With one hand he touched her cheek. Warm and gentle, his gesture felt like precious gold and diamonds, a gift bestowed only to a woman he cared for a great deal.

"Oh, I can come inside for more than a few minutes if that's what you want."

Liquid heat poured into her loins at his double entendre.

I mean it.His voice whispered in her mind.If you want me, you only have to ask, Clarissa.

Surprise at his bluntness threw her off balance for a moment. Her mouth felt dry, her throat tight with expectation and nervousness. Excitement also welled inside and demanded fulfillment. Without a word, uncertain how to express her chaotic feelings, she slipped her hand from his grip and started for the front door of the hotel.

Two female clerks and a security guard stood behind the front desk in the small hotel.

The ladies, middle-aged strawberry-blonde twins, smiled and nodded to Clarissa and Ronan. The short, rotund guard gave Ronan a suspicious glare. When Ronan gave the man a bored expression, the guard turned away.

Stifling a smile, Clarissa continued to the elevators. She pushed the button to go up.

Keeping her voice low, she said, "You have an interesting effect on people."

One of his thick, roan-dark eyebrows lifted. "Sure, and it's only your imagination."

She cleared her throat delicately. "Bull. I'll bet women faint at your feet and men cower."

"You haven't fainted."

She snapped her fingers. "Darn, that's right. But maybe it's because I'm immune to your charms."

Oops. Wrong thing to say.

He didn't use his preternatural speed, but within seconds his arm slipped around her waist and he drew her against his side. Warmth enveloped her body in comfort and a dreaminess she'd felt many times whenever she came near him. She shivered with pure delight, captured up in one of those eternal moments.

Nuzzling aside her hair, he whispered into her ear. "If you think you're immune, I can prove otherwise."

The elevator pinged and the door opened. He led her inside and when the doors closed he didn't release her. She could hardly reach the button to push for her floor.

"In fact," he said, "I'll prove right now that you can't resist our attraction."

His gaze flashed yellow, their light brilliant enough to make his pupil and iris disappear.

She gasped. "Ronan."

Metal groaned loudly. The elevator jerked and she started to lose her footing. Ronan tightened his hold, chest to chest, thigh to thigh.

With a mechanical sigh, the elevator stopped.

Blinking, she looked into his yellow eyes and watched as the glow disappeared. His glorious dark eyes returned to normal.

Disbelief made her mouth pop open, but for a second she couldn't believe. "You didn't."

He grinned.

"Holy shit," she said. "You did."

Chapter Eight

Ronan's unrepentant grin would have irritated Clarissa if she hadn't been so fascinated by what had just happened.

Her mouth opened, but he cut her off. "There's more I can do."

With a smile both cagey and sweet, he snuggled her closer until they couldn't have fit a piece of paper between them. Clarissa's heart did double time as she marveled at his cheekiness.

"Okay, so I've seen your parlor trick. Someone is going to realize this elevator is out of commission."

He brushed his lips, warm and tantalizing, over her forehead. "Not unless we push the emergency button or they realize we're stuck in here."

"Are you saying you've somehow hijacked this elevator and you can't start it again?"

"Nope. Didn't say that."

She pushed against his chest in token protest. "You're worse than a boy with a toy."

He chuckled softly. "I can be." Filled with heated desire, his voice lowered yet another notch into pure sex. "When I see something I want I go after it."

"Consequences be damned?"

"Sometimes."

She shivered, a drop of fear lingering.

Ronan's voice eased into her mind, liquid, soft, and sensual.I would never harm you. I will always protect you.

Her heart sped up. Once and for all she knew it in her soul. He might be the scariest, strongest man she'd known, but he wouldn't hurt her. Not physically, at least. All along her body she savored his masculinity. Although he held her in an unbreakable grip, she never felt more cherished or alive.

"Why did you stop the elevator?" she asked. "Other than to prove you could, of course."

To her surprise and disappointment he released her. He started walking around her slowly. As he ambled, Ronan caught her gaze, his concentration as intense as a touch. "I like the thrill of a little danger. Don't you?"

She made a little huff. "With everything that's going on in this town you think we need another challenge?"

His pace eased as he circled, then came to a stop behind her. "This danger is different.

Beyond anything you've experienced."

"I've been trapped in an elevator before. Ten years ago."

"Were you frightened?"

"Actually I was bored. I was stuck in there for an hour with my aunt. And believe me, you don't want to get caught in a department store elevator with Aunt Liz."

His hands gripped her shoulders and started to massage. His fingers kneaded relaxation into her muscles.

His breath brushed her ear. "Are you bored now?"