Whereas now they weren’t even in the vicinity of a bedroom, they were in public, and they hadn’t even kissed. Yet her body was accelerating forward, fuelled by high-octane desire, and she couldn’t find the brake.
Now they were on the wretched dance floor and Adam enfolded her waist, his fingers burning through the silky thin material of her dress. The breadth of his palm imprinted on her like a brand as he pulled her closer. Heat scorched through her; he was so close.... Firm, hard muscle pressed against her. His breath tickled her newly sensitised earlobe.
‘You need to relax.’
As if that was going to happen; a bucketload of Valium wouldn’t relax her.
‘Arrgle...’ The noise was all she could achieve.
She could see Helen seated at a table on the edge of the dance floor, directing the photographer.
‘You’re doing fine,’ he murmured. ‘But help me out a bit more here. Maybe put your arms round my neck.’
She did as he suggested and came flush up against his wide chest. Her breath caught in her throat and she watched his brown eyes darken, his pulse throb at the base of his neck. Olivia tangled her fingers in his hair and her lungs went on strike.
Suddenly an inability to dance was no longer her prime source of concern. There were more pressing worries. Literally. Her brain issued commands at military speed. Don’t melt. Don’t dribble. Don’t stroke. Don’t lean your head on his chest. Do not get too close.
It was all too late. Her eyes closed. Her body moved tight up against his. Her hips circled. Searched. Needed. Found an unmistakable reaction.
Her eyes flew open as a shiver shot through his broad frame; exultation flamed that she had caused it.
Olivia had forgotten where she was. Who she was. What she was. All she knew was this. This was real. Bone-meltingly real.
The music came to a stop.
Mortification loomed as she remembered exactly where, who and what she was. She was plastered to him; they might as well have been having sex on the dance floor.
For a timeless moment she felt the accelerated thud of his heart against her palm, looked up into eyes that had deepened to molten copper. Then he blinked, his eyelids lifting to reveal nothing more than speculation in their brown depths.
‘That should do it,’ he said.
‘Do what?’
‘Lull any lingering doubt in Helen’s mind. And free me from any unwanted attention from other women.’
Humiliation arrived and encased her with an icy dose of reality.
Adam had orchestrated the whole thing—staged a scene designed to convince the most sceptical of reporters. But it couldn’t all have been an act. No way had he faked what had happened in his trousers. What was still happening in his trousers. Whilst she was still glued to him.
Stepping backwards, she looked up at him, wanting answers.
This was all too much. Never had she been so out of control.
‘So,’ he said, his voice light. ‘Give me ten minutes and I’m all yours.’
Lucky her. She was out of her depth and she didn’t even know how to swim. ‘I don’t need all of you.’ Really?
‘Then you can have whichever parts you want. How’s that?’
He stepped forward and her breathing quickened in response as his woodsy scent re-assaulted her already battered senses.
‘I...’ She needed to time to think, to dunk her body into an ice bath and enable her brain to regain perspective.
Instead, acting of their own will, her feet propelled her towards him to bring her right up close and personal with the hard bulk of his chest and the hardness of his still very present erection. Well, hello again.
‘Come on,’ he growled, the rasp of his voice clenching her tummy muscles. ‘We’re leaving.’
From somewhere a small modicum of common sense asserted itself. ‘But what about the guests?’
‘There’s a free bar and plenty of food. They’ll manage.’
‘But...’
‘Shh.’ Adam laid a finger against her lips, the rough skin tantalising the softness of her mouth.
Olivia swallowed and the final vestige of self-preservation will-o’-the-wisped away into the sparkling hum of the ballroom. Her hand reached out and slipped into his and, oblivious to the murmurs of the guests, she walked with him across the ballroom floor.
To her surprise he retained her hand in his as they half walked, half ran across the marble foyer towards the lifts. Somewhere in the recesses of her brain a voice was hollering for her attention. Screaming at her that what she was doing was downright stupid. But as she gazed down at their hands it seemed to her that, injudicious or not, it was inevitable.
From the moment she’d seen Adam a fuse had been lit; the demon of desire had sizzled and snaked its way into existence and was demanding its sinful needs be met.
The lift door swished open and he tugged her inside, barely waiting until privacy was ensured before pulling her towards him.
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