The Holiday Escapes Collection. Sandra Marton

felt the back of her knees come up against the huge bed and panicked. ‘I can’t do this, Damon. I’m not on the pill.’

      ‘I have protection and, if that is not enough insurance for you, then we could always think of other ways to amuse ourselves,’ he suggested as his thighs brushed against hers. He took her hand and held it against him, his dark eyes holding hers meaningfully. ‘You loved to do so in the past, remember?’

      Charlotte could feel the pulse of his body beneath her fingertips and her heart rate began to accelerate. She had to get out of here before she betrayed herself. How could she agree to such an intimate act when he hated her so vehemently?

      ‘I—I can’t do this…’ Her voice broke on a sob. ‘I just can’t…’ Another sob followed the first, then another until she was crying uncontrollably, her hands going up to her face, her whole body shaking with emotion.

      Damon pulled her into his arms and held her close, her shuddering sobs reverberating through his chest. He was shocked by how distressed she sounded. It made him feel as if he had missed something somewhere. He wasn’t sure how to handle her in such a state. Had seeing him again brought her guilt back with a vengeance? Perhaps she had tried to put that part of her life to one side and seeing him again had brought it all back.

      ‘Charlotte, do not distress yourself like this,’ he said against her fragrant cloud of hair. ‘We have done this before, many times in the past.’

      She looked up into his eyes, her bottom lip still trembling. ‘But not like this…not so cold-bloodedly. Do you have to hate me this much?’

      He gave her a rueful smile. ‘You think I need to tone it down a bit, ne?’

      She tried to give him an answering tremulous little smile but it fell a little short of the mark. ‘Maybe just a little bit…’

      He let out a sigh and brought her back against his chest, his voice rumbling against her breasts. ‘Surprising as it may seem, I do not hate you, Charlotte. I desire you. I cannot seem to turn it off, even though I want to.’

      Charlotte retreated into the haven of silence.

      ‘You think me a barbarian and a savage for forcing you here but I was prepared to do anything to have you in my arms again,’ he went on. ‘But I can see you are feeling compromised, as well you should.’

      If only he knew how compromised she felt, Charlotte thought.

      ‘So I have come to a decision,’ he said, releasing her to look at her upturned face. ‘I will give you a couple more days to prepare yourself for our relationship.’

      Charlotte blinked at him. ‘You mean…I don’t have to…’

      ‘No. Not tonight.’

      She ran her tongue over her dry lips, her emotions see-sawing between disappointment and relief. She couldn’t understand her reaction to his offer of a short reprieve. It wasn’t as if she still loved him. He had killed those feelings with his ruthless treatment of her in the past, but still…

      She caught her bottom lip with her teeth. ‘But you paid me to be your partner for this evening…’

      ‘I have not forgotten our deal,’ he said. ‘I am just allowing you some breathing space.’

      ‘I’ll pay it back.’ Charlotte didn’t know how she would do it, but she determined she would definitely pay it back.

      ‘Yes, indeed you will,’ he said with chilling implacability. ‘I want you and I am prepared to wait a day or two until you are ready to come to me willingly.’

      She stood uncertainly before him, torn between wanting to bolt and to stay and feel the magic of his touch once more.

      She twisted her hands together. ‘Damon…I don’t know what to say…’

      ‘What I would like you to say is that you will have lunch with me tomorrow,’ he said.

      She shifted from one foot to the other. ‘Um…’

      ‘You do have a lunch hour, do you not?’

      ‘Yes, but I don’t think…’

      ‘Just lunch, Charlotte,’ he said. ‘Nothing else. For now.’

      For now.

      Charlotte suppressed a tiny shiver as the ominous sound of those two little words seared her soul. She couldn’t help feeling that he was toying with her, allowing her to briefly glimpse freedom before snatching it away again. Being with him in any context was flirting with danger. She considered rejecting his invitation but was worried that by doing so he would withdraw his temporary reprieve and insist on her staying this evening.

      She couldn’t risk it.

      But lunch would certainly be a whole lot easier than dinner, she reasoned. Emily would be at crèche all day, which meant she wouldn’t have to call upon Caroline to babysit.

      ‘All right…’ she said after a little silence. ‘Lunch will be fine.’

      ‘I will meet you on the steps of the museum at one p.m. Is that convenient?’

      ‘Yes…’ She swallowed the uneven lump in her throat and met his eyes once more. ‘So…so you’re not going to withdraw your sponsorship for the exhibition?’

      His coal-black eyes held no trace of the warmth she craved. ‘I am still thinking about it, Charlotte. It depends on many things.’

      Her teeth worried her lip again. ‘Wh-what sort of things?’

      He studied her for a seemingly endless interval.

      ‘I am still making up my mind about you,’ he said. ‘Whatever you might have done in the past, it seems reasonable to conclude you would not be in such a responsible position now if you had not proven yourself to be trustworthy.’

      Hope brightened her eyes. ‘So you finally believe me when I say I didn’t steal those things from your mother’s gallery?’

      He took another long moment to answer, his gaze holding hers as if he was still weighing up the pros and cons of her innocence.

      ‘As I told you earlier, I have not yet made up my mind.’

      It wasn’t quite the answer she was hoping for, but she knew it would have to suffice. There was no way of proving her innocence and the only way forward was to let it go. It was a black mark against her name but it seemed there was nothing she could do to remove it.

      Her heart gave a little flutter as his firm warm fingers enveloped hers, his eyes growing even darker as they meshed with her blue ones. He drew her closer to him, his chest brushing against her breasts, his mouth so near hers that his warm breath felt like a caress on her up-tilted face.

      ‘Your mouth is still the most kissable mouth I have ever seen,’ he said, his voice low and deep. ‘I have thought of it many times over the years.’

      ‘Y-you have?’

      ‘Yes,’ he breathed his answer into her mouth as she opened it on a shaky little sigh.

      His lips connected with hers in a kiss as soft as feather down, but it was enough to set fire to her soul. She felt the rush of need like a river of flame along her nerve-endings, each one screaming out for more of his touch. His tongue met hers with a flicker of need that sent a shockwave through her entire body. Her breasts came alive as his hands moved up along her ribcage to shape them, her stomach caving in with delight at the feel of his possessive touch. Her mouth was on fire under the onslaught of his, the stroke and glide of his tongue setting her alight with aching need. Her body secretly prepared itself, the deep throb of wanting making her whimper as he began to suckle on her bottom lip. She felt the sexy rasp of his tongue against hers and the scrape of his teeth as his kiss became more and more urgent. His tongue drove into the warm cave of her mouth again and again, reminding her of all the times he had driven into her with his hardened arousal, the thickness of his desire sending her