By Request Collection 1. Jackie Braun

it to the floor. And, oh, the rush of feminine empowerment as she reached behind her back to unsnap her bra and toss it behind her.

      He eyed her bare breasts with barely restrained hunger but she shook her head. ‘No touching. Not yet.’ Then she leaned back and took her weight on her hands and ordered him to, ‘Take off your shirt.’

      A difficult task, she conceded, since she was sitting on the tops of his thighs, but he managed to free his arms. He stuck them behind his head and lay back to await further instructions.

      What freedom. What joy. What delight to have this man at her mercy beneath her. ‘You know, I used to fantasise about doing this,’ she told him, and watched his eyelashes flicker.

      ‘I don’t think I needed to know that,’ he murmured, his voice thick.

      ‘Then I won’t tell you what else I imagined.’ She slanted off him to one side and gestured at his crotch. ‘Now the pants. Then hands back behind your head.’

      When the clothing was gone and he’d resumed his semi-relaxed pose, she moved back on top of him. She took him in her hands and slowly slid herself down his length. ‘Ooh, that feels so good …’

      She raised herself up, sank again and he thrust his hips to meet her, pushing further inside. Slow and slick and slippery. Watching his face now, she ran her hands through her hair, relishing the moment as they moved together. Glorying in the final rush to fulfilment.

      Moments later she slid off to one side and stretched, before flopping an arm over Blake’s chest and cuddling into his side.

      ‘So … tomorrow’s the big day,’ he said, lifting her hand and rubbing her palm with his thumb.

      ‘I wish Jared could’ve made it but he’s been held up in Singapore with work. He was supposed to be on vacation.’

      Blake brought her fingers to his lips and kissed each of them in turn. ‘Crystal and Ian are coming.’

      ‘Yes.’

      But he knew it was Jared she wanted to see. At least they were talking more and, from what she’d told him, Jared sounded happy with the way the business was shaping up. ‘He’ll be there in spirit.’

      ‘I know.’

      ‘You still haven’t told me what charity you’re raising money for.’

      ‘It’s a surprise. Only Gilda knows.’

      ‘I’m not a big fan of surprises.’

      ‘Then toughen up, big boy, because I’m not telling you. You’ll find out tomorrow like everyone else. Now go to sleep.’

      He was back on the beach that haunted his dreams. But this time he found himself suspended in mid-air, looking down. Torque was gone, Lissa stood on the sand instead. The breeze caught her hair, twirling it about her beautiful face, which was turned towards the sun. She looked up, smiled at him, waved, then set off down the blinding strip. His heart stuttered. He wanted to wave back, tell her he was coming and ask her to wait but he couldn’t move his arm.

      And then she was sinking into the sand, her face contorted in horror as she screamed his name, over and over. He tumbled down to earth and onto the beach and started running but his legs were columns of concrete. Then the world turned dark as he pin-wheeled towards a rocky outcrop on the water’s edge.

      ‘Blake. Blake, you’re having a bad dream.’

      Lissa. Not screaming. Her soothing voice washed over him. He felt her hand on his chest and opened his eyes to see her leaning over him, her silhouette outlined against the grey light from the window. He could just make out her features in the darkness. Eyes wide and filled with something akin to the fear that still ripped through his body.

      He’d not had his nightmare for weeks. He’d thought they were gone. But this dream was different. His subconscious was warning him to stay away from her, to keep her safe from him and harm.

      ‘You’re not going to shut me out any longer,’ she said firmly. ‘And you’re not the only one who reads eyes.’

      He turned his head away on the pillow. In the shadows, he could still see her on the beach and it was as if sharp talons had shredded what was left of his heart. ‘Turn on the lamp,’ he snapped out.

      He felt the mattress dip and the room filled with a soft rosy light, chasing away the shadows and images. He blinked awake, desperate not to see her falling back into that hell hole.

      And then the words, the pain, the memories were tumbling out. ‘We were attacked by an unseen enemy on a beach. My youngest recruit was killed. I was in charge, I was the one responsible. It should’ve been me who died that day.’

      ‘Oh, Blake.’ She brushed her fingers over his brow. ‘Why would you say that about yourself? It shouldn’t have been anyone. Let me in. please.’

      He turned and looked at her. ‘You’re a good listener, Lissa. The only one who ever listened.’ The only woman who ever cared what was inside him.

      She stared down at him, her eyes wide and full of compassion. ‘Start at the beginning and don’t stop till you’re through.’

      He put a hand behind his head and stared at the ceiling. Then he took a deep breath. ‘We were on a routine training exercise …’

      Lissa’s heart wept for him as he told her, his gaze fixed on horrors she couldn’t see.

      ‘I woke up in a military hospital,’ he said at last.

      ‘Thank God,’ she whispered.

      ‘They called me a hero.’ He drove a hand over his head. ‘If I’d been doing my job right I’d’ve seen the signs earlier and Torque might still be alive today.’

      ‘No. You did what you could. No one could have done more. You’re a good, good man, Blake. The best. You couldn’t save Torque, but you’ve done so much for others. You’ve spent years protecting our country. Protecting us. Think about Gilda. And me—think about all you’ve done for me. The boat. Your boat. You never told Jared the story behind that, did you? The business you’ve helped me build. Todd.

      ‘Forgive yourself, Blake. Let me help you.’ She closed his eyelids gently with her fingertips. ‘Sleep now. I’ll be here.’

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

      ‘I SHOULD’VE bought a new dress.’ Lissa surveyed her reflection, less than satisfied. It was her big night and her little black dress was strapless and short and simple. Everyone else would be blinged to the eyeballs and the party princess was a plain Jane. But she hadn’t had time to wander the boutiques.

      ‘That is a new dress,’ Blake said, behind her. ‘And that is such a typical male response.’ She glanced at Blake in the mirror to check he was okay after finally opening up to her last night.

      He was buttoning his shirt. Covering all that gorgeous bronze skin. He looked amazing. Semi relaxed. She knew he wasn’t looking forward to facing a crowd of people. She stared back at herself. ‘It’s not what I imagined myself wearing tonight. I look so … stark. And boring. Maybe a brighter lip-gl—’

      ‘Perhaps these will help.’ Blake’s reflection appeared behind her. He lifted his hands above her head and she saw a single strand of cream pearls.

      ‘Oh …’ She met his eyes in the mirror—warm and incredibly blue, like a tropical day, and for a heart-stopping moment she forgot to breathe.

      Then he broke eye contact, as if he’d seen something he wasn’t comfortable with. ‘Lift your hair.’

      Unable to speak for the lump in her throat, she did as he asked. He fastened it around her neck, then adjusted its princess length so that the diamond-crusted clasp sat below the line of her collarbones. It sparked like fire in the bedroom light.