For the longest time he stared at me. Then he shrugged. ‘Only a fool stays on a course that’s doomed. Perhaps I’m embracing new changes. Attempting to be...different.’

My heart lurched, even as I tamped down fruitless hope. All this meant nothing. Not if my prognosis was as dire as my senses screamed that they were. Not if this marriage was ticking down to dissolution.

‘Can we not do this here? I’d like to go back in.’

‘Why? So Stavros can succeed at working his angle?’

I blinked in surprise. ‘What are you talking about?’

He edged me back a step, following me so we were wedged against the stone balustrade. ‘Just a heads-up. His marriage is on the rocks. He’s attempting to raise his stature by undermining my authority every chance he gets—chances which, unfortunately for him, haven’t been readily available. I’d rather not see you be his pawn,’ he breathed, his voice absolutely lethal while being so soft.

Too late, I accepted that the fire inside me was building out of control. His body surged closer, reminding me in vivid detail of the hard-packed, streamlined definition of muscle beneath his bespoke suit. And the fact that his body could render me speechless with very little effort.

‘You can stand down. I can take care of myself.’

‘Ne, I’m beginning to see that,’ he murmured, and again there was the barest hint of grudging acceptance in his eyes.

But I didn’t get the chance to explore the discovery because his head slowly lowered.

Hot, sensual and commanding, his lips slanted over mine. With a gasp that was way too husky and way too revealing I threw up my hands. Somewhere in the back of my head I was aware that I’d dropped my phone. But it didn’t seem to matter, because his tongue was delving between my lips, seeking entrance I was helpless to deny.

He tasted me with a brazenness that struck a match to the desire that had been straining to be freed after that episode on his sofa. With effortless ease he set it ablaze between one snatched breath and the next.

His tongue stroked mine with a possessiveness that took control of my whole body, so that when one hand slid from my shoulder and down my back to draw me into sizzling contact it felt as if I was made of warm, pliant dough, ready to mould myself to any shape of his bidding.

When his other hand angled my head to deepen the kiss it was all I could do to slide my own hands around his neck. To hold on tightly as the dizzying journey zipped like a rollercoaster ride I never wanted to end.

With a helpless moan, I parted my lips wider, strained onto my toes the better to absorb more of the experience.

Ax made a gruff sound that disintegrated beneath our frenzied kiss. His hold intensified until we were plastered together from chest to thigh. Until the unmistakable imprint of his thick, aroused manhood blazed hot and potent against my belly.