A Devious Desire

She slanted him a glance from beneath thick lashes then quickly looked down at the cup in her hand and took a long swallow of the hot coffee, before responding curtly, ignoring his innuendo, 'Saffron is a plant that when dried yields a deep yellow, orangey dye. When I was born my parents took one look at my ginger hair and called me Saffron.'

A large hand reached out and picked up the loose curl that framed her breast. Alex twisted it around his long fingers, his knuckles brushing the tip of her breast. 'Your hair is not ginger, it is gold, red, blonde, a collection of colours creating a living flame.'

Her breast hardened at the brief touch and embarrassment at her instant reaction brought hot blood to her cheeks. Saffron knew that Alex was aware of her response and suddenly she felt helpless, as if she had lost control of the situation. Yesterday she had been a mature, efficient professional doing her job to the best of her ability. In the past twelve hours her life had quickly become entwined with this sophisticated man and his jet-set lifestyle, and she wasn't sure she liked it. She pulled her head back, freeing her hair from his far too familiar fingers; and quickly lowered her eyes, afraid of the predatory look on Alex's harsh face-

But the following view was even more disturbing as her gaze dropped to where his robe fell apart, revealing a tanned muscular leg in stark contrast to the white towelling. A startling erotic image flashed through her mind as he moved slightly, his taut thigh pressing against her leg, only the satin sheet preventing their naked flesh touching: Alex, naked and golden brown all over, reaching for her, his deep brown eyes smouldering with passion. . .

'Coffee. Good.'

Horrified at her wayward thoughts, Saffron tore her gaze away from his legs and, shocked by her sexy fantasy, kept her head lowered to hide her blushes. She mumbled, 'Yes,' then breathed deeply and exhaled slowly. Her reaction to Alex Statis was getting ridiculous. What on earth was happening to her? She prided herself on her self-control but she had an awful premonition that around this man she would have to fight for every ounce.

'Cabin OK?' he asked.

He knew very well it was the height of luxury; he was deliberately goading her, but she would not rise to the bait. 'What do you want, Mr Statis?' she demanded firmly, pleased at the even tenor of her voice.

'It is not so much what I want but what you want, Miss Martin.' All trace of teasing was gone. His eyes,, hard and dark as jet, caught hers. 'My mother is a wealthy woman. I don't know who persuaded whom to go on a holiday cruise which was totally unnecessary in the circumstances.'

'I didn't. . .'

'Maybe you're telling the truth. Mama can be very devious,' he said drily.

Anna devious! Well, maybe a little, Saffron admitted honestly, but compared to this man Anna was innocence personified, and she listened in mounting anger as Alex continued.

'I've checked with her doctor and apparently it is all above board. My mother likes you, she tells me you are good at your job, and I know to my cost' his lips thinned in a tight grimace '—you are more than capable of looking after yourself and her. But what worries me is where you learnt such talent, and why you need! to. So take this as a warning if you have any notion of fleecing my mother, or getting involved with any more of her madcap plans; I advise you to forget it—understand?' He got to his feet, his dark eyes boring down into hers, a threat explicit in the Hack depths. 'I will leave you to enjoy your coffee—oh, yes, aad welcome aboard.'

Saffron had never been so insulted. The nerve of the man! Madcap plans indeed! And as if she would cheat an old lady. The temper that went with her red hair es- ploded, and she threw the half-full cup of coffee straight at him. The cup bounced off his chest, spilling coffee all over him.

'Why, you. . .' Two strong hands caught her upper arms and dragged her off the bed and against his hard body. She was suspended in mid-air, her feet dangling inches from the floor, but she did not have time to dwell on her predicament as a dark head swooped, Alex's mouth capturing hers in a brutal grinding kiss that drove the breath from her body. She tried to struggle and felt herself falling. . .

CHAPTER TWO

Saffron fell back on the bed and felt the full weight of his huge body follow down on top of her; she tried to lift her knee, but Alex wasn't the sort of man to be caught twice. His naked thigh

pushed firmly between her legs, and as she tried to claw at his face his hands caught here and pinned them either side of her head.

'You damned hellcat,' he swore. 'Yesterday you got lucky. For the first time in twenty-odd years you caught me off guard. But it was also your last, sweetheart. It is time someone taught you a lesson, and I am just the man to do it.' His deep brown eyes had darkened to black and the flame leaping in their depths sent fear scudding through Saffron's body.

'Says who—?' Her last word was all but swallowed by his mouth once more closing over hers, his tongue gaining entry to the moist interior with devastating results. Suddenly she was conscious of his naked thigh between her legs, her short nightie rucked up somewhere round her waist; his towelling robe had fallen open and their lower bodies were naked flesh on flesh. . . Her breasts pressed against his muscular chest, hardened with inexplicable need and straining against the fine cotton of her nightgown.

To Saffron's dismay, heat fierce and totally unexpected flooded through her veins. Her heartbeat accelerated like a rocket, and the kiss she had fought so furiously turned into a passionate seduction of her senses. She was aware of his powerful, virile body through every pore in her skin. His heavy thighs moved restlessly against her stender limbs, and something else. . .

Well, I certainly did not injure the man yesterday, she thought wildly, just as Alex's mouth left hers, and she burst into terrified hysterical laughter.

'What the hell. . .?' His dark head reared back and he looked down into her flushed, laughing face. He let go of her abruptly and stood up.

Whether he recognised that it was fear more than humour that had brought on her hysterical reaction Saffron didn't know; she only knew that, with a savage glance at where she lay tumbled on the bed, he snarled, 'Cover yourself, woman; I'm not caught that easily,' and pulled the sheet up over her.

Caught? What did he mean? She gazed up at the dark figure towering over her, and all trace of hysterias! humour left her. He was virtually naked; his robe, hanging loosely off his broad shoulders, hid nothing of his magnificent body, or his obvious state of sexual arousal. Her earlier fantasy was fulfilled. His powerful body was tanned all over, except for a pale strip across his lean hips! Mesmerised by the stark beauty of his virile form, she could not look away. . .

'Remember, you've been warned, ' Alex said coldly as unselfconsciously he folded the robe over his chest and knotted the belt around his waist. 'Now I suggest you do what you were supposedly hired for and look after Mother.' And with that he strode out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Saffron lay where he had left her, completely shell-shocked. Nothing in her life so far had prepared her for such a lightning attack on her senses. Her body still pulsed with unfamiliar heat, her breasts felt heavy, the tips aching for she knew not what, and the lingering sœot of Alex hovered in the air around her, seducing her even in his absence.

It was incredible—no, impossible, she told herself. She did not like the man, and yet for an instant she had wanted him in a shockingly sexual way. She who could count the men she had kissed on the fingers of one hand!

Slowly, as her breathing reverted to normal, she justified her reaction. It must have been a mental apparition; her response was not real, just a figment of her imagination. She was twenty-five years old and knew herself well enough to realise she was not a sexual person. Two unfortunate events in her teenage years had quickly squashed any real interest in the male sex.

At the age of ten she had lost her parents in a car crash and, left alone in the world, she'd been placed in an orphanage. It was quite nice, the staff friendly, but it could never make up for the loss of her home in Surrey and her parents. She had been thirteen, her body beginning to develop, when one of the older boys had caught her and forced her to the ground, his hands grabbing at her breasts. But Eve, her friend, had stopped him.