‘Is it comfortable?’
‘Let’s find out.’ He pushed the dress off her shoulders and down over her hips so that it fell to the floor. Luke dropped to his knees and pulled Fliss down with him onto the richly patterned oriental rug which had always lived in front of the fire.
‘I still seem to be wearing your socks,’ she pointed out.
‘Maybe it’s a kink of mine,’ he teased.
She stuck out her feet with pointed toes, as if she were a ballerina. ‘I can see why.’
‘Now these,’ he cupped one breast with long, gentle fingers, ‘are definitely a kink of mine. Though I think I prefer them unwrapped.’
Fliss reached behind to unclip her bra but Luke was there first. ‘My job, remember?’
‘Just helping out.’
‘Not necessary.’ With deft skill, he removed her bra and knickers. Pausing for a moment to contemplate his socks, he grinned, then tugged them off her feet. ‘How’s that performance review looking now?’
‘Improving.’ She’d fancied Luke while he was playing the cool, controlled, unemotional businessman. But with a grin on his face and teasing banter on his lips, he sent her spinning completely out of control and she loved it.
He pushed himself up on one elbow and took a moment to admire her. Smooth, creamy skin. Soft, enticing curves. A knowing twinkle in her eye. She had flung one arm above her head and bent a knee, in a classic pose of invitation.
His lips twisted. ‘Patience,’ he warned again.
Fliss pouted. ‘Haven’t we done enough of that?’
He grinned. ‘Not nearly enough.’
Luke made her wait forever, teasing and tormenting her with clever hands and a wicked tongue, but he would never give her enough, never bring her to release. Everything he did only heightened her desire, raised her temperature, quickened her pulse more and more until she could stand it no longer.
‘Please,’ she begged. ‘Please, now.’
Luke kissed her briefly. ‘Just a little longer,’ he promised, rolling so that he was on his back and Fliss was straddling him. ‘Here.’ He handed her the foil packet and let her take her time in rolling the condom down over his erection. ‘Whenever you’re ready.’
She bit her lip, torn between her desire to have her revenge and her desire to have him. ‘You’ll pay for this,’ she warned, ‘Another time.’ But just now she couldn’t wait another second as she rose up on her knees and sank down onto him in relief.
Luke’s patience had evaporated. He rolled them over so that he was on top and now he was the one pushing them on, quickening the pace, driving Fliss all the way to the edge.
Until suddenly it was all too much. His touch, his scent, the feel of him inside her, the spinning of her heart. She pressed closer into his embrace and in the safety of his arms, she fell apart. Luke held her, softly stroking her back and whispering nonsense into her ear until Fliss’s eyes opened again and she began to breathe more regularly.
‘Your turn,’ she murmured wickedly. ‘I’ve been wanting to do this all day.’
Luke met her gaze with a gleam in her eyes daring her to do her worst. Fliss bent to trail hot kisses down his neck then, when she reached the junction with his shoulder, she bit down hard. Luke drew breath sharply and then his body tensed under her touch.
‘Let go,’ she dared. ‘I want to watch you lose control.’
Chapter Four
‘Stay there.’
Fliss’s eyes were still closed, her body comfortably curled up under a thick, soft duvet. She hadn’t realised Luke was awake. She hadn’t quite realised she was awake until she heard his voice whispering into her ear.
She pushed back against him, revelling in the warmth and hardness of his masculine body. ‘Mmmmmm,’ she agreed.
‘I have to get up in a minute,’ he warned.
‘Better be quick, then,’ Fliss told him with a smile as she rolled over on top of him.
‘Stay there,’ Luke said again, afterwards, when he had showered and was getting dressed for the day. ‘I’ll be back in time for breakfast.’
Fliss smiled and nodded her agreement. He crossed the room to kiss her briefly before disappearing. Sunlight was only just starting to trickle through the windows. She stretched pleasurably, then snuggled back under the duvet for an uninterrupted two hours of sleep.
Luke ruthlessly put Fliss out of his mind as he went through the daily routines of morning stables. There was more than enough to keep his mind fully occupied. Only when he turned back to the house and let himself remember who was waiting there for him did the vived memories of the previous night – not to mention the early morning – come flooding back.
He’d promised himself one night and hoped it would be enough to satisfy his curiosity. He had needed to slake his unexpected and overwhelming desire for this all-too enticing woman. But as his mind’s eye traced the delectable contours of Fliss’s naked body, Luke realised it had been nowhere near enough. He wanted more. He wanted her. Now. And tonight. And all the nights after that that it would take to get her out of his system.
He was perilously close to giving in. He could slip back into bed, roll them both over and bring her back to consciousness with his kisses until she was squirming beneath him, ready with wanting, just as she had been last night. She’d wrap her legs around him, teasing and tempting, urging him on until he couldn’t help but lose control.
Luke had never had a problem saying no before. But there was something about Fliss which made him abandon all his carefully constructed rules and firmly established boundaries.
He just didn’t know how to resist her.
And the thought of where that could lead terrified him.
‘There’s bacon in the oven. How do you like your eggs?’ Fliss’s question was prosaic enough, though the sparkle in her eyes was anything but.
Luke leaned against the kitchen door and surveyed the chaos. He ought to be relieved that she wasn’t waiting in his bed. Instead, Fliss had clearly wasted no time in making herself at home. She was sitting on the old rocking chair, with her feet up on the table and the kitten curled happily in her lap. His kitchen table normally held a neatly folded newspaper and a few placemats but today it was strewn with the evidence of Fliss’s breakfast: toast crumbs, a milk carton with the lid nowhere to be seen, and Luke’s newspaper crumpled and sticky with honey.
Yet he still couldn’t stop his mouth curving into a smile at the sight of her. He’d never known a woman who managed to look as gorgeous at the breakfast table as she did. No make up. Hair unbrushed. Wearing the old sweater he’d lent her the day before and a pair of his pyjama bottoms, rolled up several times. Effortlessly adorable.
He walked across to the Welsh dresser and switched the radio off. Loudly blaring pop music was not his preferred accompaniment to meals.
‘Scrambled,’ he said into the sudden silence. ‘Thanks.’
Fliss scooped Marshmallow up off her lap and handed her to Luke while she went over to the range. He noticed that she’d borrowed another pair of his socks.
‘Coffee’s in the pot,’ she said. ‘Unless you prefer tea?’
‘Coffee’s fine.’ Luke stroked the kitten briefly and then deposited her in the cardboard box bed where two empty bowls indicated that she’d already been fed and watered.
‘I wrote down your phone messages.’ Fliss nodded towards the notepad on the sideboard. ‘Mr Zhao was very eager that you should ring him later to discuss Chrysanthemum’s prospects.’
‘Fine.’ Luke poured coffee into a mug and picked up the newspaper in a pointed attempt to block any further breakfast table conversation. The more he engaged with her chatter, the harder it was to remember that he had to send her away. Today. This morning. As soon as possible, before she drove him completely insane.
‘And your father rang.’
Luke lowered the paper fractionally to stare at her. His father never phoned him. Not unless there was a genuine emergency.
‘He wanted to congratulate you on yesterday’s win. And he’s coming for lunch.’
‘He’s
what
?’ Every month, Luke drove round to his dad’s house and took him out for lunch in a local pub, over which they exchanged polite inquiries: Luke about his father’s health, his dad about the horses in the yard. As far as Luke was aware, his dad was as happy with this arrangement as he was.
Fliss nodded serenely, confirming her announcement. ‘It’s fine. He said he wasn’t doing anything so I invited him round. About one o’clock.’
Luke narrowed his eyes at her. ‘
Why
?’ And what on earth had given her the idea she could invite people into his house?
She looked bewildered at the question. ‘It’s Sunday lunch.’
‘So?’
‘So it’s a time when people get together. I thought you’d like it. Your dad’s looking forward to it. Besides, your diary was empty.’
‘My diary was empty,’ he lied, enunciating each word slowly and precisely, ‘because I have to work.’
‘Oh, that’s okay,’ she replied easily. ‘I’ll cook.’
‘That’s enough!’ Luke slammed his hand down on the table so that the plates jumped. Marshmallow yowled and Fliss immediately shot him a dirty look as she bent to comfort the kitten.
‘Sorry,’ he muttered. ‘But last night…’
She gave him a swift smile. ‘And this morning.’
He growled. ‘I thought I made it clear it was a one off.’
Fliss nodded. ‘Oh, yes. Like your no more kissing rule.’
‘Not like that,’ he told her through gritted teeth. ‘You’re going home today. With the damn kitten. And that’s that.’ And then his life could return to normal. No unwanted kittens. No unexpected family invitations. No one to turn his life upside down.
It sounded incredibly dull.
She put a plate of perfectly grilled bacon and scrambled eggs in front of him. Then she pushed the toast rack towards him and took the lid off the butter dish. ‘Tomato ketchup?’
‘Just salt and pepper.’
He
liked
dull. Routine. His job was more than stressful enough. His home life needed to be boringly predictable. Orderly. In control.
Fliss whipped the newspaper out of his hands and pointed to the salt cellar and pepper mill in the middle of the table.
‘What about Marshmallow?’ she asked.
‘What about her?’
‘Did you speak to the vet?’
He’d forgotten all about it and Charlie hadn’t rung back. ‘Not yet. I’ll phone again after breakfast. You can go and look up train times. Use the laptop on my desk.’
It was easy to see why Luke was in such a foul mood this morning. Fliss knew perfectly well that one fabulous night together hadn’t been nearly enough for either of them. But for some idiotic reason Luke had got it into his head that she had to leave and now he was behaving like a bear with a sore head about it.
She passed Luke’s chair on her way out of the kitchen and, on impulse, dropped a kiss on his forehead. He smelled of the stables, but Fliss was surprised to find that she liked it better than any manufactured cologne. Luke was a real man, with a real job that involved getting his hands dirty. He might be a posh boy but he had his feet firmly on the ground.
It was just a shame that he was so determined to get her out of his house.
Not that she was looking for long-term commitment. She’d learned long ago that men couldn’t be trusted to stick around and she knew enough not to let herself be heartbroken when a relationship came to its inevitable end. No commitments, no responsibilities, no ties.
No chance of getting hurt.
But Fliss didn’t think that was any reason not to have fun when she came across a hot guy who knew exactly how to send desire skittering across her skin and lust spiralling through her nervous system.
Fliss grabbed Luke’s laptop, then curled up on the sofa with Benjy by her side.
‘What do you say, Benjy?’ she said to the dog, scratching behind his ears so that his tongue lolled out and he gazed up at her ecstatically. ‘Shall we hang around a bit and show your master how to have a good time?’
‘I know perfectly well how to have a good time,’ came the mocking reply from Luke as he entered the room. ‘And it doesn’t involve endlessly removing dog hairs from the sofa.’
Fliss grinned at him but made no attempt to move Benjy.
‘Charlie’s coming round in an hour or so,’ Luke continued. ‘One of the horses has got some heat in her fetlock and I want him to take a look at her. He’ll come up to the house afterwards and see what he can do about your cat.’
‘Thanks.’
‘He said he hadn’t heard of any gone missing but he should be able to tell if she’s been microchipped.’
‘And if not?’