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His other hand cupped a breast, trapping a nipple between his fingers, and Julia helplessly fell into the fire all over again.
When Julia woke next she knew it was morning. She could sense the bright sunlight on her face. She was replete and lethargic. And at peace. At peace? The words resounded in her head as she registered her nakedness and the pleasurable ache throughout her body.
Almost superstitiously, she didn’t open her eyes. She didn’t need to; the pictures forming behind her closed lids were too lurid. Images formed into a set of scenarios: seeing Kaden at the top of the stairs after he’d been announced at the club; standing in front of him and registering that sardonic coolness; the rain; coming back here; the lights going out … and then heat. Nothing but heat. Maybe it had all been a dream. God only knew she’d had a few like it …
“I can tell that you’re going through exactly what I went through when I woke. And, yes, every second of it happened for real.” The voice was dry, mocking, and not a dream.
Julia’s eyes flew open and she squinted in the bright light. Mercifully the sheet was up over her breasts. She pulled it up higher and could see Kaden now, standing at the window, looking gorgeous and pristine in a dark suit, drinking nonchalantly from what looked like an espresso cup.
He gestured with his other hand to a small breakfast table. “There’s coffee there for you too, and some orange juice and a croissant.”
Her stomach churned. It was excruciating to be facing Kaden like this. She’d been so easy. She came up on one arm and bit her lip, looked down. Her eyes were watering, and she couldn’t tell if it was from the bright sunlight or looking at Kaden. The storm from last night had well and truly passed, and already the bitter recrimination was starting.
What on earth had she been thinking? Had one thunderstorm rewired her entire brain?
He moved forward then, and put down his cup. He came closer to the bed. Julia sat up awkwardly. Kaden’s eyes were very black and intense on her, and already she could feel the heat of renewed desire deep within her.
“I’m here until the end of the week, when I have to fly to Al-Omar for Samia’s wedding. I’d like to see you again, Julia.”
Julia didn’t know what to make of the maelstrom that erupted inside her at his words. She’d been expecting him to tell her casually to let herself out of the apartment when she was ready. “You want to see me again?”
He shrugged, oozing insouciance and an ease with this morning after situation. Another indication of the urbane seducer he’d become. “I don’t see why not. I think we have unfinished business … why not finish it?”
Julia’s mouth twisted. “You mean have an affair for a few days and then walk away?”
His mouth thinned. “It doesn’t have to be as crass as that. You can’t deny the attraction is as strong as ever. Why not indulge it to its natural conclusion? I don’t see it lasting for longer than a few days.”
That warm spread of desire suddenly cooled. Julia sat up straighter, pulling the sheet around her carefully. She felt seriously dishevelled and at a disadvantage in front of Kaden like this. She attempted her haughtiest look. “I’m extremely busy this week. I don’t know if I have time to fit in an … affair.”
Kaden’s face became mocking. “I don’t plan on spending the days with you, Julia, I was thinking more along the lines of the evenings … and the nights.”
Instantly she castigated herself. Of course he wasn’t talking about having conversations. She stood up, clinging onto the sheet like a lifeline.
“It’s a crazy idea, Kaden. Last night was …” She bit her lip. “It should never have happened.”
He strolled closer, and Julia would have moved back if she could—but the bed was at the back of her legs. Up close to him in her bare feet, she was reminded of how huge he was—and how utterly gorgeous. Once again the juxtaposition between the boy and the man was overwhelming. But his hands were shoved deep in his pockets, and she sensed an underlying tension to his otherwise suave manner.
He took one hand out then, and touched his knuckles to her chin. She gritted her jaw against his touch. His dark eyes roved her face and she couldn’t make out any emotion. It made her wonder at the depths this civility hid from her.
Steel ran through his voice, impacting her. “Well, it did happen, Julia. And it’s going to happen again. I’ll pick you up from your house this evening at seven.”
And with that he stepped back and strolled away.
Julia’s mouth opened and closed ineffectually. She couldn’t get over his easy arrogance that she would just fall in with his wishes. “You …” she spluttered. “You can’t just seriously think that I will—”
He turned at the door. “I don’t think, Julia. I know.” He arched a brow. “I believe you said you were busy this week? You’d better get a move on. You’ll find your clothes hanging in the closet. Help yourself to whatever you need. One of my cars will be waiting outside. You will be taken wherever you wish to go.”
Kaden turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him. He didn’t like the way he’d just had to battle to control himself enough not to topple Julia back onto that bed and take her again. And again. She’d looked tousled and thoroughly bedded, and far too reminiscent of memories he’d long suppressed. And he was still ignoring the voice in his head urging him to walk away, to forget he’d seen her again. He should have been able to leave last night as a one-off, an aberration. But he couldn’t do it.
He was well aware that he’d just acted like some medieval a
utocrat, but the truth was he hadn’t wanted to give her a chance to argue with him. To have her tell him that she was refusing to see him again, or point out again that this shouldn’t have happened. He might have appreciated the fact that this was the first time a woman was clearly less than eager to share his bed if he’d been able to think past the urgent lust he still felt.
Standing in front of Julia just now, he’d not been able to think beyond the immediate future. He’d had a vision of being in London for the next few days, and the thought of not seeing her again had been repugnant.
He tried to rationalise it now. Their desire was clearly far from sated, but he had no doubt a couple of nights would be more than enough to rid himself of this bizarre need to reconnect with an ex-lover. An ex-lover who almost had you in such thrall that you forgot what your priorities were.
Kaden scowled, but didn’t stop. By the time he reached his waiting car his face was as dark as thunder, tension vibrating off him in waves.
