His sexual domination of her was so strong, Emily barely registered that she was perilously close to letting the situation reach a point of no return. She forced her mind out of its whirl of sensation long enough to consider what the outcome might be from having sex with this man.
She didn’t know.
Couldn’t even begin to guess.
And the sense of losing all control of her life was suddenly very frightening.
CHAPTER SEVEN
ZAGEO was so acutely attuned to the flow of mutual sexual desire between them, he instantly felt the sudden jolt of resistance that spelled imminent change. Emily’s pliant body started to stiffen, muscles tightening up, shrinking from contact with him. She jerked her head back from his, shock on her face, panic in her eyes. Fight would come next, he realised, if he didn’t act to soothe the fear and calm her agitation.
‘Enough?’ he asked, forcing his mouth into a whimsical little smile, even as his gut twisted painfully at the necessity to reclaim control of the extremely basic need she’d ignited in him.
Her lovely long throat moved convulsively as she struggled to get her thoughts in order and make a sensible reply. The vivid blue circles of her irises were diminished by huge black pupils, yet to return to normal size. She licked her lips, as though desperate to wipe the taste of his from them. But there could be no denial of her complicity in what they’d just shared. He had given her time enough to reject a kiss. She had not rejected it. Nor any other move he’d made on her up until now.
‘This is not a good idea!’ she pushed out emphatically, then scooped in a deep breath to deliver more oxygen to a brain which was probably feeling even more heated than his.
‘On the contrary, the most beneficial existence comes from having one’s mind in harmony with one’s body. Mentally fighting what comes naturally is the bad idea, Emily,’ he asserted.
‘Right!’ Another deep breath as she collected her wits, belatedly plucking her hands off his shoulders and spreading out her palms in an appeal for understanding. ‘Well, just so you know, Zageo, my mind was off in la-la land and my body took a turn all on its own, which doesn’t come under the heading of harmony!’
‘And if your mind had not been in la-la land, what might it have thought?’ he swiftly challenged, needing an insight into what drove her behaviour.
She eased her lower body back from his and he dropped his hands from her waist, letting her move to whatever she considered a safe distance.
‘I’m sure you’re well aware of being attractive to the opposite sex,’ came the quick chiding, her eyes already deriding any protest on that score.
‘You are not without attractions yourself,’ he pointed out.
A tide of hot embarrassment swept up her throat and into her cheeks. ‘Sometimes it’s definitely better to ignore all that stuff because it’s a distraction from really important things,’ she argued. ‘Getting personally involved with you…’
‘May well be the best way of resolving the important things you speak about,’ he suggested.
‘No-o-o…’ She shook her head vehemently as her feet backed further away. ‘That’s not how I conduct my life. I don’t go in for using people.’
‘There is nothing wrong with fair trading. If each person gives and receives something equitable…if mutual pleasure is reached…’
‘I don’t believe in poaching on other people’s territory!’ she hurled at him, fiercely defensive, her eyes flaring an accusation of unfair play.
Zageo frowned, puzzled by the offence she clearly felt. ‘You gave me to understand that no man had any current claim on you,’ he reminded her. ‘Naturally I would have respected…’
Anger erupted. ‘What about respecting the relationship you have with Veronique?’
Enlightenment dawned.
Gossip in the women’s quarters.
Emily forgot about retreating further and took a belligerent stance, hands planted on her hips as she delivered a blast of scorn. ‘Just because she couldn’t come with you doesn’t give you the right to play fast and loose with any woman who crosses your path.’
‘Veronique is in Paris because being there is more attractive to her than being with me,’ he drily informed. ‘Our relationship has come to an end. So I am completely free, Emily, to be with any woman I choose.’
He could see her mentally floundering over the news that he had no moral obligation to Veronique. Having a strong defensive line demolished at one stroke was not easy to absorb. He wondered if her sense of morality was as sharp as she’d just indicated or had she snatched at Veronique as an excuse to evade the truth of her own desire for him?
But why did she wish to evade it?
‘You choose,’ she repeated, picking up the words with the air of grabbing new weapons for a further fight between them. She flung her hands up in the air. ‘All the choice is yours. I’m not getting any choice in what’s going on here. You have me kept in the women’s quarters of your family palace, brought out to this boat…’
‘I did not imagine your willingness to be in my embrace, Emily,’ he cut in with unshakeable authority. ‘As to the rest, is it not better to be under my personal protection than to be locked up in a public prison while the local authorities sort out the situation that has evolved from your choices?’
‘At least it would have been in the process of being sorted,’ she threw at him, apparently undeterred by the prospect of being forced into the company of more criminals.
‘Believe me, Emily, it is best left to me to do the sorting as I have a personal interest in getting answers. However, since a choice means so much to you, I offer you one. You can come with me to Pemba Island and demonstrate how proficient you are at diving or I can instruct the captain of this vessel to take us directly to Stone Town where you can be taken into custody by local officials and rot in jail while they get around to checking your story in their own good time, dependent on how much paperwork is already on their desks.’
‘You could just let me go,’ she pressed, her whole body taut with exasperation at the limitations he was imposing on her.
‘That is not an option,’ Zageo answered, ruthlessly intent on keeping her with him.
‘Why not?’
‘I would not be doing my civic duty to release a potentially dangerous drug-runner into the community.’
‘But you don’t mind kissing a potentially dangerous drug-runner,’ she mocked.