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‘It doesn’t matter now,’ she said quickly. ‘It’s all in the past.’
There was nothing between them now but a sliver of silence and the muscles tightening beneath his skin. He took another step closer.
‘Is it?’
She blinked, and he knew without looking that his question had hooked her. He heard her swallow and suddenly his heart was hammering. His eyes were drawn unwaveringly to the heat in her eyes as she let out a staccato breath.
‘Yes—yes, it is.’
‘I don’t believe you.’
The air was humming now.
Her lips parted. ‘You never do.’
‘Would now be a good time to start?’ he asked hoarsely.
She stared at him, motionless, the darkness swelling around her. And then she was shaking her head, and before he had a chance to consider what that meant she’d drawn in a quick breath, stood up on her toes and kissed him.
His body tensed momentarily and then he pulled her against him, one hand splaying against her spine as he buried the other in her hair and kissed her back, pleasure spreading over his skin like ripples in a pond.
Her lips felt soft and she breathed jerkily into his mouth, catching his lip with her teeth as he clasped her head, tightening his hand in her hair as he tilted her face to deepen the kiss, wanting to taste her sweetness, to satisfy his hunger.
He could feel his tongue inside her mouth and she arched against him, moaning softly. He felt his groin harden, and instantly the need to touch more of her was urging him on like a jockey with a whip.
His fingers found the buttons of her dress and, popping them open, he breathed his way down over the skin of her throat and collarbone to the swell of her breasts. He lowered his face, blindly brushing it against the soft cotton of her bra, feeling his body harden as the nipples grew taut.
He wanted to hear her moan again and, pushing the fabric to one side, he sucked a nipple into his mouth, nipping and licking, his heartbeat filling his head as he felt her shiver against him.
He was harder than he’d ever been, and yet liquid too, so that he could feel himself melting into the darkness around them.
Raising his mouth, he found her lips with his, kissing her, tasting her, kissing the soft skin of her cheeks and throat, then back to her mouth, wanting, needing, to drain the sweetness from her lips.
Gently, he pushed up the hem of her dress, running his hand over her thigh, and as he flattened his palm against the damp cotton of her panties she moaned again.
‘Mimi...’
He whispered her name, but even as his voice echoed in the darkness she was pushing him away.
Looking down at her, he saw a pink flush seeping over her cheeks. Her eyes were wide with a mixture of shock and hunger that he knew must be mirrored in his own dark gaze.
‘I—’ Her voice bled into the darkness. ‘We can’t.’
Gritting his teeth, he took an unsteady step backwards. He had never wanted to disagree with anyone more in his life, but despite the solid evidence pressing against his trousers he knew she was right. As tempting as it was to have sex with Mimi, out here in the darkness, at some point the sun would rise, and in the daylight they would both regret their hasty surrender to the heat and hunger of the moment.
They’d had their chance at Fairbourne but it wasn’t meant to be—and that had been before they’d had all this history between them.
Besides, no amount of desire could blot out the facts: Mimi was related to the two men who had almost ruined his family’s business, not to mention the lives of several thousand pensioners. An affair, however brief, would certainly alleviate the sexual tension between them—but at what cost? If it ever got out that they had slept together even once the media would pounce on the story and the Caine name would be dragged through the mud again.
‘I know,’ he said.
The relief in her eyes stung, but at least it took the edge off the ache in his groin.
‘It’s been a long and emotional day. Lines have got blurred.’ He forced himself to hold her gaze. Injecting coolness into his voice, he said, ‘You must be exhausted. Let me show you to your room.’
His senses were jangling, and the shift from passion to pragmatic almost blew his mind, but somehow he managed to find his way back into the house and to the bedroom door.
‘It’s all fairly straightforward. I’m just down there if you need me for anything.’
