Page 13 of His Impossible Heir

She shook her head slightly and pulled her shoulders back and then nodded as if in response to an inner thought.

“Right!” she whispered and started to step backwards, but since she was against the wall, there wasn’t space. She looked around and decided to step to the side, but his hands were still on her waist and he held her still.

“Don’t leave me quite yet, Amanda,” he urged, needing her to…well, to stay in place because he wanted her close, but also to hide his arousal. His body had never gotten so out of control before and he was struggling to hide his rock hard reaction to their kiss.

“But...,” she peered around his shoulder and he swallowed a chuckle. “Shouldn’t we…uh…head back inside?”

He swallowed hard and looked up at the sky. “Just…give me a moment, please.” When he looked down at her, he suspected she was blushing, but he couldn’t be sure in the dim light “Just…,” he contemplated kissing her again. Her lips were swollen, tempting him back for another long, lingering kiss. “No. We shouldn’t.”

“We shouldn’t?” she whispered. Her pink tongue darted out, licking her lips again. He wanted to suck that tongue into his mouth, to taste her and feel her tremble against him again.

He grinned, amazed at how good she made him feel. Amanda Thomas was…delightful. When had he ever applied that term to a woman before? Never, he thought with a mental chuckle.

“You’re so beautiful, Amanda,” he growled.

A sudden sadness dimmed her previously sparkling eyes. “There’s a ‘but’ in that sentence,” she replied quietly and stepped to the side.

He released her waist, but grabbed her hand. “There’s no but, Amanda. You’re lovely.”

Daniesh watched as she looked around, taking a slow, deep breath. Was he a bastard for noticing the delicious swells of her breasts? Probably. Did he care? Was he going to stop watching?

He wasn’t sure he could. Watching Amanda was like music. She was lovely and fascinating.

“We should go back inside,” she announced with an upward jerk of her adorably stubborn chin. Her eyes had shuttered and he hated that he’d caused it. However, he also knew she was right. Since this ridiculous dinner was supposedly in his honor, people would wonder about his absence. Of course, when he escorted Amanda back inside on his arm, they would know immediately what he’d been up to.

For some reason, that made him feel a little better. Amanda’s lips were swollen and, despite her best efforts, she still appeared to be slightly mussed up and off-balance. He’d done that. He’d put that need into her eyes. He’d aroused her lust!

Taking her hand, he pulled her against his side. “Let’s return to your friend. I’m sure Emma is wondering where you’ve gotten off to, having been gone so long.”

“It wasn’tthatlong,” she replied, straightening her shoulders. The slight movement brought his gaze back to her lush cleavage. He was going to hell, Daniesh thought, forcing his eyes to look away as he led her back into the room.

The noise inside the smaller ballroom was nearly overwhelming. Now that dinner was over and the tedious speeches finished, the guests were mingling, chatting loudly over the music and the alcohol was flowing more freely.

“I should go back to Emma,” Amanda said. He leaned down, in part to hear her, but also because he wanted to hold her, wanted to feel her lean into him.

“They are over there,” he pointed towards the far corner where Emma and Rayed were standing, surrounded by a group of people. A year ago, he would have assumed that everyone there was vying for Rayed’s attention. But after Emma’s journalistic revelations last year about that corrupt governor, he suspected that many of the people were trying to speak with Emma. She had become a bit of a celebrity. What most people didn’t know was that she was still writing and investigating. She was just more subtle and careful about it now. Plus, she had begun publishing her investigative efforts under a pen name.

She was incredible, but he thought Amanda was even more interesting.

“How do you come up with the plots for your mysteries?” he asked, unwilling to relinquish her company just yet. He guided her towards Emma and Rayed, but because the group was so large, they stayed out on the fringes. That suited his purposes, since he wasn’t ready to enter the fray. Daniesh wanted to find a more private place to sit and talk with Amanda. He wanted to know everything about her.

Amanda flushed at Daniesh’s question, wondering if he was sincere. Was he just a player? A womanizing jerk who tempted women into his bed every night? Because as far as she could tell, he was too good to be true. That kiss on the terrace…it had been unlike anything she’d ever experienced.

Looking up at him, she didn’t get the playboy vibe. In fact, his eyes seemed to be shielding some sort of hurt. She couldn’t quite figure him out. He was so tall and shockingly handsome. Not to mention, powerfully built. His dark hair and dark eyes were a sensuous promise. But now she knew that he kissed like the devil, tempting her in the most shocking ways! He’d been the one to stop their kiss outside. If he hadn’t pulled back, what would have happened?

She blushed at the flood of images that popped into her head.

Amanda looked up at him, trying to remember what he’d just asked. “Ideas?”

He grinned, then glanced around at the surrounding crowd. He stepped closer, shielding her from the crush of people. “Yes. You don’t look like the murderous type. So, how do you come up with ideas for your books? What inspires you?”

Amanda’s heart warmed with his words. “Readers ask me that question all the time,” she said.

“And what’s the answer?”

After giving him a shy grin, she shrugged and admitted, “I don’t know, actually.” Amanda noticed his eyes drop to her breasts. It was just a brief glance, but she caught it. When his eyes returned to her face, she felt the heat emanating from him and that, in turn, heated her up.

He inched closer, but Amanda would have sworn that he hadn’t physically moved. He was just…there! Her breath caught in her lungs and it took every particle of her being to keep her hands at her sides instead of reaching for him.

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