Читать книгу Modern Romance December 2019 Books 5-8 - Jane Porter - Страница 20

SHE LET HIM go suddenly, which left him in an agony of frustration. Shaking his head, he barked an incredulous laugh at the incongruity of the situation. ‘I suppose it’s no use my telling you to go?’

‘None at all,’ she agreed.

‘Then, for your sake, I must.’

‘For my sake?’ she said, moving quickly to stand between him and the door. ‘If you were doing something for my sake you’d make love to me. You wouldn’t walk out.’

‘This is not a battle of wills,’ he said, spearing a glance into her eyes as he fastened his jeans. ‘It’s about me caring for you.’

‘Twaddle. It’s about you reinforcing your barricades, leaving me feeling like a fool.’

Backing her into a shaft of moonlight that had unwittingly trespassed on the drama, he bit out, ‘You did nothing wrong. It’s me. I’m wrong for you, and no amount of sex can make that right.’

‘Try me,’ she challenged.

He wanted to say a lot of things as he headed for the door, but prolonging this served no purpose.

Stacey flinched as the door closed behind Luc. Deep down she’d known this was a daft idea, and had been primed for disappointment. But she hadn’t expected it to go quite so badly. Lucas was too sophisticated to fall for her clumsy ploys, and all she’d managed to prove tonight was that fantasies never played out as you expected them to. Only one thing was certain, and that was that she couldn’t leave it here.

Scooping up her discarded pyjama top, she dressed and left the room. She found Luc downstairs in front of a guttering fire with shadows flickering around him, head back, eyes closed, jaw set, like a dark angel sitting on the steps of hell.

She wouldn’t let him go through those gates. Somehow she was going to save him. And however ridiculous that sounded—a word he liked to use—she was a very determined woman.

He didn’t say anything as she came closer, but she’d put money on him knowing she was there.

‘Go away, Stace.’

‘You haven’t called me that for years.’

‘I haven’t felt this way for years.’

‘Have you felt anything for years?’

Too deep, too intrusive a question, she thought when he remained silent. She tried again. ‘How do you feel?’

‘Conflicted,’ he admitted. ‘Contrary to what you think, I want you more than you know, but if you expect hearts and flowers, you’ll be disappointed.’

Of course she was disappointed. Didn’t every woman want the dream? ‘Did I say that was what I expect?’

‘You didn’t have to.’

Firming her jaw, she crossed the room and sat down on the sofa facing his.

‘Believe me, Stace,’ Luc said with a touch of warmth in his tone as he opened his eyes. ‘You don’t need me in your life.’

‘Don’t tell me what I need.’

‘You have so little experience.’

‘Of sex?’ she queried. ‘I’d agree with you where that’s concerned, but I’m not inexperienced when it comes to life, and I know when someone’s hurting.’

‘That’s your strength,’ he agreed. ‘One of them.’

‘So…?’

‘So, don’t waste your time on me. I’m a lost cause, and there are plenty of people who could benefit from the kind of thoughtfulness and compassion you want to give.’

‘You make me sound like a saint and I’m far from it.’

‘Me too,’ he confirmed dryly.

‘Don’t you think it’s time to confront the demons from your past?’

‘While I’m having sex with you?’ he suggested in that same ironic tone.

Stacey shrugged. ‘It’s an outlet—yes.’

Luc’s mouth tugged in a wry sort of smile. ‘Who knows what you might release.’

‘You, I hope,’ she said. ‘I do know that you’ll continue to hurt until you allow yourself to feel something.’

‘And I can’t ask what you know about that, can I?’

‘I don’t pretend my situation was anything like yours,’ she assured him. ‘I can’t even begin to imagine how you feel, but isn’t that when we need our friends the most?’

‘Friends?’ he challenged. ‘I thought we were talking about sex. That’s certainly the impression you gave me upstairs.’

‘Don’t,’ she said softly. ‘I don’t want to argue with you. I just want to help.’

‘You always want to help.’ Getting up, he stoked the fire. ‘I don’t need help, not from anyone, and especially not from you.’

Luc’s words were like a slap across the face, and it took a little time before she could do much more than watch the flames rise and dance in the hearth.

‘Okay,’ she said at last, getting to her feet. ‘I guess even I can take a hint.’

‘Maybe we can talk some other time,’ he suggested.

‘Is there any point?’

‘You were lucky tonight that it was me and not some other man,’ Luc called after her as she headed for the stairs.

She stopped dead. ‘There’s no chance of there ever being another man.’

‘Then, you’re a fool, Stacey,’ Luc said coldly. ‘For your own sake, accept that we don’t belong together. You deserve someone far—’

‘Oh, please,’ she interrupted, ‘spare me the gentle let-down. If I’m hopeless in bed and turn you right off, you only have to say so.’

‘What the hell?’ Luc was on his feet and grabbing hold of her within a second. Cupping her chin, he made her look at him. ‘You’re not hopeless. In fact, that’s the problem.’

‘I’m too good,’ she suggested with a mocking huff as she braced to hear the truth.

‘Yes,’ Luc confirmed flatly. ‘This is my fault. I shouldn’t have let things go so far.’

‘It takes two to tango. And as for consequences, I’ll handle whatever comes around.’

‘But can you do that?’ His expression was sceptical. ‘You’re hunting for a fairy tale and what I’m looking for is sex. I devote most of my time to work and the rest of my time to polo. I travel constantly, and wherever I am—’ he shrugged ‘—is home.’

‘You don’t have a home. You have a number of fabulous properties across the world, but when it comes to a home you don’t know the meaning of the word.’

‘I can remember,’ he said quietly.

She could have ripped out her tongue. ‘Of course you do. Luc, I’m so sorry. I don’t think sometimes.’

‘And you’re not thinking now,’ Luc warned.

‘Oh, I am,’ she assured him. ‘What makes you think I want more than you? I’m a normal woman with normal, healthy appetites. Men aren’t the only animals on the planet who want sex with no consequences or long-term complications. I’m not the clinging-vine type,’ she added while her heart screamed that she was a liar, and that she did want Luc long-term. For as long as she could remember he’d been part of her life, and life going forward without him, especially now they’d been so close, was unthinkable. But if one night was all she could have she’d take it.

‘Neither of us has the type of lifestyle that allows for a long-term relationship,’ she said matter-of-factly, as desperation to have Luc kiss her, embrace her, make love to her, drummed relentlessly in her brain.

His lips pressed down attractively as he considered this. ‘If you can accept reality, then I suppose…’

She jumped on the opening. ‘Do you mean accepting the pace of your life means you snatch up a woman like you snatch up a meal, and when you’ve both had enough you walk away?’

Luc’s head shot back. ‘Dios, Stacey! That’s a little harsh, even for me. I could never think of you that way. I’ve watched you grow up.’

‘Then you should know I’m no fool and I know my own mind. Please don’t pity me, or make a joke of this, either. I know what I want, and I know what you need. What’s wrong with that?’

He shrugged. ‘Everything?’

Cocking her chin to one side, she demanded, ‘Doesn’t that make it irresistible…for both of us?’

No. It did not. Dios! What was he going to do with this woman—with himself? The fire they created between them was unreal. One minute they were arguing, and the next passion of a very different kind was threatening. Any challenge, or something forbidden to him, had always proved irresistible in the past, but this was Stacey. This was wrong. With no reprieve in sight, the best he could do was put space between them. What a joke talking about consequences where Stacey was concerned. He’d taken her into his home and it was he who had to live with those consequences. According to the latest weather forecast it would be three or four days at least before the roads to the village were passable, so, like it or not, they were stuck together.

‘Lucas?’ she prompted. ‘Don’t you have anything to say?’

‘Irresistible is a dangerous word.’

‘Thank you for your input, Señor Da Silva. I shall bear that in mind.’

He had plenty more to say on the subject, but thought it better now to stare out of the window, beyond which snow was falling again. The hotel across the road had become a vague, insubstantial shadow, a reminder that he’d called every hotel in the village, but they were all full with people who’d been stranded. No one had any room for Stacey except him. ‘Haven’t you gone to bed yet?’ he asked without turning to face her.

‘I’m waiting for you,’ she said.

When he swung around, she gave him one of her looks, and he knew then that even if they went to their separate beds she’d still be on his mind. ‘You should rest and so should I.’

‘I’ll let you rest…in between making love to me.’

‘This isn’t funny, Stace.’

‘You’re telling me.’

To his horror, there were tears in her eyes. ‘Just let it go,’ he advised. ‘I’m a lost cause,’ he added wryly.

‘Okay,’ she agreed with a jerk of her head. ‘That should be easy.’ But instead of moving away, she moved closer. ‘Wow. We really are snowed in…what a cliché. Now I have to share your bed.’

Not so much a cliché as a challenge, he thought as he attempted to ignore Stacey’s appeal, her scent, her vulnerability. ‘Your bed,’ he emphasised.

‘I can take a hint.’

He doubted it. ‘Thanks for your help tonight.’

‘I was pleased to help.’

They stood staring out at the snow, which had started banking up thanks to a strong wind, and was collecting in even deeper drifts around the chalet. He’d dig them out in the morning and ski her down to the lower part of the village, rather than sit around waiting for the weather to change. That was the safest thing to do, plus he had a party to think about. They both did. He laughed inwardly at the irony of trying to avoid someone for their own good, only to have fate bind them together.

‘We’re stranded on a desert island of snow,’ Stacey murmured beside him.

‘No more fantasies, please,’ he begged.

Needless to say, she ignored him. ‘It’s like a different world, isn’t it? No rules, and nothing beyond us and this moment.’

‘It doesn’t take long for your imagination to start rolling, does it?’ he commented.

‘Well, how do you see it?’

‘As a task tomorrow morning when I dig us both out.’

‘Practical to the last,’ she remarked with a laugh.

‘I’m practical,’ he agreed. ‘As you can be.’

‘I do have some good qualities, then?’

‘Stop fishing,’ he warned, but she’d made him smile, which made him want her more than ever. He’d be the first to admit that years of guarding his siblings had made him overprotective. That was what his brothers and sister told him, anyway. ‘You’re no fun any more,’ was a frequent complaint that he supposed might be true, but it hadn’t stopped him enjoying Stacey.

Did he really have to stop?

For her sake, yes.

‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ she whispered, and then he felt her hand on his back… Her tiny hand on flesh he hadn’t troubled to cover since leaving his bed. The sensation was incredible. ‘Get out of here,’ he said lightly, hoping she would, because his willpower had taken just about all it could.

‘No,’ she said flatly, and, rather than obey him, she ran the tips of her nails down his supersensitive skin, sending his moral compass into a spin.

Swinging around, he stared at her. ‘No?’ he queried.

She glanced down. Instantly hard, he was incapable of hiding his physical reactions; thoughts were much easier.

They stared at each other for a good few moments, then he reached out to hook his fingers into the waistband of her pyjamas. As he pulled them down she observed, ‘So you’re not entirely made of ice.’

‘Try me,’ he suggested.

‘I intend to.’

A cry of triumph shot from her throat as he knelt between her thighs.

‘Oh…please,’ she begged as he began to explore her body as if he had never encountered it before. By bending her knees she increased the pressure from his tongue. Working her hips to and fro lazily, she was all too soon wailing, ‘I can’t hold on.’

‘You’re not supposed to, princess.’

And then she screamed out wildly, ‘Yes! Yes… Yes!’ before exhaling noisily in time to each violent spasm as it washed over her.

‘Oh, Lucas,’ she moaned contentedly when the pleasure began to fade. ‘That was amazing.’

Catching her as she collapsed, sated for the moment, he knew he had never wanted a woman more, had never wanted to pleasure a woman more. With all the barriers finally removed between them he swung her into his arms, and carried her to the deep fur rug in front of the fire. Arranging her to his liking, he parted her legs wide and allowed them to rest on his shoulders as he dipped his head and parted her lips to lave her with his tongue.

‘I can’t—not again—not so soon,’ she insisted on a gasping breath.

‘And I say you can,’ he argued quietly, ‘and not once, but many times.’

He proved it by delicately agitating the tiny bud at the heart of her pleasure. It didn’t take much encouragement for it to spring back to life.

Exhaling with excitement, Stacey wound her fingers through his hair to keep him close. He knew what she wanted, and he gave it to her until she was thrusting her hips towards him, crying out, ‘More… More! Don’t stop!’ Seconds later, she called out his name and fell noisily into release.

He held her firmly in place to make sure that she enjoyed every last pulse of pleasure. ‘I had no idea it could be so good,’ she groaned when the initial violence of her climax had begun to subside into a series of rhythmical pulses.

That was the problem, he reflected as he gradually brought her down again with soothing words in his own language and long, gentle strokes of his hand. Stacey was beginning to understand what was possible, and from there it was only a small step to feral lust, and when that point was reached, there’d be no turning back.

What was he talking about? They’d already crossed the Rubicon, he realised as she gripped his arms fiercely to state baldly, ‘I want you inside me.’

She had no idea how much he wanted her closing around him, holding him in place as she drew him deep and sucked him dry. ‘Please,’ she whispered, ‘tease me like you did before.’

Reaching for his belt, she unbuckled it and snapped it out of its loops. Then she popped the button at the top of his zipper. The moment that came down he exploded out of the placket.

‘Is this what you want?’ he asked, bracing himself above her.

‘Exactly that,’ she agreed.

‘Like this,’ he suggested, stroking the tip of his erection down the apex of her thighs.

‘Oh, yes,’ she confirmed.

‘And this?’ he suggested, watching her closely as he gave her the tip.

‘Oh, yes…yes, yes!’

Capturing her wrists in one fist, he pinned them above her head. ‘Just one thing…’

‘What?’ she gasped.

‘I say we take this slowly.’

‘At first,’ she agreed.