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No regrets. Wasn’t that what she’d promised Leo? Promised herself?
She touched her mouth, tender still from his kisses, and conceded she’d allow herself one regret—that Leo hadn’t joined her in the shower this morning. Her fault, she supposed, for being a coward. For letting her fear of what the morning might unveil in his eyes send her scurrying for the bathroom. What she’d really wanted to do was run her tongue over his salty skin, straddle his hips and take brazen advantage of his desire for her in spite of her body’s tenderness.
When she’d finally emerged from the bathroom, her skin waterlogged from too long in the shower, Leo had been gone, the tangled sheets and the lingering smell of hot bodies and sex the only signs he’d been there.
She shifted in her seat, a sudden shiver cooling the warmth in her veins. Their lovemaking had been exquisite, everything she had expected, but in the sobering light of day nothing about their situation had changed. He was still a man driven by vengeance and she was still the daughter of the enemy he loathed.
Nothing would alter those facts.
Nothing.
Ten
long, silent minutes later, they walked into Leo’s apartment. Helena didn’t bother opening her mouth. She turned down the hall and headed straight for the guest room.
‘Where are you going?’
The question brought her up short. She whirled around. ‘To my room. Is that all right with you?’ She couldn’t keep the pithiness out of her voice. His taciturn behaviour had bugged her and, dammit, it hurt. ‘I’m going to change and go for a walk. Or do I need your permission for that, too?’
‘Don’t push my buttons, Helena.’
His deeply growled warning only fuelled her pique. ‘And what buttons would they be? Clearly not the ones that control your power of speech, or I might have got more than three words out of you in the car.’
A deep frown puckered his brow. ‘Why are you angry?’
She gave him an incredulous look. ‘Why am I angry? That’s a joke question, right?’
‘I am not laughing.’
No, he wasn’t. And neither was she. She stepped back, took a deep breath and tried for calm. Maybe they both needed some space. Maybe, after last night, she wasn’t the only one feeling awkward and confused.
She retreated another step. ‘I think we both need some breathing space,’ she said, and turned.
‘Do not walk away from me, Helena.’
Ignoring his grated command, she strode down the hall. She needed the refuge of her room. Needed to break the spell his presence cast over her. He looked so big and dark and formidable, and yet her pulse quickened not with anxiety or fear but with the vivid memory of all the ways his hands and mouth had explored her body last night.
She reached the bedroom doorway but he was right behind her, his arm bracing against the door before she could close it. ‘Please go away,’ she said, her voice steady even as her insides trembled.
He followed her into the room. ‘Why? So you can have your “breathing space”? Is that what you need after a night in bed with me, Helena?’
She frowned at him, perplexed. ‘I think you need some space, given your present mood.’ Heart pounding, she put her purse on the dresser and removed the earrings that were starting to pinch. ‘What is wrong with you, anyway?’
‘I don’t like being dismissed.’
She paused to stare at him. He looked utterly gorgeous in a light blue open-necked shirt and navy trousers, even with his features drawn into hard, intractable lines.
She put the earrings down. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘No regrets. That is what we agreed, si? And yet this morning you could not face me. You hid in the bathroom until I gave up waiting and left.’ He stalked forward. ‘Why, Helena? Was the idea of waking up beside me so unpalatable?’
‘Of course not!’
Her heart climbed into her throat. Oh, God. Had her act of cowardice unwittingly hurt him? As swiftly as the idea entered her head she rejected it. Leo wasn’t the vulnerable type. Men like him were thick-skinned. Impervious. More likely his pride had suffered a blow. He probably wasn’t used to women deserting his bed. Anyway, it wasn’t even his bed she’d deserted.
‘What is this really about, Leo?’ She shored up her courage with a flash of anger. ‘Your ego?’
Before he could answer she spun away, but he caught her wrist and swung her back to face him. The action was firm, not rough, and his grip didn’t hurt, but still an ugly memory snapped in her mind. Reflexively she ducked her head, instinct driving her forearm up to protect her face.
