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“But what will you do?” she asked eventually. “Not that I’m saying you have to do anything. The returns on your investments alone will keep you in luxury for years to come.”
“I’m working on a few things—a couple of apps and systems that focus on bringing resources to places and people that have been denied them for too long. Like the one Jai and I planned before he...” He ran a hand through his hair, feeling the twin prickles of grief and guilt as he always did whenever he thought of his best friend. God, so much had changed in eight years. But not that. Never that. “Beyond being here for you and Jayden, I don’t care much about anything else right now.” He forced a smile into his voice when she continued to stare at him steadily. “Unless you don’t like the idea of a bum husband?” he added with a wink.
She came to him then and Christian wondered if he’d ever get used to it. The small, simple pleasure he’d dreamed of for so long. Of having this woman he’d respected and admired and wanted for so long smile and look at him with such joy in her eyes.
“Thank you, Christian,” she said, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “For having so much faith in me.”
“You’re an amazing CEO who’s dealt with my stubborn goat of a grandfather and nauseating snakes like Bastien for eight years. You don’t need my approval.”
“I do need it. Because there were so many moments when I lost faith in myself. When I wondered what the hell I was doing.”
She clasped his cheek and he closed his eyes, reveling in her touch. He felt almost shaky with relief. Relief that at least he’d gotten this right.
When she looked at him, however, there was a shadow of fear again. “Christian? Will you give me an honest answer if I ask you something?”
“I’ll try,” he said, loving the feel of her in his arms.
She sighed. “You’re not doing this because you’re...because you’re cutting all ties, are you? Because you think you...might not want this life at all? Because you’re preparing for something...bad to happen?”
He tipped her chin up, humbled as always by how perceptive she was. “Preparing for the eventuality that I might lose my memories again... It’s never far from my mind. But this decision hasn’t been driven by fear, Pree. It’s simply because I’m a different man now, with different priorities.”
She studied him for a few seconds and then nodded. “So I have an idea,” she said, her breath drifting over his mouth and chin.
He kept his eyes closed, enjoying the amplification of every other sense in identifying her. She smelled like heaven and lust and fire and woman. His hand drifted to her hip and he held her loosely. Her breath hitched instantly. “I’m waiting,” he growled, tension tightening every muscle.
“The bed in the back of the jet, you and me. Now.”
His eyes flicked open to find her smiling at him. He gestured toward the other bed and then back at their son, still lost to the world, fast asleep. “What if he wakes up?” he asked, both hands cupping her hips now. His thumb and forefinger drifted toward the steep dip of her waist.
She hid her face in his chest, but he caught the twist of her smile. One palm landed on his heart, which was thudding away. “He’s not going to be up for at least five hours, I promise you. Not until we land. And if he does, we’re right there.”
“Even so, I don’t want to traumatize my son. Especially because once I get you under me, I’m not budging for hours. Unless it’s to get you on top of me.”
He felt her quick breath, the shift and slide of her breasts against him sending a fierce stab of lust through him. But she didn’t push him away or slide closer. As if she’d never wanted more than to be simply held by him.
Cheek pressed against his chest, she set those large eyes on him. Humor and desire shone through, underpinned by something else that pierced him. “I meant we should have more like a nap date.”
He was laughing as he thrust her away from him. “What the hell’s that?”
She shrugged, not the least bit dismayed by his reaction. “We find a bed and we nap together. Like wedged up all against each other.”
“That sounds like something an eighty-year-old couple would do,” he said with a mock shudder. “Not that I won’t be up for that when we’re that age and nothing else can go up, you know.”
She scrunched her nose at his teasing.
Though his shudder wasn’t completely fake. The idea of lying next to her, holding her, touching her without kissing her, without losing himself in her, without being inside her was...nothing less than torture. “What do you get out of it?”
The sneaky minx didn’t answer. At least not immediately.
She shrugged off the cream jacket she’d been wearing and neatly hung it up in the small wardrobe. A thin blouse in sheer cream silk hugged her breasts. Her nipples pebbled plump and tight against the fabric. His mouth watered at the sight. Swallowing, he watched her greedily, taking in her every move and step, every dip and flare in that sensually curved body. The simple V-necked tee he was wearing felt too warm. Every muscle in his body curled tight and hot, his erection twitching.
She gathered the silky mass of her hair and tied it in a loose knot. Gaze never breaking away from him, she slowly pulled the blouse out of her black trousers. A sliver of brown skin flashed at him and he let out a low growl. Like an actual, animalistic growl, as if he was no better than instinct and desire around her. No, not as if. He’d always been like that when it came to her.
“Pree...” he whispered, unable to say anything else.
“Give me a minute, Christian.”
The black trousers slithered down her long legs with a hiss that sent desire pinging over his skin. “I really hate napping in my work clothes. And I didn’t have time to change before.” She was wearing panties in the same beige color as her tank top. Her thighs rippled with long muscles as she pulled her legs out of the trousers.
