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Time to set Olivia straight, as well. “I thought this morning you understood that whatever was between Marissa and me has been over for three years.”
“What sort of evening did you have in mind for us tonight?” She turned around and faced him and he got his first glimpse of her expression. Genuine anger shimmered in her gaze. “Were we to sip champagne and become lovers or did you plan to educate me on Sherdana’s upcoming social and economic challenges?”
What had gotten into her? This morning she’d been like warm honey in his arms. Tonight she’d become an ice sculpture. All this because a few reporters dredged up old news from three years ago?
“I’d hoped we’d spend some time getting to know each other tonight, but I had no intention of rushing you into bed.” Tired of sparring with her, he stepped within touching distance. “I thought that we’d reached an understanding this morning.”
“So did I,” she murmured, the fire fading from her tone.
“Then what’s wrong?”
“Our marriage is an arrangement.”
“Yes.” He grazed his fingertips up her sides from her hips, letting them coast along the side of her breasts. The hitch in her breath told him the fight was over. “But it doesn’t have to be all business between us.”
“And it isn’t,” she agreed. “It’s just that I’m not really sure what’s happening.”
So, he wasn’t the only one struggling to find his way. Ever since last night, he’d found himself drawn to her as never before, but he wasn’t sure she felt it, too. And now that he knew she did, he wasn’t about to let her run away from it.
“We have strong sexual chemistry,” he told her, and then in a softer voice confessed, “I wasn’t expecting that.”
Her scent flowed around him, feminine and enticing. As desire began to assert itself, he noticed the details his anger had blinded him to. For a woman intent on denying him her company, she’d dressed with care. He dipped his head and drank in the feminine scent of her. She’d dabbed a light floral perfume behind her ears. His lips found the spot and made her shiver.
“Gabriel, please.” Her hand on his chest wasn’t going to deter him now that he’d gotten wind of her imminent surrender.
“Please, what?” he inquired. “Stop?”
Knowing it was what she had in mind, he tugged the pins from her hair and tossed them aside. The golden waves spilled around her face and shoulders.
“Yes.” But the word lacked conviction.
“You’re lying,” he pressed. “And badly. This is what you wanted when you dressed tonight.” He took her stiff body in his arms and immediately the fight began to drain from her muscles. “My hands on you.” He dipped his head and drew his lips across her cheek, finishing his thought with his breath puffing against her ear. “My mouth tasting your skin.”
Her body was limp against him now, all resistance abandoned.
“We’re meant to be together.” He was more convinced of that than ever. “You know it as well as I do.”
She’d closed her eyes to hide from him, not realizing how futile her actions were. “Yes.”
Six
Without sight, all her other senses came to life. The unsteady rasp of Gabriel’s breath told her he too was disturbed by the attraction between them. But was it enough? Hadn’t she discovered less than an hour ago that she wanted more from him? So much more.
His fingertips grazed along the sensitive skin inside her arm, from the hollow behind her elbow to the pulse jerking frantically in her wrist. Gently he laced their fingers and began to pull her along the terrace. Her eyes flew open.
“Where?” Her gaze found his and she saw feverish hunger blazing in the bronze depths.
“To bed, of course,” he teased, but there was nothing lighthearted about the determined set of his mouth or the tension that rode his muscles. Tension that communicated across the short distance between them.
“What about dinner?”
Inside the suite once more, he drew her close, sliding a hand over her hip to pull her against the hard jut of his erection, and bent to whisper in her ear. “You made me hungry for something besides food.”
His lips dropped to hers, lingering at the corner of her mouth for too long. His unproductive nuzzling wasn’t getting the job done. She wanted a kiss. A real, hard, deep kiss with no possibility of interruption. Growling low in her throat, she lifted on tiptoe and framed his face with her hands, holding him still while she pressed her mouth to his. Her tongue tested the seam of his lips as she flattened her breasts against Gabriel’s broad chest, eager to convey her desire, letting her hunger shine through.
Gabriel captured handfuls of the dress near her shoulder blades and pulled the edges forward and down, baring her torso to the waist. Olivia gasped at the sudden rush of cool air over her breasts.
He slid his hands up over her rib cage until his fingers reached the undersides of her breasts. Smiling with male satisfaction, he cupped her and kneaded slightly.
