knew it. And the fact that he knew it made her furious. Furious with herself. Even more furious with him.
Avery pulled away and stalked over to the bathroom that adjoined the master suite. She knew her way. Had been there before. But even here the memories followed her because they’d used this room for more than a shower. ‘You’re crowding me and I need time to think. Don’t follow me, Mal.’
And because she didn’t trust him not to do that, she locked the door. And then spent several minutes just staring at it, knowing he was on the other side and discovering that a locked door wasn’t enough to keep the feelings away. And that was because he wasn’t the problem, was he? The problem was her.
She stripped off her clothes, then walked into the shower and stood under the sharp needles of hot water, washing away two days of hot, sticky travelling in the desert. She lathered her hair in expensive shampoo that smelt like lotus flowers, massaged conditioner and then stood for ages with her eyes closed while the water washed over her.
But she couldn’t stay in the shower for ever.
Reluctantly, she turned off the flow of water and wrapped herself in one of the large fluffy towels that were stacked inside a glass cabinet.
Then she turned and found him standing there.
‘You forgot that the bathroom has two entrances. You only locked one door.’
‘Another man would have taken that as a hint.’
‘And you know that how?’ His ebony hair glistened dark and his broad shoulders were still damp from the shower he’d clearly taken in another bathroom. He was in the process of knotting the towel around his hips. ‘Have you had other lovers in the time we’ve been apart?’
Other lovers? The question would have made her laugh if it hadn’t hurt so much. He didn’t have a clue what he’d done to her.
She was distracted by the flat planes of his abdomen, as hard as a board and with a tantalising line of dark hair vanishing beneath the towel. ‘Of course I had other lovers. Why do you ask? Did you think I’d been pining for you?’
‘Be grateful that I know you’re lying. And I take it as a good sign that you’re trying to protect yourself.’
‘Well, if you think you know so much about me, why ask?’
‘Because I want you to admit how you feel.’
‘Right now? Pretty annoyed. You’re in my personal space.’
‘You think I’m in your personal space? Try this—’ He moved so fast that she didn’t see it coming and before she could even murmur his name his mouth was on hers and the chemistry was instantaneous and as powerful as ever. Everything they’d been holding back came rushing straight at them. His hands were on her hips, tugging away the towel and hers were doing the same to his until they were both naked and the only sounds in the room were his harsh breathing and her soft gasps. Abstinence bred desperation and desperation had him scooping her into his arms and carrying her to the bedroom, still kissing, their mouths hungry and demanding as they made up for lost time.
‘Only you can do this to me.’ He murmured the words against her mouth as he lowered her into the centre of the huge hand-crafted bed. ‘Only you, and this time we are doing this properly. No more encounters in the bathroom or desperate snatched moments wherever we can take them.’
She didn’t care. She didn’t care where they were as long as they were together and when he came down on top of her she immediately rolled so that he was underneath.
‘Battle for supremacy?’ His eyes glittered dark and she smiled down at him, her lips skimming his because after so long without touching him she needed to touch.
‘Can you take it?’
‘Can you?’
And it was a question she was to ask herself over and over again as he used all his skill and knowledge to drive her wild. She didn’t believe in love. She didn’t believe in happy ever after. But she believed in this and wondered how she’d survived so long without his touch and then realised that she barely had. That every day since they’d parted she’d been starving for him.
He was hard, hot and hers, and being with him again felt crazily good. So good that she was clumsy as she moved against him and of course he took instant advantage of that, rolling and pinning her beneath him.
‘I missed you.’ He groaned the words against her neck and she closed her eyes because hearing him say it choked her up so badly.
‘No, you didn’t.’
‘Yes, I did. And you missed me too.’
‘No, I didn’t.’
‘Yes, you did. Say those words back to me, Avery. Be honest.’ His hand cupped her face. ‘It doesn’t make you weak to admit it.’
No, but it made her vulnerable. ‘I missed having someone to argue with, that’s true.’ She made the mistake of opening her eyes at that moment and met the heat in his. His mouth curved into a slow, sexy smile of complete understanding.
‘Of course, you missed the arguments and that is all. You didn’t miss this—’ eyes half shut, he stroked a hand down her body and she gasped ‘—or this—’ he moved his hand lower still and this time she moaned ‘—and you definitely didn’t miss this.’
This had her writhing under him but he denied her the satisfaction she craved, easing away slightly when she arched her hips against him.
‘Do you realise that the only time you show your feelings is when we’re in bed together?’ His voice was husky and he pinned her arms above her head, holding her captive. ‘Apart from the scorpion sting, the only time I’ve ever seen you vulnerable is when you’re in my bed.’
‘It wasn’t always your bed. Sometimes it was my bed.’ Her heart was thumping because of course she was vulnerable. Terrifyingly so, naked in every way. All of her exposed to this man who saw so much and yet still insisted on more.
‘Are you going to tell me why you’re so afraid?’
‘Afraid?’ She tugged gently at his hands but he held her firmly. ‘I’m not afraid.’
‘If you’re not afraid then stop trying to free yourself.’ His mouth trailed over her shoulder, his tongue slow and explicit as he traced her skin. ‘If you’re not afraid then you should just trust me not to hurt you. It shouldn’t be hard.’
It was the hardest thing in the world, to put her safety in the hands of another person. To trust her heart to the one person in the world who could break it. It was too much to ask. He wanted her to surrender something she couldn’t surrender. To submit to something that terrified her because she knew that whatever he gave, he could also take away.
His mouth moved lower, his tongue flicked her nipple and a low moan of pleasure escaped her.
‘Mal—’
‘Trust me not to hurt you.’ He murmured the words against her skin, against her body, already damp from his tongue and shivering with an excitement so intense it was impossible
