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.”His touch sent her pulse hammering.She turned to meet his gaze in the flickering firelight.His voice reached deep down into her and touched her as she’d never been touched before.Something inside her melted and flowed and threatened to overwhelm her.If she could have found her voice, she would have told him she’d never wrapped anyone around her finger.If he didn’t look so serious, so sincere and so genuine, she would have doubted him.He leaned toward her and framed her face with his strong fingers.She knew he was going to kiss her.She wanted it more than anything she’d ever wanted before.She wanted him to kiss her and never stop.She wanted him to brand her with his kiss.She wanted him to claim her for his own, though rationally she knew it would never happen.She was not thinking rationally.This time it was not the wine.She’d barely had time for one sip.She was under his spell.Under the spell of his voice and his dark eyes and his overwhelming presence.She didn’t know what he was waiting for.She was ready.She was beyond ready.She was desperate.If he didn’t kiss her soon, she’d have to—When his lips finally met hers she sighed in the back of her throat and gave in to the sensations that rushed through her body.The heat that suffused her limbs spread and invaded her core.Frightened by her own reaction, she pulled back and reached awkwardly for her wineglass.“This might be better if I had a little more to drink,” she said.He shook his head.“This time I want you to know exactly what’s happening,” he said.“Because last time…” He didn’t finish his sentence.Instead, he pressed his lips against her neck, under her ear where her pulse beat rapidly.“Don’t remind me,” she breathed.“That was then,” he whispered in her ear.“This is now.”He kissed her again.This time his mouth was hot and heavy and demanding.This time she didn’t even think about pulling back.She was no longer afraid of her own reaction.She was only afraid he’d stop too soon.She met his kiss with one of her own, just as hot and just as intense as his.He moaned low in his throat and pulled her to him so her breasts were pressed against his hard chest.He tangled his hand in her hair and removed the clip that fell onto the carpet.The heat from the fire and the heat that built inside her set her body on fire.She struggled to remove her sweater, knowing she was wearing a turtleneck shirt underneath.But somehow Rafik was helping her out of both garments, tossing them aside and then gazing at her in rapt admiration.Her breasts ached and her nipples budded under his gaze.She’d never been so aware of her body before.Never knew it could feel this way.“You are so beautiful,” he said reverently, lifting one lacy bra strap to kiss her shoulder, trailing kisses to the valley between her breasts.Her body responded as if she’d been touched by a live wire.She felt as if the blood in her veins had turned to molten lava.She shuddered from the sheer ecstasy of his mouth on her tender skin.“Your skin is like delicate porcelain,” he murmured.“I want to kiss every inch from your head to your toes.I want you, Anne.I want you so much it hurts.I think I have since the first moment I saw you.If I had the chance I’d make love to you in a way you’d never forget.Sweetly, tenderly, passionately.Tell me if you feel the same.If you want what I want.”She gazed into his eyes, her skin burning, her whole body throbbing with desire.She could imagine what a gentle considerate lover he would be.How he could awaken in her such passion as she had only heard about.“Yes,” she breathed.“Oh, yes, but…” But she knew she couldn’t do this.She knew that no matter how she felt about Rafik he was the same playboy he had been the first moment she’d seen him.He didn’t want a fiancée then and he didn’t want one now.Not really.He didn’t want to get married.He might never get married.And if he did, it wouldn’t be to her.It would be to one of those sophisticated women she’d seen at the gala ball.The only reason one of them wasn’t playing the role of his fiancée was that he hadn’t asked them.The thought of Rafik with another woman made her so sad a tiny tear sprang to her eye and trickled down her cheek.“What is it?” he asked anxiously.“What have I said to make you cry?”She reached for her shirt and pulled it on over her head.She took her sweater and put it on over her shirt.“Nothing.It’s nothing you said.It’s what you are.”“What I am? What am I?” he asked, his eyebrows drawn together in a puzzled frown.With her shirt on and her sweater in her hand, she inched away from him on the carpet though she wanted to stay in his arms more than anything she’d ever wanted before.She wanted him to make love to her all night long.She wanted to learn the sensual secrets only he knew.She wanted him to awaken her to every physical pleasure in the world.But that was not going to happen, even though every iota of her being was demanding to know why she was stopping what could be the most incredible, most unforgettable night of her life.Somewhere a voice inside her was telling her she might never have another chance like this.She was in romantic surroundings with a man she could fall in love with if she had half a chance.A man she was in very great danger of falling in love with in spite of everything she knew about him.It was not going to happen because, despite these feelings, Anne had learned long ago to protect herself from being hurt.Her instincts told her that this man could hurt her more than she’d ever been hurt before, if she let him.If she let him, he’d make mad, passionate love to her and be gone in the morning.Or if he wasn’t gone in the morning, he would be gone sometime in the future.Some day very soon he’d be gone from her life, despite the fact that his family approved of her, that his mother wanted her to wear her wedding dress and despite the fact that there was a physical attraction between them.An attraction that heightened her awareness of him and of herself every time she was in his presence.When he looked at her she felt faint.When he touched her she thought she might burn up.She reminded herself that Rafik was not going to marry her.She had to keep that simple fact in mind at all times.Because if she forgot, she was in terrible danger.His question hung in the air.What am I?She got to her feet and stumbled to the edge of the bed, where she sat looking down at him.She owed him an answer.She owed him an explanation for misleading him into thinking she’d make love to him tonight or ever.“You’re a sheik, for one thing,” she said, elbows on her knees, resting her chin in her hands.He smiled.“Surely you don’t hold that against me
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