He didn’t say anything as he looked down at her, his eyes searching each of her features before he finally smiled. “Come,” he said and took her hand in his. “You’ve barely eaten anything tonight and have only had a couple of glasses of wine. We’ll eat in the library while the catering crew cleans up.”
Helen couldn’t deny that she was hungry. Famished actually. But that didn’t mean she wanted to stay here with him. “I think it would be wiser for me to call a cab so I can go home.”
He kept walking and the hand at the small of her back kept her moving as well. “Wiser probably, but not the best plan of action.”
“Depends on your definition of ‘best’,” she replied.
He smiled down at her irritated, but flushed face. He liked having her here in his home and wasn’t ready to relinquish her company. “My definition, of course, overrides yours,” he chuckled.
Helen couldn’t help it. She’d never met anyone so arrogant and yet so amazingly charming about it. “You’re incorrigible,” she said, trying and failing to smother her own laughter.
“Of course. Come along,” he said and pulled her beside him. Along the way, he grabbed two plates and filled them up with the leftovers from the appetizers. Helen watched him, her mouth starting to water as he selected several different appetizers. “Don’t forget those,” she said, pointing to the small éclairs and other delicious looking pastries.
“Sweet tooth?” he asked.
“Big one,” she replied with an unrepentant grin.
He chuckled at the excited expression on her face. “I’ll have to remember that.”
She laughed and shook her head in automatic denial. “Don’t bother. I won’t be around for another meal.”
They left the patio and she followed him through the house, down a long hallway to a set of double doors which opened up to a large library. The room was three stories with books lining the walls from the floor to the ceiling, with two sets of balconies and strategically placed ladders so one could reach the higher books. “Good grief, Alec. Don’t you do anything on a small scale?”
He laughed. “When it is required, of course.”
“And you need all these books?” she asked, sitting down in a large leather chair and slipping off her shoes while he handed her a plate. He took off his jacket, tossing it over the back of the leather sofa and sat down across from her. “I like to read.”
“Have you read all of them?” she teased.
He looked around. “I’m making my way through them.”
She popped a cheese ball in her mouth. “That’s admirable. What kind do you like the best?” she asked.
They discussed literature, pop culture, the current state of the education system and politics, each topic segueing into the next. It was almost midnight before Helen realized what time it was. She glanced at her watch, then sat up straight. “Goodness, I’d better get home,” she yawned. She couldn’t believe how much she enjoyed talking with him, just being with him. It wasn’t just his body that excited her, but also his mind which was swift and articulate. She wished she could find something about him she didn’t like. Anything her mind could latch onto as a trouble issue and would allow her to think of him as only a friend, just like the other men in her past. Alec was dangerous on a level she just didn’t know how to handle.
He’d already discarded his plate and both were sipping brandy. He put his empty snifter to the table and looked across at her. “Come here, Helen.”
Helen tried to resist. She hesitated, seeing the gleam in his eye and knew what he wanted. Her mind told her to get up and leave, that he wouldn’t stop her. But her body wouldn’t comply. She’d been watching him all evening, talking, walking amongst his guests and generally just being the sexiest man alive. And now he wanted her in his arms and she knew he’d kiss her, and probably a lot more.
She should leave. She should just get up, slip her shoes on and walk out the door. It was the safer plan. It wouldn’t lead to more knowledge of this dynamic, amazing man. But she wouldn’t do it. Even as she licked her dry lips and stared across at his, thinking about his kisses, wondering what his touch would feel like and telling herself it would be emotional suicide to go to him, she knew that she was going to throw all caution to the wind and walk those few feet to him and feel him against her, know his kisses and revel in all the electrifying feelings he could spark within her.
She made one condition. “We can’t have sex, Alec.”
“Trust me,” was all he would say. He didn’t promise that she’d be safe, only to trust him.
She did.
Lifting her hand, she reached out and touched his. His hand closed over her small one and pulled her gently towards him on the sofa.
Alec pulled her down so she was sitting in his lap. “Kiss me, Helen,” he said but didn’t wait for her to take the initiative. He pulled her down, his mouth covering hers, making her breathless as his mouth moved over hers, his tongue touching her lips, demanding and gaining entry.
When she pulled away, his mouth moved to her neck, his hands brushing against her waist, touching, gently caressing and making her wiggle underneath his touch. She desperately wanted more, but she refused to give in to that need.
After several long minutes of this torture, Alec pulled away and stood up, pulling her up with him. As he stared down into her eyes, he saw something there that made him nod with approval. “Now I’ll take you home,” he said and took her hand, leading her through his house to a limousine that was waiting out in the front.
The drive home was done in silence but Alec didn’t relent on his sexual onslaught. His fingers holding her hand tickled her palm, making her stare down at their joined hands, wondering how such a light touch could make her breathing rapid, her heart accelerate and her body desperate to move closer to his, to become as close as possible.
“Alec…” she started to say but he stopped her.
“You’re home,” he said and stepped out of the car, reaching down to help her out as well. He led her up to her apartment and, at her doorway, kissed her gently but thoroughly, leaving her sighing, her eyes almost cross eyed with a desperate need to have him touch her more. “Good night, Helen,” he said softly before walking away from her.
Chapter 5