Those damn words again, echoing round the walls as though the cave itself could pick which words to resonate. Trust. She didn’t do trust; it wasn’t in her make-up or her inclination.
Yet here and now, in this unspoiled place, it was difficult to see anything wrong with a primal, natural desire to mate. Adam wanted her and, boy, did she ever want him. Yet...
‘We just have to ignore it. Stay in control,’ she said, and her words disappeared into the dark currents of air, not deemed worthy of the smallest echo.
* * *
Olivia was right. Yet somehow her words didn’t tie in with what her whole being was trying to tell him. It seemed clear to Adam that her brain was vying with her body and hanging on by a sliver of fingernail. Perhaps they were both being enchanted by the spirits of the cave? Eternal beings who had lived here for aeons and would be here for centuries more.
OK.
Something was messing with his head.
It was time to take control and regain perspective.
Adam understood exactly why he needed to keep the spark between them under control, but it occurred to him that he didn’t know why Olivia had pulled back.
He moved towards her, stepping firmly on the slippery rock face.
‘Why?’ he asked softly. ‘Why is it so important to you to not lose control?’
Another step and he was close enough that if she slipped he’d catch her. So near that her scent—loam, clay and that all-elusive apple—taunted him.
‘Tell me, Liv.’ Trust me.
Adam held his breath, lungs aching, not wanting to damage this moment as she hesitated, her teeth caught around her lower lip.
‘I won’t lose control,’ she said. ‘Because attraction is all a power game. Two people angling for what they want. Be it sex, money, or the upper hand.’
‘You’re assuming they are adversaries,’ he said gently. ‘It doesn’t have to be that way.’ Something must have happened to make her believe this. ‘Did someone hurt you, Olivia? Cheat on you?’ His mind scanned for possibilities as he pieced together the fragments she had let fall. ‘Someone with money?’ The thought of some scumbag breaking her heart and throwing her aside for a newer model balled his fists.
‘No.’ She shifted her weight and he placed a hand on her arm to steady her, saw indecision pool in her hazel eyes as if in internal debate about confiding in him.
‘Why don’t we sit down?’ he suggested, and led her over the floor towards the corner of the cavern. ‘I used to call this The Ledge.’ He slipped his rucksack off his shoulder and unzipped it. ‘It’s where I used to sit and study the stalactites in the hope of achieving hallucinogenic effects.’ Rummaging in the bag, he pulled out a waterproof sheet, shook it out and spread it on the ledge. ‘Sit down and try it, if you like.’
Olivia sank down lithely and he followed suit, careful to sit close but without touching her. For a long moment she stared at the bulging mass of stalagmites, before clasping her hands on her lap and drawing in an audible breath.
‘No one hurt me. But my mum—that’s a different story.’ Hazel eyes met his, clouded with a sadness that twisted his chest. ‘When she was fourteen she was raped. By a so-called family friend. She never dared tell anyone.’
Revulsion wrenched Adam’s chest, encased his body in steel-cold anger. ‘I’m sorry, Olivia.’
‘Her life fell apart; she turned into the quintessential rebel. When she was sixteen she met my dad and fell pregnant with me.’
Adam shifted closer to her and took her hand gently in his, and with a small sigh she folded her fingers around his.
‘Mum had no qualifications, no family support, but she did have looks and she decided to use them. On her terms. Over the years she had affairs, mostly with rich, married men—men who enjoyed having a gorgeous trophy mistress. That’s how we lived.’ Her voice caught as she looked at him. ‘I vowed that I would not let that happen to me. That I would never depend on anyone for money and I would never let lust control me.’ A small shiver ran through her body.
So much made sense now and his heart ached. With Jodie as a tragic example, no wonder Olivia had such mixed feelings about her beauty, about control and power.
Olivia gave a small sniff and pushed away from his chest, swiped her palm across her eyes. ‘I shouldn’t have told you any of that. It’s not fair on Mum.’ Her hands clenched into fists. ‘I know it looks bad, but I promise she did not target your father. I know that, Adam.’
Surprise reared in the hindmost part of his brain, his body stiffening. It hadn’t so much as occurred to him to question Olivia’s story; it was impossible to suspect that the woman he’d got to know was anything but legitimate.