to hip, there was no denying he was as powerfully aroused as she. Tension built in her body, coiling tight as he deepened their kiss and coaxed her lips open with his probing tongue.
He tasted of fine wine and illicit, unspoken promises. Promises that made her clench her thighs together against the swell of desire that rippled through her body before centering at the core of her belly. She rocked her pelvis against him, the movement a futile attempt to assuage the pressure building inside of her. Instead, it only incited her further. Anna kissed him back with a passion she’d never unleashed before, meeting his tongue with her own, letting him know that she was no innocent bystander in this assault on her senses.
She lifted her hands from his chest, sliding them upward, over his shoulders and the strong column of his neck, and burrowed her fingers in his dark hair, holding him to her as his lips devoured hers, as hers did his. She pressed her body against him, her nipples taut and sensitive against the lace of her bra, her breasts aching for his touch.
The call of a night bird punctuated the air, its unfamiliar sound bringing Anna back to her surroundings. Bringing her mind back to the task she’d been sent here to execute.
She untangled her fingers from Judd’s hair, and let her hands drop to her sides once more. Their kiss, when it ended, was more bittersweet than she’d imagined, the loss of his caress felt deep inside. Judd rested his forehead against hers, his eyes still closed, his lips moist and slightly parted on an uneven breath. It would be so easy to kiss him again but she knew that if she did, it wouldn’t stop there. Not with this conflagration that had ignited between them.
A kiss, a good-night kiss, was all it should have been and yet it had escalated into so very much more. She wasn’t in a position to let that happen. She didn’t dare explore this further, not without some truths between them, and she wasn’t ready to tell Judd exactly what she was here for just yet.
The atmosphere between them was filled with possibilities, yet Anna knew she could choose only one. To say good-night and to let Judd go back to the main house.
“Is this how you say good-night to all your guests?” she asked, in an attempt to lighten the mood that swirled around them.
His lips quirked in a half smile and he lifted his head. “No, only you.”
Three words. So simply spoken. The expression in his eyes so honest it went straight to her heart. She clamped down on the feeling, fighting it back so she wouldn’t succumb to the lure of the invitation in his gaze. Or to the physical plea that thrummed through every particle of her body.
Her mouth dried. She had no idea of how to respond to him without it sounding careless and glib.
“It’s okay, Anna,” he said, as if sensing her quandary. “It was only meant to be a simple good-night, nothing more. Unless you want it to be?”
“I … I can’t. I—”
“Don’t worry,” he interrupted. “I’m nothing if not a patient man. And you’re worth waiting for. But I promise you this—sooner or later we will make love, and when we do, it will be unforgettable.”
His words left her speechless. Unforgettable? Oh, she had no doubt that sex with him would be off the Richter scale. She’d never been into casual encounters, not that anything about Judd Wilson was casual. For him, though, she might have considered it if he hadn’t been Charles’s son.
Judd pressed his lips against her cheek, almost at the corner of her mouth. All she had to do was turn her head ever so slightly and she could let this lead to its natural and, no doubt, very satisfying conclusion. But she held firm and felt Judd’s unspoken acceptance of her refusal.
“I’ll pick you up in the morning about nine,” he said, letting her go and taking a step away. “Sleep well.”
She watched him leave, his long legs eating up the distance along the wide track that led back to the main house. When he was out of sight, she finally let her body sag against the door frame.
Just hours ago, she’d arrived in Australia with one goal in mind—to convince Judd to come with her to New Zealand and reunite with his father. She still wanted—needed—to achieve that goal, but another need was taking over. A need to make the most of her time with Judd, to follow through on the attraction between them and see where it led.
But she knew she couldn’t give in. So much rested on how Judd reacted when he learned why she’d come. If things between them got out of hand and he learned the truth too soon, she could inadvertently ruin all of Charles’s hopes for reconciliation. She couldn’t bear the thought of letting him down like that. Even if it meant closing the door on any chance to explore the sizzling attraction between her and Judd.
Her fingers fluttered to her lips. She could still feel him, still taste him. And God, she still wanted him. How on earth was she going to get through an entire day in his presence without giving in?
The V8 engine of his Aston Martin Vantage roadster purred as Judd drove slowly along the private road that led toward Anna’s cottage. A quiet smile of satisfaction played across his face—a total contrast to the frustration that even now held his body deliciously taut with expectation.
He hadn’t felt this depth of attraction to a woman in a very long time. Actually, to be completely truthful, he’d never felt quite this level of need in relation to anyone else before.
Today was going to be interesting, very interesting indeed. And tonight? Well, that had the potential to be even better.
The faint burr of his cell phone distracted him. A quick look at the caller ID saw him ease his car to a halt and press a button on his hands-free kit to respond.
“Good morning, Mother. I didn’t expect to hear from you this early.”
Cynthia didn’t waste any time on pleasantries. “I know where she’s from.”
“Who? Anna?”
“Who else? I was certain she looked familiar, and now I know why. I knew her mother. She worked at Wilson Wines. She was just an office dolly back then—flirted outrageously with the traveling reps. She left when she married one of them, pregnant of course, but I always suspected your father had his eye on her. About three years after we got here I heard that when her husband died, Charles employed her as his housekeeper—like anyone expected that was the truth.”
Judd tensed. Every time Cynthia mentioned Charles Wilson there was a tone to her voice that set his teeth on edge.
“Did you hear me, Judd?”
“Yes, I heard you. What do you expect me to do about it?”
“Well, confront her, obviously. Her mother was living with Charles, ergo, so was Anna. Find out what she’s doing here, because I’d wager she isn’t here on holiday. It has to be something to do with your father.”
He hated to admit it, but his mother could be right. Ever since they’d met, he’d suspected that Anna was hiding something. And the way she’d looked at him right at their first meeting was as if she was searching his face for a resemblance to someone. Had she been comparing him to his father? He stilled the curl of anger at that thought and at the possibility that his family might be being used by Charles Wilson again. Instead, he channeled his heated emotions into a tool to hone his thinking.
“I’ll deal with it. Don’t worry.”
“I knew she was trouble the second I laid eyes on her,” his mother continued. “She’s probably working for him, you know. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised, if she’s anything like her mother, if she is warming his bed. He always did prefer younger women.”
His mother’s words were acid in his ears. Cynthia had never let go of the bitterness she felt toward the man she’d left behind in New Zealand. He could still remember the first day