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The second the words left his lips he wanted to grab them back, because the defiance in her eyes turned to shocked outrage.
‘You bastard.’ Tears misted her eyes but refused to fall. ‘I’m not for sale. I accepted your financial help for Nico’s sake. But I don’t need it. He doesn’t need it. We were surviving perfectly well on our own. If the price of staying here is sleeping with you, we’ll leave.’
Damn it. That was not what he had meant at all.
What they’d shared last night had nothing whatsoever to do with his responsibilities towards the boy—and her. But the threat to leave was like pouring accelerant on an already smouldering fire.
He’d sworn to keep the boy safe, to protect him. He was not about to let her take him—or herself—anywhere.
‘You attempt to move Nico out of here and I’ll haul you up in court quicker than you can say child custody battle.’
‘You can’t take him away from me—I’m his guardian,’ she said, but all he could see was the dark dilated pupils, the passion she was continuing to deny, the ragged rise and fall of those full breasts—and all he could think about was the way s
he’d messed him around today, using the boy as a shield.
‘Try me,’ he said.
‘I hate you,’ she declared.
‘No, you don’t.’ Suddenly, the need he’d always kept on lockdown, had always been able to qualify and control, broke through like a dam bursting its banks.
He hauled her into his arms.
To hell with this. He was through pretending that last night hadn’t been good, hadn’t been glorious. Or that it wasn’t going to happen again.
He pressed his lips to the pulse in her neck, felt it flutter beneath his tongue. She jerked in his arms but didn’t draw back, her palms flattening on his waist, her fingers fisting in his sweater as he worked his way to her mouth.
Her lips parted on a shattered gasp and he sank into the kiss, his tongue thrusting deep. He explored, feeding the swell of emotion in his chest and feasting on the hunger between them. The hunger which had been unleashed last night but which he’d seen so clearly in her eyes every time she’d looked at him today. His fingers tangled in her hair, angling her head back as he felt the shudder of a response she couldn’t control. The hunger intensified as she kissed him back, her tongue dancing with his in an elemental rhythm.
He tore his mouth away first, her body limp and pliant in his arms.
Her cheeks were blazing, her full lips were reddened from the fury of the kiss—but as the desire cleared, her eyes became pools of shock and anguish.
He released her and she stumbled back. He should have been satisfied, her instinctive response a vindication. But instead he felt unsteady on his feet and shocked right down to his core at what he had done.
What the heck had just happened?
He’d never kissed a woman in anger before. Never allowed his need to show. And never been so affected by her response.
‘I’m going to be away for two weeks. When I come back we are going to discuss this again. Like adults.’ He ground the words out, trying to regain control, not just of her and this situation but of himself.
He wasn’t an animal. And he never let his temper get the better of him, but somehow he had with her.
She remained mute, her hand covering her mouth, her eyes widening. Reminding him, as if he needed any reminding, of how inexperienced she was.
‘What happens between the two of us has nothing to do with Nico or my relationship with him,’ he said, trying to repair the damage he’d done with that knee-jerk threat to take her to court for the boy’s custody.
She just stared back at him, the emotions crossing her face—shame, concern, panic—so transparent it only made her more vulnerable.
His phone vibrated in his pocket and he tugged it out.
It took him a moment to register the flight reminder that flashed up on the screen.
‘I need to leave.’ He shoved his phone back into his pocket. He didn’t care about the damn flight. He’d probably missed it already. But he needed to take this opportunity to retreat and regroup.
He was behaving like a lunatic—a man he didn’t even recognise. Threatening Bronte, however unintentionally, or kissing her into submission wasn’t the answer. All it would do was inflame the situation, bringing volatile emotions into something that was nothing more than a strong sexual connection.
The look of relief on her face made him more aware of just how badly he’d messed up.
