“It’s none of your business when I do or don’t go to bed, Tyler. And your presence in my bedroom is a clear invasion of privacy. You’re trespassing.”
“Do you have any idea how sexy you look right now with your hair rumpled, the top of your nightie dipping deliciously low, and your eyes spitting fire?”
Dang. She hadn’t realized that her blanket had slipped down. She tugged harder on it.
“This is so not appropriate,” she gasped. If only she’d said that with some sort of force.
“When will you realize that there isn’t a question here — we’re going to be together, and that’s indisputable. You have nothing to feel guilty about by wanting me.”
“I don’t feel guilty, and I have no idea why you think I do.”
“You’ve been lying to me since we met, and whether you want to admit it or not, you still are.”
If she didn’t stop this now, she didn’t know how far it would go. Her raging hormones weren’t doing her a lick of good. Ugh! She didn’t need to think about him and licking in the same train of thought.
“Look, Tyler. I told you I screwed up. I’m sorry I lied. I’m sorry I got you hot and bothered and walked out. I’m trying to move forward now, and I won’t do anything like that again. Can’t you please just request another attorney, one who can give you far more time?”
“No. I think you’re the most qualified person for what I have in mind.”
The man had no qualms, no interest in hiding how he felt or what he expected. Yes, this was a clear invasion of her privacy, or her professionalism, of her life, but her boss wouldn’t care. And what she’d done with Tyler already — more precisely, what she’d let him do to her — didn’t exactly put her in the best light.
It took her a minute to find her voice. “This is insane, Tyler. You have to realize that.”
“I don’t think so. I decided I liked what you started back in the bar,” he said with a wolfish smile. “And I want to keep on playing. Once you start something involving others, the decision to say when it ends is no longer yours alone.”
“What do you expect from me?”
He stood up very, very slowly, and she forgot to breathe when he moved toward her and stood at the foot of her bed, all six-plus feet of him, all breathtaking, all intoxicating male. He leaned down, and she scooted back, using the precious few inches she had.
“I expect us to see this through,” he said.
His voice aroused her in ways she hadn’t known were possible.
“Why?” she gulped.
He threw her a look that she couldn’t quite interpret, and he was silent for several heart-stopping moments. Finally, she remembered to take in a much-needed breath of air.
“You don’t see it, do you?”
Now it was her turn to be silent for a moment. Then, when she spoke, she wasn’t even sure he could hear her, her voice was so quiet.
“See what?”
He walked around to the side of her bed and got even closer. Damn, he smelled incredible.
“You’re mine, Elena. I’ve wanted you from the moment we met in that bar. I tried to fight it, but some things are fated. Why are you fighting it?”
“I … uh …” She couldn’t complete her thought. Or even start it.
“Why not finish it, Elena? Neither of us is seeing anyone else right now. As the newspapers might say, a good time could be had by all.”
She almost threw off her covers and held out her arms to him. But the logical side of her knew this had to be a new twist on the game-playing between them.
Was he going for payback? Would he get her all hot and bothered and then turn and walk away? She’d deserve it. But there was a big difference between the two of them. He had an ego the size of Alaska, and hers was fragile. She didn’t handle rejection well. She definitely hadn’t done so when she was ten years old or when she was twenty, and she wasn’t that much stronger now.
Her fears gave her the strength to stiffen her spine and throw him a withering look.
“I don’t think so, Tyler. Yes, maybe I do feel … some small glimmer of something when I’m around you, but not enough to compromise myself.”
He smiled — the man actually smiled as he leaned back just a little bit.
“You’ll change your mind, Elena. I guarantee it,” he said before straightening up. But only for a moment. Instead of walking out her door, he sat down on the side of her bed.
“What are you doing?”
She was clutching the blankets so tightly now that she knew her fingers were going to cramp up at any minute. But it was worth it. It kept her from reaching for him.
“Just giving you something to think about, Elena.”
He leaned down and gripped her head. Before she was able to utter a word, his mouth covered hers. Tyler traced her lips and then dived in as if he owned her.
Each stroke of his tongue sent tiny messages throughout her body, begging her to let him give her what she really wanted. The voice inside her head telling her that this was an awful idea was growing further and further away.
And then he released her.
“Self-sacrifice doesn’t do you any good, Elena. You will hurt all night — I guarantee it.”
He rose up and strode from her room.
It took her a good half hour before she could control the ache that he’d left behind. He was right. She was going to hurt the rest of the night, and maybe for a lot longer. She turned off the lights, then tossed and turned for the next hour.
Then a message came in on her cell phone, the one she’d told him was off, but was merely on vibration mode.