Page 32 of One Forbidden Night In Paradise (Hot Winter Escapes)

‘I don’t regret it either.’ He pulled her closer and felt her body shudder as her nipples brushed against his chest.

‘Are you sure? I mean, you didn’t...it wasn’t—’

‘It was.’ Although it had happened faster than anticipated, a sudden, unstoppable quickening of his, like a seam tearing. He couldn’t have held back another second. He hadn’t lost it like that in years, possibly ever. No matter how good the sex had been in his previous relationships, he’d always managed to pace himself so that there was time to put on a condom. But he had lost control with Jemima.

And yet he hadn’t been lying when he said he didn’t have any regrets.

Then again...

His gaze slid hungrily along the curve of her bottom. He’d had sex with her, twice now, so why did he still feel hungry? It made no sense.

Or perhaps it made a kind of limited sense.Yes, thanks to this encounter, one night had turned into one night plus, but it all felt a little rushed; tantalising rather than satisfying. Like being invited back to a banquet only to have all the delectable dishes whisked away after just a few mouthfuls.

And before he got a chance to sample the dessert menu. His gaze travelled over her body to where her nipple was playing peekaboo beneath the hair that had fallen forward across her breast. Next time, he’d make sure they made it to desserts.

Next time?

Confused by the tangle of emotion that thought produced, he leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the shoulder, and then, loosening his arms, he shifted to the edge of the bed.

‘Are you hungry? Because I’m starving.’

Hungry.

Jemima stared at Chase dazedly as he stood up. Her whole body was still quivering inside, tingling from the aftershocks of her orgasm and the stunned realisation that she and Chase had gone from a one-night stand to whatever it was called when you hooked up for the second time, only now he was talking about food.

As he turned towards her she had to force herself not to stare at his beautiful, naked body.

‘I don’t know.’ Frankly, she didn’t care, but Chase was already reaching down to pick up his clothes.

‘Pick something.’ The coolness in his voice scraped against her skin. ‘Gianluca and his staff are all cordon-bleu-trained so they can pretty much knock up anything you want. I’m thinking steak and chips.’

Her head was spinning. She had no idea what was happening. In the past, with her boyfriends, sex had always happened after a couple of dates, more than a couple in some cases. With Chase sex had been the endgame, the finishing line. Only now they’d had sex again.

But what did that mean? Did it mean anything?

She didn’t know the answer to either of those questions. She just knew that the whole point of a one-night stand was that it only happened once and she had messed that up. Just as she always seemed to mess up everything to do with men and relationships. And now she was in a no-man’s-land. Except there was a man and he was half naked.

‘I’ll go tell the galley.’

‘No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.’ She sat up and his gaze flattened into a slant of green. For a split second she stared at him in silence, trying to clear her head, trying to understand the look in his eye. A look that didn’t seem to match the coolness in his voice. It was as if he wanted her but didn’t want her.

He raised an eyebrow. ‘So not steak and chips?’

She felt a tremor of panic. The cabin felt suddenly tiny and claustrophobic and her throat felt suddenly too tight so that it was hard to catch her breath.

This was exactly why she had left last time. The confusion and awkwardness of post-coital interaction. This not being sure what he was thinking. Not being sure what she was even thinking.

‘I don’t care about the steak and chips. I’m talking about this.’ Conscious of her naked body in comparison to his semi-clothed one, she bent down and began picking up her clothes from the floor. ‘You and me. Look, just because we slept together—’

‘Twice,’ he interrupted her quietly.

Her fingers curled into fists. ‘Just because we slept together again doesn’t mean I want to have dinner with you.’

‘You did last night.’

‘That was different. It wasn’t planned,’ she protested.

‘And this was?’ He glanced back at the bed.

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