I swallowed. The heat inside me coiled and tightened.
His gaze moved down my legs, all the way to my toes, and I shifted my weight from foot to foot. It felt as if he was consuming me, savoring each piece.
His eyes rose to mine and locked there and he made the tiniest circling motion with one finger. I realized he wanted me to turn and dry myself. And, at the same time, show off my entire body to him.
I lifted my arms out to the sides and began to turn. The blazing hot skin on one side of me went blessedly cool as it rotated away from the fire. Then my back and ass were facing the fireplace, the violent heat of it vaporizing every drop of moisture. I kept turning, because I knew that if I stopped, I might not have the courage to start again.
I turned until my ass was towards Luka and my other side was towards the fire. I felt his eyes sweeping over my back and down the curve of my spine, following it down between the cheeks of my ass, and I tensed.
Then I was rotating again, my front towards the fire, and the heat was so intense that I had to close my eyes. I felt the fire blasting my eyelids, my cheeks, my breasts. The heat soaked into me and I swear I felt my breasts swell as they warmed. My nipples had been hard because of the chill; now, they stayed hard thanks to the heat inside me. I felt my sex absorbing the heat, too, swelling, aching, the heat inside and out melting me, my arousal turning to slick moisture.
I faced him again and opened my eyes. He was staring right at me and he was breathing hard, that massive chest moving in ragged heaves, as if he was having to hold himself back.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Say something, Arianna, say something or it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen right now, say something SAY SOMETHING—“I—”
Too late.
All in one movement, he stepped forward, put his hand under my chin, and tilted my face up. His lips were on me instantly, crushing against mine, the kiss open-mouthed and hungry, and it was less than a second before my own lips flowered open and let him in. His chest pushed up against my naked breasts, the soft cloth of his shirt rasping against my nipples, and I groaned into his mouth.
Then one of his huge hands landed hard on my ass, pulling me powerfully up, and I yelped as my feet left the ground. I grabbed for his neck instinctively and my legs went either side of his. My naked sex bumped against his jeans and I went weak, squirming and then clinging to him, my legs wrapping around him to hold me up. His tongue was exploring my mouth while the hand under my ass squeezed and fondled each cheek in turn, every press of his fingers making me gasp. His other hand played up and down my spine, each sweep of it drawing the fire inside higher and higher—#p#分页标题#e#
Suddenly he spun around and pushed me away from him, almost throwing me down. I staggered and almost fell. He turned his back on me, staring at the fire. He was between me and it, now, silhouetted against the flames. “Luka?” I asked, worried. “What—”
“You shouldn’t be with me,” he said. “You’re a good person.”
I’d like to say that I pretended to be naive. That I played the part of the American tourist who didn’t know what he did for a living. “You are too, I’m sure,” I said.
But the truth is, I said it because I wanted it so badly to be true. I wanted it all to be a huge mistake, and for him to turn out to be the good guy after all.
He shook his head, his back still turned. “No,” he said. “No, I’m not.”
I had my way out. I could just ask for my clothes and leave and never see him again. Tell Adam I’d done my best and go home to a hero’s welcome for having tried.
But I didn’t want to go. I wanted to be with him so badly it hurt. I stepped forward and put my hand on his arm.
His hand came down on my hand, trapping it there. He slowly turned to face me and I almost gasped when I saw the pain in his eyes, the debate that was raging there. “Don’t start what you can’t finish,” he told me.
I swallowed. And nodded.
His eyes were stroking over me, hotter even than the fire had been. “I don’t know what you’re used to,” he said. “But you won’t be used to me.”
Something deep inside me, something I hadn’t even known existed until the party in New York, twisted and throbbed, releasing a dark, dark heat. He’s not going to be like one of your boyfriends, Roberta had warned me.
I didn’t want him to be. I felt a rush of shame as I admitted it, but...part of me wanted to welcome that darkness into me.
I nodded. And instantly, I saw the change in his eyes as he slipped over the edge and out of control. I felt as if I’d just cut the rope tethering a balloon to the ground and now it was surging skyward, dragging me with it. He grabbed my hand in a death-grip—