A Bed of Broken Promises Read online

  Her bedroom was small. She’d given the largest room over to Maxie a couple of years back, so that it would accommodate his toys and growing collection of Max Power spy novels. Little children needed space to be children, and Katie tried to keep the rest of the building free of the clutter that generally attached itself to almost six year olds.

  While her own room was just large enough for her double bed, she’d decorated it tastefully, with pure white bed linen and some bright green throw cushions. The view from the dormer window above the bed showed pure ocean, or it did by daylight. The walls she’d hung with black and white photographs she’d taken herself. Some whilst at university, many since then. Maxie as a baby, a toddler, on holidays with Grandma Rose. Others showed landscapes and strangers’ faces, caught at a moment of significance in their own lives. Katie liked those ones best, because that fleeting moment of drama could be caught, and made to last, even when the situation has cleared up, like a storm being blown out to sea.

  On the threshold of her room, she felt suddenly nervous. She turned to face the powerful man behind her and when their eyes met, she felt almost as though she’d been sucker-punched. Her stomach rolled with anticipation; all doubts were forgotten. She smiled at him, tentatively, but he didn’t return the gesture. His eyes flashed with pure, red-hot need, and she swallowed convulsively. She knew if he touched her, she’d go up in flames, and so she took a step backwards into her room, gesturing for him to follow.

  “It’s small but…” she shrugged uncertainly, “I like it.”

  She wasn’t sure he’d even heard. He didn’t acknowledge her words. His dark head was bent, while he concentrated on noiselessly closing the door. In her bedroom, he seemed somehow more imposing. She knew it was a ludicrous notion; a person’s size or shape was not really relative, was it? But he was so powerful and dark, so brooding and warm, that she felt he took total control of the space just by being in it.

  She watched, mesmerized, as he crouched down to remove his dark, leather shoes. If she’d known anything about men’s fashion, she would have realized that they were bespoke leather creations, molded to his foot by an Italian craftsman renowned for his leather work, and that those same shoes cost a small fortune. But she didn’t. She only had eyes for him. His body was making her own thrum with need, and he wasn’t touching her. It was the knowledge of what would come. Of what they’d agreed to, that set her aquiver. Moist heat pooled between her legs and she dug her nails into her palms to try to stop the raging appetite.

  When he stood again, his feet now bare, his face showed his own answering anticipation. But he didn’t touch her, still. “You’re nervous.” He said, as she darted her tongue out and traced the outline of her mouth.

  She shrugged. “I told you, this isn’t something I do often. Well, ever.” She corrected with a self-deprecating smile.

  “Then let’s not rush it.” He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her between the triangle space his legs created. “I have another question for you.”

  “More truth or dare?” She asked with a small smile.

  He murmured low in his throat.

  “What’s your question?” She was curious. She wanted nothing more than to go through with a night of passionate love making with this man, and yet she appreciated that he was slowing things down. She wondered if he was giving her a chance to back out. To make sure this was really what she wanted. She fervently hoped that he wasn’t putting her off because he’d lost the desire to sleep with her.

  “Are you lonely?”

  It wasn’t what she expected and it made her feel strangely offended. “I… I have a five year old son. I’m rarely alone.”

  He took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing each of her fingertips and then softly biting the pad of her thumb. “I meant romantically. Sexually. Socially.”

  Color infused her cheeks, making her look even more like Snow White. She let out a long, slow sigh. “Are you lonely?”

  He shook his head slowly from side to side. He was also rarely alone. Since his divorce, he’d surrounded himself by work, and women. Most of them he couldn’t even remember the names of. All of them paled in comparison to Katie Collins. Out of nowhere, he wondered if he’d been waiting his whole life for this moment. He could have laughed out loud at the uncharacteristically indulgent thought. What crap! He didn’t believe in that sort of thing. Fate. Destiny. Love. Forever After. Even when he’d married to Veronica, he’d known it wouldn’t last. Because nothing lasts forever.

  “So why do you think I am?” Her words were carefully removed of any hurt. It was stupid to feel belittled by a perfectly natural question. He had apparently become an expert on her in a very short time and he latched his hands behind her back.

  “I only meant that you’re here, in a small town, on the edge of the ocean, with a small child in your life.” He frowned. “Everything I’ve heard about kids has led me to believe they cripple your social life rather than add to it.”

  “And yet you say you wanted children?”

  “Different when you’re married.”

  She bristled. “Are you judging my lifestyle? Raising Maxie as a single mum?”

  “Hell no!” He swore. “That’s the last thing I’d want you to think. If I’m judging anyone, it’s the bastard who knocked you up and didn’t stick around to help.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “Katie, I think what you’re doing is incredible. Maxie seems like a great little guy, and you seem happy. I only meant that you are the most sexually responsive woman I’ve ever known, and I can’t imagine a life of celibacy has kept you satisfied.”

  Her blue eyes scanned his face. “It hasn’t.” She agreed. “But I would never bring someone into Maxie’s life unless I knew that person would be a permanent addition. He’s a sensitive boy, and I wouldn’t want him to get attached to someone, only to have to say goodbye to them if it didn’t work out. It’s just been easier to avoid that hassle altogether.”

  If they hadn’t already outlined the expiry date on their … whatever this was… he might have taken it as a warning. The mood was getting more serious than he wanted, and aiming to lighten it, he flashed her a bright smile. “I’m a little disappointed you answered the question. Dares are so fun.”

  She pressed a finger into her cheek, pretending to consider it. “We could always just pretend I chose dare.”

  His eyes flared. “Sounds fine by me.”

  “So what’s my dare?”

  “Take off your dress.”

  A shiver of anticipation ran down her back. Keeping her eyes locked to his, she bent down and took the hem of the dress into her fingers. Slowly, still watching him, she slid it up her body, over her breasts, watching as his face showed his appreciation for her near-naked body. Any self-consciousness she might have felt was made impossible by the arc of need that now stretched tautly between them. She tossed the dress to the corner of her room and stood before him in just a pair of lacy briefs.

  His breath caught in his throat. She was perfect. Her skin, so creamy and soft, her body all womanly curves, despite being so slender at the waist he thought he could span his hands around her.

  “This seems a bit lopsided,” her voice was breathless, though she was aiming for humor.

  “You’re right.” Still sitting, his eyes unable to move from her face, he tore off his jumper and shirt, exposing his chest. He saw the moment her eyes fell to the bandage and he winced. For a moment he’d forgotten about the damned scar.

  Katie didn’t ask about it. She wanted to know what the piece of gauze hid, but she wasn’t foolish enough do anything that would prolong their coming together.

  “Pants.” She said shakily. He stood, and now they were toe to toe, she found her fingers lifting and running across his chest, without her consent. His skin was warm, and smooth, with just a spattering of dark hair that ran from the column of his neck, down his muscular chest, to form an arrow above his belt. She gulped as her eyes were drawn towards that part of his anat
omy.

  He unclipped his belt, feeling arrows of desire shoot through him wherever her fingers touched. He hoped he’d be able to hold onto his control long enough to make this memorable for her. He felt like a nervous teenager again, about to ‘do it’ behind the school fields. He removed his pants and kicked them away, finally sans clothing. Just her surprisingly sexy underwear to be got rid of and they’d be naked. He knelt down on his knees, so close to her beautiful feminine heart, and latched his fingers through the waistband. He slid them down as slowly as he could, but he was damned impatient now.

  “Katie,” he whispered hoarsely when they were naked.

  She couldn’t say anything. Her mouth was dry, filled with saw dust, and her heart was pumping so hard that she thought she would fly away. He stood, and pressed his full frame against her. His body was warm despite the freezing cold night, and though her heater didn’t work and her room was like an ice-box, she felt heated from top to toe.

  His erection pressed against her flat stomach and she let out a small breath of passion, before lifting her eyes to his, and inviting him silently to take her. He seemed to understand her unspoken request perfectly, and he scooped her up and placed her gently into the middle of the bed.

  His kisses, all over her body, were both tormenting and amazing. She needed so much more than to be kissed. Having avoided anything romantic since Roberto, her body had now come alive with a need she couldn’t believe was still there.

  He took her breasts into his hands, aching with desire as he felt their roundness and wanted to taste them, taste her, feel her. His body felt energized with the strength of his needs, and though he wanted to prolong it, he couldn’t. There’d be time for slow, exploratory sex. They were both too turned on to wait any longer. Beneath him, the beautiful Katie was moaning at fever pitch, her face flushed, her eyes sheened. He paused just long enough to retrieve a condom from his wallet and put it in place, before joining her on the bed, hovering just at her entrance.

  He felt like he was about to explode, but he heard himself ask, “You sure you want this?” Knowing it would kill him if she said no. He’d never lost control with a woman but he was damned near close.

  “What do you think?” She cried out loudly, tears of frustrated need stinging her eyes. She clamped a hand to her mouth at how stupid she was to make noise – the last thing she needed was for a sleepy Maxie to burst in to find out what all the commotion was about.

  His relief was palpable.

  As he slid his length inside her, Katie had to clamp her mouth shut to stop from screaming out again. She wrapped her legs around his waist, to give him complete access, and she groaned as he took her, thrusting powerfully into her core, making her shake with waves of want.

  As she orgasmed the first time, he thought he had never seen anything more beautiful. Her whole face contorted with sheer pleasure and sensation and he felt an ancient, He-man trill of pride that he’d been the one to make her respond like that. That he had brought her body to the point where she was engulfed in flames.

  The next time she fell apart at the seams, he rode the wave with her, and then he realized that his power over her was not unique at all. She had exactly the same power over her. He came harder than ever before, rocked to the core by the strength of his physical reaction.

  Out of breath, exhausted by mind-blowing sex, he lay beside her, and shut his eyes. For a second, he thought he was dreaming. She was too good for him. So much better than he deserved. And for the first time in a month, he wasn’t thinking about being locked in a basement in Iraq, wondering what he could have done differently to save Bryan as well as himself. For the first time in a month, he felt… like himself.

  * * *

  Katie stretched languidly in her bed, like a pussy cat with a belly full of warmed milk. Memories of the night before danced through her mind and she smiled contentedly. She wasn’t a virgin, but woah, she’d never known sex could be like that. David Trent was mind-blowingly amazing. The way he’d held her, kissed her… the moment he’d finally entered her and she’d felt, ludicrously, like she was home. How could a virtual stranger bring out so much pleasure?

  She thought back to her university days. For a photography major, she was pretty staid compared to her artistic friends. One night stands had never appealed to her. She’d waited until she’d met someone she thought she loved. And what an idiot she’d been to believe his smooth lies! At least David had spelled it out for her before they’d gone to bed.

  She could definitely handle another two weeks of this. She rolled onto her side and propped onto her elbow. The view from her window was one she’d never tire of seeing. The ocean, as far as the eye could see, angry and brooding today, with dark, foaming waves crashing into one another. The rugged coastline ran to the left, and if she squinted, she could see the entrance to the rabbit warren of smugglers cave that had made the area famous.

  “Holy crap!” She jumped up as she realized how much lighter it was than it should have been. “What time is it?” She reached across and snatched up her phone, shocked to see it was more than two hours after her alarm was supposed to have gone off. “No, no, no, no!” She leapt out of bed, knocking her head on the beam of the ceiling in her rush. She swore sharply and ducked into her ensuite. Within minutes, she’d showered and dressed in a pair of jeans and a black sweater – a sort of informal uniform for her days at Wadeford House.

  She took the stairs two at a time and was about to burst into the kitchen when her son’s voice stopped her.

  “Did you meet any real life princes?”

  A rich, throaty chuckle and Katie’s heart turned over. “I did indeed. He was a sheikh, and he wore a long white robe, and had servants who did whatever he wanted.”

  “Woah.” She could tell her son was clearly impressed by this. She guessed David was recounting stories of his time in the Middle East. She wanted to know more about that, too.

  She pushed through into the kitchen, coloring violently as her eyes scanned the dining table that had been the scene of last night’s passion. “Good morning,” she said croakily, not quite able to return David’s inquisitive look.

  “Mummy! Did you know Mr. Trent has been all over the world?”

  “Isn’t that wonderful?” She murmured. On the stove, she could see two frying pans, one with tomatoes and one with eggs. “You’re not cooking breakfast?” She didn’t think she could blush any deeper but she was mortified. “Maxie, go get your school bag. We’re running late today.”

  As soon as Maxie had left, she looked up at Marcus. “I’m so sorry. My alarm didn’t go off. I usually get up at six.”

  Marcus’s good looking face smiled down at her and, with one check to make sure Maxie wasn’t nearby, he leant down and placed a small, quick kiss on the corner of her mouth. “I turned your alarm off.”

  “You … you did?” She frowned. “Why?”

  “Well,” he wrapped his arms around her waist, confounding himself with how easy it was to be intimate with this woman. “As I’m your only guest right now, and I am quite capable of making breakfast myself, I thought you could use the sleep in.”

  She made a noise of frustration and moved to step out of his arms. He felt strangely cold when she did. “David, that’s very kind…”

  “Actually, it’s completely selfish.”

  “Selfish how?” She knitted her brows together, watching him warily.

  “Your energy is a valuable thing. Especially to me.”

  “If you’re implying that you need me to be match-fit for our nocturnal activities, then you’re making a big mistake, buster.” She lowered her voice. “This is my business and I’ve worked my butt off to make a success of it. You might think you’re being helpful but it’s insulting to me. My personal life has never interfered with my responsibilities at Wadeford House.”

  “Hey, hey.” He raised his hands in the air, palms towards her. “I admire the way you do it all yourself. But why not use help while it’s around?”

>   “No way. This is my job. Would your principal let you come in late just because you’d had fantastic sex the night before? That’s not how it works in the real world.”

  Actually, being that he ran his own company, he could pretty much do whatever the hell he wanted. This extended break was a case in point. He made a mental note to check in with his assistant just as soon as he could, to let her know he’d be away a little longer than he’d originally thought. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It was … arrogant of me.”

  She shook her head, surprised by his quickness to apologize. “I know you were trying to do something kind, but this is my job. I take it seriously.”

  He crossed the room and lent down, pressing his lips to her forehead. “And I admire that.”

  She smiled up at him, brightly now. “What are you going to do today?”

  Apart from dealing with the hundred or so emails he’d had blinking at him when he’d turned on his phone that morning… “I’m going to need to buy some clothes. The damned airline’s lost my luggage.”

  “Airline? Aren’t you based in London? Where did you fly from?”

  He swore in his mind at the stupid and uncharacteristic lack of concentration. “I had a last minute change of plans. I flew in yesterday and came straight down here.” He remembered something she’d said the night before. “That’s why I was a couple of days late.”

  “Ah, I see. Well, that’s a nuisance. I have heard that luggage rarely gets lost nowadays, with such great computer tracking. But there’s a nice little boutique in the main street. Probably nothing like you’re used to in town, but it’ll have enough to tide you by. And in the mean time, I’m happy to wash anything for you. I’ll be doing a load just as soon as I get back from dropping Maxie at school.”

  Her son entered the kitchen at that moment, school bag by his side. Katie leapt into their well worn routine, plating up breakfast for the three of them and carrying it into the guest dining room, then putting together a school lunch for Maxie. She listened with one ear to Maxie and David’s conversation, a smile of sensual satisfaction playing at her lips as she continued to remember flashes of last night.