The Dare Collection January 2020. Lauren Hawkeye

as what was happening in all the different markets and industries in which his company was involved.

      He was a walking, talking database and it also soon became clear why he was on the phone all the time; people were constantly calling him to request information, ask his opinion or to solve problems. And he dealt with it all with a combination of easy charm and firmness that I found insanely attractive as well as a little scary.

      Because his formidable memory, combined with the razor-sharp intelligence that went along with it, was incredibly intimidating. And when the fierce intensity of his will shone through at the same time... Well, he was a force of nature. But he kept that well hidden behind the charm he cultivated. Behind the mask of that smile.

      Personally, I found his intensity incredibly exciting, especially at night, in bed.

      He always remembered what I liked and how I liked it and he’d watch me intently, using my reactions as cues either to push my boundaries or pull back if it got too much. It was amazing having all that attention focused on me.

      It was also like a rollercoaster you couldn’t get off, careening around corners and looping the loop, going too fast for control and wondering if you were going to crash and burn, yet loving the wind in your hair anyway.

      I could get off that rollercoaster, though, and I knew it. I could tell him that I didn’t want to go anywhere and slip away back to Mongkok and my existence in the shadows.

      It wouldn’t take much to leave.

      But I didn’t want to. The part of me that ached for the sun wanted to keep basking in it while it lasted. And if leaving ended up being harder than I thought it would be, then what of it?

      I’d survived everything else life had thrown at me—what was a little more pain?

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

      Damian

      WE TOUCHED DOWN in London a few days later and, although I’d done my best to hide my growing tension, I knew Thea had picked up on it.

      She kept throwing me concerned looks as we disembarked from the corporate jet, apparently not bothered by the grey and gloomy day London had produced to welcome us.

      Perhaps asking her to come with me hadn’t been the best decision. Maybe I should have asked someone else, someone less interested in me and less perceptive. Someone less vulnerable. Someone who didn’t look at me with those big, dark eyes and tell me that there had been times when she’d wondered why her parents hadn’t left her any sign that they’d cared about her. And if that reason was her.

      I shouldn’t have said anything that day. I should have smiled and kissed her, distracted her. But I hadn’t. My chest had gone tight and every single one of my protective instincts had woken up and taken notice, as if a part of me knew exactly what she was talking about and ached that no had cared for her the way she ached.

      I hadn’t been able to stop myself telling her what she needed to hear: the truth. That she wasn’t ordinary in the slightest, that she was rare and precious—priceless. Because she was all those things. Even I could see that and I’d only been with her a handful of nights.

      I hadn’t thought it would cost me anything to say it, that the words would be easy because they were just words. But saying them had cost me. They’d reminded me of what it was like to have someone in my care, which was everything I’d been trying to avoid.

       They also reminded you of how good it is to be important to someone.

      Ah, fuck. I didn’t want that either. I was important to all the people who worked for me, and I was important to Everett and Ulysses. That was all I needed, nothing else.

      What I did not need was Thea being concerned about me, that was for sure. Which made it a good thing that Morgan wasn’t waiting for us once all the customs formalities had been taken care of.

      Perhaps she was as uncomfortable about my presence here as I was.

      Considering it had been five years, it was no wonder.

      Thea and I went straight to the penthouse apartment of a building I owned on a bank of the Thames which had a great view of Tower Bridge. Not that I was planning on looking at the view. The launch of the Black and White Foundation was in a couple of days and I was hoping to spend as much of that time as possible naked with Thea.

      I’d worked for most of the flight from Hong Kong, leaving her to her own devices, but I’d been achingly conscious of her, curled up in her seat, flicking through a magazine. I’d totally gone to town on choosing clothing for her—including a fucking magnificent gown for the launch that I couldn’t wait to see her in—but she seemed to prefer comfort over style; the past couple of days she’d worn nothing but stretchy black yoga pants and a T-shirt, today’s being red. I didn’t mind. She looked incredibly sexy in it, though all things being equal I preferred her wearing nothing at all.

      In fact, the whole goddamn flight I wanted to strip the clothing from her and eat her up there and then, especially because the closer to London I got the more the tension inside me gathered. But work needed to be done, so I busied myself with that instead and pretended the tension didn’t exist.

      I was pretending it didn’t exist now as I stood in the living area of the apartment, my hands in fists in the pockets of my suit trousers as Thea walked over to the windows, gazing out at the view of the Thames and Tower Bridge, one of her rare smiles lighting her lovely face.

      I’d had the same interior designer who’d done my place in Hong Kong do something similar here, though they’d kept all the furniture here white, the floors hardwood and covered in thick, colourful and no doubt insanely expensive silk Persian rugs.

      Restlessness filled me, and my cock was already getting hard, wanting to push Thea up against those big windows and tear her clothes off. But that was the tension talking, and I wasn’t going to let it get to me, so I stayed where I was and asked instead, ‘You haven’t been to London before?’

      ‘No. Mr Chen did all the international work. And since he died all the jobs I’ve had have been in Hong Kong.’

      I moved over to where she stood, took a look out at the view and then turned around, stalking back to where I’d been standing. ‘Do you enjoy what you do? I guess you must if you’re still doing it.’

      She turned towards me. ‘Most of it involves lots of research—which can be interesting—and then planning. Then lots of waiting around for the right opportunity.’ Her gaze narrowed. ‘What’s wrong?’

      ‘What do you mean, what’s wrong?’

      ‘You’re...’ she gestured ‘...pacing.’

      I could feel my mouth curving in its usual bullshit smile. ‘Nothing. Just a little restless.’

      ‘It’s more than that. You’re incredibly tense.’

      Fuck. I’d hoped she wouldn’t notice, but of course she had. As I’d already discovered, she was incredibly observant.

      Realising I’d paced over to the windows again, I forced myself to stop, giving her a smoky look. ‘Of course I’m tense. It’s been hours since I was last inside you.’

      ‘It’s not that. The whole way to London you almost didn’t sit down once and, ever since we got here, you’re all...tight.’ She came over to me and put her hands on my chest as if she’d been doing it all her life, pressing lightly against me, concern in her eyes. ‘What is it? The launch?’

      But I didn’t want to have this discussion so I leaned down and kissed her, taking her bottom lip between my teeth and biting down gently, hoping some distraction would work instead.

      Except she didn’t move and didn’t kiss me back. She merely stood there, as if she was waiting until I was done.

      Irritated,