Mills & Boon Stars Collection: Seductive Nights: A Deal with Alejandro

Another blush, hotter and faster, surged into her cheeks.

He laughed low and deep, passing his thumbs over her cheeks. ‘And you blush like an innocent. A seriously lethal innocent.’

Before she could respond, he was kissing her again, bearing her back on the seat. She gave herself over, happily swapping unwanted memories in favour of this. Kissing Alejandro brought no pain. Touching him filled her with excitement. Joy.

Her hands slid up to his broad shoulders. His hair. Spiking her fingers through it, she let out a little cry as his hand cupped her breast. Somewhere along the line, her dress had shifted, her strapless bra exposed to his clever fingers. Alejandro’s mouth left hers, and she stared, dazed and engrossed, as he slowly moved back one lace cup to expose a budded pink nipple.

Her breath strangled as he caught the peak between his fingers. Need arrowed straight to the apex of her thighs. Then he lowered his head and, eyes riveted on hers, took her nipple in his mouth.

Sensation exploded through her, arching her in a tight bow, and feeding him more of herself.

Alejandro uttered a pained groan as he suckled her. One hand slid beneath her to hold her to his rapt attention, while the other wandered feverishly down her body. His fingers trailed fire over her bare thighs as his mouth drifted across the slope of one breast to capture the peak of the other.

Desire throbbed at her core, drowning her in rabid need.

From one frantic heartbeat to the next, his fingers slipped beneath her panties to graze her damp flesh.

Elise cried out, a fever like she’d never known flooding her.

‘Dios mio, bella dama, you intoxicate me.’

One finger breached her core. Elise tensed, a different sensation racing down her spine. She wanted to block it out, but the flashing sign in her brain wouldn’t let her.

...you blush like an innocent...

Except she wasn’t like one. Her virginity was something she’d guarded with almost zealous care before the incident with Brian. Not because she was hung up on giving it to the right man, but because it was the one thing, besides her art, that affirmed to her that she was nothing like her parents. After Brian, she was even more wary about her sexuality. She would never succumb to casual pleasures.

Not even with the most charismatic man she’d ever met.

She pushed at his shoulders. ‘No. Stop!’ When he stared at her with a puzzled frown, she shook her head. ‘I can’t do this.’

His eyes slowly cleared. When his fingers left her core and he sat back in the seat, Elise bit her lip to stop from protesting.

‘Sí, I know. I’m breaking my own rules.’

He believed she’d called a halt because of her contract with SNV.

Elise shakily exhaled. ‘You misunderstand. I wouldn’t sleep with you even without your rules. This shouldn’t have happened. And it won’t happen again...ever.’

Every last trace of lust left his face and with each passing second, a greater part of her mourned. He stood, shoved his hands deep in his pockets and stared down at her as she scrambled up and righted her clothes.

‘Explain.’

‘Do I need to? You caught me at a low moment—’

Tension clamped his frame. ‘Perdón? Are you suggesting I took advantage of you?’ His voice was clipped with ice. ‘If so, let me remind you that you were with me every step of the way, guapa.’

A hint of shame slammed her. ‘I think it’s time we brought the evening to an end. I’ve gone above and beyond my duties for one day, I believe.’

‘If this is a taster of what your duties could be, perhaps we should renegotiate your contract. I’m sure we can agree to a mutually benefitting addendum.’

She gasped, ice dredging through her insides. ‘You didn’t just say that to me.’

His eyes gleamed, an unfathomable emotion flickering in his eyes. ‘We’re laying our cards on the table. I want you. I believe the feeling is mutual. We can wait until the merger is over. Or we can agree to terms now.’

‘I don’t want to agree to any further terms with you. And I’m sorry if your ego doesn’t like hearing no from a nobody like me.’

Impossibly, he stiffened further. ‘You wouldn’t be making the mistake of likening me to that bastard, would you, Elise?’ he murmured with deathly calm.

The smooth lethality of it froze her vocal cords for a few seconds too long. His face lost a shade of colour and his jaw clenched tight.

‘Alejandro, I’m—’

‘Save your breath. You can deny it all you want, but you took as much as you gave tonight. And you knew the precise moment to call a halt to achieve maximum effect.’ His mouth twisted in a cruel smile. ‘That skill has to come from somewhere, right?’

She hadn’t thought hearing the words she’d dreaded most and had heard whispered about her would hurt coming from Alejandro. But it stung deeper than it ever had.

She rose, willing her legs not to give way, and walked to the door. Turning the handle, she threw it open. ‘And here I thought you were enlightened enough to realise that sometimes the apple does fall far from the tree. How disappointing. I’m glad I could be of extra-curricular service to you tonight. Do me a favour and let’s keep things strictly business from now on, shall we?’

He didn’t deign to utter a response. Cold eyes raked her from head to toe. Then he strode out with arrogant indifference.

Elise slammed the door hard. And even before she turned the key, she was cursing the hot scald of tears choking her.

CHAPTER SEVEN (#ubb59bb6d-3c90-578c-b74b-b2d52812458d)

ELISE SLEPT THROUGH her alarm and woke up at seven-thirty. The ominous start to the day thankfully didn’t earn her Alejandro’s scorn because he wasn’t in the office when she hurried in just after quarter past eight. She breathed a sigh of relief when Margo informed her he would be out of the office all morning.

She got on with putting finishing touches to the work she’d left unfinished yesterday. As she recalled the unfortunate end to the evening, her heart dipped with disappointment and hurt.

Enough! Knowing she would always be in some way tarred with the same brush when it came to her parents, she’d learned to toughen up at an early age. Alejandro had merely lucked out and cornered her in a weak moment after coercing her to spill her guts about Brian.

Nothing more.

When the words continued to echo hollowly at the back of her mind, Elise decided to use her free time for the head-clearing run she hadn’t managed that morning. She struck out for nearby Millennium Park, the exertion and the light April breeze doing an effective job of clearing her tension and lending a little perspective.

Last night, she’d got carried away. She’d glimpsed sympathy that had been sorely lacking on all fronts following Brian’s assault and had grasped it with both hands. Then she’d followed it by falling into a web of sexual attraction while ignoring the accompanying pitfalls.

But she had put on the brakes. There was nothing to feel guilty about. If anything, Alejandro’s attitude was what should be causing her grief. And yet, all through the night of tossing and turning, that fleeting expression on his face had haunted her. Continued to haunt her. For a single moment, just before he’d accused her of comparing him to Brian, she’d glimpsed a sharp pain, felt an alignment of her own hurt. As much as she wanted to dismiss it, the notion wouldn’t die. Nor could she deny his sympathy and comfort had been genuine.

But afterwards...

Was she attributing more humanity to him than was warranted? Accepting her thoughts were going around in futile circles, she completed her run, performed her stretches, and returned to SNV.

She walked through the doors and was crossing the foyer to the drink fountain when she saw Alejandro.

Except it wasn’t Alejandro.

The hair, stature and innate confidence that were imprinted on him were almost identical. But apart from the visual confirmation when the man turned from calling for the lift, her stomach didn’t quite dive and clench the same way it did in Alejandro’s presence.