Page 42 of Modern Romance Collection May 2024 Books 1-4

She put her spoon down and looked up to see Ajax watching her. Immediately her heart sped up. She really wished she could be immune, so they could navigate this temporary faux romance and move on to the time when he would stay on the very periphery of their lives. All she could hope for was that maybe in time he would come to realise what a mistake he was making in choosing not to parent his daughter.

‘Ready to go?’ he asked.

Erin nodded, suddenly aware that a lot of the people around them had left.

Ajax let her precede him, then put a solicitous hand on her lower back—which would have been fine if her back hadn’t been bare. She could feel his fingers against her skin and they burned.

The manager bade them goodnight and waited by the open elevator doors. They stepped in. Was it Erin’s imagination or had the space got smaller? Darker...more decadent? The images of couples cavorting in X-rated poses, small enough to trick the eye but impossible not to notice once you knew what they were, seemed to mock her.

The doors closed, encasing them in the dark, moody atmosphere. The elevator slowly moved downwards. Ajax stood on the other side, back against the wall, hands in his pockets. Supremely relaxed. And yet he had the air of an animal about to pounce.

Or was Erin losing it completely after champagne and a little wine? Quite possibly...

‘I really enjoyed that dinner. It was delicious... A little overpriced, considering what you paid at the auction, but—’

‘Erin.’

She stopped babbling. Ajax took his hand out of his pocket and came towards her, reaching behind her to press a button. The elevator came to a stop. She looked up at him, her mouth going dry.

She moistened her lips. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Do you have any idea what you’ve been doing to me all evening in that outfit?’

Erin shook her head, mesmerised by the look on Ajax’s face.

‘Driving me insane.’ He looked down at her chest. ‘All I could think about was sliding my hand under your top and touching you. Feeling the weight of your breast...your nipple growing hard.’

As if on command, Erin’s nipples tightened against the material of her jumpsuit. Her breathing was shallow. ‘I thought... I didn’t think you wanted me like that...’

His gaze moved back up. It was like a beam of heat leaving her skin.

‘I haven’t stopped wanting you since we were together. I told you that.’

Erin swallowed. ‘But that was before you knew...’

He shook his head. ‘I still want you. I want to touch you right now. Kiss you.’

Erin had an overwhelming sense of déjà vu...back to another elevator on another continent. But that had been then and this was now. And he still wanted her. And she wanted him. And whatever else was going on suddenly seemed inconsequential.

But a small, sane part of her tried to resist. ‘There’s no one here to see.’

‘I don’t want anyone to see.’

Ajax’s voice was a throaty growl that resonated deep inside Erin. All the way down to the pulse between her legs, hectically throbbing. Her resistance melted like snow on a hot stone.

‘I want you too.’

Ajax moved closer and put his hands either side of her head, on the wall behind her. She could see, out of the corner of her eye, their reflections. His tall, muscular body covering hers.

But then her focus narrowed down to Ajax’s mouth as his head lowered and came closer. It covered hers so gently that she wondered if she was imagining it. She reached up and twined her arms around his neck. Suddenly he pressed closer, and the gentle touch turned into something much harder and more incendiary.

Her mouth opened under his, inviting him in, stoking the flames. One of his hands went to her head—she could feel her hair being mussed up—and his other hand splayed across her bare back, before moving around, fingers trailing across her skin, until he found the opening at the front of her top. His hand slipped inside and cupped her breast, thumb flicking against her pebbled nipple.

Erin almost lost the use of her legs, and she had to lock her knees. Ajax tore his mouth away. They were both breathing heavily. She could feel his erection against her lower belly. Hard.

Ajax pulled back a little and, leaving his lower body pressed against hers, used both his hands to push aside the flimsy silk covering her breasts. He looked down and Erin’s gaze followed his. He cupped her breasts in his hands, the darkness of his skin making her own look even more pale.

Her nipples stood out, tight and pink, as if begging for his touch. He bent his head and encircled one straining tip in exquisite heat, sucking and laving it with his tongue.

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