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‘I’ll survive,’ she told him buoyantly as he used the ointment and fixed on an adhesive plaster. ‘To be honest, I’m going to have more than a few bruises from that fall.’
‘You insisted that you were fine.’
‘I didn’t want to upset Dimitris. He’s a good kid. Accidents happen.’
‘Not if due care is exercised.’
‘You sound like you swallowed a health and safety manual,’ Claire reproved.
After a disconcerted pause, Raif straightened and laughed with genuine appreciation of that criticism. That kind of impertinence rarely came his way. ‘Boring, you mean?’ he chided.
‘A little set in your ways. I bet you were raised as a child to be seen and not heard. I know I was. My father believed an outspoken child was the devil’s work,’ she confided ruefully. ‘He was very strict.’
The rules of the royal nursery even under his adoring mother’s sway had been hard and harsh, not least because his father had insisted on a strict nanny for his youngest son. ‘So, you rebelled,’ he assumed, lifting his hands to her waist to lift her down again.
‘Not when I was a kid. I was too hooked on wanting my father’s approval,’ Claire admitted ruefully, one flimsy flip-flop falling off as he set her down. She lurched against him to steady herself, her hands flying out to clutch at his jacket.
She looked up into smouldering dark golden eyes, her heart beating so fast it felt as though it were in her throat. It was one of those out-of-time moments, freezing her there as this great wave of yearning surged through her. She couldn’t look away from his eyes and as his head came down she stretched up, her breath parting her lips. She had never wanted a kiss so badly.
‘Kiss me,’ she urged, helpless in the grip of that powerful craving.
And Raif unfroze at the invitation, insanely aware of his arousal and the sheer temptation of those soft luscious lips. He shook off the discipline of years with an unfamiliar feeling of daring, of resentment for all the times he had stepped back from women, always telling himself that he was living up to his ideals. For what reason? For what ultimate purpose? he questioned now.
He drew her up to him with slow, careful hands, brushed his mouth very softly across hers and then doubled back to steal a fierce, hungry kiss. His tongue eased in, plundered, tasted, taking everything and more that she offered, his lean, powerful body thrumming with all the raw, flaring excitement he had always restrained. But there was something about her, something about Claire that made that restraint impossible.
Claire emerged trembling and perspiring from that passionate kiss. She had been waiting a long time to feel that passion with a guy and she was shaken by suddenly finding it. So great was the shock that she stepped back from him, immediately denying that unexpected bond. And she thought of letting him go, indeed showing him to the door for daring to tempt her to that extent. But just as quickly came the need to explore that sense of connection and discover if it was only an illusion.
‘Stay for supper,’ she told him instead, backing away, flushed and bemused by what he had made her feel and yet unable to send him away.
Raif hovered, unbearably aroused, fighting for control—for the cool that was usually his with a woman. Supper?Food?The suggestion that he stay longer? He was fully on board with that idea when he didn’t want to leave her.
‘Why not?’ he responded, grateful for the jacket that concealed his arousal, striving to remain cool in spite of the embarrassing truth that he was deeply out of his depth. His phone thrummed silently in his pocket and he clenched his teeth. His security team?
‘Excuse me,’ he murmured softly. ‘I must take this call.’
Claire watched him step outside and pull out a phone, but she was infinitely more interested in that moment about what she planned to feed him.
Raif stepped out onto the terrace, which was paved but full of weeds, and studied the clutch of bodyguards stationed at the bottom corner of the small front garden under the trees with raised brows and irritation.
‘Sir?’ Mohsin queried. ‘You are in a strange house.’
Raif grinned. He wanted to laugh. His security team were not accustomed to him deviating from the norm. He was breaking out of his expected routine and they were nervous, concerned by his behaviour.
‘I am fine. I am staying here and... I may be late back.’ He framed that prospect stiffly. ‘I will return to the harbour when I am ready. There is no need to remain here on guard.’
And that was the instant that Raif appreciated that he had reached a decision. He was done with control and restraint, ready to run a risk for the first time ever.
CHAPTER TWO
‘GOANDRELAXin the sitting room,’ Claire advised when he reappeared. ‘I’ll be busy in the kitchen.’
Resisting the ridiculous temptation to admit that he only wanted her to be busy with him, Raif strode into a tiny room ornamented with plants, books tumbled on the floor and a window seat on which a very elegant black cat posed. Claire followed him in. ‘This is Circe,’ she told him. ‘Don’t worry if she ignores you. She’s very fussy about who she likes. I really had to work at impressing her when I first arrived.’
‘And when was that? When did you first come to Greece?’
Claire froze on the way back into the kitchen. ‘Ten months ago. I came to the island to meet my mother...and I ended up staying here,’ she confided reluctantly.
‘Sounds like a story. Meet her...for thefirsttime?’ Raif stressed in surprise.
