She sensed his body still, accepted one more surging thrust, and with a cry she came apart, clutching at the bedclothes, clutching for him, clutching to keep a hold on a universe that was coming to pieces all around her. He shuddered into her, prolonging her release, sending her spinning even further out of control with his own pulsing energy to a place beyond reason, beyond experience.
She lay in his arms gasping for air as the last waves rocked through her, gradually subsiding. His heartbeat was like a drum, rock steady, pulling her back to normality. It had never been this good. It had never felt that powerful. And there was no question that she’d been wrong.
It wasn’t over between them. No way could you make love like that with a person who meant nothing to you. Even with her limited experience of relationships, that much at least seemed obvious. Loukas must feel something for her. Even if it in no way matched the heart-swelling surge of this new love she felt for him, he had to feel something.
And that knowledge gave her courage. She would tell him. This didn’t have to be a repeat of that night in Yarrabee. Garry had never cared about her. Both of them had wanted different things that night. She’d wanted to finally know what it was like to have a boy interested in you—a boy who thought you were pretty enough to take out and make feel special. But all Garry had wanted was a quick lay.
She shoved the bitter memories back to the past where they belonged. Loukas wouldn’t react the same way—couldn’t react the same way—not after what they’d shared together. And if he did? Her heart rate jerked up a notch. When he discovered she was imperfect, that she was scarred, that she was not the woman he’d thought her to be, would he really accept her then?
She swallowed back her fears. It made no difference now. The time had come.
‘Loukas?’ she murmured, unable to resist the temptation of running her fingers over his muscular chest, through the wiry spring of the dark hairs, around the firm nub of his nipple for what might well end up being the last time.
His hand snared hers, stilling her movements, holding her captive. The suddenness of his action startled her, as did the rough way he abruptly discarded her hand and twisted away, almost wrenching his arm out from underneath her.
‘What is it?’
His voice sounded strangely harsh, as if he’d returned to that dark mood he’d been in earlier, and she felt her courage waver. The way he’d left her side, turning his back on her—so much for taking advantage of the warm afterglow of love. But she couldn’t put it off any longer. She couldn’t keep this secret for ever. And the longer she tried, the more difficult it would become, the more dangerous the possible repercussions.
‘Loukas,’ she repeated softly, steeling herself for the inevitable shock that would follow her revelation. ‘T-turn on the light. I’ve got something to tell you.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
HE ROSE from the bed, bile burning in the back of his throat, the passions of the last half-hour obliterated in the knowledge that he had to act soon if he had any chance of saving his sister.
‘I hope so,’ he tossed in reply, without turning. ‘It’s time someone shed some light on things around here.’ He threw her robe across to the bed automatically, as he’d learned to do the last few nights, acceding to the bizarre code of embarrassment she lived by.
Without looking back he zipped himself into a pair of jeans, and then he stood at the window, watching the reflection from the moon light a path across the water.
He’d known it would come to this since the first moment they’d met. There was no way for them ever to be more than enemies—not in the long run—not with what he had to do. And now, after what his father had told him, now there was no way around it. So why was he hesitating? Why now was he finding it so difficult to do that about which he had no choice?
Because you’re going to hurt her.
He pushed the thought back to where it had sprung from. That shouldn’t be a consideration—it was inevitable that she would be upset, but it had never factored into the equation before. So why now?
‘Loukas?’
He gazed out over the bay, watching the water shimmer under the path of the moonlight while everywhere beyond was black. Zoë had loved the sea. She’d once shone as brilliantly as that slash of light bisecting the water, making everyone and everything around her fade into amorphous shades of grey.