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His breath caught as he was forced to confront the truth. How could he not fall in love with her when he wanted her so desperately?
* * *
Bella took a deep breath as she stepped down from the motorbike. Had she been mad to ask Mac to bring her here? Oh, she knew what was going to happen—there was no use pretending that she didn’t. She and Mac would make love again because it was what they both wanted. But surely that would only complicate matters even more?
‘Come on. Let’s get you inside before you’re completely waterlogged.’
Mac placed his hand at the small of her back to urge her onto the boat and she shivered. Just the feel of his fingers pressing against her flesh made her senses reel. She stepped on board, waiting while he unlocked the cabin door. He turned to her and she could see the uncertainty in his eyes even though he smiled. Did he have doubts about the wisdom of what they were doing too? she wondered. And knew it was true. He was no surer about this than she was.
‘Take care on the steps,’ he advised her. ‘They can be a bit slippery when it rains.’
Bella nodded as she made her way inside the cabin, feeling her nervousness crank itself up another notch or ten. The fact that Mac had doubts only seemed to heighten her own misgivings so that all of a sudden she found herself wishing that she had never suggested coming back here. She should have gone straight home to her apartment, chosen the sensible option rather than placed herself in this position. If they made love again it would be that much harder to do the right thing. No matter how she felt about Mac, she wouldn’t coerce him into having a relationship with her. It wouldn’t be fair. Mac needed a woman who didn’t have all these hang-ups. A woman who understood her own feelings and was able to show them too. What he didn’t need was someone like her.
The thought was more than she could bear. Bella knew that she had to leave before anything happened. She spun round so fast that she cannoned right into Mac as he stepped down from the last tread. There was a moment when they both froze, when it felt as though time itself had stood still, and then the next second he was hauling her into his arms.
‘I was so scared when I couldn’t find you!’
His voice grated with fear and a host of other emotions, and she shuddered. It was hard to believe that she had made him feel all those things. Her eyes rose to his and she knew that he could see how she felt—how shocked, how amazed, how overjoyed.
‘I didn’t think anyone would notice I was missing,’ she said truthfully.
‘Well, I did!’ He rested his forehead against hers and she felt the tremor that passed through him and was shocked all over again.
She had never believed that she was capable of arousing such strong emotions in another person. She had always been so diffident in her approach to life that she had honestly thought it was beyond her, but maybe she had been mistaken. Maybe her experiences with Tim weren’t the yardstick by which she should measure any future relationship? The thought made her head reel even more because it opened up so many possibilities that she had thought were denied to her. If she could make Mac feel this way then perhaps there was a future for them after all?
When he bent and kissed her, Bella didn’t hesitate. She simply kissed him back, wanting him to know just how much she needed him. When he murmured something deep in his throat, her heart overflowed with joy. That he wanted her too was blatantly obvious. Swinging her up into his arms, he carried her into the tiny bedroom and laid her down on the bed and she shuddered when she saw the desire burning in his eyes.
‘I want to make love to you, Bella, but only if it’s what you want as well.’
‘It is.’ She held out her hand. ‘It’s what I want, Mac. More than anything.’
He didn’t say a word as he took hold of her hand and raised it to his lips, but he didn’t need to. The expression on his face said everything that she wanted to hear. Bella could feel herself trembling as he lay down beside her and drew her into his arms. No one had ever looked at her like this before. Looked at her as though she held the key to their future. In that second she knew that, no matter what happened, she would make sure that he didn’t get hurt. She loved him so much—far too much to risk his happiness. Maybe she always had loved him too, she thought as she closed her eyes and let their passion sweep her away. She had just been too afraid to admit it before.
They made love with a voracious hunger that had them both trembling. Every kiss, each caress only seemed to fuel their desire for one another. Mac’s whole being was consumed by the need to be inside her, but somehow he managed to hold back. He wanted this to be as amazing for Bella as it was for him.
