Living in Secret: Living In..., Book 3 by Jackie Ashenden Page B

with Connor. Because she didn’t have that kind of connection with him. Theirs was a meeting of minds, not bodies.
    And not even that, some would say.
    Her jaw firmed and she ignored the acid bite of disappointment and regret. Their marriage had been her choice and she couldn’t regret that now.
    Abruptly Kahu pushed himself out of the armchair as Lily finished a turn. In the dim light of the bar, the sweat burnishing her skin made her seem otherworldly. A beautiful fairy creature.
    Kahu said nothing as he came toward her and she made no protest as he scooped her up into his arms, holding her against his chest. Silence reigned as Kahu strode out and continued to do so after he’d gone.
    “No prizes for guessing where they’re going,” Raphael said in her ear.
    His breath was warm and she couldn’t hold back the shiver as it whispered over her skin. “I guess not downstairs for another drink.”
    “Oh, I think not.” His hand slid down her arm, the gentle caress awakening every nerve ending.
    Slowly people began to leave the room, either in search of new entertainment or in search of somewhere more private. More than a few had paired off, the effect of Lily’s dance obvious in the way they were looking at each other.
    Victoria found her breathing was short, her heartbeat fast.
    Connor hadn’t moved. She could feel the weight of his stare like the pressure of a storm front pressing down on her.
    “You want to stop this?” Raphael murmured. “Or do you want to take it further?”
    She swallowed. The logical thing would be to stop this. To get up and go over to Connor and tell him she wanted his signature on those papers and she wanted it by yesterday. Surely he was angry enough to do it by now?
    Slowly, she turned her head and glanced across the room again.
    There was lightning in his eyes, an intense, furious heat that made something inside her catch fire.
    She took an unsteady breath. Was he waiting for her to come to him? Was he expecting her to? Well, if he did, he was out of luck. She wasn’t going to be the one to move first. To come to him. She’d already had to do that at the Law Society because of his damn recalcitrance with the papers.
    Screw him. This time he would be the one to come to her.
    “I want to take it further,” she said, trying to keep her voice level, holding Connor’s fierce stare with her own.
    “You sure?”
    “Yes.”
    “Get in my lap then.”
    She didn’t allow herself to think. Thinking would mean hesitating and she couldn’t hesitate because if she did, she’d probably never be able to go through with it.
    Getting up out of her armchair, she moved over to the one Raphael was sitting in, then turned around and lowered herself into his lap. His hands rested on her hips as he guided her down, settling her with her head on his shoulder, her legs between his.
    “Keep looking at him,” he said quietly in her ear. “Don’t be afraid.”
    But she wasn’t afraid. Or at least, the reason she was shaking wasn’t solely to do with fear. Yes, she’d never done this before, never sat in the lap of a man she barely knew. In a dress that if she moved her leg just little would show the entire world she wasn’t wearing anything underneath it. And yes, the thought of that even a couple of days ago would have had her laughing incredulously.
    But she also felt…excited in a way she hadn’t for years. An intense, visceral thrill that really had nothing to do with the man sitting behind her and everything to do with the man sitting across from her.
    Watching her with his eyes full of storms and thunderclouds. Lightning bolts.
    He was so still, his long, lean figure absolutely motionless. A furiously angry predator waiting for the kill. His tie was undone at the throat, revealing tanned skin and she couldn’t seem to drag her gaze from him.
    Raphael shifted her so the split in her dress was open to the hip, revealing almost her entire side. Then his hand came to rest gently on her bare