Page 12 of Gamble On Passion

'Jacy. I asked if you would care to dance?'

At the sound of her name, she lifted her head and with an apologetic smile she answered the older man. 'Yes, please.'

'Tell me, Jacy,' Leo's father asked quietly as he pro­pelled her in a perfect turn to an old fashioned waltz, 'how long have you known my son?'

'Years,' she replied lightly.

'Ah, that would explain why he brought you here tonight. Obviously you are different—a lady friend of long-standing, no?'

Jacy was beginning to feel uncomfortable under the direct gaze of the older man. 'Sort of,' she responded non-committally.

'Do you intend to marry my son?'

The directness of the question staggered her. Her golden eyes widened in shocked surprise, and then twinkled with a touch of humour. 'Good God, no,' she laughed. 'Whatever gave you that idea?'

'We will see,' he replied enigmatically, and as the music ended led her back to the table.

'What has my father been saying to you?' Leo de­manded as soon as she sat down. 'You were laughing.'

But before she could reply to his question a laughing Nick was grabbing his arm and something was said in a flurry of Greek. As Jacy looked on in surprise Leo and his father, Uncle Nick and the good looking young man all shed their jackets and ties and, in a group, walked on to the dance-floor.

The next ten minutes were a revelation to Jacy. The band started playing a slow Greek tune. The four men, arms linked at shoulder height, began moving with slow deliberation to the firm beat of the music. Jacy's eyes were drawn to Leo and she couldn't look away.

His brown eyes flashed wickedly and a broad grin curved his handsome face. His chest heaved, the muscles rippling beneath the fine silk of his shirt as the music gradually speeded up. The rest of the party began to clap in time to the music, all eyes fixed on the four men, dancing in a wild, weavin

g snake across the smooth floor in perfect time to the music.

Jacy couldn't contain a gasp of pure feminine ap­preciation at the picture the men presented. It should have been effeminate, but the opposite was true. Her golden eyes traced down the length of Leo; his dark trousers were snug on his suggestively swaying hips, the muscles of his thighs bulging beneath the soft fabric. She could feel the heat rise in her face and her eyes were glued to the stunning masculine vibrancy of Leo's tall form. A hot flush of feminine arousal flashed through her body, and she gasped as a plate flew through the air to break at his feet.

He was laughing out loud while never missing a step of the now frenzied pace of the music. Plates were thrown from all sides at the energetic dancers, smashing into smithereens on the hard floor.

Jacy swallowed hard; there was something so primitive, so basically pagan but undeniably sexual about the dance. She sighed, a long, low expulsion of air as the music finally stopped. She hadn't even been aware that she'd been holding her breath. Leo strode towards her, the sweat glistening on his brow, his short dark hair curling damply on his forehead. Rivulets of perspiration ran down his strong throat to mingle in the matt of black hair on his chest. In the exertion of the dance his shirt had come unbuttoned almost to his waist.

The crowd were shouting what she supposed were congratulations in Greek, but her eyes never left the ap­proaching man. She was transported back in time to Corfu and her fisherman lover. Leo looked years younger and just as she remembered him from the first time they'd met.

His glittering, triumphant gaze caught and held hers, and with a panther-like speed he was at her side. His dark head swooped down and, with one hand at the back of her head, he kissed her firmly on her softly parted lips. For a second she made no demur, lost in a sensual haze of years ago. But suddenly the noise around her, and the sound of Leo's name being shouted, made her stiffen in instant rejection. It was too late, though, as Leo, chucking her under the chin with one finger, said, 'Nice, but I need privacy for what I have in mind. Shall we go?'

Blushing furiously, her lips still tingling from his openly possessive kiss, she glanced wildly around the room. Leo's family—aunts, uncles, cousins, the whole lot—seemed to be grinning at her. Leo urged her to her feet and before she knew it they had said their goodbyes and were walking out into the night air. She took a few deep breaths as they waited for the valet to bring the car. She was much too susceptible to Leo's powerful masculinity, and the clasp of his hand around her wrist was checking her pulse-rate, she was sure. She glanced sideways and caught the look of glittering anticipation in his eyes, and her heart shuddered.

In the car, she rested her cheek against the cold glass of the side-window. She didn't understand herself at all. For years she'd been all but immune to members of the opposite sex. She had dated, true, but she had always been in control. Tonight, in a few short minutes, watching Leo dance had aroused all her latent sensual emotions with a ferocity that had left her shocked and trembling.

'To a night club?' Leo asked shortly. 'Or home?'

'Home, please,' Jacy replied as the powerful car sped quickly through the darkened streets. She was tired, emotionally distraught, though she hated to admit as much. Leo was having just as powerful an effect on her senses tonight as he'd had years ago, and she would have to be the biggest idiot alive to think for even one second that she could possibly get the better of such a man. Did she even want to? she asked herself wryly. And the. answer was no. Whatever had been between them in the past was long since dead. There was certainly no future for them. Leo wanted a roll in the hay, to put it crudely— and she should have had more sense than to encourage him. The problem was, her body had a completely dif­ferent idea; she seemed to be plunging like a heat-seeking missile to its target—and the target was Leo.

'Overall I think it was a very good evening.' His deep voice broke into her troubled thoughts. 'My family liked you, and you appeared to get along with them very well.'

Jacy swung around in her seat to look at him, and in that instant she recognised her surroundings. The car had stopped at her own front door. 'You're lucky. You have a lovely family,' she said huskily, and, finding the passenger door-handle, she opened it and stepped out, then started walking towards her front door.

Leo appeared at her side just as she was fitting the key into the lock.

'Such haste; I'm flattered.' Taking the key from her shaking fingers, he opened the door.

'Thank you for a lovely evening, and goodnight,' she shot hurriedly, and made to dash into the house.

'Not so fast, Jacy.' His hand caught her elbow, and before she could protest they were both in the hall and Leo was closing the door behind them. 'Dancing is hot work; I'm looking forward to our chilled champagne,' he drawled silkily, urging her forward.

She stood still, and he paused to look down at her, his height dark and intimidating in the dimly lit hall. 'I would rather you left; I'm very tired.'

Source: www.allfreenovel.com