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So he had come looking for Laura, expecting what? To find her tears tamed or regretful—not sitting in the sunshine eating her breakfast!
'Then why did you run away?' he probed.
'Because your remarks to me were insulting '
'So you weren't asked to seduce me to entice me to stay?' In the bright, clear air of the morning the accusation sounded ridiculous as soon as it fell from his lips
I'm a lawyer, Xavier—not a professional siren. Tell me, are the women you usually deal with unscrupulous enough to do something like that?'
He shrugged 'Sometimes'
'Then you've been mixing with the wrong kind of woman '
Their eyes met in a long moment 'Maybe I have,' he said slowly
Laura saw the cat-like dilation of his black eyes and felt the tiptoe of awareness shivering its way down her spine 'And that wasn't supposed to be a come-on'
'Maybe I want it to be '
But Laura shook her head, praying for the strength and resolve she needed 'No. Xavier And it's no good looking at me like that—I mean it'
'No?' he echoed, in disbelief
His arrogance was staggering! He thought he could say whatever he wanted to her and she would just lie back and let him make love to her.
'You are something else,' she breathed 'But—just so that there's no misunderstanding—let me make myself clear Sex with you was utterly fantastic, as I'm sure you know—but sex for women, most women, involves a lot more than that. Respect and self-worth play a pretty important part in the equation.If you really think me capable of going around and sleeping with different men on the Sheikh's say-so then you have only yourself to blame when I insist on keeping you at arm's length—no matter how good a lover you are'
'You cannot mean this, Laura,' he objected 'You have voiced your anger towards me, and I accept it. Perhaps I even deserved it I apologise for the things I said to you I take them back' A smile curved the edges of his lips 'There '
Shaking her head, she pushed her chair back and stood up 'You just don't get it, do you, Xavier? It can't just be made better with a grudging apology accompanied by a sexy smile '
He could smell her newly washed hair and the faint drift of scent on her skin, and something about its innocent freshness made him want to groan aloud with frustration 'But I want you, Laura—I want you now'
'Read my lips,' she said, savouring the heady sensation of having taken back control 'Which part of the word no don't you understand? There will be no intimacy. But that doesn't mean we can't be friends '
'Friends?'
'There's no need to make it sound as if I've suggested something obscene—you do have friends, I suppose, Xavier?'
Of course he had friends—but no real close women-friends And never lovers who became friends, because they always wanted to continue the intimate side of their relationship And would Laura be any different, despite her vowed intentions?
Xavier's face was like stone, but beneath its unmovmg exterior he felt the heavy pulsing of his blood as he stared down at her parted lips and her determined expression The light of battle suddenly flared in his eyes
No intimacy?
Like hell there wouldn't be.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
'Your resolve is admirably strong,' breathed Xavier in reluctant admiration 'But I think that the strain of resisting what you really want is beginning to get to you—don't you, Laura? Your face is pale, despite the sun, and see how you tremble whenever I am near And you really shouldn't lose any more weight—your body is quite perfect as it is '
Never had Laura been so glad of the canopy of her wide-brimmed hat—which not only protected her pale skin from the scorching heat of the desert sun but also hid her face from Xavier's piercing black stare Because if he had the opportunity to look closely he would discover that he was right—she was finding it difficult to withstand his relentless, sexy appeal
Since their—she supposed you might call it showdown, they had spent nine days and nights in close confines within the walls of the Blue Palace, where she had learnt a surprising yet uncomfortable fact.
Naively, Laura had supposed that women didn't feel sexual frustration in the same way as men did She had certainly never been afflicted by it before Her split with Josh had had rather terrifying financial repercussions, but she'd been greatly relieved at no longer having to endure his acrobatic but ultimately unsatisfactory style of lovemaking.
But this was different.
