Free Wild and Willing! by Kim Lawrence Page B

marry to fulfil some ridiculous idea he had of a perfect nuclear family was a recipe for disaster. What did it matter to her if the man ruined his life? she asked herself angrily. And why did he have to slot her into some wretched category? she wondered. What heading was she filed under? Instability and possible moral degeneration? The possibility that they could have anything more in common than mutual attraction had obviously never occurred to him. I’m the sort of woman children should be protected from, she thought, repressing a bubble of semi-hysterical laughter.
    Why should I care? Let him ruin his life. Like a bolt of lightning the answer popped into her mind. She shook her head in mute denial. She couldn’t love him; she didn’t even like him!
    Adam’s hand slid beneath her skull and he kissed her hard on the lips. She could feel the desperation in him right through to her bones.
    ‘Stupid doesn’t begin to cover it,’ he said huskily as he lifted his head. ‘I didn’t have to come up here. Your mother didn’t suggest anything; I did. I wanted to prove I could be alone with you and not…not do this.’ His voice was slurred as he ran his hand down the length of her slender body from shoulder to flank. ‘Or maybe that I could do this and then stop.’
    Anna was frightened by the oddly unfocused expression in his absinthe eyes as he stared down at her.
    ‘Enough, Adam!’ she said in a hoarse voice. One of them had to call a halt to this situation, and he didn’t look as if he could.
    ‘I want you.’
    ‘That’s not enough, not nearly enough,’ she told him, hoping she sounded firmer about this than she felt.
    Adam closed his eyes and muttered something from between compressed lips. After a few moments he seemed to regain some degree of control. He moved, but only to roll on his side beside her. He raked his fingers through his blond mop of hair. She’d dreamt about his head occupying the pillow beside her, but now it was happening she couldn’t look at him.
    ‘What are you saying?’ he demanded flatly.
    ‘I’m saying wanting me isn’t enough. I’m not into empty sexual experiences, and you’re not into one-night stands. Wasn’t that what you told me?’
    She heard the sharp inhalation as he caught his breath, and allowed her head to turn when he captured her chin between his thumb and forefinger. She met his turbulent gaze with all the calm she could muster, even though her nerves were breaking new records for endurance.
    ‘Great!’ she said bitterly. ‘It’s fine for you to look insulted now, but I’m not supposed to care if all you want from me is a quick tumble. I’ve heard all about your suffering as you try and control these primal lusts,’ she drawled sarcastically. ‘But not once have you asked me how I feel.
    ‘Do you think I’m flattered? Just because you’ve decided to put your principles on hold for the duration, what makes you think I’m happy to do the same?’ She gave an angry snort at the look of disdain that flickered across his handsome features. ‘Just because I’m not as narrow-minded or as conventional as you doesn’t mean I don’t have a sense of morality.’
    ‘I’m not talking philosophy, Anna. It’s more relevant that I know how you feel every time I touch you! I don’t need to ask you,’ he retorted confidently, his colour heightened. ‘Or are you now going to tell me this is all one-sided?’
    ‘I’m trying to tell you I don’t indulge in shallow,superficial affairs which might be satisfying at the time, but leave a nasty taste in the mouth. Neither do I sleep with married or engaged men.’
    ‘When did you formulate this worthy philosophy?’ he demanded contemptuously. ‘In the last sixty seconds? Isn’t it a bit late to be setting arbitrary rules? Do you get some sort of kick out of pushing men to the limit? It’s a dangerous game, Anna,’ he warned grimly.
    ‘I’m only telling you the truth,’ she said unhappily. ‘Did I