for both of them.
And when he pushed her back against the ancient stone wall and lifted her, he wondered how many other such acts of such sensual desperation this castle had seen over the centuries.
And then thinking became impossible because it was all about feeling and acting on the most basic of human instincts. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he moved his hand down and guided himself into her tight, silken heat, driven by a devouring, dangerous force beyond his control. His need was primitive and he deepened his possession, his hands supporting her as he held her still for his most intimate invasion. Dimly he registered her cry and tried to pause, wondering whether he’d hurt her, and then he felt the frantic movement of her hips, encouraging him, and gave himself up to his body’s instinctive need to thrust into her.
The fire between them burned and licked as they moved and gasped and greedily devoured each other. And then the explosion came. Powerful and deadly, it took both of them with it and Ethan ground into her one last time, driven past control by the rhythmic contractions of her own body.
And then the storm left, as if satisfied that it had done its work.
Still breathing heavily, Ethan lowered her gently to the ground and tried to clear his head, still too stunned to form a coherent sentence. Would he ever be able to speak?
What was there to say? After sharing something so perfect, what was there to say?
She was shaking in his arms, her hair tangled and loose, her body deliciously naked.
And suddenly he wanted her again. And he knew that he’d want her again after that. And again.
He cupped her face in his hands, needing to communicate the way he felt but silenced by his natural reticence. ‘Kyla—’
‘Don’t say anything,’ she said shakily, her eyes shy as she looked at him. ‘Don’t say anything at all.’
And he knew that she understood and felt the same way.
There were no words that could possibly do justice to what they’d just shared.
He gently stroked her hair away from her face, noticing things that he’d never noticed before. Like the fact that her blue eyes were darker than he’d first thought and she had a few tiny freckles over her nose. He dragged his thumb slowly over her full mouth and she nipped at it, the look in her eyes reflecting his own thoughts.
He wanted her again.
But not here.
‘The sun is coming up.’ He spoke softly, even though there was no one around to hear them. ‘The storm is over.’
‘Let’s watch. I’ll show you where.’ She stooped and retrieved her clothes, dressing quickly in a series of graceful movements that he watched with masculine hunger. Then she reached forward and started to fasten the buttons on his shirt. ‘If I don’t do this, I won’t be able to leave you alone. I love your body—have I told you that?’
No. And he hadn’t told her that he loved hers, although their frantic love-making should surely have left her in no doubt. But her observation that intimate conversations hadn’t been part of their interaction to date was a sharp, uncomfortable reminder that this relationship was built on shaky, dangerous ground.
She took his hand and led him across a low stone wall and then sank to the grass and dragged him down next to her. ‘This is the best view on the whole island. And this is the best weather in which to see it. Just watch.’
Ethan sat, silenced by the beauty of the scene unfolding in front of him. And as he sat there, watching the sun come up over an angry, boiling sea, he suddenly understood.
Kyla reached for his hand and curled her fingers around his. ‘Do you think things happen for a reason, Ethan?’
‘What do you mean?’
Perhaps she heard the wariness in his voice because she smiled. ‘I mean that some things are just meant to happen. You came out of nowhere. Serendipity. You could have chosen to escape anywhere but you came here.’
Ethan felt coldness pour through his body.
It hadn’t been serendipity.
And he hadn’t come out of nowhere.
Her words were like a hammer blow to his conscience and the perfection of the moment was soured. ‘Kyla—’
She covered his lips with her finger, preventing him from finishing his sentence. ‘Not now. Now I just want you to kiss me again. And then we’ll go home and do everything again in slow motion.’
CHAPTER NINE
UNFORTUNATELY, fate intervened in the form of a little girl with an asthma attack.
Logan was still tied up with Fraser, who was now being sick and complaining of persistent headache, so Ethan had no choice but to leave Kyla on her doorstep.
Once again he seemed distant, remote and Kyla felt a twist of yearning for the unconstrained, passionate side of him she’d discovered up in the ruins of the castle.
For a moment he’d lost control and finally revealed himself to her but now he had retreated back into his shell.
‘I’ll see the Roberts child, come back here and change and then go straight to the surgery. Logan thinks he may have to fly Fraser over to the mainland for a CT scan.’
They might have been no more than colleagues, discussing their plans for the day. Visit here. Clinic there.
Where had it gone? Kyla wondered as she stared wistfully into his handsome face—that incredible closeness and intimacy that had held them both in its grip. Where had it gone?
‘On second thoughts, would you mind picking up a suit for me?’ He handed her his keys. ‘I can take a shower at Logan’s and change before surgery. It will be quicker than coming all the way back here.’
‘Of course.’ She took the keys and waited for him to say something that indicated he understood the way she was feeling. Something that acknowledged the power of what they’d shared during the storm. But he didn’t even look at her.
His handsome face was grim and serious as if he had a thousand things on his mind and none of them related to her.
‘That’s fine.’ She forced herself to speak normally and not show her disappointment. ‘I’ll bring the suit. Will I be able to find it?’
‘In the wardrobe in my bedroom. Just choose one. And Kyla.’ Finally he looked at her but there was a bleakness in his eyes that did nothing to alleviate the growing ache inside her. ‘This evening, we have to talk.’
Talk? She watched him stride towards his car, the lump in her throat as big as the weight in her heart.
She loved him, she realised with a sinking feeling. Somehow, over the past weeks, she’d grown to love this complicated man. And up until five minutes ago she would
