He looked tense, shaken, nothing like the cool, sophisticated Ramsay Walker who could stop meetings with a raised eyebrow. It scared her a little, seeing him so uncertain. But it made her feel stronger, more determined to tell him how she felt—and maybe, just maybe, get him to do the same.
She hesitated. ‘Yes, I am.’
He had confided in her, and she knew what each and every word had cost him. Knew too why he was so conflicted, so determined to do his duty as a father even as he pushed away any hint of love or commitment.
‘Is this what’s changed your mind?’ he asked slowly.
She bit her lip. ‘Yes, but also it was that night we spent in your office—I’ve tried not to think about it, but I can’t stop myself. It was so different...so incredible. I’ve never felt like that with anyone, and I wanted to tell you that. I wanted to stay, but I was too scared—scared of how you’d made me feel.’
‘I felt the same,’ he said hoarsely.
She felt a sudden twinge of panic. ‘But it was a long time ago. Maybe we don’t feel that way anymore.’
His grey eyes locked onto hers.
‘We do feel it, Nola. We’ve felt it and fought it.’
The heat in his voice made blood surge through her body.
‘But I don’t want to fight you anymore. In
fact fighting is the opposite of what I want to do with you.’
She held her breath as he stared down into her eyes. Chaos was building inside her.
‘What is it you want to do?’ she whispered.
His gaze moved from her face down to the slight V of her cleavage.
‘This...’
Holding her gaze, he reached out and slowly unwrapped the towel from around her body. As it dropped to the floor she heard his sharp intake of breath.
She swallowed, her imagination stirring.
His mouth was so close to hers—those beautiful curving lips that had the power to unleash a blissful torment of heat and oblivion. For a moment she couldn’t speak. All she could think about was how badly she wanted to kiss him, and how badly she wanted him to kiss her back.
And then her breath lurched in her throat as, lowering his hand, he began stroking her breast in a way that made her quiver inside.
‘I want you, Nola,’ he said softly.
‘For ever?’ She couldn’t help asking.
His gaze held hers, then his hands dipped lower to caress her stomach and her thighs and the curve of her bottom.
‘For the rest of my life.’
She pressed her hands against his chest, feeling his heart beneath her fingertips, and then she was pushing him backwards onto the bed, and he was pulling her onto his lap so that she was straddling him.
Fingers trembling, she undid the button of his jeans, tugging at the zipper, freeing him. His ragged breathing abruptly broke the silence as she ran her hand gently up the length of him and guided him inside her.
He groaned, his body trembling. Leaning forward, she found his mouth and kissed him desperately. And then his hands were tightening on her thighs, and she was lifting her hips, heat swamping her as he shuddered inside her, pulling her damp, shaking body against his.
But it wasn’t just desire that was rocking her body—it was shock. For mere sex, no matter how incredible, could not make you want to hold a person for ever.
Only love could make you feel that way.
It was like a dam breaking inside her, but even as she acknowledged the truth she knew it was not a truth she was ready to share with Ram. Or one he was ready to hear. But wrapped in his arms, with his heart beating in time with hers, it didn’t seem to matter. For right now this was enough.