There were whole words in the depths of his eyes. Whatever untold tactics he’d used to win legal battles. All the women he must have seduced with his potent masculinity. Every vulnerable moment in his life that he never wore on his sleeve for even a moment. Plus the secrets. There were secrets behind those eyes. The same private truths she kept locked away.
A tremor of fear went through her. What if, in gazing at Gabriel, she was silently giving up her own secrets? Nobody in her life knew who and what she really was. A killer’s daughter. For all she knew, the same bloodlust that ran through her father also ran through her. Long ago, she had gone to therapy and psychiatrists to make sure, but they didn’t know everything. None of them had been able to catch on to her own father’s capacity for manic violence.
But even if she wasn’t capable of that kind of brutality, she still had appetites of her own. Right now, she craved Gabriel. Ached to feel the sensation of his arrogantly cruel mouth on hers.
“You think it’s normal to want to kiss you?” she finally blurted out, a heady mix of shame and sensual curiosity spiraling through her.
He was still holding on to her upper arms, and she felt his grip tighten infinitesimally the moment the question left her mouth. For a split second Jane contemplated taking the words back, but his lips were on hers and her doubts melted away. Though he covered her mouth with his own, he didn’t push further. All he did was groan when their lips met, as if he was desperately waiting for her to make the next move. Restraining himself against what he actually wanted to do to her.
Eager for more Jane parted her lips, inviting him in with a contended sigh. His tongue swept into her mouth, circling as he explored her. Scorching heat followed, starting where their lips met and ending in her lower belly. She moaned, the wanton sound of her own aching need penetrating her mind’s lust-filled fog.
She tore her mouth away from his and wrenched out of his grasp. “What are you up to?”
Suspicion tugged painfully in her stomach. She had been such a fool to fall for his act. From the second he had started being nice to her at dinner to the moment he kissed her, Jane should have been able to spot the warning signs. Gabriel was one of the best lawyers in New York City. He hadn’t built that reputation by playing fair. There were probably scores of women he had seduced and discarded once he got what he wanted. She was just another conquest to him on his way to claiming the castle for his client. He was here for the same reason she was. To find dirt to bolster a legal case over Wintergarten’s rightful heir. He’d stop at nothing to crush his competition. That included making a fool of her or breaking her heart in the process.
Gabriel frowned, giving her a hard stare. “Jane, if you don’t want to kiss me you can just say so.”
“I always win, because I’ll do whatever it takes,” she said. “Remember that?”
Damn it, he did remember. Because he’d said it just a few hours ago. “Yeah, I said it. So what?”
“So what? You expect me to trust you after saying something like that?” Her swollen lips curled in disdain, drawing attention to the lush softness of her mouth.
Gabriel could still feel the heat of her on his mouth. Still taste her. Sweet like honey, dark as red wine. Though they seemed to come from opposite worlds, there was so much more to Jane than met the eye. There were hidden depths to her. Maybe she was as normal as the pretty receptionist who answered phones at some run-down motel, but he doubted it. For one thing, she stood to inherit the whole castle if he wasn’t careful. She had a lineage that his parents’ snobbish social circle would kill to have. Jane’s ancestors were German nobles, for crying out loud. Which was why, even though she stumbled over the finer social graces, she was still as fierce as a warrior and as deft as a politician when it came to defending her claim to the castle. There were knights and grand duchesses in her family tree, and he was starting to see that he would be an idiot to underestimate her.
“Jane, a young woman just died. Do you really think under those circumstances that I’d be that heartless?” he demanded.
“This can’t be the first time you’ve tried to seduce someone to get what you want,” she said, crossing her arms.
“It’s not a habit, but on rare occasions, yes, I have seduced my opponents to get ahead. I seduce opposing lawyers, who are just as invested in seducing me I might add. I don’t go around bedding every woman I come in contact with just to win cases.”
“I’m basically representing myself,” she pointed out. “I can’t afford a lawyer, so I’m all I’ve got. I’ve been reading everything I can about German law, calling up the German embassy, getting translations, going to the library. All of it. I’m your opposing counsel, Gabriel, which basically makes me your number one target.”
Frustration mounted. There was no getting through to her tonight. His jaw clenched. A real pity, because he had enjoyed kissing her. More than enjoyed it. There weren’t a lot of kisses that would burn into his memory the way kissing Jane undoubtedly would. She had been all sweetness and hunger. Insatiable desire wrapped up in one curvy, delectable little package.
He held up his hands. Gabriel had never overstayed his welcome with a woman, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to start now.
