had trouble with. ‘Don’t you ever get sick of living so close to the edge of death?’ she asked quietly. ‘Don’t you ever look at a situation sometimes and wish you could just walk away and leave it to someone else?’
‘No,’ he said, but the shadows in his eyes told a deeper, darker story. ‘Not if I’m the best person for the job. I’m not in the phone book, Maddy. My name is on half a dozen lists worldwide. When someone contacts me it means that they need my particular skill set and they need it fast.
There’s no defence against that. I can’t just say, “Sorry, I don’t feel like working today.” I can’t.’
A warrior’s honour, soul deep and absolute. Duty-bound, forsaking all else.
Hard not to admire such a man.
Madness to love him.
He looked at her in silent enquiry. ‘Another drink?’
‘No, I’m driving.’
‘Ready to head home?’
‘I think I am,’ she said solemnly. ‘I can drop you on the way.’
But he shook his head. ‘That’s not how it works, Maddy. Not with me. I’ll see you home. I’ll see you to your door. And then I’ll find my own way back to Jake’s.’
Chivalry. Cousin to honour. She should have guessed he’d have his share of that too.
The trip home was largely silent after that, as if Luke sensed her withdrawal or her conflict, or both. They made it to the apartment car park and headed for the lift.
Last time in this lift, Luke had been the one to hold back.
This time she hoped to God she would be the one to walk away. They entered the lift and she stared at the ground. If she didn’t look at him, didn’t touch him, and didn’t talk to him, she’d probably be just fine.
The lift rose quickly and then slid to a halt. The doors slid open.
Time to end this madness.
Some sort of farewell comment seemed in order. ‘Goodbye, Luke. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you.’ She hoped she’d made it sound final enough.
‘You forgot something,’ he said.
‘No.’ She risked a glance and cursed her foolishness as warmth suffused her body. ‘No, I haven’t.’
‘Your diamonds,’ he said as he unbuttoned his jacket. ‘Unless you’d like me to send Po round with them tomorrow? Probably not a good idea, though.’
Oh. Right. The diamonds. The ones in his inside coat pocket. Madeline hesitated. Luke shook his head, his eyes dark and knowing. He shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to her whole. ‘I know you’ve decided not to see me again, Maddy. I can see it in your eyes. It’s okay. I’m used to it.’
‘All that honour,’ she said raggedly as she battled with the recalcitrant button and buttonhole. ‘Where did you get it?’
He shrugged and his lips tilted towards a wry smile. ‘Beats me.’
‘We wouldn’t be any good together, you and me.’ The button was stuck. The pocket stayed closed. Where was Po when you needed him? ‘We’re too different.’
‘Who are you trying to convince, Maddy? Me? Or yourself?’
She gave up on the button. ‘I mean, look at you.’ She made the mistake of doing just that and the need inside her soared. ‘You need a woman whose honour can equal your own. A woman with strength enough to let you go when you have to go and do what you need to do. I can’t even manage honour, let alone the strength I’d need to love you.’
‘Tell me something, Maddy,’ he said in that quiet, deadly voice. ‘Tonight, when you and Bruce Yi stopped to talk, just before you reached his business partners. What did you say to him?’
‘Not a lot.’
‘You told him you couldn’t guarantee my or Jake’s co-operation, didn’t you? And you elected out of the deal he was setting up.’
‘It didn’t feel right.’
‘You want to know why?’
Madeline shrugged. ‘An aversion to debt?’
A tiny shake of his head while his golden gaze kept her frozen to the spot. ‘Honour.’
‘It could have gone either way,’ she said raggedly. ‘If it was honour you thought you saw, then I almost abandoned it.’
‘But you didn’t. I don’t see weakness when I look at you,’ he said softly. ‘I see generosity and grace, and I see strength and survival.’ He came towards her then. He came to stand within an inch of her. ‘And I want it.’
The jacked slipped through suddenly nerveless fingers to land on the floor beside her.
‘Trouble is, you have to want me too,’ he said. ‘And seeing as you don’t—’
She didn’t let him finish. Instead she found his mouth with her own, frantic need ruling her as she took what she wanted and drank deeply of this man. All that devastating integrity wrapped within a reckless smile … she wanted it all and to hell with tomorrow.
Luke knew only one response to attack, be it sensual or otherwise. Counter-attack, using whatever weapons he had at hand. He didn’t seek to quell Madeline’s need for his kisses, he grew it until her breath came in gasps between open-mouthed kisses and her hands were buried in his hair. His hands roved where they would. One hand cradling her head and the other at her back, gathering her close, snaking down her spine.
The sweet curve of her buttocks deserved two hands, but by then she’d entwined her arms around his neck and his lips were at her throat, passion riding them both hard as he lifted her up and she wound her legs around his waist.
Her back met the wall, the handrail providing a tiny ledge on which to balance her while her fingers worked frantically to undo the buttons of his shirt and he hiked her dress up to her waist. Luke’s shirt came off, he damn near ripped it off in his effort to accommodate her.
‘This isn’t going to work,’ she whispered, and then her hands were at his chest, and her lips were at his throat and he surrendered completely to his desperate need for more. ‘Not in the long run.’
‘I’m hearing you. I’m agreeing with you.’ He edged her panties aside and showed her exactly where he wanted in. ‘Damned if I know what to do with you.’
There, right there, thought Madeline with a whimper, and his touch was slow and sure and devastatingly effective. She moved on him then, onto his hand, with the fleshy base of his thumb to her nub and his finger easing inside her.
The woman she glimpsed in the side mirror was an abandoned stranger, her eyes glazed, her lips swollen, and her hair in disarray as she rocked slowly back and forth against the hand of a man she’d met less than a week ago.
Dark edged and warrior savage, Luke took her hand and dragged it down and over his trousers. So hard and huge as she shaped her hand around him and followed his long length down to the source and back to where belt met buckle and head nestled beneath. She managed to get the belt undone, and then the button and zip, which gave her all the access she needed as he claimed her mouth again.
There was no finesse in him as he lifted her high and brought her down onto him and held her tight. Madeline gasped and buried her face in his shoulder as she adjusted to his possession.
Tight. She was so warm and tight. One arm at her back and one in her hair as need pushed Luke further and harder into her, too far in thrall to be a gentleman. Too far gone to care that they were in an elevator. And then she bit down hard on the cord of his neck, not gentle but ravenous, and the wildness he carried deep down inside him rose up and finally broke free.
Raw power and desperation, as she matched him need