It was as if Colby were some strange new masculine life form she had just encountered. Yet it was as if she’d known him well in some other time and place – had known him and feared him. And fought him.
He tasted the way Diana had known he would taste, and at the same time his mouth was new and strange and beguiling. He was as demanding as she’d guessed he would be, but she discovered within herself a rash need to meet his demands with a few of her own.
Colby’s arms tightened around her and Diana felt the hardness of his lower body thrusting against her softness.
He wanted her and he was making no secret of it. Something snapped within her, and the fiery kiss threatened to roar out of control. It was as if she had been waiting for this man and this kiss all her life.
Diana was only dimly aware of the sliding, gliding, exploring movement of Colby’s hands as he moved his palms down her body to her hips. She felt his fingertips brush the curve of her br**sts en route, and a sensual warmth filled her. When he cupped her bu**ocks and brought her more tightly against his hardened body, Diana shivered and cried out softly.
He freed her mouth with slow, drugging reluctance and began talking to her as he tugged her shirt out of her trousers.
“I knew it would be like this with you,“ Colby muttered as he inhaled the fragrance of her hair. His hands were trembling with the force of his desire. “Hot and sweet and frantic at first. I feel like I’ve been waiting for you for a long, long time.“
“Oh, Colby, I wish…“
“Shush. Don’t try to talk. Not now.“ He drew a thumb across her parted lips and his eyes burned as he looked down into her questioning face. “This first time is going to be fast and hard and wild. But later we’ll take it slow and easy, I promise. Hell, later well become connoisseurs. But not this first time. I’m too hungry for you this time.“ His hands were moving up beneath her shirt now, seeking the gentle curves of her br**sts.
The tiny snapping sound of her bra fastener as it came unhooked was what pulled Diana back from the brink. She blinked rapidly, trying to unfog her mind. She was aware of a curiously scattered sensation as if important parts of her were spinning wildly, uncontrollably. She wondered fleetingly if this was how the moth felt when it approached the flame.
Primitive, feminine instincts took over, jerking her back to safety.
“No.“ Her voice was a soft, beseeching thread of sound. “No, Colby,“ she said again, this time more firmly. “Not now. Not tonight. I don’t…I’m not ready. I want to think. This isn’t what I…“
He silenced her with an impatient kiss and his palms covered her taut ni**les with deliberate possessive-ness. “I want you.“
“That’s not enough.“
“You want me.“
“That’s still not enough. Please let me go, Colby.“
For an instant Diana wasn’t sure he would release her. She knew with unnerving certainty that if he did not, she would be drawn back to the edge of the abyss, and this time she would go over into the velvet darkness with him.
She wasn’t ready for that. Not yet. There was too much she did not know or understand about him.
And then, without any warning, she was free. Colby swung around and strode violently away from her, one hand raking through his dark hair. He halted in front of the cottage window and stood staring out into the night.
Specter watched him closely but didn’t move.
“What is it with you, lady?“ Colby said without turning around. The rigid line of his broad shoulders gave undeniable evidence of his volatile mood. “Why the constant come-on and then no follow-through? That’s an adolescent’s game. You’re no kid.“
Diana closed her eyes. “No, you’re right about that. I’m not exactly a kid.“ She opened her eyes, and gazed at his back. “But, then, neither are you. Why the heavy pass followed by the macho temper tantrum when I fail to put out, as the kids say? You’re forty years old, Colby. Too old to be acting like a teenager who isn’t getting what he wants in the back seat of a car.“
Colby whipped around, gray eyes lit with an unreadable combination of emotions. “Sorry,“ he said laconically.
“Guess I misread the signals.“
“I guess you did,“ she snapped, her heart sinking. This wasn’t the way she wanted the evening to end.
He didn’t move. For a long moment they simply stared at each other, neither offering a graceful way out of the highly charged situation.
“What do you want from me?“ Diana finally asked helplessly. “A couple of quickies? A one-night stand?“
“Do I look stupid? Nobody with a brain larger than a cockroach’s does one-night stands these days.“
“True,“ Diana agreed readily. “So what do you want?“
“Isn’t it obvious?“ He shoved his hands into the back pockets of his jeans, and began to pace restlessly back and forth across the small room. “I want an affair with you.“
“A few days? Weeks? Maybe the whole summer?“
He shot her a glowering look. “Yeah, maybe the whole summer. Maybe longer. As long as it lasts, for Pete’s sake.
As long as it’s good for both of us. Damn it, who the hell can answer that kind of question? Do you always have to have answers?“
Diana laced her fingers together and glanced down at them. “I’m a businesswoman,“ she explained with soft apology. “I like answers. I tend to look before I leap.“
“Do you grill every man who takes an interest in you? Do you have to analyze everything to death? Get all the answers before you take any risks? No wonder you’re not married.“
Diana’s head came up swiftly as fury arced through her. “Get out of here, Colby.“
He stopped his pacing as the raw anger in her reached him. He grimaced. “Sorry,“ he muttered brusquely. “That was out of line.“
“Yes, it was. I want you to leave. Now.“
He ran his fingers through his hair again. “Look, forget I said that last bit, okay? I had no right.“
“No right at all. Now leave before I sic my dog on you.“
Specter growled obligingly and got to his feet. He watched Colby carefully, anticipation in every line of his massive body.
“Don’t threaten me with your damn dog.“ Colby shot Specter a grim glance and then stalked toward Diana. “If you want to kick me out, do the job yourself.“
“I’m trying.“