The From Paris With Love And Regency Season Of Secrets Ultimate Collection. Кэрол Мортимер

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СКАЧАТЬ so that she had no need of any verbal confirmation of his state of arousal.

      ‘Oh…’ Charlotte couldn’t look away from his eyes.

      ‘Do you trust me, cara?’

      She didn’t have enough breath to say anything. Instead, Charlotte stretched on tiptoe so that she could reach Nico’s lips with her own. She slid her arms around his neck at the same time as she felt herself being lifted off her feet and carried into the adjoining cabin and a bunk that would simply have to be big enough.

      Well…

      He’d been right, hadn’t he?

      Not just about the reason why Charlotte Highton’s personality had changed so much.

      He’d been right about the fact that she was a beautiful and passionate woman.

      It was well after midnight when Nico eased himself out of the bed that was far too small for two people to sleep together comfortably. He got dressed again and let himself quietly out of the cabin with the intention of going to the bar for that long-postponed nightcap.

      Charlotte was deeply asleep again, which wasn’t surprising. She’d been on an emotional roller-coaster for the last two days and she’d had rather a lot of champagne tonight.

      Had he taken advantage of her lack of inhibitions?

      Or would she thank him for proving what she should have been able to believe in all along? That there was nothing wrong with her. Nothing she needed to be afraid of or hide from.

      That was a minefield in itself. Charlotte was a passionate woman. The way she’d responded to him had been a joy. No…it had been by far the most tender lovemaking he’d ever experienced. So overwhelming that he could only hope Charlotte hadn’t noticed she hadn’t been the only one with tears wetting her cheeks in the aftermath. The way he’d felt when she’d started to touch him back…To offer herself so completely…

      Even now Nico had no idea what to do with the sensations that made it hard to breathe. It had made him feel like he was the most special person on earth. As though she was the only woman in the world he ever wanted to be with again because he would never experience anything like this with anyone else.

      He knew how ridiculous that was. The world was full of beautiful women who were eager to share his bed. But Charlotte was naïve in such matters. She might believe he was the only man who could make her feel like that. She might mistakenly believe she had fallen in love with him when she was now capable of having a fulfilling relationship with any man she chose.

      It didn’t have to be him.

      He didn’t want it to be him.

      So why was he feeling so…uneasy? So in need of a stiff drink?

      Because there was a voice in his head that was trying to insist that being with Charlotte for just a little longer wouldn’t hurt? That he could, at least, have one more night like last night? Just to check whether it had actually been so extraordinary?

      He knew perfectly well how wrong that would be. That would, without any doubt, be taking advantage of Charlotte, and Nico had far too much respect for her to even consider it.

      The strange sound Nico heard as he made his way through the seemingly deserted carriages in the early hours of the morning only added to his disturbance.

      He’d heard that sound before. The cry of a baby who’d only just entered the world.

      A newborn on the Orient Express? Impossible.

      The echo of that cry of new life stayed with him, though, imagined or not. And Nico didn’t like it.

      He didn’t want a new life.

      He wanted his old one back.

       CHAPTER NINE

      CHARLOTTE KNEW SHE was alone even before she’d surfaced from sleep enough to open her eyes.

      Had it been a dream?

      Her memories certainly had a dreamlike fuzziness to them. Sensations rather than clear thoughts, and the gentle rocking of the train beneath her seemed to encourage her to close her eyes and explore them. She could feel each one as clearly as if it was happening all over again.

      The surprise of finding Nico in the cabin when she’d finally got Gran settled, so closely followed by a breath-robbing fascination generated by seeing him with his shirt buttons undone and his tie hanging loose. As if she’d interrupted him in the process of getting completely undressed…

      The explosion of that sensation that had sent shafts of desire into every cell of her body when she’d seen the reflection of her own desire in Nico’s eyes. When she’d felt his fingers steadying her head for the kiss that had sent her straight over the edge.

      Into that abyss of fear and self-loathing. The feeling of falling without a parachute, knowing that death was inevitable, as she’d uttered the words that had been her confession of her inadequacies as a woman.

      The soft cloud that had gathered and cushioned that fall…first with Nico’s words of reassurance and then the physical invitation to see how right they’d been.

      And…oh…Charlotte had never known it could be like that. Maybe she’d had fragments of glimpsing it from haunting, erotic dreams but this had been reality.

      Or had it?

      Shifting a little in her bunk, Charlotte could feel the sweet, inner tenderness that could only be the result of having been passionately loved. With a small sound that was almost a groan, she let herself sink into the last sensation she remembered. Of falling asleep in Nico’s arms again but this time feeling as though it was the only place in the world she could ever want to be. Falling asleep with the utter bliss of knowing those arms would still be around her when she woke.

      Except they weren’t.

      How had Nico managed to extricate himself from this tiny space without waking her? He must have been very determined not to, which meant that he’d wanted to be alone.

      Why? Did he regret what had happened between them?

      Well…why wouldn’t he? For heaven’s sake, he’d been sucked into her private life because of her meltdowns in front of him. She’d cried all over him. Twice! He’d seen her with her panda eyes and he’d heard all the sordid details of her mortifying past. He must think she was needy and pathetic virtually all the time.

      Did he think that she might remain clingy? That she would try and keep him in her life longer than the period they’d agreed on? Ask him for more than he was prepared to give?

      It was odd but the notion of being seen as pathetic and clingy was worse than revealing herself as physically frigid. Nico had shown her that what she’d believed about herself had been so not true.

      What she needed to do was show him that any fears about how else she might behave were also untrue. She was in love with him, certainly, but that was her problem. It didn’t need to be СКАЧАТЬ