Captivated by Her Innocence

In that moment she really hated him. ‘It’s not all about looks.’

And now she got her laugh—not a nice one. It made Anna, the most pacifist of people, want quite badly to kill him.

‘Of course not! A sensible woman like you would not latch onto a man who doesn’t have the money to lavish her with life’s little luxuries.’

She wanted to respond to the nasty irony with a shrug, and had his insults been aimed at her Anna might have been able to, but, although he didn’t realise it, it was her cousin he was insulting. Anna knew it was Rosie that he was as good as calling some sort of call girl and it was this that made it impossible for Anna to bite her tongue. As if he were in any position to make moral judgements, she fumed. You only had to type his name into a laptop and the information that coughed up made it clear that his sister had not exaggerated when she had accused him of being a serial seducer!

He arched a satiric brow, his smile morphing into a frown as he watched the flush travel up her neck until her face was burning. She blushed like some little outraged virgin! Part, presumably, of her charm?

His expressive mouth twisted into a grimace of scornful distaste. If some men found inexperience, the thought of teaching a novice the ropes, a turn-on, he was not one of them! If virgins had been a traffic problem he would have made a detour. He was attracted to women as open-minded and as sexually experienced as he was, women who did not come with emotional baggage or make any demands. There was not, in his experience, a shortage of such women.

His pleated brow smoothed. The mistake with Anna Henderson would be to be taken in by appearances. This woman was as experienced sexually as any of his partners, just not as upfront about it. Cesare, who admired straight talking and honesty, found her artifice contemptible. Unfortunately his contempt stopped short of preventing him from wanting to rip off her clothes, and his own, while kissing those lying, delicious lips and finding out if they lived up to the tempting promise of the lush fullness. He knew they would, and he also knew that the moment he touched her there would be no going back.

That was one genie he intended to leave safely locked in its bottle.

‘I’m sure you’ve been told this many times before, but your modesty is one of the most endearing things about you.’ Anna bit out the sarcastic jibe through clenched white teeth. ‘I hate to break it to you but I think I could do better than a has-been racing driver with megalomaniac tendencies. You’re not bad-looking but you’re not nearly as irresistible as you think you are.’

By the time she had reached her breathless conclusion his eyebrows had hit his ebony hairline. Well, tough, she thought, clinging tenaciously to her defiance. If he could dish it out, he ought to be prepared to take it. Rosie wasn’t here to defend herself, but Anna was and she was going to.

She had taken an almost indecent delight in shredding him. His eyes dropped to her mouth. He would take an equal amount of delight in making her eat her words. The contemplation of that pleasure elevated the ache in his groin to another painful level.

Laughter was not a reaction she had anticipated but before she could even think about reacting to the low throaty growl, he stepped into her and, holding her eyes with his gaze, he grabbed her waist, looping one arm right around her middle and hauling her hard up against him. The action effortless, almost casual. Warmth flooded through her at his touch, then he brought his mouth down hard on her lips.

Not casual, and the heat became fire.

It was not a gentle kiss, no coaxing tenderness, just hungry demand, nothing equal in it. This was about exerting control. It did not start slow and build up, it just exploded. Before Anna closed her eyes the whimper in her throat was lost in his mouth. She saw the flames in his eyes so hot that her insides melted.

She struggled to rise above it. So he knew his way around a kiss. So what? It was only to be expected. Just a kiss, but his warm, musky male scent was filling her nostrils, the heat of his lean body was seeping into her bones, the impression of the arousal he did not attempt to disguise was grinding into the vulnerable softness of her pelvis. After the first shocked gasp she moved against him, squirming to increase the erotic pressure. The dull pounding in her head felt like a drum beat as she freed her trapped hands from between their bodies and linked her hands around his neck, giving a throaty murmur as she opened her mouth to the pressure of his probing tongue’s silken hot invasion.

Conflict would come later. Now she gave herself up, allowed herself to be consumed. She wanted it, she was flame and fire, not earthbound. Her head was spinning, her legs did not belong to her, her heart was pounding, the dark blood thrumming in every part of her.