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He helped her off the horse, his hands firm at her waist. Alyssa suppressed the flare of awareness. Relief overtook her when Joshua moved away to tether the horses. She sat down on a soft mound of grass above the water’s edge. From here the view of the waterfall was spectacular. It bubbled over a ledge of rock and plummeted over the drop into the dark green pool below, the sound oddly soothing. A sense of peace stole over her.
“It’s beautiful. I can see why Roland loved it here.”
Joshua flung himself down beside her and started to unzip the saddle pack he held. “It wasn’t the beauty that Roland loved. It was the danger the place represented.”
“Danger?” Alyssa stared at him. “Where?”
“See those rocks?” He pointed to boulders at the side of the ledge over which the waterfall flowed. “Roland liked nothing more than challenging a friend to dive from there.”
Alyssa’s heart sank like a stone as she took in the sheer height of the drop. “Was he insane?” The words burst from her.
“He loved the adrenaline rush. Roland never felt fear.”
She had to ask. “Didn’t anyone get hurt?”
Joshua nodded. “Roland had a friend who slipped and broke a leg climbing up there—of course, the parents never knew the full story. Once, I cut my head on a rock in the pool when I hit the water headfirst.”
Alyssa swallowed at the thought. He could’ve drowned! “You were equally reckless.”
“I did it to stop Heath. Roland bet him that he couldn’t, that he was too chicken to dive in. I took Heath’s place. Although if I hadn’t been hurt, Heath would probably still have dived in. He was as mad as a snake that I’d taken his turn. So my big gesture was probably for nothing,” Joshua said wryly. “The joys of being sixteen—and impatient to be a man.”
And the man had become every bit as responsible as the boy had striven to be. She eyed him furtively. Gorgeous, too. And loyal to the point of fault.
Alyssa remembered his mother saying she hadn’t known how he’d been hurt. So he’d never dobbed his brother in. She didn’t know if the loyalty was stupid or admirable.
“Here, have a bagel.” He held out a paper bag.
“Thank you.” It was perfect. Fresh and slightly chewy, filled with smoked salmon, avocado and cream cheese. Eating distracted Alyssa from what she’d been going to say next. But at least Joshua was talking to her again. She’d had enough of the silent treatment to last her a lifetime.
Next he produced a bottle of Pinot Gris and two glasses out of the pack. Once he’d filled the glasses, Alyssa took a sip. The slightly sweet, well-rounded sturdiness of the wine took her by surprise.
“Very nice,” she said appreciatively, squinting at the label. “I didn’t realise Saxon’s Folly produced Pinot Gris.”
“Not in large amounts,” Joshua said. “You need to be on our loyal client mailing list to even get a chance of snapping it up. We hold the grapes on the vine until early May, so it’s essentially a late-harvest wine.” He swallowed a mouthful. “Mmm, the really special thing about this wine is that we sourced the vines from an ancient Alsace clone.”
Alyssa dusted her fingers of the last of the crumbs from her bagel. “Alsace? In France?”
“Yes, imported into New Zealand in 1886.”
“That is ancient.”
Joshua topped up her glass. “And to complement fine wine …” His voice trailed away and he dug into the pack again. With a flourish he drew a punnet of strawberries and a container of chocolate dipping sauce.
“Oh my, this is decadent.” There was something incredibly sexy about a man who provided food. A primitive leftover from ages past when the male had been the hunter. It was disgusting to be so impressed. There should be no need to feel so nurtured. She was a modern woman, totally able to take care of herself. Self-sufficient and sensible enough to be able to forage for herself.
Alyssa glanced around the clearing but couldn’t see anything in the surrounding bush that would’ve appeased the appetite that the fresh air and ride had whetted. Not even the birds that called from the treetops.
Then there would be the little problem of catching them, cooking them. She slid a glance at the man beside her, his fingers long and tanned against the bright red berries. Okay, so he’d probably make a plan to find food in the bush. While she’d only poison them both.
City girl.
Fast lane….
Joshua’s words came back to haunt her. So what if she was out of her comfort zone? This was Joshua’s world. He’d been born and raised here.
“Try this.” He held out a strawberry that had been lightly dipped in the chocolate.
She took it and bit into the ripe red fruit. Juice leaked over her fingers, her lips. She gave a little self-conscious laugh as she licked them. “Juicy, aren’t they?”
He didn’t reply.
She looked up into blazing black eyes.
“Joshua?” she whispered, her nipples hardening under the pink cotton T-shirt she wore, warmth flowing through her body to pool between her legs. The heat and desire and that other emotion … something terribly primal … in his eyes set her instantly alight.
“God, but you are the most provocative woman I have ever met.”
She stretched her eyes wide. “What did I do?” But she already knew. The fire in his eyes was unmistakeable.
She’d turned him on.
“You bit into the berry,” he said, his voice cracking.
The hoarse sound caused shivers to spread across her skin. Alyssa didn’t know how this had happened. Didn’t want to think too much about it. She only knew that she wanted more of the heat, the exquisite arousal that softened her body, the excitement that churned in her stomach.
She picked up a strawberry, swirled it through the chocolate sauce and offered it to him, her pulse racing. “Your turn to bite.”
“Oh, yes,” he drawled, his eyes dark and slumberous. “My turn.”
Eight
The heat that scorched through him at Alyssa’s offer turned Joshua’s lower body to fire. Bending his head, he took a bite of the strawberry she held. His teeth sank into the soft flesh of the fruit and instantly his mouth was filled with an assortment of flavours.
The succulence of the strawberry.
The sweetness of the chocolate.
The complexity of the Pinot Gris.
There was another flavour, too. The unmistakable spice of desire. Slowly he chewed, swallowed, then raised his head.
A hectic flush staining her cheeks, Alyssa quickly popped the remaining half of the berry into her mouth. Their eyes held. She swallowed. Joshua groaned and leaned forward.
His mouth closed over hers. She tasted sweet. Of fruit and juice and wine. He moaned, licking the soft inner skin of her cheeks, sealing her lips tightly with his lest any sweetness escape.
His head spinning, he finally lifted his head. He cradled her chin between his cupped hands and stared into her glowing eyes. “Was that good?”
She nodded.
“Tell me you want more.”
She hesitated. An unfamiliar emotion flickered in her eyes. “I want more.”
Satisfaction settled in him. She’d come with him for this. And he wasn’t objecting. Instantly Joshua wanted to take her mouth, slake his hunger for her. What was it about this woman? With one searing look, a couple of words and she made him throw all his customary caution to the wind. He’d had girlfriends … lovers … women that he’d easily kept at a distance while he waited for the right one. But no one like Alyssa. Never this hunger.
Why her? This woman could never be right for him.
His brother’s lover….
Alyssa Blake, the woman who had once before humiliated him in print. Compromised his reputation and Saxon’s Folly’s profits. And would do so again in a flash. A woman who took what she wanted, to get what she wanted. To desire such a woman was his folly.
He forced himself to slow down, told himself he was in control of his senses, his tight-wound body. Sure, he was. He told himself he could control this reckless desire as easily as he controlled a busy and successful vineyard, told himself that he could take his pleasure and watch her walk away later today with no regrets.
He almost believed it.
“So you want more.” He coupled the gentle taunt with a deliberate, measured smile and watched her breasts rise and fall as her breathing quickened. He picked up another strawberry. The strange colour of her eyes deepened. Clearly she’d expected him to kiss her, not feed her.
“Oh, no, my beauty,” he whispered softly. “We’re going to take this slowly.”
A trace of fear flitted over her face. If he hadn’t been watching her so closely, he wouldn’t even have seen it. And that was what concerned him most about Alyssa Blake. She wasn’t easy to read. He never knew what this woman was thinking. Hell, he still didn’t even know what had been behind her gate-crashing of the masked ball.
Why had she come to Saxon’s Folly?
To patch up a relationship gone wrong with Roland? And if so, then why the hell had she let him kiss her that night? If Heath hadn’t interrupted them … she would have made love with him. In his bed.
For revenge? Because Roland hadn’t done what she wanted? Except Joshua couldn’t forget how those kisses had sizzled. How could she have wanted Roland back … yet have kissed him with such abandon?
Was it possible that she had come to the ball intending to seduce him, the CEO of Saxon’s Folly Estate & Wines, hoping to get a scoop on the story she was after? The story that she now denied chasing….
Was that why she’d leapt at riding out here with him alone today? Had this been her intention all along? His head felt as if it was about to explode. His body, too, as her lips parted and he glimpsed the tip of a pink tongue. Without planning, his hand moved closer, the juice of the berry staining his fingertips. Joshua felt himself hardening as her lips closed over the fruit he held.
And why the hell was he hesitating? She was less than an arm’s-length away. Her pink tongue a hair’s breadth away from his fingers. If she wanted to seduce him … well, hell, he was more than willing. He craved her. Right now he didn’t care if he would regret it later … after she was gone.
He wanted her … would have her.
Every sexy inch.
“Taste good?”
Even to his own ears his voice sounded hoarse.
She nodded and her tongue ran over his fingers, licking off the sticky strawberry juice.
It was enough.
Joshua took that as consent. He placed his hands on her waist, and hauled her toward him. She landed in his lap with a gasp of surprise. She filled his arms with soft, womanly warmth, her curves fitting against the hard angles of his body. Exotic perfume clung to her skin, her hair. He inhaled sharply. She smelled of sweet strawberries, jasmine … and desire.
This time his kiss was careful. Joshua was conscious of stepping into the unknown as his tongue probed her mouth, tasting the sweetness within. Of the shifting boundaries between them. Their relationship wouldn’t—couldn’t—be the same again.
The want that swirled in his lower abdomen was strong and hungry. Astonishingly so. Joshua suspected that he was going to be thinking about Alyssa Blake long after she’d returned to Auckland … that this interlude would change him, even if he never saw her again.
He told himself that her leaving was for the best.
But his body didn’t agree.
She wriggled in his arms. Under his fingers, her top rode up. The smooth skin of her bare stomach was silken to his touch. The feminine feel of it tipped him over the edge. He pulled her closer, filling her mouth with the ferocious hunger that was building within him, threatening to explode, threatening to destroy everything he’d ever believed about women … about sex and desire … and love.
She didn’t hesitate. She kissed him back with everything he desired, her purpose clearly the same as his. To make love … and the hell with tomorrow. Her tongue moved under his … giving as much as he took … as much as he wanted. With a hoarse groan, Joshua rolled, taking her with him, mouths locked, landing on his back in the cushioning grass. Pulling her above him, he shoved his hands under her top and his fingers ran riot over her back. Around them the air was redolent with the pungent scent of sweet, crushed grass. And Joshua felt his tightly leashed control start to slip.
In a staggering moment he realised that the forbidden attraction he’d been fighting had taken over. It was stronger, more powerful than anything he’d experienced. He surrendered to its force.
Even as the relentless hunger took him, he knew he had to have her. Just once. Before he let her leave Saxon’s Folly.
Joshua’s torso was solid beneath her. She felt safe … not exactly loved … but certainly cherished. It felt like coming home.
“This is in the way,” Joshua murmured.
“This” turned out to be her T-shirt. Alyssa shifted, lifting herself so that he could push it up, then her breath caught as his hand slipped forward … further up … under her bra and touched her breast.
“Ah.” She sighed and her head fell forward against his shoulder.
His other hand fiddled with her bra clasp. It gave. Then his hands were cupping her, shaping her, holding her apart from him. Eager to help, to prolong her pleasure, she braced herself on hands planted on the grass beside his shoulders.
Another gasp—sharper this time—escaped her as his head lifted and his mouth closed on one nipple then the other. Then his fingertips took over from his mouth … massaging … until an achy sweet sensation pierced her.
A hand moved between their bodies in restless little circles over her stomach. Down. Under the waistband of her jeans.
She was panting now. The sound loud in her ears. Alyssa shut her eyes. Patterns danced across her eyelids. He touched her where she was already wet with wanting. Blood rushed through her ears. She felt as if she might pass out.
Then he was rolling again, and she lay flat on her back, while Joshua rose above her. Alyssa kept her eyes closed, focusing on the stroke of his hands as he ran them over the skin that his caresses had laid bare.
“You’re hot and soft.”
The throaty drawl was uttered against the bare skin of her belly.
His hand moved again. She heard the rasp of a zipper.
Alyssa’s eyes shot open. Ohmigod. “What are we doing?”
His lips curved, sensual, satisfied. “Isn’t this what you wanted?”
His words shocked her. “What?”
Maybe it was what she wanted. But she hadn’t even admitted that to herself. How on earth did he know?
“That’s why you came here with me … to be alone.”
“You—” Words failed her. She pulled away from him, disappointment piercing her heart, and tugged her T-shirt down, uncaring that her bra was ruched up. Right now she wanted her breasts … her belly … covered.
“No need to be shy about it. We’re consenting adults.” The dark eyes simmered. “I have to admit it’s a huge turn on to be seduced by a woman who knows what she wants.”
“Knows what she wants … ?” Alyssa stared at him. The smoked salmon … the strawberries … the Pinot Gris. He thought she wanted … this. He’d planned it down to the last detail.
Damn, but she’d been dumb.
She covered her face. How could he have misunderstood so badly? “I wanted to come here because Megan said that Roland had loved it here … that it had been one of his favourite places.”
“Roland.” His tone was peculiar, flat, dead.
After a long moment she pushed her hair back and looked up at him. “Yes, because of Roland.”
He gave a laugh, but it held no amusement. “I thought you wanted something from me.”
She blinked. “Why would wanting something from you involve coming here alone and—” not making love “—having sex?” What kind of woman did he think she was, for heaven’s sake?
“Something you wanted enough to allow yourself to eat strawberries from my hand while your eyes promised me untold delights.”
Alyssa felt the flush start on her chest, spread up her face. But she forced herself to hold his gaze.
“Something you wanted enough to forget your lover.”
Her lover? Oh, yes, Roland.
She bit her lip at that. “And what was I supposed to want so much?”
“The big-break story. The insider’s report on whether we lie to our consumers.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake. I told you I’m not doing that story.”
His intense, disquieting eyes stayed locked with hers. “So if you came on this ride today only because of Roland, why did you kiss me … respond to me … so convincingly?”
Alyssa gulped. How was she supposed to answer that? Tell him that he confused her? Bewildered her? Tied her up in knots? Made her feel emotions she’d never known?
No way was she handing him that much ammunition! He’d never believe her anyway. He’d think it was another seduction attempt. How utterly humiliating….
But his question hung in the air. Why had she kissed him … responded to him so wildly? Alyssa groped mentally for an acceptable explanation.
“Grief?” she offered at last.
“Grief?” He looked poleaxed.
Sorry, Roland. “Yes. Grief does strange things to people.” She was babbling now. She wanted to run away. Hide. “Everyone reacts differently. Being here—” she waved a hand at the waterfall “—thinking and talking about Roland set me off. I’m leaving today. I’ll never see you again. I didn’t think you’d mind. I mean, guys don’t take sex as seriously as women …” She stopped talking as anger ignited in his eyes.
“Didn’t think I’d mind? I suppose I shouldn’t care that it’s just my bloody bad luck to be the butt of my brother’s clandestine girlfriend’s lustful grief attack.”
Alyssa couldn’t think of any suitable response to that.
It was just as well that she was leaving.
Thank goodness she hadn’t agreed to do the story David had wanted her to do. If she stayed any longer, there was a very real danger that she was going to do something incredibly stupid … like fall in love with Joshua Saxon.
They headed home in silence. As the bush gave way to grassy fields, Alyssa scanned the surrounding countryside with nostalgic eyes. Even though she’d come with the express purpose of being closer to Roland, Alyssa knew she would never think of dense green bush and cascading water without remembering the tall, commanding man who rode beside her.
She cast him a sideways glance. A frown carved a deep furrow between his brows. She glanced quickly away before he could catch her looking at him, her silly heart in her eyes.
As they drew closer to the stable yard they heard a commotion.
“What the—” Joshua broke off as they were met by the sight of the black stallion racing up and down along his paddock fence, his tail held high like a banner and his nostrils flared so wide that the inner red tissue showed. In the adjacent paddock horses whinnied frantically, milling around in a tight bunch.
“What’s upset them?” Joshua nudged his horse into a trot.
Alyssa followed more slowly.
The black horse, still galloping along the length of the fence, slammed to a halt at the gate and trumpeted with rage. It was then Alyssa saw the two youths in the paddock, half concealed behind the trunk of a gigantic oak.
“Hey,” Joshua yelled.
The pair took one look at Joshua and ran across the field, vanishing round the back of the stables. A moment later an engine roared and a motorbike came racing out from nowhere.
“Look out!”
But Joshua’s warning came too late. The stallion came catapulting over the paddock fence, rushing headlong toward them. Breeze had gone rigid between her legs. Alyssa snatched at the mare’s mane. At the last moment the black horse swerved around Breeze, so close that Alyssa could smell his sweat, and galloped past, his iron-clad hooves ringing on the ground.
Unsettled by the motorbike, the enraged and screaming stallion, the mare shied violently to the side.
Alyssa lurched in the saddle. For a moment she thought she might stay on, but then she felt herself tossed skyward. She hung suspended in the air for a moment, conscious of the plunging distressed horse below her. Then she was spinning toward the ground, sound and colour rushing past.
“Let go of the reins.” It was a frantic yell.
Alyssa opened her hands. Breeze bolted free. The impact of the cobbles was bone-numbing. Alyssa sobbed with pain, which turned to fear as she discovered that she couldn’t breath.
“Lie still.”
Joshua’s voice boomed above her. His black boots came into her line of vision and then he crouched down beside her. She caught a glimpse of dark, worried eyes.
She gasped, trying to speak.
“Hush, you’re winded. Don’t talk.”
A moment later a sound escaped her throat. Agony.
“Does your head hurt?” His voice was urgent.
She shook her head again. “My back,” she sobbed.
He went white, his lips pale. “Don’t move. I’m going to call an ambulance.”
There was the sound of light feet running on the cobbles. Caitlyn? Joshua turned his head and barked out a terse order.
Then a fresh stab of excruciating pain stopped her thinking. “My hand!”
“Breeze must have stepped on you.” Joshua touched her fingers.
“Ouch!” She nearly blacked out.
He pulled his hand away. “The ambulance won’t be long.”
Alyssa was barely aware of the ride to the hospital as she shifted in and out of consciousness. But even as everything closed in and went dark, Alyssa knew that Joshua sat beside her, his eyes full of concern, never leaving her face.
After her examination in the emergency room had been completed, Joshua entered the curtained-off area where Alyssa lay.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
Terrible. She hated the hospital. The sterile smell, the hushed sounds all brought back the nightmare of Roland’s accident—of Joshua breaking the devastating news that her brother had died.
“Sore,” she said finally, coming back from the hellhole to find his gaze fixed on her face.
“They’ll operate on your hand soon. Is there anyone you want me to call?” Concern etched deep lines into his face. And there was something more. Something that made her heart tremble.
“To call?” she said stupidly, closing her eyes so that the gorgeous features with the misleading concern would go away. Joshua didn’t give a damn for her. He thought she was the kind of woman who seduced men for career gain. Allowing herself to build hopes on his concern for her would bring nothing but heartache.
“Your family. Your friends. To let them know what has happened.”
Her editor.
It reflected the barren state of her life that the only person who came to mind related to her work. Her boss … not family … not a friend. But David could wait until after the operation.
Thankfully the emergency-room doctor had confirmed that there was no damage to her spine—only some bruising on her back, and damage to her fingers where the reins had wrenched the ligaments and the fracture of her thumb where Breeze must have trodden on her. It would need setting. And perhaps a pin, the doctor had said. Nothing life threatening.
No, there was no one who desperately needed to know. No one who would drop everything and rush to hold her mangled hand. A tear slid out the side of her closed eye.
Alyssa turned her head away, reluctant to let Joshua witness her bout of self-pity. The silence lengthened. He—her nemesis who was being so unexpectedly kind—was waiting for her reply. She moved her head from side to side against the regulation hospital pillow.
“No one?”
Was that disbelief she heard? Swallowing the lump in her throat, she opened her eyes. “My father lives in Australia with his new wife and her children,” she murmured huskily, her throat raw from suppressed tears. She gave him a tremulous smile. “He’s taking his retirement from the bench seriously.”