Living the Charade(26)

But that still wasn't the scariest thought churning through her right  now. No, the scariest thought had been the sense of connection she had  felt when Valentino had joined their bodies together. It had been as if a  missing part of herself had slotted into place. A ridiculous notion,  and one that made her think that the sooner she got her life back to  normal the better.

Valentino shifted beside her and Miller tuned into the laboured sounds  of his breathing, the only noise in the otherwise silent room.

'You're thinking again.' His low voice rumbled from deep inside his chest.

'It's what I do best.'

'I think we've just discovered another occupation you could channel your energies into.'

Miller smiled weakly, and then gasped as he rolled on top of her and  lightly pinned her to the bed. He fisted a hand in her hair and tilted  her face up to his. She swallowed. He was so primal, so male. His hold  was both possessive and dominant, and it shouldn't have thrilled her as  much as it did.

'What are you thinking about?' he persisted.

'Isn't that my line?'

'I think it's pretty clear what I'm thinking about. What I want to know is if you're regretting what just happened between us.'

No, she wasn't regretting it. She was trying to figure it out. 'No. I probably should, but I don't.'

'I'm glad.'

He laid his palm across her forehead and Miller swallowed past the lump in her throat. 'I'm fine. I told you that.'

'I'm allowed to check.' Leaning down, he ran his tongue over her lips,  stroking into her mouth as she automatically opened for him.

Miller gasped as pleasure arrowed straight to her pelvis, turning her  liquid. She moaned when his knees urged hers wider and he settled  himself between her thighs.

'I want you again,' he murmured roughly.

'Really?' Miller felt him hard between her legs and her trepidation at  being here with him evaporated as she sensed just how wrong she had been  about this chemistry being one-sided. He wanted her. Badly. And the  knowledge gave her a giddy sense of sensual power that amazed her.





      CHAPTER THIRTEEN

TINO woke up early, as usual, and smelt the scent of sex at the same  time as he registered that Miller was no longer in his bed.

Confounded, he cracked an eye open and was even more puzzled to find  the room empty and silent except for a couple of magpies warbling  outside his window.

He was used to a woman clinging after a night of sex. Not that he  remembered ever having a night quite like that. He'd been insatiable,  and a grin split his face as he recalled how she had matched him the  whole way.

He stretched his hands above his head and flexed stiff muscles. Last  night had been incredible-and against every one of his rules.

Sort of.

It wasn't that he'd forbidden himself to have sex this close to race  day, it was getting involved emotionally that was the no-go zone. He  might have thought about Miller more than he would have liked over the  past couple of days, but he knew now that he'd had her in his bed his  interest would start to wane. It always did.

Which was why it was good that she would be leaving this morning. He  had an enormously busy week, made even more so because he'd had to  cancel yesterday's round of meetings to care for Miller.                       
       
           



       

Rolling out of bed, he pulled his jeans on and went in search of her to find out what time she wanted him to get the jet ready.

He found her outside, watching the sun rising over the ocean that  stretched beyond his backyard. She was completely enveloped in his black  robe-so appropriate, he mused-her hair mussed and wavy, the sun's rays  highlighting the gold in amongst the brown.

She turned when she heard the sliding door open and fingered her hair self-consciously. She looked adorable. And uncomfortable.

He immediately sought to put her at ease and ignored the whisper of  apprehension that floated across his mind. He didn't doubt for a minute  his ability to control this situation between them.

'What are you thinking?'

'I didn't know men wanted to know what women were thinking so much.'

He studied her, feeling as if he was facing down one of Dante's highly  strung thoroughbreds. 'I don't want to know what women are thinking, I  want to know what you're thinking.'

'I'm thinking that you have a beautiful home. For some reason I took you as a city type.'

'I visit too many cities as part of my job. My mother lives on the  other side of the island and I bought this place when she fell ill a  couple of years ago.'

'Is she okay now?'

'Fine. Fitter than I am.'

Miller's lips twisted into a faint smile. 'Well, it's lovely here.  Peaceful.' She glanced out over the lawn towards the beach and he caught  the nervousness in her eyes. 'But I should probably be heading back  home.'

Her lips were still kiss swollen from last night, and he noticed a  slight red mark from where his beard growth had grazed her neck. He'd  have to be more careful of her soft skin, though some primal part of him  was pleased to see his mark on her.

'It's seven in the morning. Are you sore?'

She coloured prettily. 'That's personal.'

'Sunshine, it doesn't get any more personal than my mouth between your legs.'

She gasped. 'You can't say that!'

She looked mortified, and for some reason her reaction pleased him. He  was so used to women preening and posing in front of him that her  embarrassment was refreshing. She hadn't been a virgin, he knew that,  but she wasn't a practised sophisticate either, and one of the things he  loved-hell, liked-about her was that she was so easy to tease.

He stepped closer to her and urged her stiff body into the circle of his arms. 'I've embarrassed you?'

'Yes, but I don't know how.' She gave a deep sigh. 'I should have  expected you to just say what you think. It's one of the first things I  noticed about you.'

She gripped his forearms as if to hold him off, but he'd have none of  it, his thumbs drawing lazy circles over the thin cotton of his robe  covering her lower back, gentling her until she fitted against him as  naturally as his tailor-made jumpsuit.

'What else did you notice?'

'That you had ripped jeans and needed a shave.'

Tino gave a hoot of laughter. 'Sunshine, you are hell on my ego.'

'Your ego is one area I would never worry about.'

She was watching his mouth, and his laughter dried up instantly. 'I  usually start the day with a run followed by a green smoothie, but this  morning I'm going to make an exception.'

Her aquamarine eyes lifted to his, her pupils expanding as he watched. 'What are you replacing it with?'

He enclosed the nape of her neck with his hand, slowly bringing her  mouth to his. 'That depends on the answer to my earlier question.'

She frowned, and he pressed his pelvis into her to facilitate her  memory recall. She smiled, and he felt tightness in his chest.

'Only a little.'

Her answer sent the tightness lower. 'I promise to be gentle.'

* * *

Miller must have dozed, because she awoke to the feel of Valentino  spooning her from behind as he had done first thing that morning. Then  she had slipped out of his bed, because the sensation of waking with his  protective arm draped around her waist, his fingers resting  protectively over her abdomen, had been both frightening and  exhilarating. And now the same feelings were back.

He just seemed to swamp her. His warmth, his scent, her desire to  burrow against him and never leave. It was as instinctive to her as  breathing.

Right from the beginning she'd sensed he would have this intense effect  on her, and wasn't that the reason behind her fear now? Hadn't she  avoided feeling such intense emotions for another person because she  knew better than most how tenuous relationships were? But how could a  playboy racing car driver with a reputation for having a death wish make  her feel so...so safe? So secure? It had to be straight hormones  because otherwise it defied logic!                       
       
           



       

As did her current feeling of wellbeing. Something she hadn't  experienced since before her parents had divorced, she suddenly  realised. And hot on the heels of that little revelation was the  unwelcome understanding that she had been trying to get this same sense  of belonging from her job for years.

On some level that wasn't a total surprise, because she had always  treated work as a second home, but what was newsworthy was that even the  thought of making partner didn't give her quite the same sense of  safety that Valentino did right now.

Confused, and feeling slightly exasperated with her seesawing emotions,  Miller again tried to creep out from under his arm-only this time his  strong fingers spread out like tentacles to cover her whole belly.

'Am I going to have to tie you to my bed to make sure you're still here when I wake up?'

His deep voice was sleep-rough, his warm breath stirring her hair.

Miller stilled, wanting to run and wanting to stay at the same time. In  the end she wasn't strong enough to resist his magnetic pull and  subsided back against his hard body.