‘WHY DON’T YOU just accept the situation and move on?’ Joanna was saying now, and Matt gave a weary shake of his head.
‘Move on to what?’ He was annoyingly persistent.
‘I don’t know. Another woman, perhaps.’ Although that thought still had the power to upset her. ‘The—the one who’s been keeping your bed warm since we split up. You can’t pretend you’ve been lonely since I walked out.’
Matt’s eyes darkened. ‘How would you know that?’
‘I read the tabloids, Matt. I’ve seen the pictures of you with other women. You’re not exactly back-page news.’
Matt arched a mocking brow. ‘Jealous?’
‘Of course not.’ Although she had been, if she was totally honest. ‘Naturally I was interested,’ she added, trying to sound offhand. ‘You have your own life to lead. I—I never expected you to live the life of a monk.’
Matt shook his head. He had the feeling she was never going to admit to the chemistry that still flared between them. Ignoring her resistance, he cupped her nape with his free hand, tipping her face up to his.
‘Tell me you don’t want me to kiss you,’ he grated roughly. ‘Tell me you don’t want to feel the thrust of my body taking possession of yours, and I’ll let you go.’
Joanna sucked in a breath; he was much closer now and twice as provocative. ‘You’re crazy!’
‘Am I?’ Matt rotated his hips against hers and she felt the unmistakeable hardness of his arousal. He took the wrist he was holding and wound it behind her back, pressing her even closer. ‘You used to like me to do this. You used to like it when I laid you out on the bed and licked my way down—’
‘Don’t say any more!’
Joanna could hardly get the words out. Against her will, her legs were trembling, and she was unable to prevent the muscled power of his thigh from forcing its way between hers.
It was weakness, pure and simple, she assured herself, but she was very much afraid he might feel the dampness at her crotch and know she was lying now.
She’d known the attraction she’d always had for him hadn’t gone away. That was why she’d fought against coming to the United States in the first place. But God help her, she’d never actually thought she might find herself in a position where she wanted to give in to it again.
Matt’s eyes darkened, and instead of lowering his mouth to hers, his expression took on a mocking slant. ‘You know,’ he said consideringly, ‘I think you would love me to seduce you, if only to prove how desperate I am.’ He paused. ‘I am right, aren’t I?’
Joanna didn’t answer, but he could feel the softening of her body, could smell the arousal of her sex. Yet, in spite of the anticipation of her soft flesh yielding to his invasion, Matt managed to push her away.
Forcing the sexual images from his mind, he said harshly, ‘You’d love me to make a fool of myself, wouldn’t you? To get down on my knees and beg you to change your mind?’
‘No!’
The word was practically wrung from her lips, but he didn’t believe her.
For a moment, he felt some sympathy, but only for a moment. ‘Well, I still have some pride.’ His lips twisted. ‘I’m out of here, Joanna. If you still want to talk in the morning, I’ll meet you for breakfast. Your choice. Goodnight.’
Joanna caught her lower lip between her teeth as he strode towards the door.
‘I didn’t want to talk to begin with,’ she shouted after him, needing to defend herself. ‘You’ve got a whole different scenario going on here and you’re making me take the blame for your mistakes.’
His smile was mocking. ‘Yeah, you go on believing that. Personally, I don’t give a damn.’
Joanna pursed her lips. ‘I don’t know why you’re saying these things,’ she persisted. ‘I didn’t ask you to get this suite. I didn’t ask you to come up here.’
‘No.’ He conceded the point. ‘I was stupid enough to think you might thank me for making life easier for you. But, I should have known better.’
‘Matt!’
He’d reached the door when she called his name, and although he glanced back over his shoulder, his lean dark face was hard and unforgiving.
‘Matt.’ She couldn’t believe she was going to say the words, but she couldn’t let him leave without some words of justification. ‘Don’t go. Not like this.’
Matt’s brows ascended. ‘Are you saying I was right?’
‘No—’ Joanna licked dry lips. ‘I mean, you can’t honestly believe that I want you to seduce me? I simply thought...’ She shrugged. ‘Can’t we still be friends?’
‘Friends!’ Matt gave a disbelieving laugh as he turned and pressed his back against the door. ‘You’re not serious?’
Joanna had the feeling that she’d had too many glasses of wine. She wasn’t thinking clearly. She’d wanted him to go, for heaven’s sake. So why was she delaying him now?
When she didn’t answer, Matt got impatient. ‘I don’t have time for this,’ he said roughly. ‘I suggest you go to bed. I’ll meet you in the coffee bar in the morning.’
Joanna licked her lips. ‘What if I don’t want to go to bed?’ There was so much adrenalin coursing through her veins, she doubted she’d ever sleep again. Instead, she walked towards the windows Matt had opened earlier. ‘The pool’s floodlit, isn’t it? I might go for a swim.’
Matt stared at her as if she’d taken leave of her senses.
But Joanna was suddenly so warm her skin was prickling with heat. Hardly thinking what she was about to do, she unbuttoned her tunic and peeled it off. Then she tipped the straps of her bra down over her arms, feeling the blessed relief of air from the air-conditioning system cooling her overheated flesh.
Matt swore. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ he demanded, and she heard the revealing thickening of his tone. His voice was both harsh and raw with emotion, and Joanna lifted a nervous hand to her throat.
‘I’m going for a swim,’ she said lightly. ‘The water will be beautifully cool at this time of the evening.’
Matt’s teeth ground together. ‘If you think I might come with you—’
‘I don’t expect anything of you, Matt.’ Yet despite her words desire was suddenly shimmering throughout her body. Her blood was racing like liquid fire, and she moistened dry lips with a pink tongue. ‘You can stay or go. It’s up to you.’
‘I made my decision five minutes ago,’ Matt reminded her, stifling a curse, but his face suddenly blazed with colour. Didn’t she realise what seeing her in only half a bra and a skimpy pair of panties was doing to him?
Of course, she did. He scowled. ‘If this is some sick game you’re playing—’
‘It’s no game.’ She took a deep breath, stretching her arms above her head. ‘I don’t play games, Matt. I’m going swimming. What’s wrong with that?’
‘It’s after eleven o’clock.’
‘So?’
Matt swore and turned towards the door again and she realised he was really leaving this time. Which was probably just as well, she assured herself unsteadily, grabbing her overnight bag and heading for the bathroom. That way he need never know she’d only been bluffing.
She didn’t wait to hear the door slam behind him. There was a closed door to her left, which she guessed led into the bathroom, and she couldn’t wait to take off the rest of her clothes and step into a cool shower. She had no illusions now that Matt really cared what happened to her, and she found her eyes were stupidly brimming with tears.
She was reaching for the handle when a lean brown wrist came over her shoulder. Matt’s hand flattened against the door, successfully preventing her from opening it.
‘You planning on getting changed in the closet?’ he asked, his taut body imprisoning hers against the door. ‘Not a good plan, Jo.’
Joanna gulped. ‘I thought you were leaving.’
‘I was. I should be.’ Matt’s voice was hoarse. ‘But I’m crazy. Didn’t you know?’
Aware that her heart was palpitating in her breast, Joanna rested her hot face against the panels of the door. ‘Why are you still here?’ she whispered brokenly. ‘What do you want from me?’
‘Don’t you know?’ Matt demanded savagely. His hand slid beneath her bra, his palm rubbing sensuously over her burgeoning nipple. ‘Go on, tell me to go now. Or are you having too much fun at my expense?’
‘I’m not having fun at your expense,’ protested Joanna, her breath hitching as he lowered his free hand to her stomach. ‘I didn’t want you to go.’
‘You know what, I find that hard to believe.’
‘It’s true,’ she panted, leaning her head back against his shoulder. ‘You’re still the only man I’ve ever loved.’
Matt’s breath caught in his throat and he allowed his fingers to slide down over the flimsy lace of her panties. Joanna’s stomach contracted, and she shuddered in anticipation when his hand continued down until it was trapped between her legs.
Then he pressed her back against his throbbing shaft and muttered in an undertone, ‘Now I guess you know why I’m still here,’ as he swung her round to face him. Then he bent his head and took possession of her mouth.
And Joanna knew that ever since she’d seen Matt again, she’d been fighting this battle over and over in her mind. Now she didn’t hesitate, giving herself up to the demands of her senses, winding her arms around his neck and parting her lips for his tongue.
Her lacy bra was discarded, and his tongue tugging on her nipples was a forbidden delight. Tiny rivulets of fire invaded every pore of her body, and she dragged his mouth back to hers with an urgency too long denied.
Her fingers sought the button at the waist of his pants and she caressed his taut stomach with her knuckles as she pulled it free. Then his zip slid smoothly down to his crotch and exposed the bulging outline of his shaft.
His erection swelled against the silk of his boxers. She half expected him to take her there, pressed against the door. She wouldn’t have objected, she thought wildly. But he inhaled a tortuous breath and swung her up into his arms.
‘The bed, I think,’ he said thickly, and, stepping over his pants, he carried her into the room next door.
Between lowering her onto the bed and following her down he managed to dispose of his boxers. Then, straddling her yielding form, he cupped her face between his hands. ‘If you change your mind now, I’ll never forgive you,’ he muttered hoarsely, but Joanna’s fingers were already seeking the swollen stiffness of his shaft.
‘I need to be inside you. God, why did you make me wait so long?’ he choked, almost strangled by his emotions.
Just for a brief moment, as Matt’s tongue traced a sensuous path from her breasts to her navel and beyond, Joanna wondered if it was she who was crazy and not him. How would she feel about this in the morning? Would she remember it as the biggest mistake of her life? But when his fingers slipped between her legs again and entered her, she arched to meet them. Then shuddered as a wave of sexual pleasure sent her hurtling over the brink.
She wrapped her arms and legs around him, and he didn’t hesitate. With an urgency born of need, he moved between her thighs and buried his length inside her.
Their lovemaking was hot and passionate. Matt had forgotten how good it felt to be with her, to have her muscles tightening around him, her body tensing again, ready for what was to come. When he felt the spasms of excitement rippling through her, he pushed ever more deeply into her core.
Joanna’s head was spinning. She’d missed Matt’s lovemaking more than she could ever say. Their rhythms matched, so smooth, so natural. Her body arched to meet his thrusts, perfectly in tune with his demands.
When he moved faster, so did she. She felt as if her senses were on overload, spiralling out of control. The darkness of his passion surrounded her, the pulse of his excitement causing her to climax again and again. And when his release came, she clung to him, feeling him filling her with his seed.
* * *
Joanna opened her eyes to daylight.
It was still very early. Barely six o’clock according to her watch. But attuned as she was to British time, the fact that the sun was not yet up meant nothing. Miami was five hours behind London and in consequence she was instantly wide awake.
She blinked as her brain kicked in, recognising the suite at the hotel the manager had shown them into the night before. She and Matt, she remembered, with a sudden feeling of apprehension.
Dear God!
Propping herself up on her elbows, she turned her head, half expecting to find herself alone. Surely what she’d thought had happened had been just a dream; a sensual hallucination; brought about by overwrought senses and too many glasses of wine.
But she was not alone. There was a warm body beside hers in the bed. Matt’s body, she realised a little incredulously, as her breathing quickened in disbelief. He’d evidently fallen asleep, as she had. So what price now her earlier conviction that she’d imagined the whole thing?
Easing back against the pillows, not wanting to disturb him until she’d assessed the situation, she felt a headache probing at her temples. Evidently, she’d had too many glasses of wine and too little sustenance the night before. Why else, in the name of all that was holy, would she have allowed this to happen? After everything she’d said about her husband, how had she got herself into this mess?
The awareness of her own nakedness briefly diverted her. She hadn’t slept in the nude since the last time she and Matt had shared a bed. She certainly hadn’t expected to share one with him again. Not on this trip. Nor any other. What about her demands for a divorce?
The ache between her thighs was a reminder of what had actually occurred. They’d made love several times, she remembered, her skin prickling in response. They’d both seemed insatiable, she recalled, unable to deny it. She’d wanted him, quite desperately as it had turned out. So what did that say about her?
She might hate Matt for the way she believed he’d betrayed her father, but he’d now know it hadn’t entirely erased the feelings they’d once shared. If only she’d taken David’s advice and conducted this negotiation from a distance. Yet she couldn’t entirely blame Matt for her own weakness where he was concerned.
She lifted a hand to her breasts. They, too, were intensely sensitive, and she recalled how Matt had suckled from their swollen peaks. Then his mouth had burned a sensual path to her navel, before he’d buried his head so erotically between her thighs.
Involuntarily, her hand slid down to touch the damp curls between her legs. She was sensitive there, too. But it was just sex, she told herself fiercely. Sex that had driven her to behave the way she had. Nothing more.
Yet seeing Matt’s head on the pillow beside hers, she knew she couldn’t trust herself to behave any more sensibly this morning. Wanting someone was an addictive thing, and she was apparently unable to resist. She was intensely vulnerable, so she should make sure she wasn’t here when he woke up.
For a moment more, she studied his lean dark features, fighting the lingering desire to draw his hand between her legs. She couldn’t deny he was still immensely attractive to her, but she believed the love she’d once had for him had given way to a much more basic need.
It wouldn’t last, she assured herself. No relationship built on such foundations survived. The sooner she collected her belongings and got out of the hotel, the better.
What a blessing it was that she hadn’t unpacked the night before, she thought, as she slid cautiously out of bed. Although she’d left her jeans and tee shirt on the bed when she’d gone to dinner at the villa, she’d stuffed them back into her bag before leaving for the hotel.
A quick use of the facilities and she could be on her way, she thought. Though it was nerve-racking trying to get dressed without disturbing Matt. She had no idea what she’d say to him if he woke up. Or what he might say to her.
But he didn’t wake up. He was still sleeping soundly when she headed for the door. She hesitated for a moment in the doorway, wishing it didn’t have to end like this. Then, squaring her shoulders, she slipped the latch and headed for the lift.