Sarah Holland - Master Of Seduction

The answer was fairly obvious, in truth—Patrick had manufactured it by working some peculiar kind of magic on her. He was very practised at seduction. She might be cynical and aware of the dangers, but that didn’t mean she was immune, especially to the charms of a clever womaniser.

Still vulnerable after all these years, she thought with a sigh, and closed her eyes, vowing just to ignore her inexplicable feelings for Patrick, regardless of how much magic he managed to work on her during this cruise.

The ship swayed this way and that. They were out of the gulf now, steaming across the Med towards the Spanish coast, and as they negotiated bigger waves the walls creaked more heavily, until the sound of the engines, the creaking of the walls and the gentle motion of the yacht became something of a lullaby, and she fell asleep.

Sleep, sleep, sleep…

She dreamed deeply.

She was in her parents’ house, and she was eighteen again. The doorbell rang. She ran to answer the door, ran outside, and found herself surrounded by a sunlit forest. When she turned around, the house had vanished. All that was left was her bed, in the middle of the sunlit forest clearing, and Patrick Kinsella was sitting on the bed, waiting for her, just watching her in silence.

Emma woke up with a stifled gasp.

The cabin was in pitch-darkness, the walls were creaking, and somebody was sitting on her bed.

She punched on the light with a cry of horror.

Patrick shielded his eyes; so did she.

‘What are you doing in here?’ she said hoarsely, clutching at the duvet, her heart pounding fifty million beats per minute.

‘God, that light’s bright!’ His voice was deep as he let his hand fall, eyes narrowed.

He still wore his black trousers, but the jacket had been discarded, and so had the tie. His white shirt was unbuttoned at the throat: she could see the black hairs on his chest and the powerful muscles below.

‘Just answer my question, Patrick!’ Emma said. ‘What are you doing here, alone in my bedroom with me——’ she glanced hectically at her watch ‘—at two o’clock in the morning?’

‘I couldn’t sleep.’

‘That’s not a good enough reason.’

‘I wanted to see you.’

Breathless, she looked away, muttering huskily, ‘That’s…not a good reason either.’ Now how had her voice come out sounding husky?

Patrick gave her a cool, charming smile. ‘Are you going to tell me you didn’t notice anything odd happening tonight between us?’

‘No.’ She felt her face burning red, her heart banging loudly. ‘Nothing at all.’

His smile mocked her. ‘So why did you avoid me all night?’

‘I didn’t.’

‘Yes, you did.’

‘No, I didn’t.’

His hand caught her chin in a sudden angry vice-like grip with long fingers, forcing her to look at him, his blue eyes glittering. ‘I think you did, Emma!’

She stared up at him, her heart hammering insanely, and felt unable to think of a reply. Denying it wouldn’t help, and there was little chance of slithering successfully away from him in these circumstances—she was alone in bed and he was stronger than she was. Slithering was definitely out of the question.

‘No clever come-back?’ His dark brows arched with amusement.

‘Give me a minute,’ she muttered huskily. ‘I’ll think of one.’ She hated the way her voice kept going husky all of a sudden. She had had no idea that her voice contained that particular quality or tone. ‘Meanwhile I’d be grateful if you’d let go of me and get out of my cabin!’

‘And I’d be grateful if you’d tell me the truth.’

She couldn’t look at him. ‘What truth?’

‘The truth you’re avoiding with your eyes right now.’

She stared fixedly at a point just above the open neck of his white shirt, refusing to meet his eyes, aware that if she did he would bend his dark head and kiss the living daylights out of her.

‘What a little coward you are!’ Patrick murmured tauntingly. ‘So much for Emma Baccarat, the soul of integrity, the woman who can tell the difference between romance and sexual attraction!’

‘I can tell the difference! That’s why I want you to get off my bed and out of my cabin immediately!’

‘Because you’re scared of the attraction between us?’

‘That’s right!’

‘But I thought you said nothing was happening between us?’

She caught her breath, staring directly into his eyes and feeling pinned down through the centre of the heart by the hard black pupils surrounded by all that steely, stunning blue.

‘I think you should leave,’ she said huskily.

‘I don’t want to leave. I want to kiss you.’

Her heart raced like mad. ‘Oh, God…’

‘That’s what I was thinking, all night, every time I looked at you.’

‘Don’t——’

‘Or didn’t you notice I couldn’t take my eyes off you?’

‘I’ve had enough of this!’ She tried to push him away and get out of the bed, but he stopped her, staring down at her, and for a second she was motionless.

Then he suddenly lowered his dark head.

She caught her breath, struggled wildly, but he was insistent, and even though he was a giant, bigger and stronger than she was, he was surprisingly gentle as he forced her, completely against her will, to accept his kiss.

The cabin was punctuated with sounds of their tussle: the sheets rustling, the light thud against the wall, the gasps from her mouth as she tried to evade him.

Then suddenly, as though a switch had been thrown, she felt a rush of desire so powerful that she moaned, let her lips part just for a second, felt his tongue slip through to meet hers, and a second later she was kissing him back with an answering passion that appalled her as much as it excited her.

His prey surrendering briefly, Patrick moved like lightning. He pushed her back on to the pillows, almost clumsy in his haste. They fell together awkwardly, and she tried to sit up again, murmuring, ‘No,’ against his hot mouth, but he was quick, very quick, his lips opening hers beneath him as one strong hand tunnelled into the wealth of her dark hair, making her helpless as her arms wrapped themselves around his neck and the kiss took fire.

Her head spun dizzily. She could barely breathe. Her excitement was so violent, so unprecedented and so out of the blue that all she could do was kiss, be kissed, lose herself in his mouth, his arms, his touch, his scent…

‘Yes…!’ Patrick said thickly, and fumbled with one hand to punch out the light. Darkness fell between them and, as it did, so Emma’s fear slipped away under a tidal wave of unprecedented hunger, making it easy, so easy to drown in his kiss, the touch of his hands, the completely natural feel of it all…

Her mouth drank thirstily from his. She felt as though they had entered a completely different dimension. It was as though a door had opened between them when they’d talked together earlier today, and that Patrick had just walked through it to claim her forever.

Forever lay in this kiss. Forever…

This is insane, she thought wildly. Why am I thinking such crazy, romantic, stupid, stupid thoughts?

She started to fight, aware even as she pushed at his powerful chest that she loved the feel of it, wanted to undress him, be naked with him, make absolute love with him and lose herself in his body.

‘Don’t, don’t, don’t…!’ her swollen mouth muttered against his, and he stopped, raising his head an inch from hers, dragging air into his lungs. ‘Please!’

His face was flushed in the darkness. ‘Are you all right?’

‘No, I’m not all right!’ Her voice shook. ‘I don’t like this at all and I want it to stop happening!’