell the truth?’ He smiled.
‘Hell, but you are so very conceited.’ She murmured the words, totally flustered. ‘Conceited and arrogant, and—’
‘So if I were to kiss you now for old times’ sake you wouldn’t enjoy it in the slightest?’
He was rewarded by the flush of heat across her cheekbones and the flare of light in her blue eyes. ‘You see? You are a long way from being indifferent towards me, Katie.’ His eyes flicked down over the curves of her body, noting the rapid rise and fall of her chest. ‘And the chemistry is a long, long way from finished.’
As if to demonstrate his power over her, his hands moved possessively to her waist, drawing her closer. His hand cupped her slender body, his fingers splayed over her ribcage, and immediately her body tingled with pleasure. She wanted to feel the touch of his hands moving higher, her breasts felt taut with the desire for his caress …
His gaze raked over her with an almost ruthless intent, and he smiled as he saw the stark hunger in the deep violet-blue of her eyes. ‘We both know that this is inevitable.’
‘Alexi, please …’ She whispered the words rawly.
‘Please what …?’ He smiled and his hands brushed upwards, stroking over the curve of her breast with a possessive touch that made her gasp with need.
‘Please what …?’ He taunted again softly, but his voice wasn’t entirely free from desire. It grated unevenly with the force of need.
And somehow the fact that momentarily he was as much lost in desire as she was made her defences start to crumble.
‘Alexi …’ Her voice broke slightly as she turned her lips instinctively towards his and kissed him.
He felt a powerful surge of triumph, and for a moment allowed her the first tentative moments of the kiss, tasting her submission, her need. She did want him—he knew it! And then he took control, plundering her mouth with hard, possessive lips. How he’d held back even for a moment he didn’t know because now he’d taken over he didn’t want to stop kissing her. He wanted her with a driving, forceful need he didn’t think he had ever experienced before. It shook him senseless. It also angered him. He was a man who needed no one—who could take a woman or leave a woman without a care. What was it about Katie that made him feel like this? He didn’t want to feel like this. However, that rage just seemed to fuel his desire even more.
She reached up and allowed her arms to wind around his neck, allowed her senses to capitulate and breathe him in, to respond wildly. Would it be so wrong to go to bed with him one last time? The words sizzled through her consciousness.
She’d missed him so much … she needed him so much.
The papers on the desk behind them were swept to the floor as he pressed her back against the desk. Then he dragged his lips away from hers and started to unbutton her blouse.
She wanted him so much that she couldn’t stop him, but deep inside there was another emotion swirling with desire, and that was fear: fear because she wanted him too much. She didn’t want to need any man, let alone someone as unsuitable as Alexi. She didn’t want to be just used for sex and discarded!
‘We shouldn’t do this,’ she whispered as he unfastened her jeans.
‘Why not?’ His hands slid over the narrow curve of her waist, then stroked down lower over the flat plane of her stomach.
‘Because it’s just sex.’ She forced herself to say the words. ‘It means nothing,’ she whispered fiercely. ‘Nothing.’
His dark eyes blazed into hers for a second. ‘It doesn’t have to mean something to be addictive. We both know that.’
The words shouldn’t have hurt her … but they did. ‘We should stop!’ she whispered softly. ‘Before this goes too far!’
The tremulous words made him pull back from her slightly, made him try to contain his need. But it was like trying to pull back from the force of gravity. It took all his control.
What kind of game was she playing? he wondered suddenly. Was she just a teasing little witch who knew how she affected him and played it for all it was worth? Well, no woman would ever have control over him like that again! The furious fire of need glimmered white-hot inside him now. He was taking control; he would decide when this was finished … not her.
‘But that’s not really what you want, is it, Katie?’ he grated. ‘You’d hate me to stop, because you want this …’ As he spoke his hand moved lower, pushing the flimsy pants she wore to one side and finding the core of her with an unerring accuracy that made her body tingle with pleasure.
He was right; she didn’t want him to stop. She closed her eyes as a wave of ecstasy shot through her. How did he know how to do that? How could he pleasure her with just the lightest touch …?
Then he stopped and her eyes flicked open. Her need for him was hungry and clear.
‘But perhaps you’re right; now is not the moment.’ He pulled back completely.
Her heart was hammering wildly against her chest. She wanted to beg him to continue now; the ache inside her was unbearable.
For a moment they just stared at each other. Alexi smiled as he watched how she was battling with herself now. He badly wanted to have sex with her, and he knew he could just take her now …
But he wasn’t going to. Because only her total acquiescence would satisfy him. He wanted her completely, not just now but for as long as it took for him to satisfy himself of her.
And hunger was a wonderful driving force, he told himself vehemently. He was going to starve her now—and later they would feast. On his terms.
He watched how her hands trembled as she started to fasten her jeans, button up her blouse. ‘We’ve tested the theory,’ he said smoothly. ‘We still want each other, and later we’ll decide how we are going to let the chemistry play out between us. Maybe on board the Octavia.’
His sheer, confident gall lashed through her. ‘It’s not going to happen. Alexi! I want you to keep away from me!’
He laughed at that, and the sound tormented her senses. Because, although she tried to tell herself that she was glad he had stopped, deep down she still couldn’t get rid of this awful yearning. And he was obviously well aware of the fact.
‘I mean it, Alexi,’ she continued fiercely. ‘I want more from a relationship than you will ever be able to give!’
She saw the sudden wariness in the darkness of his eyes, and it would have amused her if it hadn’t hurt so much. ‘And don’t worry,’ she assured him fervently. ‘You’d be the last person I would choose for a committed relationship. I have no designs on you whatsoever. So just keep away from me! We’ve had our fling—it’s over.’
‘Well, you better tell that to your body,’ he said with a wry twist of his lips. ‘Tell that to your lips when they kiss me, and to your eyes when they look at me with open invitation.’
‘I’m
