He pulled out a stool tucked beneath the edge of the island, then crossed to the refrigerator. “We’ll get you a drink, then I’ll get my car and drive you home. We can go out some other time.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Sabina said.
He opened a bottle of water, then grabbed a glass from the cabinet above the sink. Alec placed both in front of her. She wanted to tell him that it wasn’t the heat, or dehydration, that had caused her knees to buckle. It was the experience of kissing him. Even now, staring into his eyes, Sabina felt off balance. She took a long sip of the water.
He reached out and captured her hand, toying with her fingers as she continued to drink. “Better?” he asked.
Sabina nodded, ignoring the tingle that skittered up her arm at his touch. She needed time to think, time to compose herself. Maybe she could hide out in the bathroom until she regained her senses. “Much.” She rubbed her forehead, feigning a headache. “I could use an aspirin, though.” A temporary headache should buy her a little more time. “I’m just going to go-”
“You could use dinner,” he interrupted. “But we’ll start with aspirin.”
He stepped over to her and gently brushed her hair out of her eyes. “I don’t think you have any idea just how beautiful you are,” he whispered, dropping a kiss on her lips. “I think you’ve bewitched me.”
One kiss wasn’t enough for him. With a low moan, he furrowed his hands through her hair and molded her mouth to his. Everything about the kiss challenged her to give more, to surrender to his taste and his touch.
With trembling fingers, Sabina skimmed her palms over his chest, brushing aside his jacket. Without breaking contact with her mouth, he pulled his arms out of the sleeves and tossed it on the floor.
The simple act of removing his jacket seemed to break some invisible barrier. Sabina reached up and nervously worked at the buttons of his shirt. His breath quickened at her touch and Alec tugged his shirttails out of his jeans, his mouth trailing kisses along her shoulder.
Sabina knew where they were headed, but she was powerless to stop it. Touching him…kissing him…needing him seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
When she’d undone the last button, Alec shrugged out of the shirt. His skin was warm to the touch, his chest smooth and finely muscled. Sabina pressed her lips to the skin at the base of his neck and breathed his scent in deeply.
He tipped his head back and she dropped lower, nuzzling his skin until she reached his nipple. Sabina suddenly felt bold, uninhibited and very powerful. But when her tongue touched his nipple, Alec drew a sharp breath and stepped back.
He smiled crookedly, then ran his thumb along her lip. “I think I’ll get you that aspirin,” he said.
As he walked out, Sabina sighed softly. What had happened? Why had he stopped so suddenly? At the rate they were going, they would have ended up in bed within the hour, a prospect that didn’t seem distasteful to Sabina.
She grabbed her purse and pulled out her mirror. “Oh, God,” she murmured, pinching her cheeks to restore some of her color. “Breathe. Everything will be fine.”
As she put the mirror back into her purse, she noticed the little brown bottle-Chloe’s love potion. Sabina pulled it out and untwisted the cap, then dumped a small measure into her glass. She wasn’t sure of the dosage, but right now, she needed any help she could get. Closing her eyes, she drank the remainder of her water.
Almost immediately, she felt an odd imbalance descend on her. Though she was perfectly calm, every nerve in her body was suddenly alive and aware. Sabina ran her hands up and down her arms, the sensation of her fingertips raising goose bumps along the way. She felt an overwhelming need to touch him again, to taste his kisses and to press her body against his. No man had ever affected her as strongly as Alec had, awakening desires that she never knew she had.
Sabina felt as if she’d stepped onto a carnival ride and was waiting for it to begin. The anticipation was almost too much to bear, every thought focused on the wild and thrilling and slightly dangerous ride ahead. It was scary, but she wasn’t about to get off now.
ALEC STARED AT HIS reflection in the bathroom mirror, a frown creasing his brow. Everything was moving way too fast. Never mind that he felt like a first-class cad lying to her about who he was. But now there was absolutely no way he was going to give her up. And how the hell could he even think of seducing her as long as she didn’t know who he really was?
A curse slipped from his lips and he shook his head. This had to stop right now. If he hoped for anything to happen between them, it couldn’t begin this way. Alec drew a deep breath. He’d known her a day, less than twenty-four hours, and already he was planning their future together.
“What is going on in your head?” he said, raking his hands through his hair. If he didn’t know any better, he’d suspect she’d used one of those crazy Gypsy spells or curses and rendered him completely defenseless to her beauty.
Hell, maybe she knew exactly who he was. After all, she was psychic. And that fortune she’d told in the shop hit pretty close to home. This could all be a plan for revenge, cooked up between her and her grandmother. She’d lure him into bed, make him all hot and crazy, and dump cold water on him.
He stared at his reflection for a moment longer, then opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed the aspirin. “You’re not bewitched,” he muttered. “You’re temporarily insane.” On the way back to the kitchen, Alec stopped and grabbed a T-shirt from his bedroom. He found Sabina waiting where he’d left her.
“Aspirin,” he said, popping the cap off the top of the bottle. He shook two into her palm, then refilled her empty water glass.
Sabina watched him with a curious gaze before she tossed the aspirin into her mouth. Tilting her head back, she took a sip of the water, then smiled. “There,” she said.
Alec could see that she waiting for him to step closer and kiss her. His eyes were fixed on her lips, still damp from the water and slightly parted. She clenched and unclenched her fingers, but Alec stayed glued to his spot. “I should take you home. We’ll do this some other time.”
“I’m fine,” Sabina insisted, sending him a sultry smile. “My headache is gone.”
“You still look a little pale. You really should go home and rest. I’ll go get my car.”
She opened her mouth, as if to protest, but thought better of it. A tiny frown worried her brow. “You’re probably right. I still do feel a bit dizzy.” She quickly stood up and grabbed her purse. “You don’t have to drive me. I can get a cab.”
“Don’t be silly,” Alec said. “I’m parked just a few blocks from here. It will only take me a minute to go get my car.”
Sabina shook her head. “I’m perfectly capable of getting myself home.”
Alec sensed the anger in her voice and decided to let the argument go. “All right.” He grabbed her hand before she had a chance to leave and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll call you.”
“Fine,” she said.
With that, she turned and walked out. At the last minute, Alec decided to stop her, but then he heard the front door slam and he thought better of it. If she stayed any longer, he’d forget that he was a nice guy deep inside. He’d forget that there was a reason he couldn’t spend the rest of his evening kissing her and undressing her and making love to her.
He strolled into the foyer and watched through the beveled glass of the door as she descended the front steps. If he looked at the situation objectively, she was just a woman. A beautiful woman, but a woman all the same. Hell, Manhattan was full of them-models, actresses, socialites, heiresses. Up until now, he’d had his choice.
But suddenly he didn’t want his choice. Only one woman interested him and that was Sabina Amanar. Maybe that was the Gypsy curse, to want something that you knew you could never have.