wouldnât be the place for public displays of lust,â she choked. âArenât you too well bred for that?â
âWho said I was well bred?â His hand slid higher up her thigh, the touch suddenly far more insistent.
Dani gulped. âI thought you were staying away.â
âWas I?â
âStop it.â
Make me. He didnât say it. He didnât need to. He was so used to getting his way, wasnât he? He understood the power of his charm. The way people had fawned over him tonight proved it. He thought he could get away with anything.
And maybe he could.
But Dani was suddenly filled with the urge to better himâjust the once. The thrill of the challenge was irresistible, and what better way to drive away the shadows in his eyes from his frosty encounter with Patrick?
âAll right.â She turned towards him. âIf this is what you want.â
She lifted her hand to his face, ran her hand down his smooth jaw. Leaned closer and breathed in. She loved the light, crisp scent of his aftershave. She dropped her hand to his chest, feeling the beat of his heart and its acceleration, the heat of his skin burning through the shirt. Sizzlingâthat was Alex.
She moved her hand again, placed it lowerâfar higher up his thigh than his fingers had ventured up hers. She twisted her wrist, spreading her fingers, stroking his already rigid length, encircling it and then squeezing.
She was unable to stop her smile as he stopped breathing. His discomfort registered even more on his face. His mouth snapped shut, jaw went militarily square. She saw the ripple in his muscles as he struggled for control.
She leaned closer, her mouth a millimetre from his skin, and teased him some more. âDare you to walk across the dance floor now.â
His breath hissed out between his teeth as he jerked, flinging far back into his seat and out of her reach. No, he wasnât really into public displays at all, was he?
Triumphant, she met his eyes, her smile widening with the thrill of the dangerous line she was treading.
But then he moved. His grip on her upper arm was hard and he stood so fast that she stumbled as he hauled her up beside him. His other hand went around her waist, clamping her so she was just in front of him. He pressed his hot, hard body against her back. Insistent, he pushed her forward.
She walked. She had no choice. Right across the dance floor.
But he didnât release her once they were clear; instead he guided her out of the room completely, down a corridor, and left, down another corridor.
Halfway along that he swiftly turned her, his arms powerful as he pulled her close. He pressed her against him, one hand slid beneath the hem of her dress. Her knees sagged at the touch and he pushed her until her back hit the wall. But he kept pushing until his body was sealed hard to the length of hers. Save a scrap of satin, a whisper of silk and his strained trousers, they were as intimate as two people could physically be.
Her gasp rasped in her ears and her most feminine muscles clenched instinctively, the hungry ache down low unbearable.
âDonât play with me and think you can win.â His words dropped into her ear like sparks of wildfireâigniting frustration, temptation and anger. He felt so good against her. So incredibly good. She gazed at him, anticipation smothering any chance of thought.
âMy turn to dare,â he taunted.
Her awareness surged to new heights, her body supersensitive.
âKiss me.â Heâd loosened his hold yet she couldnât escape, couldnât make herself push away the heat. Instead she wanted him closer again.
Pleasure and satisfactionâhis promise of both beckoned her. His fingers stroked her thigh, inching higher, then higher, delicately tracing across her soft skin and sending ripples of sensation out to the rest of her bodyâespecially those secret parts.
âKiss me.â He
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