She opened her eyes wide and looked directly into the depths of his, hoping he didn’t notice the increased pressure of her hand against his chest as she fought to steady herself. ‘The meaning of things can change, Rion. Just because I lacked self-confidence then it does not mean I avert my gaze out of coyness now.’
‘Coyness?’ He laughed nastily. ‘No, I’m well aware that’s not the reason.’
Wounded at his insinuation, Libby dropped her lashes again. ‘Then why can’t you just accept that I don’t want to look at you or to…touch you?’ She removed her hand from his chest a second time, and stared down at her palm as if it had betrayed her.
‘I don’t know,’ he answered, marching his fingertips against his lower lip in feigned deliberation. ‘Maybe it’s because you can’t say that and look me in the eye. Maybe it’s because ever since you turned up in my office you’ve been looking at me the way a man who is starving might look at a banquet. So why don’t you just come and taste it?’
She heard her breathing grow heavy, felt the exaggerated rise and fall of her chest. Why had she bothered even trying to fool him? He could read the subtle body language of people he’d only just met, for goodness’ sake, never mind the unsubtleties of hers.
And he’s been using that against you from the start, a voice reminded her from deep within the lust-filled labyrinth of her mind. Not because he desires you, but for the benefit of his political career.
Which meant that if she looked hard enough she’d catch the look of reluctance in his eyes, she thought with both pain and relief. For surely if she could see that his desire was nothing but a mask he wore, as a means to an end, she’d have the strength and the self-respect to walk away?
But as she flicked her eyes up to his face again there wasn’t even a hint of disinclination. And although it had been missing yesterday too, then she’d been sure that he’d just been turned on by the challenge of proving he was better than her ‘other man’. Now he knew that there was no other man. So could it really be possible that…she was turning him on?
‘Stuck for an answer yourself now, gineka mou?’
‘No, I’m—’
‘Still here,’ he finished, stepping back and sweeping his arm across the gap between them, to emphasise the fact that he was no longer blocking her escape.
‘Yes,’ she whispered, willing the words I’m just leaving to come out of her mouth. But they didn’t. Because how could she leave when he was looking at her the way he had that very first day when she’d walked into her father’s showroom, as if no amount of her would ever be enough?
‘Yes,’ she repeated, ‘I’m still here, and I…don’t want to go anywhere.’
Triumph and arousal surged through Rion’s veins. He’d never been in any doubt that her body craved this as much as his did, but for a minute there he’d wondered whether the shame she felt at that was going to win out all over again. But it hadn’t, and that made him the winner. Because this time around there would be no holding back.
‘Good,’ he growled, lowering his head. ‘Because right here is perfect with me.’
Libby’s stomach did a part-fearful, part-excited somersault as she realised he’d interpreted her words literally. He’d made it clear that he suspected she’d had other lovers, and thanks to her failure to correct him he probably presumed that she was now some experienced seductress who was used to making love in the middle of the day, wherever the urge took her. And if that was the kind of woman he was used to making love to, she was bound to disappoint him.
An arrow of pain shot through her at the thought, but as his mouth descended to feast on hers with such hot, hedonistic pleasure that she wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d actually caught alight, her fears didn’t just diminish, they were eclipsed by sensation completely.
Of course he’d always known exactly how to turn her on—he’d introduced her to the pleasures her own body was capable of—but he’d always rebuffed her attempts to learn what turned him on. She’d always supposed it was because once he’d taken her to bed she hadn’t excited him half as much as he’d expected, but now he was showing her that just exploring her mouth was driving him wild, and, to Libby, that was the most powerful aphrodisiac she’d ever experienced.
Desperate to learn what else he liked, she used his earlier action as a guide and hurriedly unbuttoned his shirt. He sucked in a deliciously impatient breath as she encouraged it over his shoulders and began to explore the hard planes of his chest, skimming her fingers over the sensitive area of his nipple without restriction.