Chapter 192

• All he was doing was steadying her. She knew that. But to her body, his hold was dangerously reminiscent of the way he had held her when he had kissed her, and she had to fight down its instinctive urge to close the gap between them. If he kissed her right now, he'd taste of salt, heat, and male hormones.
• It must be the shock of her unwanted sexual response to him that was responsible for the feeling that somehow time had slowed down, and with it the beat of her own heart, as though both of them were caught up in some kind of mystical spell, Orla thought dizzily. She could see where the shadow was just beginning to darken the line of Arni’s jaw, and she had an overwhelming longing to reach out and touch it with her fingertips, and then to trace the curve of his mouth. The sensuality of the contrast between them would, she knew, be burned into her touch in a way that would make her ache to feel that contrast against her own flesh. It would be so easy to do, so very easy.
• He knew what she was doing, Arni assured himself. She was trying to use his own maleness against him, knowing what effect her proximity would have on him. He had never known a woman so skilled at using his own sexuality against him. Where other women were foolish enough to blatantly thrust themselves on him, for him to either take or repulse as his mood dictated, she was far more subtle and skilled. Dangerously so, he recognized grimly, since her subtle waiting game had already resulted in arousing him. He shouldn’t have referred to the Kama Sutra, Arni acknowledged. Doing so had conjured up images inside his head that had weakened his defenses: images of sensuality and love-play in which her pale naked body was his to arouse and enjoy.