39
“That doesn’t answer my question. I gave you time, Emma… And space… You have absolutely no idea how hard it was for me to stay away. But I thought that was what you wanted… after that night. And yet you still act this way. I want to understand you, Emma. Why do you choose to fight me? I’m not going to hurt you. He said.
“You say that and yet here we are” she said. “everything was fine until you came along.”
He smiled. “That’s because you keep fighting me” he said, and then he promised too quietly, “If you will cool down, my tender little wildcat, you will see that there is a lot going on between us?”
His low, intimate tone brought Emma’s chin up and tightened her fists. “between us? The only thing between us is a bad employee-boss relationship. You can leave now and take it with you. You know you can’t just show up at my place whenever you want and act like you own me.”
Feather light, his finger swept her hot cheek. “There’s definitely something here… Between us. You know it too but you insist on denying it.” Passion smoldered from beneath his sooty lashes.”Try those claws on me, sweetie. Good old Ben couldn’t stand the strain ”
“You better leave Ben out of this. Get out!”
He didn’t move, but his black eyes were alive and hungry. They seemed to burn away her dress and sear her body, following the long, tanned curves of her legs revealed by the slit in her dress. Her breath stopped as his eyes coursed slowly upward. They warmed the pale column of her throat before resting on her full trembling mouth, then in a blaze melded with her eyes. The twist of his mouth told a sensuous story: Daniel liked what he saw.
“Come here, honey” he repeated “test your claws on me. The place seemed to shrink as he stepped closer.”don’t fight me baby… I have waited weeks to feel you in my arms again. And I’m so tired of waiting. The siege is on again, love”. He took another step closer
Emma’s body ached for him, but he was pushing too hard. She resented his control over her emotions. She felt cornered and defensive. The needs of her body almost outweighing her pride.
“don’t worry. I will be very careful with you tonight”
She arched her neck to look at him. His height intimidated her even with the added inches of her dress heels.
He touched the hollow of her throat with a fingertip. “You are so beautiful… So beautiful even with those circles beneath your eyes” then he whispered in her ear “you are aroused too. And that is more tantalizing to me than the excitement of the hunt”
The warm finger pressed the soft flesh a moment longer, testing the beat of her pulse beneath it. “I wonder,” he murmured, “if you know how much power lies in that beautiful face when you look at me. In that soft, hungry body that fits into my arms just right. In those frantic little sounds you make in your throat when I’m deep inside you… I haven’t stopped thinking about that night… You know”
Emma acknowledged the lariat of desire that he drew tighter around her. She wanted to hold him, to have the softness of his voice soothe her, the warmth of his body beckon her. But on another plane, sanity returned that she was vulnerable, and Daniel knew how to make a woman ache for him.
She slapped away the large hand hovering near her throat, but he caught her fingers and held them as his mouth dipped to press the hollow of her throat. Over their joined hands, he said “You are afraid of me. Of what you feel for me… You don’t have to be, honey”
Emma licked her lips “it is late Daniel… It is late and I have to rest”
“That’s the truth, my lady. It’s too late for you. He pulled her roughly to him “damn” he cursed. I have never wanted to be with… Just any woman, the way I want to be with you. You make me feel like I’m walking a tightrope… One wrong step and I could lose you. ”
Emma found the hollow of his hips and lightly settled her hands there.
Against her flesh he was breathing heavily. Pressed against the angular heat of his torso and thighs, Emma’s softness fitted tightly into him
“Let me go Daniel” Emma whispered even as her palm slid upward to his lean waist.
“You know you want me honey” . He groaned “Let me in”
Fighting the drugging attraction, Emma pushed her palms against the steel of his chest “You can’t just walk in here and change my life”
Dark and determined, Daniel’s face rose over hers “I can’t?” He drawled as his hands freed her “Now that is the kinda challenge I like.”
She shivered at the burning gaze and backed down the darkened hallway.
“Keep going baby” he purred “You are headed in the right direction”This is property © NôvelDrama.Org.
“Daniel, you are pushing too hard”
“Damn right, I am,” he said. “I don’t intend to be an outsider to you, not after the warmth you gave me the other night. I don’t want some guy walking you home, Emma. You are mine. And you are going to remain mine”
“That is just it, Daniel” she managed to say. “I’m not going to be manipulated and forced to bend to your wishes”
“Manipulated?” he repeated. “Such a word for what is happening between us. It is a mutual thing. It’s a sharing between us, one that grows each day. And I believe you know it too… Just that you insist on fighting it.”
Emma sighed. “Well… If you want to share something so bad with someone,” she said. “Why don’t you go to Michelle…. I’m sure you both have a lot to offer each other.”
He stopped and stared at her. Just where did that come from?