He bristled at the mention of Zurich again. Why was she so determined to go it alone? When she had him to support her?
‘And this is as good a time as any,’ she continued, oblivious to his irritation. ‘Because we’re stuck here for days with nothing else to do.’
He could think of a ton of things they could do. All of them more pleasurable than cooking. He stiffened against the renewed rush of desire.
Whoa, boy. You tried that once. It just created more problems.
He shoved his fists into his pants pockets, then his cell pinged. Dragging it out, he read the new message from his assistant.
‘Apparently the voice controls on the equipment can be overridden if you use the manual controls—all except the locks for the outside doors.’
And he wasn’t telling her how to open those, because he didn’t trust her not to run off and get lost in minus-thirty-degree temperatures.
‘Then you’ll need to tell me how to control the outside doors in Greek.’
‘Nope,’ he said. ‘You don’t need to know how to open them.’
‘Yes, I do, or I’m a prisoner!’ she announced, her exasperation clear. But right alongside it was the ripple of panic.
‘You’re not a prisoner,’ he said, and meant it.Mostly. ‘You want to leave the house, you can. You’ll just have to come get me first so I can accompany you.’
She crossed her arms over her chest, her expression darkening, and her breasts plumping up. The desire in his gut sharpened like a knife.
He stifled a groan.
Damn, no bra again.
Was she trying to kill him? Or was she so innocent she didn’t realise what effect it had on him to see her unfettered breasts jiggle and sway under her T-shirt?
Unfortunately, he suspected it was the latter, which only crucified him more. His cock became heavy in his sweats. He licked his lips, the taste and texture of her puckered areolas so vivid he was starting to sweat.
‘That’s not good enough,’ she said, her voice rising with indignation. ‘I refuse to be dependent onyoufor my freedom.’
He could have dismissed the impassioned plea but for the definite shimmer of panic now in those wide emerald eyes. His gut knotted—because he suddenly felt like a bully. No better than her bastard of a father—who had tried to force her to marry an old man.
He stepped towards her—the urge to reassure her confusing, but undeniable.
‘Don’t freak out, Freya,’ he said, brushing his thumb across her cheek.
She swiped his hand away, her misty eyes belied by the hard set of her jaw, the stubborn tilt of her chin.
‘Then don’t patronise me,’ she said, her breathing unsteady. ‘I know the land deal is the only reason you offered to help me escape and why you insisted on bringing me here…’
He wished that were true, it would simplify everything… But his motives had always been more complicated—bound up not just in the incendiary connection they’d shared in September, but also in the fallout since.
Why else would he have found it so difficult to focus on his business interests…? And why else would he have freaked out so spectacularly when he’d discovered her virginity?
‘But I refuse to be treated like a possession you own,’ she continued. Beneath the declaration, though, he could hear her panic still, and her fear. ‘Because I’m not. I own myself now. And no one is going to take that away from me. Not ever again.’
Her statement triggered something inside him, something he had never realised he was capable of. Empathy.
He’d dismissed her as a pampered princess who led a charmed, indulged life—and would never know the hardships he’d suffered, would never have to fight for her place in the world, the way he’d been forced to fight, tooth and nail, for years.
But he had known for a while the truth was more nuanced. Maybe she’d never known what it was like to be so hungry your stomach hurt. Or so cold it made your bones brittle. Or in so much pain from a beating your skin felt as if it were on fire.
But she did know what it was like to feel trapped. Exploited. To feel as if all your choices had been taken away from you, through no fault of your own.
And that gave them common ground he had not expected. But he didn’t want to admire her tenacity, and her bravery, especially as it was going to screw up his plans.
