Page 34 of A Diamond for My Forbidden Bride

‘Well, then,’ I said. ‘I shouldn’t need to explain why relaxing my guard with you will never be an option.’

A muscle flicked in his jaw, and he was silent a long moment. Then he said, ‘There’s a reason I call you “little star”. Did you know that? It’s because that’s what you are. You’re not a diamond, Olivia Wintergreen. You’re a star. And stars are made to burn.’

And you’re still burning all these years later. Burning for him.

No, I wasn’t. I’d killed that fire stone-dead and it would never burn again.

‘Let me go,’ I said, pushing at his chest.

His fingers tightened a moment, his gaze getting hot. ‘Are you sure?’

And I could feel it again, the wild chemistry that seemed to have got even more intense now we’d slept together building between us. The hunger gathering inside me despite all the barriers I’d tried to put between myself and it.

Because, no, I wasn’t sure.

There was a part of me that didn’t want him to let me go. That wanted him to hold me tight and keep me close. The part of me that wanted to know more about the man he’d become—a difficult, dangerous, challenging yet fascinating man.

The part of me that wanted to burn.

But I wasn’t going to. He was too tempting, and already I’d forgotten myself enough to surrender to him on the sand. To let him wash me, feed me and hold me in his lap as if I were a child.

I’d had my night of pleasure and it was over now.

‘Yes,’ I said flatly. ‘I’m sure.’

Something flickered in his night-black gaze and for a second I thought he wouldn’t do it. But then his fingers released me and I slid off his lap.

‘What changed?’ he asked, an edge to his voice. ‘What did you do with my Livvy?’

‘I’m not your Livvy, Valentin.’ I turned back towards the villa. ‘And nothing’s changed. It was nice to reconnect, but I have a company to run and a fiancé to get back to.’

‘What? Did you think I was joking?’ His voice was low and somehow menacing. ‘Did you think that sex was all I wanted? That we could sleep together, have dinner and then I’d fly you back home tomorrow?’

I stopped dead, a shudder going through me.

Yes, of course I’d thought that. Perhaps not consciously, but I’d assumed...

He’s not that boy, remember? And he’s dangerous.

But I wasn’t that girl, either, and perhaps I, too, was dangerous.

I turned around, the silk of my tunic brushing over my skin, making me very aware all of a sudden of how I was naked beneath it.

Val had risen to his feet, the rueful, beautiful smile vanishing as if it had never been there. His handsome face had gone hard, a razor’s edge in his black eyes. He still burned—he’d never been cold like Constantine—but this fire was fierce and it was hungry. Like it had been back in the ballroom of the Silvera mansion.

I’d never been more aware that this was the man he was now. That the past fifteen years of his life had clearly been a furnace, tempering him. He was not a man who could be crossed. It was clear he did not like the word ‘no’.

‘Then I’ll damn well learn to fly and take the plane,’ I said, throwing down the gauntlet, because I wasn’t a woman who liked hearing the word no. ‘I’m not your prisoner, Val. And I won’t be told what to do—not by you, not by anyone.

‘You’re not marrying him. I won’t let you.’

‘Really? And how are you going to stop me?’ I lifted a brow. ‘Or are you going to lock me in, the way your father did to you?’

‘He’snotmy father,’ Valentin spat all of a sudden. ‘And I don’t need to lock you in.’ He began to come towards me, striding down the jetty with all that predatory grace; all bright, fierce beauty. Lucifer, the light bringer.

Perhaps I should have run. But I hadn’t run earlier, and I wasn’t going to do that now. Besides, he wasn’t going to hurt me. He was only going to intimidate me into doing what he wanted and, well, he could try.

So I stood my ground, lifting my chin. Letting him see he couldn’t cow me or frighten me into doing his bidding.

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