‘Mr Linton…!’
His voice was strangled. The movement of his lips against mine was a delicious appetiser.
‘You know,’ I whispered, ‘if I didn’t know you, the fact that you want me to dress up in men’s clothes and keep calling me “Mister” when I kiss you might give me strange ideas.’
A choked sound of outrage came from the back of his throat, and hurriedly I raised my free hand, placing one finger on his lips.
‘Psht. Don’t worry. I know better. And if I didn’t know your tastes before-’ Mashing myself up against him, I pressed myself into his hard body. Hard everywhere. ‘-I know now.’
His eyes flashed like icebergs in a thunderstorm and, for a moment, I was tempted to reach down and drive home my point. But no. Not yet, anyway. I had decided that if I couldn’t go all the way, I was going to take my time, and enjoy every single minute of the journey.
‘Would you be so kind as to let go of my hand?’ I asked, in what was in my opinion a very sweet voice, considering he was almost crushing my poor fingers.
‘That depends,’ he growled, ‘on what you plan to do with it.’
‘Why, to play a little game. Nothing more.’
‘In that case,’ he told me, his grip tightening even more, ‘I think I’d rather keep hold of it!’
Spoilsport! He apparently hadn’t had the same epiphany as yours truly yet. He apparently didn’t plan to have a little bit of fun. Too bad. I would just have to change his mind for him.
‘You won’t let go?’
‘No.’
‘Not under any circumstances?’
‘None.’
‘A shame. Well…’ I sighed. ‘Then I’ll simply have to use my other hand.’
Before he could do a thing, I had slid my free hand around the back of his neck and pulled myself up until my lips were on a level with his. The kiss was swift, soft, and incredibly exhilarating. It was the first time that I had taken control, the first time I had really kissed him, not the other way around.
And he kissed me back. The rest of his body stayed hard as iron, but his lips melted underneath mine, allowing me entry into his secret world for just one moment. When that moment ended, we were both left breathless, staring at each other with searing intensity.
‘Why?’ he rasped.
‘Because I want you!’
His eyes grew even more intense.
‘Why?’ he repeated.
‘Hell if I know! Do you know why you want me?’
He thought about that for a moment. ‘No. Definitely not.’
I tightened my hold on his neck. ‘So maybe we should just try it and find out.’
His arms ensnared me, pulling me closer. ‘Maybe.’
Our lips brushed tentatively, testing the waters. Oh, and what sweet waters they were. It felt like tasting the fountain of youth, with water from the fountain of unbridled lust mixed in. Our arms and hands were tightly around each other, refusing to let go, but even they didn’t hold on as tightly as our eyes.
‘You,’ he informed me, a storm raging in those sea-coloured orbs of his, ‘are a lecherous, wilful, undisciplined little wench with the mouth of a tavern girl!’
‘And you,’ I told him, ‘are a miserly, chauvinistic bastard with a rock for a heart and a stone for a brain!’
There was a moment of silence - then our mouths clashed in a kiss so hard, so fast, that it would have caused a deadly accident on any road. It might still, here, in the middle of the jungle: with his arms tightly around me, I felt about ready to die and go to heaven. When we broke apart, we were both panting.