It’s too late already.
She closed her mind to that secret whisper. It didn’t matter. Because it was too late. And because it was too late, there was no denying this now. She lifted her chin and he stepped close to meet her, to cup her jaw in his large, gentle hands. She closed her eyes at the first kiss. She’d missed him. And now she breathed him in—that musky scent, the heat of his body, the surety of his touch.
They barely undressed. They barely had time. There were too many kisses to enjoy and it didn’t matter. In the swirl of light that swept over them every other second, they glimpsed all that was needed—desire, willingness, need.
‘Please,’ she whispered, her arms tight around his shoulders.
He hoisted her into his hold, pressing her back against the wall. Leaning so close she ought to be crushed. Instead she was elated.
‘Don’t be polite, darling,’ he begged. ‘Demand what you want from me.’
‘What word do you want to hear, if not please?’
He groaned against her and then uttered a command. It was blunt and coarse, yet he whispered it gently in her ear. That was him. An impossible contradiction of demand and patience.
‘Do you have any—’
‘Of course.’ He slammed the condoms on the wall beside her head. ‘I wouldn’t hurt you for the world, Jade.’
She was saddened for a second that he considered creating something magical together would be so destructive for them both. But he was right. And then her need overruled everything. ‘Hurry, then.’
Because denying him. Denying herself. Was impossible.
Moments later he groaned her name—a long sigh of searing need and looming satisfaction as he slid home.
‘You’re so ready for me,’ he added in an awed whisper.
‘I’ve been ready all week,’ she confessed.
‘Why didn’t you say so sooner? Wasting time.’
‘You went away.’
‘Ran fast as I could,’ he growled and pressed closer still. ‘Stupid.’
‘Why did you?’
‘Because it’s like this,’ he said simply. ‘Too good.’ He stared into her eyes as if seeing her for the first time in so long. ‘You should get to have all the fun, Jade.’
Did he think so? Right now, she thought so too.
‘Give it to me, then,’ she asked softly.
The flickering light fell on his gorgeous face, his expression burnished in the alternating lamp light and shade of night. They were alone in the world. There was only them, only this. And Jade was utterly lost, utterly captured in his arms, deliciously lost in his intensity, in his tender passion and the brute strength of his body.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
JADE OPENED HER EYES to a beautiful winter’s day—the wide window showing the gorgeous blues of the wide ocean and sky. Last night he’d carried her from the tower straight to this big bed. They’d made love for hours. Not had sex—that was not what it had been for her. She’d loved him as hard as she could for as long as she could stay awake. Now she took in the coastal blue and creamy white paintwork, the warmth of natural wool rugs and the worn wooden floor and that low-burning flame of the cosy fire.
It was perfection. And she told herself she could suppress the yearning inside—she’d suppressed pain for a long time before. She could live with an aching heart. She wouldn’t let it ruin this couple of days.
‘Good morning.’ In just black boxers and nothing else, he was a gift.
But he’d brought her coffee too; she could smell the invigorating strength of it and see the steam curling from the blue mug.
‘Merry Christmas,’ she whispered, curling her toes at the sight of him.
‘Shh.’ He bent and gently silenced her with a touch of his finger to her lips. ‘Not yet.’
‘No?’ She frowned.
He shook his head and laughed. ‘First we start with an Easter egg hunt.’
‘A...what?’ She raised herself up on two elbows as he sat on the edge of the bed beside her.
‘Easter egg hunt.’ He looked at her blandly.
‘You...’ She cocked her head to study him more closely. ‘It’s Christmas.’
‘Yeah, but I figure, if you didn’t really get a Christmas, I bet you didn’t get Easter either. Or Halloween. Obviously not Valentine’s Day...’
‘Obviously...’ Her heart thudded and she couldn’t help but slide into the warmth of his smile.
‘So. We might not do them in the exact right order...but an Easter egg hunt.’
His playfulness astounded her. So did the lighthouse’s cottage. In the course of the hunt for gold-foil-wrapped chocolate decadence, she discovered the other decorations gilding the beautifully refurbished cottage. So many decorations. There was Christmas in the kitchen. Valentine’s in the bathroom—champagne and a giant heart balloon above the bath, which had that amazing view across the ocean. She peeked in to discover Halloween in the study with a witch’s hat and a cauldron and a carved pumpkin jack-o’-lantern on the side table next to a plush reading armchair. At each of these small decorated settings sweet treats were stationed. The effort and thought he’d gone to put a lump in her throat.
‘Alvaro...’
‘Silly, I know.’
‘Not silly.’ She faced him and slung her arms around his neck. ‘I love that there are themed snacks in every room for us to refuel.’
‘Holiday candy can’t be beaten.’ He tugged her closer. ‘And I’m glad you got my plan. Season’s Eatings.’
But she didn’t eat. She kissed him. Lazily and playfully and with such sweet gratitude—showing rather than saying how his gesture made her feel. He’d put in so much effort. Already the fires were lit in the bedroom, kitchen and study, making the whole cottage gorgeously warm.
‘This must have taken you ages.’ She hugged his arm as she gazed around again in absolute awe.
He laughed. ‘I’d love to take the credit, but it only took me a few phone calls. I have a person who checks on the place and he got a party company to deck it out. I had to hide most of it from you last night.’ He shot her a look. ‘I paid them very well given it is the holiday season, but they didn’t seem to mind.’
‘I bet they had a blast.’ Who wouldn’t want to come to this magical place?
After the hunt, as they snacked on the Easter eggs they’d found, he pointed out the two stockings hanging on the Christmas tree that she’d not yet noticed.