a year.
Which was absolutely no excuse—and definitely not an explanation—for the explosion of arousal and passion that had just happened between the two of them!
She might be inexperienced, but Drakon certainly wasn’t. And after her behaviour just now she doubted that he would believe she was either…
‘Do you intend to stare at that wall for the rest of our journey down?’
Gemini flinched at the hard amusement she could hear in Drakon’s voice as she felt the lift begin its descent. ‘Not at all,’ she denied briskly, and she turned, bending down to retrieve her clutch bag from the floor of the lift before forcing herself to look up and meet the hardness of his gaze. ‘Well, that was certainly…different,’ she said lamely.
‘Yes.’ Drakon’s mouth twisted in self-derision. ‘Different’ was certainly one way of describing the way in which the situation had totally spiralled out of his control once he had taken Gemini into his arms!
He hadn’t meant to kiss her at all, let alone touch her in that intimate way, but once he had done so and she had responded…! It hadn’t mattered to Drakon at all that at that moment they were in a lift together. Nor had he given any thought to the fact that stopping the lift in between floors in that way would alert whoever was on security duty this evening. He had just wanted to touch her, taste her—damn it, he had wanted to eat her up until he had totally devoured her! He still wanted to do that…
His jaw tightened. ‘I do not fly back to New York until next week. Perhaps we could have dinner together again tomorrow evening?’
Those beautiful sea-green eyes widened incredulously. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, do you?’
Drakon raised dark brows. ‘Why not?’
Gemini shook her head. ‘I’m sure I don’t really have to explain that to you!’ She glanced gratefully out into the hallway as the lift doors opened out onto the ground floor.
‘Nevertheless…’ Drakon stood back to allow her to precede him out into the dimmed hallway, his expression grim. ‘We have already established that neither of us is involved with anyone else.’
That might or might not be true—the fact that Gemini had believed Drakon when he’d claimed not to be involved with Angela didn’t mean that he didn’t have someone else waiting for him in New York! And it certainly didn’t mean that they should see each other again before he left England.
Not when agreeing to see him again would no doubt be seen by him as a tacit agreement from her for a repeat—no, a conclusion of that explosion of passion that had just occurred between them in the lift…
GEMINI gave a definite shake of her head. ‘I’m sure to be exhausted after working on the wedding flowers all day tomorrow, but thank you for asking.’
Drakon had regretted making the invitation virtually as soon as he’d made it! Regretted it and inwardly berated himself for even thinking of seeing her again.
This woman had a way of slipping beneath his guard. Of totally demolishing the tight rein he always kept over his self-control. Of tempting him to behave in ways he never had before. If Max hadn’t interrupted them when he had then Drakon had no doubt he would actually have made love to Gemini—in a lift, of all places!
It was unacceptable to a man who totally rejected any and all hint of emotional vulnerability, and instead preferred to remain detached and in control at all times. Wanting to push a woman up against a wall and make unbridled love to her couldn’t be called either of those things!
No, it was better by far if Drakon never saw or spoke to her again. And after this evening there was absolutely no reason why he should ever need to do so…
‘Very well.’ He nodded stiffly. ‘But I will come outside with you and see you safely into a taxi.’
Gemini could have argued that she had lived in London all her life and as such was perfectly capable of seeing herself into a taxi, thank you very much! But no doubt Drakon would then argue the point, and delay her departure by doing so. Which she certainly didn’t want when she so desperately needed to get away from him.
It wasn’t in the least apparent from Drakon’s cool and controlled expression as he looked down the length of his arrogant nose at her that only minutes ago he had almost made love to her with a fire and intimacy no other man ever had. But she was only too well aware of it. Her breasts still ached with sensitivity, and she could feel that telltale dampness between her thighs…
As was to be expected, there was no scarcity of available taxis when Drakon Lyonedes needed one, and he had no trouble flagging down one of London’s black cabs almost immediately they stepped to the edge of the pavement; he was the type of man for whom life always ran the way in which he wanted it to.
Unlike Gemini, who had no choice but to accept that Bartholomew House was now totally beyond her reach.
She felt numbed and slightly hollow as she climbed into the back of the taxi, only half listening as Drakon leant in to give the driver the address of her apartment.
‘I can be contacted through my cousin Markos if you ever have need of me.’
Gemini blinked up at Drakon from the back seat of the taxi. Why would he suppose she might ever have need of him? ‘Managing to speak to one of the Lyonedes family didn’t work out too well for me last time,’ she reminded him pointedly, just wanting to be on her way so that she could lick her wounds in private.
All her wounds. Losing Bartholomew House and responding so uninhibitedly to this grim-faced man’s earlier passion. At the moment she wasn’t sure which of those things was going to be the more difficult to understand, let alone accept.
Drakon’s mouth was set firmly. ‘I will leave instructions that you are to be allowed to make an appointment to see either Markos or myself at any time.’
Gemini’s eyes widened. ‘Why on earth would you want to do that?’
A good question. And one that he wasn’t sure he had a logical answer to. Except to say that his Greek upbringing did not find it acceptable that Gemini had effectively been left completely alone in the world since her father died.
‘The instruction will be given,’ he reiterated firmly. ‘You may please yourself as to whether or not you ever choose to use the privilege.’
She sat back against the seat. ‘I’m pretty sure that I won’t.’
He had asked for that response, Drakon acknowledged ruefully, knowing that his present attitude was less than gracious. But this young woman had become like a burr under his skin—a discomfort he couldn’t seem to ignore.
‘I hope you do not have to work too hard tomorrow.’ He stepped back and closed the door, leaving a pale-faced Gemini bathed only in moonlight as the taxi drew away from the kerb.
Drakon stood on the pavement and watched the taxi until its tail lights disappeared amongst the other London evening traffic, then turned sharply on his heel and went back into Lyonedes Tower, knowing—well, hoping—he had seen the last of Gemini Bartholomew…
‘We may have a problem.’
Drakon looked up from where he had been packing the last of his papers into his briefcase in preparation for his flight back to New York early this evening, frowning as he saw the unhappy expression on Markos’s face as his cousin came into the study of the penthouse apartment at the top of Lyonedes Tower.
‘What sort of a problem?’ Having spent a quiet weekend in the apartment in preparation for two days of lengthy negotiation with Thompson Oil—which had, of course, been concluded to Lyonedes Enterprises’ advantage—Drakon wasn’t in the mood to deal with any hiccups that might