partly the effect of his approval.
Since when had she wanted Donato’s approval?
She froze, her throat catching.
‘You’re doing well, Ella. Just keep moving.’ His voice was encouraging but businesslike enough to focus her. The perfect teacher.
Who’d have thought it? She remembered that first night when he’d seemed so daunting with his saturnine looks and air of despotic authority.
But the Donato she’d begun to know had surprising depths. He got his own way too much and there was a shut-off side to him she couldn’t penetrate, yet he was unexpectedly thoughtful and...kind.
He moved close but not close enough to crowd her. ‘Try bending your knees and pushing off. Just a little bounce. You know you’re safe.’
Ella nodded. She’d inspected the equipment, learning all she could before she’d agreed to try this. And their professional guide was at the top, watching out for her.
Tentatively she bent her legs, pushing off from the rock. For a dizzying instant fear hit her, then the thrill of it kicked in. She did it again, this time releasing the rope a little so she moved out and down in an arc.
‘I did it!’ A grin split her face.
‘Of course you did, since you set your mind to it.’
Ella turned and found Donato smiling as if he was as thrilled as she was. The warmth of his smile lit her inside.
‘Come on, let’s get to the bottom.’
Ella turned back to the rock, concentrating on each movement. Yet as she descended, thrilled by the fun of it, she was aware of him beside her, matching his pace to hers.
Finally she stood on shaky legs, breathing hard, adrenalin coursing through her body.
‘Good?’ Donato pulled her close, his hands on her hips, and a different sort of thrill shot through her.
‘Marvellous.’
‘Glad you agreed to try something different this weekend?’
‘Absolutely.’ She braced her hands on his shoulders when he would have pulled her closer. ‘When did you learn to climb?’
He waited before replying, as if assessing her curiosity. ‘In my early twenties. I discovered a taste for wide-open spaces.’ His mouth curled at the corner. ‘Not surprising after being penned in. When I could, which wasn’t often, given I was building a business from scratch, I’d get out of the city. Windsurfing, climbing, hang-gliding.’
‘They sound challenging.’ And dangerous.
‘I like the wind in my hair. The feeling of not being hemmed in.’
Ella thought of his Sydney house. Set at the top of a cliff with a commanding view of the Pacific, it was as un-hemmed-in as you could get in such a metropolis.
‘What about you, Ella?’ He tilted up her chin so his words brushed her face. ‘What do you do to unwind?’
Make love with a breathtakingly gorgeous, enigmatic tycoon.
This fortnight there’d been no time for anything but work and Donato. If she wasn’t with him in the evening, he was flirting with her over the phone, his espresso-dark voice a constant reminder of what she missed by refusing to stay with him.
But the need to keep part of her life private remained strong. Donato had stormed into her world like a cyclone flattening every defence. He dominated her thoughts and even her dreams.
‘How do I unwind? You’ll find out soon enough.’ Their weekend in the Blue Mountains west of the city was in two parts. Donato had suggested they spend half the time doing something he enjoyed and the other half was her choice.
As if he wanted to share his private life with her, not just his bed. As if he wanted to know more about her too. It was a beguiling idea. After two weeks of toe-curling orgasms and carefully light banter, this signalled a shift in their relationship.
Ella had tried telling herself they didn’t have a relationship. They had sex. Stunning, all-eclipsing sex.
And they had this farcical engagement. Her father insisted they were marrying and went ahead with preparations despite her protests. But it would take more than his demands to make her marry a man she didn’t love.
Meanwhile she needed to help her siblings. Her father had misappropriated Rob’s inheritance from their grandfather, the money he needed to finish the resort’s refurbishment. Reg had promised to repay it when his business with Donato was sorted.
Ella felt trapped, by her attraction to Donato and the situation with her father.
She’d told Donato repeatedly there’d be no wedding. Every time he’d shrugged and said it would all work out.
It was like a game, one where only he knew the rules. When she tried to press for a resolution he distracted her, usually with some outrageous provocation that led to verbal sparring and, most often, sex.
Now he wrapped his arms around her and her heart gave a familiar leap. ‘Don’t I get a kiss for introducing you to abseiling?’
She shook her head, teasing. ‘It was our guide who did the work, organising the equipment and—’
‘If you think you’re kissing anyone but me,’ Donato growled, a light in his eyes, ‘you’re sadly mistaken.’
Instantly she was all quivering anticipation. That hint of possessiveness was too appealing.
She wanted Donato. Not just his kisses but his attention, his time. Warning bells clanged.
Ella needed to remind him, and herself, she was her own woman. He was so overwhelming it was a constant battle not to be swept up, simply giving in to him.
She put a hand on Donato’s broad chest, pushing. ‘That’s for me to choose. You don’t own me, Donato. You haven’t bought me.’
She’d anticipated a mock scowl, or that lethally slow smile that stirred all her senses.
What she got was sudden stillness and a look that made the hairs on her nape stand on end. Not a look of anger. She couldn’t read his expression, but she knew he’d gone somewhere she didn’t want to be.
His hold tightened, his fingers digging too hard. Then suddenly she was free. Donato stepped back, hands flexing. His chest rose as he sucked oxygen, like a swimmer too long underwater.
‘Donato? What is it?’ His stark expression made the blood curdle in her veins. Shivers ran down her arms and disquiet stirred.
His eyes were fixed on the distance.
‘Donato?’
His gaze swung down to her. She read turmoil and strong emotion. What was going on? One minute he was laughing and intimate. The next he’d totally withdrawn.
‘Of course.’ The last vestiges of tension vanished as she watched. He looked the same as ever, confident and in control. But Ella knew something had happened, as it had when he’d spoken of his past.
What was he hiding? Everyone had secrets, but she sensed Donato’s cast very long shadows.
Ella gripped his arms, needing the physical connection. Needing, if possible, to help. His taut biceps were hard as the rock they’d just traversed. She loved his strength. Being with Donato made her feel almost petite and dainty.
Deliberately she stood on her toes and brushed her mouth against his. Instantly he responded with a slow, bone-melting thoroughness that made her wish their guide wasn’t waiting above.
Finally Donato pulled back.
‘Come on, Ella. It’s time you learned how to climb back up.’ His lips curled in that devastating smile and she found herself smiling back.
But