her ribs, her mouth sagging till she realised and snapped it shut. And that melting sensation had spread. Between her legs felt soft like warm butter.
Horror filled her and she stumbled back, only stopping when his laughter cut off and his gaze meshed with hers.
There it was again. That certainty he knew what she felt. The realisation should have mortified her. Instead it felt almost...liberating.
Ella blinked. Her imagination was working overtime. Lack of food had made her woolly-headed.
She did not turn into a puddle of pure lust after five minutes’ acquaintance with any man.
She did not have some psychic connection with this stranger.
‘I apologise for my daughter.’ Her father skewered her with a glacial look. ‘She—’
‘There is no need to apologise.’ Still Donato didn’t shift his gaze from her. That steady look was unnerving. ‘Your daughter is charming.’
‘Charming?’ Reg spluttered before quickly gathering himself. ‘Of course, yes. She’s certainly unusual.’
Ella might have felt grim amusement at her father’s description of his cuckoo-in-the-nest daughter if she weren’t so flabbergasted.
Charming?
Never in her life had she been described that way. But never had she set out to be deliberately rude either.
It was a night of firsts. Her father needing her. Her visceral response to this tall, dark, enigmatic stranger.
If there were going to be many more surprises maybe she should grab a drink to steady her nerves.
‘You must be proud of such an intelligent, forthright daughter.’
Ella froze in the act of scanning the landscaped terraces for a waiter.
‘Proud? Yes, yes, of course I am.’ Her father needed to improve his acting skills. He was usually an expert liar but Ella had never seen him so ill at ease. So desperate.
‘And pretty too.’
Ella swung her head round to meet that probing gaze.
This had gone far enough. She’d done her best, rifling her sister’s abandoned wardrobe to find something suitable. She wouldn’t face a crowd of glittering socialites in work clothes and rubber-soled lace-up shoes. But she had no illusions. Fuzz was the one who turned heads. Never Ella.
‘There’s no need to butter me up. And I prefer not to be talked about as if I’m not here.’
‘Ella!’ Her father looked like he might have a stroke. His colour was too high and his pale eyes bulged before narrowing to needle-sharp fury. He really did need to change his lifestyle if he was going to make it into old age. As if he’d listen to her!
‘My apologies, Ella.’ That low velvety voice made her shiver. ‘No insult was intended.’
‘It’s not you who should apologise, Donato.’ Her father closed in, his grip biting her arm. ‘I think—’
‘I think,’ Donato interrupted smoothly, ‘it’s time you left the pair of us to get better acquainted.’
For an instant her father stared. Usually he was smooth as oil, charming and quick with a comeback. Seeing him so patently at a loss was a new experience. Once it would have delighted Ella. Now a chill clamped her spine.
Who was this man with the power to frighten him so?
‘Of course, of course.’ Her father pasted on a toothy smile. ‘You two need to get better acquainted. I’ll let you do just that.’ With one last warning pinch of her arm he released her and sauntered off as if he hadn’t a care.
Ella watched him go. Ridiculously, she wanted to call him back. As if she hadn’t spent most of her life avoiding him. As if he were the sort of father to protect her.
For the absolute conviction stiffening her sinews warned she really did need protection.
Abruptly she swung around, her gaze lifting until—there it was again—that jangle across her senses, that taut feeling of suspense as her gaze locked with Donato Salazar’s.
His mouth tipped up in a smile that tugged at her heart, dragging it hard against her ribs, making it thrash like a landed fish. Her breath quickened as everything in her that was female responded to his ultra-male charisma.
Yet his eyes showed no softening. That stare probed her very being and found her wanting.
DONATO LOOKED DOWN into those clear eyes and felt the impact like the ripple of a stone plunging into deep, still water.
They weren’t ordinary eyes. Oh, no, not Ms Ella Sanderson’s. He’d yet to discover anything ordinary about her. He’d come here expecting her father’s daughter and instead found...
What, exactly?
He didn’t know yet but he intended to find out.
He disliked being caught out.
Years ago, in prison, being caught off guard could have cost his life. It had almost cost him an eye. He’d made it his life’s work to be in control, the one pulling the strings, never again reacting to forces he couldn’t handle.
It had been a long time since anyone took him by surprise. He didn’t like it.
Even though he liked what he saw. Too much.
Those eyes, for a start. Mercurial. Some indefinable shade between blue and grey that turned to silvery hoar frost when he riled her. He’d felt her disapproval like the jab from a shard of ice, straight to his belly.
Yet his overwhelming response was to wonder how her eyes would look when rapture overtook her. With him buried deep inside, feeling her shudder around him.
Was it any wonder he felt annoyed? She’d hijacked his thoughts, momentarily interfering with his plans.
She wasn’t what he’d expected, or wanted. No man wanted that sudden sensation that he was no longer master of his destiny. That perfidious fate still had a few nasty surprises in store.
Fate be damned. Donato had stopped being its victim years ago.
‘Alone at last,’ he murmured, watching her mouth tighten.
So, she didn’t like this thing sparking and snarling between them either. But as well as her caution and disapproval he sensed puzzlement. As if she didn’t recognise the syrupy thickening of the atmosphere for what it was—carnal attraction.
Instant. Absolute. Undeniable.
‘There’s no need for us to be alone. Your business is with my father.’ Her jaw angled belligerently.
Donato felt a quickening in his belly.
How long since a woman had reacted to him like that? Not with disdain because of his origins, but defiantly. The last few years had been littered with women eager to grab what they could—sex, money, status, even the thrill of being with a man with his dark reputation. How long since a woman he wanted had been difficult to attain?
For he found he wanted Ms Ella Sanderson with a primal hunger that would probably shock her. It disturbed him and he’d thought himself unshockable.
‘But tonight is about socialising. This is a party, Ella.’ He slowed on her name, enjoying the taste of it almost as much as he enjoyed the flicker of response in those bright eyes.
Oh, yes. Ms Sanderson wanted him as much as he did her. The way she swiped her lips with the tip of her tongue. The telltale tremble of the diamond drop earrings beside her slender throat. The way her eyelids drooped as if anticipating sexual pleasure. The quick