Elusive as the Unicorn

She would have to telephone Paul in the morning and apologise, of course—that last outburst of hers had been entirely unwarranted. If she hadn’t told that ridiculous lie about Sophy and Patrick’s dinner guest in the first place, then she probably wouldn’t have been feeling so agitated and retaliated the way she had. She just hadn’t expected that either Paul or herself would ever see Adam Gardener again.

But it was no good finding excuses; she and Paul were at odds with each other, and it was a feeling that made her feel very uneasy within herself, as if the very foundations of her carefully planned life were being rocked.

She had loved Paul from a distance ever since she could remember, although he hadn’t really seemed to notice her in return until he had taken over the practice after his father’s death two years ago. But even then he had kept a businesslike distance, and it had only been recently, the last year or so, that they had started to become close.

Why, oh, why had Adam Gardener had to come into her life now? Another couple of months and she and Paul would have been married. Knowing what a healthy respect Adam had for marriage, she felt sure he wouldn’t have even tried to get close to her then, no matter what his own feelings might have been. As it stood now, with her neither free nor officially out of his reach, he wouldn’t leave her in peace.

As for the weekend, she still had the rest of that to get through!

* * *

It was a strange sensation, not unlike floating, and yet she knew there was no danger of her falling, could feel herself being held and supported as if she were as light as gossamer.

She liked the feeling, snuggling down more comfortably into that cosy warmth.

And then she wasn’t floating any more, but lying on soft down, sinking, sinking, cocooned in its fluffy warmth. It was the most wonderful sensation she had ever …

‘Oh, no, you don’t, Sleepyhead,’ cajoled an amused voice as the cocoon was gently taken from her. ‘No, Eve.’ A throaty chuckle accompanied this second reproof as she tried to pull back the soft warmth. ‘You can’t go to bed in your dress.’

Suddenly the return of the cocoon didn’t seem half so important, her eyes opening wide as she became aware of the fact that it had been the duvet on her bed she had been trying to wrap around herself.

She stared straight up into Adam Gardener’s tenderly amused face.

‘I thought that might manage to get your attention,’ he drawled softly, sitting on the side of the bed as he looked down at her with caressing brown eyes.

She swallowed hard, too wary of his close proximity to risk moving herself. ‘What time is it?’ From the quietness in the house, she knew it had to be late.

‘After one,’ Adam confirmed huskily, his face all angles in the golden glow given off from the bedside lamp. ‘You must have been really tired, to have fallen asleep like that. I brought you here and you didn’t even wake!’

Emotionally exhausted. Arguing with Paul had upset her badly, and she had cried herself to sleep.

‘Obviously you weren’t?’ she said questioningly, his dinner jacket and bow-tie having been discarded since Eve had seen him earlier, the snowy white shirt partly unbuttoned down his chest, dark gold hair glinting in that open V; but he gave little appearance of having actually gone to bed as he had said he was earlier.

He smoothed her hair back from her brow with gentle fingers. ‘We’ll talk about what I was or wasn’t in the morning. Right now, I think we should get you out of your clothes so that you can go back to sleep.’

‘I can do it,’ she told him with alarm, instinctively clutching her dress to her.

Adam gave a rueful smile. ‘I had a feeling you might say that.’ He stood up slowly to look down at her. ‘And I’m sure you can do it—if you don’t fall asleep again first,’ he chided indulgently as her lids began to flutter closed.

Her eyes weren’t closing because she was tired, but because his being here in her bedroom, his shirt partly unbuttoned to reveal the hard strength of his chest, was having the strangest effect on her.

But she could still see him, even with her eyes closed, every masculine inch of him.

‘I wasn’t going to do this. I promised myself I wouldn’t,’ Eve suddenly heard him groan. ‘But I can’t help myself!’

She had known what he couldn’t stop himself doing even before his arms gathered her up against him and his mouth claimed hers hardily. It had been inevitable since the moment she’d woken up to look into his tenderly amused face. Something had happened inside her at that moment, something to

o fleeting to define, and yet she couldn’t deny that it had happened, or that it had happened before too.

Like thirsty travellers in a desert they drank from each other’s lips, sipping, tasting, until passion flared and they were no longer content to sip, drinking deeply, their mouths moving together hungrily.

Adam’s skin felt firm and hard beneath her touch, his muscles rippling convulsively as she unbuttoned his shirt to know him fully, tempted by that silken flesh, her lips lowering to taste him.

His gasp of pleasure gave her a heady sense of gladness that she had dared to touch him in this way, and she felt the tension of his body beneath her.

Heated lips nibbled against her throat, trailing fire, and it was her turn to gasp out loud as those lips moved moistly to capture the tip of her breast through the thin material of her dress.

She shivered with delight at that gentle tugging on her flesh, her back arched as pleasure flooded warmly through her, her nipple hard and pulsing against him.