The Mammoth Book of Erotica Presents

Shivers of sensation undermined her resolve. He unravelled her so easily, leaving her thoughts and desires naked and vulnerable. “Don’t test me, please,” she begged, but her body gravitated towards his.

“Always so ready for this, aren’t you, Leonie?”

Heat raced over her. He exposed her, thoroughly. She should demand he stop touching her, but she couldn’t. “You promised me. Back in London, you promised that you’d leave me alone. Try at least to be professional.”

“We’re not in London now.”

She rounded her eyes at him. “You’re infuriating!”

“And you’re so beautiful when you’re aroused.”

“I’m not aroused. I’m annoyed.”

He stroked her cheek. “Your eyes flash and your lower lip trembles. Just the way I remembered.”

“Did you come all this way to humiliate me?”

“No. I came all this way because I wanted to be inside you again.”

Her breath caught in her chest, her core contracting with need.

“I came because I wanted to hold you, to taste you . . . to make you come.” He smiled. “There’s nothing in the whole wide world that feels like that . . . nothing in the whole world like you, lover.”

He wants me. He’d come for her. But wasn’t that what he was always like? Always pitching up unannounced, expecting her to fall flat on her back. They never even did normal stuff, like dating. It was work, and sex. She needed more than that.

“You can’t just walk in here and treat me as if we were still in a . . . well, relationship . . . if you could even call it that. It was far from a normal relationship.”

He shrugged one shoulder. “What’s so good about normal? If you honestly preferred that you’d be safe at home in London now, not willing to take on the world.”

He had an answer for everything. And still he stroked her collarbone, making her traitorous body yearn for him all the more.

“Besides,” he added, “I seem to recall you liked being pushed out of your normal, comfortable zones . . .”

“It always comes back to sex.”

“I can’t help wanting you,” he whispered. “I’ve missed you so much, that’s why I had to come.” He brushed his thumb over her lower lip, his expression growing more serious. “Don’t fight it, Leonie. You know it’s going to happen as much as I do.”

She couldn’t quite comprehend what he’d put into words, cheeky devil. And yet – yes – now that he was here, there was such an overwhelming sense of inevitability about it. She’d been longing for his touch since she’d heard he was coming. Would it hurt to have sex, just one more time? Maybe it would, but she’d already done enough hurting without it. Don’t let him take anything for granted.

“Once more for old times’ sake, huh?” sarcasm rang in her voice, because that’s what he’d said to her when she’d announced she was leaving London.

“Old times were good times.”

They were heady days, for sure, but that didn’t give him the excuse to barge in and take over after she’d managed to pull away and reshape her life. “Shame you didn’t realize that back then.”

“I did.” He locked eyes with her, holding her gaze. “Just because we didn’t do everything by the numbers . . . what we shared was the best.”

She glared at him, hating that he said that now, when he’d been so flippant a year ago.

He gave her a knowing look. “Don’t be bitter. It doesn’t suit you.”

“What do you care?”

“I’ll show you how much I care.” He pulled his shirt free from his jeans, and undid his belt.

Oh, how her blood rushed, annoyance and lust burning her up from the inside. “Thinking with your cock, as usual?” she snapped.

“You never used to complain.”