by Robyn Donald
‘My mother was forthright, loving, and not afraid to speak her mind.’ He finished a little roughly, ‘He said that she would have liked you. And he’s right—she would have.’
Iona curved her hand around his jaw, relishing the soft abrasion, the warmth that beat from his skin. ‘I feel as though some heavy weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Is this the end, do you think?’
‘Perhaps the beginning of the end,’ he said.
She twisted up onto her elbow and looked down at him, her gaze caressing the beloved contours of his face. ‘How do you feel about that?’
His shoulders moved in the nearest approach to a shrug he could manage in bed. ‘I didn’t start it,’ he said evenly. ‘I never attacked him; I merely blocked his moves to bring me down. If at any time he’d come to me and told me he was ready to make an end to it, I’d have welcomed it.’
‘And now?’
Luke thought for a moment, then said slowly, ‘It will take time, but I hope we can build on the ruins of our old relationship. I think he has realised that he is the only one being hurt by his refusal to accept me.’
She nodded. ‘You said you had something else to tell me?’
He frowned, then gave a sardonic smile. ‘I was jealous of Iakobos.’
‘What?’
He laughed wryly. ‘Yes. You and he seemed to like each other, and I was so jealous I sent him away.’
‘You had no reason,’ she protested, still dazed at such a confession.
‘I know,’ he admitted cheerfully. ‘And it will not affect his career. I did not believe myself to be a jealous man, but I realised that I have it in me. It was a shock—a salutary one.’
His arm tightened and effortlessly he brought her down to lie on his chest. Iona shivered as his body stirred, hardened beneath her. In a thickened voice he said, ‘I will not make your life miserable with jealousy, and I will always protect you and cherish you and tell you the truth. And always, dear heart, always I will love you—with all that I am, everything I have.’
Her tears fell onto his chest, and he said in a shaken voice, ‘What have I said to make you cry?’
‘I’m crying because I’m so happy.’ She wiped the tears away and bent to kiss him. ‘I will always love you, and tell you the truth too—even when you don’t want me to,’ she added.
He laughed. ‘I know that,’ he said with satisfaction and kissed her again, and once more she felt the sweet hunger, the passionate love she was at last free to express.
She lifted her head and kissed him again, lips lingering on a swell of muscle, the sound of his increasing heartbeat music in her ears.
‘Mmm, you taste good,’ she whispered against his skin.
‘So do you.’
Luke would always fire out orders, organise lives, rule his empire with formidable authority, but she had known from the moment she’d seen him that he was so much more than a dominant male. She and Chloe and any children they might have would be safe in his love.
As his hand traced the curve of her breasts, the narrow indentation of her waist, the flare of her hips, she sighed and whispered, ‘You’ll have to teach me how to say I love you in Greek.’
‘Later,’ he said, laughter catching in his throat. ‘Much, much later…’
And then, locked together in passion that had been transformed so stealthily into love, they found the heaven that would always be theirs in each other’s arms.
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
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First published in Great Britain 2010
Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,
Eton House, 18–24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Robyn Donald 2010
ISBN: 978-1-408-91935-4