Part 10 (1/2)

”It'll take all day, even with the computer. I'm not even planning on breaking for lunch.”

He suddenly yanked her up from the chair and pulled her into his arms. ”Then quit the d.a.m.ned job,” he said in a voice that was little more than a growl.

Skye knew it was a mistake the moment the words left him. He had spoken without thinking as usual, and as usual it was because she was hiding from him. Her cool, elegant figure behind the desk inflamed him because she looked so d.a.m.ned untouchable, and her faintly absent tone made it worse. He could barely think when she was nearby; in fact, he had enraged Hagen by losing the thread of conversation as he watched her walk through the lobby over an hour before.

And his own loss of control was doubly galling because her control appeared so solid. She lost it in pa.s.sion, and in anger, but it never deserted her for long. And as far as he could tell, a casual glance or touch from him never so much as rippled the smooth surface of her serenity. She was aloof except when she was in his arms. As cool and elusive as moonlight, as hot and bright as sunlight; the paradox of her maddened him.

He had thought that finding the fire In her would be enough, but he had discovered it wasn't. He wanted her to burn for him, always, the way he burned for her always. He hated everything that took her attention away from him for even an Instant, and knowing his ferocity stemmed from his own insecurity about her feelings for him did nothing to change It.

”What?” she gasped now, staring up at him.

He gazed at her lovely face, and what he wanted to say was I'm going crazy with wanting you; don't shut me out! But, incurably graceless whenever strong emotions gripped him, he of course said the last thing he should have.

”I said quit the d.a.m.ned job,” he repeated impatiently, and rapidly made bad worse. ”You don't need to work. I'll take care of you.”

Katrina shoved him away with unexpected strength, her amber eyes snapping. ”Thanks, but no thanks,” she said tightly. ”I may be a fallen woman, as you so aptly put it, but I'll be d.a.m.ned if I'm a kept one!”

She wasn't composed now, but Skye was belatedly aware that this kind of fire was likely to burn more than his hands. He had never before seen her this angry, and even while he was busy cursing himself he couldn't help but be fascinated. ”Oh, h.e.l.l, I didn't mean-I'm sorry, Trina-G.o.d, you're beautiful,” he interrupted himself to say Intensely.

The impulsive comment didn't mollify her in the least. In fact. If she'd been angry before, she was furious now. ”You may think my job is nothing, an inconvenience in your s.e.x life, but you can think again,” she snapped. ”I won't drop everything when you whistle, and I sure as h.e.l.l won't be tumbled into bed because you're in the mood for a quickie!”

He laughed, unable to help himself, as her innately gentle voice shaped the blunt words. If he had considered it, he would have been surprised that her burst of rage did nothing to spark his own ready temper; oddly enough, he felt no anger at all, but only a sheepish desire to make amends.

”Don't laugh at me!” she practically shouted.

”I'm not,” he a.s.sured her hastily, reaching out for her and being held off when she shoved the chair between them. ”Trina, I didn't mean it the way it sounded-”

”I don't care how you meant it,” she snarled.

”Please, sweetheart-”

”Get out of my office,” she ordered with a sudden and fiery dignity. She pushed the chair away and began shoving him toward the door.

Somewhat to his surprise, he found himself going. ”Trina, for heaven's sake!”

”This hotel is filled with women,” she told him fiercely. ”Try whistling to one of them.”

”But I don't want one of them,” he protested, and winced when the door was slammed in his face. He stood staring at the unyielding wooden barrier, resisting a sudden urge to kick the thing as he heard the metallic click of the lock.

”d.a.m.n.” He turned around, and felt a flush climb into his face as he saw Gigi.

She was standing with her arms folded, her face solemn but a demon of laughter in her eyes. In a dispa.s.sionate tone she said, ”Anyone who could rouse Trina to a display of that magnitude must be a veritable fiend.”

”You're a lot of help,” he said In a disgruntled voice.

”You haven't asked for my help,” she told him politely.

He stared at her for a moment. ”Help.”

With a faint smile she said instantly, ”You have a certain amount of charm, even If it is a bit rusty from disuse. And though you aren't a gentle man, there is a great deal to be said for being a gentleman.”

Skye stood still for a moment after she strolled away, then turned and headed purposefully for the lobby. One of the desk clerks giggled as he pa.s.sed, and another gave him a somewhat awed look, both reactions telling him that at least part of Katrina's outburst had been overheard.

And that, he reflected ruefully, just might sink his s.h.i.+p for sure.

For a full ten minutes after she'd slammed and locked the door, Katrina was so angry she could barely think. Gradually, however, the Inevitable letdown overcame her, and she sank into her chair to stare at the computer. Her head was pounding, and she felt both a mild astonishment at her anger and a sense of bafflement at Skye's words.

His demand that she quit her job seemed, on the surface at least, to have sprung from sheer s.e.xual domination, and that was what had sparked her rage. She had been furious, and mixed with that had naturally been her own sense of hurt that he apparently thought so little of her work that he would order her to abandon it without hesitation.

But a certain amount of bitter experience reminded her now that he often spoke without stopping to consider the probable impact of his words, and that his Innate Impatience made him quick to demand what he wanted. And what had he wanted in those first moments after he'd come into her office?

Her.

He hadn't thought about her work at all, except as something standing between the two of them. And, intolerant as always, he had simply taken the quickest and most direct route to getting what he wanted. Her job was in the way-so he wanted it shoved to one side. It wasn't important, and the added comment about taking care of her had just been an Impatient, purely expedient rider along the lines of ”Never mind. I'll take care of it.”

”Arrogant so-and-so,” she told the computer.

He was arrogant... but she wasn't surprised by it, and couldn't seem to get angry about it. She might just as well get angry at a comet for following its natural path. He hadn't meant to hurt or upset her, and it had probably never occurred to him that he would. And, to do him justice, he had Instantly tried to apologize.

It was odd, she realized, but he hadn't gotten angry in return. He had been clearly Intrigued by her temper, and he had laughed at her-No. Not at her, but at what she had said. Thinking about what she had said, she had to admit it sounded amusing in retrospect.

A knock at the door Interrupted her thoughts, and she went to unlock it. Then she stepped back, startled, as one of the bellmen carried in a delicate crystal vase holding an enormous bouquet of long-stemmed red roses.

”Doesn't waste much time, does he?” the bellman observed cheerfully as he set the vase on her desk.

Two realizations struck Katrina then. One, that she lived in a goldfish bowl and, two, that Skye's impatience and temper weren't the only extravagant things about him. In the most dignified tone she could manage, she said, ”Thank you, Dennis.” ”There's a card,” Dennis said with a wink, and then escaped before she could throw something at him. Katrina eyed the offering for a moment, then plucked the card from among the blooms and retreated behind her desk. She sat down and opened the little envelope cautiously, not entirely certain what to expect.

I've forgotten how to whistle, but it doesn't matter. I want only you. I can't make pretty speeches about it; a starving man doesn't ask-he just grabs. I didn't mean to hurt you.

Thank heaven he wrote it himself, she thought vaguely, never doubting that the decisive, bold strokes of the pen were his. And what could a woman do with a man like Skye? A rough apology, blunt and without grace... and utterly disarming.

”d.a.m.n you,” she murmured.

Katrina sat for a long time, her gaze almost blind. Then she turned off her computer and left her office. She didn't think about where she was going or what told her he'd be waiting for her, but she wasn't much surprised to find herself opening the door of her suite and going in. He wasn't in the den, but she went on into the bedroom. And he was there.

She held the card up briefly before putting it on the dresser. ”You knew I'd come,” she accused.

”No.” Wearing only a pair of dark sweat pants and looking vibrantly male he came toward her slowly, ”I hoped. But I wasn't sure.”

”Dammit, you got me up here anyway!”

He smiled just a little, a crooked smile, and his eyes were luminous. ”They say if you wish hard enough, you can make the wish come true.”

Katrina cleared her throat, feeling the heat of his powerful body as he stood before her and stingingly aware that her body was responding instantly, as if he had reached out and enveloped it in his own intensity. ”Is that what you did?” she managed to ask huskily.