Page 7 of Forbidden Passion

The butler poured the wine, then vanished, leaving them alone.

“This is excellent,” Ciara said, barely sipping the wine as she moved away from the tall, imposing man. “How long have you owned this hotel?”

“About ten years now,” he replied, standing still as he watched her drift towards the windows. “Do you like it?”

“Yes, very much so.” She turned, glancing at him. “The last time I stayed here, the rooms were wonderful and the service was incredible.”

“If that’s the case, then what’s the real reason you didn’t want to stay here during your trip?”

She spun around and stared at him. For a long moment, she didn’t say anything, contemplating her possible replies. Finally, she went with brutal honesty.

“You,” she replied, then took a long sip of the wine to fortify her sizzling nerves.

“Me? What did I do?”

Ciara couldn’t believe that she’d betrayed her secret so easily. Shaking her head, she turned away and stared out at the dark sky. “I wonder how long it’s going to snow.”

Because of the darkness outside the long windows, Ciara could see his reflection behind her. She watched him watching her, her heart pounding painfully against her ribs. He couldn’t know! Falk could never discover how much she wanted him to…touch her. To kiss her! To do things to her that she’d only readabout in books or seen in movies! It would destroy her if he ever found out. He would laugh at her and…and she couldn’t handle that. She was a public figure and so was he, but…there was too much to lose.

He moved to her side, sipping his wine as he looked down at her. “What are you afraid of?”

She laughed nervously. “Not the blizzard,” she came right back. “I don’t have to drive in it, so–”

“Between us,” he interrupted, touching her cheek to stop her words. “Why do I frighten you so badly?”

She shivered, terrified of how much she enjoyed the sensation of his finger against her skin. “Falk, we can’t…”

“Why not?” he countered. “Because you are betrothed to a man you don’t love?”

Ciara jerked away from him. “How do you know anything about me?” she demanded in a low voice. She wanted to scream at him, but his nearness stole her breath away. “Don’t assume things, Falk.”

The elevator bell chimed and they both turned as one of the hotel staff members pushed in a linen covered table. “Your dessert, Your Highnesses,” the man explained, then lifted off all of the silver covers to reveal a veritable ice cream buffet.

“Oh my!” Ciara gasped and put her glass of wine down on the low coffee table. “Thank you!” she said the waiter, who bowed and disappeared.

“This looks amazing!” she laughed, then glanced over her shoulder at him. “Fear? Watch me be unafraid!” Then she kicked her heels off and picked up one of the bowls. She dug into the vanilla ice cream, then liberally drizzled hot fudge sauce over it, added some rainbow sprinkles, then lifted the caramelsauce. “This is exactly what I would have ordered tonight if I’d been alone,” she admitted in a small voice, taking a bite of the decadent ice cream.

“You forgot the whipped cream,” he pointed out, reaching for the spray canister. “Don’t move.” He carefully topped the sundae with a massive tower of whipped cream. then dipped his finger into it and lifted it to her mouth. “I dare you.”

Ciara didn’t want Falk to think she was scared of anything, so she leaned forward and licked the whipped cream from his finger. She heard his gasp of surprise, but ignored it and grinned smugly as she swallowed.

“Don’t dare me, Falk.” She went over to the sofa and settled on one end. Tucking her legs underneath her, she dove enthusiastically into the delicious sundae, closing her eyes as she savored the first bite. “Oh, this was exactly what I needed!” she sighed.

“Why?” he asked, examining the ice cream offerings for a long moment before making his own choice. He scooped a mound of strawberry ice cream into his own bowl, then added strawberry syrup and whipped cream. He didn’t bother with the fanciful sprinkles, but she was surprised by the strawberry choice. She would have expected him to pick chocolate.

“Because I hate speaking in front of people. So after I do that, I reward myself by binging on ice cream. It soothes me in ways that nothing else can.”

He sat down beside her, toeing off his own shoes and stretching his legs out to put his feet up on the coffee table. “You’ve never tried sex, then.”

She froze, her spoon hovering in mid-air. “Excuse me?” she gasped, staring at him. He was so close, she could feel the warmth emanating from him.

He took a thoughtful bite of his ice cream. He watched her as he swallowed, then said, “You heard me. You’ve obviously never had proper sex if you’re using ice cream to de-stress.”

Ciara blinked. No, she’d never had sex to de-stress before. She’d had sex with two men and neither experience had inspired her to try again. She’d walked away from both experiences feeling…angry and unfulfilled.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she realized that her ice cream was melting on the spoon. “Right,” she whispered and shoveled the sloppy sweet mess into her mouth.

“So, why do you sign up for these kinds of events if you don’t enjoy doing them?”

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