from scratch, I’d get out of the city. Windsurfing, climbing, hang-gliding.’
‘They sound challenging.’ And dangerous.
‘I like the wind in my hair. The feeling of not being hemmed in.’
Ella thought of his Sydney house. Set at the top of a cliff with a commanding view of the Pacific, it was as un-hemmed-in as you could get in such a metropolis.
‘What about you, Ella?’ He tilted up her chin so his words brushed her face. ‘What do you do to unwind?’
Make love with a breathtakingly gorgeous, enigmatic tycoon.
This fortnight there’d been no time for anything but work and Donato. If she wasn’t with him in the evening, he was flirting with her over the phone, his espresso-dark voice a constant reminder of what she missed by refusing to stay with him.
But the need to keep part of her life private remained strong. Donato had stormed into her world like a cyclone flattening every defence. He dominated her thoughts and even her dreams.
‘How do I unwind? You’ll find out soon enough.’ Their weekend in the Blue Mountains west of the city was in two parts. Donato had suggested they spend half the time doing something he enjoyed and the other half was her choice.
As if he wanted to share his private life with her, not just his bed. As if he wanted to know more about her too. It was a beguiling idea. After two weeks of toe-curling orgasms and carefully light banter, this signalled a shift in their relationship.
Ella had tried telling herself they didn’t have a relationship. They had sex. Stunning, all-eclipsing sex.
And they had this farcical engagement. Her father insisted they were marrying and went ahead with preparations despite her protests. But it would take more than his demands to make her marry a man she didn’t love.
Meanwhile she needed to help her siblings. Her father had misappropriated Rob’s inheritance from their grandfather, the money he needed to finish the resort’s refurbishment. Reg had promised to repay it when his business with Donato was sorted.
Ella felt trapped, by her attraction to Donato and the situation with her father.
She’d told Donato repeatedly there’d be no wedding. Every time he’d shrugged and said it would all work out.
It was like a game, one where only he knew the rules. When she tried to press for a resolution he distracted her, usually with some outrageous provocation that led to verbal sparring and, most often, sex.
Now he wrapped his arms around her and her heart gave a familiar leap. ‘Don’t I get a kiss for introducing you to abseiling?’
She shook her head, teasing. ‘It was our guide who did the work, organising the equipment and—’
‘If you think you’re kissing anyone but me,’ Donato growled, a light in his eyes, ‘you’re sadly mistaken.’
Instantly she was all quivering anticipation. That hint of possessiveness was too appealing.
She wanted Donato. Not just his kisses but his attention, his time. Warning bells clanged.
Ella needed to remind him, and herself, she was her own woman. He was so overwhelming it was a constant battle not to be swept up, simply giving in to him.
She put a hand on Donato’s broad chest, pushing. ‘That’s for me to choose. You don’t own me, Donato. You haven’t bought me.’
She’d anticipated a mock scowl, or that lethally slow smile that stirred all her senses.
What she got was sudden stillness and a look that made the hairs on her nape stand on end. Not a look of anger. She couldn’t read his expression, but she knew he’d gone somewhere she didn’t want to be.
His hold tightened, his fingers digging too hard. Then suddenly she was free. Donato stepped back, hands flexing. His chest rose as he sucked oxygen, like a swimmer too long underwater.
‘Donato? What is it?’ His stark expression made the blood curdle in her veins. Shivers ran down her arms and disquiet stirred.
His eyes were fixed on the distance.
‘Donato?’
His gaze swung down to her. She read turmoil and strong emotion. What was going on? One minute he was laughing and intimate. The next he’d totally withdrawn.
‘Of course.’ The last vestiges of tension vanished as she watched. He looked the same as ever, confident and in control. But Ella knew something had happened, as it had when he’d spoken of his past.
What was he hiding? Everyone had secrets, but she sensed Donato’s cast very long shadows.
Ella gripped his arms, needing the physical connection. Needing, if possible, to help. His taut biceps were hard as the rock they’d just traversed. She loved his strength. Being with Donato made her feel almost petite and dainty.
Deliberately she stood on her toes and brushed her mouth against his. Instantly he responded with a slow, bone-melting thoroughness that made her wish their guide wasn’t waiting above.
Finally Donato pulled back.
‘Come on, Ella. It’s time you learned how to climb back up.’ His lips curled in that devastating smile and she found herself smiling back.
But she was silent as he busied himself with their gear. For his smile had been wrong. It hadn’t reached his eyes.
Ella told herself that just because they were lovers didn’t give her the right to pry into things he obviously didn’t want to share. She too kept part of her life off-limits to Donato.
Yet the need to understand him gnawed. She wanted to know so she could help. Because she never wanted to see that blank shadow on his face again.
Was that the reaction of a short-term lover?
Or was it the reaction of a woman sinking deep over her head?
‘RETAIL THERAPY!’ Donato groaned. ‘I knew it was a mistake to let you choose our activity for the day.’
Yet it was a token protest. After spending a whole night with Ella, waking with her in his arms for the first time, it would take more than a little shopping to spoil his mood.
Last night, after their day of climbing and abseiling, there’d been an intensity to her passion he couldn’t get enough of. Given their history of instant attraction and explosive loving, that was saying something.
The sooner she moved in with him the better.
Donato ignored the voice reminding him he’d never shared his home with any woman.
This was different. Ella wasn’t a clinging vine, grasping for the material things he could provide.
Hard
