For him it wasn’twant, it was bone-hollowing need.
He moved again so they were no longer touching.
For an aching, soul-destroying moment he was alone.
Then she muttered, ‘Damn you and your conscience, Conall Abercrombie,’ and followed him, wrapping her arms tight around his back and pressing in close.
He considered telling her it wasn’t solely his conscience motivating him. Self-interest played a huge part. When she knew the whole truth, things would change irrevocably.
But then she stretched up and put her mouth on his.
* * *
She kissed him and he changed in an instant. All reserve vanished. Conall swept her to him in a crushing embrace that felt like heaven. His mouth covered hers with such slow, devastating deliberation that her knees turned to water and her thoughts tangled and frayed.
He was everything. So big, so powerful, so deliciously male. The taste of him was like a drug in her bloodstream, making her crave more with each caress.
Reaching up, she plunged her hands into his thick hair, holding him fast and drawing him close. The instinct to have him, not let him go, wasn’t decent or civilised. It was everything.
A wave of feeling rose up and engulfed her, them. For she was sure he felt it too. A shudder passed through them both, rocking them as if the earth quaked beneath their feet. Yet she’d never felt more sure of anything.
So right and so very, very good.
Yet it was nowhere near enough.
Greer shifted her weight, restlessly trying to ease the fever-pitch ache between her thighs. She lifted one leg, only to be stymied by her narrow skirt.
‘I need to be closer.’
Conall lifted his head enough to scorch her with those glittering dark eyes. She would have protested him breaking the kiss, except then he was sweeping her up into his arms as easily as she carried her laptop.
Tthere it was again, a mix of acceptance and elation, as if she’d been waiting for him to take her in his embrace. As if it were the most natural thing in the world. Anticipation spiked and she leaned against his shoulder as he turned around.
But instead of carrying her to one of those vast lounges, he bypassed them.
‘Conall? Aren’t we going to…’
Make love? Have sex? None of those words seemed to fit. Because her need for him felt like the difference between life and death.
He met her eyes with a slanting look that made her toes curl and her body soften.
‘Oh, yes, Greer. We’re going to do all that and more. But in comfort.’ He spoke with a lethal deliberation that felt like he drew his calloused fingers up her inner thigh to circle her clitoris, making her ache and her muscles ease in anticipation. ‘But you deserve more than a quickie on a sofa. We’re going to take our time.’
He bent and she realised he was opening the door, still holding her against his chest.
She swallowed, her mind rioting at the idea of him taking his time. If Conall were as thorough and focused in bed as he was in the office… She shivered and squeezed her thighs tight.
At least he’d put aside the scruples that had held him back! She knew exactly what she wanted and it was him.
He headed for a broad, curling staircase in the glass-ceilinged atrium. Shards of colour washed the space from the magnificent art deco stained glass above.
‘I can walk, you know,’ she murmured.
‘And I’ll enjoy following you up the stairs sometime, watching every tiny sway of your beautiful body in that tight skirt.’ His chest rose mightily against her while her own breath stopped in her lungs. When Conall released the brakes he really let go. It was devastating and wholly wonderful. ‘But not today. Maybe tomorrow, when we come up for air.’
‘Tomorrow?’ Her voice trembled with shocked delight. It wasn’t even dusk.
‘You don’t have anywhere else you need to be, do you?’
