Luring a Lady by Nora Roberts Page A

lot.”
    His eyes slitted open. She found the glitter of angry eyes immensely satisfying. “A big threat from a small woman,” he said in a deceptively lazy voice. She was entirely too close for his comfort, and her scent was swimming in his senses, tangling his temper with something more basic. “You should concentrate on the suit, and let your mother handle her own.”
    â€œSuit? What suit?”
    â€œThe banker who spent the evening sniffing your ankles.”
    Her face flooded with color. “He certainly was not. He’s entirely too well mannered to sniff at my ankles or anything else. And Channing is my business.”
    â€œSo. You have your business, and I have mine. Now, let’s see what we have together.” One moment he was stretched out, and the next he had her twisted over his lap. Stunned, Sydney pressed her hands against his chest and tried to struggle out of his hold. He tightened it. “As you see, I have no manners.”
    â€œOh, I know it.” She tossed her head back, chin jutting. “What do you think you’re doing?”
    He wished to hell he knew. She was rigid as an ice floe, but there was something incredible, and Lord, inevitable, about the way she fitinto his arms. Though he was cursing himself, he held her close, close enough that he felt the uneven rise and fall of her breasts against his chest, tasted the sweet, wine-tipped flavor of her breath on his lips.
    There was a lesson here, he thought grimly, and she was going to learn it.
    â€œI’ve decided to teach you how to kiss. From what I saw from the roof, you did a poor job of it with the polo player.”
    Shock and fury had her going still. She would not squirm or scream or give him the satisfaction of frightening her. His eyes were close and challenging. She thought she understood exactly how Lucifer would have looked as he walked through the gates of his own dark paradise.
    â€œYou conceited jerk.” Because she wanted to slug him, badly, she fisted her hands closed and looked haughtily down her small, straight nose. “There’s nothing you can teach me.”
    â€œNo?” He wondered if he’d be better off just strangling her and having done with it. “Let’s see then. Your Channing put his hands here. Yes?” He slid them over her shoulders. The quick, involuntary shudder chilled her skin. “You afraid of me, milaya? ”
    â€œDon’t be ridiculous.” But she was, suddenly and deeply. She swallowed the fear as his thumbs caressed her bare skin.
    â€œTremble is good. It makes a man feel strong. I don’t think you trembled for this Channing.”
    She said nothing and wondered if he knew his accent had thickened. It sounded exotic, erotic. He wondered he could speak at all with her watching him and waiting.
    â€œHis way isn’t mine,” he muttered. “I’ll show you.”
    His fingers clamped around the back of her neck, pulled her face toward his. He heard her breath catch then shudder out when hepaused only a fraction before their lips touched. Her eyes filled his vision, that wide, wary blue. Ignoring the twist in his gut, he smiled, turned his head just an inch and skimmed his lips over her jawline.
    She bit back only part of the moan. Instinctively she tipped her head back, giving him access to the long, sensitive column of her throat.
    What was he doing to her? Her mind raced frantically to catch up with her soaring body. Why didn’t he just get it over with so she could escape with her pride intact?
    She’d kill him for this. Crush him. Destroy him.
    And oh, it felt wonderful, delicious. Wicked.
    He could only think she tasted of morning—cool, spring mornings when the dew slicked over green, green grass and new flowers. She shivered against him, her body still held stiffly away even as her head fell back in surrender.
    Who was she? He nibbled lazily over to her ear and burned for her to show him.
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