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‘You’re quite a few months out,’ she pointed out shakily. ‘What would people say if I told them you weren’t quite the bad boy they think you are?’
‘They wouldn’t believe you,’ he answered simply.
It felt like a sad fact.
Worse was the fact that he was pulling away from her. Ironic that she’d been right about him being the old, good Kaspar deep down, and that it was exactly that Kaspar who was trying to protect her now. Even though he still didn’t recognise her.
She couldn’t let that happen.
She couldn’t allow this one opportunity to slip away from her because she’d let the last few years beat her down. She’d promised Katie she was getting back to her old self. She’d sworn to herself on that skydive that it was the moment she finally stepped away from the mess of the last five years or so.
If she wanted Kaspar, she was going to have to prove it. And she was going to have to tell him who she really was.
Leaning forward before she could second-guess herself, Archie fitted her mouth to Kaspar’s. And she kissed him.
CHAPTER FOUR
IT WAS ONE of the most extreme, adrenalin-fuelled rushes of Kaspar’s life. Like nothing he’d experienced before. Ever.
And it was only a kiss.
What would it be like to touch every millimetre of her? Taste her? Bury himself inside her? He’d never wanted a woman with such fierce intensity. Fighting the need to possess her with his body in exactly the way he was now possessing her with his mouth. Claiming her and stamping her as his.
He angled his head, the fit becoming tighter, snugger, and when his tongue scraped against hers, she answered it so perfectly that he felt it through every inch of his being. Her body surged against his as though she couldn’t get close enough and her arms looped around his neck as though she couldn’t trust her legs to stand up on their own.
Kaspar wasn’t sure that his own could.
What was it about this woman?
A few minutes ago he’d been priding himself—not to mention surprising himself—on the urge to protect her by staying the hell away from her. Then she’d kissed him and he’d lost the tight sense of self-control he’d honed to perfection over the last fifteen years. Despite what the press said about him.
The urge to press her to the pillar and shut out the rest of the partygoers was almost overwhelming. But if he did that, he was afraid he would lose himself completely. Here, in a dark corner of a club. He couldn’t even think straight. He would never know how he found the strength to pull away.
She looked startled, then embarrassed, but before he could say anything she was already pulling herself together.
‘Tell me that wasn’t all you’ve got?’ Teasing him again. But he didn’t miss the undertone, the hint of uncertainty.
Somehow it only made him want her more.
Ignoring the alarm bells going off in his head, Kaspar forced himself to step away from her. The sense of loss was as shocking as it was nonsensical. He placed his hand at her elbow, telling himself it was only to guide her away from their current position, but he knew that wasn’t entirely true. It was an excuse to touch her again.
‘You mentioned getting out of here?’ he muttered. A statement disguised as a question.
‘Yes. Hell, yes.’ She started forward, then stopped abruptly and placed her hand on his chest, the shake of her fingers betraying how much effort it was taking her. ‘Before we do, there’s something I need to tell you.’
Kaspar fought the bizarre urge to throw her over his shoulder and carry her out.
‘Can it wait?’
Talking was pretty much the last thing on his mind right now.
‘I guess.’
He couldn’t decipher her expression. Guilt? Or relief?
In that instant, it didn’t matter to him. His fingers closed around hers and he couldn’t seem to lead her away fast enough. Anticipation made him feel drunk even though he hadn’t touched a drop all night—rarely did, despite what the press loved to report—but no alcohol had ever made him feel like this. Like Archie made him feel. He made a brief call to his chauffeur to bring the car around. He just wanted to be alone with her. He needed to be, like the hormone-ravaged teen he’d never been.
Ducking down the stairs and past the few photographers milling around was easier than he’d expected, and his car was waiting right outside the door, Still, it was all he could do not to bundle her inside.
