Margaret Way - Six Australian Heroes

‘No no,’ she said, shaking her head unhappily. ‘You had every right to say what you did. The way I’m acting … It’s silly and, well, it’s just plain silly.’

‘Then you won’t be sleeping on the floor?’

‘No,’ she said, her chin lifting in an oddly defiant gesture as though it was a big deal, agreeing to share the bed with him.

‘Good. Now I have a very important question to ask you before we go downstairs for afternoon tea.’

‘What?’ she replied, looking worried again.

‘Where’s the bathroom?’

LAURA showed him the door which led into an absolutely huge bathroom, the like of which would never have been seen in a modern house. There was a claw-footed bath sitting against the far wall of the black-and-white-tiled room, a brass-framed shower stall in a corner to its right, a toilet behind the door and a large marble-topped vanity table which had an equally large mirror on the wall above it.

‘Wow!’ Ryan said. ‘I don’t think I’ve seen a bathroom quite like this one before.’

‘It is rather old-fashioned,’ Laura said.

‘Maybe, but I like it.’

‘That other door there—’ Laura pointed out before she left ‘—opens out onto the main hallway, so don’t forget to throw the lock or you might have an unwanted visitor.’ Though she couldn’t imagine who. Uncle Bill and Aunt Cynthia would be the only others sleeping upstairs tonight, and the master bedroom was at the other end of the hallway, complete with its own private bathroom.

‘Fine,’ Ryan said and Laura left him to it, relieved when he closed the door and left her alone in the bedroom. It would be good to be away from his disturbing presence, even for a short while, give her the chance to calm the butterflies in her stomach and to find some much-needed composure.

Unpacking her bag, however, didn’t help much, especially when confronted by the pink satin nightie she’d brought with her. Whilst not overly provocative, it was still rather low-cut, with spaghetti-thin straps. At least she’d had the foresight to pack the matching robe, though she could hardly wear that to bed, could she?

Her stomach contracted at the thought of how she would feel, sleeping next to Ryan tonight. She wouldn’t be getting much sleep, that was for sure.

He emerged from the bathroom and she took the opportunity to escape.

‘I won’t be long,’ she said, snatching up her toilet bag and dashing past him.

Ryan shook his head at her body language. He wondered what he could say or do to calm her down. It wasn’t afternoon tea that she needed, he decided as he hung up his suit and unpacked the rest of his things, but a good, stiff drink. Either that or …

Ryan chuckled with dry amusement. It would be a bit difficult to relax Laura with some sex if just the thought of sharing a bed platonically with him horrified the life out of her. Which it obviously did.

The idea that she might not trust him to keep his hands off irked Ryan a little. What had he ever done to her? Okay, so he probably had a reputation around Sydney as a bit of womaniser. But he wasn’t a sleazebag, or a cheat.

Not that making a pass at Laura would make him a cheat, given he and Erica had now split up. But that was beside the point. Even if he fancied Laura—which he didn’t, not really —no way would he want to start something this weekend that could only cause him trouble in the future. Laura was a valued work colleague. She was also of a much more vulnerable nature than Ryan had realised.

To contemplate seducing her, even out of a perverse sort of compassion, went totally against his rules. Not that Laura would let him seduce her, he conceded ruefully. She would have to be attracted to him a little to do that, which she obviously wasn’t, so why was he even having this stupid conversation with himself?

The bathroom door opened and she came out, looking a little less harried. Which was just as well, since he was beginning to run out of patience with her.

‘Don’t forget what I said about smiling,’ Ryan advised brusquely as they made their way down the curving staircase ten minutes later. When she didn’t say anything in reply, he stopped at the foot of the stairs to throw her a firm look.

‘Come on, show me some of those nice white teeth you have.’

When Laura attempted a smile, Ryan scowled. ‘Good God, is that the best you can do, woman?’

Laura winced. ‘Sorry. I guess I’m nervous.’

‘Lord knows why, with me by your side.’

‘Are you always this incorrigibly egotistical?’ she demanded to know.

Ryan shrugged. ‘I suppose so. It comes with the territory of having been a successful goalkeeper. You have to have total confidence in your abilities or you’re dead in the water, because you’re alone out there. You can’t let a single negative thought creep in or you’re done and dusted. But you’re not alone today, Laura. You have me to help you. Though you still do need to help yourself. So, smile and make it convincing.’

She smiled, but she still didn’t look like a woman in love.

‘Only marginally better,’ he said, feeling totally exasperated with her and with himself for being so affected by her. ‘Here, give me your hand.’

When she hesitated, he suddenly grabbed both her hands then yanked her hard against him.

‘The trouble with you, madam,’ he ground out as he glared down into her shocked eyes, ‘Is that you’ve been way too long between men. And kisses.’

He didn’t mean to do it. Hell, he didn’t mean to manhandle her in any way, shape or form. But all of a sudden his much-valued control slipped and his mouth came crashing down on hers.

For a split second, Laura froze. This was what she’d feared after all, Ryan making a pass at her at some stage. Not that you could call what he was doing a pass. It was more of an onslaught. He even dragged her hands behind her back and pressed them into the small of her back, forcing her breasts against the hard wall of his chest.

Laura knew at the back of her whirling mind that she could still escape his captive embrace if she chose to. All she had to do was lift her knee into his groin and he’d let her go, quick smart. But she didn’t lift her knee or do anything else. Instead, she just stood there and let him do what he was doing. She didn’t fight him. She didn’t even make a sound.

But the moment he pried her lips apart and sent his tongue deep into her mouth she definitely did make a sound.

It was a moan, soft and throaty and full of sensual surrender.

Ryan moaned too, though not quite so softly. For a few more mad moments, the impassioned ravaging of her mouth continued before he abruptly wrenched his lips off hers, stepping back to stare down at her with shocked eyes. His prominent cheekbones had spots of red slashed across them, and his chest was rising and falling in a ragged rhythm.

Laura hated to think what she looked like, standing there with eyes wide and the back of a trembling hand lifting to hide her still-burning lips. ‘Stunned’ did not begin to describe her own feelings. How could she possibly have liked what he had done? Yet she had—more than liked, actually. She’d thrilled to his forcefulness. Even now the heat he’d evoked was still charging through her veins. She tried to feel ashamed of what she’d just allowed and enjoyed. Tried to feel angry with him. But she couldn’t, and didn’t. How utterly and perversely amazing!

Suddenly he smiled, a warm, tender smile which confused her even more.

‘I don’t think you dislike me as much as you think you do,’ he said as he stepped forward to take her still-flushed face within the cradle of his large palms.