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‘I suppose I have a few options.’ I lifted a hand to his broad shoulder, stroking it then trailing my fingers down his hard, carved chest. ‘I could try seducing you.’
‘That’s true,’ he agreed. ‘You could try. But I warn you: I’m rather difficult to seduce.’
My heart fluttered even harder. Oh, yes, that was definitely amusement. ‘No, you’re not.’
One corner of his mouth turned up and my heart turned over. ‘Prove it, then.’
So, I did.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Constantine
IWOKEEARLYthe next morning, coming to consciousness instantly, a warm and very naked female body in my arms. I was hard, and all I could think about was waking her up then putting her on her back and sinking inside the tight, wet heat of her body.
But she was sleeping peacefully, and I had kept her up late the night before, so instead I raised myself on an elbow and allowed myself the total indulgence of gazing down at her, studying her sleeping face.
She looked so young, her soft rose petal skin pink with warmth, her features relaxed in sleep. Her eyelashes were thick, and darker than the hair on her head, a sable colour that looked just as soft to the touch as the rest of her. Her nose was slightly upturned, and her mouth was full and delightfully sensual.
She was beautiful. I knew she felt that she didn’t have her mother’s looks, but she did. Catherine’s beauty was cold and hard-edged—a bit like Olivia’s—but Jenny’s was different. Jenny’s was soft, and had a deep and generous sensuality that both Catherine and Olivia had lacked. Or at least when it came to Olivia I hadn’t seen it.
But I saw Jenny’s. It came from the deep well of empathy inside her, her warm, unselfish spirit. She was a giving person—she’d always had been, ever since she’d turned up that day in the mansion and declared that she was going to be my friend.
I touched her cheek very lightly, her skin satin-smooth beneath my finger.
I hadn’t wanted to tell her about Domingo and my childhood, yet now I had I couldn’t bring myself to regret it. It felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders, a weight I hadn’t realised I’d been carrying. Even telling her about Valentin and his return had been...good.
She hadn’t been angry with me for not telling her. She hadn’t turned it into a battle. She hadn’t used the confession to get something out of me, and she hadn’t pressed for any more information than I’d been willing to give her.
She’d simply let me talk, her fingers playing with my hair and stroking my back as I lay on her warm body. I should have moved to make her more comfortable, since I was heavy, but she hadn’t insisted and so I hadn’t moved. She was wonderful to lie against. She was soft and she smelled like heaven.
You trust her.
Perhaps it shouldn’t have been so surprising. I wouldn’t have told her everything if I hadn’t trusted her on some level.
‘You can trust me. I’m here for you. I always have been.’
Her words from the day before echoed in my head, along with the conviction I’d seen in her dark eyes.
Shehadalways been there for me. But I hadn’t been there for her, had I? I’d cut her off for four years, kept myself emotionally distant from her without an explanation. Then I’d told her yesterday that we could never go back to being friends and she’d looked so stricken...
A tight feeling coiled in my chest and I stroked the side of her cheek.
I couldn’t keep doing that to her. I couldn’t keep holding myself apart. Every decision I’d made for the past four years had hurt her, and that wasn’t fair.
Telling her about the night Valentin had left, when I’d lost my temper, going to Domingo in a rage, was impossible. That she must never know. But surely I didn’t have to keep the rest of it from her. Surely I could stay being her friend. As she’d said, we’d managed it before. And, while things were different now, I didn’t see why we couldn’t manage it again.
I could stay in control of myself, and while she might be vulnerable, she also had that thread of pure steel running through her.
It fascinated me how she could be so open and yet so strong. As if the emotions she wore so honestly were a strength and an armour in themselves, not a weakness that could be exploited and weaponised.
She stirred, giving a sigh, and those long, silky eyelashes of hers fluttered, then lifted. Her eyes were such a warm brown, like hot chocolate, and when she smiled, as she did now, I swore I could see rays of sunshine dancing in them.
‘Good morning,’ she murmured sleepily, a pink flush spreading over her skin. ‘Exactly how long have you been lying there watching me?’
‘I’m not sure.’ My fingers trailed over her jaw and down the side of her neck. ‘Does it disturb you?’
‘No.’ She put her hand on my chest, her touch warm on my bare skin. ‘Though I didn’t realise I was quite so fascinating.’
