“I checked you out of the hotel,” he said.
Surely he couldn’t have said what she thought he’d said. She stared at him. “I beg your pardon?”
“Your bags are in the front hallway.”
“Are you crazy?” She spun around and stalked back into the house, needing visual confirmation of his claim. Sure enough, the two big bags and smaller grip she’d brought from Alexandra’s were sitting in his foyer.
Furious, she stalked back to where he dripped water on the kitchen floor. “What do you think you’re doing?” By the slimmest of margins she caught hold of her temper and reined it in.
“Keeping you here for a while,” he said bluntly.
“Keeping me…for what purpose?”
“Because,” he said, and though his tone sounded reasonable and courteous, she got the impression he was gritting his teeth. “You can’t waltz into my life again, announce that you’re carrying my child and just leave.”
“I made no such announcement,” she muttered.
“What did you say?” He took her by the arms and turned her to face him, and she was overwhelmed by the power of his physical presence.
“You can’t keep me here against my will.” She tried to ignore the tanned flesh of the naked chest only inches in front of her. Turning to the side, she twisted in an attempt to slide from his grip. But Rafe didn’t let go. Instead, he pulled her the few inches remaining between their bodies until she was held firmly against him.
Elizabeth gasped as the water droplets clinging to his body and the soaking fabric of his swim trunks quickly penetrated her thin clothing. She closed her eyes, hoping he hadn’t seen in her eyes the way this sham of an embrace affected her senses.
Leaning away from him, she attempted to step back, but Rafe didn’t release her. Well, she wasn’t going to dignify his behavior by struggling. She’d just stand here until he let her go.
But her grand plan backfired. With her eyes closed, her world was defined by her other senses. He smelled of the fresh, clean scent of the water in which he’d been swimming, and his naked flesh was cool where their arms touched. Against her body, his much larger frame felt solid and hard, and, unlike the cool skin of his arms, an intense heat radiated from him. She felt dwarfed by him, strands of her hair clinging to his tanned bare shoulders.
His breath stirred the hair near her ear, and as they stood there locked in silent confrontation, she felt his breathing change, become faster as his chest rose and fell.
“Elizabeth.” He put one hand to her face and cupped her cheek, and she opened her eyes again. His face was only inches from hers, his blue eyes so compelling that she couldn’t look away. His thumb caressed the line of her jaw and then he slipped it beneath her chin and exerted a light pressure, tilting her face up to his.
His features became a blur as his face moved closer, and then his lips closed over hers.
She’d kissed him before, so she really shouldn’t be so overwhelmed. His mouth was gentle but firm and insistent, warm and mobile as he explored her. His tongue traced the shape of her upper lip, then flicked along the closed line of her mouth before firmly delving between her lips, forcing them to part for him.
When her head fell back, he cradled it against his shoulder, keeping his mouth angled over hers while he plumbed the depths of her mouth. His free hand smoothed up her body from her hip to her shoulder, then firmly back down again to press her against him. She could feel him growing aroused through the thin, wet fabric between them and her body, recognizing him as surely as it had from the first, relaxed into his embrace.
Her hands had been clutching his muscled arms, prepared to push him away, but as warm pulses of fevered arousal swept through her, she slowly stroked her palms up over his shoulders, feathering delicate fingers up the back of his neck.
He shuddered. Then he tore his mouth from hers and pressed her face against his shoulder. He was panting and she hoped he wouldn’t notice that she was, too.
“So you’ll stay.” It wasn’t a question.
The self-satisfied tone in his voice had the effect of a thousand gallons of water being sprayed on a bonfire. She stiffened in his arms and, with one of the hands still around his neck, she plunged her fingers into his thick, black hair and tugged. Hard.
“Hey!” He released her immediately. “What was that for?”
“For assuming you can use sex to get me to do whatever you want.”
“It worked once, didn’t it?” His eyes were dark and furious.
“Now wasn’t that the height of chivalry speaking.” She knew her fair complexion was slowly becoming the vivid orange of an Arizona sunset and the knowledge only made her angrier.
“I never claimed to be a white knight,” Rafe said. He thrust his own fingers through his hair and clenched his hand into a fist, his frustration evident. Then he heaved a great sigh. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to get into a shouting match with you.”
“Then I’ll leave and you won’t.”
He ignored the deliberately provocative statement. “Can we start this conversation from the beginning again?”