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‘Don’t,’ he warned her, holding out his hand to stem the tide of humiliation for her. ‘Don’t say any more. You know I’ll help you—’
‘You’ll agree to my terms?’
She spoke so seriously about a problem only she believed she had. Sadness welled up inside him, mixing with the anger already there. ‘You’ve got a deal,’ he managed roughly. All he wanted was to take her home with him and keep her safe; the rest, he’d sort out later.
‘Thank you…’
He ignored the whispered thanks, and the hand she offered for him to shake. Protecting Liv was his only thought now.
‘You haven’t changed your mind?’ she said, stuffing her hand back in her pocket.
‘No, I haven’t changed my mind.’ He glanced back at the house and then at Liv. He couldn’t have found her in a more vulnerable position. But he also had to consider the duke’s words about his rehabilitation centres needing a heart. Perhaps if he explained his plan more fully Liv would see how badly he needed her back at the hall, and forget this crazy idea of hers. ‘I have a dream, Liv.’
As Cade kept talking and the tension between the two of them slipped away Liv hardly dared to breathe in case she stopped him confiding in her. The fact that this big, scarred man had a dream, and was ready to share it with her, touched her deeply. They stood on the pavement, barely aware of the passage of time, and when he ran out of words she knew she would have supported him at the ball without any conditions. ‘I’ll help you any way I can. But if I’m to do that you must involve me fully. I have to know everything there is to know.’
‘Such as?’
Cade was immediately suspicious. The precious interlude of trust between them was so easily broken. She hastened to reassure him. ‘All I’m asking is that you put me in the picture. I won’t follow blindly where you lead, Cade.’ Not as she’d done her whole life up to now, for where had that got her? ‘If you want my cooperation you must involve me—’
‘I have to sleep with you, don’t you mean?’
He sounded bitter, and, after everything Cade had confided in her, she could only agree that her part of the bargain sounded shallow.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said, easing onto one hip in a sensual reminder of what she had invited him to do. ‘I won’t let you down…’
The tone of his voice made her shrink inwardly. Cade was battle-worn and highly sexed, while she was a cosseted home bird and, she was ready to admit now, a fantasist. She tried brushing off her fears with a careless shrug, but that only made his gaze sharpen on her face, and she didn’t want her motives examining, least of all by Cade. She didn’t want him guessing she had fallen in love with him to the point where she was willing to humiliate herself for the sake of that one night in his arms.
She gasped in shock as he pinned her against a neighbour’s wall.
‘You have no idea what you’re playing with, Liv!’
Cade’s fists were planted either side of her face. She couldn’t look at him; she couldn’t get away. She was too ashamed to admit she wanted more than a brief encounter in the kitchen and that she wanted to feel like a real woman.
He was in torment. ‘You don’t understand what you’re asking—’
‘I know what I feel in here, Cade.’ Clenching her fist, she held it against her heart. ‘Don’t you dare tell me I don’t understand—’
‘You don’t—’
‘Prove it!’
‘Let’s start with this—’ The passion of their anger gave way to Liv’s soft moan as he brushed her mouth with his lips.
‘No,’ she murmured, making a half-hearted attempt to push him away. ‘Not like this, Cade.’
‘No?’ he challenged. The way her eyes were darkening, the way she licked her lips told him a different story. But, desperate to make her see sense, he mimicked her husky whisper. ‘Not like this…How, then? Will you give me instruction? Will you tell me when it’s safe to stop?’
Her face reddened guiltily. ‘I need you to do this one thing for me, Cade, just as you need me to do something for you.’
Cupping her chin, he brought her back to face him. ‘This is nothing like the same,’ he told her fiercely. No, it was a fiendish reversal of those films and books she loved, and made him mad as hell. ‘This is wrong, Liv! Wrong! And worse than that, it’s dangerous for you—’
‘But I trust you,’ she protested.
‘You don’t know me,’ he said flatly. ‘And you have no idea how you’ll feel when our one night is over.’ Pulling back, he shook his head. ‘Complete? Is that what you think you’ll feel?’ It was no good; he could see she wasn’t interested in listening.
‘If you don’t want to…’ She paled. ‘If you can’t bring yourself to—’
‘Who says I can’t?’ He dragged her to him. Kissing Liv came as naturally as breathing to him, with the need to protect her driving him. She felt exquisite and tasted better. Her sweetness washed through him like a tidal wave of innocence that carried all the ugliness away. Lacing his fingers through her hair, he cupped her head, loving the feel and the scent of her, and when he pulled back he closed his eyes, with a smile on his lips as he tried to keep the sensation alive so he could relish it a little longer.
Misunderstanding the look on his face, and perhaps taking it for a very masculine brand of triumph, she reacted in the way he should have expected from Liv by now. With a sound of fury she stamped on his foot, and no sooner had she done that than she brought up her knee. He dodged aside, grinning. ‘Whoah! Unarmed combat!’
Planting his fists on his hips, he stood facing her—or, at least, the tiger she had become. There was so much spirit left even after all Liv had endured, he wanted to laugh out loud he was so happy for her. It also changed things radically for him, because this was no lamb to the slaughter, this was a woman who had decided to take charge of her life. He realized then that she wasn’t the only one taking a risk by spending the night together…
‘Don’t you dare touch me,’ she warned him, stepping back. ‘I’m not—’
‘Ready for more?’ he challenged. Liv still had the back of her hand covering her mouth as if she couldn’t believe what he’d done and didn’t want to share the proof that she’d been kissed quite so thoroughly.
‘I just need more warning when you do that,’ she exclaimed, clearly flustered.
‘Well, that’s no fun,’ he argued dryly.
Cade was the worst type of alpha male! And she had just appointed him her sex tutor? What was she thinking?
It was too late for regrets. Too late to worry that she was panting with excitement as if she’d run a mile. She’d had no idea it would feel like this to challenge Cade to give her sex lessons. She felt alive, as if anything were possible. She felt fantastic. Her lips were swollen and tin
gling along with other parts of her body she didn’t even dare think about right now. ‘Don’t you dare try that again without warning me first,’ she managed shakily.
‘Or, you’ll do what?’
The humour in his eyes really threw her. Or she would melt and lock her fingers in his hair, making him her prisoner for ever—‘Or I’ll not miss my aim next time.’
Cade’s grin only grew broader. ‘You’ll have to forgive me getting carried away,’ he mocked. ‘I forgot we haven’t set a time for our contract to go live yet.’
Liv was still struggling to breathe evenly when she realised they would have to sleep together before the ball. It would have to be tonight! Definitely tonight, before she lost her nerve completely. ‘How about straight after dinner?’ she suggested.
‘Suits me. I like the idea of an appointment.’
Seeing the tug at one corner of his mouth, Liv knew Cade was starting to enjoy himself. And she had no one to blame for that but herself.
It was hard to believe everything had happened so fast, Liv reflected as they drew to a halt outside her house. Did Cade act this way on a regular basis? Her stomach clenched at the thought that he might. ‘I don’t have anything to wear…’ She was rapidly going off the idea of returning to Featherstone. Making a fool of herself once was bad enough, but twice?
‘A trip to the shops will sort that out.’
‘They’ll be closed before we can get there.’
‘Not on this baby.’ Cade grinned at her and then glanced at his bike.
Liv’s eyes widened. ‘You can’t seriously expect me to ride to the shops with you on the back of that?’
‘Why not?’ Cade reasoned. ‘It’s the fastest way to cut through the weekend traffic. You’ve got five minutes to change,’ he rapped, turning off the charm.
She was in quite a state, Liz reflected, drowning in lust and paralysed with fear, and now she was expected to transform herself from home-bird to wild and wanton biker chick, which was quite a leap. And Cade straddling the saddle of a Harley was quite a distraction. But something in her said this was the moment when she should take a leap into the unknown. ‘You knew I’d come with you, didn’t you?’ She couldn’t help her suspicions seeing Cade so relaxed.
