Page 5 of Unknown Royal Baby

Reluctant, because she knew this had to end and the fallout would be embarrassing, she arched her neck, her gaze snagging on the bronzed column of his throat, strong and fascinating. Up to that determined chin, dark with an evening’s beard growth. She swallowed hard, taking in the sculpted perfection of his mouth, the long, aristocratic nose, stopping when she reached heavy-lidded eyes.

She jumped and would have tugged her hands away except he held them against his chest.

Because what she saw was unprecedented. Isam’s expression was aware. Aroused. Sensual.

All the things she’d believed impossible.

Of its own volition, her body swayed closer, her breasts pressing against his hard torso, stealing her breath from her lungs as his heat engulfed her. Sparks ignited across her skin and her blood shimmered as if effervescent.

Someone’s breath hitched. It must be hers, but then she felt the rise of his torso as if he held back the air in his lungs.

Avril couldn’t find anything coherent to say. No man had ever looked at her the way Isam did now. As if he wanted to eat her all up. As if he craved her the way she longed for him.

It made her feel different. Powerful.

She swallowed, the movement jerky as though her muscles forgot how to work. Dry-mouthed, she swiped her tongue over her bottom lip.

Heat blazed in Isam’s eyes, his nostrils flared, and suddenly he didn’t look like the civilised man she knew but some marauder. The glint in his eyes was surely avaricious, and his hands tightened possessively. Avril thrilled at the change in him.

‘Isam.’

She had no trouble now, saying his name. It emerged as a whisper, husky with longing. She rose on tiptoe, needing to bridge the gap between them.

Except with shocking finality, he shattered the precious moment. Still gripping her hands, as if knowing her legs were wobbly, Isam stepped back. The room was comfortably airconditioned, yet it felt as though an arctic blast swept between them. Avril shivered.

His voice was deeper than she’d ever heard it, with an accent edging his previously perfect English. ‘This can’t happen.’

Yet itwashappening. Didn’t he feel it?

‘I employ you. You depend on me for your salary.’ He shook his head, his mouth crimping down at the corners. ‘It would be wrong.’

Avril understood. There was a power imbalance between them. He didn’t want to take advantage of her and she admired him for that.

Yet this need wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t tainted. It was mutual and ferociously real.

More real than the grey half-life she’d been living lately. Shecravedthis as a diver, too long below the surface, craved air.

Even now, as she watched him distance himself, the hammer beat of her heart and the jittery restlessness low in her body were all aboutherneeds, not something imposed by him.

‘Couldn’t we pretend that you’re not my boss? That I’m not your PA? Just for this evening?’

At any other time she might have winced at the stark need her words revealed. But this between them was so consuming, it superseded the normal rules. In twenty-six years she’d never experienced anything so visceral.

He scowled and even then she hungrily devoured the sight of him—no longer urbane and in control, but prey to strong emotions, like her. ‘No. Absolutely not!’

Suddenly, it was easier than she thought to step away. She wrapped stiff arms around her abruptly chilled body.

What had she been thinking? She’d seen the photos of Isam with a series of stunning women. All glamorous, all beautiful and no doubt at home in his rarefied social milieu. The sort who held down high-flying careers yet found time to look a million dollars at royal events.

‘I understand.’ Avril struggled not to feel hurt. If she’d thought rationally she’d have known the idea was ludicrous. She didn’t fit his world or his expectations. Her stockinged toes curled into the thick, handwoven carpet. ‘I’m not sophisticated and sexy and you’re—’

‘Avril, you’ve got it wrong.’

She shook her head, pursing her mouth before she blurted out any more foolishness. It was time to leave.

‘Thisisn’tabout you.’

He was trying to soothe her ego but his words had the opposite effect. Her turbulent feelings coalesced into anger, pumping through her bloodstream. She welcomed it because it obliterated, at least for now, embarrassment and disappointment.

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