She spoke the truth. ‘The plans I’ve got for that lovely old house are nothing like this. You do realise that, don’t you? Are you sure you want me to have a free hand?’
‘Never been so sure of anything in my life.’ He turned her round to face him, his eyes glowing a deep silver made all the more striking by his thick lashes and the black stubble coating the lower part of his face. ‘And I told you, the house is to be a home. This place is convenient but it’s never really been that.’
It was slowly dawning on her that she had the right to touch him, to act like a girlfriend, and now she placed her palms along either side of his face. This man had swept away all the rules she’d made for herself when Richard had died and she knew she was playing with fire, but she couldn’t help herself.
His day-old beard was sandpapery against the soft skin of her fingers, and he smiled as she grimaced. ‘I know, I’m rough.’
She touched the odd grey hair in the jet black; he was greying slightly at his temples too and it suited him, adding a devastating maturity to his sexiness. ‘Silver threads,’ she murmured. ‘And very distinguished too.’
‘I’m thirty-eight years old, Toni. Thirty-nine in the New Year. Does that worry you?’ He was suddenly very serious.
‘Worry me?’ She didn’t understand. ‘Why would it worry me?’
‘I’m eight years older than you.’
‘My father is ten years older than my mother, as it happens. They used to laugh about it when I was growing up. My mother’s always called him her sugar daddy.’
He grinned the grin that had the power to make her weak at the knees as he released her. ‘I’ll go and freshen up. Make some coffee, would you? You’ll find everything somewhere in the kitchen.’ He waved a vague hand.
She took off her coat and left it with her handbag on one of the sofas, wandering through to the kitchen as Steel disappeared. The kitchen was amazing, all stainless steel, pale maple wood and glittering black granite worktops, with an Italian porcelain floor Toni knew would have cost an arm and a leg. Here, though, Maggie’s touch was evident. A pile of cookery books next to the fabulous stove, an apron slung over the back of a chair and a row of fresh herbs in little glass containers on the window sill. Homely touches to soften the show-room perfection.
She dug and delved and managed to have the coffee poured out and waiting when Steel strolled into the kitchen a few minutes later, shaved and hair still damp from the shower. He was wearing a brilliant white shirt, unbuttoned, and tailored black trousers, and he was barefoot.
Toni took one look and knew she was lost. The next stage of their relationship was going to progress as fast as wildfire and right now, she thought as she walked straight into his open arms. He didn’t kiss her at once, simply holding her against him as he looked deeply into her eyes. ‘I’ve missed you while I’ve been gone,’ he murmured lazily, his eyes smiling into hers.
She giggled, wrapping her arms round his lean waist. ‘You’ve only been gone five minutes.’
‘Five minutes is five lifetimes if I can’t see you, touch you, taste you. What have you done to me? I’m a wreck.’
‘Not you, Steel Landry.’
‘Yes, me. You’ve got me tied up in knots.’ His voice was rueful and she realised with a bolt of breathtaking amazement he was speaking the truth. For the first time she took the initiative, standing on tiptoe and covering his lips with hers.
His response was immediate. He kissed her with such hunger, such explosive warmth that Toni was instantly swept away on a tide of desire. She gave herself up to the sheer delight of sliding her hands over the rippling muscles beneath the silk of his shirt, tangling her fingers in the covering of black body hair on his chest and luxuriating in the breadth and power in the big male body holding her. Steel pulled her closer, so close their bodies were practically fusing together, curves melting into hard, angular planes. It was intoxicating, thrilling and what she had been born for.
Toni inhaled the clean smell of lemon on his skin from the soap he’d used during his shower; it mingled with the musky scent that was all his to produce an intoxicating aphrodisiac she was powerless to resist, and when he moved her against him so she could feel every inch of his arousal she moaned softly in her throat.
Her body heat released her own perfume. The magnolia and summer fruits, coupled with her own personal fragrance, aroused Steel still more if that was possible, and he was almost devouring her. The soft wool dress she was wearing clung to her body like a second skin as he ran his hands over her breasts, her tiny waist, the firm smooth line of her hips.
Toni’s eyes were closed and she felt a tight congestion in her belly as the pleasure mounted, and even though she knew where this was leading, where it would end, she made no effort to stop him. She didn’t want to. She wanted him to undress her, to make love to her. She wanted to feel him inside her, possessing her. She wanted . . . everything.
It came as a drenching shock when he tore his mouth from hers a moment later, steadying her swaying body with his hands on her arms before taking a step backwards. She opened dazed eyes, her pupils dilated with the raw passion that still showed in her face, unable to believe that he had stopped.
Steel was breathing hard, his breath ragged as he muttered, ‘Maggie,’ tucking his shirt into his trousers as he spoke.
‘What?’ She stared at him uncomprehendingly, and then she heard the sound of a tune being hummed seconds before Steel’s daily appeared in the kitchen doorway.
Ste
el had had the presence of mind to start pouring coffee and now he turned, his voice remarkably controlled as he said, ‘Morning, Maggie.’
Maggie appeared as flustered as Toni felt, stopping a step into the room and looking from one to the other. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said quickly. ‘I didn’t expect—I mean, you’re never here at this time of the morning.’
‘I’ve been at the hospital all night.’ Steel handed a cup of coffee to both women as he spoke, completely his normal, urbane self. ‘Annie had a daughter in the early hours and I called in Toni’s to tell her and then offered her a lift into work once I’d washed and shaved.’
‘A daughter? There, didn’t I tell you it would be a little girl? I’m never wrong about these things.’ Maggie smiled at Toni. ‘Never got one wrong in my life.’
‘Who needs scans when they’ve got you, Maggie?’