‘I know Alicia’s my friend, but I didn’t mix in your circles. I knew you’d be at the party, and when you asked me to dance I thought it was our one chance to be together. That’s why I took your phone and turned it off so...’ She hesitated. ‘So we didn’t lose our chance.’
He knew it was what she would say if she was trying to manipulate him, but her words made sense in a way he didn’t want or need to question.
‘Why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you tell me you’d never had sex?’
Her eyes slid away from his. ‘You could have anyone. I thought if you knew I was a virgin it might put you off.’
His chest felt as though it was in a vice and he took a step closer, feeling again that need to take her in his arms.
‘When I left you I did go and look for some champagne. I had every intention of coming back. And I would have done except—’
‘It doesn’t matter now,’ she said quickly. ‘It’s all in the past.’
There was nothing between them now but a sliver of silence and the muscles tightening beneath his skin. He took another step closer.
‘Is it?’
She blinked, and he knew without looking that his question had hooked her. He heard her swallow and suddenly his heart was hammering. His eyes were drawn unwaveringly to the heat in her eyes as she let out a staccato breath.
‘Yes—yes, it is.’
‘I don’t believe you.’
The air was humming now.
Her lips parted. ‘You never do.’
‘Would now be a good time to start?’ he asked hoarsely.
She stared at him, motionless, the darkness swelling around her. And then she was shaking her head, and before he had a chance to consider what that meant she’d drawn in a quick breath, stood up on her toes and kissed him.
His body tensed momentarily and then he pulled her against him, one hand splaying against her spine as he buried the other in her hair and kissed her back, pleasure spreading over his skin like ripples in a pond.
Her lips felt soft and she breathed jerkily into his mouth, catching his lip with her teeth as he clasped her head, tightening his hand in her hair as he tilted her face to deepen the kiss, wanting to taste her sweetness, to satisfy his hunger.
He could feel his tongue inside her mouth and she arched against him, moaning softly. He felt his groin harden, and instantly the need to touch more of her was urging him on like a jockey with a whip.
His fingers found the buttons of her dress and, popping them open, he breathed his way down over the skin of her throat and collarbone to the swell of her breasts. He lowered his face, blindly brushing it against the soft cotton of her bra, feeling his body harden as the nipples grew taut.
He wanted to hear her moan again and, pushing the fabric to one side, he sucked a nipple into his mouth, nipping and licking, his heartbeat filling his head as he felt her shiver against him.
He was harder than he’d ever been, and yet liquid too, so that he could feel himself melting into the darkness around them.
Raising his mouth, he found her lips with his, kissing her, tasting her, kissing the soft skin of her cheeks and throat, then back to her mouth, wanting, needing, to drain the sweetness from her lips.
Gently, he pushed up the hem of her dress, running his hand over her thigh, and as he flattened his palm against the damp cotton of her panties she moaned again.
‘Mimi...’
He whispered her name, but even as his voice echoed in the darkness she was pushing him away.
Looking down at her, he saw a pink flush seeping over her cheeks. Her eyes were wide with a mixture of shock and hunger that he knew must be mirrored in his own dark gaze.
‘I—’ Her voice bled into the darkness. ‘We can’t.’
Gritting his teeth, he took an unsteady step backwards. He had never wanted to disagree with anyone more in his life, but despite the solid evidence pressing against his trousers he knew she was right. As tempting as it was to have sex with Mimi, out here in the darkness, at some point the sun would rise, and in the daylight they would both regret their hasty surrender to the heat and hunger of the moment.
They’d had their chance at Fairbourne but it wasn’t meant to be—and that had been before they’d had all this history between them.
Besides, no amount of desire could blot out the facts: Mimi was related to the two men who had almost ruined his family’s business, not to mention the lives of several thousand pensioners. An affair, however brief, would certainly alleviate the sexual tension between them—but at what cost? If it ever got out that they had slept together even once the media would pounce on the story and the Caine name would be dragged through the mud again.
‘I know,’ he said.
The relief in her eyes stung, but at least it took the edge off the ache in his groin.
‘It’s been a long and emotional day. Lines have got blurred.’ He forced himself to hold her gaze. Injecting coolness into his voice, he said, ‘You must be exhausted. Let me show you to your room.’
His senses were jangling, and the shift from passion to pragmatic almost blew his mind, but somehow he managed to find his way back into the house and to the bedroom door.
‘It’s all fairly straightforward. I’m just down there if you need me for anything.’
The expression on her face suggested that was about as likely as him finding mermaids in the lake tomorrow morning.
‘Goodnight, then,’ he said evenly.
Turning, he strode down the hallway before she could close the door in his face—or, worse, before he did something unutterably stupid, like capturing her mouth with his and finishing what they had started out on the deck.
CHAPTER SEVEN
WHEN MIMI WOKE, her room was in darkness, so that for a couple of moments she thought it was still night-time. Then, as her eyes began to adjust, she realised there was a thin line of daylight around the edge of the curtains. And with the daylight reality came rushing in.
Rolling onto her back, she stared up at the ceiling as her face flushed with heat.
Last night she had kissed Basa.
Twice in one day.
Skin tightening, her mind replayed the slow, pulsing hunger in his dark gaze and the bone-melting heat of his response when she kissed him. Thankfully she had come to her senses, pulling away from temptation before she’d done anything more. But she hadn’t just wanted to kiss him. She had felt hollow with desire, as if everything solid inside her had dissolved and she was made of nothing but air. She had wanted him...wanted him to fill that aching emptiness.
She might be weak and reckless, but she wasn’t completely stupid. She knew that even if they only slept together once, to satisfy their mutual hunger, it would be asking for trouble. There was no way she could cold-bloodedly file that particular experience away. Not when it would first involve admitting the small matter of her virginity to Basa.
Her cheeks felt suddenly hot.
She had almost told him last night, when he’d been grilling her about her motives for going to his room, but she was glad she hadn’t. She didn’t want him thinking she was holding out for him. She just hadn’t met anyone else who made her want to take that next step. He was an impossible act to follow.
But she sure as hell wasn’t about to admit that to him. He might be attracted to her, but she had known even without his not so subtle reminder about his preferred future Mrs Caine that she was not his type, and the speed with which he had showed her to her room suggested buyer’s remorse at having responded to her so fervently.
Pushing back the duvet, she slid out of bed. Using the light creeping into the room, she made her way to the window and cautiously pushed the curtains aside.
She stared through the glass, not breathing.
Whatever she had been expecting, it had not been this.
The
view was epic, staggering, intoxicating.
The lake looked like a vast blue mirror, and a dark fairy-tale wood hugged the edges of the water. It was difficult to make out the individual shapes of the trees that lay beyond. Further away, a lemon-coloured sun was warming a flotilla of snow-tipped peaks.
She bit into the smile that was curving her lip. It was beautiful, but she was not here to sightsee. And after last night Basa would probably be desperate to get back to civilisation, so there was no point getting too excited about the scenery.
She showered beneath what felt like a waterfall of warm water in the state-of-the-art bathroom, then pulled on a pair of trousers and a sweatshirt and tied her hair up in a loose bun before making her way to the living room.
The house was quiet and beautiful in a completely different way from the mansion in Buenos Aires. That was all drama and gilded glamour, whereas this was all about tapping into the surroundings. The decor was understated, but casually opulent with an emphasis on natural materials. It was also messier than the other house, she thought as she looked about, glancing at the rows of shelves that were curtseying gently beneath the weight of books.
How could one man live in two such diametrically opposed homes?
She was curious—more curious than she had a right to be or the good sense not to be. She tilted her head on one side to read the spines, looking for clues.
‘Take one if you want,’ said a cool, refined voice from somewhere behind her.
Cheeks burning, Mimi turned to find Basa watching her from the doorway. She felt her pulse quicken. He was wearing jeans and a dark jersey that hugged the muscles of his chest. The sleeves were pushed up to his elbows, revealing a tantalising stretch of smooth, golden skin. Against her will she found herself picturing the rest of his body.
Horrified by the direction of her thoughts, she shook her head. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for some means of escape, but there was only one door and his shoulder was wedged against the frame, his body filling the opening. It was the perfect pose, both owning the room and blocking her exit, and as if he could read her mind his mouth curved up into one of those rare smiles that made her feel as if she was drowning beneath her own heartbeat.
‘Really, I mean it.’
Pushing away from the doorframe, he came and stood beside her, his dark eyes flickering over her face. ‘It’s one of the pleasures of coming here—the chance to lose oneself in a book.’ He held up the one in his hand. ‘I’m reading this at the moment.’
Mimi frowned. On the cover a woman’s profile was silhouetted against a pale green background; she had a bun like hers, but much neater, so she guessed that it was either a magical fantasy or a historical romance—two genres she wouldn’t have thought appealed to a man like Basa.
Catching sight of her expression, he smiled crookedly. ‘I think Alicia must have left it here last time she came. It’s not my usual thing, but I realised I’ve been complacent in my habits and I thought it was about time I stopped judging a book by its cover.’
Her pulse scampered as his gaze rested on her face and she replayed his words inside her head.
‘Do you like reading?’
She blinked. After so many tense, panic-inducing conversations it felt strange talking about something as ordinary as reading.
‘Yes, but I’m really bad at choosing books.’
He looked up at the shelves, frowning, his gaze narrowed as if he was searching for something specific.
‘Here, try this one.’ He pulled a book free and handed it to her. ‘It’s a translation, but a good one. I think you’ll enjoy it.’
‘And why’s that?’ She glanced at the cover suspiciously.
‘It’s a well-written contemporary novel.’ His eyes were steady and unblinking on her face. ‘Oh, and it has a heroine who’s been wrongly condemned by society.’
She kept on staring at the cover, his words repeating inside her head. Wrongly condemned. He had definitely said ‘wrongly’. Her heart bumped against her ribcage. Was he trying to say something? Or was she reading more into it than was there?
Looking up, she met his gaze. ‘Is that your way of saying sorry?’
He stared at her for a moment and then sighed. ‘I’m not often wrong.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘I guess that must be why you’re so bad at apologising.’
There was a pulse of silence and then he spoke again. ‘I’m sorry.’
Her chest tightened. ‘For what? Being bad at saying sorry or for thinking I was part of the criminal underworld.’
‘Both.’ Basa’s mouth twisted into something between a smile and a grimace. ‘I’m sorry that I’m so bad at apologising, but mostly I’m sorry for lumping you in with your stepfather and uncle. You don’t deserve that.’
His eyes were fixed on her face as if her reaction mattered to him, as if he cared what she thought of him. She felt an inexplicable lightness fill her body.
‘I was wrong.’
He took a step closer, close enough that she could see the rise and fall of his chest, and her heart squeezed tight with panic. Suddenly she wanted to throw his apology in his face, to stay good and mad with him. Because if she let herself feel tenderly towards this man she would end up getting hurt, just like two years ago. It wouldn’t matter that she didn’t love him—she was still too vulnerable where he was concerned. For he was both a symbol of her hopes and dreams and a reminder of her failures.
‘I accept your apology.’
He stared at her for a moment. ‘In that case would you like to join me for breakfast? I know Claudia, my housekeeper, is looking forward to meeting you.’
He was speaking with a kind of detached courtesy, as if she was a guest at his hotel, and she stared at him warily. It was at least something that he no longer saw her as public enemy number one, but in another way she almost preferred the intensity of his anger. Anything would be better than this careful politeness.
But it would sound utterly mad to say any of that out loud, so instead she just nodded.
Breakfast was delicious, and she ate hungrily.
Across the table, Basa drank coffee. He seemed distracted, and she guessed he was trying to work out how to tell her that they would be returning to Buenos Aires without losing face.
Thankfully the view from the dining area was as spectacular as the one from her bedroom.
It was not hard to see why Alicia was so excited to be having her wedding here, she thought, her eyes drawn to the smooth blue lake and then up to the vast blue sky. Getting married here would be like receiving nature’s blessing on your life together.
‘Would you like to go for a walk?’
Basa’s voice brought her head around and she turned towards him, her eyes finding his. And with thoughts of Alicia’s happiness uppermost in her mind, it was easy to nod and say, ‘Yes, I would—very much.’
* * *
The sun was high in the clear blue sky, and there was no breeze to move the leaves of the sturdy lenga beech trees that grew right up to the edge of the lake.
Basa glanced over to where Mimi was staring across the lake, her blue eyes exactly the same colour as the water lapping over the stones.
It was a beautiful day, the perfect introduction to this majestic jagged land that he loved so much, even when the wind tore across the lake, sending waves crashing to the shoreline. There was something raw and real about life so close to the clouds, an unchanging, impervious essentiality that was a welcome contrast to the artifice and embellishment of the rest of the world.
And, judging by the smile tugging at the corners of Mimi’s mouth, she thought so too—although he wasn’t completely sure why that should make him feel quite as happy as it did.
‘So what do you think?’ He was careful to keep the curiosity out of his voice but his heart began to beat faster.
‘I think it’s
the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen,’ she said quietly. ‘However did you find it?’
For a moment he considered whether to tell her the truth. But the fragile peace he had brokered this morning was still holding and he didn’t want to do anything to put that in jeopardy. Then again, he was tired of all the misunderstandings between them—unnecessary and upsetting misunderstandings that had been caused by both of them being less than forthcoming with the truth.
He thought back to their conversation last night. Afterwards he had found it hard to sleep—and not just because of that kiss, although that certainly hadn’t helped. For two years he’d convinced himself that he knew Mimi and that she was guilty, duplicitous, and self-serving. Now he was having to rethink his opinion of her.
And of himself.
He’d always believed that he was basically a good person: fair, rational, kind. Except he had been none of those things with her. He had been angry with himself for welcoming Charlie and Raymond into the business, and Mimi into his bed, and he’d turned that anger on her to punish her for his own ineptitude. Bullied her into coming to Argentina and Patagonia, and demanding a truth he had forced her to hide.
The least he could do now was tell her the truth.
‘After the trial ended I brought my father and Alicia to Argentina to get some breathing space.’ Seeing Mimi’s face stiffen, he hesitated. ‘It was Antonia who told me about this place. Her great-uncle owned some land up here, and he had a little fishing shack on the island, only he was getting too old to make much use of it. So I made him an offer. A good offer,’ he added. ‘I might be an insufferable jerk, but I’m not a greedy one, and I wouldn’t exploit an old man’s ill health.’
Her eyes darted to his face, and he winced inwardly. He had wanted Mimi to know that he hadn’t taken advantage of the old man. She already thought he was manipulative and bullying and he hadn’t wanted to say anything that reinforced that view of him. But, spoken out loud, his words had sounded less like an explanation and more like another accusation.
Craving His Forbidden Innocent Page 10