removed her helmet. Salty air heavy with the fragrance of eucalyptus swept through her hair and filled her nostrils. After the noisy journey the sudden silence rang with the sounds of the bush. An animal scuttled through the undergrowth, the soft clack of higher branches as the wind buffeted treetops, all against the background sound of distant surf. A gibbous moon spangled the leaves with silver.
‘Here we are. Home sweet home.’
He produced a key and unlocked the front door, flipped a switch, illuminating dozens of downlights, giving the room a mellow ambience as she followed him in.
It had to be the most unique home she’d ever seen, all odd angles and glass and slabs of colour that blended with the natural environment outside. A ceiling that soared and dipped, invoking a feeling of space and movement. ‘No walls.’
‘Don’t need them.’
Her brows rose in surprise. ‘Not even the bathroom?’
He grinned. ‘The exception. Through here.’
Huge. With a spa big enough to need its own lifeguard, double shower, double vanity. It was another fantasy of glass, but private at the same time, and looked out onto a roomy columned courtyard of lush native flora accessed only through the bathroom.
‘Cyathea australis.’
‘If you say so.’ Matt grinned. ‘I prefer to call them tree ferns. It’s easier to say.’
‘You designed all this?’ she said, following him to the living space.
He nodded, removing his jacket, tossing it over a wide leather couch. ‘It’s flexible in that I can add modules to extend living space as required. This suits me fine as it is for now.’
Ellie stared at the expensive fittings, the flow of honeyed wooden flooring. ‘Not bad for a weekender.’
‘Not a weekender,’ he said. ‘It’s my home. I want you to see the view of the bay from upstairs.’ He led her up a shallow flight of floating steps to the mezzanine level. Her feet made no sound as she crossed the thick carpet. The huge irregular hexagonal window framed a spectacular view of Louttit Bay filmed with moon glow. Lorne’s lights twinkled through the trees. Possums partied on the roof, their bush sounds the only noise in the room’s silence.
‘Now isn’t that a sight for inspiration?’ He was standing close behind her, his voice rumbling softly at her ear.
‘Oh, yeah.’ His warmth spread across her back like a blanket. She placed a hand against the glass. So many contrasts. Heat and cold, the dark rise of the land against the moon-drenched water. Man-made in harmony with nature. And the man who’d built it all slid his hands loosely around her waist. Strength and tenderness. She didn’t need protecting, but it was there in the way he shielded her with his body.
His hands now on her shoulders, he turned her to face him. ‘Ellie.’ Her name had never sounded as beautiful as it did coming from his lips. And the sight of this gorgeous man before her was more inspiring than any view behind.
And more terrifying.
She’d sworn never again to allow a man to seduce her and here she was. Yet staring up at him she sensed no intended seduction as such. Just a burning desire. One he’d carefully banked. One she shared.
She didn’t need a man, yet in this moment, with the starlight reflecting in his eyes and the cool night radiating through the glass at her back, she wanted this man.
Neither did she need his support—unless it was the kind of support which would keep her upright on legs that were weakening with every beat of her pulse.
His hands slid over her shoulders, her arms, then inside her jacket, palms brushing the sides of her breasts, every fingertip sending sparks of excitement shooting to her feminine places.
What she needed…She needed his hands on more of her. On all of her. Her own hands trembled as they followed the hard contours of his chest through the soft jersey of his T-shirt. Up…until she felt his heart thud fast and heavy beneath her palm.
The fragrance of the cold night’s ride clung to his clothes, his skin. Leaning up on tiptoe, she breathed him in, right in the little hollow at the base of his neck. Dizzy with his scent, his proximity, she dropped her head on his chest.
Her whole body throbbed with heavy anticipation, yet she felt as light as air, as if the slightest puff would blow her away. Had she ever felt this way? She might have thought so once, but she couldn’t have—she’d have remembered something this intense.
Cupping her face in both hands, he tilted it towards him, and what a view she was treated to. A strong jaw etched in the moon’s silver glow, hair backlit with gold from the light filtering up from downstairs, lips that no artist could do justice to, eyes as dark as midnight. Eyes that could make a girl forget how to breathe, let alone her well-rehearsed lessons in self-preservation.
He whisked a thumb over her lips, just once. ‘What do you want, Ellie?’
Be careful what you wish for. The little warning voice she’d learned to listen to and followed religiously dulled to a whisper, then faded completely.
One night. Her choice. Her decision.
Stepping out of his arms, she shrugged out of her jacket, let it fall to the floor. ‘You. Here. Now.’
If it were possible, his eyes darkened further, but he didn’t move except to let his arms drop to his sides. ‘Are you sure? Because I don’t know if I can stop if—’
‘Yes, I’m sure,’ she snapped out, unbuttoning her cardigan. She had no illusions about Matt where relationships were concerned, but now she’d made her decision she wanted to get on with it. ‘One night.’ She lifted her chin, every cell in her body jangling. ‘That’s the way you play the game, isn’t it? One night at a time?’
He hesitated, the acknowledgement written on his face as he rocked back on his heels. ‘But I’m not sure it’s the way you do.’
No, it wasn’t, but the other way hadn’t worked for her in the past so perhaps it was time she tried something different. Knowing it all up-front meant no expectations, no disappointments and, most important of all, no broken heart. Without breaking eye contact she slipped off her cardigan. ‘Wasn’t it you who suggested the other day that we do something about this…tension between us? Get it out of the way?’
‘Yes, but after what happened, you might—’
‘I’m calling you on it now. I want to forget this afternoon.’ Still watching him, she toed off her sneakers, peeled off her socks. Her toes curled into the warm carpet. ‘I feel like I’m about to explode. I still have all this pent-up angry energy I need to get rid—’
Matt cut her off with a hard-mouthed kiss that echoed the wildness he sensed within her, barely glimpsing her surprised eyes as he dragged her against him and answered her request.
She didn’t miss a beat, meeting him with the same force, the same heat, the same passion. Her hands shot upward, clutching fistfuls of his T-shirt, lush lips parting beneath his, tongues touching, tangling, thrusting in a tantalising prelude to what he wanted to do with her. To her. In her.
The
