by Maya Blake
Dared she tempt the fates and hope that fantasy would become reality? The diamond she could do without. All she wanted was for Bastien to—
‘There you are.’
The rumble of his voice stopped her wishful thoughts. He came forward, and her heart clenched tighter at the look on his face.
* * *
‘I wasn’t sure whether you wanted a drink or not.’ Bastien held out a glass of wine and watched her walk towards him.
His senses roared to life at the sight of her. The four days he’d been away felt like a lifetime. A lifetime during which the fear that he could lose Ana had been a living thing inside him.
For the first few hours after he’d arrived on his parents’ doorstep he’d remained in shocked limbo, reliving the bleak memory of Ana walking away from him over and over. Ironic that the one place he’d striven to stay away from all these years had been the one place where he’d been able to find answers that might help him win back the woman he loved.
‘I...I’m glad you’re back.’
He focused on her, drank her in, imprinted her on his senses. Tried not to reach for her. ‘Are you?’ He needed to be sure.
Watching the rough cut of the ad campaign on the plane, especially that final take filmed in this room, had lodged a heavy stone in his gut.
His rational mind knew it was acting. But watching Ana in the arms of another man had been...difficult. Difficult? It had been hell!
It had also brutally brought home to him that everything had changed. He was no longer detached, no longer able to hold his feelings at bay.
Their pasts were inextricably linked. And, as much as he’d fought it before, he wanted their futures to be linked too.
All he knew was that he wanted Ana. No. It was more than that. He yearned for her. Against everything he’d fought against...every precaution he’d taken...he’d fallen under her spell. And he was ready to fight hard and dirty if need be.
‘Robin tells me you came up with most of the ideas for the ad campaign. That the slogan—“Diamonds by Heidecker...for the Woman Worth Waiting For”—was your idea. Why didn’t you tell me?’
Surprise lit her face, followed by a blush. One shoulder lifted in a shrug. ‘Because it wasn’t. Not entirely, anyway. I just came up with the idea to make it into a...a meaningful story rather than just another run-of-the-mill depiction of a woman wearing expensive diamonds.’
‘“A meaningful story”? You mean a romantic story.’
Her chin tilted. ‘What’s wrong with that? It works, or you wouldn’t have given it your seal of approval.’
‘I like the idea. What I don’t like is the subterfuge.’
A glimmer of hurt crossed her face. ‘There’s no subterfuge, Bastien.’
‘I didn’t see your name anywhere on the script. So someone else is taking the credit for your idea.’
She shrugged. ‘It really is no big deal, Bastien.’
He stepped closer, drawn like a moth to a seductive flame. ‘It is to me. It should be to you. Fight for what you’re owed.’
She licked her lips. ‘Why?’
‘I don’t like the thought of someone taking advantage of you.’
‘Are you putting yourself up as my protector?’
‘Would that be so bad?’ he asked.
Her breath caught. Bastien stared down at her, words crowding his brain. She stared back, her brown eyes deep, probing, breathtaking. Every breath, every nerve, every sinew clamoured for her. He wanted to pull her to him, to feel the soft suppleness of her body against his, to hear her breathe his name.
‘Thank you for hiring the lawyer for me.’
‘It was nothing less than you deserve. I’ll always look out for you.’
Her eyes widened. ‘What are you saying, Bastien?’
‘Do you know where I’ve been these past few days?’
She shook her head.
‘I went to see my parents,’ he said. ‘I drove through the night to Gstaad. We had a long talk.’
A wave of pain darted over her face as she gazed up at him. He forced his free hand into his pocket to stop himself caressing the shadows from her face. Deep inside him something twisted, because he knew her pain was for him.
‘How...how did it go?’
Bastien tried to will away the pain of that confrontation, tried not to remember the emotion that had clogged in his chest at his father’s remorse—‘My weakness destroyed this family...you practically had to raise yourself...forgive me...’
‘It was difficult. There’s been so much blame, so much bitterness. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but the time was long overdue to deal with the past. To make things right with my father. To make things right with you.’ And with the mother he’d discovered cared deeply for him after all.
Ana thrust her glass on to a nearby surface and came closer, her eyes imploring. ‘Bastien, please believe me. I had no idea what sort of pills they were or I’d have never—’ Her voice broke.
Unable to stop himself, he reached for her. ‘You have to stop blaming yourself, Ana. I don’t blame you for that. Neither do my parents. You need to get past that and forgive yourself or we can’t move on.’
Tears glistened in her eyes. Her hand fluttered up, almost touched his, but then veered away to rest against her throat. ‘Move on? What are you saying?’
‘I’m saying the past has overshadowed our lives for long enough. My father has his faults, but he’s more than made up for them these last sixteen years. I didn’t want to see it because I’ve been locked away in that cold gazebo all this time. It took your daring me to break me free. As for my mother...’ He sighed. ‘She knew the pills you gave her weren’t headache pills.’
Her eyes widened. ‘She knew?’
He gave a grim nod. ‘She didn’t go to Verbier with the intention of taking her own life. And she called my father within minutes of taking the pills. So there’s really nothing to forgive you for. Sometimes in the midst of deep trauma you forget the important things. I forgot that for a long time she shielded me from my father’s behaviour. I think that’s why it didn’t make sense that she would try and take her own life. I lost sight of that, but spending time with her reminded me. I think we’ve all paid enough, don’t you?’
Her nod was shaky. Almost as shaky as he felt, standing there, so close to her, every nerve screeching at him to reach for her.
In the end he decided not to fight it.
‘I missed you,’ he said simply. ‘Did you miss me?’
‘I— Yes!’
He gathered her close, kissed her. And everything fell away.
As conversation-stoppers went it was extremely effective. Ana fell into the kiss with the reckless abandon of a skydiver jumping out of a plane.
Except for her there was no parachute. But right at that moment she didn’t care. She had Bastien in her arms, his fierce heart beating underneath her fingertips. The fall would come later. Without Bastien’s love it would hurt. But for now she would glory in the flight.
By the time he’d carried her from the tower room down the stairs to his suite and kicked the door shut, Ana felt delirious with need. Frantically, she tore at his clothes.
‘Patience, cherie,’ he husked in her ear, before nipping her earlobe.
A deep shudder raked through her. ‘I...I can’t. I need you,’ she gasped.
He stilled her frantic hands, kissing them before bringing them to her sides. ‘And you will have me,’ he vowed heatedly. ‘But first let me undress you.’
His eyes on hers, he released the catch in her belt and dropped it. Then he sank onto his knees. His hands traced her hips, her delicate pelvic bones, squeezed her bottom. Ana moaned, reaching out to steady herself on his broad shoulders as his fingers explored the bare flesh of her thighs. Her whole body hid a mor
ass of sensitive nerve-endings she’d never known existed.
Take the skin above the back of her knees, for instance. Who knew Bastien’s hand lingering there could cause her to cry out in pleasure? Or the mid point between her calf and her ankle? He seemed to know her body better than she did.
By the time he eased her feet from her heels she could barely stand. Her dress came off in a rustle of silk. She stood before him in a thong and matching bra.
Eyes the colour of molten steel raked over her. ‘I was a fool to say I only wanted one night with you,’ he rasped, one hand moving around her to snap the catch of her bra. It tumbled to the ground, unheeded.
‘Why?’ she croaked.
‘Because one night would never be enough, ma belle Ana.’ He rose and caught her in his arms, locking one hand in her hair to tilt her face to his. ‘Never enough.’
He rained kisses all over her face, his mouth almost worshipful. Nonetheless those kisses lit fires wherever they touched, making her senses whirl with desire and, yes, love. What had happened before she’d discovered her feelings had been sex.
This, for her, was making love.
She touched him, revelled in his growl of pleasure when she encountered bare skin. It took a moment for her to realise he was naked; that she was lying on top of him in his bed. The heavy throb of his erection against her belly sent a surge of need through her. She wanted him to fill her body, to fill her heart.
But first she wanted to explore him the way she’d never had the chance to before. Freeing herself from his kiss, Ana kissed along his jaw, nipped the tight flesh. His breath exploded from his lungs, his hands tightening on her back as she kissed her way down his throat, his deep chest. His flat, washboard stomach clenched as her lips and hands worshipped him.
Finally, heart thumping in her throat, Ana felt him against her cheek. She glanced up. Bastien’s gaze seared her, an untamed desperation in its depths that caused her blood to surge faster through her veins. Unable to deny herself, she closed her hand over him. His whole body jerked as she stroked him, a deep groan rumbling through his chest and filling the room with arousing sound.
‘Ana...’ Her name was part plea, part warning.
Daringly, and because she knew the alpha male in Bastien wouldn’t let her have this freedom for long, she closed her mouth over him. Ana wasn’t sure whether the moan was hers or his. But the feel of him in her mouth, on her tongue, sent her to another level of pleasure so intense she felt her clitoris throb with renewed force.
His gaze broke from hers, his head rearing back as he sucked in a long, harsh breath. Blindly, he reached out and plucked a condom off the bedside table. Strong hands reached for her, pulled her up and flipped her underneath him. His mouth smashed down on hers, tinged with a desperation that bordered on cruel.
He surged inside her with one long stroke, his arm under her hip to hold her still for his complete possession.
Tears gathered behind her closed lids as pleasure rode higher and higher.
When the gathering force of her climax drew closer Ana opened her eyes. Bastien stared down at her, his eyes darker than they’d ever been. Emotion swirled through them, but none she could fathom through the sensational rollercoaster she rode.
It gripped her, surged higher, until Ana knew she couldn’t hold back.
‘I love you.’ She gave up the words that screamed through her soul.
Blank shock covered his face before he closed his eyes and breathed deep. Then, leaning down, he claimed her mouth in another searing kiss, moments before bliss overtook them both. As they slowly returned to reality he gathered her close and breathed strangled, unfathomable words in her ear.
Long after Bastien fell asleep Ana lay awake, desperately trying to stem the fear that she’d just let herself in for a whole load of heartbreak by admitting her feelings.
Deep inside she knew they’d come a long way from sixteen years ago.
What terrified her was that Bastien would never take that last step into love.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
‘BASTIEN, I’M NOT SURE what’s going on here.’
‘What’s going on is that I want you. You want me too. Stay with me.’
Ana replayed their simple yet life-changing morning-after conversation as she rose from the bed and walked towards the log fire in the luxurious log cabin Bastien had brought her to in Chamonix.
She had been like a prisoner granted a last-minute stay of execution, and her ecstatic, ‘Yes!’ had been lost beneath the onslaught of his hungry kisses.
He’d flown them here by helicopter and that ‘yes’ had echoed throughout the passing days. They spent the mornings skiing and doing her lessons. More than once his patience and gentle attention had brought tears to her eyes. The afternoons, evenings and long nights were spent making love in front of the roaring fire.
A deep blush stung her cheeks as she recalled Bastien asking if she now had a favourite position. She’d felt decidedly wanton as she’d demonstrated which position brought her the most pleasure.
‘I can see your blush from here.’
He stood in the bathroom doorway, naked except for the towel he was using on his wet hair.
‘It’s the fire,’ she responded, unable to stop her eyes devouring his perfect male form. He dropped the towel and strode towards her. His teasing grin stopped her heart moments before it began to thunder when he captured her mouth in a slow, devastating kiss.
‘Yes, it must be. Because you’re all hot and bothered.’ His smile deepened.
‘I’m not bothered,’ she answered feebly as his hands closed over her breasts. His thumbs played over her nipples. Ana swayed towards him, helpless against the drowning rush of love.
But that love was tainted with a niggle of fear that wouldn’t go away, a fear that her love would never be fully returned. Sure, he worshipped her body with an intensity that took her breath away, but her confession of love had never been returned. And she’d begun to notice his shuttered expression each time she confessed it.
The need to ask him hovered on her lips as he took her in his arms. Gathering her courage, she leaned back and looked into his eyes.
‘Bastien...’
He rested his forehead against hers. ‘Unless we want to be trapped here for the next few days we really must leave now.’
Heavy snow had been forecast, and while the thought of being snowed in with Bastien for the foreseeable future held intense appeal, the spectre of her trial loomed.
They hadn’t talked about it, but it was there at the back of her mind, growing larger with each passing day.
‘Hey, you’re biting your lip again. What’s wrong?’
‘It’s nothing.’ She tried to step away from him, but he held on to her.
Tender fingers brushed her cheek. ‘It’s not nothing. Tell me.’
Deciding to shelve the matter troubling her heart for now, in favour of the matter in her mind, she murmured, ‘It’s the trial. I’m scared.’
He pulled her closer and sealed her lips with a gentle kiss. ‘I didn’t want to jump the gun until I was absolutely sure, but I heard from my investigators a couple of days ago.’
Alarm spiked through her. ‘And?’
‘It’s not your mother,’ he replied.
A burden she hadn’t even known she carried was lifted off her shoulders as relief swamped her. The tears that seemed to hover close to the surface of her emotions nowadays prickled her eyes.
‘Thank you for telling me.’ She gave a small laugh. ‘You must think I’m hugely irrational when it comes to Lily. But she’s been texting me the last few days.’ She’d received many texts from her mother, the last one with a request to see Ana when she returned to London. ‘If we can salvage something from our messy relationship...’
‘I don’t think you�
�re irrational. It’s difficult to believe the worst of a parent. And I think we both know what can be salvaged from messy relationships,’ he replied.
His voice was solemn, but Ana noticed it contained none of the hard edge of before.
‘As for the trial—my investigators will know who the culprit is very shortly. Don’t worry about it. Whatever happens I’ll protect you, Ana. I promise you.’
Her heart lurched at his words. She paused, then decided to come clean. ‘I’m not dead certain, but I think it’s Simone.’
His mouth compressed and his arms tightened around her. ‘So do I. My people are tracking some video camera footage. We’ll have an answer soon. I’m sorry.’
She’d refused to accept that Simone would stoop to such levels, but when she let herself really think about it something about her roommate’s perpetual giddy state rang false.
She nodded, her heart sick with sadness. ‘I need to go back to London.’
‘We’ll go together.’
Joy flared inside her, but she was too afraid to give it full flight. Despite the certainty that they’d put the past behind them, that all the old wounds had been cauterised, Ana couldn’t get past the feeling that Bastien might never love her as she loved him. She’d still take being with him over losing him completely, but she needed some head space to get her heart to accept it.
‘I can do this on my own. You don’t have to come with me.’
He trailed a hand down her cheek, then winked at her. ‘Did you forget that where you go, I go? After all, I still have to ensure you don’t abscond the minute my back is turned.’
She quirked a brow and attempted a smile despite the lingering ache in her heart. ‘You left me for almost a week and I was there when you got back.’
He sobered. ‘Oui, you were. And I can’t express how much that meant to me.’
She rose on tiptoe, helplessly pressing her lips against his.
With a groan he deepened the kiss, momentarily silencing her doubts.
Bastien’s feeling were deep enough...
When he lifted his head, glanced at the clock and imperiously announced that they had some time after all, she let herself melt into him.
