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Magenta felt disappointment overwhelm her, even though this was what she wanted.
“I don’t want to be friends.” Harry’s deep voice rumbled over her. “I want to be more than that. I brought the food in the hope it would appease you. You see”—he leaned towards her—“I needed you in a good mood, because I planned to seduce you.”
Magenta choked on her cookie.
7
Harry could have sworn he heard a muffled cheer. He would have investigated, but he didn’t care about the strange noises in the mine. He cared about Magenta. He grabbed a bottle of water and thrust it at her. He patted her back and hoped he wouldn’t have to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre. At last she had seemed to bring herself under control.
“That wasn’t funny,” she said.
“I wasn’t joking.”
There was silence while Magenta stared at him and Harry tried to figure out what she was thinking. His whole world telescoped to include just her. She was beautiful. With her wide eyes, heart-shaped face and skin as smooth as cream. No. Beautiful wasn’t the right word. Unfortunately, he didn’t know of a better one. She was the walking, talking version of Einstein’s equation for general relativity. That’s how perfect she was.
At last she put her hand on his arm, licked her full bottom lip and blinked up at him.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think about you that way.”
If he hadn’t been prepared for that response, it would have felt like a punch to the gut.
“No, you probably don’t consciously think about me like that. But you are attracted to me. That’s why I planned to seduce you. I want to make you think of me that way.”
Her hand fell away. She stood and paced away from him.
“Stop messing around, Harry. I’m not attracted to you. I don’t even want to talk to you.” The fact she blushed and couldn’t look him in the eye spoke volumes. She was lying. He just wasn’t sure why.
“Your pupils dilate with desire when I’m near you.” He stood slowly, his focus on Magenta. “You lick your lips when you talk to me. As though you’re getting ready for me to taste them.” He prowled slowly towards her. In his mind she was prey. His prey. And she wasn’t getting away. Not this time. Not ever. He lowered his voice, making his tone a caress. Watching her shiver in response. “You cross your arms in an attempt to barricade yourself from me, but it never lasts long. Instead you stroke the inside of your wrist, as though you want me to touch you there. You tuck your hair behind your ear when you look at me. It’s an unconscious show of your femininity. An attempt to make yourself more desirable to me.” He kept her in his sights. “You can’t make yourself more desirable to me. It’s impossible. The desire I feel already consumes me.”
She retreated from him until her back hit the wall behind her. She held out her hand, palm facing him, and all he could think about was kissing it. Or making a circle with his tongue. How would she taste? Sweet? Spicy?
He moved steadily towards her. “Your cheeks flush when you’re near me. I wonder what other parts of your body flush for me too.” At last he was in her space. They weren’t touching, but he was close enough to feel the heat coming from her much smaller body. Without her usual platform boots the top of her head came to under his chin, and he knew that she would tuck against him perfectly.
“Your heart beats faster when I’m around.” He ran a finger down her jaw line. A faint sigh of a touch. Her breathing stuttered. “I see it pounding here.” He gently caressed the vein at the curve of her jaw that always betrayed her desire. “Your stomach clenches when you try to dismiss me.” The backs of his fingers brushed her cheek. Skin so smooth it was porcelain under his touch. “Your hand often flattens on your stomach, as though you’re trying to ease the tension.”
She put a hand on his chest to stop him. It seared.
“I’m not some body-language test case from a book you read.” Her voice was breathless.
“Am I wrong, though?”
She let out a grumpy-sounding sigh. “Okay, you win. I’ll admit, I think you look good. I’d have to be blind not to notice the way you’ve turned out. Half the women in town are drooling over you. Even if I did find you attractive, it doesn’t mean I want to do anything about it. I find Lake attractive, but he’s marrying Kirsty. See? Attraction doesn’t mean anything.”
As his hand softly, gently moved to clasp the back of her neck, he leaned towards her ear. His voice a whisper against her skin. Her breathing strained now. “You want me as much as I want you. And I want you more than I want my next breath.”
“I don’t want you.” She didn’t sound convinced.
“Are you sure? Wouldn’t you like to touch just this once? Kiss one time? If only to see what would happen. I bet it would be explosive. Every time you’re around me I feel the air ionise. I know touching you, being touched by you, will blow my mind. Don’t you want to see if I’m right?”
“We’re not even friends,” she whispered. Her golden eyes were wide, beseeching him to understand.
“We’ve always been much more than friends.” His words feathered across her cheek to her lips. “We were meant for each other, Magenta mine. We just lost our way.”
Her fingers fisted in his T-shirt. “We didn’t lose our way. You went to university. You left me.”
“I’m here now.”
Gently, softly, he touched his lips to Magenta’s mouth.
