Bittersweet Love - Cathy Williams [44]
She shifted as quietly as she could to slip out of the bed and his hand flicked out, catching her by the wrist, making her start. Had he known that she had been staring at him?
‘Going somewhere?’ he asked lazily, looking at her with a possessive intimacy that made her body burn.
Natalie cleared her throat. This situation would have to be handled delicately. There was no sense in weeping and wailing and tearing her hair out over what she had done. On the other hand, she knew with profound sadness that she could not be yet one more woman in his life, a dalliance that he would grow tired of soon enough and discard when she had outgrown her novelty value.
‘I thought I might make us some coffee,’ she murmured, and he picked up his watch from the side of the bed.
‘At five-thirty in the morning?’ His eyes focused with drowsy sexiness on her face. ‘Are you in the habit of getting up this early?’
Natalie laughed uncomfortably. ‘I’m not used to sharing my bed with anyone, I suppose.’
He pulled her towards him and there was a glimmer of satisfaction in his eyes. ‘I know. I like that. It turns me on.’ He found her mouth with his, and she felt her treacherous body stir into life once again. Very gently, she disengaged herself from his arms, even though every fibre of her being was screaming out for her to abandon her pointless principles and enjoy what he could give her for as long as he could give it.
‘Coffee?’ she reminded him, with a trace of desperation in her voice. ‘Or tea?’
Kane lay back down, his hands behind his head, and looked at her from under his lashes. ‘I’d rather have you,’ he drawled and a wash of hectic colour flooded her cheeks.
She made herself remember that all these were old lines for him, clichés that he rattled out for every woman who shared his bed. Because his voice was slightly uneven, because he sounded sincere, didn’t mean a thing.
‘I’ll be back in a moment.’ She stood up, horribly conscious of her nudity, and of his green eyes surveying her lingeringly. She slipped on her bathrobe and hurried off to the kitchen, feverishly making them both some coffee and trying to work out what on earth she was going to do now. She couldn’t afford to spend much more time with him. She couldn’t afford to let his charm and sheer animal sex appeal make her forget her resolutions.
He was sitting up when she returned to the bedroom.
‘What is it?’ he said abruptly, as she perched on the chair by the dressing-table, with her mug cradled in her hands.
Natalie gave him a blank look. ‘What’s what?’
‘Don’t play games with me, Natalie,’ he said sharply, ‘Something’s wrong. Why else would you be sitting over there with that cup of coffee between your hands, like some damned schoolmistress about to discipline an un-suspecting pupil?’
‘Well, if you must know…’ She sought for the right phrase, sensing his mounting anger with dismay. ‘If you must know…’ She took a deep breath and plunged on. ‘About last night—it should never have happened. I don’t know what came over me.’
‘Lust,’ Kane said tightly. He stood up, throwing the covers back, and Natalie averted her eyes. ‘Look at me,’ he commanded. ‘You’ve touched this naked body, so looking away is rather like shutting the door after the proverbial horse has bolted, isn’t it?’
‘I don’t expect you to understand…’
He moved towards her so quickly that she barely had time to catch her breath, and pulled her to her feet, yanking her towards him, his face thrust into her own.
‘I damn well understand,’ he bit out, ‘you’ve spent a lifetime denying that desire can be any part of your life, and you’re ashamed of what happened between us.’
‘I’m not!’ She glared at him and his face in front of her blurred as her eyes filled with tears.
‘Then why the sudden attack of guilt?’ He tugged