XANDRO SPEARED URGENT fingers through her hair, glorying in the silky weight as he angled her head for a better, deeper taste of her. Thee mou, but she tasted like nothing he’d ever experienced. Just as watching her dance with such glorious abandonment was like nothing he’d ever seen. Knowing she’d carved this beautiful niche for herself in the face of cruel adversity almost threatened to shake his soul. Their paths through life had been vastly different, and yet he felt a kinship that pulled even harder at the connection he hadn’t been able to deny since that first moment he’d seen her dance.
Despite the hunger building within him, he pulled away a fraction because he couldn’t continue without telling her.
‘Do you know how beautiful you looked when you finished dancing, framed against the window with joy on your face and the sunlight in your hair? Do you know how much I wanted you, watching you dance like that?’ he breathed against her mouth.
Her breath caught, and the sound transmitted straight through him.
‘I...’
He pressed his mouth to hers again. ‘I want you, Sage, so much,’ he repeated, unwilling to accept that hesitation on her face.
Her breathing fractured. It was all he could do not to drag her out of the room and upstairs, claim her immediately, and to hell with niceties. But that innocence he’d caught glimpses of right from the beginning stayed his hand.
He pulled his fingers from her hair. ‘Do you want me?’ he demanded when she remained silent.
Her stunning eyes darkened, attempted to shift from his. He tracked her gaze, refusing her the option of denying what she felt. ‘Tell me,’ he insisted.
‘I...can’t. This isn’t a good idea.’
The thought of rejection, of what was standing in his way, tightened his gut. ‘Because your brother disapproves of us?’
She frowned. ‘No...’
‘Are you going to allow him to dictate your life?’
‘That’s not what I’m doing. I’m saying no because—’
‘You like to cut your nose off to spite your face? Are you really going to deny that you are as hungry for me as I am for you?’ His gaze dropped to her ripe mouth, damp with his kiss, then lower to the chest that rose and fell sharply with each breath she took. ‘You want me almost as much as I want you. Continuing to deny it is frustrating the hell out of both of us. So let’s be adult about this, shall we?’
‘And just scratch this momentary itch and to hell with everything else that’s important? I don’t just give in to my base instincts because the need is there. We don’t even like each other. You’re an overbearing control freak.’
‘And you’re too blindly loyal for your own good.’ He wanted to close the gap between them because even that tiny distance was driving him nuts. ‘We each have our flaws, but I’m willing to overlook them for a chance to experience this insane fire between us. Maybe you should too. Maybe just this once take what you want for yourself and—yes, to hell with everyone else. Are you brave enough to do that?’
The look she gave him was alarmingly resolute. ‘You can’t dare me into sleeping with you.’
In that moment it felt as if he’d never negotiated so hard for anything. ‘I’m daring you to give yourself permission to find pleasure in something you desire. Like you do with your dancing.’
She started to shake her head.
He brushed a kiss across her mouth, mercilessly tempting her. ‘Touch me,’ he pleaded.
Her fingers fluttered beside her thighs. The need to feel those fingers against his skin grew into an unbearable ache inside him. ‘Now, Sage.’
Her chin rose in that damned but adorable challenge that made his blood stir. ‘You can’t make me.’
With a smile that felt decidedly feral, he breached that last gap between them. Taking care not to touch her, he planted his hands on the glass either side of her head and pulled back until their lips were a scant inch apart. ‘I am staying right here, Sage. You can touch me. You can kiss me. Or you can leave. Your choice.’
She made a tiny sound, one he wanted to believe was a sign of her impending surrender. ‘You don’t play fair.’
Had he not been caught in the grip of the strongest craving in his life he would’ve smiled. ‘No, I don’t. But, if it helps, know that I’ve never wanted anything more than I want you right now.’ The words echoed through him, startling him for a moment with their stunning truth.
Along with it came the realisation that the unsettling void that had existed inside him since the loss of the necklace had abated without him being aware of its absence.
Xandro didn’t want to think it was her doing. Or even attribute it to the need to keep the truce he’d struck between them, although he was enjoying the peace. So much so, he hadn’t read Archie Preston’s last three reports on the possible whereabouts of Ben Woods and where he might surface next. Nor had Xandro granted his security chief’s request for a meeting. There would be time for all of that later.
For now, he concentrated on the woman before him, saw the effect of his words in the quickening of the pulse hammering at her throat.
He wanted to taste that agitation. But he locked his knees and hung onto his control. Time dragged. The minute that passed was an eternity. Their frantic breaths mingled, the turbulence of their emotions twisting in the air around them.