In Bed With the Boss

Something dangerous stirred inside him and he stood for a moment, in the grip of a lust so powerful and basic that it bordered on the primitive.

All around them were sounds of the forest and falling rain but here, in the shelter of the tree, it was just the two of them.

And perhaps she felt his gaze because her eyes opened slowly and she looked at him. Wariness gave way to curiosity and then to something else entirely—something that they both felt and shared.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke.

The air heated and crackled and that same chemistry that had been present from their first meeting sparked into life, sizzling the air like a high-voltage cable.

His resolve to wait until their business was concluded before shifting their relationship on to a more intimate level evaporated in a flash of primal heat.

Acting on the most basic of instincts, Rafael stepped forward and brought his mouth down on hers. The sexual connection was instant and he met her gasp of shock with the demands of his mouth. His body pressed her back against the rough bark of the tree and he felt her lips part under the pressure of his. She made a strange sound in her throat and then her arms were around his neck, clasping, holding on.

His hands were on her hips, on that narrow band of flesh that bridged the gap between her trousers and her shirt. Her clothes were damp but he could feel the heat of her flesh burning against his as he stroked a hand over her narrow waist and then lifted it upwards to find her breast.

Through the wet fabric he felt the hard jut of her nipple against his seeking fingers and felt her body shiver in a response that matched the intensity of his. Impatient to be closer still, he slid his fingers inside the flimsy fabric and touched warm, silky skin.

The heat between them reached flashpoint and she cried out, her mouth leaving his for a moment as her body strained closer. And then her lips were under his again and her hands moved to his chest, her fingers sliding and fumbling as she wrenched at the buttons on his shirt, parted the soaking fabric and touched him properly for the first time.

Sounds of rain and jungle life enveloped them but he heard nothing but her soft gasps and his own rough breathing as they kissed, creating magic that isolated them from their surroundings.

His tongue explored the intimate secrets of her mouth and Rafael dropped his hands to the zip of her trousers, ready and prepared to strip her naked. Sexual hunger flared through his body, but just when he thought he might explode with the sheer intensity of that primitive urge, her hands closed over his.

‘No.’ The word was barely audible as her mouth slid from his and she paused for a moment as if seeking both the breath and energy to speak. ‘No. We can’t. We have to stop.’

Dizzy with lust and devoured by a hormonal drive for immediate satisfaction, Rafael took a moment to comply with her request. Then he stepped back, slightly shaken by the ferocity of his own response and even more surprised by her apparent desire to stop.

Why would she want to stop?

His entire body aching, Rafael glanced over his shoulder towards the path which had all but disappeared under the torrential rain. ‘Trust me, no one is going to walk past, if that’s what’s worrying you.’

‘It’s not about anyone else. It’s about us.’

‘Us?’ The word had intimate connotations that chilled him to the bone and dampened his libido more effectively than any rainstorm. ‘There is no us.’

She brushed her hair out of her eyes with a shaking hand. ‘A moment ago you were kissing me and your hands were—everywhere.’

?

?And?’ He stared at her blankly and she shook her head.

‘Well—if you kiss someone, it generally means that there’s something between you.’

The air around them throbbed with the heat that they’d created and he jabbed his fingers through his hair to stop him reaching for her again. ‘There’s chemistry. That’s what’s between us.’

‘But why did you kiss me?’

Because he’d wanted to? Because his body throbbed and ached every time he looked at her?

Despite his experience with women, Rafael surveyed her with something approaching incredulity. How was she managing to turn elemental sex into a conversation topic? He spread his hands in a gesture of mounting exasperation, trying to rein in the ferocious surge of animal lust that still threatened to engulf him. ‘Isn’t it obvious? I find you sexy.’

She tilted her head back and fastened him with her gaze. ‘But you don’t like me, do you?’

Rafael clenched his jaw. Never, if he lived a million years, would he understand a woman’s drive to question the blindingly obvious. ‘And how is that relevant?’

‘I can’t believe you just asked me that.’ She rubbed a hand over her face to remove the raindrops that still clung. ‘You were kissing me.’

‘And you were kissing me back.’