Before she had a chance to reply, he dropped down onto the sofa beside her and in one seamless movement took the cup from her unprotesting hands, jerked her onto his lap and kissed her so deeply that she came up gasping for breath. He tasted of sunlight and oranges, and despite the chill of the air conditioning his skin was warm.
‘I missed you.’
His eyes were fixed on her lips and his face was so golden and perfect that for a moment she couldn’t even remember how to speak, let alone what to say. She looked up at him warily as he grinned down at her, the brightness of the day lighting up the shards of silver in his eyes.
‘This is where you’re supposed to say, I missed you too!’ he said softly.
She felt her insides tighten, every inch of her body responding to the pressure of his arm curling around her waist and the teasing note in his voice.
‘It’s only been two days.’ She arched an eyebrow, hoping that she appeared more composed than she felt. ‘You survived five years before that.’
‘How do you know I survived?’
Something flickered across his face, too fast for her to catch.
‘Maybe I was confined to bed. Weakened and distraught.’
‘Then somebody very like you was out and about in Miami,’ she retorted tartly. ‘Attending civic functions and charity dinners. You might want to look into that when you get back. Identity theft is a serious business!’
His eyes glittered. ‘I’m flattered you kept such a close eye on my whereabouts—’
‘I did not—’ she protested, but her voice frayed, the hot seam of words unravelling as his hand brushed against her blouse.
‘I like this,’ he murmured, fingering the silk. ‘It’s kind of demure yet sexy.’
As his gaze drifted slowly over her legs and down to her shoes, his eyes hardened in a way that made her stomach start to spasm.
‘And I like those too.’
His hand slipped beneath her blouse, cool fingers sliding over her hot skin so that she stirred against him, feeling the shift in his breathing. And then, abruptly, he groaned and, gently tipping her off his lap and back onto the sofa, edged away from her.
‘Damn it, Addie!’ He was grimacing as though in pain.
‘What is it?’ She stared up at him dizzily, her head still reeling from the havoc his fingers had wrought upon her, feeling the absence of his warm body almost like an amputation.
Shaking his head, he gave her a wry smile. ‘I’ve got a room full of people back there, waiting for me to sign off on a business plan, and you’ve got me so het up I’m not sure I can even spell my name—let alone write it.’
It took a couple of seconds for her to register what he was saying. That she would have to wait. Meeting his gaze, she saw the soft, taunting glimmer in his grey eyes and felt her temper start to flare. Was that how it was going to be? Him taking every opportunity to remind her that he was the one calling the shots.
Of course it was.
Right from the start Malachi had been the one dictating the terms of their arrangement. And, typical Malachi, he’d done it with a slow, teasing smile on that handsome face of his. And so of course, now she was here on his private jet, the ultimate symbol of his wealth and power, he would make her wait—presumably to demonstrate that no matter how equal the sexual attraction between them was, he was always in charge.
It was all she could do to stay sitting on the sofa. But she couldn’t keep threatening to walk out on him like some Hollywood diva who didn’t like her dressing room. The fact was she had agreed to this ludicrous charade, and she’d known right from the start that he was going to enjoy tormenting her. Her skin tightened as she remembered exactly how good he was at tormenting her. How he’d used to love to keep her hanging on so that she was frantic, wild, almost out of her mind with sexual need.
Dragging her mind back to the present, she gritted her teeth. The mature response—the only response—was not to dignify it with any response at all and so not give him the satisfaction of knowing that he’d got under her skin. But just because she’d agreed to come on this trip, it didn’t mean she was some sort of concubine. She just needed to find a way to remind Malachi of that fact.
For a moment they stared at one another in silence, and then finally she shrugged. ‘It’s fine. I can entertain myself,’ she said, reaching into her handbag. She pulled out a large paperback book. ‘I thought this might come in useful on this trip,’ she said sweetly.
His eyes locked on to hers.
‘Emotional Intelligence in the Adolescent Mind. Sounds gripping. But I thought you were here to mess with my body. Not my mind.’
The thought of what form that messing might take made Addie’s tongue stick to the roof of her mouth, but despite her hot cheeks she lifted her chin to stare at him. ‘It’s actually very interesting and informative,’ she said loftily.
‘I’m sure it is.’ His eyes mocked her and, blowing her a kiss, he turned and sauntered out of the cabin.
He was back in less than half an hour. As he strode across the carpet every inch of him was humming with energy, like a racing car on the starting grid.