Back in his apartment again she wasn’t so sure. He seemed in no hurry to leave again, offering her a drink and helping himself to a whisky at her refusal. She had already downed the two Martini and lemonades during his ten-minute absence at the party, finding herself drinking them quickly because she was nervous, out of her depth without James at her side. Consequently the rapidity of the drinks had made her feel slightly merry; another drink would probably push her over the borderline between merry and just plain drunk. Alcohol had never been one of her strong points, and already Damien Savage didn’t look quite such an ogre to her. He looked handsome and exciting—most of all exciting.
‘Was Matt Strange annoyed about not being given the part?’ she asked steadily. Oh goodness, it must have been the night air that had made her feel like this; two drinks didn’t normally make her feel so—so much like laughing and singing at the same time. She made an effort to look serious, feeling a humorous twitch to her lips. Whatever was the matter with her!
‘No.’ Damien moved to turn out the main lights, leaving the room illuminated by just three side-lamps. It was definitely more cosy this way—and more dangerous. Kate felt her trepidation grow as he came to sit beside her on the sofa, his thigh only inches away from her own.
She licked her lips. ‘He—he wasn’t?’
‘Nope.’ He moved closer, their thighs almost touching now, his arm across her shoulders. He had discarded the velvet jacket and unbuttoned several of the top buttons of his shirt in the heat of the apartment.
Kate shifted uneasily under the sensuous look in his mesmerising eyes. ‘Er—why wasn’t he?’ Goodness, he was close, and she did feel so strangely lightheaded.
‘One simple reason.’ His voice had lowered seductively. Damien wound one long strand of her hair about his fingers, making it impossible for her to move. Not that she wanted to, she was quite enjoying being this close to him, feeling his warm breath softly caressing her cheek.
‘Why was that?’ She licked her lips again, fascinated by the deep cleft in his chin.
‘I offered him the other leading role,’ he gave an amused smile.
That pierced her fogged-up brain. ‘The—the other leading role?’
‘Mm.’ He bent his head to caress her throat slowly with firm passionate lips. ‘There are two male leads.’
Those lips were causing strange fluttering sensations in her body, but it was a pleasant feeling, one she didn’t want to stop. This was Damien Savage, the man she had fantasised about at the great age of thirteen, before her devotion had passed on to someone she had believed to be more attractive. She had been wrong; no one could be more attractive than Damien, or more sexually exciting.
But at thirteen she hadn’t known of such things, and as she grew older she had felt her devotion turn to embarrassed dislike, her mind accepting that it was ridiculous to fantasise about men she was never likely to meet, and With the arrogance of youth she had dismissed him from her mind. But now she had met him, only to find her fantasies more than coming true.
He was kissing her as she had once imagined he would, but it wasn’t at all like she thought it would be. It was more, so very, very much more. It was exciting and frightening at the same time, his lips a very pleasurable sensation on her bare shoulders.
‘Damien, I—’ She fought for control of her senses; she mustn’t let who he was colour her judgment. But it wasn’t who he was that was affecting her, but what he was doing to her. ‘Damien, please!’
He raised his head slightly. ‘Yes?’ His eyes were half-closed with emotion. He ran a hand through the hair at the side of her face, and gentle caressing fingers down her flushed cheeks. ‘Such wide innocent brown eyes. They promise so much and yet withhold much more.’
‘A-about the film,’ she forced herself to sanity. ‘James won’t be very happy about working with Matt Strange.’ She pushed back her tousled hair and sat up straight on the sofa, making an effort to move hint further away from her.
Damien scowled, not relinquishing his hold on her. ‘I couldn’t give a damn about James’ happiness. He either works with Matt or he doesn’t do the movie at all, the choice is his. But I should think the fact that I intend taking you away from him would bother him more than working with Matt Strange.’
‘But you can’t—I mean, why should you—’
His lips returned to the softness of her perfumed throat. ‘Because I’m going to take you away from him any way I can. You’re going to come and live with me, Kate.’
She moved against those probing lips, his tongue licking flames along the sensitive cord in her neck. ‘I’m not, you know,’ her words were fevered, her mind fogging once again. ‘My home is with James. He takes care of me.’
‘I’ll take care of you,’ he promised huskily, his mouth travelling slowly towards her waiting lips. ‘Much better care of you than James ever could.’
‘No, no …’ Her protests didn’t sound very firm and she knew Damien was aware of it, felt rather than saw his smile of triumph. That should have been her moment to stop him, the moment she should have stopped that mocking, arrogant mouth taking possession of hers.
But she didn’t, she allowed his firm mouth to part and claim her own, gave herself up to the pleasure he evoked. She had been
