Page 74 of 2 Books in One Bundle

Perhaps he should have bargained with her for the information, but he didn’t even think about it. ‘I have a few different houses in different places. But I come back to Iceland a lot. I like the isolation. The landscape is so wild and untamed and primal, and I like that too. Nature can’t be tamed, all you can do is sit back and watch it with awe.’ He smiled. ‘It also has the gift of putting one’s own problems into perspective.’

‘Problems?’ Amusement danced in her eyes. ‘Youhave problems? Please, what problems could the great and terrible Orion North have?’

The heaviness in his chest shifted again, gathering tighter. She was teasing him, with laughter in her blue eyes as she relaxed in the seat next to him, and she was just so...beautiful.

He almost couldn’t look at her, the urge to grab her and pull her into his arms nearly overwhelming him. In fact, it shocked him how tenuous his control was. If he wasn’t careful, the moment they landed, he reallywouldgrab her. He’d take her upstairs and rip her clothes off before she’d even had a chance to take a breath.

But he’d already decided he wasn’t going to do that, and not just with a kiss either. When they slept together again, it would be because she wanted him, because she’d asked for it, because she’d given herself to him. It wouldn’t be because he’d taken it.

So he forced away the tight feeling and gripped his control. ‘Why, none, of course,’ he said. ‘Men like me don’t have problems.’

The words must have come out less casual and more bitter than he’d intended, because she gave him a worried look. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that you didn’t.’

He was being ridiculous. The only problem he had was her. Everything else had been relegated to a past he no longer thought of.

So he gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile and said, ‘No need to apologise. My problems are purely of the business kind and aren’t very interesting I’m afraid.’

But the worried crease between her brows didn’t disappear. She opened her mouth to say something, then, clearly thinking better of it, shut it again. And as he watched, the excitement and the amusement died slowly out of her eyes, the glow in her cheeks fading.

You did that. You ruined it.

It made him feel suddenly as if he was back in the hallway at Cleo’s place, watching Luke’s family sing ‘Happy Birthday’, his heart burning with the knowledge that if he wanted to be part of Luke’s life, no matter what he did, it would involve throwing a bomb in the middle of Luke’s happy little family and blowing it to smithereens.

He hadn’t been able to do it. He hadn’t been able to rip his son’s life apart, purely to heal his own pain.

You never bring happiness to people, do you?

That didn’t matter. He didn’t need to bring happiness to people. Happiness didn’t interest him. The satisfaction he got from his business, the thrill of the chase and then the intellectual stimulation involved in stripping away the broken parts of a company to find the productive core was all he needed. That’s where he got his enjoyment. He pruned away the deadwood so the tree could grow, cut out the scar tissue so the patient could get better.

That was all he needed from life. That was what made him content.

Happiness required you to care and he was done with caring.

He decided he was better off not saying anything after that and so he stayed quiet for the rest of the flight back to the lodge.

Once they were back, he helped Isla out of the helicopter and into the lodge, then he took himself off to his office, needing some distance.

Or at least he tried to.

They were in the entrance way, having divested themselves of their protective gear, and he was just on the point of striding down the hall, when Isla put a tentative hand on his arm.

He stopped dead, her light touch holding him as surely as iron chains. He had a T-shirt on and unfortunately it meant her skin was against his, burning like the flow of lava they’d seen not a couple of hours earlier.

‘Did I...? Did I say something?’ she asked hesitantly. ‘In the helicopter? If I did, I’m sorry—’

‘No.’ The word was sharp but he couldn’t moderate his tone. ‘You didn’t. It was nothing.’

‘But you—’

‘Isla.’ He turned around and looked down at her, letting her see the heat in his eyes. It granted her more power than she should have to reveal the extent of the effect she had on him, but she had to know. He wouldn’t break his vow over something as meaningless as physical desire, however he wasn’t in the mood to make it harder for himself than it already was. ‘I wouldn’t touch me if I were you. Not right now.’

Her gaze widened as it searched his, a flush of colour in her cheeks. ‘Orion, I—’

‘I don’t want to take it,’ he interrupted yet again, because he had to end this little scene right now and with the truth. He didn’t want to hurt her if he could help it. ‘I don’t want to take you, do you understand? I want you, but if sex happens between us again, it will only be because you asked for it. I want it to be a gift you give me. But if you keep touching me like that, if you keep getting close to me, I might just change my mind and take it anyway.’

Her lush mouth opened, but he didn’t want to stand here with her so close, discussing sex. He’d said his piece and his control was already hanging by a thread.

He needed to find it again.

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