Powerful and Proud: Beneath the Veil of Paradise / In the Heat of the Spotlight / His Brand of Passion

Disgruntled, she tugged her hand from his. ‘So where are we going, exactly?’

Chase took her hand back, folding her fingers in his once more. ‘I’ll show you.’

They walked through the palms for a few more minutes, wending their way through the drooping fronds, the ground sandy beneath their feet. Then Chase stopped, slipping his arm around Millie’s waist to draw her to his side. He did it so easily, so assuredly, that she didn’t even think about any awkwardness as her leg lay warm against his, his fingers splayed along her hip.

‘Look.’

She looked and saw a perfect little pool right there in the middle of the trees, a tiny jewel-like oasis, its surface as calm as a mirror. Millie knelt down and cupped the water with two hands; it was clear and cool. She glanced up at Chase. ‘It’s fresh?’

‘Yep, fed by an underground spring, I think.’ She shook her head in wonder, amazed that such a tiny island would have a source of fresh water. ‘Drink,’ Chase said. ‘I’ve drunk it before, it tastes great. You could sell it for five bucks a bottle in the city.’

She took a sip, suddenly self-conscious at how Chase was watching her. When had taking a drink of water become sensual? Provocative?

‘You know what the most amazing thing is, though?’ he said, and she sat back on her heels.

‘What?’

‘You’ve been walking around in your underwear for most of the day and you haven’t even noticed.’

She let out an embarrassed little laugh. ‘And, now that you’ve reminded me, I’m going to notice.’

He grinned. ‘Actually, what I was really going to say is that a couple of hundred years ago there were some shipwrecked sailors on a little atoll just a few hundred yards away, without any fresh water. They didn’t discover this place and they died of thirst.’

She dropped her hands. ‘That’s awful.’

‘I know. If they’d just tried swimming around a little bit, or even making a raft or something, they might have survived.’ He shook his head. ‘But they were just too scared.’

Millie narrowed her eyes. ‘And I’m supposed to make the connection, right?’

He stared at her in exaggerated innocence. ‘Connection?’

She stood up. ‘If those sailors had just been a little more adventurous, they would have survived. Really lived. All they had to do was swim a little farther than they were comfortable with.’

‘I don’t think they could swim at all, actually. Most sailors back then couldn’t.’

She folded her arms. ‘I don’t need the morality tale.’

‘It was obvious, huh?’

‘Like a sledgehammer.’

‘And I made the whole thing up to boot.’

She let out a huff of outraged laughter. ‘You did?’

‘No, I didn’t. It’s actually true. Well, a legend around here anyway.’ He grinned and Millie didn’t know whether to throttle him or kiss him. She felt like doing both, at the same time.

‘You’re unbelievable.’

‘So I’ve been told.’

His gaze rested on her like a heavy, palpable thing, assessing, understanding. Knowing. She drew a breath.

‘Look, Chase, I know I’m uptight and you think I need to relax. I probably seem like a joke to you.’

‘You don’t,’ Chase said quietly. ‘I promise you, Millie, this is no joke.’

She looked away, discomfited by the sudden intensity in his voice. ‘I don’t want to be your project,’ she said quietly. ‘The reckless playboy teaches the uptight workaholic how to relax and have fun. Shows her how to really live.’ She bit her lip hard, surprised by the sudden catch of tears in her throat. ‘That isn’t what I want from you.’

Chase took a step closer to her. ‘Then maybe you should tell me what you do want.’

She forced herself to meet his gaze. ‘Mind-blowing sex, remember?’

‘I remember. And I remember the deal we made. One week, and you give me everything.’

He’d come closer, close enough so she could feel the heat of him, inhaled the scent that she was starting to realise was just Chase. Sun and musk and male. She drew a shaky breath. ‘I don’t know how much I have to give.’

He touched her chin with her hand, his fingers like a whisper against her skin. ‘Someone hurt you. I get that. But this can be different, Millie.’

She shook her head, swallowed the hot lump of tears. ‘No one hurt me, Chase. Not the way you think.’

‘No questions about the past, I know,’ he said, the hint of a smile in his voice. ‘And this week isn’t meant to be some lesson. It’s just us—enjoying each other.’

Her breath came out in a soft hiss. ‘OK.’

He stroked her cheek, and she had to fight not to close her eyes and surrender to that little caress. ‘And I enjoy seeing you open up like a flower in the sun. I like seeing your face surprised by a smile.’

‘Don’t.’

‘Is that scary, Millie? Is that out of your comfort zone?’

She swallowed. ‘Yes.’

His other hand came up to cradle her face, just as he had last night. Had it only been last night? She felt as if she’d known this man for years. And he knew her.

‘How long has it been,’ he asked, ‘since you were happy?’

‘Two years.’ The answer slipped out before she could think better of it. ‘But really longer. Two years since I’ve known.’ She stared at him, knowing he was drawing more from her than she’d ever intended to give, and also knowing that she wanted to give it. One week. For one week she wanted intimacy. Physical, emotional, intense. All of it. All in.

Chase was gazing back at her, his expression both tender and fierce, and then slowly, deliberately, he dipped his head and brushed his lips with her own.

A soft sigh of surrender escaped her as her lips parted underneath his. His lips were all the things she’d thought they would be: soft, hard, cool, warm. And so achingly gentle.

He brushed his lips across hers a second and third time, like a greeting. Then he touched his tongue to the corner of her mouth, and then the other corner, as if he were asking her how she was. A wordless conversation of mouths. Her lips parted wider, accepting. I’m good.

He deepened the kiss, his hands tightening as they cradled her face, and Millie’s hands came up to bunch on the bare skin of his shoulders. Yet even as sensation swirled through her another part of her was stepping back and analysing everything.

His hands felt bigger than Rob’s. His body was harder. His kiss was more demanding and yet more gentle at the same time. More assured. Yet could she even remember the last time she and Rob had kissed? That last day, all she’d had were harsh words, impatient sighs...