His eyes gleamed dangerously. ‘Not particularly, but go on.’
‘Because at seventeen, my mother told me that not smiling would make me more mysterious and attractive to men. That I would have them falling at my feet if I maintained a certain...aloofness. I’ve been getting advice like that since I hit puberty. After what happened with Brian, I wondered for a while if they’d been right.’ She laughed bitterly. ‘I even wondered whether I’d invited the assault.’
He captured her nape so fast, her breath stalled. ‘You did not,’ he said through clenched teeth. ‘That was all him. Never think otherwise.’
She nodded jerkily, her chest tightening with the intensity of him.
After a moment, he relaxed and released her. Lounging back on the bed, he regarded her. ‘So you decided to smile because you didn’t wish to have men falling at your feet?’
She grimaced. ‘That sounds ludicrous, I know. They can fall all they want. I’d just prefer they wait two seconds and engage my intellect before they decide I’m worth falling for. Besides, all those potentially falling bodies to navigate? If I wanted that, I’d have trained as a stuntwoman.’
His low laugh dispelled the knot in her midriff, and promptly replaced it with a glow. ‘That would be a sight to behold.’
She smiled. ‘Thankfully, you’ll never have to see it. I’m not built for that profession, either.’
His gaze lingered for a heartbeat, before raking down her body. ‘At the risk of being called a chauvinist, I won’t divulge my thoughts on what you’re built for.’
She pressed her lips together to stop herself from demanding he tell her. Because the heat swirling in his eyes wasn’t dangerous enough!
But he looked down. Started to turn the page.
‘Wait!’ Elise lunged forward.
His breath audibly caught.
The plane lurched, throwing her into an awkward sprawl next to him. He caught and steadied her with one hand, his other holding the page open. The page that held his image. Silence, thick and heavy, hung in the room.
Elise tried to move. He held her still, his gaze rising to hers.
‘This is how you see me?’ he rasped after an interminable age. His voice was completely devoid of emotion, depriving her of any insight as to how he felt about the drawing.
She swallowed hard. ‘I... Yes.’
Unreadable eyes dropped to the image again, prompting hers to follow. ‘I look...’
‘Angry. Sad. Lonely. Invincible.’
‘Dios. Why did you draw it?’ he demanded roughly.
‘I don’t know.’
‘Yes, you do. Why?’ he pressed.
‘I couldn’t concentrate...because you were on my mind?’
‘Is that a question? Either I was or I wasn’t.’
She was aware she was skirting that edge of danger she’d craved mere minutes ago. Her blood thrummed wildly in her ears. ‘You were. Very much.’
He roughly shoved the case aside and pulled her fully into his body.
His fingers speared into her hair, his grip firm as he leaned down and stared, narrow-eyed, at her.
‘You know why I’m angry.’
‘The deal. Your brother. Yes.’
His nostrils flared. ‘I’m not sad.’
‘Maybe not right this minute.’
He made a rough sound of disagreement. ‘I’m not lonely,’ he rasped.
Her heart lurched, because the evidence to the contrary was right there in his voice. ‘Okay.’
‘My invincibility would be debated by some.’
‘But only if they’re blind?’
He shrugged. His head dropped another fraction. ‘This picture... You see too much, Elise. I don’t like it.’
‘You see me, too, when you want to, but you don’t see me throwing a tantrum about it.’
His eyes darkened. The fingers in her hair shifted, caressed. ‘Madre de Dios.’
Desire dripped into her veins, commencing a slow languor that held her captive and yearning.
She needed to pull back, retreat to her side of the bed. Or better still, out of the room completely. ‘Alejandro...’
‘Shut up. I’ve had quite enough words from you for now.’
His mouth slanted over hers, mastered her, showed her the depth of feeling moving through him. She didn’t need words to know her drawing had affected him. The way he kissed, with hunger and a little anger, need and a touch of gentleness, told its own story.
Drugging enough to make her momentarily excuse herself from what shouldn’t be happening; she explored him with the same hunger. Beneath her fingers, his warm muscles shifted, the hair at his nape curled into her touch, his whole body shuddering when her nails dug in.
‘Elise.’
He lifted his head for a moment and she glimpsed the powerful hunger stamped on his face. It was enough to remind her that she was playing with fire. That she was stoking an inferno she might not be able to survive if it flamed much higher.
Before she could attempt to push him away, he was kissing her again, bearing her back so she was flat on the bed.
One hand traced her jaw, then stroked down to linger at the pulse beating at her throat. When he was satisfied she was sufficiently fired up, he trailed lower, and cupped one breast.
Elise moaned at the expert kneading, the clever teasing of her nipple. Liquid sensation sparked through her, singeing her between the legs until she was twisting beneath him. He uttered something guttural in Spanish, intensely erotic.
The plane lurched, separating them for a second.
They stared at each other. Awareness slowly crawled back. They’d been here before.
And yet here she was, thousands of feet in the air, on the edge of being initiated into an exclusive club with a man who would sign her paycheque when her business with him was over and walk away without a backward glance.
He started to lower his head.
She pulled away. ‘No.’
He exhaled harshly. ‘We’ve been here before. I misjudged you then. I’m not doing it now.’
She forced her hands to drop from his shoulders. ‘Thank you, but nothing has changed. I can’t do this.’ Her lips were stiff, as if they didn’t want to speak the words.
A frown formed. ‘I’ve spent more than two seconds with you. I’ve engaged your intelligence.’
‘So now you’re ready to fall at my feet?’ she parried.
His features slid into neutral. ‘I don’t fall, Elise. Ever.’
Something jarred hard and cold inside her. ‘And I don’t sleep with people I work with.’
‘Who do you sleep with?’ he queried tersely.
‘Not that it’s any of your business, but I haven’t. Ever.’
One mocking eyebrow lifted. ‘You expect me to believe you’re a virgin?’
Heat stormed up her face in evidence before she could utter a word. Something akin to shock paled his face.
‘Elise—’
‘I’m not having this conversation with you.