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She could feel the need in him talking to the need in her. It was all so compelling, even the way she let her fingers glide from his breastplate to his shoulders was an act compelled by a force she had no control over.
The action stretched her body, arched her back into closer contact with what was beginning to happen to him. Yet he didn’t attempt to ease her away, and they swayed like that for what seemed like for ever, until she couldn’t stand it any more and lifted her face up as he was lowering his to look at her.
What she saw written there held the air trapped in her lungs. It was desire, pure and simple, hot and tight.
‘Let’s get out of here,’ he murmured, and even the rough-toned command had an arousing effect on her.
‘Yes,’ she answered. That was all, and she found herself being guided back to their table where he helped her into her jacket then walked her towards the exit, pausing only long enough to pay the bill.
Outside it was dry but cold and she stood shivering while he unlocked the car and helped her inside. He drove them away in silence, and headed for his apartment in silence. The fact that she wasn’t voicing a protest told them both everything they needed to know.
The car swooped down into the basement then into its reserved bay. The engine died, he didn’t look at her and she was glad because she didn’t think she had the courage to look at him.
This kind of situation was so very new to her. She might not be a complete novice, but neither was she versed in the kind of artistry she suspected was required of sophisticated affairs.
And that was exactly what this was going to be, she told herself firmly—a sophisticated affair into which both partners entered knowing the eventual outcome.
A glorious time of loving, then the sad farewell.
She could do it; she knew the rules even if she had never played by them before! And those were the rules she wanted to play by. She had no choice. She could not allow herself to ever hope there was another choice.
He opened his door and climbed out. She did the same on the other side of the car. Then they walked together—yet oddly apart—into the waiting lift, and rode it all the way up to his apartment without either uttering a single word as to what was about to happen.
Strange, Natalia decided, understanding her own need to stay quiet in case she said something that would show him just how nervous she was feeling about this. But his silence worried her, for surely a man with his experience knew how important it was to keep the mood alive?
Yet he was standing there, frowning down at his feet as if something was bothering him but he didn’t know how to voice his concerns.
Had he changed his mind? she wondered suddenly. Had the simple act of getting her to come here with him freely and willingly killed whatever it was that had been driving him to get her to this point?
The lift stopped; the doors slid open. Neither of them moved. Then he looked up—directly into her wary eyes. ‘This is no game we are playing here, Natalia,’ he said very seriously.
It made her frown because there hadn’t been a single moment since she’d met him that she’d thought any of this a game.
‘I am a very possessive man. If you stay with me now, you will belong to me. I will not tolerate anything less than your full commitment to me for as long as this thing lasts between us.’
He was talking more than a one-night stand here—which was a relief because she hadn’t been sure, not when their feelings had been running so hot and fevered from the beginning.
And ‘as long as this thing lasts’ suited her perfectly. Better than a one-night stand, but also better than a fear of something deeper developing. For that could never happen—could not be allowed to happen.
‘I understand,’ she said.
Relief tautened the flesh across his chest muscles. But it did nothing for the silent war he was having with himself. One part of him wanted to just tell her to go, get out of here while she still had the chance to leave relatively unscathed.
But another part of him was yelling at him not to be a bloody fool! Take what was on offer and let the future sort itself out!
He didn’t understand himself, didn’t understand what had suddenly altered inside him from the moment he’d begun the drive home. He wanted her, for goodness’ sake! So, what was the problem?
Inviting her to leave the lift in front of him, he watched her body move with that sensual grace he had been watching for days now with a tightness around his loins.
Get yourself together, man! he told himself angrily. Then, ‘Natalia,’ he said.
She stopped, then turned. His heart skipped a beat, then began pounding in his chest. She looked frighteningly uncertain all of a sudden. He didn’t blame her for feeling that way after the stupid performance he had just put on.
And why had he done that? He no longer knew because he was looking at that sensational figure draped in the same colour as her eyes, and the heat that went whistling through him put his mind right back in focus.
‘The white,’ he drawled lazily, relaxing his face muscles into a more seductive expression.
‘White?’ she repeated blankly. Then she caught on and blushed.
