Page 30 of His Innocent Unwrapped In Iceland

Not finding any answers, eventually Isla hauled herself out of bed and got dressed. Then she found her camera from yesterday and went through the photos she’d taken, pleased with the shots. The stark, wild beauty of the Icelandic mountains and all that fire and ice set something vibrating deep inside her. And what had Orion told her in the helicopter on the way back? He’d spoken about nature’s power and how it put things in perspective.

She’d liked his response. That he, a powerful man supremely in control of himself, could appreciate the untamed nature of the landscape. Not because he wanted to tame it, but because he wanted to get close to it, observe its majesty for himself.

Oh, he was interesting. She wanted to know more of his thoughts on nature and she also wanted to know very much what problems nature put into perspective.

A photo of Orion suddenly popped up on her screen. He was standing on the black rocks, looking at her, a half smile curving his hard, beautiful mouth. His eyes were gleaming in the light from the lava flow and the intensity in his face stole her breath.

He looked fierce, as hard and sharp as the rocks he stood on. As powerful as the volcano that towered over them.

Such a beautiful man, though his wasn’t a conventional beauty. It was something untamed and wild, as primitive as the landscape around him.

He’d given her such an amazing experience, and abruptly she wanted to do something equally amazing for him. Make his gift today one that would surprise and delight him as much as she’d been surprised and delighted the day before.

You know already what you’re going to give him.

Isla put the camera down, her heart thudding. Oh, yes, she knew.

Another night, she decided. He’d wanted her to give him the gift of herself, so she would.

Orion was seated at the table by the time she’d finished dressing and come downstairs in search of breakfast. And once again his presence brought her up short, making her catch her breath.

He didn’t smile at her this morning and he wasn’t sitting with his usual casual posture. He looked tense, his face set in hard lines. ‘Sit,’ he ordered, his deep voice rough sounding. ‘I want to give you today’s present.’

Instinctive irritation at the sharp command prickled over her, but since he didn’t look like he’d slept well, she swallowed her annoyance and did as she was told. They’d had such a lovely day yesterday and she didn’t want to ruin the morning with an argument.

‘You look like you slept as well as I did,’ she observed as she sat down.

He ignored her. It looked like he’d been there a while. An empty plate with a knife and fork arranged neatly on it had been pushed away, a half-drunk cup of coffee at his elbow. ‘My present to you today will be skating on the lake,’ he said shortly.

He’d mentioned that as one of the excursions he’d planned a day or so ago, and then it had sounded fun. Looking at his hard expression now, she wasn’t so certain.

‘Are you sure?’ She kept her voice very neutral. ‘You don’t seem as if you want to go anywhere let alone skating on the lake.’

‘I’m sure.’ He sat back in his chair, his expression still hard. A muscle flicked in his strong jaw, the amber of his eyes darkening, all the bright gold in them gone. He looked as intimidating and ruthless as he ever had.

Was that all because of her? Because he wanted her? Or were there other things at play here? Yesterday, in the helicopter, she’d made that casual comment about his problems and his expression had shuttered in much the same way. Why? Was it because he did have problems and he’d resented her mentioning them? Or was it for another reason? And why did it matter to her?

‘Is this about yesterday?’ she asked carefully. ‘About what you told me in the hallway last night?’

‘No,’ he said coldly. ‘Not everything is about you, Isla.’

Heat crept into her cheeks, a flicker of hurt going through her. She ignored it. ‘That’s not what I meant. I just wanted to know why you’re sitting at the breakfast table looking like you want to break rocks with your teeth.’

‘It’s nothing.’

‘Like it was nothing up in the helicopter yesterday?’

‘Are you really that interested in my moods? I thought you were more interested in your favourite artists.’ There was a hint of bitterness in the words, the way there had been yesterday, and he was radiating frustrated anger. She could feel it pushing at her from across the table like the heat from the lava flow the day before.

‘Are you sulking because I wouldn’t sleep with you?’ she couldn’t help asking, even though she knew confronting him was hardly likely to improve his mood. ‘Is that what this is about?’

For a second he looked so fierce she thought he was going to lose his temper, and it made her own anger rise, pulling at the chains she kept on it. She found herself staring at him almost hoping he would lose it, because she wanted to know what would happen if he did.

He was so controlled, so very in command of himself, and he would have seemed cold if not for that burning intensity in his eyes. There was fire at the heart of him, she realised suddenly. Fire that he couldn’t let out for some reason.

Her heart raced and the strangest anticipation gripped her. And she was back on that volcanic field of yesterday once again, standing on the edge of a lava flow, looking up at the active volcano in terrified wonder as yet more lava flowed down its side.

Yet Orion didn’t explode. Instead, he said. ‘Give me my gift, Isla.’

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