And then he did it… With one hand on her neck and another on her hip, he hauled her up so his lips met hers—not in a tentative brush, or a sweetly inquisitive question of a kiss, an opening gambit, but rather in a clash of mouths that felt like a brand and was instantly hungry, ruthlessly plundering from the second it started.
This kiss was a demand rather than a plea, raw, aggressive and utterly enthralling. Ashley had been kissed precious few times in her life, and never like this. She was being devoured,consumed, swallowed up whole by a kiss that went on and on, taking everything from her, and yet she knew she would have willfully given it away gladly, wantonly—because all she wanted was more of this kiss, more of him.
His hand moved from her neck to her breast, cupping its fullness as if he owned her, as if she was his, and in that moment shewas. His thumb flicked across her nipple and Ashley couldn’t keep from moaning aloud. She’d never been touched like this before. She’d neverfeltlike this before. The last scrap of sanity she’d been clinging onto was willfully surrendered as the fingers of his other hand slid under her skirt, skimming her thigh.
Instinctively, she pressed against him, and now he was the one groaning against her lips as he pressed back, and for a few tantalising seconds they engaged in a primal dance that was more erotic than anything Ashley had ever experienced before and yet didn’t feel remotely enough.
Then, in the midst of this whirlwind of heat and sensation, a voice came, like a bucket of ice water poured all over her.
‘Mr Galletti? We have arrived.’
Ashley jerked up, feeling as if she’d slammed back into herself after several heady minutes of existing on an entirely different plane. She was aware of several things all at once: Nico Galletti’s flushed face far too close to hers, his eyes glittering like sparks of lightning, his hand still cupping her breast, his other one up her skirt. Moments ago, it had felt thrilling, but now it only seemed sordid and humiliatingly shameful. Knowing what she did about him, how could she have responded to him in such a way?
She did her best to scramble off him, but then her ankle made its agony known again, and she let out a moan of pain rather than the pleasure she’d been consumed with seconds ago, reaching down to cup her foot.
‘Are you hurt?’ Nico asked, and he sounded frustratingly calm, even disinterestedly polite. He was already sitting up, running a hand through the hair she fearedshe’dmussed up. Had she had her hands in his hair? Yes, she was pretty sure she had. How on earth had she lost control so quickly, so completely? Nothing like this had ever happened to her before.
‘I twisted my ankle,’ Ashley admitted through gritted teeth. The pain wasn’t as excruciating as the total humiliation she felt in that moment. She’d come here on a mission, and she’d failed beyond her wildest imaginings. Even as her body thudded with the after effects of desire, she only felt shame. She couldn’t even blame Nico—he might have kissed her first, but she’d been lying on top of him, her heart, or at least her lust, in her eyes. She’d beenridiculous.
‘So that’s why you fell on top of me?’ Nico remarked dryly. ‘I thought maybe you were begging me to save your employees. Not the most novel way to do it, but I suppose it might work with some men.’
Tears of anger as well as mortification stung her eyes. ‘You certainly acted like it could have worked with you,’ she snapped. ‘But, as it happens, I tripped. I certainly wasn’t begging,’ she stated with as much dignity as she could muster, which was precious little. ‘And I never would like that.’
‘Oh, no? You’ll kiss a man to sign his death warrant, but not to save someone else?’
For a second, Ashley could only stare. There were spots of colour high on Nico’s bladed cheekbones, and his eyes glittered not with desire but with anger, even rage. The mood in the limo had changed suddenly and completely, and she was aware of an entirely different kind of danger emanating from this man that she couldn’t understand at all.
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ she stated flatly. ‘At all. So, if you care to enlighten me…’
‘I don’t,’ Nico replied shortly. ‘You can get out of my limo and limp back to wherever you came from. But not to Infinite Innovations,’ he informed her with lethal silkiness. ‘The building has been taken over by my staff and is in the process of being cleared. Your things will be in the lobby, should you care to retrieve them.’
She did the hurt princess look very well, Nico thought sardonically, and she’d been the one to accuse him of being some kind of brooding princeling! Her big green eyes were glassy with tears, her face pale, her lip caught between her straight, white teeth.
‘Please…can’t we talk about this?’ she whispered.
‘So you can throw yourself at me again? As entertaining an idea as that is…’ He made a mocking show of checking his watch. ‘I’m a busy man, princess.’
‘Don’tcall me that!’ The words exploded out of her, low and savage, surprising them both.
Slowly Nico lowered his arm. ‘Don’t call you princess?’
‘No.’ She wrapped her arms around her middle, bending over so her hair fell down in gloriously tangled waves, so he couldn’t see her face. ‘Don’t.’
Nico stared at her, curious as to why she’d reacted so strongly to a simple word, but also determined to remain unmoved. ‘I won’t call you anything, because you’re about to get out of my car.’ To make the point even clearer, he leaned over and opened the door, trying not to react to her vanilla and almond scent or the way her silken hair tickled his cheek as he loomed over her.
Ashley ignored the open door. ‘What-whatever my father did to you…’ she began haltingly, her head still bowed, ‘This company has nothing to do with him.Ihave nothing to do with him. I haven’t seen him since he went to prison.’
‘Such a loyal daughter,’ he mocked. ‘I’m not surprised. Most people cut bait with a con, I find.’ He couldn’t keep the bitterness from spiking his voice. He’d lost all his family and a lot of friends once he’d gone to prison. His mother had blamed him for his arrest, even though she’d known he was innocent.
You should have known better, Nico. For the sake of your brother, you should never have aimed so high.
Other people had preferred to pretend they’d never known him, even after his innocence had been proved. He was still tainted, which was why he’d changed his last name. He wasn’t ashamed, but neither would he have his prison sentence define who he was now by having it appear every time someone searched for his name.
Slowly Ashley lifted her head. Her face was mottled with distress, her lip pearling with a tiny droplet of blood from where she’d bitten it. ‘If this is some kind of revenge, you really are targeting the wrong person,’ she insisted, her voice trembling. ‘If you want me to beg, fine, I’ll do it. I’ll beg.’ She knotted her shaking fingers together, holding her clasped hands out in front of her. ‘Pleasedon’t do this. You’re hurting innocent people. My staff—’
‘Can get other jobs.’ Nico forced himself to sound dismissive, although she’d prodded his one weakness without even realising it. He did not want innocent people to suffer…but Ashley Woodward wasnotinnocent. As for her twenty-two employees, once they were vetted and cleared of any involvement in Woodward’s affairs, perhaps he’d consider finding jobs for then.
‘Did you invest in his company or something?’ Ashley asked desperately. ‘Did you lose money?’
