An Inconvenient Obsession by Natasha Tate Read Free Book Online Page B

against her throat. She’d plastered herself up against the door, almost as if she intended to hurl herself out to the pavement should he dare to slide close enough to touch her. Not that he blamed her. If what had happened in her office were any indication, he’d be hard-pressed to stop the raging inferno of lust that flared the moment he tasted her mouth beneath his. As it was, her scent alone, with its intoxicating undertones of vanilla and citrus, tempted himto forget finesse and take her now, against the supple leather, the consequences be damned.
    But no. He intended to savor his seduction, to prolong the sweet taste of her submission before he crushed her.
    “Buckle up,” he told her, feigning calm as he fastened his own seat belt. “We don’t want to jeopardize that beautiful neck of yours.”
    She started and then fumbled for the seat belt, cinching it tight across her lap. Lacing her trembling fingers together, she pressed them against the chrome buckle and then dropped her focus to the backs of her thumbs.
    He allowed her the moment of retreat, using the time to adjust his plans. He’d reacted to her bewitching kiss more than he’d anticipated, while the exquisite vision of her swollen mouth, bared shoulders and the slim column of her throat merged with the worn memories of the Cate he’d once treasured. He’d meant to keep the Cate of his memories separate from the coldhearted beauty he knew her to be. The fact that kissing her had somehow blended the two didn’t sit well in his gut.
    The Cate of his memories didn’t exist. She never had. He couldn’t allow her to lull him into thinking otherwise.
    He had to remember that beneath her enchanting surface lurked a cruel, vindictive liar who used men for her own desires. He couldn’t allow himself to forget the way she’d used him and then discarded him.
    Though time had ripened Cate’s beauty to the point that just looking at her aroused him to a painful degree, he could not allow his emotions to become involved. Yes, her lush body had gained curves in the years they’d been apart, and yes, her girlish features had matured into those of a woman in her prime. But it didn’t matter. She couldn’t matter.
    He told himself he was glad that her wide eyes, as clear as the Caribbean Sea they’d swum in as children, looked hauntednow. Sad. Grief over her father’s death had sculpted her face into a fragile composition of delicate cheekbones, thin wings of brow and plump, pink lips. He wanted to revel in her grief, to rejoice in her pain, but kissing her had twisted his emotions so thoroughly that he felt almost human again.
    The sensation was not pleasant.
    Ethan opened the side bar, poured a tumbler of Scotch and extended it toward her. “Drink?”
    She shook her head without looking at him.
    Undeterred, he tossed back a burning swallow.
    It didn’t help.
    Cate’s profile still drew his gaze. As he traced the shadow and light that gilded her features, he reminded himself that she hadn’t married for good reason. Surely, she’d had offers. If not for her beauty, then for her wealth.
    But she’d rejected them all, undoubtedly with the same cool disregard she’d shown him. She was her father’s daughter, after all, and no one would ever be good enough.
    He took another fiery swallow of Scotch while visions of his triumph played in his mind. Soon, he’d find his pleasure between Cate’s creamy thighs, consume her cries of ecstasy and make her beg for more and more and more. And when he was done with her, when he’d exorcised her from his very bones, he would be the one to walk away. He would be the one in control.
    Perhaps then, he would finally be able to destroy the memories that still arose during his unguarded moments. Perhaps then, he’d no longer see her heart-shaped mouth, her smooth brow, or the satiny curve of her cheek in the faces of nameless strangers. Perhaps then, he’d finally see she was just like every other female he’d met.