Out of Hours...Boardroom Seductions. Janette Kenny

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СКАЧАТЬ to do more than brush an arm against her. It made him want to reach out and pull her into his arms.

      She shifted to get a better grip on the bookcase as they were moving it and her breasts brushed against his arm.

      His breath hissed between his teeth. “Damn it. I said move.” He grunted.

      “I am.”

      “Not that way!” She turned and he got her hair in his face again. “Are you trying to drive me nuts?”

      Her shoulders stiffened. She looked at him, confused. “Drive you nuts?”

      His jaw worked. “All that shifting, twisting, turning—”

      “I was trying to help! You said to move.”

      “To move. Not rub against me!”

      Her mouth formed an astonished O. Then it twitched shut and he saw a sudden twinkle in her eye. “Am I threatening your virtue, Mr. Savas?” she asked mockingly. Then she added more seriously, “I didn’t think I could.”

      He gritted his teeth. “Think again.”

      Natalie blinked. “You’re kidding.” She sounded genuinely surprised.

      He supposed he should be glad, happy that she hadn’t noticed. But all he could do was glare at her. “What? You think I’m immune?”

      “You certainly were last time!”

      “The hell I was!”

      She stared at him, shocked. “You sent me away.”

      “You were a kid!”

      “I was twenty-two!”

      “Too young for me. Too innocent,” he added pointedly. “And you worked with me.”

      “Not when I came here. I had finished at Ross and Hoy earlier that week. I know the rules. I know about impropriety.”

      “You don’t know a damn thing about impropriety,” he told her flatly. “And if I had taken you up on your offer, that wouldn’t have been the end of it. Would it?”

      “What do you mean?”

      “You would have wanted to get married.”

      “Married?” There was a hectic flush on her cheeks.

      “You would have.” He flung the accusation at her. It was no secret. She’d been that kind of girl. “If I’d slept with you—had sex with you—” he made it as blunt as he could “—you wouldn’t have been willing just to walk away, would you?”

      She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She didn’t need to say them. He already knew.

      “No, you wouldn’t. You’d have wanted a relationship. You and me. Happily ever after. Married.” He spat the word at her, daring her to dispute it.

      Natalie ran her tongue over her lips, still silent, her eyes spearing him.

      He gritted his teeth. “You wouldn’t have wanted a one-night fling, Natalie. You’d have wanted it all.”

      “Yes, I would have,” she said at last, her voice quiet but steady. “What’s wrong with that?”

      Christo felt instantly justified. “It’s foolishness. It creates false expectations. It does more harm than good.”

      “Does it?” She didn’t sound convinced.

      “Damn it, yes, it does! Look at your parents! Look at mine. You don’t know them,” he said, “but take it from me, they were a disaster together.”

      “I’m sorry.”

      He didn’t want her sorrow. Or her pity. Or anything else. The only thing he wanted, heaven help him, was her.

      He shook his head, turned away. And damned if she didn’t put a hand on his arm. He jerked away. “Don’t.”

      But she persisted, wrapped her fingers around his forearm, nails digging lightly into his flesh as she tugged him around to make him look at her. “Christo.”

      “No.”

      “Yes.”

      It was that single quiet insistent word that undermined his resolve. He turned toward her, anguished. “You don’t know what you’re saying. You’re going to be sorry.”

      Mutely she shook her head, looking up at him, eyes brimming with emotion. “I appreciate what you did three years ago.” She offered him a ghost of a smile. “Now that I know why you did it. But I’m not the girl I was then. You don’t have to protect me anymore, Christo.”

      His jaw tightened. “Right. So you’re going to protect yourself?” He didn’t see how.

      She shrugged. “I’m a big girl. I’m a grown-up. I was grown up then, but foolish perhaps. Maybe I still am,” she acknowledged. “But that’s my problem, not yours.” Her hand slid up his arm, touched his cheek.

      And damn it, he couldn’t help turning his face so that his lips touched her palm. He shut his eyes and took a desperate breath. He felt as if he was standing on the edge of a cliff, the slightest movement capable of blowing him right over.

      “Christo.” Her voice was soft, close enough that he could feel the words on his skin. Then closer still. Her lips traced his jawline.

      Christo had as much willpower as the next man. More than most, probably. But there were limits. He’d met his.

      And he couldn’t fight it any longer. His arms wrapped around her. His own lips sought her mouth, took it in a desperate move, one his body had been wanting to make for days. One his mind could no longer resist.

      Maybe he’d have had a burst of sanity—if she’d panicked, if she’d shown the slightest resistance, if she hadn’t slid her arms around him and held him tight, if he hadn’t felt her heart thunder in rhythm with his own, if her mouth hadn’t been as eager as his.

      But she was as eager as he was. And as they kissed, as his hands roamed her back, he wondered how he had resisted temptation so long.

      The feel of her hands on him was sweet torture. Fingers slipped under his shirt and walked up his spine. He arched his back and felt the exquisite pressure of his erection pressing against her belly.

      Natalie felt it, too. Had to. Had to know how much he wanted her.

      “Nat.” His voice was low and thick with his need for her. Saying her name was as much of a warning as he was capable of. That and stillness. One last moment of gripping her upper arms, holding her motionless. He felt a shudder run through him—the last of his willpower gone.

      Her lips touched his. “Love me, Christo.”

      It wasn’t love. He wanted to say that to her, but the words wouldn’t come.

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