‘You weren’t interested in a repeat,’ she said stiffly.
‘Because you shut me down.’ He shot her an astounded look. ‘I was respecting your wishes.’ And he didn’t look all that happy about it.
Her heart thundered. He’d thought she’d shut him down? ‘And now?’
‘All bets are off.’
Craving curled through her body. Intense, shocking, explicit want. It was desire for contact, right? Physical closeness because she felt alone. It was just an instinctive, basic need that she was determined to suppress.
‘The situation is what it is, Ettie,’ he added. ‘We might as well make the most of it.’
‘And in your world “making the most of it” is us sleeping together again?’ she jeered bitterly.
‘We do it pretty well.’
Pretty well? Great. For him it had been just as average as she’d feared and he was just using her weakness for him to get what he wanted.
He suddenly chuckled. ‘Oh, Ettie, you’re so transparent.’
Before she could argue he turned her to face him and brushed his lips over hers in the lightest whisper of a kiss. Her breathing faltered—all that tantalising promise was only a breath away. But he didn’t mean any of it.
‘It’s not fair of you to tease me this way.’ She valiantly defended her heart when he lifted his head from hers.
Because he knew, didn’t he, just how overwhelmed she was by his sensuality?
But at her words he stilled. A second after the lift door opened, she found herself with her back against the wall of the lift and he was right there in front of her. Hot, fierce fury unfurled deep and low in her belly at the smoking expression in his eyes.
‘I’m not teasing,’ he muttered.
Leon slammed his mouth over hers—determined to draw out her spark even if it was only because she was aggravated with him. He wanted her fire. He kissed her hard and deep, plundering her softness with a flick of his tongue. The flare within her was instant. Her hunger took him by surprise and unleashed his own. Hell, he’d wanted this and he’d been too long denied. He curled her arms around his neck so he could haul her closer and grind her against the wall. Her fingers twisted and locked in his hair.
The heady relief at having her in his arms again contrasted with the burning desire tightening his body to the point of pain. He was angry she’d held him at bay when she so clearly craved his touch the way he ached for hers. Now he was mad with her. Now he wanted to torment her. To please her.
She moaned as he cupped her breast with a firm, greedy hand. Her nipple strained against her shirt. Her fingers tightened in his hair. She was so hot he lost his head completely, rushing straight back into that insane intensity of all-consuming lust. He’d suffered weeks of being without this. He didn’t know how he’d stood it.
A bell pinged somewhere in the distance. It took him a moment to realise that the lift door had slid open.
‘Oh, excuse me.’
Leon froze and glanced down at Ettie, amused to see her turn bright pink. She hurriedly disentangled her fingers from his hair and craned her head to see who it was talking.
It turned out the lift hadn’t stopped at the basement. He hadn’t even had the brains to push the damn buttons in his haste to touch her. The lift had been summoned by another resident. As a result it had stopped halfway down the building and right now Autumn Welby was staring at them with frank fascination.
‘I’ll wait for the lift to return. Nice to see you’re back, Ettie,’ she said breezily. ‘I’m so glad you’re feeling better.’
Leon glanced again at Ettie, but now she’d gone pale. He tightened one arm around her waist and reached out with the other to push the button on the lift.
‘Ettie won’t be back on the concierge desk for the foreseeable future,’ he said briskly, sending Autumn a dismissive smile.
‘Oh.’ Autumn nodded. ‘Lovely for you, terrible for me.’
The lift doors slid shut again and he looked back into Ettie’s face to see nothing but fury.
‘For the foreseeable future?’ she repeated in a frigid voice. ‘Just like that, Leon?’
Yeah, just like that. He wasn’t about to apologise and he didn’t have the brain to explain it all just yet.
She extricated herself from his arm and folded her own across her chest, all but tapping her foot as the lift swept down to the basement.
‘Everyone will know now.’ She threw him an appalled look as she stomped out into the garage. ‘Everyone will know in minutes.’
‘Ettie, we’re getting married. You’re having my baby.’ He followed her slowly, determined to remain calm and get his head around her response to that kiss. ‘They’re going to find out some time anyway; it might as well be now.’
She drew herself up short and whirled to face him. ‘But it’s so early...’
A horrible thought hit. Was she worried about miscarrying the baby? Was that even a possibility? A surge of protectiveness—and self-condemnation—welled in him. He shouldn’t be pawing her when she needed rest.
‘Everything will be fine.’ He pushed past the hoarseness in his voice and led her to his roadster. He didn’t want his driver for this ride. He needed his own hands on the wheel. ‘You’re fit, healthy, strong.’
And so damn beautiful that all he wanted to do was scoop her into his arms, toss her onto the nearest bed and pick up where they’d left off before they’d been so brutally interrupted. But he couldn’t exhaust her with his selfish lust. He had to put both her and the baby ahead of his own desire. Ettie needed certainty and security. She had too many worries, too many responsibilities. But he’d lift them from her. And while lust might not last, it would get them through this phase until they settled into a long-term arrangement. He could provide her with a lifestyle she’d only ever dreamed about. She’d never have to worry about paying for her own groceries or heating again. She didn’t have to scrimp and save for her sister’s education. She could care for their baby and breathe easily for the rest of her life. Those key points she could never argue against and never beat. He had this situation won and she knew it.
‘You’ll have to get another car.’ She glanced at the Italian two-seater.
He nodded.
‘What about Ophelia’s holidays?’
‘I have plenty of space.’ He didn’t tell her he meant his London home. They weren’t staying at Cavendish House another night. She was to
o uncomfortable and he understood that. They needed privacy. She needed the space to let go of her inhibitions—to scream his name as she came.
Cool it, Romeo. He mocked himself. She was exhausted and overwhelmed and the last thing she needed was him making physical demands on her. He’d won already. He could wait a little longer.
CHAPTER SEVEN
IT TOOK ETTIE only five minutes later to fill a small case with clothes and a few very personal effects from her flat. She went to fetch her coat from where it hung over the back of a chair.
‘Leave it,’ he said. ‘We’ll get you a new one.’
She stiffened, saddened that he’d noticed how worn it was. She cast a last glance around the room. How was it possible that such a tiny apartment could feel so empty? She’d helped her sister learn to read here. She’d made Ophelia’s lunches and cleaned her uniforms. For so long it had been the two of them against the world...
And she wasn’t telling Ophelia about this yet. Not until she’d got control of everything—mostly her emotions.
‘I’ll get the rest of your things boxed up; don’t worry about any of it.’
Don’t worry?
Her mother had fallen for the wrong man more than once. Ettie had made an almighty mistake putting her faith in a guy already... But maybe Leon’s way was right? Maybe it was as simple as writing up the list—the pros and the cons and being cool-headed about it.
He wanted the baby. She came with it. So he’d keep her happy to keep her onside—give her a home, help support her sister. He might even have sex with her if she played her cards right. But even that for him wasn’t emotional. It was a relaxant—a satisfying physical release. An added bonus to the deal they’d made.
Maybe it could be just fun for her too? Maybe she could be more like Leon? He seemed to have it so completely together...
The irony was that everything had been pretty fine—better than it had in ages actually. She’d been making it work in this final stretch of Ophelia’s schooling. But now it felt as if her life had fragmented and all the elements were slipping from her control. She was furious with herself. But she couldn’t quite regret it completely.