He’d have had her yesterday if they’d stayed in that bunker, which was why he’d unlocked it. That one kiss had been incendiary. When she was in the vicinity his reasoning escaped him completely, but Merle Jordan wasn’t a player on an equal footing to him. He had to remember that.
‘What makes you think this is reckless?’ she said. ‘Perhaps I’ve taken the time to think it through.’
‘It’s barely more than twenty-four hours since we met.’ He huffed out a tense breath.
‘I bet you’ve slept with women you’ve barely known half an hour.’
He couldn’t actually deny that. But she couldn’t say the same. She was a thinker. Measured. Cautious and deliberate. So what had changed? He needed to know her why. ‘Have you formulated a list of pros and cons?’ he asked.
‘Actually, yes, I have.’
He almost laughed. ‘Tell me.’
Her shoulders tensed. She might be reliant on reticence, but she had courage when it counted. Even though he knew she was mortified, she summoned the strength to speak.
‘On the negatives, it might be a little...uncomfortable.’ She shot him an awkward look and her blush burned again. ‘But your experience will be a good thing. One of us will know how to...what to...’
‘Right,’ he muttered, saving her from further stammering. ‘Any other possible negatives?’
She bit on her lower lip. ‘I have the feeling I might like it a lot.’
He nearly choked. ‘That’s a negative?’
‘That kiss was...a revelation,’ she said. ‘Obviously. That’s why I’m here now.’
An inordinate amount of pride flooded him because he knew her descriptor was an understatement. He was always considerate with a lover but never had it mattered as much. Never had he really cared. He wanted her to experience the absolute best.
‘So the problem is I might want more than what you’re able to offer,’ she murmured.
More than what he was able to offer? In what way? He didn’t want to know.
He had to move on. ‘And the pros?’
‘I’ll finally get to experience what most other women my age have been enjoying for years.’
Desire held him in thrall, yet there was that irritation on the underside of his ribs. That resistance within him still. He didn’t know why. It was a hitherto unawakened instinct, rapidly being overridden by another one—that usual hunt for hedonism. Why was he worried this might end in a mess? It’d only be a night like any other. But that whisper rose again, telling him that walking away now would be the right thing to do.
Right for whom?
A different, far louder whisper mocked. Because damned if Ash ever did the right thing. He was Hugh Castle’s son, after all. He wasn’t supposed to have a conscience.
‘What if there’s a worst-case scenario?’ he growled. ‘What if the contraception fails and you end up pregnant?’
‘It’s unlikely,’ she said. ‘You’ve managed not to get anyone pregnant before, right?’
‘You’ve thought of everything.’ Whereas he’d been consumed by pure lust. Barely able to think of anything else all day.
‘But here’s the biggest problem.’ She put her hands on his chest as if to steady herself. ‘I want more, remember?’ She gulped. ‘I don’t want one night, I want every night that you’re here.’
Every night? For the first time the prospect of more than one was undeniably arousing. Because this was Merle—shy, wary Merle, saying exactly what she wanted. And it was him.
A shocking possessiveness surged, shooting satisfaction through every muscle, but he couldn’t move. Couldn’t answer. It was the strangest sensation to be so transfixed. To be so tempted. To be so touched.
She gazed up at him—reading something in his face—and began to backpedal. ‘You don’t have to...you can just forget it. I’m sorry. You were probably just bored and—’
He kissed her. It was the only way to smash away her defensive barrier. It was the only thing he wanted. He could no longer resist the need howling inside him. Never had he been as conflicted about, as fascinated by someone.
But suddenly all that indecision inside was burned off by the far more important need to coax her sweet, sultry response. To his pleasure, it took the merest moment. With the softest of moans her soft, yielding body pressed against his. Satisfaction sluiced through him. He had no doubts now. He’d give her what she wanted. All that mattered was her satisfaction.
Merle couldn’t catch her breath. She could feel his energy coil and passion build in his kisses. Her heart thundered as her doubts remained. He’d looked so surprised, so conflicted...she didn’t want him doing this from pity. But as the dominance deepened in his kiss he held her with more assurance, more purpose. As if sensing her final concerns, he pressed her against the hard evidence of his arousal so she could make no mistake. He wanted her. His barely contained energy washed away the sting of rejection she’d felt only moments earlier.
‘I have to go back on Sunday. So I will give you a week,’ he promised slowly, his eyes glittering. ‘But you have to give me time too.’
She frowned, still dizzy, not understanding.
‘The days,’ he clarified, possessively running his hand down her spine and pressing her more firmly against the steel wall of his body. ‘You’ll take the rest of the week off work and spend every moment with me.’
His request shocked her. While she wanted all the nights, somehow the days seemed more intimate. More intense. More terrifying.
‘I have work to do.’ She licked her dried lips.
‘You worked all weekend.’ He watched her intently from beneath lowered lids, his usual easy amusement veiled. ‘I bet you’re already ahead of your contractual obligations.’
‘But—’
‘Leo will be sued for flouting health and safety rules if you don’t take days off like you’re supposed to. He’ll get done for providing an unsafe work environment. And Leo, I know, is a stickler for the rules.’
A flash of fear gripped her. He wanted everything.
Relax, fool. It’ll just be a holiday fling.
Wasn’t that exactly what she wanted? All Ash
