The Taming of Xander Sterne(38)

                Her mouth twisted. ‘She doesn’t.’

                Xander frowned. ‘But—’

                ‘I don’t want to talk about this any more tonight, Xander, okay?’ Samantha snapped as she sat forward with the obvious intention of standing up.

                ‘No, it’s not okay.’ Xander put his hand on her shoulder to prevent her from standing up. ‘I want to understand, Samantha. I need to understand.’

                ‘Why?’

                ‘Because for some unknown reason I care!’

                She gave a shake of her head. ‘You don’t even know me.’

                ‘But I’m trying to.’

                Samantha looked at him for several long seconds before giving a shake of her head. ‘No. I—I can’t do this.’ Once again she attempted to stand up.

                Unacceptable.

                Totally unacceptable.

                Samantha might not want to answer his questions right now, but that didn’t change the desire Xander had felt all day to take this woman in his arms and kiss her. And now he wanted to keep on kissing her, until Samantha could think of nothing and no one else but him.

                Was that even wise on his part, when the two of them were going to be living here together for the next two weeks?

                After all the upsets Samantha had already been through today?

                Oh, to hell with what was wise!

                Xander needed to kiss Samantha, more than he wanted to breathe, and as much as he wanted to eliminate the sadness from her lips and those deep shadows from her eyes. ‘Let me in, Samantha,’ he groaned achingly as he moved closer to her.

                Sam’s eyes widened as Xander’s face began to lower towards hers, the arm draped across the back of the sofa now dropping lightly down onto her shoulders, as she realised he was about to kiss her.

                ‘Xander—’ Her weak protest was cut short as Xander’s lips claimed hers in a gentle exploratory kiss.

                Her heart leapt in her chest at the first touch of those sensually sculpted lips against her own, her hand seeming to move up of its own volition to cup Xander’s slightly bristly cheek as he deepened the kiss, caressing and tasting, his arms moving about her waist as he pulled her body in close against him.

                Sam had no resistance to those heated kisses, each more passionate than the last, the desire thrumming hotly through her body as she pressed her breasts against Xander’s chest in an effort to try and ease some of the ache in her sensitive nipples.

                Her breath caught in her throat as Xander’s tongue now swept inside the heat of her mouth, with all the assurance of a Viking invader laying claim to his prize.

                Xander gave a groan as he pressed Samantha gently back, until she lay beneath him on the sofa, her breasts warm and soft against the hardness of his chest, his legs becoming entangled with hers as they lay together, the evidence of his arousal a throbbing ache between them.

                He murmured his pleasure as he felt Samantha’s fingers in his hair as his lips now trailed across the warmth of her cheek and down the column of her throat, teeth nipping lightly on the lobe of her ear, causing her to moan huskily.

                His lips moved lower, exploring the shadowed hollows at the base of her silky throat, one of his hands moving beneath her sweater against the heat of her skin. Samantha groaned low in her throat as one of his hands cupped her breast, its fullness filling his palm.