“Understand?” Her voice grew louder. “Understand? That you left me? Let me think you dead while I grieved for you all this time?”
And now it was his turn to be angry. “Grieving? You’re the one who moved on, not me.”
“Moved on? If I’ve moved on, it’s because I had no idea you were alive. Only you had the knowledge that we both still graced this planet.”
He knew he had no right to demand anything, but now that he held her in his arms, he couldn’t let her go and his mind searched for ways to convince her to stay. “At least my heart has been with no one but you.”
Her hands stilled and her green eyes pierced his. “All this time…you’ve not held an affection for another woman?”
He knew his mistake, but his lips clamped shut as he stared down at her. The truth was, he hadn’t. At the age of four and twenty he was still a virgin. He’d not been able to bring himself to lie with another woman. But revealing that to Rebecca was foolish. She shouldn’t even know he was alive. She definitely could not know that he still loved her with every piece that remained of his heart. “Bec,” he said, trying a different angle. “Please understand. There are dark forces at work, and I can’t allow you to become involved.”
“You gave up the right to tell me what I can and can’t do when you died,” she said, her chin taking on the stubborn angle that she’d used since the age of fourteen. Blast, he wanted to kiss his way down that jaw and along the elegant column of her neck.
“As soon as I’ve eliminated any threats, we can talk again. But until then,” he said, taking a step back, “you have to stay away, Bec. I can’t have you hurt too.” He didn’t dare call herloveagain.
And then he took one more step…
But he should have remembered that he’d taught her how to subdue an escaping villain.
In an instant she dropped down into a crouch, sweeping out one leg despite her skirts, and hooked him behind the knee.
He fell like a sack of potatoes, his back hitting the mausoleum’s granite with a force that stole his breath.
And Rebecca took full advantage, scrambling up his body until her knee was pressed to his throat. “You’re not going anywhere. Not until I get a far better explanation from you.”
The problem for Rebecca was that he’d had six years of training and field work since he taught her that maneuver. And in a second, he’d reversed their positions so that she was on the ground and he was above her, his hands on her hands, pulledabove her head. His thighs straddled hers, their chests pressed together as they both panted for breath.
And her lips. Damn it all to Hades, but her lips were only an inch from his as he stared into the depths of her eyes, losing himself completely.
Every good intention vanished in an instant.
“Bec,” he whispered, dropping his mouth until they were only a whisper…a breath apart. He shouldn’t kiss her.
He needed her to leave him alone so she’d be safe. But it had been so long, and he’d missed her more than words could ever describe. And he’d dreamed of her taste. Would one sip from her mouth really ruin everything?
But even as he’d made up his mind to throw caution to the wind and take what should have been his all this time, another sound stopped him dead…the click of a pistol just behind his right ear.
CHAPTER THREE
Rebecca heardthe sound of the hammer, which snapped her from the haze in which she’d found herself.
She blamed the press of Bennet’s body. The years had only added muscle, and the strength of him stole her breath. And then there was his scent. Even in London, he smelled of leather, and horse, and the outdoors; it was the clean, masculine scent punctuated by that male musk that was all him and made for her.
And his lips. Had they always been so kissable? Their breath had mingled, and she’d forgotten her anger, her worry, her heartache, and she’d just felt…
The way their bodies fit, the way he made all the aches stop when he held her close.
“Get up,” a man growled, and her gaze snapped over Bennet’s shoulder. But it was Dillan who stood over them, his pistol trained at the back of Bennet’s head.
She opened her mouth to explain but in a split second, Bennet twisted, knocking the gun from Dillan’s hand, and then springing like a coiled snake unleashing, he sent Dillan crashing to the ground.
A scream rent the air. Rebecca saw Alexi standing by the willow, her hands pressed together, her eyes wide with fear.
“Bennet,” she snapped as she pulled herself off the ground. “Let him up.”
“Yes, Bennet,” Dillan said, despite Bennet’s forearm pressed to his neck. “Let me up.”
Bennet eased back, taking his arm from Dillan’s neck, but he remained sitting on his chest. “Tell your husband it’s not polite to aim pistols at people’s backs.”