The kiss hit Catherine like shock... sudden, overwhelming, completely outside her capacity to process.

'Push him away.'

Her mind screamed the command with desperate force.

'Push him away now before this goes further before you lose everything you've... '

But her body didn't move.

Couldn't move.

Remained frozen beneath his mouth while every instinct she possessed warred against conscious thought with intensity that felt like tearing herself apart.

'Give in.'

The whisper came from somewhere deeper than logic, deeper than decades of carefully constructed control, deeper than everything Catherine had built to protect herself from exactly this kind of vulnerability.

'Give in to him.'

'You want this. You need this.'

Her mind rejected the thought with force that should have been enough to break the paralysis, should have been enough to reassert control, should have been enough to push Alexander Hale away and end this before crossing a boundary that couldn't be uncrossed.

But the question emerged anyway, cutting through her internal struggle with precision that felt almost cruel:

'Why are you afraid?'

Catherine's consciousness stuttered, caught between instinct and resistance, between what her body demanded and what her mind refused to accept.

'Don't you always craved a man like him?'

'Someone who makes you helpless?'

'Someone strong enough to take control when you can't surrender it willingly?'

'Weren't you waiting for exactly this?'

The realization crashed through her defenses with devastating force.

'Yes.'

The admission felt like defeat and relief simultaneously.

But another voice rose immediately, sharp with accusation that cut deeper than the desire:

'What about Victoria?'

Catherine's eyes remained closed, her body still frozen, her mind fragmenting under the weight of competing imperatives.

'She's your best friend. Your sister.'

'And you're kissing him. The very man she worshipped in every word, every story, every breath...

the man she held so close to her heart she might as well have carved his name into it.'

The guilt should have been overwhelming.

Should have been enough to break the spell, to push Alex away, to end this before destroying the most important relationship in her life.

But the counter-thought emerged with equal force:

'She pushed you here.'

'Willingly. Deliberately.'

'She wanted this to happen.'

Catherine's consciousness examined that truth from every angle, searching for the rationalization that would let her continue, that would transform betrayal into something acceptable.

'Victoria knows what Alex is.'

'Knows his effect on women.'

'Knows exactly what would happen if she left us alone together.'

'And she did it anyway.'

The realization settled with weight that felt like permission.

'She wants this.'

The thought completed itself with clarity that bypassed logic entirely and landed somewhere in the space between instinct and surrender.

'Then why resist?'

Catherine made her decision.

Not consciously. Not through careful consideration or strategic thinking or any of the analytical processes that had governed her life for thirty-eight years.

She simply... stopped fighting.

Threw away logic, threw away control, threw away everything except the desperate hunger that had been building since Alexander Hale's first touch and finally... let herself respond.

Seeing her frozen beneath him, unreacting and breathless, Alex finally withdrew.

The sudden loss of his mouth sent a wave of disoriented bewilderment through Catherine, sharp enough to steal her breath.

No.

Why?

Something in her chest constricted with panic that felt disproportionate but utterly undeniable... like a vital piece of herself had been torn away, like oxygen had been cut off, like she'd finally reached for what she needed and had it snatched from her grasp.

'Damn my hesitation.'

If she hadn't frozen... if she hadn't doubted for even a heartbeat... he wouldn't have pulled away.

"What?" Alex asked quietly, voice carrying amusement that felt almost cruel.

"Don't like the idea of watching your little niece struggle while you and I lose ourselves in each other?"

The words registered through Catherine's haze with delayed comprehension.

"Let's check, shall we?" Alex continued, and something in his tone made Catherine's breath stop entirely.

His hand moved.

Her gaze followed, helpless to look away, watching with racing heart as his fingers traced downward from her collarbone with precision that suggested he knew exactly where he was going and exactly what effect the journey was having.

Lower.

Past the hollow of her throat. Down the center of her chest.

Catherine's breathing quickened, her body responding before her mind could process, anticipation building with each millimeter his fingers traveled.

Then his hand reached her breast.

His fingers settled against the curve with touch that felt both gentle and possessive, and Catherine's entire body went rigid with sensation that obliterated every other thought.

But he didn't stop there.

His fingers continued their path, tracing over her breast with maddening slowness, until they reached the peak... the stiff tip that betrayed exactly how aroused she'd become, exactly how thoroughly he'd affected her, exactly how desperately she wanted more.

His thumb brushed across it.

"Annhhh..."

The sound tore from her throat without permission, without restraint, without any of the control she'd maintained through decades of carefully managing every reaction, every expression, every indication of vulnerability.

Pure.

Unfiltered.

Desperate.

Her back arched involuntarily, pressing her breast more firmly into his hand, her body demanding what her mind couldn't articulate.

Goodness.

The thought flickered through her consciousness with force of prayer or curse or surrender... she couldn't tell which and didn't care.

Alex's voice cut through her spiral, carrying amusement that made Catherine's eyes snap open... when had they closed?... and focus on his face with effort that felt monumental.

"It seems to me, Mrs. Catherine," Alex said quietly, thumb continuing its maddening circles against her peaked nipple, "that your body and mind are on very different wavelengths."

The words registered with delayed comprehension, her brain struggling to process language while his fingers continued their devastating work.

Alex wasn't finished.

His hand began moving again... slowly, deliberately, tracing downward from her breast with precision that made Catherine's breath catch in her throat.

Lower.

Past the curve of her breast.

Over her ribs.

Down across her abdomen where his palm had circled earlier, but this time not stopping, not pausing, continuing the inexorable descent that made Catherine's heart hammer against her ribcage with force that felt like it might break through.

Lower still.

His fingers reached the edge of her bikini bottom... that thin strip of fabric that suddenly felt like the only barrier between complete exposure and the last shred of dignity she possessed.

And stopped.

Catherine's breath stopped with them.

Alex's fingers settled there, right at the very edge, not crossing the boundary but not retreating either, just... waiting.

Alex's thumb began tracing lazy circles just above the fabric, close enough to make every nerve scream but not crossing the line.

Teasing.

His eyes found hers, holding her gaze with expression that carried unmistakable challenge:

I dare you to resist now.

The circles continued. Maddening. Deliberate. Perfectly calibrated torture.

Something in Catherine snapped.

She couldn't wait anymore.

Catherine stood abruptly, hands shooting to his collar, gripping with desperate strength.

"You're too slow," she said, voice rough and breathless.

"And you waste too much time."

She pulled him up and crashed her mouth against his.

No gentleness. No hesitation.

Pure hunger.

Catherine kissed him like she was starving, like patience had stopped existing, like she needed to devour him completely before consciousness could stop her.

Her mouth opened immediately, tongue sliding past his lips with aggression that matched her desperation, her hands moving from collar to face to hair... everywhere at once, trying to pull him impossibly closer.

She kissed him like she was trying to consume him whole.

Alex responded instantly, arms wrapping around her waist, pulling her against him, but Catherine barely registered it.

All she could focus on was taste, heat, the reality of finally taking what she wanted.

Her fingers gripped his hair... hard... using the leverage to angle his head exactly where she needed it, to deepen the kiss beyond reasonable limits.

A sound tore from her throat... between moan and growl... as she pressed closer, body molding against his.

When they broke apart again... lungs burning, both breathing hard... Alex's expression had shifted into something that made Catherine's pulse spike for entirely different reasons.

"Hah... hah... hah..." Alex's breathing was as unsteady as hers. "Aren't you afraid?"

His eyes held hers with intensity that suggested the question carried weight beyond simple curiosity.

"What if Victoria walked in right now?" Alex continued, voice dropping lower. "And saw you with me... like this?"

His gaze dropped deliberately to their position... her body pressed against his, legs slightly spread on the bench, bikini askew, lips swollen from kissing, looking exactly like what they'd been doing.

The question should have triggered panic.

Should have made Catherine pull away, should have brought reality crashing back, should have reminded her of everything she was risking.

Instead, Catherine felt her lips curve into smile that surprised even herself.

"I don't care," she said quietly, and the truth of it resonated through her chest with strange relief. "I know she'll enjoy this instead."

The words hung between them for heartbeat.

Then Alex laughed... genuine amusement that transformed his expression from calculated seduction into something more human, more real.

"Hahaha..." The sound carried satisfaction mixed with something that might have been respect. "You really don't, do you?"

His gaze returned to her face, tracking over features with attention that made Catherine feel simultaneously exposed and... appreciated.

"You don't know how sexy you look right now," Alex said quietly, voice carrying weight that felt like confession rather than flattery.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.