Sleeping With the Enemy by Kaitlyn O'Connor Page B

just how much he wanted her to know. Before she could try to press him, an enormous explosion somewhere close by caught them both off guard. Sybil hadn’t managed to react with more than a shocked intake of breath before Anka grabbed her, shoved her against a bulkhead, and curled himself around her. She clutched at him instinctively as the explosion shook the building. “What is it?” she gasped fearfully.
        “A volcanic eruption,” he responded, his voice harsh with his own fear, distracted, threaded with just enough doubt that it flickered through her mind that he wasn’t any more certain than she was.
        She clutched him more tightly as shockwaves traveled through the wall behind her and the floor. “Oh god! Are we safe?”
        “The doors seal automatically,” he said absently.
        Protecting each room individually, she realized, but it didn’t necessarily follow that it would protect them if the room took a direct hit from a volcanic missile. She didn’t know how long they huddled together before the shockwaves petered out and her focus shifted from a fearful expectation of imminent death to the body shielding hers. Little by little, though, as the fear began to subside she became more and more aware of him and less aware of her surroundings.
        He didn’t feel alien to her. He felt… male, strong, protective. Surprise flickered through her when it dawned on her that he’d instinctively sought to protect her, to shield her with his own body. A tingling warmth followed that that had nothing to do with the warmth filtering through her from his warm body. She became aware of their mingling scents from the warmth they were generating, most particularly his. A wave of dizziness swept through her.
        He eased away from her finally and looked down at her. She discovered when she lifted her head to look up at him that they were far closer than she’d realized and yet, once she’d met his gaze she couldn’t seem to look away. She felt the heat between them magnify.
        His gaze flickered over her face. “Curious?” he murmured in a deep, husky voice that sent a quivering through her.
        She swallowed with an effort, commanding herself to turn away, to pull away. Reluctance to do so filled her. “Yes,” she whispered.
        He expelled a heavy breath, seemed to debate with himself briefly and then closed the distance between them, brushing his lips lightly along hers. She waited for revulsion to set in, tried to summon it, and then licked her dried lips, tasting him when she did and feeling an instant surge of want.
        He nibbled at her lips with his, as if trying to decide if he also wanted more, and then abruptly covered her mouth. Her heart slammed into her ribcage, began to surge against it, but it wasn’t fear. It should have been, but it wasn’t.
        There was nothing threatening about his kiss, nothing to dredge up a sense of self-preservation. His touch appealed and his taste appealed even more. She opened her mouth to him in invitation and felt a drugging wave of desire flood her the moment he slid his tongue along hers and filled her senses with himself.
        It was wrong, she thought dizzily. She shouldn’t feel any of the things she felt, but she was more disappointed when he pulled away than she could recall. For several moments, he met her gaze when he’d withdrawn. She found herself hoping he would want to kiss her again and then he pulled away completely, stepping away from her.
        “That wasn’t wise,” he muttered-to himself, she thought, but he spoke English.
        And he was right. It had been stupid, really stupid.
        “I will take you back to the others and then see what I can find for you to wear.”
        She didn’t argue. Wryly, she admitted she wasn’t exactly cold anymore. She was far more conscious of her scanty attire than before, though.
        

Chapter Four
        
        Spencer was awake, completely alert, and