mindless sensual delight as Sanderâs tongue began to thrust potently and rhythmically against her own. Beneath her clothes her nipples swelled and hardened, their ache spreading swiftly through her. Sanderâs hand cupped her breast, causing her to moan deep in her throat.
She was all female sensual heat, all eager willingness, her very responsiveness designed to trap, Sander recognised. If he didnât stop now he wouldnât be able to stop himself from taking her where they stood, from dragging the clothes from her body in his need to feel her bare skin against his touch, from sinking himself deep within her and feeling her body close round him, possessing him as he possessed her, both of them driven by the mindless, incessant ache that he was surely cursed to feel for her every time he touched her.
He found the buttons on her shirt, swiftly unfastening them. The feel of his hands on her body drew Ruby back into the past. Then he had undressed her expertly and swiftly, in between sensually erotic kisses that had melted away her ability to think or reason, leaving her aching for more, just as he was doing now. His left handlifted her hair so that he could taste the warm sweetness of that place just where her neck joined her shoulder.
Ruby felt the warmth of his breath against her bare skin. Flames were erupting inside herâthe eager flames of denied longing leaping upwards, consuming her resistance. Mindless shudders of hot pleasure rippled through her. Her shirt was open, her breasts exposed to Sanderâs gaze.
He shouldnât be doing this, Sander warned himself. He shouldnât be giving in to the demands of his pride. But that was all he was doing. The heat running through his veins was only caused by angry pride, nothing else.
Her breasts were as perfect as he remembered, the dark rose nipples flaring into deep aureoles that contrasted with the paleness of her skin. He watched as they lifted and fell with the increased speed of her breathing, lifting his hand to cup one, knowing already that it would fit his hand as perfectly as though it was made to be held by him. Beneath the stroke of his thumb-pad her nipple hardened. Sander closed his eyes, remembering how in that long-ago hotel bedroom it had seemed as though her nipple was pushing itself against his touch, demanding the caress of first his thumb and forefinger, then his lips and tongue. Her response had been wild and immediate, swelling and hardening his own body.
He didnât want her, not really, but his pride was now demanding her punishment, the destruction of her claim that she didnât want him.
Ruby could feel herself being dragged back to the past. A small cry of protest gave away her torment.
Abruptly Sander thrust her away from him, brought back to reality by the sound.
They stood watching one another, fighting to control the urgency of their breathing, the urgency of their need. Exposed, raw, and in Rubyâs eyes ugly, it was almost a tangible force between them.
They both felt the strength of it and its danger. Ruby could see that knowledge in Sanderâs eyes, just as she knew he must see it reflected in her own.
The weight of her shame ached through her.
Rubyâs face was drained of colour, her eyes huge with shock in her small face.
Sander was just as shocked by the intensity of the desire that had come out of nowhere to threaten his self-controlâbut he was better at hiding it than Ruby, and he was in no mood to find any pity for her. He was still battling with the unwanted knowledge of just how much he had wanted her.
âYou will take the contraceptive pill,â he told her coldly. His heart started to pound heavily in recognition of what his words meant and invited, and the ache in his body surged against his self-control, but somehow he forced himself to ignore the demands of his own desire, to continue. âI will not accept any consequences of you not doing so.â
Never had she