belatedly realising what a loving gesture it was and sliding her fingers into his hair instead. To hide the rising emotions within her, she kissed him. Hard. Demanding his response. When it came, it took her breath away.
‘Never,’ he said against her lips, sending her heart-rate soaring. His arms pulled her close and, to cover up the love that was threatening to erupt within her, she slid her hands down his chest, to the suit jacket he wore, and pushed it off his shoulders as she had done with his overcoat.
This time, the heat of his body scorched her palms, pushing her on in the increasing heat of the dance of desire. As she kissed him, her tongue entwining with his, she pulled off his tie and opened his shirt buttons, until her hands touched the firmness of his chest.
He broke the kiss, with words of Spanish she didn’t understand, but she couldn’t allow him to see her face, couldn’t allow him to look into her eyes, not if she wanted to conceal the truth of her feelings for him. Whatever else happened tonight, he must not think she still hankered after love and happy ever afters with him. Keeping that to herself would give her strength and badly needed control.
‘I have no idea what you just said,’ she teased as she pulled back from him, glancing briefly into his desire-filled eyes before she pressed her lips to his chest.
‘That you are a temptress and, I might add, you are wearing far too many clothes.’ The deep guttural sound of his voice sent razor-sharp pins into her heart and at the same time set loose the heavy throb of desire from deep within her.
‘In that case...’ She moved back, flirting wildly with him. Anything other than let him see what she really felt. Then with a coy smile at him, she undid the buttons of her cream silk blouse. She could feel his eyes on her, feel the heat of his need coming from him in an electrifying mix of desire and command.
It gave her power. Power to hide her love. Power over him.
* * *
Max could barely contain himself as Lisa let the cream silk of her blouse slip to the floor, revealing the lacy cream bra that did nothing to conceal the peak of her nipples. His body hardened even more in response. Hell, he wanted her as he’d never wanted any woman before. She was his wife.
He watched as she slipped off her heels and then unzipped her skirt. The sound of the silky lining as it slipped to the floor around her feet was so loud in the charged atmosphere of the bedroom it raised the tension to almost explosive levels.
‘Stop,’ he said and moved toward her as confusion rushed over her face. ‘That’s enough—for now.’
Before she could remove her underwear he took her in his arms, pressing her near nakedness against his bare chest. He could feel the flatness of her stomach, where concealed within was his baby. The child he would do anything for.
Whatever happened, he had to win Lisa round, had to show her he could give her and the baby so much, that he would be there for his child in a way he himself had never known when he was younger.
‘For now?’ She breathed the question against his lips.
He pushed her gently back onto the bed. She didn’t resist and neither did she take her gaze from his. ‘I want to kiss you all over, to caress every bit of you. I want to show you how good we are together.’
‘But...’ she whispered and then hesitated.
‘Do you really expect me to walk away from you, Lisa, when you are carrying my child?’
Her green eyes filled with the sparkle of tears, but he knew he had to set things straight between them, do what he hadn’t done before they’d got married.
‘It’s not what you wanted, is it?’
‘No, but now that you know more of my past, maybe you can understand my reaction, understand why I feel I can’t be a father—a good father—to my child.’
‘Feel?’ Her lips trembled and he wished he had chosen another time to have this discussion. It was spoiling all he’d achieved with his Christmas gift. ‘You make it sound like it’s still that way.’
‘My past has shaped who I am, Lisa, determined who I can be. Do you really want that for your child?’ The pain of his father’s rejection was unstoppable.
‘What about a mother who has never known a happy childhood, who ran with the wrong crowd as a teenager in order to hide from her past? One who grew up in a bad part of town? Do you want a mother like that for your child?’
The passion and pain in her words reached him on a level he thought impossible. He wasn’t the only one unable to stop the secrets of the past from intruding. ‘That was your childhood?’
‘Yes.’
He’d never have guessed, never have known she’d led anything other than a happy life. She seemed so calm, so in control of herself. Words, he decided, were not enough and he joined her on the bed, wrapping her in his arms, pulling her close in an attempt to show her he understood. The heat of her near-naked body transformed that understanding into passion and he claimed her lips, demanding a response from her.
She kissed him so hard it was intense and fevered. It heated him to the very centre of his darkened soul, dragging every tiny bit of emotion he’d ever hidden away out. Her fingers were pressed deep into his hair, her lips pressing against his. It was powerful, intoxicating. It was something he’d never felt before. As if they were kindred spirits, both wounded and hurt from life, both needing one another.
He pulled back from her, his breath coming hard and fast as he looked at her, saw the wary expression on her face despite the flush of desire on her pale cheeks.
‘I want you, Lisa, like I’ve never wanted you before.’
* * *
Rebellion surged forward and Lisa held her breath, fighting it back. She didn’t want to spoil this moment and all he’d done for her, but she wanted more than just knowing they would be good together, more than just being told he wanted her. She wanted the one thing that had been missing in her childhood and the one thing Max had already confessed to being unable to give. She wanted love.
Did that mean they were doomed? Even now?
Max braced his body above hers, his arms either side of her, and looked at her, his eyes swirling with desire. ‘I want to find what Raul has found with Lydia. I want that with you, Lisa.’
Hope surged through her. He wanted love? There was hope.
‘I want that too, Max.’ With her hands still entwined in his hair she pulled him down to her and kissed him with all the love she’d been hiding from him. Would that be enough to open his heart to her?
Without giving her doubts any more attention, she kissed him seductively, daring him to love her with his body if not his heart. His lips left hers and scorched a trail of heat down her throat as she let her head fall back against the softness of the pillow, giving herself up to his kisses.
He spoke soft Spanish words she didn’t understand, but she fooled herself into thinking they were words of love. Then the trail of kisses moved lower and she arched herself as he kissed between her breasts. Max moved, his body pressing against her legs, leaving her in no doubt that he was as aroused as her. He kissed over the lace of her bra, his tongue finding
