The Tycoon's Tender Triumph Page 0,3

loveseat, a sofa being too large to fit in her tiny apartment.

He allowed her to seat him, then turned to face her. “You’re right,” he said, a touch nervously. He took her coffee cup and placed it on the small table. Taking her hands in his, he put them on his shoulders.

Chloe watched with detached interest as David positioned her exactly as he wanted her. His head then slowly bent towards hers, his lips touching hers tentatively. When she didn’t pull back, he increased the pressure, caressing her lips with a practiced touch.

Nothing, she thought to herself. She felt no excitement, no joy. Nothing at all.

Chloe opened her mouth, thinking that perhaps she just needed a more intensified version of his kiss. Her tongue touched his gently and his reaction was instantaneous. He groaned and pushed her backwards, his mouth pressing against hers, his tongue searching and exploring.

She tried to get into the kiss. She closed her eyes and desperately tried to get into the spirit of the moment. But all she felt was a mild irritation that his tongue was inside her mouth. In desperation, she increased the pressure, pushing her body against his and almost jerked back when she felt his erection against her body. She wasn’t scared of it, she just didn’t want to encourage him in that way.

But he noticed her reaction and pulled away slightly, moving his mouth to her neck. “Don’t be afraid, Chloe,” he groaned against her skin while she opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. “It’s just natural. We’ve been seeing each other for three months now and all you’ve allowed is a gentle kiss,” he said, laughing almost to himself. “The fact that you’re letting me touch you now makes me feel as if you’re ready for the next step,” he said, his hand moving from her back to her stomach, then slightly higher.

Reaching up, she pulled his hand away from its obvious path towards her breast, but didn’t stop his mouth. Instead, she pressed harder, willing herself to feel something, to stop thinking and just let go.

When the knock sounded on her door, she almost sighed with relief. David sat up and looked around, dazed. “Who would be coming for a visit at this time of night?” he asked, frustration obvious in his glare as he pulled himself up to a sitting position.

Something about the impatient knock made Chloe wary. It couldn’t possibly be….could it? Scoffing at her own silliness, she stood up and started walking to the door to answer it. It was just that they had been talking about Sam that he was on her mind. He wasn’t standing beyond the door waiting for her, she mentally chided herself. He wouldn’t fly all this way. The man was known for living on his ranch and rarely leaving it, forcing the rest of the world to come to him.

“It’s probably just Suzanne. She had a hot date tonight and probably wants to share,” Chloe forced herself to laugh. She was relieved to be out of his embrace but didn’t want him to know that. Wishing it were so wouldn’t make it, she told herself. If the past fifteen minutes had convinced her of anything, she accepted that she’d have to break up with David. He was too nice to waste his time on her when she didn’t feel anything other than mild friendship toward him. She had to be fair and let him go out and find someone that could make him happy and return his feelings.

“Well, get rid of her so we can get back to our hot date,” he teased as her hand settled on her door handle. Chloe glanced back at him, wondering if he could really be completely unaware of her lack of response to his kisses. When he wiggled his eyebrows at her, she knew that he was oblivious. Astonishingly, he had no idea that she felt nothing when he kissed her.

Her distraction over his comments made her forget to check through the peep hole before opening the door. If she had, she would never have opened it. As it was, she stood there, staring at the tall man blocking out the hallway lights with his enormous size.

Sam Marchant was here? In New York? What on earth? She closed her eyes and opened them again, hoping he would simply disappear. But he didn’t. In fact, one dark eyebrow went up in amusement at her attempt and that’s when Chloe knew he was