AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Has Bas asked you to go to bed with him yet?’
The words, delivered in a harsh, flat and yet distinctly antagonistic voice, shocked her out of her painful thoughts.
‘No, of course not.’
‘There is no of course not about it,’ Jay told her. ‘He wants you. He made that perfectly obvious.’
This kind of discussion was the last thing she had expected, and she had no idea how to deal with it.
‘If you’re concerned that I might prejudice the success of your development by behaving unprofessionally—’ she began, but Jay cut ruthlessly across what she was saying.
‘You don’t want him, then?’ he demanded.
‘No, I don’t.’
‘Do you want me?’
It was several betraying seconds before she could find the breath to speak.
‘No.’
‘Do you want me to make you want me?’
Now she was panicking. ‘I’m not staying here to listen to any more of this.’
He reached the door before her, blocking her escape, leaving her with nowhere to go other than into his arms.
His kiss was fiercely possessive and even more fiercely sexual, with the tip of his tongue as it probed the soft line of her lips mirroring the hard urgency of his erection. His hands were caressing her breasts, shaping her body to his own. A few more heartbeats and she would be totally lost, not caring one bit about the promises she had made to herself.
‘I want you in my bed.’
Keira made herself resist the lure of his words.
‘Because you think another man wants me?’ she challenged him.
‘No—although I admit seeing him looking at you the way he was made me decide that I’d better not waste any time putting my proposition to you.’
The word ‘proposition’ struck a chill note against Keira’s heart and her overheated senses.
Jay had released her now, and was telling her bluntly, ‘Sex in my office has never had much appeal for me, but if I don’t put some distance between us I can’t promise you that it isn’t going to happen. The next time you and I have sex I want to have the time and the privacy to ensure that it’s a very special and memorable experience—and for all the right reasons.’
Her heart was thumping unsteadily now, her body reacting to the promise contained in his words in a way that made total nonsense of her vow to herself to remain in control.
‘You as good as said that you aren’t into virgins,’ she reminded him.
‘You aren’t a virgin any more. Look, the reality is that whether we like it or not there’s a sexual attraction between us that I’m prepared to admit is far stronger than I’d allowed for. It’s certainly strong enough to have kept me awake at night wanting you whilst I’ve been away—wanting only you. We both know the score: no long-term relationship, no commitment, no emotional trauma. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t be bed partners. My guess is that you want me every bit as much as I want you, and my proposition to you is that we give ourselves a break and ride the wave together rather than fight against it. The kind of intense sexual hunger we’re experiencing burns itself out quickly once its satisfied. Right now by resisting it all we’re doing is feeding it. Far better to enjoy it, and one another, for the short duration of its lifetime—don’t you agree?’
Oh, yes, she agreed. She’d always loved living dangerously—not! Keira couldn’t think of anything more calculated to destroy her than becoming Jay’s ‘bed partner’. She knew that as soon as he stopped wanting her physically he would want her out of his life. She knew that he felt nothing whatsoever emotionally for her, that all he wanted from her was sex. And yet, shamefully, she was desperately tempted to agree—just to have the pleasure he was offering her and the memories it would give her.
If she refused, how was she going to feel ten years from now? Twenty years from now and more? Knowing that she could have had this time with him but had refused it out of fear of the emotional pain she knew must come with it. And wasn’t there another concern she ought to consider? a sly inner voice pointed out to her. If she refused mightn’t Jay start to suspect that she was refusing because she had fallen in love with him?
