The Helen Bianchin Collection

by Helen Bianchin

  Instant recall followed, and with it came the inevitable ohmygod moment. What had she done?

  Like a giant jigsaw puzzle the pieces fell into place. The nightmare, crying out, Jace, and sex. Hell, she had a vivid recollection of the sex!

  ‘Don’t,’ a husky male voice adjured close to her ear.

  Rebekah stilled at the sound of that deep, slightly accented drawl, and her breath seemed to lock in her throat as one hand slid to her hip while the other took possession of her breast.

  ‘Please. Let me go.’

  His lips brushed her temple and trailed to settle at the sensitive curve at her neck. ‘Stay, agape mou.’

  ‘My lover’. This was all wrong. It was he who should go, not her.

  ‘Last night was—’

  ‘A mistake?’

  Oh, God. She closed her eyes, then opened them again. It had been the most beautiful experience of her life. And she could hardly blame him for the seduction. She’d wanted him as much as he appeared to want her.

  ‘No.’

  She felt his lips move to form a smile. ‘Your honesty is charming.’

  ‘It—can’t happen again,’ she managed, feeling wretched. She’d never been promiscuous in her life. Brad had been her first and only lover.

  ‘Why not, pedhaki mou?’

  He sounded vaguely amused, and she shifted, then froze as she became aware of his arousal. ‘Because it can’t.’ It didn’t help that his mouth was intent on completing a treacherous path along the slope of her shoulder.

  ‘Uh-huh. Because, hmm?’

  Warmth was stealing through her veins. ‘Stop that.’ It was a weak admonition, and they both knew it.

  ‘You don’t want me to do this?’ He shifted, drawing her to lay on her back as he leaned over her and let his lips drift over her breast. ‘Or this?’ He caught one tender peak between his teeth and took her to the edge between pleasure and pain.

  One hand splayed over her stomach, then moved low to tangle in the soft curls, and pleasure arrowed through her body as he effortlessly located the sensitive clitoris.

  It took only seconds for her to scale the heights, and he held her there, enjoying her delectation, then he took possession of her mouth as she began to fall.

  It wasn’t enough, Rebekah decided hazily. It would never be enough. And she reached for him, welcoming the sure, hard length of him as he slid inside her.

  Afterwards Rebekah lay entwined in post-coital languor, enjoying the gentle drift of fingers in a lazy, exploratory path over his warm skin.

  It felt so right, being here like this.

  They were both adults, they weren’t in a relationship with someone else… At least, she wasn’t. But what about Jace?

  She wasn’t prepared for the way apprehension feathered along the edge of her spine. What if he was just amusing himself—?

  ‘No.’ Jace slid a hand beneath her chin and tilted it so she had to look at him. ‘No,’ he reiterated quietly, and her eyes widened.

  ‘No—what?’

  ‘I number several women among my friends, but none to whom I owe my fidelity.’

  ‘You read minds?’

  ‘Yours isn’t difficult to interpret.’ With a slow smile Jace slid to his feet and strolled naked into the en suite.

  Rebekah took pleasure in the look of him, the breadth of shoulder, the splendid musculature of his back, the tapered waist and lean, tight butt.

  Just thinking about the intimacy they’d shared brought a renewed surge of heat, and a repeated longing to experience once again the incandescent sensation he was able to arouse.

  Soon she’d go take a shower, dress, make breakfast, then head into the shop. And Jace? Would he take a flight back to Cairns or Brisbane and complete his reorganised business meetings?

  Then what would happen? She’d return to her day-to-day life while he tied up his Australian connection, after which he’d return to New York.

  Rebekah was unprepared for the devastation that hit at the thought of him leaving. Even more unconscionable was the possibility of not seeing him again.

  Maybe she could have survived with her emotions intact if it hadn’t been for last night. Now she didn’t have a hope in hell.

  Fool, she castigated in silence. She should never have allowed him to stay, and should have banished him from her bedroom the moment he entered it.

  Except she hadn’t. Now she had to live with it.

  Jace re-entered the room and his gaze narrowed as he interpreted her expressive features. Doubts and reflective thought he could deal with. Regret was something else.

  He watched her eyes widen as he closed the distance between them, and he resisted the temptation to join her in bed. Instead he tugged the sheet free and scooped her into his arms and returned to the en suite.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  Another woman would have offered a feline purr, wound her arms round his neck and pressed her mouth to his.

  Rebekah sounded apprehensive, and totally devoid of any musing coquetry.

  A muscle clenched at the edge of his jaw in recognition of what she’d become beneath her ex-husband’s hand.

  ‘Sharing the hot tub with you.’ His drawl held an element of humour, and he successfully prevented any protest by the simple expediency of closing her mouth with his own.

  It was sheer magic. The pulsing water, the touch of his hands as he gently massaged scented bath oil into her skin. She wanted to close her eyes and have him administer to her forever.

  How long did she have? Three, four days…a week at the most.

  Rebekah knew she should stop it now. Climb out of the hot tub, catch up a towel, advise him to do the same, then say…what? Thanks, that was great. Maybe we can do it again some time?

  There could be no doubt this was just a brief interlude. To think it could be anything else was ridiculous.

  Besides, her life was all mapped out. Blooms and Bouquets was her focal priority. She had a flourishing business, a nice apartment, a late-model car. What else could she want?

  A man she could trust. Someone to be there for her, as she would be for him. To share the love and the laughter, the few tears and sorrow fate might provide in their lifetime. Children. The whole package.

  Was it too much to hope for?

  Not just any man. This man.

  The revelation poleaxed her. For a shock-filled second she thought she might actually have blacked out.

  ‘Rebekah?’

  Oh, God. Get a grip on reality. ‘It must be getting late. I need to get to the flower market, organise the day’s orders.’ She was babbling, her hands already reaching for the marbled surround as she rose to her feet.

  A startled yelp emerged from her throat as Jace’s hands closed over her waist, and she struggled as he pulled her down in front of him, then caged her within his arms.

  ‘I have to go.’

  ‘No,’ he refuted. ‘You don’t.’

  ‘Jace…’ She broke off with a groan of despair as his mouth savoured the sensitive curve of her neck.

  ‘An hour, hmm? Just an hour.’

  It was closer to two before she slid behind the wheel, fired the engine and sent the MG up onto street level.

  Jace occupied the passenger seat, and minutes later she eased the car to a smooth halt outside his hotel entrance.

  ‘Have a good day.’ It was an automatic phrase, and when he leaned forward she offered her cheek, only to have him take her face in his hands and bestow an evocatively deep open-mouthed kiss.

  When he released her there was delicate pink colouring her cheeks, a soft, tremulous smile parted her lips, and her eyes held slumberous warmth.

  It was a look he’d deliberately sought, and one he could easily become accustomed to without any trouble at all.

  CHAPTER NINE

  THE rising sun coloured the landscape, promising warmth as the day progressed, and Rebekah covered the relatively short distance to the shop in record time.

  The Blooms and Bouquets van
was already parked out back, which meant Ana had completed an early run to the flower markets. Something she’d intended to take care of, except something…someone, she corrected, had caused a delay.

  The scent of flowers filled her nostrils as soon as she opened the shop door, and she breathed it in, loving the delicate fragrances.

  ‘You shouldn’t be here,’ Ana protested. ‘At least not this early.’ Her gaze sharpened, then narrowed fractionally. ‘There’s something different about you.’

  Rebekah crossed to the work table and stowed her bag. ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘Very much fine. You’re almost glowing.’

  Her sister was a kindred soul and far too perceptive for Rebekah’s peace of mind. ‘A good night’s sleep works wonders.’

  ‘Or not much sleep and a long night’s loving,’ Ana teased. ‘Ah, you’re blushing.’ Her smile held a witching mischievousness. ‘It has to be Jace.’ The man was incredibly resourceful if he’d managed to infiltrate the emotional barriers Rebekah had erected. If he toyed with her and broke her heart, she’d kill him.

  ‘Are you going to tell me?’

  Rebekah shot her sister a steady look. ‘Yes, it’s Jace. And no, I’m not going to tell you.’

  ‘Spoilsport.’ Her expression sobered. ‘How are the bruises?’

  ‘It’ll take a few days.’

  ‘More like a week or two,’ Ana corrected. ‘Luc has employed private security to keep a watchful eye on the premises.’

  It was understandable Luc wouldn’t risk anything happening to his wife or unborn child.

  ‘Shall we get to work?’ Rebekah suggested.

  The day proved to be busier than usual, and the phone calls many. Mostly business-oriented, but Rebekah took a call from the police relating to a required clarification in her statement, and her lawyer.

  Jace rang mid-morning, and again mid-afternoon.

  Just the sound of his voice was enough to send her pulse racing to a faster beat.

  All day she’d been caught up with the memory of what they’d shared through the night and early this morning. After almost three years of celibacy she was conscious of highly sensitised tissues and nerve-endings as a result of his possession. Each shattering climax had been more intense than the last, and even now just the thought brought heat pooling deep inside.

  There was no contact from Brad, but then she hadn’t expected there to be. His mother, his lawyer, the police…each would have warned him of the consequences involved if he dared risk another personal confrontation.

  Looking back, she damned herself for not realising Brad had an obsessive-possessive personality. He’d been a consummate actor, fooling everyone. Except his mother and the medical and legal advisors hired to protect him.

  Jace walked into the shop just as she was about to close up for the evening, and she felt the familiar jolt of her heart at his presence as he stood waiting while she shut down the computer, checked the locks, then set the alarm prior to vacating the premises.

  He brushed his lips to her temple. ‘Busy day?’

  ‘Yes.’ Her stomach turned a somersault or two, then settled down. ‘We filled more than the usual orders.’

  Jace pressed a finger to the generous curve of her mouth. ‘How are you?’

  So intensely aware of you, I feel as if every nerve-end is fizzing with active life. ‘Fine.’

  His slow smile held a degree of sensual warmth. ‘Feel like driving to Watson’s Bay and eating seafood while the sun goes down over the ocean?’

  ‘You don’t need to do this,’ Rebekah said quietly as they walked to her car.

  ‘Take you out to dinner?’ he queried as he slid into the passenger seat beside her.

  ‘Act the part of bodyguard,’ she qualified, and sensed a sudden stillness apparent.

  ‘You want to run that by me again?’

  There was silk in that accented drawl, and it raised all her fine body hairs in self-protective defence.

  ‘I don’t want you to feel obligated in any way just because—’

  ‘We had sex?’

  It hadn’t been just sex. She’d had sex with Brad for the few brief months she’d lived with him as his wife. Last night she’d been made love to for the first time in her life. There was, she had to admit, a world of difference between sex and lovemaking.

  ‘Want to start over?’ Jace offered with dangerous softness.

  She waited a beat as she released her breath. ‘I think so.’

  Jace caught the slight quiver at the edge of her mouth, and wasn’t sure at that precise moment whether he wanted to shake her or kiss her senseless.

  ‘Good.’ He indicated the key she held poised in her hand ready to insert into the ignition. ‘Suppose you drive, and we’ll discuss this further over dinner.’

  The restaurant Jace suggested was a converted bath-house erected in the days long gone by to service the day trippers who visited the bay to swim and picnic.

  Now it was a fashionably trendy place to eat, with an excellent menu and superb food.

  It was a pretty beach, and the ocean waters were dappled with reflected sunlight. Soon the natural light would fade, and the moon would rise to provide a silver pathway from the horizon.

  Jace managed to secure a table by the window, and he ordered wine while Rebekah checked out the menu.

  A prawn risotto and side salad appealed, and Jace selected something more substantial containing a variety of seafood.

  ‘Let’s dispense with the obligation issue,’ he began as soon as the waiter retreated in the direction of the kitchen. He leaned back in his chair and subjected her to a thoughtful appraisal. ‘My interest in you is entirely personal. Not a misguided sense of responsibility or duty due to an extended family loyalty. Or merely a means of protecting you from your ex-husband,’ he revealed with dispassionate imperturbability, then added with deadly softness,

  ‘What we shared last night. What was that? Just great sex, no emotional involvement?’

  There was knowledge apparent in his dark gaze she couldn’t deny. ‘No.’

  The waiter brought their starters and presented them with practised flair, while the drinks steward topped their glasses.

  ‘I want to be with you. My hotel suite,’ Jace elaborated. ‘Your apartment. It hardly matters which, as long as we’re together.’

  She swallowed the lump that had suddenly risen in her throat. ‘You’re taking a lot for granted.’

  His gaze seared hers. ‘You think I’m playing a game? Using you for sex? Amusing myself with you?’

  Oh, my, he didn’t hesitate to spell it out. In a board-room he’d be a ruthless aggressor, a feared adversary.

  ‘Which one, Rebekah?’ he pursued relentlessly. ‘Or do you imagine it’s all three?’

  Dear heaven. ‘I don’t know.’ She could be equally fearless. ‘Only that whatever it is, it has a very limited time-span.’

  ‘Does it?’

  She was breaking up inside. ‘Your life is in New York. Mine is here.’

  His gaze narrowed, and when he spoke his voice was a silk drawl. ‘With no possibility of a compromise?’

  She met his gaze and held it. ‘Your definition of compromise is what? You fly into Sydney when you can spare the time between cementing corporate deals? I take a week’s break here and there throughout the year and visit New York?’ She was on a roll, and couldn’t stop. ‘We meet halfway? Enjoy full-on sex for as long as it takes, then bid each other a fond farewell at the airport, smile and say that was great, we’ll consult our schedules and work out another date, then take separate flights to different destinations on opposite sides of the world?’

  He was silent for so long she became increasingly nervous. ‘Are you done?’ he queried with deceptive mildness.

  ‘Yes.’

  Rebekah picked up her cutlery and began eating, although her tastebuds appeared to have gone on strike, and she had to consciously control her hands to prevent them from shaking.

  She had only to look at J
ace to vividly recall his kiss, the touch of his hands, his mouth on her body. It was almost indecent to feel the heat sing through her veins, tripping her pulse and causing her heart to thud in her chest.

  The degree of intimacy they’d shared brought a tinge of soft pink to her cheeks.

  After last night her life would never be the same. And that was an admission she had no intention of verbalising.

  Rebekah finished her starter, picked at her main, declined dessert, and ordered coffee.

  ‘I didn’t thank you,’ she ventured quietly as she spooned sugar into the dark brew.

  ‘For what, specifically?’

  Coming to my rescue? Dropping everything and flying to Sydney? Putting me first above important business meetings? ‘Ensuring my safety.’ It didn’t seem adequate. ‘It was kind of you.’

  He considered the word, reflected on it a little. ‘I think we’ve gone way past kind.’

  ‘I hope it hasn’t interrupted your business meetings.’

  ‘So polite,’ Jace gently mocked. ‘I have an early-morning flight to Brisbane, followed by an afternoon meeting on the Gold Coast. I’ll be back early evening.’

  She needed to ask. ‘When do you return to New York?’

  ‘Sunday.’

  That left only a few days. She felt as if her whole world had suddenly shifted on its axis. Soon he’d be gone, and the thought of him not being a constant in her life affected her more than she was prepared to admit.

  How could she be so contrary? Fighting against allowing him into her life for days, and now she didn’t want him to leave. It hardly made any sense.

  A hollow feeling settled in her stomach, and she pushed her coffee to one side, unable to swallow another mouthful.

  Jace watched the fleeting emotions chase each other across her expressive features. She was a piece of work, so incredibly beautiful with a sweetness that went right to the depths of her soul. Was she aware how easily he could read her? It was the one thing that had kept him sane during the past ten days.

  ‘Finished?’ He didn’t wait for her answer as he signalled the maître d’ for the bill, paid it on presentation, then he caught hold of her hand and led her out to the car.