He signed the contract with a flourish and then a copy for his records. ‘Good, now our business is successfully completed.’
‘Well, the first part of our business,’ she corrected him hastily. She still needed the rest of the campaign.
Amusement gleamed in his dark eyes. ‘I’m glad you reminded me about that.’
There was suggestive warmth in his voice that wa
sn’t lost on her, but she tried to pretend that it was. ‘And now we can head straight back to the airport,’ she continued hastily and turned to lock the paperwork safely away.
‘We could, but I don’t think we will,’ he said softly. ‘As you said yourself, we have unfinished business.’
‘Nicholas, I—’
Whatever she had been about to say—and really she wasn’t even sure—was cut off by the fact that he moved closer in behind her and put his hands firmly on her waist. The feeling was provocative and firmly proprietorial. ‘Why are you trying to pretend that this afternoon didn’t happen, Catherine?’
The whispered question against her ear made her senses pound.
‘You wanted me,’ he reminded her teasingly. ‘In fact you begged for me.’
The reminder made her flush with heat.
‘Do you know what I think?’ His tongue licked at the sensitive cords along her neck. ‘I think you are frightened by the way I make you—feel.’
‘I’m not frightened of anything,’ she lied fiercely, but the remark was so accurate that it was scary.
‘You like to be in control and, when you’re with me, that doesn’t happen.’ The lick of his tongue became a gentle butterfly kiss and at the same time his hands stroked firmly up over her hips in a way that pulled up her skirt.
She closed her eyes, fighting desperately against the sudden violent desire his caress unleashed. ‘Please—don’t, Nicholas!’ To her disquiet the whispered words held more emphasis on the word please, making it sound more like an invitation than rejection.
He picked up on the weakness immediately. ‘You mean please don’t … stop.’
‘Nicholas.’ Her voice was a low groan of need now as his hand stroked up underneath her dress, finding the tops of her stockings and then smoothing upwards over the naked flesh of her hips and across the flat lines of her stomach before softly skimming downwards between her legs with ruthless concentration.
As his fingers lightly brushed against the moist heat of her sensitive core, her eyes flew open and connected with his in the ornate Venetian mirror directly facing her.
‘I think we were about here this afternoon … weren’t we?’ His voice rasped against her ear, husky with sensual pleasure.
When she didn’t answer him immediately, his fingers toyed with her, making her quiver with a sharp, achingly sweet need. He watched the way she gasped and then caught the softness of her lower lip with her teeth to stifle the sound.
‘You want me as much as I want you—don’t you?’ His voice was as tormenting as the fingers that invaded her wet softness. ‘Surrender to me now, Catherine.’
‘No!’ The fact that he was watching her every reaction in the mirror made her feel overwhelmingly helpless. His touch lightened as if he might pull away from her and she gave an involuntary sob of need. ‘Yes … don’t stop!’
‘Not quite clear enough. Tell me how much you want me.’
Her dress was now completely hitched up around her waist and, as he held her back against him, she could feel his erection through the linen of his trousers, pressing against her bottom.
She fought against saying those words and, to her mortification, he lightened his caresses even more until her whole body screamed out in need for him to continue. ‘All right, you win.’ She turned her head away from her reflection; she couldn’t bear to witness how weak she was. ‘You know that. I want you.’
She heard her dress rip as it was forcibly tugged down and then his other hand found her breasts, jerking down the lace of her bra so that they were pushed upwards, nakedly inviting his eyes to rake over their throbbing peaks.
‘You are so beautiful.’
There was a momentary splinter in the harsh tone, a note that she caught and held on to because with it came a measure of empowerment. OK—he’d won, she acknowledged. She had been lying to herself when she had told herself she wasn’t going to give in to this. The fact was she was desperate for him and her surrender was now unconditional. But she wasn’t the only one who had lost control.
Her eyes flew to his in the mirror and she saw the fierce blaze of need in the dark depths and smiled. Sensuously she moved her hips and rubbed herself against him, feeling him strain against the tight constraints of his clothes.
‘Why, Nicholas, the steely control is slipping.’ She almost purred the words, her satisfaction intense as she saw the dark eyes narrow. She liked this power!