who is willing to give up a child like so much rubbish.’
‘I may have been mistaken in those beliefs,’ Lukas said quietly. There was no apology in his voice, merely statement of fact. ‘I realise now, Rhiannon, that you want what is best for Annabel. You believed that was entrusting her to her family; I think you’re right.’
‘I’ve changed my mind,’ Rhiannon choked, and his hands tightened briefly on her arms.
‘You must trust that I will do my duty by Annabel,’ he said calmly, and Rhiannon let out a wild, contemptuous peal of laughter.
‘That’s the last thing I want,’ she cried. ‘I don’t want Annabel to be bound to someone by duty.’ It came out in a sneer, and Lukas looked at her in surprise.
‘Why on earth not?’
Rhiannon drew in a shuddering breath. He was close. Far too close. So close that in the pale moonlight bathing his face she could see the gold flecks in his eyes, the stubble on his chin.
‘You couldn’t understand.’
‘Not unless you explain,’ he agreed, his voice soft yet firm in the darkness.
‘I want you to let me go,’ she whispered, but it didn’t sound very convincing.
‘I will…’ Yet he was drawing her closer, and closer still, his lips a breath away from hers. Rhiannon let him hold her, let his breath fan her face, let her lips part open.
There was determination in his eyes, a fierce resolve, and Rhiannon knew that, like her, he was fighting against the tide of desire that washed over both of them, threatening to drag them under.
She knew by the light in his eyes, by the way his fingers bit into her shoulders.
And by the way he released her, suddenly, as if she’d scorched him, so she stumbled back in the sand.
‘I’m sorry.’ His voice was low. ‘I didn’t mean to start something here.’
‘To kiss me?’ Rhiannon challenged, irritated at how bereft she felt.
‘I know nothing can happen between us,’ Lukas said flatly. ‘We cannot complicate matters more with a meaningless affair.’
His assessment stung. A meaningless affair? Of course he would never consider her as a worthy candidate for girlfriend, bride, wife.
She was so far below him, his world. All she was worth was an affair. Dirty, cheap. Meaningless.
‘Nothing will happen between us,’ she restated stonily. ‘Because you need to do your damn duty.’
Lukas stared at her for a long moment. ‘I’ve never had someone think so little of me for doing what is right.’
Rhiannon swallowed the guilt that rose up at his quiet words. ‘I want you to want to do what is right,’ she said. ‘Not just do it out of some burdensome sense of responsibility.’
‘You say that as if it’s a dirty word.’
‘It is!’ Rhiannon couldn’t hold back the emotion which caused her voice to tremble, her throat to ache. ‘It is.’
They were standing only a few feet apart, tension binding them together like an invisible wire. Lukas reached out his hands, grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her towards him.
‘This is not about duty,’ he said in a savage whisper before kissing her. It was a hard, punishing kiss—a brand, a seal. When he released her they both were breathing in ragged gasps.
‘But you didn’t want that either, did you?’ Rhiannon said when she finally found her voice.
‘Yes,’ Lukas disagreed flatly. ‘The problem is, I want it too much. But I will not have it.’
He turned away, began striding down the beach. Alone in the darkness, Rhiannon had no choice but to follow him back to the distant lights of the villa.
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