Page 83 of The Tycoon’s Affair: Tempted By Desire

He was still quite simply the most astoundingly handsome man she’d ever seen.

He stopped a couple of feet away. Close enough for his scent to tickle her nostrils and for her body to go into meltdown at his proximity. Her heart seemed to have been in shock, because it started again at about triple its normal rate.

‘No, I wasn’t just passing. I came especially. To see you.’

She dampened down the surge of excitement. Her hurt at the way he’d sent her off was still acute. She lifted her chin. ‘Why? Did I leave something behind?’

Arkim’s face was impassive, but she saw a muscle work in his jaw. His throat moved. Sylvie could have spent hours just studying every minute part of his olive-skinned anatomy. She had.

‘You could say that. Me. ’

Her eyes clashed with the darkest brown. Incredulity made her mouth gape before she found the wherewithal to say, ‘I left you behind?’

‘Yes...’ he breathed, and moved even closer.

His eyes were roving hungrily over her now, making a hot flush spread out all over Sylvie’s body from between her legs.

This man had changed her utterly, in so many ways.

So much so that the minute Pierre had seen her again the older patriarchal man had looked her up and down and said accusingly, ‘Something’s different. ..what’s happened to you?’

Sylvie had been mortified beyond belief to think that someone might be able to see what had happened to her. But she could feel it even when she danced. A new awareness of her body...her sexuality.

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Arkim, the architect of all of this.

His eyes met hers again and she saw the fire in them.

But before she could say anything—not even sure what she wanted to say—he asked, ‘What was that dancing you were just doing? It was different to the way you danced for me.’

Taken aback, Sylvie said, ‘It’s something I’m working on for my contemporary dance class.’

‘I liked it...it was beautiful.’

And just like that Sylvie’s jagged emotions stopped pricking her. ‘You did?’

Arkim reached out and touched a loose tendril of hair. He nodded. ‘You looked as if you were lost in another world.’

She was finding it hard to breathe. ‘I choreographed the dance.’

It was only when she said it that she felt totally exposed. A lot of that dance had been born out of the pain she’d felt for the past month.

She stepped back and his hand fell away. His eyes flashed. Still the same arrogant Arkim. And what had he meant when he’d said she’d left him behind?

‘What do you want, Arkim? I haven’t finished practising, and I only have this space for another twenty minutes.’

‘I want to talk to you. And I have something for you at my apartment.’

‘Your apartment?’

‘I have an apartment here in Paris. I’m working here for the next few weeks—in my Paris office.’

Of course he had an office and an apartment here. He would .

But still, she resisted. ‘Why, Arkim? Why do we have to talk? I think we said everything, don’t you? Or you certainly did, anyway.’

He looked for a moment, as if he didn’t want to say anything, but then he did. ‘Your sister came to see me... I know , Sylvie.’

Sylvie could feel her blood draining south so quickly that she swayed. Immediately Arkim’s hand was on her arm. To her awful shame, her first thought was not of Sophie but of the fact that Arkim hadn’t come because he wanted her back at all...

‘Sophie...came to see you?’ Sylvie was vaguely aware that her phone had been off all day during rehearsals, so she’d been uncontactable.

He nodded. Grim. ‘Look, finish your practice. I’ll wait, and then you’ll come with me...yes?’

There was no way Sylvie could focus now. She’d break her ankle. And that was just at the thought of Arkim waiting for her. She shook her head. ‘No, I’ll change now and come with you.’

She had no choice. She had to know what Sophie’s visit to him meant. And that was all Arkim wanted to talk to her about. As long as she remembered that she’d be okay.

He let her go. ‘I’ll wait for you downstairs. My car is at the door.’

As Arkim waited in the back of his chauffeur-driven car he couldn’t dampen down the swell of triumph.

..or the swell of his erection. His whole body had gone on fire as soon as he’d seen Sylvie through the door.

..her lithe dancer’s body moving with such grace and power.

..in a way he’d never seen before. Beautiful, elegant.

..passionate. He’d been mesmerised. In awe. In lust.

She’d looked wary at seeing him again, even though he’d felt the resurgence of the powerful sexual connection between them.

Yet could he blame her for being wary? He’d behaved like an idiot that last day at the oasis.

.. He’d been acting on a knee-jerk reflex to get rid of Sylvie before she slid herself even more indelibly under his skin. ..but it had been too late.

He had to concede that even if Sophie hadn’t come—

His thoughts stopped working as Sylvie walked out through the door, her vibrant hair tied back in a knot—damp from a shower?

She wore faded skinny jeans that showed her long legs off to perfection, ballet flats and a loose off-the-shoulder T-shirt, with the straps of a vest visible underneath. Her skin was pale again...like a pearl.

Arkim let his driver get out to open the door for her. He literally couldn’t move for fear of making a complete idiot of himself.

When she slid into the back seat on the other side she didn’t look at him, putting her slouchy bag firmly on her lap as she strapped her seat belt on.

Arkim wanted to reach across and force her to meet his eyes, force her to know how much he wanted her before he crushed that soft mouth under his and found some sense of peace for the first time in a month.

A flutter of panic at the strength of how much he wanted her made his gut tighten. How relieved he’d been as soon as he’d laid eyes on her...

Sylvie Devereux was still completely wrong for him on so many levels. This was lust. Pure and simple. Unprecedented, but not without its sell-by date.

Then she looked at him with those wide eyes, blue and blue-green, and Arkim’s thoughts scattered to pieces.

‘Why did Sophie come to see you?’

Arkim dragged his brain back into some kind of functioning order. ‘She told me everything.’