C H A P T E R 2 1 : S E X U A L T E N S I O N E L L A S T A N F O R D Ella watched him as her boss looked around her apartment. Albeit it was less luxurious than other places her boss had probably gone to, she was not ashamed of it. It was warm and cozy and most importantly, she had paid for it with each dime she had earned. All by herself. She was proud of it. This was the place where she could curl up at the end of a long day. “Nice place,” said Javier after a while. “T-thanks.” She was a little taken aback by his comment and realized that he was being nice. Unsure whether that would mean he would stay the night or not, she put her bag on the small table by coat hanger and walked further into her apartment. “Do you want any drink?” she offered. “No. Thank you.” “Um, okay. Then let me get you some blankets.” She headed into her bedroom and rustled up a few blankets and one spare pillow. With her arms full of linen, she walked back into the livingroom and shortly came i

C H A P T E R 2 3 : H E R D E S I R E E L L A S T A N F O R D His hands came around her, enclosing her, his palms laid flat against her back, one long thumb beginning to move in sensual massage along the exposed skin above her edge of her blouse. Ella suddenly felt breathless, she was unable to pull herself away. The moment elongated, leaving her curiously weak and intensely conscious of the firm muscles of his thighs against her legs. A sick sensation came up into her throat and she pulled herself together and managed to move away from him, her eyes lowered in self-disgust, shuddering as she realised how she had felt from merely a touch. Previously, Javier had been apt to make one of his barbed comments on such occasions, finding things to mock about her yet he made no remark on what had happened and this left her puzzled and surprised. He then shock her even further by half turning away from her as the lift came to a halt. It caused her to wonder whether he was completely

Ella was not sure what had possessed her but she responded to every kiss, every touch, and her body burned with hot, tingling desire. A power boat was speeding towards them from the misty reaches of the sea instantly awoke her from the trance in which his lovemaking had held her. Her eyes flew open and she gave a low shivering cry. Javier lifted his head, silently taking in her horrified, shamed expression, then a wry smile flickered over his face.Without a word he flung himself over on to his back, breathing hard, staring up at the halcyon blue of the sky that had almost the same color as his eyes. Sick, humiliated, burning with self-contempt, Ella sat up and dived into the sea. Without thinking she swam back towards the beach. The last few moments had been a revelation to her. She had always been secretly aware that she was attracted to him and now she had to face the fact that he had a power over her senses which made her despise herself.As she walked back towards the changing boo

C H A P T E R 2 7 : B R E A T H L E S S E L L A S T A N F O R D Ella closed her door, searched through her purse to make sure she had her key, trying to stop the aching in the pit of her stomach as Javier took her arm and she felt the power of those strong fingers around her. They were walking in silence and after she could make sure that her heartbeat was steady and she was no longer out of breath, Ella pointed it out again, “You said you brought me to Sicily to help you persuade him to join us.” Close to her ear, Javier said softly, “I want to sign him up, not strangle him, love.” She felt a confused sensation of excitement and alarm, her ears drumming. Somehow she walked along the corridor beside him to the lift, trying to force her breathing to slow. In the lift she stood a foot away from him, her eyes lowered. They walked through the foyer to the car park in silence. Javier opened the door and she quickly slid into the passenger seat before he could touch her to assist her.

“You have no idea how I have been waiting all evening for this.”They kissed desperately, her arms closing around the back of his head to pull him nearer. Her half-naked body was trembling in his arms. It had been so long, the kisses were a hot rush across her flesh, an overload to her senses that woke up all those lonely places inside her that she had ignored for god knows how long. He touched his tongue to the seam of her lips, and her chest got tight and achy and her knees threatened to buckle. She raised her hands to his shoulders to keep from falling and tilted her head to the side. Her lips parted, and the slick touch and warm glide of his tongue was like dropping a lit match on a pool of gasoline and she went up in flames. She wanted to burn and make him burn along with her. He tasted like beer and liquid sex and she wanted to eat him up. A low moan escaped her chest, her breasts grew heavy, and her nipples tightened into hard points of pleasure. All of her defenses had weakened