Page 2 of Modern Romance Collection May 2024 Books 1-4

Meanwhile the elevator kept ascending to the penthouse. And suddenly Erin went cold with a flash of panic. What if she’d read the signals wrong? What if the triumph of the deal, the champagne, had all gone to her head and here she was, mentally climbing the man like a monkey, when he literally meant to just give her some papers and send her on her way?

But then, as if reading her mind, he put out a hand, pressed a button, and the elevator came to an incongruously smooth stop between floors.

Nikolau’s voice was a little rough. ‘Just so we’re clear: I want you, Erin. But you’re under no obligation to do anything except take the papers and leave.’

Erin gulped.Hadhe read her mind? Had she spoken out loud?

He does want me. I’m not hallucinating.

A mixture of relief and dizzying excitement made her tremble. She said faintly, ‘There are actually papers?’

He nodded. ‘But I won’t lie. I used them as a pretext to get you alone. For weeks now you’ve been driving me crazy. I know this is crossing a million boundaries—and, believe me, if I felt I could resist... I would.’

His jaw clenched at that, as if he was irritated with himself, with his own lack of control.

The mere thought of pushing this man to the edge of his control was beyond heady.

Something ridiculous ocurred to her. ‘What do I call you?’ She’d always referred to him as ‘Mr Nikolau’, even though he had said to them all that they should call him Ajax.

‘My name is Ajax.’

She tried it out. ‘Ajax...’ It felt strange. Illicit.

He touched her jaw. ‘I like the way it sounds when you say it.’

Erin might have rolled her eyes if she’d been less in awe and not still reeling.

What he’d just said—that he couldn’t resist her—was just so beyond her comprehension of who she was—essentially boring—that she almost felt like giggling a little hysterically. But then the look on his face stopped her. It was stark. Hungry.

For her.

Plain, academic, serious Erin Murphy.

She’d led an academically driven existence for as long as she could remember. As the only child of a professor, it was all she’d really known. Her life had rarely, if ever, been given over to moments of spontaneity or just...fun. Not that this moment could be described as ‘fun’, exactly, when Ajax was looking at her with such an intense expression that she realised she’d never really seen him smile.

She knew there were reasons for that—he’d tragically lost his wife and child in an accident some years ago—and suddenly, as if galvanised by that reminder, and the sense of her own somewhat staid life, instead of doing the sane thing, thesafething—stepping back out of this moment of madness—Erin moved towards him. Towards the madness.

She touched her mouth to his, trembling all over. For a second he didn’t move, and Erin became acutely aware that she was pressed up against a wall of steel. She went cold again. Maybe she’d overstepped the mark? Even though he’d told her he wanted her, maybe he was the kind of guy who didn’t appreciate women making the first move?

But before she could overthink it he took her elbows in his hands, holding her to him, and his mouth moved over hers. Any suspicion that she’d done the wrong thing because she’d initiated contact was gone. Melted. Turned to ash.

She couldn’t feel her legs. His mouth was hard and soft, demanding but asking, all at once. It was like no kiss she’d ever experienced. Erin had to pull back for a second, dragging in a breath. Her vision was blurred. Kissing Ajax was like being pulled into a vortex, going faster and faster.

As if he sensed she was overwhelmed, he stopped and cupped her jaw. She felt her hair being freed from its tidy chignon, falling around her shoulders. His eyes followed the movement, and then his fingers were in her hair.

‘It’s like burnt gold.’

She couldn’t find a breath. He was making her hair sound...extraordinary. But really it was nothing special. It wasn’t blonde, or red...it was somewhere in between. Her mother’s hair. But her mother was the last person Erin wanted to think about at that moment, because thinking of her inevitably brought painful memories of abandonment, so she reached for his tie and loosened it, opening his top button of his shirt.

The hollow at the bottom of his throat was exposed, and it felt ridiculously intimate even though they were both still fully clothed.

As if reading Erin’s mind again, Ajax pushed her jacket off her shoulders and it fell to the ground. Long fingers efficiently undid the silk bow at her neck and then moved down to her buttons. She imagined them slipping free of the silk, eager to please him.

She almost felt like giggling again, but sobered up when he pushed her open shirt aside and looked at her for a long moment. At her breasts, encased in silk. Erin felt a blush rise into her face. She’d always had a slightly embarrassing preference for expensive materials close to her skin. A taste for luxury that didn’t exist anywhere else in her life.

He dislodged her shirt so that it fell off one shoulder. He slipped his fingers under the strap of her bra, dropping it onto her arm, and the cup immediately fell down over the curve of her breast.

She shivered.

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