The Burlington Manor Affair

A red flash flared across her cheekbones. She shook her head, denying him. “We were stoned. You brought that potent stuff from university and I’d never had anything like it.”

He shrugged. “True enough. It got rid of a few inhibitions for sure, but what was left behind, hmm? The honest to God tr

uth of what we were to each other, what we still are.”

Her eyes squeezed shut. “No!”

“No? You weren’t thinking ‘no’ when you were on your back and pulling me over you.”

She turned her face away and wrapped her arms around herself.

Was it distress, or embarrassment? He had to know. “No, there’s no escape from that day, is there?” Obviously she couldn’t deny it, so he said it aloud. “Let’s see if I can recall...ah, yes. ‘I want you, Rex,’ that’s what you said.”

“That was then,” she shot back. “I was a stupid teenager with a crush on you.” She glared at him as if she hated him for pulling that moment apart. “I’ve come to my senses since then.”

If she’d come to her senses, then what was this about—the trembling, the barely held sexual desire he saw in her? Rex resisted the urge to argue that point some more and got serious instead. “Oh, come now, Carmen, can you honestly say it’s gone away?”

He closed on her, cupped her jaw, forcing her to look him in the eye.

She did so, stubbornly, but she didn’t say a word.

His hand slid down her throat and, when it did, her eyelids lowered and her head tipped back.

That action—so simple, so telling—triggered something inside him.

With his free hand he captured both her wrists together and locked her hands to his chest.

She whimpered and looked at him from under heavy lids.

“You can’t deny it, can you?” He laughed softly, his libido sensing victory. “And you like this.” He tightened his grip on her wrists, lifting them easily so that her arms were clearly in his grasp. “This makes it even more tempting for you, doesn’t it?”

Her eyes rolled and a low moan emitted from deep in her throat. It sounded earthy, primal, and Rex mirrored those reactions. Gone was the ladylike front, her cool exterior.

“Not tempting,” she retorted in a low warning tone, “easier.”

He cocked his head, curious.

She flashed her eyes at him. “The way you hold me makes this easier to do.”

It was resentful, but it was consent.

Victory.

* * *

EASIER? WHY THE hell did I say that?

Rex smiled at her, and it was so filled with wicked intent that it made her head spin. Before she had a chance to withdraw her comment he ducked down and scooped her up into his arms, whipping the ground from beneath her feet.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Rolling her in against him, he held her tightly. “Taking you to my bed, so we can get started. Now that you’ve agreed to the terms I see no reason to waste any more time. God knows we’ve wasted enough already.”

Shocked to the core, she realized his intention was to have sex with her, immediately. The fact he’d swept her legs from under her was proof.

As he strode across the hallway toward the stairs, Rex’s cologne and the scent of his body swamped her, enveloping her in his maleness. “Put me down,” she demanded, wriggling about.

“Hush now, my sweet, don’t get yourself all hot and bothered. You said everything you need to say.”