Page 24 of Wicked Shadows
“See something you like?” He pushed off the counter and stalked toward her with slow and deliberate steps. “Elle, if you keep staring like you’d rather havemefor dinner than this food, I’ll make sure you’re fed all night long.”
Caged between his arms with her back against the wall, she watched as he fought his desire for her. The war between what he wanted to do and what he should do played out in his blue depths, and she wanted it to be the last time the thought of hesitation ever crossed his mind. She reached up and gently touched his lips, lightly gliding her fingertip over them. Over his chin. Down his neck, over his Adam’s apple, to the hollow dip at the base of his throat. She lifted her eyes to meet his when her fingers continued their journey. She splayed her hand flat against his chest and raised her other hand to match.
The uncertainty in his expression changed to a raging inferno before her. He leaned in closer. His lips barely hovered over hers, grazing with the lightest touch when he spoke.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing. Fuck if it isn’t working, though. You seem damned and determined to have this your way. Be careful what you wish for, Elle. In this case, you may get more than you can handle.”
Shocked by his words and the way he saw through her, she stood rooted to the floor and drank in his closeness, his masculinity, his commanding presence. The words she wanted to say wouldn’t come. Not that she’d blurt them out even if she could speak, though she doubted her feelings were a secret from him. He seemed to be a mind reader, and she was apparently an open book.
“For tonight, I’ll keep my gentlemanly reputation intact and save you from yourself. If you look at me like that tomorrow night, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”
“Tomorrow night?” Her voice was low and unsure, a complete contradiction to the confident persona she projected in her pictures.
“You’re here for three weeks, right?”
“Right.”
“Then you’re mine every spare minute for the next three weeks. I may have to disappear for work now and then, but I won’t leave you for very long. So, before you test my resolve again, let’s eat and then I’ll take you back to your hotel.”
“You’re not staying with me tonight?”
He narrowed his eyes at her, gauging the motive behind her question. Satisfied it was legitimate, he placed a warm kiss on her cheek before replying. “I’d love to stay with you tonight, but I have work to do. It’ll be late before I finish, and I know you start work early tomorrow. If there were any way I could get out of it, I would. Believe me.”
“Stop. I just showed up and called you out of the blue. I don’t expect you to drop your whole life for me.” She cut her eyes playfully to the side. “I only expect you to drop all your other girlfriends for me. That’s all.”
His brilliant smile lit up his gorgeous face, amusement sparkling in his eyes. “Done. I don’t have any girlfriends, so that’s not a problem.”
He retreated to the stove to serve their dinner, his demeanor unchanged from his usual cheerful self. Though, she couldn’t help but notice he didn’t make the same request of her.
