Page 54 of Revelations of A Secret Princess

The words, delivered not in challenge but with devastating honesty, loosened her knees. Caro snatched in air to her overworked lungs but couldn’t fill them.

‘I’ve wanted you from the moment you sashayed into my office looking ridiculously sexy in that brown outfit. You made me feel like some Victorian reprobate, lusting after the staff.’

Caro stepped back in shock, straight into the window embrasure.

‘You were attracted then?’

The voice of self-preservation told her it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but Ariane. Yet it wasn’t true. This—whatever it was between her and Jake—was so powerful she felt it at a visceral level. In his arms Caro felt renewed, happy, vibrantly alive.

It made her weak when she needed to be strong. But oh, what weakness!

Even angry, desperate sex with this man had felt profound.

Surely it was a catastrophic mistake to give in to it, yet it felt anything but wrong.

‘You couldn’t tell?’ He stepped close and she felt hot all over from that silvery stare. ‘I thought it was obvious.’ Another deep breath. This time that broad chest came within a hair’s breadth of her breasts and she had to fight not to lean into him.

Caro shook her head. ‘Sex would complicate things between us.’

Jake’s mouth rucked up at one side in a disarming smile that turned her insides molten. ‘A bit late to worry about, don’t you think?’ He paused. ‘Whatever the rights and wrongs, we find ourselves in a...fraught situation. Why not indulge in a little recreational pleasure to relieve the tension?’

He made it sound not only logical but laudable. This man was incredibly dangerous!

And yet... She wanted badly to put aside her hurt, even for a short time.

‘And afterwards? We part as enemies?’

He lifted his hand, feathering one finger down her cheek, then across to her mouth where her lips promptly opened for him. Heat drilled deep inside and she shuddered as she inhaled the citrus and male scent of his skin.

‘How about we call a truce?’ he purred. ‘Till the negotiations begin.’

It was absurd. Reckless and irresponsible.

Utterly tempting.

Caro shuddered, her senses on overdrive. She told herself to be sensible. She opened her mouth to spurn him and heard herself say, ‘Perhaps just once.’

The words were barely out when he scooped her into his arms. He carried her as easily as if he did it every day, leaving her hyper-aware of his strength and a sense of well-being. It was crazy but nevertheless real.

Then they were in the bedroom and he put her on her feet, reaching to flick on a bedside lamp. Caro waited for the frenzy of need, the urgent hands, hard on her body, that had so excited her before.

Instead, to her surprise, Jake lifted his hands to her hair. Gently, with deft patience, he drew out the pins that secured her tiara and kept her hair up. He wore a lazy half-smile as his fingers moved in her hair in a series of caresses that made her shiver all over.

Finally he removed the delicate tiara but instead of stopping, those hard hands massaged her scalp, turning her boneless. The exquisite sensations, the unhurried intent in those glittering eyes and the stroke of his breath on her skin turned it into the most amazing foreplay.

Caro’s head fell back, her hair cascading in waves around her shoulders. She clutched his upper arms as he kissed her jaw, her throat and down, down, down to the low-sitting line of her bodice.

That was only the beginning. Caro had expected fast and hard. What she got was endless patience and a sure sensuality that made her realise how limited her experience was. Mike had never seduced her with such infinite patience, or with such devastating knowledge of how to excite her.

By the time they were on the bed, he in boxers and she in nothing at all, she was quivering with anticipation, her breath coming in broken snatches. Finally, unable to wait, she reached for him, hand closing around his fabric-covered erection.

‘Wait.’ Hard fingers encircled hers and she saw Jake grimace as he throbbed against her touch. ‘We need a condom.’ His ragged voice made her realise that in this passion they were equals.

She almost smiled till his words sank in.

‘I don’t have any.’

He frowned, head turning to the bedside table.

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