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The deeply taunting voice hit the rawness of need inside her.
‘Are you hungry?’ he asked suddenly.
‘Not really.’ She didn’t want him to let her go but he was already pulling away from her.
‘Well, I have to tell you I’m starving.’ He lifted his head to the stream of water and let it wash over him. For a second her eyes raked over the perfect symmetry of his features, drinking him in whilst his eyes were closed. She wanted to stand on tiptoe and kiss his eyelids, kiss his lips; she itched to reach out and touch him again. Instead she balled her hands into fists and forced herself not to move.
He stepped away from her, out of the cubicle, and wrapped a towel around his waist before holding a bath sheet out for her.
‘Just leave it over the heated rail,’ she said as she raised her face towards the jet of the shower again. ‘I’ll be out in a moment.’
‘Don’t be long.’ He did as she’d asked and then padded through to the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Well, she had done it again—so much for being strong, she mocked herself fiercely. So much for keeping him at arm’s length!
Switching off the water, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in the warm towel. She should really get dressed and demand to be taken home right now.
Except that she didn’t really want to go home now! Cat closed her eyes as memories of the way he had taken her seared through her mind. He’d started something inside her, had stoked a flame of desire that was now raging out of control. And, worse than that, he knew it.
She’d done the one thing that she said she would never do—she had given a man the power to control her.
Of course she couldn’t leave things like this. She needed to take that power back from him before she lost every scrap of her dignity. The only problem was that, right at this moment, she didn’t have a clue how she was going to do that. Was Nicholas right? Was she just going to have to give up and stop fighting against this, let him make love to her whenever he wanted until the feelings—whatever they were—had burnt out?
As the steam cleared from the mirrors in the bathroom, she had a clear view of herself within the gilded frame. Her lips were swollen from his kisses, her eyes were over-bright with emotion. And she was filled with anger at allowing herself to be so stupid.
First thing she had to do was get dressed; at least that would be some measure of armour in her defence. Hurriedly she went through to the bedroom to find her dress. It was lying on the floor just outside the bedroom door and as soon as she picked it up she realized that she would never be able to wear it again. It was ripped along one side, prompting memories from earlier. How his impatience had excited her—how she had eagerly welcomed the forceful way he had torn it from her.
She bit down on her lip as she tried to close her mind to that and the fact that exactly the same had happened to her underwear earlier! The single item of clothing she had left was a bra! Her only option was to put on the white towelling robe that was hanging behind the bathroom door.
As armour went, it was lamentably poor. She could hardly march out of the hotel wearing nothing but a bra and a bathrobe!
It seemed that Nicholas held all the cards in this game. And it was just a game—she had no doubt about that. He was toying with her, enjoying the fact that in the end she had been powerless to resist him.
She hated him for that—but she hated herself even more.
CHAPTER NINE
NICHOLAS was uncorking a bottle of champagne when Cat walked out on to the terrace.
The first thing she noticed was that he had changed into a pair of faded denim jeans and a white shirt. She had never seen him dressed so casually. The attire suited him, made him look relaxed and impossibly handsome. She felt her pulses quicken in response and then quickly tried to quash the emotion.
‘Where did you get the clothes?’ she asked with a frown.
‘I keep a spare wardrobe at all of my hotels. It saves time having to pack.’
‘Very convenient,’ she said dryly. ‘I don’t suppose you keep a spare set of clothing for—’ she hesitated, not wanting to say the word mistresses ‘—your guests,’ she finished lamely.
‘Sorry, no.’ His lips twisted in an amused grin. ‘But you look good in the robe.’ His eyes swept over her. It was a size too big for her and seemed to dwarf her slender frame. Yet on her it looked incredibly sexy. He noticed how her hair was drying in soft curls around her face and her skin was glowing from the heat of the shower—or was it from their lovemaking?
He found himself wanting to walk across to untie the belt of that gown and allow his hands to run over her naked body. He couldn’t seem to get enough of her!
‘Unfortunately my dress is torn so I wasn’t able to put it on.’ Her eyes were bright with emerald sparks of fire as she caught the sensuality of his appraisal.
There was a spark of anger in her voice and he noticed how she also raised her chin defensively. He smiled to himself. Even though he had proved to her that she was his for the taking, she was still trying to assert her control over the situation and against him. He had to admit that he admired her tenacity. She also excited him beyond reason.
‘Well, don’t worry about that.’ He lowered his voice huskily. ‘Because you don’t need any clothes right now and I’ll buy you some new things tomorrow.’
