She stopped there, staring at his cock and the dark curly hair nestled around it. It was soft still, but she got the impression that if she touched Erik anywhere, it would stir into life.

Picking up the shower gel, she poured a little onto her palm and lathered her hands. Her eyes met his again and he smiled at her. She swallowed and stepped towards him. Her hands trembled as she brought them up to his chest and placed them on him. She moved them in small circles, lathering his body until she ran out of soap. She frowned.

Erik leaned forwards and she turned to follow his hand as he reached past her. He grabbed the shower gel and squeezed a large dollop onto his body. She blushed as it ran down him, following the path of the water and tempting her to follow it with her hands. He took hold of them and placed them back on him, his smile encouraging her to let go and explore him, enjoy the moment.

He squeezed some of the soap out onto his hands and lathered them. She trembled in anticipation, her body silently crying out for his touch as she waited. His hands seemed to move impossibly slowly, and she almost muttered words of sweet relief when he finally touched her, his hands cupping her slippery breasts. She focused on his movements for a moment, the gentle sweep of his hands over her skin and the slight pressure he applied as he ran over her nipples, and then began her own discovery of him.

Her hands followed the trail of soap downwards, rubbing it into his skin. It turned to lather only to be cut through by the water as it cascaded down him, leaving streaky patches of soap and bare skin. His hands slid down her sides, following the curve of her waist and she tried not to laugh as they tickled her. He chuckled, showing her that he'd noticed. She went straight to a spot just above his hip and tickled him there.

His hands stopped moving.

So did hers.

How the hell had she known he was ticklish there? She stared at the spot, frowning, and touched it again. He wriggled when she did, trying to evade her hands. How had she known? Maybe all men were ticklish there, or one of her ex-boyfriends was.

It felt so familiar though, as though she'd done that to him before. She remembered that she had. She'd tickled him once in one of her fantasies. She had known he'd be ticklish there. How? A fantasy was just that. It wasn't real. Everything that she knew about him there, couldn't possibly be true here.

Could he purr?

She ran her hands up his soapy chest, pushing the remaining suds with her, and slipped her fingers into his hairline. She stared into his eyes when instinct moved her to rub the spot behind his ear. His eyes closed slightly and then opened again, wide as though he was trying to stop them from closing completely as she scratched there. They slipped shut and he tilted his head towards her. He pressed a kiss to her hand and caught hold of it, bringing it back down to his chest. His eyes opened and he looked at her. He looked worried.

She shrugged it off as her reading into things too much. There was no fur and he wasn't about to begin purring on her, no matter how much she rubbed him behind the ears like a cat.

She gasped when he grabbed her waist and turned with her, placing her under the water. It drenched her in seconds, flattening her hair against her face. She stepped forwards a little and flicked her hair back, clearing it from her eyes. Erik was smiling at her but it faltered when she made eye contact.

His gaze dropped to her body and he raised a brow. She looked down at her tightening nipples and brought her soapy hands up. She caught his gaze again and circled her nipples with her fingertips. He groaned and a frown married his brows for a moment. The next thing she knew, his arms were around her and he was kissing her. She could feel his length hardening against her hip and wrapped her arms about his neck, kissing him back and trying to get her mind off how strange things had been a few moments ago.

She shrieked against his mouth as the water turned cold. Letting go of him, she tugged the door open and skidded out into the bathroom. She shuddered as she grabbed a towel for herself and handed one to Erik.

"So much for hot water today. The building has crappy timing." She rubbed her cold body with the towel and stepped around Erik to turn the shower off.

Erik just wrapped his towel around his waist and stared at her. He still looked hungry, as though he was going to eat her whole. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that he probably was hungry after last night.

Her mother had always told her that she'd caught her father by believing the age old saying that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. She was willing to give it a shot and believe it if she got Erik at the end of it.

"Breakfast?" She smiled at him, hopeful.

He nodded and grinned. Her knees felt a little weak. She dropped her towel and wrapped her arms around his neck. Hopping up, she put her legs around his waist as he grabbed her backside to support her. His lips played softly against hers, sending shivers of warmth through her as she leaned into him. She looked around as he moved and saw that he was carrying her into the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and lay on top of her, his body covering hers as he kissed her again, his fingers running through her wet hair. She sighed beneath him, her hands tracing the muscles of his back as her tongue tangled with his. God this felt good. She could lie here forever with him kissing her, the outside world passing by the window and the room bright with sunshine, warm with summer.

She could die right here, and not care.

As long as Erik came with her of course.

He stopped kissing her and she opened her eyes, staring into his honey ones. They were smiling at her, slightly narrowed and full of a look that made her melt inside. He'd looked like that last night when he'd told her she was beautiful.

The longer she stared into his eyes, the more she found herself thinking about things between them. Sometimes when he looked at her, like he was now, she got the impression he could have feelings for her, and it made her wonder what her feelings for him were. She felt as though she knew him, almost intimately, as though they'd met in more than just fantasies and like this. There was a closeness between them that she knew wasn't one sided. The way she felt around him, and the way he acted around her-it was more than just a physical attraction. The warmth he made her feel and the way his touch soothed her. She couldn't make sense of it. She barely knew him. How could she feel so intensely connected to him?

Her heart skipped and danced when a thought flitted across her mind. Love? She didn't think so. It was far too soon to be falling for him.

Or was it?

She frowned and the moment drifted away when a phone rang. Erik's look darkened and he pushed himself up off her. She propped herself up on her elbows and watched him cross the room to his clothes. He rifled through them and produced a mobile phone.

He scowled at the display and then opened it.

"What do you want?" His voice was heavy, full of anger and resentment. He paused for a moment and his gaze shifted across to her. "That's none of your business. I warned you about that at the restaurant, Alistair. I wasn't kidding either."

Realising that the conversation was about to turn nasty, Kim stood and slipped into a little dark blue dress. She glanced at Erik. He managed a smile at her and she returned it, wishing that Alistair hadn't called. She didn't want anything to spoil her time with Erik, and Alistair brought with him a reminder that Erik was a client, and this was exactly the kind of thing she could be fired for.

Walking out of the bedroom, she opened the windows in the lounge and then went into the kitchen. A quick inspection of the cupboards revealed that there wasn't much in them that could be classified as food. She sighed to herself. It wasn't as though she'd been expecting her dream guy turned real guy to spend the night. When she'd agreed to go out with him, she'd gone straight home to get ready, skipping the grocery shopping that she should have been doing.

She grabbed the bag of bread off the side and opened it, frowning as she took out a slice and inspected it for mould. The last thing she wanted to do was give Erik mouldy toast. That definitely would not be the way to his heart. She hummed quietly to herself as she put some slices of bread into the toaster and tried not to listen in on Erik's conversation with his brother. She could hear him quite clearly. It wasn't as though he was keeping his voice down.

She'd witnessed first hand the animosity between them and now that there was more evidence, she couldn't deny it. The meeting, last night at the club, and the way Erik was speaking on the phone, they all made her see that the two of them hated each other. It raised one question in her mind again.

Why were they entering into this contract with each other if they couldn't stand each other?

She remembered the paragraph and the fact that she'd not mentioned it once last night.

The toast popped and she put it on a plate before refilling the toaster. She stared at it, thinking about everything that had happened over the past few days and what the contract said. She just couldn't understand why Erik wanted to sign it. There didn't seem to be anything at all beneficial to him in it, and that clause about blood gave her the willies. What kind of contract mentioned blood?

"Sorry about that," a strong male voice spoke close to her ear and an equally as strong pair of hands caught hold of her waist and turned her around. He lifted her effortlessly onto the work surface and sat her down, nestling himself in between her knees. He smiled. "Now where were we?"

She closed her eyes as he kissed her, his hands locked tightly against her back and his body pressing into hers.

She didn't know where she was. One minute she was thinking about that contract, the next it was nothing but a distant and very hazy memory, one that didn't bother her at all.

When he kissed her, nothing seemed to matter except the way it felt to have him hold her, and the touch of his lips against hers.

He pulled back, still smiling as he looked into her eyes. She looked deep into them, finding no trace of the anger she'd seen moments ago when he'd answered the phone. She wanted to mention it to see if the darkness that had been in his eyes would come back, but after the way he'd reacted to her mentioning his brother last night, she knew it wasn't wise.

The toaster popped again and he looked at it, and then at her.

"I was making breakfast," she said and leaned over to take the two slices of toast out of the machine. She placed them on the plate with the others. "Only I don't seem to have anything edible in the flat."

She gave him an apologetic look. His expression was blank for a few seconds and then he smiled, stepping away from her and looking through the cupboards. She noticed that he was dressed and a part of her wondered if he was planning on leaving soon. She hoped he wasn't. It was still early and there was the whole of what could be a nice lazy Sunday in front of them.

"Anything to put on the toast?" he said, pushing jars and bottles aside.

She watched him for a moment, desperately trying not to think about how domestic this all was, and then shuffled closer. She looked over her shoulder at the cupboard and reached in. Rifling around, she placed everything that wasn't out of date on the work surface.

"Peanut butter, marmite or honey," she announced with a triumphant smile and made a mental note to go through her cupboards and throw away all the old stuff.

He pulled a face, somewhere in between thoughtful and repulsed. She silently prayed it wasn't disgust.

So her choice of food wasn't quite the same as what he probably ate on a daily basis. Her wages didn't

extended to posh champagne.

"I'm going to have to go with this," he said, picking up the peanut butter. He smiled and relief swept through her. "It reminds me of when I was younger and back at the house, before my parents died. The housekeeper used to let me have it whenever I snuck down to the kitchens."

She frowned, watching him spread the peanut butter on his toast as she took in what he'd said. She hadn't realised that his parents were dead. He hadn't mentioned it last night. He handed her a piece of toast, smiling broadly. She took it and continued to look at him. No matter how much she'd thought she knew about him, it seemed there were still things she was yet to discover.

"You're not eating?" His voice broke into her thoughts. She blinked herself back to the world. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said and delicately bit the corner of her toast, chewing it slowly so she didn't look like a pig. "Why?"

"You just looked a little distant. Are you sure you're all right?" He took a bite out of his toast and had swallowed it down before she had a chance to respond. "Sorry I'm being a bit strange. Alistair calling me out of the blue has thrown me."

"It's understandable." She hopped down from the counter and took another bite of her toast as she went to the refrigerator. She opened it and grabbed the orange juice, placing it on the side. Shutting the refrigerator door, she looked at Erik. "You really don't like him do you?"

He shook his head and finished off his toast. "It goes both ways. When our parents were alive things weren't so bad between us. Now we'd probably kill each other if you left us alone in a room together for long enough."

She took another bite out of her toast and poured two glasses of orange juice as she chewed it thoughtfully. Handing one to Erik, she swallowed her mouthful.

"So why the contract?" she said.

He drank down his glass of orange juice and then sighed. "It's complicated."

"Is that a nice way of saying I wouldn't understand?" She smiled and sipped her drink.

"It's a nice way of saying you don't want to get involved in this."

"I am involved," she said and they both fell silent. She knew he'd hated her reminder that she was his client as much as she did. Forcing a smile, she pushed away all the questions about the contract and his family.

She placed the remains of her toast down on the plate and walked over to him. He looked down at her, his expression heavy and thoughtful. She was ruining their day. Time to make things better again. Taking his toast from him, she tossed it onto the plate and then caught hold of his shirt collar. She lured him down to her and kissed him, slowly exploring his mouth with light brushes of her lips, so barely there that it made her feel light and giddy inside. He responded by placing his hands against her hips, holding her gently and kissing her with equal tenderness. She stepped closer to him, into his embrace, and melted when his arms encircled her, wrapping her up. The world drifted away and the way she'd felt when they'd been kissing on the bed came back full force. She sighed against his lips, loving how relaxed this felt. He tasted like peanut butter. She presumed she did too.

His lips left hers and trailed down her neck. She was surprised when he stopped kissing her and just held her. He pressed his cheek against hers and she closed her eyes, wrapping her arms about him and holding him.

His grip on her tightened and she wondered if there was something wrong. She pushed against his shoulders and looked into his eyes as he stared at the work surface. Lightly cupping his cheek with her right hand, she brought his head around to face her. There was a look in his eyes again that she couldn't decipher. Maybe his brother had said something to upset him.

She smiled reassuringly, touched by the way he let his guard slip around her and was showing her the man he was beneath his strong exterior. The corners of his lips twitched a little, but he didn't manage a smile. There was so much sadness in his eyes that it made her heart ache. Who was this sadness for? Was it for his parents, or for them, or someone else?

Her fingers stroked his cheek and she let her guard slip too, wanting him to see the way he made her feel so if any of the mixed feelings in his eyes were about her, he'd feel reassured about those at least.

He smiled this time and kissed her. It was a gentle caress that made her ache inside, but not with desire. She felt as though he'd breathed a little of his sadness into her and she knew without words what he was trying to say. She clung to him, kissing him and wishing he wasn't about to leave.

He broke the kiss and brushed a few strands of hair out of her face.

"I have to," he said, as though he'd heard her thoughts.

His hand slipped into hers and he led her to the door. She followed in silence, staring at their joined hands and trying not to think about tomorrow. None of this would change. There would still be feelings between them. He wasn't going to change his mind about her.

She stopped at the door and looked up at him as he turned to face her. She let herself believe that the look in his eyes was for her, that he didn't want to leave, and that this was hurting him as much as it was her.

Opening the door, she forced a smile as he stepped out into the hallway. His hand took hold of hers again and he toyed with her fingers, looking at them. When he raised his head, she gave him another smile, trying to hide how much she was hurting. She didn't want him to leave. She didn't want to go back to the real world.

He kissed her briefly and caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers, smiling at her.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said and kissed her again.

She nodded. He would. There was a meeting tomorrow to discuss the contract. She felt sick at the prospect of having to sit so close to him and not being able to touch him, or look at him for too long.

He moved a few steps, his hand still in hers, but then came back to her and kissed her again. It was harder this time. There was no sadness in it, only passion and hunger like he'd shown her last night. She threw her arms around his neck and lost herself in it, pouring out her feelings into it and ridding herself of them as she told herself that everything was going to be fine. She smiled against his mouth, thrilled by the desperate way he was kissing her, and then pushed his shoulder.

"Go," she said with an even broader smile.

He grinned and kissed her one last time before his hand slipped from hers. She watched him walk to the stairs and held her hand up in a wave as he looked back at her. He blew her a kiss and disappeared down the stairs.

She sighed and leaned against the doorframe, listening to his receding footsteps.

Tomorrow would be fine. If she was lucky, he'd ask for somewhere to smoke and she'd have some time alone with him.

She grinned.

Life was suddenly looking up.

Chapter 14.

Erik stood the moment the door opened and Laura walked into the room looking a little flustered. She

hurried to her desk and placed down the files she was holding and then turned to face him with a bright smile.

"Mr. Blackwell, we weren't expecting you until eleven. I hope nothing is wrong," she said, her cheery

voice doing nothing to cover the tightness in it.

He knew what she meant by nothing be wrong. She was panicking that he was going to pull out of the contract negotiations with them and find another lawyer. He smiled.

"Nothing like that, I assure you," he said and she visibly relaxed for a moment before acting as though

she didn't know what he was talking about.