Stranded For One Scandalous Week (Mills & Boon Modern) (Rebels, Brothers, Billionaires Book 1) Natalie Anderson (that summer book .txt) đ
- Author: Natalie Anderson
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âYouâre magnificent and fascinating. Because youâve snared my interest and I want to work out why. Because I desperately want to make you feel good enough to stop questioning everything and just enjoy our explosiveness.â
His fierce interruption silenced her. Was this explosive for him too, then? Was this something a little less ordinary for him? The prospect tempted that weak part of her.
âThereâs nothing wrong with sex,â he breathed. âDid someone tell you there was?â
Merle froze. Heâd veered so close to the truth there. Sheâd tried to mute her grandmotherâs endless lectures about being âgoodâ, about not bringing shame home. Sheâd linked shame so explicitly, so wrongly with sex. Her motherâs fears for her still echoed too. Sheâd never seen an example of women allowed to simply have fun, let alone anything loving.
âSo there has to be something wrong with me because Iâm saying no to you?â She turned defensive.
âBut you havenât said no to me yet.â He held up his hands. âBe honest.â
That was an altogether different dare from him.
âIâve told you the rules I play by,â he said. âYou know I donât cheat. I donât lie.â
âAnd I do?â
âTo yourself, maybe. Isnât that what youâre doing right now?â
Emotions were heightened. Desire was heightened. But so was doubt. Sheâd been burned before.
âIâll admit we have some chemistry. That doesnât mean Iâm going to say yes. I like pudding a lot, but Iâm not going to over-indulge because it wouldnât be good for me. Thereâs such a thing as balance.â
âBut youâre not indulging at all. Thereâs no balance there either.â A smile curved his lips. âWhy donât you just sample a little? You can say âenoughâ any time you like.â He gestured towards the oven. âYou know thereâs pudding on offer here tonight.â
She glanced at the oven and laughed. âI couldnât possibly. Iâve had sufficient.â
âOh, Merle,â he chastised softly. âSince when was sufficient ever enough?â
CHAPTER SIX
ARE WE GOING to talk about it?
Not only had Merle never had such kisses to discuss before, but sheâd never had anyone to discuss them with either. Sheâd stayed in the shadows, silent almost all of her life. Sheâd been taughtâby her mother, her grandmother, and her own small experienceâthat invisible equalled safe and that men meant trouble. But Ash hadnât let her hide. And, while theyâd danced with banter and tease, at the core was a challenge for honesty. For her to embrace her own desires. Now seductive possibilities fired her blood, pushing her pulse faster. He was leaving at the end of the week, their paths would never intersect again, no one would ever even know theyâd met, no one would ever careâcertainly not him. He was a hedonist who lived in the moment and who took advantage of all good opportunities when they aroseâin business and in pleasure, right?
Maybe she could learn more than a few things from him.
She paced the length of her suite, unable to unwind. Sheâd run away after dinnerâwary that her feelings were going to topple her into making a rash decision that couldnât be reversed. But wouldnât she be crazy not to claim such a chance? To experience something most other people enjoyed? It wasnât as if she was at risk from him when she knew exactly what sheâd be getting. And not getting. Sheâd not been saving her virginity. It was more that sheâd not met any possible takers until now.
Hot and bothered, she ran a cold bath, hoping to relax and settle her runaway thoughts. But she couldnât stop thinking about him. Ash offered brevity, but intensity. A night at his island hideaway. Wouldnât it be a chance for her to freely explore and accumulate one great memory? She didnât need to take everything so seriously, did she?
Because she couldnât ignore this ache. This burning temptation that not even icy water could soothe.
When she finally got out of the bath she heard a splash coming from outside. She glanced out of the window and stilled. Ash was back in the pool, taking a swim at nearly midnight. Occasionally, the light that spilled from the house caught himâmaking the droplets of water on his body glint like diamonds. Beautiful, powerful, impossible to tame and so tempting. But even as her heart thundered and her blood raced, she stepped back and turned away, too schooled in self-denial.
In silence.
But the tension in her body didnât lessen through the sleepless night. That temptation no longer whispered, it clamoured. She worked in the study all morning, thoughts circling incessantly until a low anger throbbed in time with the building pain in her temples. She was annoyed not by the ideas heâd planted in her head, but by her own cowardice. Her own docility. She was sick of doing as sheâd been told half her life. She was sick of staying quiet. She was sick of missing out on what she really wanted. And she was so tired of him swimming in that damned pool, flaunting his perfect body.
She stalked out of the study onto the patio. His magnetism was too strong for her to resist any longer. She wanted to have what she wantedâwho she wanted. He looked up. The immediate expression in his eyes scorched away the last of her shyness so that certainty flooded her.
He hoisted himself out of the pool in one powerful action, picked up a towel from a lounger and wrapped it round his waist. âGoing to roll the dice, Merle?â
He knew already. But now he waited. Yet, by just being near such a source of outrageous vitality, she finally felt emboldened and empowered enough to step from the shadows and speak up.
âIâve decided I want...â She broke off, battling the furious blush she felt swamping her skin.
He stood more still than she did. âWant?â
She breathed out. This still wasnât easy. âWhat you
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