Conall appeared in the doorway with a tray. His jaw was etched with dark shadows that made her skin tingle. His hair was rumpled and ridiculously appealing. And he was naked but for the pair of grey tracksuit pants that rode so low on his hips her attention settled on his impressive musculature and stayed there.
One good tug and the fabric would be around his ankles. How could she be exhausted and voracious at the same time?
‘Clear the bedside table, would you?’
Greer shuffled up in the bed and saw the surface littered with condom wrappers. With one slide of the arm, she pushed them onto the floor.
Conall’s huff of laughter lodged somewhere behind her ribs. ‘I’ve always found your efficiency sexy.’
‘You have?’ She turned to find his attention not on the gleaming wood surface but on her naked breasts.
She hitched in a sharp breath as her body responded and saw his grip on the tray turn white-knuckled. Finally he looked up to meet her eyes, his expression rueful. ‘Always,’ he said as he set the tray down.
Greer moved back across the bed, scrabbling for the sheet to cover herself.
‘Don’t. It’s a spectacular view.’
‘I could say the same.’
Her gaze flickered to his chest. They’d managed a little sleep last night. She’d spent that time sprawled against him, her head cushioned on his chest, the reassuring rhythm of his heartbeat lulling her to sleep. Abruptly she looked up and something seemed to click into place as their eyes met. The nebulous feeling became a certainty.
‘We’ve done this before, haven’t we?’
For a second she thought she saw shock drag at his features. But the impression was gone so quickly she must have imagined it.
‘You remember?’ His palm covered hers as he leaned close.
‘Not remember. But when we…’
How did she put into words the feeling she’d had again and again as they made love? Not familiarity. More a feeling of utter rightness. No, it was more than that. She’d soaked him up with all her senses, shared herself so thoroughly it seemed like even now they were connected, not just by the touch of his hand on hers, but by something deeper she already knew at the most fundamental part of her being.
Surely first-time lovers couldn’t reach such transcendent pinnacles?
‘When we have sex…’ She felt his fingers thread through hers. ‘It feels like it’s new, but not new. Does that make sense?’
The teasing smile he’d worn as he carried breakfast was gone, replaced by a gravity that caught her breath.
‘It does.’ Conall paused, frowning, as if looking for the right words. He shrugged those wide shoulders and lifted her hand to his lips, whispering a kiss across her knuckles. ‘Your instincts are spot-on, as ever. We’ve been lovers for a while.’
Greer folded her hand around his. She blinked, hit by an emotion that was part relief that she’d been right and part regret that she couldn’t recall something so precious.
‘Greer, are you okay?’ He wrapped his other arm around her back, pulling her to him.
She was grateful for his embrace, sinking her head against his shoulder, inhaling that wonderful scent of cedar, heat and male flesh.
‘Yes, fine. Really, I am. It’s nice to know my instincts were right. It’s just…’ She shook her head, feeling foolish. ‘I wish I could remember.’
The amnesia had stolen so much, including, she suspected, some of her most precious memories.
He tilted her chin up and she lost herself in his warm midnight gaze. ‘Don’t fret over it. You’ll remember in time.’
Greer stifled a protest that there was no guarantee she would. What was the point? It was something she had no control over.
‘But however long it takes and whatever happens, I’m here, Greer. You’re not alone. You can rely on me. Remember that.’
Her pulse quickened at the intensity of his stare and his words. Wherever this relationship went, she knew Conall well enough to understand he’d stand by her if she needed him.
Strange how good that felt. Better than good. All her life it had been her and her mum together, regularly moving, with her mother concerned Greer’s father might locate them. After her mother died, Greer had been totally self-sufficient. She had friends but those friendships had never been really tested.
