A sickening fear arose inside that he would turn out to be some kind of international playboy, with a woman in every port, and that he would break her heart. But what if she could steel her heart against full-blooded involvement with Blaise? What if she could accept a short-term affair instead? An affair with no expectations on her part other than more of the scalding passion she had enjoyed earlier? What then?
‘My most enduring relationship has always been with my work,’ he answered, with not a small touch of his trademark irony in his tone. Before continuing he drained the rest of the shimmering ruby wine in his glass. ‘I’ve always adored women…but as yet I’ve never found one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.’
‘Did you even want to?’ Maya questioned unhappily, suddenly knowing that, for Blaise, the notion of happy ever after with a woman he adored was probably not even on the agenda, if the truth be known. Now she considered again the possibility that he was one of those men who liked to play the field, to have his cake and eat it, as the old saying went.
And why wouldn’t he when he moved in the kind of circles where beautiful available women must be ten a penny? The small corner of Maya’s heart that had started to blossom beneath his kind words and sexy attention started to close up again—like a flower denied sunlight—and the sensation of an icy breeze rippled through her instead…even though she’d already tried to resign herself to a brief affair with him.
Sensing the downturn in her mood, Blaise smiled coaxingly at her. ‘Come on, Maya. Let’s not spoil this thing we have between us already.’ Frustration edged his tone.
‘Oh?’ she pushed to her feet, too upset to stay sitting. ‘And what is this “thing” we have between us, exactly…recreational sex? Of course…how could I forget?’
CHAPTER EIGHT
SHE’D left the table before Blaise could fully register the fact.
‘Damn!’ What had he said to make her act so unreasonably? He didn’t like the way he was suddenly feeling: as if he were one of those despicable men that had jerked her around—and he included her tragic father in that list. He’d been perfectly up-front from the start, hadn’t he? Even though he’d offered her the job as his temporary research assistant he’d made it crystal-clear that he desired her too, so what was she getting upset about? Covering his face with his hands, Blaise swore softly.
Minutes later, he found himself standing outside Maya’s bedroom for the second time that evening. As he rapped on the door, he was genuinely shocked at what a heightened state of emotion he was in. Not since he was a child, witnessing that first terrible row where his father had hit his mother across the face, had he felt so affected. God! What was the matter with him? He’d become expert over the years at disguising his feelings, and sometimes wondered if he hadn’t done too good a job. Most of the women he’d had relationships with had all but despaired that he was even capable of experiencing emotion, yet here he was, turned every which way imaginable because of the woman whose room he now waited outside.
‘I’m sorry I stormed off like that.’ The door opened and there she stood.
‘I somehow think maybe I owe you an apology too.’ But even as the words left Blaise’s lips confusion bolted through him…confusion and arousal. Dressed only in a short striped nightshirt, her feet and long legs bare and the neckline of the shirt opened provocatively low enough for him to easily glimpse the sexy, tantalising curve of those voluptuous breasts, Maya stared steadily back at him. His reaction was inevitable. He hardened instantly, as though a searing torch of flaming heat had glanced against his loins.
‘What’s all this about?’ he asked huskily, marvelling that he was able to speak at all when he was confronted by what was probably the most alluring sight even his fertile imagination could devise.
‘I thought you were meant to be clever? You write all these amazing plays about the human condition, and you can’t work out why I’m standing here dressed like this? I’ve been waiting for you, Blaise. If you want to have an affair with me then I’ve decided that’s exactly what I want too. I promise you I’ll have no expectations other than that.’
‘Is that right?’
‘Yes. It’s what you wanted, isn’t it? After all…we’re both grown-ups here, aren’t we?’
Her cheeks turned visibly pink as she made this declaration but, gazing into her hypnotic dark-lashed emerald eyes, Blaise could see that though a part of her might be mad at him for clearly not wanting anything more than an affair with her she was still equally as aroused as he was. Stepping over the threshold into the room, the intimate space lit only by that same diaphanous glow that had lit it earlier, he knew his hungry glance devoured her. Devoured her like no tempting dessert he’d ever sampled.
Taking a long, slow breath, he remarked carefully, ‘Never mind what I want. I’m moving no further from this spot unless I know for sure that this is absolutely what you want too, Maya.’
‘It is. It is what I want. I’ve told you already, haven’t I?’
‘You’re sure?’ He raised her chin to bring her revealing ardent glance level with his,
‘Yes…yes!’ she cried. ‘Of course this is what I want! What do I have to do to prove it to you? I’ve tried going for love and it turned out to be far too painful for me to ever want it again. An affair is all I’m looking for, Blaise.’
‘Okay. You’ve convinced me.’ Now Blaise’s hand moved to the open V of her nightshirt, and in a heartbeat he tore it down the centre, causing the tiny white buttons to fly in all directions. Pushing the gaping material aside, he let his gaze feast on Maya’s beautiful breasts, with their perfectly edible café mocha tips, before ravenous need drove him to sample each one in turn, suckling, tasting and wetting them with the heat and moisture from his swirling, greedy tongue.
Her fingers were in his hair, urging him on, and Blaise slid his hands between her legs and pushed into her with his fingers. Her damp heat engulfed him, and her slender body quivered and sagged against him as a long, low moan left her throat.
Tugging his sweater over his head and unfastening his jeans, he yanked Maya roughly against him, branding her mouth with a hot, sexy kiss that was beyond hungry, beyond any carnal craving he’d ever experienced before, as basic and animal as a kiss could be and with no pretence of gentleness whatsoever. Not even a drop. At one point Blaise even tasted blood on his lips, and couldn’t be sure whether it was his or Maya’s. All he knew was that a storm was building between them—a storm whose only way of stopping was to burn itself out. Well, he was burning. So burning hot and turned on that he thought he might lose his mind if he didn’t take her soon.
Even as the erotic realisation filled him, electrifying his body to the exclusion of everything else, he was dragging Maya down to the luxuriously carpeted floor, the body he took pride in keeping so fit jammed skin to skin against hers. Inserting his hands between her thighs, he pressed them apart and then, opening his fly with a rough groan, he placed the tip of his heavily aroused sex at her most feminine core. Earlier…she’d tasted like heaven. Now he would find out if she felt like it too.
Arching up off of the floor, Maya let her slumberous, inviting glance fall hungrily into his. ‘What are you waiting for?’ she gasped. ‘I want you so much… If you care about my sanity take me now…please…’
‘Maya, you hardly have to ask… I’m all yours… All yours for however long you want me… I promise you.’
With one scalding hot thrust he filled her, and for the most dizzying unforgettable moment Blaise did lose his mind. She was exquisite…tight and silky as a hot satin glove. As he began to move deeper and harder inside her she whimpered, and again he kissed her, drowning out her erotic little cries with his demanding, voracious mouth, driving into her body as if it was the only destination he’d been seeking all his life and he would not soon relinquish it…
Maya had quickly come to terms with the realisation that all Blaise wanted was her body. After all…why should he be different from any other man who had
been interested in her? Feeling upset by Blaise’s remarks earlier, about adoring women but not finding one he wanted to commit to, Maya had stemmed the flood of emotion that threatened to unbalance her and given herself a firm reprimand. Facing the facts, she’d decided, was more empowering than succumbing yet again to grief and hurt because life had once more confirmed her worst fears—that she must indeed be unlovable. If this wild, tempestuous coupling was all she would ever have with Blaise then she would honestly accept it, and not wound herself further by wanting more.
In fact…tonight she’d decided she could be whoever she liked—for instance a passionate, daring woman who could truly be mature about what might turn out to be a hot one-night stand, or even several hot nights of passion, but who wouldn’t rack herself with recriminations when the affair came to its inevitable end.
Now, as Blaise voraciously claimed her body, Maya’s hands locked tight onto the impressive iron muscle in his shoulders—the touch of his skin warm and silky, his muscled forearms and lean torso dusted with a smattering of darkly golden hair through which she glimpsed his darker, flat male nipples. He was raining kisses on her mouth, her throat, her breasts, his seductive masculine scent and strong, hard body saturating her senses—making her forget that a world even existed outside this room. Wriggling beneath him on the carpet, Maya adjusted her slender body to accept his possession even deeper inside her, wrapping her long legs round his waist, one hand moving to the back of his neck to guide his lips voraciously back to hers whenever he removed them.
Somehow she’d become addicted to the taste of him. It seemed impossible that she would ever get enough of those scalding, inflammatory kisses… But suddenly Blaise tore his mouth from hers, to stare back into her eyes for a stunning moment that would be forever etched in her memory with the most exquisite clarity. Maya stared back, hardly knowing what to say or think. Then he delivered another one of those sexy, knowing little smiles of his, the azure blue eyes twinkling in the lamplight, making him look as if he’d invented the very word temptation…in fact was the personification of it. Then, slowly and deeply, he started to rock her hips towards his.
A stunned gasp was torn from her throat as her release came, quick and fast, stealing her breath as it convulsed her, even as Blaise’s own movements started to match it. Her heart thumping hard enough to jump right out of her chest, Maya stared up at her lover, knowing the exact moment when his own powerful climax held him in thrall and sensing the scalding force of his seed spurt deep inside her.
They’d been so swept away by the power of the wild, raging river of need that engulfed them that neither of them had thought about protection.
Now, as she carefully lowered her legs to the floor again, her feet touching the soft carpet once more, she rested her hands on the smooth flesh of Blaise’s back, sensing the slick rippling muscle beneath his skin contract and then still beneath her fingers. Her sigh of longing and resignation at what they’d done hovered softly on the air between them. She would never regret it, but would Blaise?
Scraping his fingers through his mane of gold hair, he ruefully moved his head from side to side, his gaze boring deeply down into hers. ‘I’m so sorry, Maya…there’s no excuse. I should have protected you, but you’re so beautiful and incredible that the possibility of thinking straight around you went right out the window! I guess I just got rather carried away. If anything happens I—’
‘Shh.’ Maya put her fingers against his lips. ‘I got carried away too, Blaise,’ she confessed shyly, ‘but don’t worry…it’s the wrong time of the month for anything to happen.’
‘Next time I promise I’ll take more care.’ Smoothing her hair gently back from her forehead, Blaise was regarding her almost tenderly, making no sudden move to separate his body from hers despite his rueful confession that he should have used protection. In fact, to her great surprise, Maya already sensed him becoming aroused again inside her.
‘Do you mean…like now?’ she asked, wide-eyed.
‘See what you do to me?’
His lips met hers in a long, lingering kiss that ignited the fireworks inside her all over again, but just as Maya started to surrender to more of the same drugging, irresistible lovemaking Blaise regretfully withdrew from her body.
‘But I’m not doing this again without protecting you. I’m also concerned that you’re going to get carpet burns if we stay on the floor like this! I think the bed might be more comfortable, don’t you? You get in. Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be right back with what we need.’ On his feet again, Blaise yanked up his trousers and did up his fly. Then he reached for Maya’s hand to assist her. His wonderful chest was left provocatively bare.
Self-consciously, Maya drew the torn sides of her nightshirt together over her own naked breasts. ‘Blaise?’
‘What is it?’ Immediately he moved in closer, sweeping the sides of her nightshirt aside and possessively cupping her hips with his warm, slightly callused hands as he concernedly examined her face.
‘If you’re coming back to bed…does that mean you’ll be spending the night with me?’
His ensuing laugh was low and sensual, and almost rough with undisguised need. ‘Try ejecting me, darling, and you’ll have a genuine fight on your hands!’
‘Good morning, my love!’ The housekeeper paused in the kitchen doorway, clearly startled by the sight of Maya sitting with her chair pulled out from the pine table and the huge Irish Wolfhound lying at her feet, as though keeping guard over the lovely young brunette. ‘You’re up and about early. Give me a few minutes and I’ll get you a nice cup of tea.’
‘Don’t bother about tea, Lottie, thanks all the same.’ Getting to her feet, Maya dusted down her jeans. As if on cue, Sheba also rose, gazing up at her with an expression that looked like longing in her eyes. ‘I thought I’d take Sheba for a bit of a walk before breakfast…is that all right?’
‘Of course it’s all right. My Tom usually takes her, but he’ll be glad of a break this morning before he tackles the day’s work, I’m sure. There’s always plenty to do round a big place like this, and today he’s mowing that huge front lawn. You don’t need to bother with a lead, lass—just don’t let madam here dictate the pace, or you’ll come back fit for nothing!’
Out in the grounds, breathing in air that was akin to having pure oxygen injected into her lungs, Maya tramped grass still damp with morning dew. The Irish Wolfhound loped along beside her quite agreeably. Strangely, she found unexpected comfort and companionship in the animal’s presence. She had never had a pet when she was a child—her father hadn’t allowed it—but being around Sheba made her realise that she actually liked the idea. However, her thoughts did not dwell on the subject for long. Not when every cell in her body was still vibrating with the memory of Blaise’s passionate loving last night, and her skin carried the tender spots to prove it.
Extricating herself from that warm, cosy bed this morning, she’d been so careful not to disturb him, but thankfully the calm, rhythmic rise and fall of his heavenly chest had indicated that he was enjoying the deepest of deep sleeps—one he wouldn’t wake from in a hurry. The fact hardly surprised Maya when they’d spent most of the night lost in each other’s arms, driven to greater and greater heights of ardent fervour by this—this maelstrom of need and desire that they seemed to generate so electrifyingly between them.
She’d risen early because she’d needed some time on her own to absorb what had occurred. Her only other lover had been Sean, and although she had lost her virginity to him he had hardly set her on fire with his quickly over with attentions. Even at the time Maya had known in her heart that her relationship with him had been nothing but a Band-Aid for what really ailed her…a deep, gnawing loneliness coupled with a sometimes desperate need for love that wouldn’t go away.
But nothing could have prepared her for the passionate revelation that was Blaise Walker… Tugging open the neckline of her waterproof jacket, she sniffed. Even though she’d showered thoroughly, and
washed her hair twice, it was as though he’d left his provocative masculine scent all over her… Or was she just imagining that was so because she’d simply not been able to get enough of him? Would a woman ever be able to get enough of such an incredible man? Now Maya knew that he’d ruined her for anyone else. Any other man she might be with in the future would only ever get barely a quarter of what she felt for Blaise. But even considering that there might be another man in her future was akin to feeling as if she was already betraying herself. She simply couldn’t do it…not after what she’d just experienced. If this so-called affair of theirs did develop into something deeper on her part could she honestly handle it as easily as she seemed to be trying to convince herself that she could?
Sheba chose that moment to nudge her with that huge head of hers. It took Maya a couple of seconds to realise what she wanted. ‘I’m sorry, poppet… I didn’t think to bring a ball to throw for you.’ She fondly ruffled the thick grey fur. ‘Maybe I can find a stick for you instead? Come on, girl…let’s go see what we can find, eh?’
Blaise drank his coffee, checked the time on his watch and gazed out of the window for the umpteenth time. He’d woken in a state of almost instant arousal at the thought of engaging Maya in some sexy, languorous early-morning lovemaking, and instead had been confused and disgruntled to find that she had already risen without him. As he’d swung his legs out of bed, then scraped his fingers through his hair, he’d quickly added frustration to the list of woes he was mentally compiling because of her desertion.
Walking into the kitchen, he had felt his jaw all but hit the floor at Lottie’s cheery announcement. ‘Miss Hayward has taken Sheba for a walk…wasn’t that kind of her?’
Kind? Blaise had echoed ironically. Abandoning him in preference to taking his dog for a walk wasn’t kind…it was pure sadistic torment! Yet part of him knew an honest admiration for Maya too, at the realisation she was obviously trying to overcome a childhood fear by taking Sheba out.
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