“And your mother?”
There was another awkward pause. Her mother’s death had been hushed up but Taina knew that rumors as to what really happened were plentiful. “The launch will mark ten years since her death. And it will be her pieces which will provide the focus of the launch. And so, of course, it’ll be a very special moment for me.” She glanced at Daidan, determined not to let the other woman have even a small victory. “For both of us.” She extended her hand to Daidan who took it and brought it to his lips and kissed it. There was a flash as someone took a photograph.
“As you can see, Milla, it’s going to be very much a family affair,” said Daidan.
Then he looked back at Taina with a warmth as if he’d been touched by her answers. They were only the truth but maybe he hadn’t been expecting the truth. And with just that one look suddenly she thought things might just work out between them.
Daidan opened the door for her and stepped aside. “Dinner went well tonight, I thought. The team seemed very upbeat.”
He watched her enter the apartment which he’d bought after she’d left and look around. “Yes, they were enthusiastic. They’re going to be fun to work with.” She walked up to first one painting and then another and then glanced around the entire space. “These are all new.”
“You didn’t expect me to take your artwork, did you? After you left I put everything of yours, everything of the family’s, into storage.”
“I noticed you kept my mother’s painting of me. It was in the lounge, on the island.”
He shrugged. “Must have escaped my notice.”
“Of course.” She turned back to the new painting and examined it closely. “It’s beautiful.”
He came up behind her and gently touched her shoulders. He hesitated a moment waiting to see her response to his touch. She froze, but only momentarily. Then he heard the slightest moan and he pressed his fingers deeper into her flesh, finding the small knots of tight muscle which revealed the tension she always carried. She tried to hide it but he knew her well.
As his thumbs probed her tense muscles, his fingers swept around her shoulders, stroking and caressing. She relaxed under his hands and leaned against him.
He kissed the side of her neck and, dredging up all his willpower, he stood up straight again. He couldn’t risk losing himself in his feelings of lust.
He turned her in his arms.
“How are you feeling?”
“Tired.” She cocked her head to one side and looked up at him with the sweetest of expressions. It nearly undid his intentions.
“So… you wish to go to bed.”
She smiled, revealing the small dimples either side of her mouth. “I do.”
He took a deep breath. He needed to be clear. “To sleep?”
Her lips twitched and she ran her hand up the lapel of his jacket, pulling back the cloth in a little tug, curling it around her hand. Her gaze roved up and down his face before settling on his eyes. She shook her head slightly. “No, Daidan. I want you to make love to me. Just as you used to.” She sighed. “Close your eyes.”
He narrowed them instead. “Why?”
She smiled. “So suspicious.” She brushed a finger over his eyes and trailed it down his cheek, touching his lips before dropping her hand to her side. “Close them,” she repeated.
With the memory of her finger upon his skin, he did as he was told.
“Do you remember when we first met?”
He closed his eyes more tightly as he recalled that evening. “Of course. I’d only just arrived in Helsinki from Australia to meet your father and I ended up meeting you first. I’d never been anywhere like this and was sitting in the park in the bright light of evening, overlooking the harbor, and then I saw you. You were wearing jeans and a t-shirt and were sitting alone also, listening to the music.”
“And I looked over and caught you staring at me.”
“Of course I was staring at you. I’d never seen anyone as beautiful as you. But it was something more. There was a quality that got to me. Somehow you managed to avoid all my defenses.”
“And then you came and sat down beside me. Tell me what happened next.”
He frowned. “Why? You know what happened as well as I do. It’s almost as if you’re needing some kind of reassurance. Do you?”
She shook her head in denial a fraction too late and he knew, for some reason, she was nervous.
“Tell me the truth.”
She closed her eyes, exhaled a tightly held breath and looked away. “You’re right. I do feel kind of nervous. Stupid really.”
He shrugged. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. But Taina, we don’t have to make love tonight, or tomorrow. We can wait until you’re ready. There’s no hurry.”