And it’s not enough for me.
His face slowly hardened. ‘Be careful, Sadie, that you don’t box yourself into a corner you’ll regret.’
Those cryptic words stayed with me long after we’d returned to the villa. Long after he’d bade me a curt goodnight and left me at the door of my suite.
Undressing, I caught sight of myself in the mirror and gasped, the effect of the spectacular necklace freezing me in place. I couldn’t help but appreciate its beauty. Appreciate the compliments Neo had paid me. Dwell on the look in his eyes before he’d kissed me.
I have a thing for you...all of you...
Had I dismissed his words too quickly? Had he been paving the way for...more?
A glance at my bedside clock showed it was only just past ten. My birthday wouldn’t be over for another two hours.
Perhaps it wasn’t too late to make another wish come true.
CHAPTER NINE
I TOSSED THE covers aside and slid out of bed before I lost my nerve.
My knock on his door elicited a sharp, gruff response. My clammy hand turned the handle and, ignoring my screaming senses telling me to turn back, I nudged it open.
He was reclined in the middle of his emperor-sized bed, his top half bare and his lower half covered by a dark green satin sheet. For several heartbeats he stared at me, a tight expression on his face.
‘Come to drive a few more points home?’ he asked eventually, his voice taut.
Unable to clear the lump of nerves lodged in my throat, I shook my head.
Slowly, torturously, his gaze roved over my body, lingering at my throat, where the necklace still rested, then my breasts, hips, down my legs, before rising to stop where the hem of my silk night slip ended high on my thighs.
He swallowed hard before his gaze clashed with mine, a turbulence percolating there that triggered a similar chain reaction in me.
‘Then what do you want, Sadie?’ His accent had thickened, throbbing with deep, dark desire.
‘What you said, back on Neostros, about me giving you liberty you didn’t want to take. What did you mean by that?’
That mask twisted with
flint-hard warning. ‘Whether you end up in my bed or not, I don’t plan to stray. Earlier tonight I thought we could, in time, get to a place where the possibility of renegotiating wasn’t unthinkable.’
In time...
Once he was certain the baby I carried was his?
I forced myself to focus as he continued.
‘But you shut that down, so I’m not sure why you’re here. One thing you should know, though. I abhor infidelity of any sort. If that’s what you’re here to propose—’
‘No!’ My heart twisted with dark, rabid jealousy. ‘That wasn’t... That’s not why I’m here.’
‘Spit it out, my sweet. There’s only so much torture I’ll take from my wife. Even on her birthday. Especially when she’s standing there looking like my every fantasy come to life.’
His gaze dropped again, this time to the fingers I was unconsciously twisting in front of me. Something eased in his eyes and he reared up from his recline.
At the sight of his sculpted chest, my mouth dried. Then almost immediately flooded with a hunger that weakened me from head to toe.
‘Come here, Sadie,’ he commanded gruffly.
I shook my head. ‘You’re going to have to come and get me.’