Rumours: The Dishonoured Copelands. Jane Porter

look beautiful, by the way,” he said.

      Her cheeks turned pink and her blue eyes glowed with pleasure. She looked surprised, touched. His beautiful woman. Part of him wanted to shake her, kiss her, make her his again, and another part of him wanted to send her away forever.

      “Thank you for sending for my clothes,” she said, fighting the same tendril of hair, the one the breeze loved to tease. “That was very kind of you.”

      “Not kind, just practical,” he answered. “Since you’re not returning to Ekali, there’s no point keeping your things at the villa there anymore. Which reminds me, I have another trunk with your winter clothes and ski things ready to go home with you when you leave for New York. It’s in one of the storage rooms downstairs. Didn’t see any reason to drag it up three flights of stairs only to drag it down again in a few days.

      A shadow passed across her face. “Is that how long you think I need to be here?”

      “We’ll know better once Rowan arrives. I expect him in late tonight or early tomorrow.”

      “Rowan?”

      “Rowan Argyros, from Dunamas Maritime Intelligence. He’s the one I work with when my ships have been seized. His headquarters are in London, but when I phoned him this afternoon I learned that he’s in Los Angeles and he’s promised to fly out this afternoon.”

      “But if you are a maritime piracy expert, why do you need outside help?”

      “Because while I know shipping, and I’ve becoming quite knowledgeable about counter-piracy, it takes more than money to free a seized ship, or crew being held hostage. It takes a team of experts, as well as information, strategy and decisive action, and in your father’s case, it will take extraordinary action. As you can imagine, it’s crucial to do everything exactly right. There is no room for error in something like this. Even a small mistake could cost his life.”

      She paled. “Perhaps it’s too dangerous.”

      “Rowan won’t act unless he’s sure of a positive outcome.”

      He watched her bite nervously into her lower lip and his gaze focused on that soft bottom lip. For a few seconds, he could think of nothing but her mouth. He loved the shape, the color, the softness of it. Always had. Her lips were full and a tender pink that made him think of lush, ripe summer fruit—sweet strawberries and cherries and juicy watermelon.

      “We don’t even know if my father is alive,” she said after a moment, looking up into his eyes.

      He knew from her expression that she was looking for reassurance, but he couldn’t give it, not yet, not until Rowan had finished his intelligence work. And yet at the same time, there was no reason to alarm her. Information would be coming soon. Until then, they had to be positive. “We don’t know very much about his condition at the moment, but I think it’s important to focus on the best outcome, not the worst.”

      “When do you think this … Rowan … will have news for us?”

      “I expect he’ll have information when he arrives.”

      Morgan’s eyes searched his again and her worry and fear were tangible and he fought the impulse to reach for her, comfort her, especially when she was so close he could feel her warmth and smell her light, delicate fragrance, a heady mix of perfume and her skin.

      “It’s difficult waiting,” she said softly, the tip of her tongue touching her upper lip. “Difficult to be calm and patient in the face of so much unknown.”

      The glimpse of her pink tongue made him instantly hard. He wanted her so much, couldn’t imagine not wanting her. It was torture being this close and yet not being able to kiss her, hold her, and he hardened all over again at the thought of kissing her, and tasting her and running his tongue across the seam of her lips.

      He’d been with no one since Morgan left. For five years he’d gone without a woman, gone without closeness, intimacy, gone without even a kiss, and he suddenly felt starved. Ravenous. Like a man possessed. He needed her. She was his. His wife, his woman—

      Drakon stopped himself. He couldn’t go there, couldn’t think of her like that. She might be his legally, but the relationship itself was over. “But that is life,” he said grimly. “It is nothing but the unknown.”

      His staff appeared on the patio, lighting candles and sconces, including the heavy silver candelabra on the round white-linen covered table. “It appears dinner is ready,” he added, glad for the diversion. “Shall we sit?”

      Morgan realized with a start that the sun had dropped significantly and now hung just above the sea, streaking the horizon red, rose and gold. It would be a stunning sunset and they’d be here on the patio to see it. “Yes, please,” she said, moving toward the table, but Drakon was already there, holding a chair for her.

      She felt the electric shock as she sat down, her shoulder briefly touching his chest, and then his fingers brushing across the back of her bare arm. Her shawl had slipped into the crook of her elbow and the unexpected sensation of his skin on hers made her breath catch in her throat and she held the air bottled in her lungs as she pressed her knees tightly together, feeling the hot lick of desire and knowing she had to fight it.

      “It will be a gorgeous sunset,” she said, determined to think of other things than the useless dampness between her thighs and the coiling in her belly that made her feel so empty and achy.

      His amber gaze met hers, and the warm tawny depths were piercing, penetrating, and it crossed her mind that he knew.

      He knew how she felt, he knew she wanted him, and it was suddenly too much … being here, alone with him.

      “Must grab my camera,” she said, leaping to her feet. “Such an incredible sunset.”

      She rushed off, up to her room, where she dug through her things and located her phone, which was also her camera, but didn’t return to the dining room immediately, needing the time to calm herself and pull her frayed nerves back together.

      He’s always done this to you, she lectured herself. He seduced you with his eyes long before he ever touched you, but that doesn’t mean anything. It’s lust. He’s good at sex. That doesn’t mean he should be your husband.

      Morgan returned downstairs, head high. As she approached the patio through the dining room, the sunset bathed the patio in soft golden light. The small, round dining table seemed to float above the shimmering green tiles on the patio. The same green tiles extended all the way into the dining room and from the kitchen she caught a whiff of the most delicious aromas—tomato and onion, garlic, olive oil, herbs—even as the breeze rustled her skirts, tugging at her air, whispering over her skin.

      So much light and color and sound.

      So much sensation. So much emotion. It was wonderful and terrible … bittersweet. Drakon and Villa Angelica had made her feel alive again.

      Drakon rose as she stepped out onto the patio. “The sun is almost gone,” he said, holding her chair for her.

      She glanced out at the sea, and he was right. The bright red ball of sun had disappeared into the water. “I did miss it,” she said, hoping she sounded properly regretful as she sat back down.

      “Maybe next time,” he said, with mock sympathy.

      She looked up at him and then away, aware that he was playing her game with her. Pretending she’d wanted a photo when they both knew she just needed to escape him.

      “I’ll have to keep my phone close by,” she said, reaching for her water glass and taking a quick sip.

      His gaze collided with hers and then held, his expression one of lazy amusement. “Photos really help one remember things.”

      She felt herself grow warm. “I have a purely professional interest in the scenery.”

      “Is that so?”

      She