not invasive, just gentle. He lifted his head a millimetre and his green eyes searched hers. ‘See?’
Still she said nothing, but the smallest of sighs escaped as she lifted her chin back up to him.
Those strong hands at her waist then lifted her right off her feet. Automatically she put out her own hands—not to punch, but to steady. Her fingers connected with cotton and curled around the hard muscles. The heat of him burned through the shirt. She spread her fingers wider—wow, he was broad. All she could hear was her breathing—too short, too fast.
Their gazes remained locked all the while he lifted her, sliding her up against the back wall of the lift until her eyes were almost level with his. Her heart thundered while her toes stretched down, vainly searching for something solid—like the floor.
This time when he kissed her he stayed, his lips moving over hers slowly teasing. Oh. Her eyes closed as again and again his mouth caressed hers, making her brain go so mushy. And then Dani had to move: softening, opening, relaxing yet seeking at the same time—more. And he gave it, his tongue sweeping into her mouth and curling with hers. It was like feeling all her favourite things at once—the heat of a summer’s day, the freshness of sea breeze and the sensation of diving into the deepest warm water. Only it was better. It was all-in-one. And it was real.
Her hands slid over his arms, her fingertips exploring his strength and heat, the breadth of his back. She lifted a hand, ran it through his hair. Short, dark, gorgeously thick. She moved, resting her palm on the back of his neck—so warm. Both hands lifted to hold his face close and the kisses changed again—deeper, more hungry, fevered. Now every inch of her wanted every inch of him hard up against her. She wanted to feel his body above her, beneath her—all around. But she couldn’t tear her mouth from his. She didn’t care about the tightness of his hands bruising her waist. She just didn’t want the soaring feeling to end. It was as if a veil had been lifted to reveal a bottomless need she hadn’t known she had. To be close.
And his need, too, seemed as strong. His kisses on her face and neck were fast, passionate, until their lips connected again and they could plumb the depths of each other in a long, long carnal kiss.
He pulled her away from the wall, close against his body. One hand quickly moving beneath her bottom to take her weight so she didn’t fall from his hold. She responded automatically, hooking her legs around his waist. Gasping at how good it felt to have his body between hers. He was big, strong and fantastically hard. Basic instinct screamed at her now. Bursting with need for bare skin, she pressed her mouth harder against his, her fingers fighting with his shirt.
But then she felt him stagger. He pushed her, lifting her away and down until her feet hit the ground. But then the ground itself bumped up and down.
Oh, no, that was right. They were in a lift. Dani tore her gaze away from him. Looked beyond to the lights, to the door. The lift had finally moved again, descended. And now those doors were opening.
‘I—’
He didn’t get a chance to say whatever it was he was going to say. There were people—bankers, a couple of technicians. All chorusing his name.
‘Alex!’
Dani knew when to make the most of an opportunity. Her legs might be short but she could move them quickly. And, breathless though she was, she had a huge hit of adrenalin to see her through. Energy was an inferno inside her roaring for release. Her high heels clipped on the polished floor. As she exited through the big glass door she glanced back. He was still caught talking to the group. Frowning this time, no smile. And he glanced up frequently, tracking her, she knew. Sparkling light tumbled from his eyes towards her. She walked faster. Pulled her mobile from the bag that miraculously was still slung over her shoulder. She’d phone the agency. Find another job. Snogging the boss was so not allowed. But it wasn’t her flouting of that convention that made her move so fast. It was the fear of that bottomless need he’d uncovered. And the truth that she was desperately trying to ignore: it hadn’t been a snog, it had been heaven.
Alex lifted the cup and sipped—yick. He might be sprawled in a big chair in the first-class club but the coffee was still thin, airport dross. He glanced at his laptop on the table beside him. The screen saver had been dancing for a good twenty minutes now—hiding the report he should have finished already. But focus had been impossible when distraction had such curves. He should be working. And if he wasn’t working he should be worrying about Patrick’s bombshell last week and the horrendous ramifications of those test results. He should be dealing with it.
Instead he was indulging in a wicked fantasy and debating how he was going to turn it into reality. There simply had to be more—wrong though it was. But those minutes in the elevator with that petite temp had been magic, and not anywhere near enough. Since when did he start kissing random women in elevators? Especially an employee? Just because she’d been nervous?
Well, it had seemed like a good way of distracting her at the time. And himself. But that irresistible distraction had turned searingly, mind-blowingly incredible—how was he going to ensure he got more?
His mobile chimed. Lorenzo. Alex answered promptly. ‘Hey.’
‘Where are you?’
‘Sydney Airport.’
‘Man, you’re hardly ever home these days.’
Alex sighed. ‘I know. Just waiting for the flight back.’
He’d arranged this business trip after Patrick had called out of the blue. After years of only occasional correspondence, he’d rung to tell him the ‘truth’—thirty years too late. At first Alex hadn’t believed him, had insisted on the tests. It had only taken twenty-four hours. After seeing it in black-and-white he’d had to get away. He could have done the deal with conference calls, but he’d used it to avoid everyone for a few days. But now the job was done and he was aching to get back to Auckland. He had unfinished business to tend to and it wasn’t the paternity nightmare.
‘There’s something you’ve got to see.’
Alex sat up, registering the thread of tension in Lorenzo’s usually dry-humoured tones. Instinctively he pressed the phone closer to his ear to catch the nuances better. ‘What is it?’
‘You need to see it. I’ve sent you the link. You should have it now.’
He reached out and tapped a couple of buttons on the laptop, Lorenzo’s email opened up and he grimaced—a YouTube video. ‘Its not some stupid joke, is it?’
‘I don’t think so.’ For once Lorenzo actually sounded unsure.
‘Not porn?’ He might be the boss, but the ‘inappropriate use of office computers’ clause applied to him too.
‘Uh, well, I don’t think so.’ There was a laugh now. ‘Just watch it, Alex.’
He read the title ‘Get Stuck, Get Snogged—is this the hottest kiss ever?’ and groaned. ‘Lorenzo, it is porn.’
‘Just watch it.’
He clicked on the play button and waited a moment for it to load. Turned the speaker up a touch on his computer and frowned at the poor quality of the picture on screen. It was black-and-white. And then he recognised what that small space was—an elevator. And then someone walked into it. And as if he was were trapped in it again, freefalling, his stomach dropped.
Hell.
That awful music hadn’t been playing. Muzak didn’t play in the lifts at all; no point when they whisked you up and down the many stories so fast—or at least they did if they weren’t faulty and hadn’t stopped between floors.
When that had happened, five days ago, it had been silent, save her breathing, which—despite her efforts to control it—had spiked. So whoever had lifted this footage had added a cheesy soundtrack—rich, melted chocolate, ‘in the mood’ kind of music. It didn’t fit.
He leant closer to the screen as she waited in the