Josie’s breath stopped in her throat as with mouth and tongue he teased first one pert nipple and then the other. Her hands clasped his broad shoulders, urging him closer. Tomorrow she would be ashamed of her behaviour, but now the only thought in her head was Conan. He was a fire in her blood more potent than any drug. She gasped as he shaped her breast with his hands and she drowned in the achingly delicious sensations he ignited in her. She knew it was wrong—he did not love her—but with his dark head at her breast she could not think, only feel. He lifted his head and her eyes sought his with unashamed longing.
‘Don’t look at me like that, Josie. My control is stretched to the limit as it is,’ he said with a low chuckle. ‘And I haven’t finished helping you undress yet.’
Caught staring, Josie flushed scarlet. ‘No need to blush, little one.’ Bending over her, he gently eased her dress over her hips and off, and, slipping his fingers beneath the waistband of her briefs, he dispensed with them the same way.
Josie lay quivering on the bed as his large hands traced from her ankles to her thighs. He knelt on the bed beside her, devouring her with his eyes.
‘You are so exquisite, Josie!’ Sliding his hands up over her breasts, he slipped them under her arms and gathered her up to him. ‘And I want you. How I want you.’ Then his passionate mouth claimed hers and she shuddered with excitement as together they plunged into the erotic world of the senses.
With teeth and tongue and mouth they breathed the essence of each other, and finally, when they needed to breathe, Conan urged Josie back down on the bed, his hands, his mouth tantalising and tormenting her, learning every throbbing inch of her until every nerve in her body was on fire for him. His eyes dark pools of molten desire, he stared down at her then slowly lowered his head. His mouth found hers, and he kissed her with a fierce, demanding passion that would not be denied. With one hand he traced over the gentle curve of her stomach, his long fingers tangling in the black curls between her thighs, finding the moist, tender flesh that pulsed at his touch.
Josie could not control the whimper that escaped from her parted lips at the ecstasy of his caress. Her nails dug into the hard muscles of his back. The blood surged through her veins, her heart racing till she thought it would explode.
She exulted in their mutual desire, her tongue exploring every contour of his hot, moist mouth. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought it could be like this. But suddenly there was no more time to think as Conan deftly removed his trousers and rolled completely over her, slipping his hard thigh between her slender legs.
She felt the shift in weight of his body, and his aroused hardness as he lifted his head, his jaw rigid as he fought for control. ‘You want me, Josie?’
‘Yes,’ she moaned. She could not help herself; her eyes deepened to purple with passion, staring blindly up at him. She had forgotten the past—everything. There was only now and Conan and an unbearable longing to have him possess her completely.
‘Say it, Josie. Tell me.’ His almost-black eyes burnt into hers as he rasped, ‘I need to hear you say my name. I want you to know it’s me and not Charles.’
Josie tensed involuntarily as his whispered words penetrated her sensation-soaked brain, and for a second she remembered Charles and how it had been. Blind, unreasoning panic stormed through her.
‘No, no,’ she cried, in instinctive rejection, her hands falling from his chest, while her body stiffened in fear.
‘No. You said no,’ he groaned, shaking his dark head in stunned disbelief.
For a second Josie had frozen, but only for a second. She reached out to Conan, but her hand met only air as, with a string of violent curses, he flung himself off her and lay flat on his back, his massive chest heaving with each rasping breath.
What had she done? Josie asked herself, battling to control her frantically beating heart. She had been terrified for a moment, but only for a moment, and then she hadn’t wanted him to stop. She reached out again.
But he swung his long legs to the floor and turned his back on her. ‘I’ve met some women in my time, but you, Josie! What the hell do you think you’re playing at? You have a lot to learn if you think you can get away with that kind of teasing.’
‘I...I...’ What could she say? She should never have let it go so far. She stretched out her hand and gently touched him. She felt his shoulders tense and as he stood up so her hand fell away he spun around to stare down at her.
She tried again. ‘I didn’t mean...’ She began to explain. ‘I thought I...’ She stumbled to a halt, defeated by the blazing anger leaping like flames in the depths of his eyes.
‘I know what you thought. You made that painfully obvious,’ he snarled derisively.
She glanced up at him and just as hastily looked away. He was towering over her, unconscious of his naked state. It was more than she could bear.
‘You belatedly remembered Charles, didn’t you? Didn’t you, Josie?’ he reiterated scathingly.
‘Yes, but...’ She had remembered Charles, but not in the way Conan thought! She wanted to explain, but never got the chance.
‘I should have known,’ he sneered, picking his trousers up off the floor and straightening up. ‘What were you doing? Pretending I was Charles, no doubt.’ His face hardened. ‘Well, let me tell you I have no intention of being a stand-in for a dead man.’
‘No, no, it wasn’t like that.’ She could not bear to let him think that badly of her. If he would just listen for a moment... ‘It wasn’t quite like that.’
He eyed her lying naked on the bed, his physical strength intimidating her as he looked down his arrogant nose at her, not a trace of anger remaining in his dark eyes, only cold contempt. ‘Then maybe you would oblige me by telling me just what you thought you were playing at. You started this fiasco. You’ve been giving me the green light for the last two days. You can’t blame me for taking up the offer.’
Josie’s eyes widened in horror. He was right. She hadn’t realised she had been so obvious, but to an experienced man like Conan she must have seemed blatant. But she would not admit it. Not for the world.
‘Don’t look so surprised; you know you did. What’s the matter? Suddenly afraid you were going to get more than you bargained for?’
‘No,’ she denied. ‘I...’ Her eyes skidded away from his, lingering on the hard muscles of his chest, the flat plane of his stomach, and lower... She gulped and guiltily jerked her gaze back to his, only to be trapped by the knowing gleam in his eyes.
‘But perhaps not enough after all. You really are a sensual little girl. What was it? A few months without a man too much for you? Charles gave you a taste for it and you wanted me to relieve your frustration. I can understand that. I’ve been too long without a woman myself. Was that the problem, Josie?’ he queried silkily.