“We got through it.”
The words didn’t do justice to the pain his family had gone through, not only at the loss of their much loved father and husband, but the financial strain had been immense. Charles Fontaine had annihilated his father—both personally and professionally—and then, with his lies, he’d systematically removed every last defence the Dolan family had had to survive.
As the oldest of four kids, most of the responsibility had fallen on Jack’s twenty-year-old shoulders. It was a weight he’d willingly taken on, sure in the knowledge that one day providence would come full circle. That circle was just about complete.
“It must have been hell for you. All of you,” Lily commiserated, her voice soft, her breath a light caress against his throat.
“Hell would be a picnic by comparison.”
She had no idea. But she would. Very soon, she would.
It was time to put phase two of his plan into action. Let the seduction begin.
Jack pulled her more firmly against him, cradling her against his hips. He bent his head and took her lips with a kiss that sent a sizzling line of heat through his body. She tasted of smoky marshmallow and good wine, of the past and of forbidden love. He captured her lower lip and drew it softly between his, grazing it gently with his teeth. Her body melted against him and his deepening want for her grew hard and heavy. He swept his tongue across the lightly abraded surface of her lower lip and her mouth parted, giving him free entry into the soft recess beyond. Her tongue met his, taste for taste, probe for probe.
He fought to remind himself why he was doing this, to remain in total control, but his body reacted on a far baser level. It recognised the feel of her, the line of her frame as it pressed against his. The V of her groin as her heat burned through the clothing they wore and seeped into his skin as insidiously as his need for her had ruled his life before.
He slid one hand across the bare skin of her belly, his fingers tangling in the jewelled belly bar that had tormented him with its winking reminder of the softly rounded surface of her lightly tanned skin. He’d recognised her strategy in dressing the way she had from the minute she’d set foot through the front door, in the way she’d flirted and teased with his guests but remained aloof. “You can look but don’t touch” had been all but imprinted on her forehead. As if she was better than the rest of them.
All night his hands had itched to slide inside the deep cowl of the halter neckline and caress her breasts, to prise away the fabric and lower his lips to the crest. To take her nipple into his mouth and wait for her gasp of need—of her desire for him.
Following the path of his thoughts he did exactly that, his fingers questing inside her neckline. A rush of satisfaction bloomed in his mind as his fingertips found her nipple, already hard and pointed. He brushed the flat of his palm against the sensitive peak. She arched against his hand with a throaty sigh, pressing harder, seeking more.
Jack curved his free arm around her waist, supporting her as he lifted his face from hers and trailed a line of kisses down her throat, working inexorably to his intended target. Her hands clutched at his shoulders as she arched further back, giving him full access, offering herself to him in the moonlight.
Her skin, which had been gilded with the golden light of the fire only moments ago, now gleamed with the caress of the moon’s silver reflection. But instead of being cold, as the silver tint would have suggested, her skin was searingly hot. Hot and enticing and exuding a subtle fragrance—a blend of sweet and spicy perfume and the scent of pure Lily—that wound through his senses and deep into his heart.
When his lips closed over their prize he felt the shudder ripple through her body. He pulled with his tongue, drawing the tight bead further into his mouth, nibbling gently with his teeth until she finally released the gasp he recognised as her surrender. Her legs buckled slightly and he was forced to brace his legs further apart to support them both. The change in position put his aching arousal directly at her core. He flexed his hips against her, then laved his tongue across her nipple again and again before tracing a line under the curve of her breast where he knew she was incredibly sensitive.
Lily’s hands left his shoulders and he felt her working at the knot that bound her halter top at the nape of her neck. Suddenly, with a sultry slither of cloth, both her breasts were bared to his sensual assault.
He didn’t aim to disappoint her silent plea. He transferred his attentions to her other breast, affording the nipple the same tortuous attention as he had its twin.
His heart pounded in his chest and he could feel the answering beat of hers in the pulse at her neck as he let go her nipple and pressed his lips beneath her ear, hitting every erogenous zone in her upper body he remembered.
“Let’s take this inside,” he growled. He was so achingly hard it would be a killer to make the short walk back to the house, but what he had planned demanded more finesse than a quick romp in the sand. He wanted Lily boneless with need, limp with pleasure. Totally at his command.
Lily stiffened with awareness as his words filtered through the layers of desire that clouded her mind. Her body shrieked, “Yes!” Already he’d brought her so close to climax with his touch, with his lips, with the hard pressure of his arousal against her aching core. He’d forgotten nothing about what turned her on. But her clouded instincts warned her to pull back as the reality of her uninhibited behaviour with him, a man she’d sworn to herself not to trust again, closed in on her with suffocating reality.
“N-no,” she stuttered as she lifted shaking hands to retie her halter top. It was lopsided but right now she didn’t care. Right now all she wanted was to get away—fast. “I’m sorry, Jack. I shouldn’t have let you do that—led you on like that. I…”
Lost for words, she turned and dashed through the sand as fast as the loose purchase would let her.
“No need to run, Lily. I’m not going to force you into anything you don’t want.” His voice carried across the sand, straight to her soul.
And that was the trouble. She did want him. Badly. So badly she hesitated for an infinitesimal moment. It was long enough for Jack to catch up with her.
“We’re not strangers, Lily.” His voice was soft, almost enticing, as if he was putting every ounce of persuasion he could into its tone and bend her to his will. “We used to be so good together. We can be again. No strings.”
She should never have let him catch up. She knew if he touched her she’d capitulate, no matter how much she felt he’d let her down. She was an adult. Capable of making her own decisions. Capable of choosing her own lovers to satisfy her needs. And right now she needed him with all of the aching teenage angst that had resided in a black hole where her heart used to beat only for him. He was waiting for her answer and she had made her decision.
“No, Jack. We’re not strangers. And that’s exactly why I’m leaving now. Thank you for tonight.” She hesitated and fired him the inscrutable smile she’d spent years perfecting. “For everything, tonight.”
His pupils dilated, consuming the amber glow of his irises that reflected the dying fire. She saw the muscle working in his jaw as he absorbed the deliberate hit.
“You haven’t changed a bit, have you?” A humourless smile crept across his face and his gaze narrowed.
“Changed? Yeah, I’ve changed. A lot, actually. Enough to know when to walk away from something or someone before things get out of hand—before someone gets hurt.”
“Walk, Lily? We both know that’s not your style.” Bitter vitriol stained his next words. “You run. Just like you always did. To me. From me. It makes no difference. Deep down, where it counts, you haven’t changed at all. You’re still a spoiled irresponsible tease who puts her needs first and acts without consideration of her actions. Frankly, it’s time you grew up.”
He picked up her evening bag and shoes from where she’d left them by the fireside.
“Here. You’ll need these.”
She accepted them in silence and ma
de her way around the bottom level of the house to where her car stood on its own in the wide turning bay. His words rang in her ears. How dare he accuse her of being spoiled? Of being a tease. She hadn’t started that scene on the beach. She’d ended it. Just like she’d end it if the situation that had flared between them ever rose again—wouldn’t she?
Five
The next morning saw Lily in absolute turmoil. She didn’t know whether to be furious with Jack or whether to just get back in her car, knock down his door and jump into his arms to rid herself of the sexual hunger he’d reawakened in her.
She headed into her shower in an attempt to tamp down some of that heat. She’d thought she was in control. That she’d made a conscious choice. First to go to his home last night, and second to allow him to kiss her and start to make love to her the way he did.
She’d wanted him every bit as much as he had obviously wanted her. The problem was, what happened after that? Where would that leave them both? Sure, she might be able to go some way to assuaging the ache deep down inside, she could even manage to rid herself of all the what-might-have-been questions she’d been riddled with since she’d left. But what if she ended up wanting him more, needing him more? What if she still loved him?
Lily turned off the faucet and dried herself slowly. Still in love with Jack Dolan? The thought struck sheer terror to her heart. No. She couldn’t still love Jack Dolan. There was too much water under the bridge. She’d carved his memory from her soul on the day she’d buried Nathaniel. It was the last time she’d allowed herself to weep for their lost love.
Putting that behind her had been the hardest thing she’d ever had to deal with in her life next to losing their baby. But she’d managed both on her own. She’d rebuilt her life, made her mistakes and learned from them.
As Lily knotted the towel across her breasts and began to apply a light sheen of makeup with a practiced hand, she thought back to the recent catastrophe—all because she’d trusted her accountant as her financial adviser. She’d allowed friendly familiarity to sway her better judgement. Okay, so she’d made some bad choices, but she could start again. Reinvent Lily Fontaine. The thing was, there was little call for a washed-up model who’d left behind a reputation for unreliability and unsavoury company.
How different would her life have been if the plans she and Jack had made all those years ago had come to fruition? Would they still be together? Would he be the cold, calculating man who’d lambasted her last night or would he have simply been an older version of the boy she’d fallen in love with when she was sixteen and he only eighteen years old?
Who knew? And what difference did it make anyway? She’d seen the man he was now and she was still wildly attracted to him. That she could identify it and analyse it would stand her in good stead in the coming weeks. They were bound to cross paths, and maybe sleeping with him would get him out of her system, once and for all. Of one thing, though, she was certain. If or when she did go to bed with Jack Dolan, it would be on her terms and because she wanted to.
He’d been so angry last night. Almost vibrating with fury. Unrequited lust? Maybe. She knew she’d been totally out of line. She’d allowed herself to be bowled over by sensation, divorcing reason from feeling. And oh, what feelings he’d evoked in her. Being in Jack’s arms had left her mind devoid of thought for her actions. All she’d wanted to do was to dwell in sensation, in the familiarity—yet newness—of his touch.
She’d had other lovers, not as many as the gossip mags cared to suggest, but enough to know that the way her body ignited for him was a one in a million reaction. A reaction that still had her skin tingling with the memory of his touch as she put on her underwear and dressed in a soft, pale-blue T-shirt and denim skirt. Determined to put him out of her thoughts for the rest of the day, Lily went downstairs to get some breakfast.
In the kitchen she was surprised to see her father still settled at the breakfast bar, a mug of coffee in one hand, a financial report in the other and a roll of antacid tablets on the counter in front of him.
“Morning, Dad. You’re late leaving for work today.” Lily dropped a perfunctory kiss on her father’s forehead. “How’s the coffee?”
“Strong. Just the way I like it.” He barely even looked up from the papers, a frown furrowed his brow.
“You’re not having anything to eat?”
“No. I’ll be fine.” He gave the papers one last rustle then laid them facedown on the kitchen bench. “You were late home last night.”
So that explained why he was still here. Time for the age-old inquisition. Lily felt herself bristle. She’d lived on her own for so long it felt strange to be responsible to someone else. She bit back the retort that sprang to her lips. She was altogether too sensitive and too reactive these days. It was what always got her into trouble. From today she was turning over a new leaf. Think first then speak.
“Sorry if I disturbed you when I came in. I tried to be quiet.” She poured herself a coffee from the carafe on the hot plate then grabbed some eggs from the fridge. Beating them to a frothy mess would go some way to alleviating the frustration she felt right now. “Are you sure I can’t get you something? You shouldn’t head off to the office on just a coffee.”
“You didn’t disturb me. I was working. And no, I’ll get the restaurant to send me something over later today.”
“Working at home as well as all the hours you’re putting in lately? I’ve hardly seen you since I got back, Dad. Is everything okay at FonCom? Is there anything I can do?”
His guffaw startled her. “Do, Lily?” He shook his head. “No, my girl. There’s nothing you can do. Just stay out of trouble and we’ll both be fine.”
He could reduce her to feeling like a teenager just like that. Lily gritted her teeth. Moving back home was never going to be easy. Her dad had always tried to run her life before. He probably planned on simply picking up where he left off.
“Well, I’d best be on my way.” He grabbed the roll of antacid tablets and shoved them in his trouser’s pocket. “Remember what I said yesterday, Lily. Stay away from Jack Dolan. He’s always been trouble for this family. All the Dolans have.”
“Dad, that’s an unfair comment. You know that. You and Jack’s dad worked together for years. I didn’t know he’d passed away.”
Inwardly, Lily groaned. So much for the “think first” thing. It had lasted…what, all of three minutes? She saw her father’s posture stiffen.
“And why would you know that?”
“Just something someone said last night,” Lily evaded as she bent to get a bowl from the cupboard to whip her eggs in.
“Someone who?”
He’d always had a knack for knowing when he wasn’t being told the full story and Lily knew he wouldn’t let things lie until he had it from her now. She sucked in a deep breath.
“Jack. I heard it from Jack, Dad. Okay?”
“So he was there at the barbecue last night.” Charles Fontaine snorted in disgust. “If he so much as lays one hand on you again, I’ll—”
“Dad! I’m not a baby anymore.” Heat rose in Lily’s cheeks, half in anger and half in embarrassment at her father’s words. It had been more than a hand that Jack had laid on her last night and she’d welcomed him. Lord, if her father only knew, he’d be apoplectic. Actually, far better that he didn’t know. Ever. “I can take care of myself, truly. I know how to handle his type. And for the record, before you hear it from anyone else, the barbecue last night was at his house.”
She tensed, waiting for her father’s reaction. She wasn’t disappointed. For the next five minutes he raged on about how foolish she was to have gone in the first place, and that she could rethink her options if she thought he was going to provide her with a home just so she could ruin her life all over again. His colour had become an alarming shade of purple.
“Dad, please, calm down. It’s not like you think. Jack and I are bound to bump into one another. Onemata’s not so huge that we can avoid each other
completely. We can be adult about this, and if that means seeing one another socially from time to time, then that’s what we’ll do. If you’re not happy with that, I’ll find somewhere else to stay.”
“Over my dead body. This is your home. It’s where you belong and it’s where you’ll stay.”
Charles looked as though he was about to say something else but the trill of his cell phone interrupted him. “Yes!” he snapped, “I’m on my way.” He slid his phone back in his pocket and gave Lily one last glare. “Mark my words, missy. He’ll just lead you into trouble again. Stay away from him. Well away.”
Lily sat at the breakfast bar until the house was completely silent. Why had she even bothered to try to defend seeing Jack again? It had always been like that with her father. Always at odds. Him telling her what to do, her arguing back and running flat-out to Jack—partly for the comfort she knew he’d give her and partly because she’d known it would rile her father intensely. It had been her silent stab at independence, and had been as futile then as it was now.
Jack had been right. She did always run from her problems. She’d done it again simply by coming home instead of facing up to her responsibilities in Los Angeles. It was easier to run than to face things she didn’t like, easier to put on a facade and pretend everything was okay. It had been living life on a knife edge.
It really was time to grow up.
She owed Jack an apology. She didn’t like the fact, but if she was going to get control back in her life, really make something of herself, she had to start acting like the adult she always insisted she was.
Jack looked up from his computer as his secretary walked into his office with a smile wider than the Auckland Harbour Bridge pasted across her face and an enormous arrangement of colourful cut flowers in her arms. Lead settled uncomfortably in his gut. He recognised the flowers. He’d chosen the profusion of stems himself at the florist this morning before ordering them sent to Lily with an apology for his behaviour last night. He’d lost control, had lost sight of his goal and had lashed out verbally in reaction to the near overwhelming physical magnetism between them and her outright rejection of it.
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