Attraction (Love & War, Part I) (10 page)

“It's a real
nice pad, very smart. Must have cost a packet, though.”

“Yeah, I'm
mortgaged to death, but hoping my career pays dividends one
day.”

“I really like
your style. But it's way too tidy.”

“It is?”

“Yeah, the
cushions are begging me to dive on them and mess them up.”

“Be my
guest... “ she giggled. “They're ever so snuggly to cuddle. They're
one of my favourite things. I'm a tactile person.”

“Are you
now?”

“Very. And
that painting over there is another of my faves. The textures and
colours beg you to look and touch, don't you agree?”

“It has a lot
of appeal, granted. But what is it exactly?” he asked walking up to
it and cocking his head one way and the other trying to find
something he could recognise in the colourful swirls strewn with
bubbles.

“It's a giant
fish... look...there's its fins, at the top...” she pointed.

“Oh God, yeah,
so it is. It's one of those optical illusions. It's cool.”

He turned to
face her. They were close. So close. She sighed, took a step back,
turned and went to collect his wine.

“I'm guessing
you've not had time for dinner, have you?” she asked thoughtfully,
as she came back to stand at his side and passed him a glass of
wine.

“No, but don't
worry, I'll get my calories from somewhere.” He laughed, taking a
big gulp of wine pointedly.

She took a big
glug of hers.

Dutch
courage?
He wondered.

“I've got
something you might like more than a liquid dinner. Not veggie are
you?”

“Absolutely
fucking not.”

“I didn't
think so.”

Returning to
the kitchen area, he followed her as she opened the split level
oven and took out a pizza, still in it's box, opening it for him on
the counter with a cute smile.

“My God, is
that a meat feast, with thin base and cheese stuffed crust?”

“Yes,
why?”

“ I can't
believe it, it's my favourite pizza,”

Her smile
widened and her face lit up so beautifully. She had the most
wonderfully expressive features. He was hoping to see her express
far more of her feelings later.

“A lucky
guess, then?”

“Aww babe,
it's real sweet of you.”

“Domino's is
just round the corner. I didn't want you to starve.”

“I think I
love you already.”

“It doesn't
take much to buy your affections, does it?” she giggled. “One
little pizza? You should try to sell yourself a little higher,
Adrian.” Although she was joking, she was clearly delighted at how
much she'd pleased him with her thoughtful surprise.

“I know, I'm
dead cheap. But I'm yours for the taking, love.”

She gave him a
hot look from under her eyelashes, her eyes smouldering at him.

This was going
so damn well.

He sank his
teeth into a slice of pizza in a state of pure heaven. She took one
smaller piece for herself and they both stood in her tiny kitchen
area smiling at each other idiotically and flirtatiously, sipping
their wine and eating pizza.

“Lets chill in
comfort. Wanna go sit down, hug a cushion...?” She cocked her head
at the white sofa.

“Sounds good,
but before that, there's one little thing I've gotta do. Come
here.” He beckoned with his finger. He knew he was being really
forward and fast, but he wanted to imprint himself on her before
Ashton monopolised her tomorrow.

That thought
at the forefront of his mind, he placed his wine down swiftly, and
reached out and pulled her towards him by her wrist.

He slipped his
hand around her tiny waist, his heart rate increasing, rapidly. Her
warmth and softness settled against his body, and a surge of acute
desire flooding through him. There wasn't one part of him that
wasn't instantly steaming and alive and so very aware of her.

“Thanks for
inviting me round, beautiful.” His eyes captured hers.

She did crazy,
wild things to him. Just looking at her set him off.

“You're very
welcome. Very.” She took a sip of her wine and then put it down,
pointedly. Her face was flushed and he could feel heat coming off
her in a wave.

His hand
reached up to her hair. Messing it up a little, and grabbing a
handful, he tipped her head back and angled her face up to his.

As his mouth
touched hers, her eyes closed and a tiny sigh left her lips. He
pulled her closer, anchoring her head and body tightly against his.
Her slender arms wound themselves around his back, her fingertips
pressing into his skin though the thin fabric of his shirt. His
tongue gently probed inside her mouth and she responded, opening
up, with the sweetest slip of her tongue over his.

He lost
himself from that first moment in her arms. Time stood still and
everything else in the world disappeared. All he could feel, smell
and taste was her... and it was beautiful beyond words. He caressed
the nape of her neck and her ears with his fingers, feeling his way
around. Her hand slipped up his back, and his spine tingled in
reaction to her touch. As her warm palm came to rest on his head
and her fingers spread wide on his skull he hovered at that point
of wanting far more than he should after five minutes of her
company. He pulled away, his whole body protesting with his
actions. Although he really wanted this, he didn't want to spoil
things by pushing too fast.

“Better go
sit, hmm?”

“Strange, but
I don't want to anymore.” She said breathily, looking directly into
his eyes, in such a heart stopping way he almost lost his wits and
his self control.

“Nor do I, but
I think we should.”

They picked up
the wine glasses and the pizza box and moved across to the larger
sofa.

She sunk into
the mound of cushions at one end, semi lying down very seductively,
resting her arm on the back of the sofa. He sat at the other end,
getting comfortable, in his best manly pose, kicking off his shoes,
and resting one of his legs over hers.

“How was your
dinner with Ash?” he probed, picking up another sublime slice.

She took a sip
of her wine. “Okay. He's good company.”

“How do you
feel about him?” What the hell was he saying? Why bring this up?
The words slipped out before he could stop them.

“Not that
interested.”

“Are you sure?
Most women are very interested.”

“I'm not most
women.”

“I can't
believe you don't feel something.”

She sighed.
“You want my honest feelings, the nitty-gritty truth?”

“Yeah, I
do.”

“He has his
positives...I find him very attractive physically. His looks turn
me on. He's polite and beautifully spoken, I like that. I think he
has a nice sense of humour and I do find him interesting to talk
to. But he has a lot of negatives...he's spoilt, overly
controlling, manipulative, very single minded and probably quite
selfish. I don't think he has much on his mind other than getting
me in his bed. I expect I'm an amusing challenge for him.”

“Well that
was
honest.”

“I'm an honest
woman.”

“I like that.
Tell me something more about yourself. About your family?”

“I'm twenty
seven, and have a degree in law. A single child. My mum and dad are
both teachers. I've got Irish, English and French grandparents. I'm
a real mixture.”

“I'm pure
Essex, way back, before time began,” he said with a laugh. “My
family are bakers, all apart from me. I'm the non-baking black
sheep. The one they like to sweep under the carpet.”

“Are you now?
You'll have to tell me all about that black past of yours.”

“Maybe I will,
some other time. What about boyfriends, had anything serious?”

“Only one
worth mentioning. I was with Will for eight years.”

“Really?
That's a long time. So what happened?”

“I met him at
Uni, he joined the Royal Navy on their graduate officer training
program and we only saw each other every few months. But we simply
grew apart over the years. Nothing actually happened to end it.
We're still friendly, but it wasn't ever, well...you know...?”

“Exciting?” he
offered.

She smiled
briefly at him, in a sad kind of way. “I loved him, but mostly
platonically. What about you?”

“I'm thirty
two. And up until just over a year ago, I was married, to Caroline,
for nearly seven years. We're divorced now. She cheated on me with
an old mate of mine, they're still together,” he said. He wanted to
be as honest and upfront with her as she had been with him.

“Oh dear. That
must have hurt?”

“It did. But
we get on okay nowadays. My ex wife and I, not my ex mate...”

“You still
speak to her?”

“On and off. I
don't blame her really. She was restless. When we met she wasn't
even eighteen. Just out of school. We were together for a long
time. Ten years. I started talking kids and stuff and she wanted
other things, I guess. A taste of the high life and things Caleb's
obviously providing.”

“So she's my
age?”

“Twenty eight
last December.”

“And there's
been no girlfriend since?”

“There's been
a couple. Nothing serious. What about you, any guys on your scene
since Will and you split?”

“Well there is
someone.”

“Oh...right.”
His stomach dropped in disappointment. He kicked himself for being
an idiot, thinking a little too far ahead too quickly. Of course a
girl like her would have guys interested in her. Be even so, he
hadn't wanted to hear that.

“So, how long
you been seeing him, this someone?” he asked in as calm a tone as
he could.

“Not long at
all. I only met him this afternoon,” she smiled cheekily. Her
eyelashes fluttering flirtatiously. “But so far I'm getting very
good vibes.”

He stared at
her silently, absorbing her words and meaning. He was hooked,
completely ripped out of the water, fucking hooked. It really was
too soon to say for sure, but he had a strong feeling Caroline
might be taking a back seat in his life.

“You know
what? I'm feeling that too.”

“Well that's
good to know. But Adrian, I'm concerned about Ashton. It's not nice
sneaking around behind his back. You must feel really bad, as well,
don't you? He's your friend.”

“No, I don't
feel bad, Nikki. He doesn't have any claim on you. Ash has more
than enough female interest, believe me. But we should keep our
dates quiet, though. He's your client. You need to keep him sweet.
So, not a word, okay?”

“A complete
blackout, then?”

“Exactly.”

“I can manage
that, no problem.”

“And no more
talking about him. Tomorrow he'll have you all day. I won't get a
look in.”

“Only in the
work sense. And you can have me all night.”

Have me all
night?

“
I'm all for having you.”

He was almost
beside himself with excitement. His cool was leaving, and fast.

“
Finished your pizza yet?”

“Oh yeah. I'm
completely done eating, babe.”

He stared at
her and she stared back. He leaned forward and took her hand and
brought it up to his mouth, brushing his lips over her
knuckles.

He stood up
and pulled her to him, closely. His nose and mouth grazed at her
neck, absorbing the traces of the heavy perfume she'd been wearing
earlier. He didn't think anything could possibly smell or taste
sexier.

“
Oh God,
Adrian...I need to get in there.
..” she moaned, her hands were
at his shirt, feverishly undoing the buttons.

With a long
sigh, her hands slipped inside his open shirt, rubbing his chest,
her fingers circling his nipples. He was losing it fast,
overwhelmed with desire.

“Keep doing
that,” he groaned, as wave of heat engulfed him.

She pushed his
shirt off his shoulders and dragged it down his arms. Her tongue
licked along his collar bone lightly, back and forth as her
fingertips continued to caress him slowly and softly. His spine
tingled wildly all the way from his neck to his ass.

“
Oh
Jesus,
” he moaned loudly.

She felt her
way down his body, across his stomach and his muscles tensed
tightly in response. Their eyes locked as she hooked her fingers
inside the low waist of his jeans, giving them a little tug in the
downward direction. Her finger brushed the tip of his cock, which
was already rock hard and dying for more contact. And that contact
was soon coming.

She rubbed him
up and down, very thoroughly, through the denim. And that moment,
he lost his sanity.

He took a big
handful of hair, wrapping it around his fist, his other hand
claiming her breast. His mouth possessed hers, hard and
urgently.

She groaned in
response, moulding herself tightly against him.

As his tongue
slipped inside, everything caught fire in his brain. Never had he
had a reaction like this, to any woman. Not even with Caroline. It
had launched him off the planet. Way off, like in another
universe.

His hands
dropped to her ass and he pressed her hips to his, crushing his
erection against her stomach. Their breathing was loud and
fast.

“I want you
bad, babe.”

“And I want
you. But my God, I can't stop thinking... what am I doing... I
hardly know you,” she pushed against his chest gently.

He could feel
her sudden hesitancy strongly and her moral objections were cooling
her off. She wasn't the type of woman to act so recklessly. He knew
that instinctively. But he needed her to do it. He wanted her like
nothing else mattered and he was sure she wanted him the same
way.

He caught her
under the chin with his finger and tipped her face up to his.

“Hey, there's
nothing wrong with this Nikki, this is the most right thing I've
ever felt. As for not knowing each other, I guess we will pretty
soon, and in the best way I can think of.”