Wanted by Her Lost Love - By Maya Banks Page 0,26

Angrily, she jammed the card into the lock, swearing when the light didn’t immediately flash green. She slammed the card in again and yanked at the handle when the telltale whir sounded.

Once inside, she bolted the door behind her and went into her bedroom. She perched on the edge of the bed, and in the distance she heard knocking and then Ryan’s angry voice through the door.

She was too angry to give a damn that he’d have to walk all the way around to the patio glass doors to gain entrance.

She’d had enough of this farcical…hell, she didn’t even know what to call it this time around. Whatever it was, she wanted out.

It was enough that she’d been humiliated by Ryan and his brother, but now she had to put up with some brainless airhead piling on as well? They could all go to hell.

Her head came up when her bedroom door flew open, revealing a livid Ryan. Yeah, well he wasn’t the only one, and she wasn’t backing down. She got to her feet and faced him head-on.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Kelly? It isn’t like you to go to such extremes. What do you hope to accomplish by locking me out? Ignoring our problems isn’t going to make them go away.”

“How would you know what isn’t like me?” she retorted. “It would seem you never knew me at all.”

His eyes flashed and he nodded. “That much is certainly true.”

Pissed at the innuendo in his response, she fixed him with a cold stare. “I want out of here. I want the first flight out I can get. This is ridiculous. It’s a waste of time. It’s never going to work between us, Ryan.”

He swore and moved to stand just in front of her, his hands gripping her shoulders. “We had an agreement. One week together and we forget the past.”

She gaped at him incredulously. “Did you not witness that debacle in the restaurant? How on earth would she know so much about me and our relationship unless you told her? How the hell are we supposed to forget the past when your little floozy is busy throwing it in my face? I don’t appreciate being made a fool of. And I certainly don’t appreciate being bandied about in conversation like yesterday’s garbage.”

“I never discussed you with her,” he said emphatically.

“Amazing then that she knew so much.”

“Why is it you have so little faith in me, Kelly? I didn’t betray you.”

She flinched. It always came back to this. No matter what, it always came back to the fact that he believed she had betrayed him and refused to entertain any other possibility.

She turned away from him, trying to control the tide of rage boiling over her. Shaking with her attempts to tamp down her angry shouts, she clenched her hands and closed her eyes tightly.

Suddenly she was spun around to face him again and he crushed his lips to hers, cupping her face in his hands. She brought her hands up between them to push against his chest, but his arms went tightly around her back, pulling her even closer to him.

She moaned low in her throat as his kiss gentled and became exploratory. He moved her to the edge of the bed and lowered her onto the mattress, never ceasing his slow movement over her lips. “Damn it, Kelly, just don’t say anything for a while. No words. We can’t seem to have a conversation without hurting each other, so for just a little while let’s communicate without talking.”

She gazed into his eyes as he drew away from her and studied his expression. How could she want him so much after all the mistrust and hurt? His fingertips caressed her cheek and she closed her eyes, arching further into his hand.

What if she let him make love to her? Would it be so bad? Or would it just confirm his low opinion of her.

Like a bucket of ice water, that thought quashed any desire she had to surrender to his lovemaking. He must have sensed her withdrawal because he drew away, looking at her in confusion.

“I can’t do this,” she said, scrambling to sit up on the bed. “Not knowing what you think of me.”

The words caught and raggedly slipped from her lips. Drawing protective arms around her chest, she sat on the rumpled covers watching him warily.

“Don’t stare at me like you expect me to pounce,” he said in disgust. “I am not into unwilling women.”

He