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CHAPTER TWELVE
THE TOUCH OF Luca’s lips blew Emily’s mind, cascaded her with feeling, made her feel alive for the first time in such a long, long time and she gave in to it. To the sheer raw visceral passion his lips aroused in her. She revelled in it as he deepened the kiss and wrapped his hands in her hair so that she let out a small moan of sheer unadulterated pleasure, pressed harder against him, wanting more. Wanting the barriers of the soft cotton T-shirt to be gone. Pleasure and frustration vied inside her in a whirling, squirming, hot mess of desire.
Until she knew she couldn’t take any more. ‘We need to go,’ she said.
He nodded. There was no need for words, their sole focus now on assuaging the churn of need. All thoughts of one moment in time gone, discarded, abandoned without question. She was no longer capable of rational thought, her whole being motivated by desire for this man.
‘We need to find Samar and Shamini.’
Luca dropped a curse but then nodded and somehow they got through the goodbyes, the necessary chit-chat, and then they were half walking, half running back to the resort. All that mattered now was getting to the hotel. A journey achieved in near silence, though his hand remained firmly clasped around hers. Almost as though, if they broke the link, common sense would weasel its way back in, and she gripped his fingers with equal fervour. Every so often he would brush his lips against hers and anticipation surged through her until her head whirled.
Then finally—finally—they got to the hotel and she followed him blindly to his thatched cottage, simply because it was nearest. He closed the door, moved to the windows and pulled the blinds down so the room was cocooned in cool dusky darkness.
For one fleeting moment a sudden panic touched her, a wonder if her body could do this, could remember how. Whether after the ordeal she’d been through she could expose herself. One hand smoothed over her now flat stomach and a pang of sadness touched her.
As if he sensed her change he stilled, slowed down and she looked up at him, his face shadowed now, but she could see concern dawn in his eyes. ‘We don’t have to do this, Emily. If you’ve changed your mind, that’s fine.’
Had she? Or could she allow herself this? Set aside grief for a short while. He watched her, his gaze steady and full of reassurance, and she knew if she backed off he would fall in with her wishes without recrimination and with a level of understanding. His concern added a new layer of sweetness, and a different kind of warmth touched her senses. ‘I haven’t changed my mind.’
And this time the kiss was different, soft and sweet and almost tentative and it felt, oh, so completely right, and now as they walked backwards towards the bed and he lowered her gently down she smiled at him. Knew in that moment that she was in safe hands and she reached up to tug him down next to her. Then all doubts vanished as his lips covered hers and with tantalising slowness and exquisite promise he unbuttoned the front of her dress.
Then all thought stopped and she lost herself in the vortex of need and want, of laughter and pleasure; the feel of skin on skin, the touch of his fingers, the sweep of his back, the scent of citrus and bergamot and Luca all assailed her senses.
* * *
Luca opened his eyes, instantly aware of Emily in the crook of his arm, and he made sure to remain still, wanted to let her sleep. As he looked at her, eyes closed, the curve of her eyelashes against her cheek, the silken tangle of her hair, a strange sense of wonder shivered through him. He lay back and stared up at the white of the ceiling, heard the sound of a bird from outside and luxuriated in the sheer magic of this moment.
On that thought she opened her eyes and he watched, revelled in the sheer intimacy of watching. Her small puzzled frown, her lazy smile as memory dawned and then she rolled away from him, sat bolt upright, sheet clutched to her chest.
‘Oh...’ she said. ‘It really happened.’
‘It really did.’ He couldn’t help but smile and she smiled back, a small shy smile but a smile none the less and, encouraged, he wriggled up the headboard so he was next to her, side by side, their legs pressed together in the warm aftermath of intimacy. Perhaps he should feel regret for the previous night but he didn’t, perhaps he should also feel worry or concern about the next steps but right now he couldn’t muster up the energy.
‘I don’t know what to say,’ she said finally. ‘I really don’t. I mean, this is exactly what we were trying to avoid but...’
‘It’s a bit difficult right now to figure out why.’
‘That’s for sure.’ There was a silence and then she tucked the sheet more securely round herself, moved even closer to him. ‘I do have an idea.’
‘Go ahead.’
‘We both know this can’t go anywhere. I don’t want your type of relationship and you don’t want mine. In truth right now I am too hurt to even contemplate a relationship anyway. But last night was...’
‘Magical, amazing, glorious...’
Now she laughed, a small gurgle of a chuckle. ‘All of those things. And I don’t really see the point in shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.’
‘So you are suggesting we stay in the stable and bolt it from the inside?’
‘Something like that. I’m saying that whilst we are here on Jalpura we should keep doing...’ she gestured over the bed ‘...this. Maybe see this as a bubble in time. I’d like that—a bubble where I can insulate myself from the real world.’ For a second, sadness flitted across her face and he wondered what secrets she still held to her.
‘A time to just experience the moment?’ he asked.
‘Yes. And once we go home it all comes to a natural end. I’ll deal with your marketing team then anyway, so our paths don’t even need to cross. But now is a time to be happy and enjoy what’s on offer.’ Now she turned slightly so she was looking into his eyes. ‘And I do understand what is on offer. Nothing heavy. All your usual caveats are in place. No expectations, no clinginess. Low-key, not intense. Fun and easy.’
Luca recognised his own words and a qualm hit him; was that what he wanted with Emily? The question jolted him with panic and he focused on keeping his expression neutral as she continued to speak.
‘I know I don’t match a lot of your other criteria.’ He couldn’t help his slight flinch—somehow the idea of criteria didn’t seem as...valid...as it had a few nights ago. ‘But that’s OK, because this is a strictly short-term arrangement. I guess you’ll have to think of me as an anomaly.’
