“Stop it. Stop it! I’m warning you, let me—”
She gasped as Damian slipped one hand lightly around her throat.
“A woman can only taunt a man for so long before he retaliates. Surely someone with your skills should have learned that by now.”
“You’re wrong! You know the truth, that we never—”
Damian kissed her.
Her mouth was cool and soft, and she made a little sound of terrified protest.
That was how she made it sound, anyway.
It was all part of the act. Part of a performance. Part of who she was and why she was here and…
And she tasted sweet, sweeter than the first time he’d kissed her, maybe because he knew the shape of her mouth now. The fullness of it.
The sexy silkiness.
She cried out again, jammed her hand against his chest and Damian told himself it was time to let go of her.
He’d accomplished what he wanted, met her challenge, showed her that she had no power over him…
His arousal was swift. He put one hand at the base of her spine and pressed hard enough so she had no choice but to tilt her hips against his and feel it.
God, he was on fire.
Another little sound whispered from her mouth to his and then, same as before, he felt the change in her. Her mouth softened. Warmed. The stiffness went out of her body and she leaned toward him.
He reminded himself that nothing she did was real. It was all part of her overall plan.
And it didn’t matter.
He knew only that he wanted this. The taste of her. The feel of her. He was entitled to that. Hell, he’d been accused of something he had not done.
Why not do it now?
Lift Ivy into his arms. Carry her up the stairs to his bedroom. Take everything she wanted him to believe he’d taken before, again and again and again…
“Please,” she whispered, “please—”
Her voice was soft. Dazed. It made him want her even more.
Deliberately he slid his hand inside her jacket and cupped the delicate weight of one breast.
“Please, what?” he growled. “Touch you? Take you?”
His fingers swept over her breast, blood thundering in his ears when he felt the thrust of her nipple through the silk that covered it. She moaned against his mouth.
A wave of lust rolled through him, shocking him with its intensity.
She moaned again and he gathered her closer. Slid his hands under the waistband of her black jeans. Felt the coolness of her buttocks, the silk of her flesh.
Primal desire flooded his senses. He wanted her, no matter what she was. And she wanted him. Wanted him. Wanted him…
Panagia mou! Damian flung her from him and stepped back. Tears were streaming down her face. If he hadn’t known better, he’d have honestly thought she was weeping.
“I can’t believe Kay loved you, that she wanted to give you a child!”