Page 33 of Marriage Bargain with His Innocent
She made to remove her hand, already smelling rejection, but then he took her hand in his and tugged her towards him, a little closer, close enough for her to feel the warmth of his breath on her face.
‘You’re right about me, Georgie. I’m dangerous. And what you’re doing right now... It’s called playing with fire.’
‘I know,’ she whispered. ‘But maybe I’ve lived too long telling myself that playing it safe is the only way for me. I’ve been so careful not to take chances as far as guys are involved but you’re right. Being careful might make sense, but sometimes making sense can be a joyless exercise. You don’t tick any of my boxes...’
‘Who’s interested in a checklist?’
‘I always have been,’ she breathed. ‘Especially after Robbie. I felt like he slipped through the net. You’re right. My parents approved and I suppose I felt at the time that making them proud was important. After all...’ She laughed self-consciously. ‘I spent my life not living up to their expectations. At least that was what I thought, deep down. Never bright enough. Bit of a disappointment, really. So Robbie came along, and they approved, and that counted for a lot... And then...’
And then there was you...there was always you... And who’s to say that Robbie wasn’t my way of trying to escape from the stranglehold you’d always seemed to have over me...?
It occurred to her in a revelatory flash that maybe, beyond the whole lust thing, doing this...taking this step...making love to this man...would snuff out the hold he’d always seemed to exercise over her. The unknown was so tantalising, wasn’t it? Matias had always been her fantasy guy, but as soon as he became a known quantity she would be free of him, in a manner of speaking. He would no longer be a dream inside her head, an untested benchmark against which other men had always been found wanting.
‘And then...?’ he was asking her now, in that dark voice, rich as the richest chocolate, that could make the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
‘And then, when it all fell apart, I sat back and took stock and told myself that I would never make the same mistake again. Next time round I would go out with someone I felt was suited tome. Someone who had all the qualities I looked for. Someone onmywavelength.’
‘But now you like the thought of playing with fire...?’
‘Haveyouever played with fire?’
‘Not when it comes to sex,’ Matias murmured huskily. ‘I’ve had one or two nail-biting moments with deals that hung in the balance, but I like knowing where I am when it comes to relationships. We need to go upstairs, Georgie. We need a bed...’
Their eyes tangled, and in the soft light, with the steady drumbeat of the rain against the windows, something inside Georgina twisted. This was the point, she knew, when decisions would be made and there would be no going back.
So she would be taking a risk? But where had being careful got her? This fake relationship was the closest thing she’d got to adventure in years. This man standing in front of her was the closest thing she’d got to exciting in even longer. He wasn’t right for her and he didn’t try and pretend otherwise. He fancied her because... She didn’t quite know why, but he seemed to... And, God, did she fancyhim. He took her breath away. Always had.
She could fight the attraction but this was her moment, her window. If she walked away now then he wouldn’t look back, but she would always wonder.Hewouldn’t, butshewould. He wanted a bed and so did she.
But first...
She ran her hands along his thighs. She couldn’t miss the thick bulge of his erection. A surge of feminine power rushed through her in a wave and she stifled a groan. She laid her hand on it and heard him hiss at the touch, although he kept himself perfectly still.
Eventually he clasped some of her bright, tangled hair in his hand and gently drew her face up so that they were staring at one another.
‘Think hard,’ he murmured, ‘because you’ll be stepping out of your comfort zone. My mother thinks we’re having a relationship, but we both know the truth...’
‘I get it, Matias. This isn’t for real. I’m not going to start getting confused and delusional. How many times do you think you have to hint at that before you realise that you’re preaching to the converted?’ Her voice was strangled, because thinking straight was proving impossible when the evidence of his attraction to her was pulsing against her hand.
‘Let’s go upstairs,’ Matias urged, his breathing ragged. ‘The way you’re touching me... I need to get these jeans off. I need to feel you...taste you...take you... I want to be inside you, Georgie, hot and hard.’
‘Matias...’
‘That’s nice...’
He kissed her long and hard and deep, until she could scarcely breathe. She just couldn’t get enough of that dragging, hungry kiss.
‘I like it when you say my name like that... I like the sound of you wanting me as much as I want you... I’d take you right here on this kitchen table, but we’ll have to save the adventure for when we have a bit more privacy.’
He drew back, and the hungry darkness in his eyes made her giddy with excitement.
‘For now... Let’s go upstairs...’
