AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I assure you I want you a great deal more.” How he kept his voice so clinical, Nic would never know.
“Then you’ll let me stay on the island for the next few days?”
She knew him better than anyone and once she’d discovered his weakness where she was concerned, she’d pressed her advantage at every opportunity. Before they’d made love, she’d slipped past his defenses like a ninja. Now they’d been intimate and he didn’t doubt that she would exploit his passion to get her way.
“I left California without saying goodbye because leaving you was so damned hard.” When he’d broken off things a month ago, he’d been lucky to escape before her shock at his announcement wore off. Ending their relationship was one of the hardest things he’d ever done. If she’d begged him to stay, he wasn’t sure if he could have done the right thing by Sherdana. “Nothing good will come of putting off the inevitable.”
“The way you disappeared left me feeling anxious and out of sorts. I understood that we’d broken up, but what I didn’t get was how you could take off without saying anything. You should have explained your circumstances. I could have processed the situation and gotten closure. That’s what I need now. A few days to say goodbye properly.”
“And by properly you mean...?”
Her serious expression dissolved into one of unabashed mischief. “A few days of incredible sex and unbridled passion should do it.”
How could any man resist such an offer? Visions of her flat on her back with his hands skimming along her soft, delectable curves rose to torture him. A smile and a frown played tug-of-war on his face. But this was not the time to stop listening to the voice inside his head that reminded him he had to give her up. The smartest thing would be to avoid making more memories that would haunt him the rest of his life.
“Don’t you think it would be better if we didn’t let ourselves indulge in something that has no future?”
“I’m not going to pretend we have a future. I’m going to cherish every moment of our time together with the knowledge that in the end we’ll say goodbye forever.” She slid her fingers into his hair. Her thumbs traced the outline of his ears. “I can see you need more convincing, so I’m going to kiss you.”
He drank in the scent of honey and vanilla rising off her skin, knowing she tasted as good as she smelled. Her generous lips, rosy and bare of lipstick, parted in anticipation of the promised kiss. Nothing would make him happier than to spend the rest of his life enjoying the curve and texture of her lips. The way she sighed as he kissed her. The soft hitch in her breath as he grazed her lower lip with his teeth.
A tremor transmitted her agitation to him. He longed to inspire more such trembling. To revisit her most ticklish spots, the erogenous zones that made her moan. With erotic impulses twisting his nerves into knots, Nic snagged her gaze. Silver flecks ringed her irises, growing brighter as she stared at his mouth. His pulse thundered in his ears as the moment stretched without a kiss coming anywhere near his lips.
“Damn it, Brooke.”
He would not scoop the wayward strand of hair behind her tiny ear and let his knuckles linger against her flushed cheek. He refused to tug on her braid and coax her lips close enough to drift over his.
“What’s the matter, Nic?” Her fingers explored his eyebrows and tested his lashes.
Duty. Honor. Integrity. The litany was starting to lose its potency.
“In less than a week I’ll never see you again.” He locked his hands together behind his back. Tremors began in his arm muscles.
“I know.” She switched her attention to his mouth. Her long, red lashes cast delicate shadows on her cheeks.
Heat surged into his face. Hell, heat filled every nook and cranny of his body. Especially where her heart-shaped rear end rested. How could she help but notice his aroused state?
“We’d only be prolonging the inevitable,” he reminded her, unsure why he was holding out when he wanted so badly to agree to her mad scheme.
“I need this. I need you.” She stroked her thumb against his lower lip. “An hour. A day. A week. I’ll take whatever I can get.”
Nic counted his heartbeats to avoid focusing on the emotions raging through him. The need to crush her in his arms would overwhelm him any second. Denying himself her compassion and understanding in the days following the accident hadn’t been easy, but at the time he’d known that he had to return to Sherdana. Just because Brooke now knew what was going on didn’t give him permission to stop acting honorably.
He wasn’t prepared for the air she blew in his ear. His body jerked in surprise, and he sucked in a sharp breath. “Stop that.”
