He shrugged. “Too much work. Laziness. Excuses.” He chuckled. “Too many sticky kisses from my niece.”
Something melted in my chest at his chuckle. It held enough love to thaw a glacier. “You adore that girl.”
A light flush crept up his cheeks, and he looked simply adorable. “She’s special, and I’m not saying that because she’s my niece. When I take her out for a walk in the country, she always wants to know the names of the flowers and insects. Sometimes I know the answer, but other times, I just make up a funny name to see her smile. The problem is that she has an excellent memory. She notices when I give the same flower two different, made-up names while I don’t keep track of them. She becomes so angry on those occasions.” He laughed again, and I liked the sound. It was deep and rich and bursting with love. “As a result, she loves checking every fact I tell her. She devours books and tells me all about them. She’s so clever. I’m teaching her to carve wood. She’s a fast learner.”
“I guess she doesn’t trust you?” I quipped.
“Good point.” He laughed. “I prefer talking to her and playing with her tea set to being around some adults. I feel happy just hearing her laugh.”
His love for his niece made my heart flutter. “How did you get this scar?” I traced my fingertip over the pale scar running along his jaw.
He took a sharp intake of breath that did something to my insides. “It happened during a mission.”
I didn’t ask what he meant by mission not to interrupt him. Besides, I guessedIwas a mission to him.
“I was chasing a criminal through a maze of alleyways. I got distracted for a moment, and the thug lashed out at me. I managed to jump out of his reach, but I wasn’t fast enough. He slashed me.” He tilted his head to show me the full extent of the cut.
The scar ran along the column of his neck and disappeared underneath the collar of his shirt.
“Good gracious, he could have killed you.” I couldn’t resist and traced the whole scar down to the starched collar, feeling his surprisingly smooth skin and the tension underneath it. “The stab. You healed so quickly from it. How?”
“I can’t tell you.” His chest heaved as he inhaled.
I stroked his neck and chest again. Touching him was mesmerising.
His eyes darkened. “Monia.” There was the same desperate need ringing in my name as that time in Cairo. He swallowed hard.
“What do you feel now?” I asked, leaving my hand on his chest.
“It’s better if I don’t tell you.” He regarded me from underneath his long eyelashes.
“No more secrets. Tell me how you feel.”
He shook his head. “What if I show you, instead?”
He inched closer. The air between us was charged so much that my skin tingled with anticipation. All my blood flew towards my lips and south. The closer he came, the more heat spread from my core. Kissing him in the dark was one thing. But watching him get closer, his chest swelling and his eyes darkening with desire, was quite another. His lips were a breath away from mine. His body’s heat seeped into me, enveloped me, and protected me.
Rennie stopped right when his lips brushed against mine. It was a light touch that sent a shiver up my spine. I parted my lips, and the tip of his tongue darted out. I moaned shamelessly. I clutched his face and held it as his scent filled the air I breathed. Something cracked within me, an explosion of maddening need and passion I’d never experienced. He must have felt it too because he leant into the kiss and bit my lips before running his tongue over them. I opened my mouth, inviting him deeper, but he paused, breathing hard. He touched his forehead to mine.
“I can’t,” he whispered, pulling away from me.
“But...” I didn’t know what to add.
“Your father is going to kill me.” He laughed without humour. “Literally.”
“He doesn’t need to know.”
“I gave my word.” He caressed my cheek, and I leant against his comforting hand. “It means the world to me. He trusts me, and I don’t want to disappoint him, much less lie to him.”
Dash it. “I respect that.”
Without looking at me, he rose and returned to his cold spot on the floor.
We hadn’t decided what to do once we arrived in Venice, but the turmoil of emotions within me was too strong for me to talk to him now. So I lay down and stared at the ceiling, my pulse beating in my ears. My body hadn’t reacted like that when Sandro had kissed me. Rennie nearly kissed me and I was ablaze with desire. What was happening?
