One More Time - Louisa George Page 0,23

Max. ‘Oh. Yes. I need to go home too.’

‘You live in Boston Road, don’t you?’ Rach paused. ‘I live round the corner from there— do you want to walk back with me?’

Did she? No. She wanted to lie in bed with Max Maitland. To stare out of his penthouse window at the sparkling harbour lights. Listen to his regular breathing as he slept with her in his arms.

But most of all she wanted him to make love to her. ‘Yeah, okay, I’ll come with you, Rach. Hang on a second, I’ll just put my coat on.’

Max’s hand on her wrist gave her pause. He turned her away from Rachel and hissed into her ear, his breath warm against her neck. ‘Oh, no, you don’t. Not so quick.’

‘What? Why?’ Please don’t touch me. Her body remembered how he’d felt inside her. Every nerve ending screamed for his touch. Her nipples hardened as she brushed against him, her legs already weakened with desire. How could a man make her feel this alive? She had no idea how to deal with the stirred-up hormones racing through her system.

There was only one release, could only be one release. With him. But she couldn’t go there again.

Vivid blue eyes fixed on hers, offering promises and chances, and a night of wicked pleasure. Hers for the taking.

‘There’s only one place you’re going tonight, Charge Nurse Radley. And that’s with me.’

‘Don’t think you can spend the whole evening flirting and teasing without some kind of comeback.’ His hands were in her hair now as the lift sped them towards his apartment.

He brushed her curls back from her face and peered into those large, dark eyes that had such a strange hold over him. Running a thumb along her cheek, he watched her pupils dilate. They told him how much she wanted him, too. Again she wore a buttoned-up blouse that covered her skin. Again, it was the sexiest thing he’d ever ached to remove from a woman’s body.

All evening the only thing on his mind had been this moment. It had been inevitable from the first second he’d seen her in the bar.

He’d gone from determination not to act on his impulses, to trying to work out how the hell to get her alone again. And now, after all his promises to the contrary, they were headed back to the penthouse.

Pressing his lips against hers, he drank her in. This time he wanted to treasure the taste, learn everything about her, hear her moan, feel her shiver under his touch. He backed her up against the lift wall, his hands zoning in on those curves that kept him awake at night.

She pulled away, smiling. ‘I wasn’t flirting with you. I was chatting with friends. Rachel’s going to think I’m a loony, sending her home in a cab while we... What was it you said? Talk about ward policies?’

‘I was thinking on the hoof. You were driving me mad.’

‘You think you’re mad? Because I was trying not to think about you...us...this...I’ve signed up to kayak across an ocean, run myself ragged on a touch-rugby field and do a three-day cross-country skiing event. And I hate sport.’ She laughed into his chest and he hauled her closer, feeling the press of her breasts against his diaphragm, inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo. He’d never been so aware of a woman in his whole damned life.

‘Really? I reckon you’d be good at anything you put your hand to.’ He pulled her hand to his waist, ran his fingers over her bottom towards her thigh. ‘With these gorgeous legs you’d excel at sport.’

‘I was a pretty good athlete once, but it all...’ Those pupils contracted. Heck, her whole body contracted. There was more to this but she’d clammed up. Turned away. ‘Never mind.’

He grasped her wrist and turned her to face him, wishing there wasn’t such a veil of secrecy over everything. Wishing trust wasn’t something he’d heard about but never experienced. ‘So what happened?’

The lift pinged and they were in his apartment before she answered. The vulnerability in her face tugged at his heart, raising more questions about her past. ‘Life got in the way. You know how it is.’

‘Do I?’

She wrapped her arms around his neck. Nibbled along his lip. ‘Shut up and kiss me.’

He smacked a kiss on her mouth. Short. Hot. Hard. Pulled away before she got too comfortable. ‘Stop avoiding my questions. You are allowed to talk just a bit.’

‘Talking never achieved anything.’

‘But it might