Page 48 of Dangerous Temptation

‘Because I love you.’ He opened those brilliant grey eyes, and they touched her at her core. ‘I love you more than anything.’

‘Alex,’ she said, her voice breaking.

‘Come back.’ His breath brushed against her lips. ‘I need you with me. I’ll fix what needs fixing. I’ll do whatever you say.’

‘No, that’s the problem.’ She speared her fingers into his hair. ‘We can’t control one another. This has to be an equal partnership. We can be each other’s protectors, but we can’t close ourselves off from the world – no matter how much we’d both like that.’

‘But we still have a chance?’

‘Oh, Alex. Of course we do.’ She rose up from the cushions onto her haunches. ‘I told you I loved you. I meant that with every fibre of my being.’

Their mouths came together in a hungry, desperate lock.

Elena felt stripped to her bone. Her emotions were laid bare, but she didn’t care. She’d missed him so much it hurt.

They clutched at each other, both wanting to touch but not wanting to let go. He tried pressing her into the sofa, but she came back at him with a fury. He always took the lead. She wanted to show him she was just as strong, that she could withstand whatever they had to face.

She climbed on top of him, and he rolled back into the cushions. The pencil skirt of her suit gave her little freedom to move, but it also heightened her urgency. She kissed him hungrily, sliding her tongue across his and nipping his bottom lip with her teeth.

She started unbuttoning his shirt, wanting to see his chiselled body. She needed to touch him, skin to skin.

‘Elena,’ he groaned as she spread the dress shirt wide and ran her hands down his chest.

He was hot and hard, almost too defined.

He’d been pushing himself again, punishing himself in the gym.

She splayed her hands wide across his six-pack and kissed all over his chest, trying to make it better.

She could feel the vibrancy of his body.

Feeling reckless, she stroked her tongue over his pounding heart.

His air sucked in. ‘Don’t leave me again.’

She continued on her downward path. His flesh was intoxicating. So warm and velvety. She traced the lines of the muscles of his corrugated abdomen, and his hands fisted in her hair. The sharp tug felt sexy, domineering even, but he was the one submitting to her.

She ran her fingernail along the line of his dress pants, bumping against one hipbone and then the other. His body rocked at the sensation.

‘I’m right here,’ she crooned.

She’d known she was hurting him when she left, but it had to be done.

Just like she had to make up for it now. Heat rushed through her. She knew what would make him feel better. After all, he’d done it for her – and had left her boneless and mindless.

‘Your turn,’ she whispered, catching the end of his belt. He went still when she scooted down his body and knelt on the floor.

His chest heaved, the white shirt rising and falling as he watched her.

His eyelids grew heavy as she pulled the belt through the buckle.

She nestled more comfortably between his legs, and he spread them wider to pull her in.

The position put her up close and personal with the growing bulge behind his zipper, the one she was toying with now.

‘You don’t have to,’ he said, his voice like gravel.

Oh, yes, she did. ‘I want to.’

She wanted to see him again, touch him and taste. She loved this part of him and how it could make her feel. She wanted him to experience the same bliss.

She caught the tab of his zipper, and her knuckles brushed against him. His hips bucked like a bronco ready to come out of the gate. He wasn’t going to just lie there and take it. Her mouth began to water and the throbbing between her own legs heightened.

Slowly, she pulled the zipper down, careful not to catch him.

Glancing up through her lashes, she found him looking at her, eyes hooded and stark. Hunger burned from him, but he lay ready and waiting for her to take him.

She caught the band of his boxers and pulled them down.

He obliged her, lifting his hips to let her do what she would.

His gaze never left her face as she stripped him bare.

The act was so intimate, so powerful. The material fell from her sensitised fingertips and made it no further than his thighs.

They were thick and bunching, but that wasn’t the part of him that captured all of her attention.

His erection was freed. Raring.

He was harder than she’d ever seen him, and, from her position on the floor in front of him, bigger. The pang at her core intensified and she felt dampness in her panties. Her body craved him like it craved air and water. Nourishment.

Reaching out, she ran her thumb along his staff from base to tip. His air hissed through his teeth and his erection strained upwards. His hips, though, ground into the cushions.

Power and security ran through Elena in equal measure.

Notorious and intimidating as he was, he was hers.

Settling in close, she pressed her lips to his bulbous tip.

‘Christ,’ he swore, his fists clenching at his hips.

As hard as he was, his flesh was unbelievably soft. She wrapped her hand around him and felt pulsations under her palm. She cupped her other hand underneath him and, finally, dropped her head.

His groan echoed through the room.

It encouraged her to continue. She wanted to show him her love and her desire. They could make this work if they joined forces as a team.

They had to take chances. Experience life and all its dips and thrills.

She took him inside her mouth and her tongue glided over him.

His groan had turned into a steady sound and his hips began to twitch.

She sucked him harder, taking him in deep and then pulling back.

The sensation was exquisite for her, but torturous for him.

She caressed his chest and felt his heart thudding like a racehorse’s.

The stud wanted to be turned loose.

Closing her eyes, she took off the reins. Her hands worked him, rubbing and gently squeezing. Dropping her head, she began an insistent suction.

He jerked, pressing deeper into her mouth. She was surprised, but she relaxed her throat and took him. Reaching over his head, Alex caught at the cushions. His muscles flexed as his hips rolled.

‘Look at you,’ he growled. ‘All professional and businesslike in that suit.’

What she was doing wasn’t very businesslike at all.

His head rolled back and the ligaments in his throat pulled tight. ‘So damn hot.’

He lost control then, and Elena loved it. She loved that she could do that to him, push one of the world’s most feared business leaders over the edge, knowing that she’d catch him.

They moved together, his hips thrusting upwards and her head bobbing down. He took her mouth with authority, and she sucked him in deep. He was getting harder, impossibly thicker. She could feel the energy snapping all around them. He was trembling against her lips.

His hand cupped the back of her head, and the clip that held her hair loosened. The strands spilled forward, draping over his lap. They caressed his belly and his hips, and he let out a shout.

His body arched, locking in a chiselled pose. Warmth hit Elena’s tongue and she lapped it up. The connection was hot and wet. Intimate and naughty. And so private it made her ache.

She needed this. She needed them. Together.

He finally sagged back onto the cushions. His eyes were narrow slits that glittered bright. He was still for a dangerous moment, and she saw the wolf lurking.

She let out an excited squeak when he pounced.

Alex wanted more. He wanted all of her.

He followed her to the floor and manoeuvred her so that she was kneeling with her back to him. There was a rending sound as he yanked up the skinny black skirt.

‘Ah,’ she gasped.

‘Katrina can fix it,’ he growled.

He pulled the skirt all the way up to her waist, but stopped when he realised what he’d uncovered. He spread his hand wide over her bottom. The material didn’t cover all of her curves, and it was snug tight. ‘The leather?’

She moaned, and her bottom wiggled into his palm. ‘I wanted to feel strong and confident.’

He slid his fingers under her panties and traced her curves to her hip. ‘I see how these would do the trick.’

She squealed when he tugged the leather outwards and let it snap back into place. Reaching around her, he unbuttoned her jacket. Her hands were already there. Together, they worked it off. The expensive garment flew across the room, leaving her in only a sexy bra.

He cupped his hands over her breasts, lifted them even higher. It was a pretty picture, with his necklace settling deep within her cleavage. The paw print was like another touch of his upon her, one she accepted eagerly.

He used his weight to bend her over the sofa. The necklace dangled, but the bra held her breasts tightly.

It could stay.

‘I need you,’ he murmured into her ear.

‘But you just …’

He was already hard again. She’d been gone from his life for too long.

He’d thought he’d learned about the intricacies of time during his stay at Otisville.

He’d thought he’d understood how it could expand and contract, but he’d entered a time warp when she’d walked out his door.

Seconds had turned to minutes. Minutes became hours. And days?

There had been too many.

Her skirt was hooked around her waist. He left it, too, going straight for the panties. He yanked them down. Her body jerked and her curves jiggled.

He stripped her and assumed the position behind her.

She liked it this way. He remembered how her body had clung to his, outside on the balcony of the manor.

Using his thumbs, he spread her delicate lips. She was pink and swollen, already wet and waiting for him. What she’d done had excited her, too.

He aligned himself and thrust.

She let out a cry of surprise that quickly slid into a moan of pleasure. He held himself deep, letting her become accustomed to the feel of him again, but she didn’t need time. Her knees worked wider and her back curled. She pressed into him, and he groaned.

She was a tiny thing, but there was no doubt any more who had the upper hand.

He grasped her hips and began to rock. ‘I love you,’ he whispered.

He picked up the pace, thrusting harder. Her hands clawed at the cushions and latched onto a pillow.

‘I love you,’ she moaned right back.

She was so tight, so greedy, his control slipped another notch. There was no way he could last. She had him on a hair trigger already.

He felt himself tightening and he reached underneath her. Jamming his hand between her body and the sofa, he approached her from the front. His fingers slipped through her wetness until he found the nub that brought her so much satisfaction.

He rubbed his fingers over it, and her body bowed.

She gripped him tighter, and Alex felt himself starting to come.

He pinched that delicate bud between his thumb and forefinger, and she shot to the front.

Her body was clenching from head to toe as he spurted into her, and their combined pleasure heightened each other’s.

Alex sagged over her, rent but replete. He’d already gone one round in the gym this morning. After going a second round with her, he’d be doing well if he could crawl to the bed.

In fact, he just might curl up on the sofa with her here.

The idea that he could do so made him happier than he could say.

‘OK?’ he whispered into her hair.

‘Mmm. That was an even better graduation present.’

He turned her in his arms. They sat together, naked and dishevelled on the floor of his penthouse. The coffee table had gotten bumped aside, and his notebooks were spilled everywhere. The computer bag was balancing precariously on the edge.

Grunting, he leaned forward and pushed it so it was more secure.

She snuggled against him. ‘It’s OK. My boyfriend can fix those.’

He combed out the tangles in her hair. ‘Boyfriend’ sounded kind of silly for what he was to her, but he kind of liked it, too. It sounded innocent, like a fresh start.

He hugged her against his chest. ‘Damn, Siren. We did it up good that time.’

‘I missed you.’

He hooked her hair behind her ear. He’d missed her more. He had the deepest urge to take her away, to bundle her up and escape the world. It was an impulse he knew he couldn’t follow any more.

‘Where did you go?’ he asked. ‘I was worried about you.’

A curious look crossed her face. ‘I was at the lake house.’

His neck whipped around so fast, he nearly got a crick. ‘You went back to Bedford? James said he took you to the airport.’

She bit her lip and her flushed cheeks turned a little pinker. ‘I took the helicopter. James picked me up.’

A laugh escaped him. It just bubbled up from out of nowhere. His people were more loyal to her than they were to him.

Then again, he’d ordered them to be.

‘I hope that was OK,’ she said.

He ran his hand down her back. It was more than OK. She was half-dressed, tousled and sexier than ever. She could have anything she wanted when she looked at him that way. ‘It’s fine. Why do I get the feeling Leonard had some part in this?’

She traced circles on his chest. ‘He and Marta have heard my presentation so many times they probably have it memorised.’

Alex shook his head. He trailed his fingers down to the necklace she still wore. She’d never really left him. She’d been at Wolfe Manor the entire time. She’d been busy making it a home.

‘Did I ever say congratulations on your achievement, Dr Bardot?’

She smiled. ‘I don’t remember. It’s been kind of a busy day.’

He gave her a fast kiss. ‘Get ready for more, baby. I’m going to throw you the biggest graduation party ever.’