refused to allow it. “Why don’t we put that one to rest right now, because if you think for one little minute I’m going to deny my parents access to their only grandchild, you can think again.” She held up her hand. “And before you decide to break Condition One again—”
“Too damn late!”
“I suggest you put yourself in my place. In Noelle’s place. You’re the one who walked away, Justice.” She struggled to conceal her hurt with limited success. “My parents have been with me every step of the way. You haven’t.”
“Only because I didn’t know.”
“You’re a brilliant man. You should have considered that possibility and made sure. At the very least, you should have contacted me after the first dozen letters.” Could he hear the pain bleeding through her words? “Instead, you went out of your way to make certain I couldn’t find you again. That we’d never see each other again.”
“That’s not true. I would have—” He broke off and swung around to face the picture window. “Any other conditions?”
“Do you agree to my last one?”
“Yes.”
He sounded so bleak it almost unnerved her. She took a moment to gather her thoughts before pressing forward. “Condition Ten.”
“Five.”
“I’m holding the others in reserve.” She didn’t give him time to argue the point. “I need a room for a studio. One with windows.” She had no idea whether she’d actually use the studio. She considered it more of a last-ditch effort. Because deep inside she secretly wondered whether she’d ever paint again. And the thought flat-out terrified her. “Unshuttered windows, if you don’t mind.”
He shrugged. “You can take a look around and see if anything suits. Make sure it’s on this level or upstairs. The basement is off-limits to everyone.”
“Is that where your uncle lives?”
“Yes. It’s also where my lab is located.”
Justice faced her once again. The sphere flowed through his fingers, assuming one shape after another. First a cylinder, then a pyramid, then something that twisted in on itself, making her dizzy. “What is that thing?” she asked.
“I call it Rumi. It helps me think.” He’d regained his self-control and regarded her with a calm, icy expression that seemed to lower the temperature in the room by several degrees. She shivered, waiting for snowflakes to start drifting from the ceiling. “My turn,” he announced.
Uh-oh. She hadn’t anticipated this and should have. “You have conditions?”
“You thought you’d be the only one?”
She retreated a pace, even knowing it portrayed a certain defensiveness. “Okay, fine. What are your conditions?”
He took a step in her direction, following in the path of her retreat, all the while the sphere twisted, twisted, twisted. “One. It is your responsibility to keep everyone out of the basement. That includes you. Having you and Noelle here is tough enough for Pretorius. The addition of two more people will be extremely difficult for him. He needs to know that he’s safe in his area of the house. Am I clear on this point?”
“Crystal.”
“Two.” Another step closer. “I have a routine. Disruptions to that routine are unacceptable.”
He couldn’t be serious. “Get real, Justice. We’re talking about a baby. Babies disrupt routines. It’s their nature.”
“In that case, I’ll expect you to keep the disruptions to a minimum.”
She planted her hands on her hips and faced him down. “You’re the one who insisted we come here, remember? If you can’t handle the occasional disruption we’ll leave.”
“It’s too late. We’re about to get snow. A lot of it.”
“I’m sure we can stay ahead of any incoming storms.”
Justice jerked his head toward the window and Daisy’s mouth dropped open. In the short time they’d been talking, ominous clouds had built up, sweeping over the mountain peaks and tumbling down the craggy slopes toward the ranch complex at an unbelievably rapid clip. Where in the world had that gorgeous expanse of pale blue sky gone?
He set Rumi on the table and took a final step toward her. Snagging her collar, he gave a swift tug, propelling her into his arms. “Three. I want to attempt to create a bond with you. To see if we can’t form a family unit.”
A bond. Family unit. How like him to describe something so intimate in such remote terms. “For Noelle’s sake?”
He started to agree, but must have changed his mind at the last moment. “For all our sakes,” he said instead.
“Even though I don’t fit the parameters you created for a perfect apprentice/wife?”
“I suspect we’ll both need to adjust our expectations since I’m certain I don’t fit your parameters, either. I’m willing to make the attempt if you are.”
“And by ‘bond’ I assume that would include—” She started to say “making love” and took a quick verbal detour at the last instant. “Sex?”
Fire kindled in his golden gaze like wildfire. “Sex will be involved since it’s one of the few places we seem able to communicate with perfect accord.”
“Willing or not?” she dared to ask.
“Oh, you’ll be willing. I guarantee it.”
He cupped her face and lifted it for his kiss. She didn’t resist. In truth, she didn’t want to. He’d given her a delicious sample one short week ago, a sample that had reignited a passionate longing, as undeniable as it was overwhelming. She thought it had died long ago, but she’d been mistaken. Every time he reentered her life, he brought with him a want so intense, she didn’t know how she’d survive if he didn’t make her his again.
Beneath the icy exterior a fire burned, one fierce enough to melt any and all resistance. Did he realize what a dichotomy he represented with that ice-cold logical exterior and that white-hot inner blaze? He reminded her of a distant star, an inferno of heat within the cold vacuum of the space it occupied.
His mouth came down on hers and she sighed, opening to him with bottomless enthusiasm. His fingers tightened in her hair as he sank inward and she heard a faint rumble, almost like a cat’s purr. Maybe she hadn’t gotten it wrong in her books. Maybe at heart he really was like her jungle panther creation, Cat. While Cat hid behind a wall of protective foliage, Justice hid behind his icy demeanor and the isolated walls of his compound. Were they truly so different?
“What do you want from me?” Her question was smothered beneath his mouth.
But he caught the words. And he understood. Reluctantly, he pulled back, pressing a searing kiss to the dampness of her lashes before taking her mouth a final time, a bittersweet tribute to the emotions he denied.
His thumbs traced the swollen contours of her mouth. “I want you.”
“It’s not that simple,” she protested. “You treat whatever this is like it’s a simple sexual equation. You plus me equals sex.”
“It’s just that simple.”
She fought free of his hold, some of his iciness invading her own veins. “Is this really how you regard people in your life? Like simple equations? While you skate across the surface, never daring to plumb the depths?”
He turned away from her and reached for Rumi, freezing at the last instant. And that’s when she saw it. Somehow, at some point during their earlier conversation, he’d transformed the device into a flower, one that looked remarkably like a daisy. She started to comment, then stopped, something warning her to tread carefully.