The Billionaires Collection. Оливия Гейтс

stop.’ She moved away from his kiss and pushed at his chest, trying to ignore the hardness beneath her palm. ‘I can’t do this.’

      She scrambled to her feet, sand clinging to her body as she trembled with unquenched desire and shock at what she’d wanted. She’d wanted to make love, right here on the beach in broad daylight with a man who was no better than Dominic. One was a gambler, the other a blackmailer, and both had used her for their own gain.

      She watched as he, too, got to his feet and walked away from her, reaching down to collect their discarded garments. Was he seeking time for composure? She used those moments to press her wet hair against her head, smoothing down the disarray.

      Then he turned to face her, his expression now the familiar mask of hardness, and regret pinched at her. ‘I apologise.’

      ‘It’s just that...’ She stopped short of spilling everything out. How did you tell the man you had just been kissing with such abandon that you were a virgin, that you had no experience of how to please him, how to enjoy the moment of intimacy she’d almost slipped into?

      ‘Just what?’ The words were snapped out and she knew he was angry, that he probably thought she’d led him on—and she had.

      ‘I just need a bit of time.’ She was stumbling over her words, the passion he’d ignited within her muddling her senses and making any kind of rational thought impossible. ‘What I mean is, I hadn’t expected that.’

      ‘By that, I assume you mean the desire to kiss me, the need to feel my touch, or that you wanted me as much as I wanted you, regardless of everything else?’

      She blushed and knew denial was useless. Instead she looked firmly at him. ‘Yes, that is exactly what I mean.’

      ‘We should get back. I expect you would like to change before dinner?’

      She walked towards him and took the cover-up and her glasses from him, instinctively putting both on as a shield from his hungry gaze. As she walked beside him, the beauty of the island calmed her ruffled nerves and she wondered at what had just happened, but more alarming was the fact that she had wanted more.

      * * *

      Liev watched Bianca walk along the terrace after dinner; her shoulders were tense and all evening her conversation had been stilted. She was obviously not as comfortable with being here with him as he’d first thought. Especially after the kiss they’d shared at the water’s edge. That had been so wildly passionate he’d hardly been able to drag himself off her when she’d demanded he stop. It had taken every last bit of his control to do that.

      He walked out into the evening warmth and stood close behind her, and with her hair swept up, he longed to kiss her delicate neck, longed to resume what had been started just hours ago in the waves.

      Gently he placed his hands on her shoulders and moved closer still, the urge to press his lips to her skin ever stronger. She didn’t pull away and beneath his hands he could feel her shoulders rise and fall as her breathing deepened. He lowered his head and inhaled her scent, floral and intoxicatingly sexy.

      Still she didn’t pull away. Instead she leant back against him, tilting her head slightly to allow him access to the softness of her skin. As his lips met her skin, tasting her, she drew in a ragged breath and he knew she was far from indifferent to him. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.

      ‘You feel it too.’ He breathed the words against her skin, becoming more caught up in the desire he’d been keeping locked away since the auction, when she’d been so angry passion had blazed in her eyes. Now he wanted that anger to be nothing but passion.

      She shook her head, the movement small and indecisive. She was still battling with the desire which had sparked angrily to life between them the moment their paths had collided.

      ‘No,’ she whispered, but he knew that denial was the furthest thing from the truth that had ever passed those sweet lips of hers.

      He trailed a finger down her neck and saw her quiver and arch away from him, and he knew that he was pushing her over the edge, just as he was himself. ‘Why deny the inevitable?’

      ‘Because I have to.’

      ‘Why, when there is so much passion between us, so much desire? It is that very passion and desire that is keeping you here right now, when you could walk into the house and to your room. I wouldn’t follow you there. I meant what I said earlier. Nothing will happen unless you want it to.’

      He slid his hands down her arms and he stepped closer still, until there was barely a whisper of air between them. He wanted her so much, but he had to be patient, had to wait for the right time.

      ‘Then you will accept that I can’t do this, can’t give in to whatever it is,’ she murmured.

      ‘But you admit it’s there? You feel it, don’t you, Bianca?’ He kissed a trail down her neck to her bare shoulders, breathing in the scent of her skin, tasting her and making staying in control all the harder for it.

      * * *

      Bianca closed her eyes and leant back against Liev’s strong body. Heat seared through her as his lips kissed her neck again and she knew she should stop it, knew it wasn’t what she needed, but it was so what she wanted.

      ‘Yes, I feel it too.’ The husky whisper which came from her was like no other sound she’d heard before. What was this power he had over her?

      ‘I can’t fight it much longer.’ The words, whispered into her hair, sent a shiver of excitement down her spine, and she bit down on her bottom lip trying to hold on to herself.

      His hands slid down her arms and she turned to look at him over her shoulder, but his lips brushed hers and she closed her eyes, no longer able to resist this new pleasure. A soft sigh escaped her as he kissed her so gently and persuasively, coaxing more from her with the skill of an accomplished lover.

      His hand splayed across her cheek, keeping her head where he wanted it as he deepened the kiss. Driven by a force she had no control over, she turned as his arms wrapped around her, pressing her body against the hardness of his.

      His lips left hers and she dragged in air, searching the slate grey of his eyes, looking for reassurance, but all she saw was hungry desire. Desire she had no experience of dealing with.

      Just as she was about to pull away, to tell him it couldn’t happen, he claimed her lips again in such a hard and demanding kiss she could no longer think. Heat which had been curling from a deep and secret place within her burst into flames, engulfing her so quickly she could hardly breathe.

      She entwined her arms around his neck, pulling herself up against him, and the fire heated as she felt the evidence of his desire. This wasn’t just part of the deal. He really wanted her. Euphoria took her higher as his tongue plundered her mouth, coaxing and demanding more from her. Again those ever-present doubts surfaced. She couldn’t give more. Not to this man.

      She pushed her hands against his chest and pulled back, breaking the kiss, but his arms held her firmly against him. She shook her head. ‘We shouldn’t be doing this, Liev.’

      His eyes narrowed as he continued to hold her against him. Beneath the palms of her hands she could feel the rapid rise and fall of his hard and muscular chest. That in itself was almost enough to tip her over the edge.

      ‘Why not?’ His fierce words jolted her back to her senses and she pushed against him once more, thankful when he let her go. Quickly she moved away from him, away from temptation.

      ‘What we have isn’t real.’

      ‘Our engagement may not be, but this desire is. Are you so cold and hard you can ignore it and turn away from it that easily?’ He stalked past her back into the living room and poured himself a drink. The sound of the liquid filling the glass was almost too loud.

      He thought her cold? Well, so much the better. ‘Yes, I am. We have a business arrangement and I am not in the habit of getting intimate with my