Aerin ran one of her hands through her hair, part of her up-do tumbling from its restraining clip. It was only as she put her hand back in her lap that she saw it was shaking. ‘Oh, Drake, I don’t know what to say. I want you to tell me everything, but I understand how awfully painful that must be for you. I can’t get my head around what you’ve told me so far. I don’t know how you’ve managed to cope with such a terrible situation. God, you were only fifteen...’
Drake changed gears to drive up a long, wooded driveway that led to a cottage on the top of a hill. The cottage was bathed in moonlight, the loch below it past the dark looming shadows of the woods picture-postcard perfect. A light breeze crinkled the surface of the water like a bolt of silver silk.
Drake’s forehead was as crinkled as the loch, his eyes focussed on the driveway, his hands clenched on the steering wheel. His jaw locked. He brought the car to a stop in front of the stone cottage that was larger than it first appeared. He turned off the engine and released a long breath and turned to look at her in the moonlit darkness.
‘Thank you.’
‘For what?’
‘For not hounding me for more information,’ Drake said.
Aerin moistened her lips again. If only he knew how much she wanted to. But she was not a pushy person by nature and understood people had to be ready to reveal things. They had to develop a level of trust. They had to feel ready to share such sadness with a safe person. A trustworthy and safe person. But it saddened her to think not her even her brother, Tom, knew the full story. What did that say about her brother? Or was it that Drake didn’t allow himself to trust anyone? That he didn’t feel safe with anyone? ‘I guess if you really wanted to tell someone, anyone, you would have done it by now.’
Drake reached out his hand and picked up one of her loosened strands of hair that had fallen from its up-do. ‘You’ve let your hair down.’ There was a wry quality to his tone and a twist to his mouth that made him all the more attractive. So attractive, she mentally ticked number one of her soulmate checklist:tall, dark and handsome.
Aerin couldn’t keep her gaze from drifting to his mouth. She sucked in a shuddery breath and was suddenly conscious of the close confines of the car. She could smell the citrussy tang of his aftershave—a smell that was so tantalising to her senses she could feel herself melting. She could smell the warm minty freshness of his breath. Could feel the thrum of desire beating between her legs and wondered if he was feeling the same.
His eyes darkened to pitch and his head came down, his mouth covering hers in a brief kiss that was gossamer-soft. But as he lifted away, his lips clung to hers as a silky cobweb did to a dry surface. He gave a muttered groan that sounded like a curse and covered her mouth once more. Aerin breathlessly submitted to the commanding stroke of his tongue, her lips parting on a sigh, her heart thumping with delight, her arms snaking around his neck, her fingers playing with the thick strands of his closely cropped hair.
The kiss went on and on, sending shivers of reaction down her spine. Something about the darkness outside tinged with silvery moonlight gave it a magical quality, as if Aerin had stepped into a fairy tale. She was swept up in the moment, enjoying the roughness of his skin against her face, enjoying the more and more urgent sound of his breathing, the strengthening of his hold, as if he never wanted to let her go.
Drake’s hands came up to cradle both sides of her face in a touch so gentle it made her heart squeeze. He angled his head to deepen the kiss, another deep, rough groan sounding in his throat. Aerin responded by meeting his tongue with hers, playfully dancing and duelling until her blood was simmering with need.
He pulled away to gaze down at her in the semi-darkness. ‘I didn’t bring you all the way up here to seduce you.’ Another wry twist to his lips and he added, ‘But kissing you is becoming a bit of an addiction, I’m afraid.’
Aerin traced her fingertip around the contour of his mouth with a feather-light touch. ‘I guess there are worse addictions, right?’ She tried to keep her tone playful but all she could think about was wanting his mouth back on hers.
‘Yes.’ Drake put her from him and opened the car door and a blast of chilly air entered the car.
But even so, Aerin still burned for him deep in her feminine core. His passionate kiss had stirred her senses to life and she realised she wanted more than his kisses. Much more. But how could she ask him to be her lover when he wasn’t interested in settling down in the future? Wouldn’t that be compromising on everything she had written on her checklist? Her plan for her life. She wasn’t the type of person to have flings and that was all it could ever be between them because that was the only type of relationship he ever had. Wasn’t it naïve of her to think he might change for her?
Within a few minutes, they were inside the quaint two-storey cottage. Drake carried in their bags and placed them in each of the two bedrooms, while Aerin set to making a warm drink in the kitchen. She heard the movement of Drake’s firm tread upstairs and her mind wandered... The cottage was a lovely place to spend time with a lover. So cosy, so private, so intimate. He had seemed to organise the booking of it with incredible speed. Had he brought someone else here in the past? Or did he or a friend own it? Had he brought her here because he could not bear the thought of spending the night in the same room as her back at the reunion hotel?
Aerin heard him come back down the stairs and then enter the sitting room. She had noticed a fire had been laid in the hearth on her quick tour around when they’d first arrived. She carried two drinks on a tray and entered the sitting room, where Drake was kneeling on one knee in front of the fireplace, frowning at the now flickering flames.
He glanced over his shoulder as she came in, his frown relaxing on his forehead, but she could still see a shadow of it in his dark eyes. ‘Thanks for making the drinks. I’ve put you in the room overlooking the forest. It’s the only bedroom with a lock on the door. I’m further down the hall.’
Aerin set the tray down on the table situated a metre or so in front of the fireplace, near the twin sofas. ‘You think I don’t trust you?’ If only he knew it was herself she didn’t trust. He had awakened needs in her she hadn’t known she possessed, or at least not to that intensity. His kisses had stirred her into blazing heat like the fire he had just lit in the fireplace.
Drake straightened from in front of the hearth and then took one of the mugs from the tray on the coffee table, his expression inscrutable. ‘I’ve been around people most of my life who say one thing and do the complete opposite. I want you to feel one hundred per cent safe with me.’
She took her own mug and sat cross-legged on one of the sofas. ‘I do, Drake.’ Her voice came out softer and huskier than she’d planned. She toyed with the handle of her mug and then added, ‘Have you brought a lover here in the past? You managed to book it at short notice, so I thought maybe you either owned it or were familiar with it from previous visits.’
One side of his mouth tilted wryly. ‘I do own it but I haven’t brought anyone here before. I’ve only had it a few months.’ He put his mug on the mantelpiece and added, ‘It’s one of several secluded properties I’ve bought for a women’s shelter charity I set up a few years ago.’
Aerin cradled her mug between her hands, unable to take her eyes off his face that was so enhanced by the flickering flames of the fire behind him. He looked like a hero out of a Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë novel—inscrutable, darkly handsome and intriguing. ‘So, it’s used as a shelter for women and children who need to escape their violent partners? But it’s so incredibly isolated. Wouldn’t that be scary for a woman in fear of her life?’
‘It’s not as isolated as you might think. The local police are on speed dial on the security pad over there.’ He pointed to the security system panel she had noticed in every room but not taken too much notice of before. ‘They would be here within minutes if needed. But this cottage is more of a holiday retreat for families who need healing time after the threat has been taken care of.’
‘You mean once the perpetrator is in custody?’
‘Yes.’
There was a long silence with only the sound of the flames flickering in the fireplace and the wind whistling outside.
Drake had turned back to stare at the fire and it gave Aerin a chance to study him again. He was frowning but in a brooding sort of way, as if some memories were troubling him. Memories triggered by their conversations in the car earlier and now. But how could she press him for more details of his background without appearing insensitive? He had told her repeatedly he didn’t want to discuss his past.
Aerin leaned forward to put her mug down on the coffee table. ‘Drake... I think it’s amazing how much you help people. I had no idea you’d set up such a wonderful charity. I have to admit, I found your choice of legal speciality in prenuptial agreements a bit off-putting, a little cynical on your part. But I guess you’ve seen first-hand how difficult it is for women who have been financially disadvantaged in a divorce or break-up.’