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‘Why didn’t you?’
I can’t answer.
‘Here’s the thing, Talia,’ he says slowly. ‘I won’t lie to you either. If nothing else there has to be absolute honesty between us because we have to work together. For Lukas. So honesty always. Deal?’
I’m bamboozled by his revelation but I hear that caveat—if nothing else.
‘Deal,’ I breathe.
He doesn’t look satisfied. In fact his expression tightens and he’s somehow closer.
‘You’ve worked hard to care for your sister for a long time. Worked hard to care for Lukas,’ he says almost thoughtfully. ‘You’ve never let anyone take care of your needs—not until that night with me, right?’
I can only stare at him.
‘And not since then?’ His sudden smile is saturnine. ‘You should be indulged, Talia.’
‘I should.’ My spellbound agreement slides out on a whisper.
I can’t turn away from him. I can’t look away from the heat in his blue, blue eyes. I can’t ignore this desire any more. I’m utterly still as he slowly moves closer. His smile is all I can see. His touch is all I want. And at last he’s there—his mouth is on mine. I open to him on a moan and he echoes it with one of his own. The pressure is hot and escalates in seconds. I clutch his shoulders. I thought I’d remembered but I was wrong. This intensity shuts my mind down. I just want him. All of him. Here. Now.
He growls in the back of his throat and I feel his muscles bunch. He drags me across his lap and I tremble in absolute rapture at being in his arms again. I press against him and the kisses deepen. He teases me with his tongue. His hands hold me—hard and secure—and sweep down my body. I’m aching and ecstatic and I just pour it all into kissing him and lose myself in the bliss.
I pay no attention to the voice saying something from far away.
But suddenly Dain tears his mouth from mine. With a muttered swearword he lifts me back into my seat. Dazed, I can only look at him in confusion—and yearning.
‘That was the captain speaking.’ He half laughs, half groans. ‘Seat belt on.’ He fastens my belt before tending to Lukas. ‘We’re landing.’
But I’m still up in the clouds and I really don’t want to return to earth.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Dain
ITWASN’TSUPPOSEDto happen. I intended to do whatever it took to get her to trust me but also keep my damned distance. But somehow she’s defused my temper and the damned endless lust I have for her has me so distracted I can’t catch my breath. But she wants me just as much. Right back. And I’m all but feral inside.
We land in Brisbane and I dispense with my waiting chauffeur to drive Talia and Lukas to my house myself. I don’t want my off-balance state to be obvious to everyone. Frankly I’ve yet to figure how I’m going to introduce them to my staff, how I’m going to explain their sudden appearance in my life to anyone. But it doesn’t matter, I can delay most of that. Right now I just want to be alone with them both.
‘This is a beautiful area...’ She’s wide-eyed as she looks at the leafy neighbourhood I begin to slow down in. ‘You don’t live in one of your own apartments?’
‘When working in Sydney or Melbourne, sure. But this is my place to escape and I thought it would be a better place to bring Lukas. It offers total privacy.’
‘It’s huge.’ She’s pale as we drive through the massive security gates. ‘How do you manage it?’
‘I have staff.’ I pull up outside the house and pause, not understanding her wariness. ‘You don’t like it?’ That I care so much about her opinion is just weird.
‘Oh, no, it’s amazing. It’s just really huge.’
‘With this space and privacy I can fully relax. Property is work. This isn’t work. This is my paradise.’ I get out of the car and breathe in the perfumed scent of the garden. Then I shrug. ‘Like you, I moved a lot when I was a kid. I was shuttled from apartment to apartment and always being asked to compare them—which was bigger, which was better. I just wanted to stay in the one place and not have to decide and try to placate them. So this is wish fulfilment perhaps.’
‘It’s yourhome,’ she mutters.
‘Right.’ I feel awkward. ‘A garden and a pool and I can have my friends over to play without worrying World War Three is about to erupt in front of them.’
She smiles at that. ‘You have your friends over often?’
Her smile pulls my own and I start to relax. ‘I’ve been known to have parties.’
