An Innocent, a Seduction, a Secret

‘Helen hasn’t contacted me yet with a return date.’

‘So effectively you have no commitments at the moment?’

She shook her head, feeling her will to resist slipping away.

As if sensing her vacillation, Sebastio stepped closer. And then closer. She had no defence against him when he came within touching distance. And less than none when he touched her, sliding his hand around her neck, tugging her towards him. Bringing their bodies into contact.

‘Come with me, Edie... I want to show you Buenos Aires and you’ll love my island. We’re not done, you and I. Not yet.’

But we will be soon.

He didn’t have to say it.

The weak part of Edie reasoned logically that she was in so deep now, what could a few more days hurt? Sebastio made her feel vital and alive. Things she’d longed for so desperately at one time. Things she’d been afraid she’d never feel again. How could she turn her back on what he was offering?

* * *

Edie was curled into her seat, staring out of the plane’s small window as they flew over the eastern coastline of Argentina and south to Buenos Aires. Sebastio’s gaze ran over her figure. She was dressed in light trousers and a bright silk shirt with a bow at the neck that made his hands itch to undo it and slip the buttons out of their holes so he could—

He cursed silently.

What was it about this woman that still held him in her thrall? It was as if the more he got of her, the more insatiable he became. Her effect on him was growing, not waning. This had never happened to him with a woman before.

It was the only thing that was stopping him from dragging her to the back of the plane to make love to her. This clawing need to have her. It made him feel out of control. And yet it hadn’t stopped him from bringing her with him.

She turned her head to look at him, as if she could hear his riotous thoughts. ‘Why did you cut your hair so short?’ he asked. ‘It used to be longer.’

Edie immediately touched her hair self-consciously and she avoided his eye. He’d noticed she did that sometimes, and it made him want to tip her face to his so she couldn’t hide from him.

‘I just... It was more practical for work.’

Something niggled at Sebastio. He realised that for the first time since he’d met her he thought she was lying. Why would she lie about her hair, though?

She bent down and picked up a newspaper she’d been looking at earlier. She handed it over to Sebastio with a wary look on her face. ‘Isn’t this your friend who was in the car with you that night of the accident? It looks like he got married.’

Sebastio took the paper from Edie, frowning. He looked down and his breath caught in his throat.

It was a picture of Victor Sanchez. He was in his wheelchair and holding the hand of a woman who stood beside him, looking down at him and smiling broadly. She was very pretty, with dark hair in a fancy topknot, and a voluminous veil flowing behind her. She wore a white dress and held flowers in her other hand. Victor was wearing a suit with a flower in his buttonhole.

Married.

‘They look very happy.’

Sebastio barely heard Edie’s words above the roaring sound in his head. He skimmed the article...

Miranda, who had been nursing Victor after the accident...fell in love...second chance of happiness after the horrific tragedy that claimed his wife and...

Sebastio dropped the paper from his hand. All he could see was Victor’s features, bruised and twisted with hatred and anger.

‘Damn you, Sebastio. You killed Maya and my baby. You ruined my life. You didn’t deserve to survive. You’re incapable of loving anyone... We had love. We had it all ahead of us and you took it away...’

Sebastio was locked in the past and he only slowly became aware of Edie crouched next to him, her hand on his arm, while she put something small and cool in his other hand. He looked down stupidly to see a tumbler full of golden liquid. He lifted it and drank, allowing the alcohol to spread its warmth and restore his equilibrium.

‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shown it to you... But I thought it might be a good thing.’

Sebastio curled his hand into a fist on his thigh. He needed to reach for Edie so badly right now that it scared him.

‘I’m fine,’ he gritted out.