Stormy Challenge by Stephanie James, Jayne Ann Krentz Page B

her overactive imagination. As if she had somehow conjured him up out of thin air from the sheer force of her thoughts!
    She heard his muffled groan and knew his own body _ was leaping into hard, demanding alertness. It called to her on a nonverbal level, seeking her, wanting to bury itself in her warmth. The gentle, teasing quality of the kisses changed gradually, deepening into the heavy, drugging, seductive caresses that had left her so helpless on the beach the previous morning.
    "You can't hide from me, honey," he grated, his mouth sliding moistly, burningly along her cheek to cover her hps in a plundering, arousing kiss that shook off the last of the gentle cajolery and bared the uncompromising male desire beneath.
    "I know you want me. It's only your silly female pride standing in the way," he murmured against her bruised lips. "But I've apologized for that business with the contract. Forgive me for that and I'll forgive you for trying to sneak out tonight!"
    "It's not that simple, damn you," she wailed, her lashes moving restlessly against her cheeks as she felt the throbbing in her stomach.
    "Yes, it is," he countered throatily. "It's as simple as getting rid of the towel between us!" With that he moved against her, his chest crushing her breasts for an instant before he stepped back a couple of inches.
    The red towel gave up the battle and slipped soundlessly to the floor at their feet.
    "No!" Leya whimpered, and then her words were swallowed up as he forced his tongue deeply into her
    mouth and his arms released hers to encircle her still-damp, nude body.
    It was getting worse, she thought frantically while she could still think at all. Every time he held her she was less able to resist, less able to deny him. She felt the firm thrust of his strong thighs as he lowered his hands the length of her back and arched her hips into him. His fingers snarled themselves in the long ends of her hair and used the leverage to force her head back further so that his mouth could explore her throat.
    "God, Leya!" he swore, his lips branding her, "I love the feel of you. I could get lost in your body. So much passion waiting for me, so much pleasure, I've wanted you since I first saw you across the lobby at that inn! You're going to drive me crazy if you don't admit you want me, too!"
    "But that's not enough!" she, gasped as his fingers dug into the soft flesh of her buttocks. A violent shiver rocked her.
    "It's a damn good start!" he retorted, using his grip to force her into full awareness of his growing desire.
    The unmistakable desire in him was a commanding, aggressive pull on the very core of her femininity. It stirred her loins and weakened her knees until she was clinging to him for support.
    "Yes," he whispered in thick triumph as he felt her clasping hands move over his back. It was as if he were accepting a surrender she hadn't voiced aloud, and it shook her back to awareness as nothing else could have done in that moment.
    "Let go of me, Court!" she ordered in a rough, shaking voice. "We're going to a party, not to bed!"
    She struggled wildly, as much against the masculine triumph she perceived in him as against the force of her own desire. He was not going to make a complete fool out of her!
    "Sweetheart, don't fight us both. You can't possibly win," he purred huskily in her ear, his hands gentling her spine. "It's going to be all right. Let me show you how good it's going to be between us. You can trust me . . ."
    "About as far as I can throw you!" With a last, desperate push, Leya wrenched herself free and grabbed madly for the towel. She clutched it tight around her trembling body and backed slowly away from him. He followed her with his eyes but made no move to recapture his victim.
    "You've got a lot of nerve telling me to trust you after what you did to me!" she blazed, sweeping one hand harshly through her disarrayed hair. "And now you've come sneaking into my house like a common thief!"
    "You'd better hurry if