"You're not going to let me out of this, are you?"
"Not on your life."
She stepped back, already experiencing the beginning of the creative excitement she had thought she had forgotten. A blank canvas, paints, a beautifully lush tropical countryside… Oh, Lord, she shouldn't give in to him. It was a mistake, but one she knew she was going to make anyway. In fact, she could scarcely wait to start. "You may be soriy. There's something you should know about me. Ross once told me that one of your primary characteristics was determination. Well, one of mine is total single-mindedness. Once I focus on something, I become obsessive and can't let go." She tried to smile. "Even if it rips me apart, I still can't let go."
He nodded resignedly, his gaze on the eagerness lighting her face. "I'll learn to live with it. The sketch books and pencils are on the shelf beneath that work table across the room. Why don't you grab what you need and take it to your room and change? I'd like to take you on a tour of the grounds before it gets dark, and you might want to make a few sketches, if something catches your eye."
"I'll do that." The excitement was growing as she moved quickly across the room to the table. She glanced back over her shoulder and smiled. "Thank you, Gideon."
"It's my pleasure." His smile held a touch of self-mockery as he turned away. "I hope. I'll knock on your door in fifteen minutes. Okay?"
"Uhhmm." She was examining the sketch books and pencils.
His smile deepened. "Ill make it forty-five minutes." He quietly closed the door, leaving her alone in the sunlit studio.
Three
"I think I've created a monster." Gideon shook his head mournfully as he pushed his chair away from the table after dinner. "You were in that studio from after dinner last night until three o'clock this morning. In the past three days you've scarcely poked your head out that door. How the hell do you expect me to seduce you, if I don't see you?"
"I warned you," Serena said with an impish grin. "You're right. The situation is entirely of your own creation. Besides, we've had meals together, we've done dishes together, we went for a walk the first day we came and we played cards…" She frowned. "When was that?"
"My presence obviously made a deep impression on you," Gideon said dryly. "I might just as well have been playing solitaire. Well, I've come to the end of my patience. The seduction begins immediately." He leaned back in his chair, stretched his legs in front of him, crossing them at the ankle. "And I'm not only demanding a three-day extension. I want your complete attention for at least five hours a day. I know that's asking a lot when your new love is so absorbing but-"
"You're jealous," said Serena, amazed. "You're actually jealous."
"You bet I am. I'm jealous of everything concerning you. I was jealous of that fancy prince you married; I was jealous of the years that separated us; now I'm jealous of a damn palette of paints."
"You handed me the palette of paints."
"And I'll hand them to you again-tomorrow." He made a face. "So much for my grand gesture."
"It was a grand gesture," Serena said softly. He had given her back something very precious that might have been lost forever, and he had given it with a touching generosity. He had not only let her absorb herself completely in her work, but he had deliberately rid his manner of any hint of sexuality during the last three days. She might as well have been living with an indulgent older brother. "And I think perhaps, you're a very grand man, Gideon."
"It was all a plot, you know, to create an impression. Now that I've set you up, I'm ready to move in for the kill." He stood up lithely. "Let's go for a walk."
"Where?"
"Down to the lake. That's where I'm going to make love to you."
Her eyes widened. "Now?"
"Nope. Right now I'm going through the mating rituals. Don't worry, I'll choose the right time."
Serena felt a prickle of annoyance. Gideon was running things again. She stood up and faced him. "No."
He blinked. "No?"
"You're not going to bulldoze me, Gideon." She placed her hands on her hips. "Let's get a few things straight. IJ I let you make love to me, it won't be seduction. It will be because I want to make love. And I'll be the one to choose the time." She turned and started from the kitchen. "Tonight you can do the dishes by yourself."
"Where are you going?"
She glanced back over her shoulder, "To my other lover." Then she suddenly smiled with loving sweetness. "By the way, I have every intention of giving you what you want… eventually." Then she was gone and a moment later he heard her steps on the stairs.
He stared blankly at the door until a slow smile containing both pride and a touch of mischief lit his features. "Well, I'll be damned."
She didn't look up from the canvas when she heard the door of the studio open a few hours later. "Gideon?"
"Uh-huh."
"I'll be through here in fifteen minutes or so. I have to get the shading at the foot of this tree right."
"I wouldn't think of disturbing you." His voice was silky. She heard his steps behind her. "You just keep right on painting."
"It will only be- What are you doing?"
"Nibbling your ear. Quite tasty." He stopped her with his hands on her shoulders when she would have turned around to face him. "No, your work is too important to postpone. You paint away, love. I'll find something to keep myself amused." His tongue suddenly plunged into her ear. "Your hand jumped. Now you'll have to take care of that little smudge, won't you? Sony about that."
"I'm sure you are." She could hardly speak through the tightness of her throat. The clean smell of soap and a minty after-shave lotion was surrounding her, and his body was emitting a masculine heat as aphrodisiac as the pungent male scent of him. She tried to steady her brush. "You're making it very difficult."
"Am I?" His arms reached around her and his deft fingers began to unbutton her blouse. "Well, life can be tough sometimes." He spread the edges of her blouse back and unfastened the front catch of her bra. "We have to learn to overcome these little upsets. I'm sure if you concentrate, you can forget what I'm doing to you." His hands suddenly closed on her bare breasts. "Oh, now you've made another smudge. Maybe you should make those tree roots instead of shadows."
She swayed a little, her breasts lifting beneath his hands with every breath. "Gideon, don't…"
"You've got such sweet nipples. They're poking at my palms as if they're nuzzling against me." His voice was thick. "And the weight of these pretty things is driving me crazy." He pressed his hips against her and rubbed slowly back and forth. "See?"
His length was hard and aroused as he undulated against her, and his hands were squeezing her breasts rhythmically. "Do you know what I'd like to do to you? I'd like to take all these clothes off you and try a little painting myself. I'd paint your nipples scarlet." His hand moved down to the apex of her thighs and began to rub gently. "And this lovely thing a warm gold. I'd use a very soft, delicate brush, and I think you'd like it as much as I. I'd take a very long time and each stroke would be slow motion." His teeth bit lightly at her earlobe. "I'd make sure you felt every bristle of the brush as it dipped into every curve and valley. Do you think you'd moan as I did that, love? I'd love to hear you moan and pant. Then I'd wash it all off and use my own brush to stroke you and make you moan." He brought her in solid contact and held her there for an endless moment as he buried his lips in the nape of her neck. "I think you've dropped your brush."
"I don't care." She was trembling helplessly. "Let me turn around."
"Why?"
"I want to touch you." The words were so faint, they were almost inaudible. "This isn't fair, Gideon."