Later, she couldn't remember how she managed to get through the remainder of the evening. Despite all her efforts not to, she found herself watching Luke and his blonde companion closely, until as the restaurant began to close, they both stood up, and to Stephanie's angry horror, left together.
She watched them go, tears filling her eyes. What did you expect? she asked herself furiously. Did you expect him to turn down what that woman was so blatantly offering?
She had to get out of this place, she needed some air.
Philippe stopped her as she made for the door. 'Made your mind up yet?' he asked, with a peculiarly sweet, persuasive smile.
Stephanie had to think for a second, before she realised what he was talking about.
'Yes,' she heard her own agreement with surprise. 'I'd like to go out to dinner.'
It was an act of pure defiance. She was trying to prove to herself that what Luke did was no concern of hers. She was trying so damned hard—and getting nowhere.
Philippe was pleased. 'Tomorrow?' he pressed gently, his eyes bright, triumphant.
'Yes, tomorrow would be lovely.' She tried to inject some enthusiasm into her voice, but failed, already half regretting the stupid impulse that had let her agree. 'I'm just slipping out for some air.'
'Shall I come with you?' He was gallant, concerned.
'No, thanks.' She was touched by his concern. He was such a nice man and she didn't want to hurt him with her lack of enthusiasm.
'Be careful, then,' he warned, and touched her cheek with his fingers.
'Of course I will.' She didn't know what he was warning her about and she didn't care.
After the hectic pace of the evening's work, she just needed some peace and quiet. She needed to find out why the sight of Luke with another woman filled her with such jealous anger. She needed to find out why she needed to see him, why she thought of him constantly. She'd had her chance—she'd turned him down flat.
She walked into the bright noisy warmth of the street, totally unaware of her surroundings, her mind spinning in fast circles, and towards the Croisette beach. She stared out across the brightness of the bay of La Napoule. It was a clear night and the brightly lit town of Cannes stretched out before her in a wide arc. She stared at it with eyes that did not register a thing.
She was thinking about Luke, concentrating fiercely. And when the answer came, it was even more shocking than the discovery of her jealousy.
She was in love with him. She had been in love with him ever since that first moment she had seen him at the traffic lights at home. Not the brotherly love she felt for Dean, but a fierce, all-encompassing love, that would grow stronger and stronger as time passed. She would never stop loving him, and this revelation answered all her worries about the way she had been acting.
Subconsciously she had known that she could never marry Dean. It hadn't been deliberate, or expected, or planned. She hadn't even known what love was until she met Luke.
She remembered the way she had always responded with such abandon to the touch of Luke's mouth, the stroke of his hands. At the time it had shocked her, filled her with guilt, but now she knew she had been fighting a love stronger than herself. She had never had a chance. She stared across towards the inky invisible horizon. She didn't know what to do. Luke was here in Cannes; at this moment he was probably in another woman's arms. And there was Carina.
The hopelessness of it all depressed her, but she couldn't keep running for the rest of her life.
'You shouldn't be out alone at this time of night.' Luke's voice made her jump. She turned to find him just behind her and couldn't believe she wasn't dreaming.
'So I've been told,' she replied with a smile, her heart somersaulting as she looked at him.
'You never do take good advice.' He stared down at the vulnerable lines of her face. There was laughter in his eyes.
Stephanie looked away, wondering where the American woman was. 'Your friend .. .?' She couldn't keep the sarcasm or the curiosity out of her voice, and she bit her lip, anxious not to reveal her terrible jealousy.
'Gloria? What about her?' Luke queried calmly.
Stephanie almost smiled. She should have known the woman would have a name lik Gloria!
'Oh, nothing. I just thought——' She broke off,
shrugging.
'You just thought I'd be making love to her by now,' Luke finished expressionlessly, reading her mind so easily.
Her flushed cheeks gave her away, even though she said, 'I don't care what you do—you certainly don't have to explain yourself to me.' But in truth she was dying to know what was going on.
Luke's long fingers caught her chin, tilting up her face, so that he could see her carefully veiled eyes. 'What did you think of her?' he asked, smiling slightly. He was playing some sort of crazy game with her. She could see the mockery in his shadowed green eyes and felt angry.
'She seemed. ...'
'What, Stephanie?'
'Well, if you want the truth, she's married.'
'I know that.' His voice held a soft amusement.
'Oh, I see, it doesn't make any difference if a woman is married,' she snapped, furious because he was laughing at her.
She felt the cool pressure of his fingers against her soft skin with a fiery pleasure that angered her even more.
'She knew what she was doing,' Luke said sardonically.
'And that makes it right?' Stephanie was scathing even though she knew Luke was speaking the truth. The lovely Gloria had been making all the running.
'Jealous?' he queried laughingly.
'Never! But I do think you should be ashamed of yourself,' she retorted icily.
Luke laughed again, his eyes holding hers. 'Shall I tell you what happened?'
She wanted to say no, she wanted to throw any explanations back in his face, but somehow she couldn't. She remained angrily silent as he continued.
'I took her back to her husband's yacht. She asked me on board——'
'I don't want to know!' Stephanie cut in desperately, afraid that she could not hide the pain in her eyes from him.
'You're going to know anyway,' Luke replied impassively, and the tautness of his face silenced her immediately. 'Her invitation was obvious. I refused it, politely said goodnight and left.'
Stephanie stared up at him in astonishment. 'Why?' she asked baldly.
'I didn't want her,' he replied expressionlessly.
'I don't believe you. She's beautiful!'
Luke shrugged his powerful shoulders. 'I don't find her at all beautiful.'
'You paid her enough attention tonight!' Stephanie shot back, unwisely she knew as soon as the words were spoken.
He smiled. 'You were watching?'
'I work there, remember?' Her mouth was a fierce stubborn line.
Luke didn't answer, but his eyes were wise and amused, and her anger grew.
'And I still don't understand why you didn't want her. I can't imagine you not taking what was offered.' She was lying, of course, trying to get to him because he had hurt her. He had his choice of women, he would choose his lovers selectively.
, 'What are you after, Stephanie?' he asked sardonically.
'I don't know what you mean. ...'
'I think you do, and if it's that important to you, I'll tell you.' His eyes met hers, blank and unreadable, and she felt a tiny shiver of apprehension prickling along her spine. She really didn't have any idea what he was talking about, but she knew that the mood had suddenly changed, and tension spun between them. The raw mercurial atmosphere frightened her.
'Luke ' she began tentatively, but he didn't
allow her to finish.
'You've been in my blood for a long time now,' he said broodingly. 'Why the hell do you think I'm here? I want you, Stephanie, and however hard I try, I can't get you off my mind for a single damn second. You've always known that, but now I'm going to spell it out. Since I met you, there has been nobody else—I can't touch another woman without thinking of yo
u, without wanting you instead of her. I wake every morning with your name on my lips, sick because I'm alone, because I can't turn my head and find you next to me. I dream of touching you, of possessing you, every night I lie alone, aching with longing for you. Goddammit, there is only you, Stephanie.' He laughed humourlessly. 'And you ask me why I didn't accept Gloria's invitation to sleep with her?'
Stephanie stared into his face, seeing the stark, naked violence there, and began to shake—her whole body rigid with shock. The truth of his words was burning in his hooded eyes, and an aching weakness flooded her lower limbs. She didn't know what to say to him, her mouth was dry, her throat aching with tension.
Luke searched her wide eyes for long moments before releasing her and moving away to stand staring out over the bay in tense silence. Stephanie swayed as he released her, gazing at the broad tense sweep of his back, at the proud set of his dark head, her heart thumping.
His harshly-spoken words were still ringing in her ears, the rest of the world, the rest of reality, spin- ning crazily around those words.
'And now you know.' He did not turn round, his quiet voice laced with mockery.
Stephanie licked her lips, afraid to move. She wanted him so badly, even though she knew that he didn't love her. He would never be hers, but she had the chance of becoming his lover. He wanted her now, and could she really ask for anything more than that? She would want him for ever. For her, there would never be anybody else.
She made her decision on the spur of the moment, knowing it to be right, swayed by her deep love for him.
Slowly she walked over to him, on legs that shook violently.
'Can I ask you something?' she whispered, staring at the hard uncompromising lines of his profile.
'What is it?' he asked expressionlessly.
'Are you . . . are you going to marry Carina?' Her voice was shaking.
'No.' It was immediate, definite, a little surprised, and he turned to her, his glittering eyes questioning. It was the truth.
'I want you, Luke,' she said quickly and clearly, before he could voice the question. She heard the hiss of his indrawn breath, saw the flaring of light in his eyes.
'Stephanie——' His voice was very deep, husky.
'Take me back with you,' she said softly. 'Make love to me tonight—please, Luke!'
There was a moment of electric silence, while his darkening eyes searched hers, asking her silently if she was sure. She was.
'I've waited so long to hear you say that,' he said with rough tenderness.
His strong hands reached for her with an urgency he could no longer conceal, the warm hunger of his mouth, as it touched hers, sweeping away any last lingering doubts from her mind, making her sure, so very sure that she was doing the right thing, the only thing. It was a night for taking what you needed—and they needed each other.
CHAPTER TEN
LUKE was staying on a yacht in the harbour. It belonged to a friend. It was enormous and very luxurious, a sleek navy blue, with every modern convenience imaginable. Stephanie looked round as Luke fixed drinks, marvelling at the sheer size of it, the elegance.
They were in a long wide cabin, rows of traditionally-round portholes on both sides. All the furniture was fixed, stabilised against bad weather, the dark mahogany table edged with a rim of brass to stop things sliding off.
Everywhere she looked she saw deeply-polished wood, shining brass, the chairs upholstered in rich midnight blue velvet. She couldn't believe the size, the careless luxury of everything. It was like a five-star hotel.
'It's beautiful!' she said breathlessly, turning to him with a nervous smile.
'Yes.' He was staring at her with narrowed eyes, taking in the tension of her slender body, her wide fear-tipped eyes. 'Sit down,' he said gently, passing her a glass.
Stephanie perched nervously on the soft velvet, and instead of sitting next to her, he sat down opposite. She sipped her drink too quickly, glancing hungrily at the wide line of his shoulders, the contracting muscles in his brown throat as he swallowed his whisky.
'Where is your friend?' she asked, not looking at him.
'He's on business in Paris.' Luke reached out and touched her silken hair. 'Stephanie, relax.'
She nodded mutely and for a few minutes the silence built up again. It was so quiet that she could feel her heart pounding in her ears.
Luke watched her, his eyes unreadable, then suddenly he got to his feet.
'I'm going to take you back to the restaurant,' he said expressionlessly.
Stephanie looked up at him in startled surprise. Was he rejecting her?
'Why?'
He sighed heavily. 'It's not going to work, is it?' There was a faint smile touching the corners of his mouth.
'You don't want me?' she queried painfully.
Luke drew her to her feet, his hands curving gently over her shoulders. 'I think I want you too much,' he said with wry gentleness. 'You're so nervous, so beautiful—I shouldn't have brought you here. I suppose I was trying to rush things, afraid that you would change your mind. Come on.'
She let him take her hand, and as they walked out on to the deck, her throat became blocked with aching tears, and a disappointment so strong she wanted to die. She couldn't let it end like this.
She pulled her hand out of his and walked to the rail, staring across the reflection-filled water to the other yachts and boats, some noisy and brightly-lit. The sky was dark, the stars twinkling, and a faint scented breeze lifted her hair and cooled her hot cheeks.
She wanted to stay with him. She needed to stay with him. She turned to find him watching her, and she looked at him, her mouth dry. He was so big, so powerful, and she loved him so deeply. Without conscious thought, she moved towards him, lifting her hands to his shoulders and putting her mouth to his. 'Don't make me go back,' she murmured urgently, against the firm warmth of his lips. 'Take me to bed.'
For a second Luke did not respond and she felt in him a slight hesitation. Then suddenly he began to kiss her hungrily and she knew, as her lips parted beneath the pressure of his, that he could not control or deny his desire for her.
She held nothing back in her response to the bruising passion of his kiss. There was nothing to hide any more except her love for him, and she matched his need with her own. His arms tightened, moulding her to the aroused hardness of his body, his mouth moving deeply on hers, until at last he raised his head, his breath quick and uneven.
Stephanie bent her own head to his shoulder, trembling, a heated desire shivering through her body. But he gently pulled back her head, forcing her to meet the glittering depths of his eyes. He needed to be sure.
'Stephanie.' He said her name deeply, and she looked at him then, her face flushed with wild colour, her eyes dark with passion and with love. Luke read her answer and she heard him groan deep in his throat, before his mouth found hers again. She clung to him as the only stable thing in a crazily spinning universe. She was drowning in the deep hungry sweetness of his kiss, her blood boiling in her veins, all her senses filled with him.
When he finally lifted his mouth from hers again, it was only to lift her into his arms and carry her effortlessly inside, to a huge soft bed, bathed in warm light from a lamp overhead. He laid her down and arched over her, his mouth the touch of flame at her throat, at her bare shoulders as he deftly unbuttoned her blouse and pushed it away, his tongue tracing the fragile line of her collarbone.
He undressed her completely, his mouth moving against the bare skin he uncovered. Stephanie gasped with pleasure as he kissed her breasts, her stomach, then his lips moved lower, becoming more intimate, touching and caressing every inch of her body before he raised his head again.
'You're so lovely,' he murmured huskily, his dark eyes sliding the length of her naked body. 'Your skin is like satin—Oh God, how I've wanted you!'
He kissed her briefly, then she watched him as he undressed, the soft light gleaming on the tanned power of his body. He was magnificent, tall and le
an and undoubtedly male. Unashamedly, she let her eyes wander over him. Smooth muscular shoulders, a powerful chest matted with fine dark hair, a hard flat stomach, lean hips and long hair-roughened legs. She stared at him, her body writhing, her heart pounding, his male beauty robbing her of breath. And when he came down beside her, taking her in his arms once more, she moaned, arching herself against his nakedness, revelling in the hard strength of his body, touching him, kissing him, as he had kissed her, her fingers sliding on his smooth skin, tangling in the hair that arrowed past his stomach, lower and lower until he stopped her with his own hands.
'No,' he groaned against her parted lips, 'I can't wait any longer.'
He pulled her against him, caressing her, arousing her with expert patience, until she was mindless with ecstasy, ready to give him anything, everything he demanded.
'Luke ' she moaned, reaching for him when her
need became an agony too much to bear, and they were both beyond the point of no return. He moved over her then, his clenched body parting her thighs, and she heard him murmuring deep endearments into her throat, as he finally possessed her.
Her body arched against the thrusting strength of his, and when the climax came, she was barely aware of her sharp gasping cries of satisfaction mingling with his, she knew only the hot aching pleasure that exploded into a mindless ecstasy.
As her breathing slowed and she came back to her senses, she stared drowsily down at his dark head bent to her breasts, sweetly aware of the weight of his body across hers, the hammering of his heart striking down against her skin. She touched his hair with gentle fingers, stroking through the vital thickness of it. She felt as though she was floating, her body drugged with pleasure, weightless. Luke moved, still breathing heavily, lingeringly kissing her body before he rolled on to his back and reached for her, taking her into his powerful arms, so that her head was against his chest.
Stephanie slid her arm around his waist. His skin was damp with sweat, the scent of his body clean, male and erotic.
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