last minute before their departure. It was another
‘You wouldn’t be trying to make me jealous by any chance, would you?’ he murmured.
‘Think I couldn’t?’
‘We’ll have to see.’
She soon realised her mistake. The events of the night before had given Lang a reputation guaranteed to fascinate everyone there. The girls lined up to dance with him. Their men lined up to prevent them. When they couldn’t do that they danced with Olivia instead, hoping to aggravate him.
But they had mistaken their man, as Olivia could have told them. Lang seemed oblivious to everything except the succession of women in his arms, which was obviously the clever way to react, even if she did find it personally aggravating.
Watching him from a slight distance, she could admire his graceful, athletic movements. With her imagination heightened to fever pitch she mentally undressed him, feeling those same movements against her, not dancing but loving her powerfully. Her own dancing became more erotic, something she couldn’t have controlled if she’d tried. And she wasn’t trying.
Just once he looked directly at her and their gazes locked in the perfect comprehension that so often united them. He was doing the same as she, teasing and enticing until they were ready to haul each other off the floor and into bed. Excitement streamed through her, making every nerve tingle with anticipatory pleasure. If only he would make his move soon.
Meaning to urge him along, she allowed herself a little extra wiggle. The result was all she hoped. Lang bid his partner a hasty goodbye, made it across the floor at top speed and hoisted her into his arms.
‘You’ve gone too far,’ he said firmly.
‘I hope so. Better too far than not far enough,’ she said, reminding him of his own words in the zoo.
By this time they were halfway down the corridor. When they reached the door of their suite, Olivia opened it and Lang kicked it shut behind them. When he tossed her onto the bed she reached up to undo the
‘No,’ he said, removing her hands. ‘That’s my job.’
‘Then get on with it,’ she ordered him, edgy with frustration.
He needed no further urging. By the time he’d finished the dress was in tatters on the floor, followed by her underwear. When they were both naked he drew back, breathing heavily, kneeling beside her on the bed. His arousal was hard, almost violent, yet he had the control to stop there, looking down at her with a glint in his eyes that was new.
‘You promised to throw me over your shoulder,’ she reproached him. ‘What happened?’
‘I’m a gentleman,’ he said in a rasping breath.
‘Nah, you’re a coward. If you’d kept me waiting any longer, I’d have thrown you over
‘That’s because you’re no lady.’ He lay down beside her until his lips were against her ear. ‘I watched you dancing all night, and believe me you are
She gave a sigh of deep contentment. ‘I’m glad you realise that.’
His hands were touching her, but differently from before. The movements were fiercer, more purposeful, as though something that had been holding him back had disappeared, releasing him. Now he loved her with a driving urgency, with power, as well as skill, conquering and taking where once he would have waited for her to give.
At the end she was exhausted but triumphant. She’d always suspected that this forceful arrogance was one of the mysteries that lay behind his mild manners, and there was deep satisfaction in having tempted it out at last.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked quietly. ‘I hadn’t meant to be quite so-adventurous.’
The other Lang was back, the quiet one with perfect manners. But she’d seen beyond him now, and she liked what she’d discovered.
‘Perhaps we should try it that way a few more times,’ she said with a contented smile. ‘I rather enjoy not being a lady.’
He laughed. ‘Were you actually trying to make me jealous tonight?’
‘I suppose I was,’ she said in a pensive voice. ‘But you did quite a bit yourself.’
‘You couldn’t expect me to ignore your challenge.’
‘But it’s not fair. I have so much more to be jealous of than you.’
‘You think I’m not jealous of Andy?’
‘Who? Oh, him. You shouldn’t be. You know all about him, and I know nothing about your love life-unless you expect me to believe you’ve lived like a monk.’
She thought he paused a little before saying lightly, ‘Certainly not. I told you about Becky Renton-perhaps not everything, but-’
‘Spare me the details of what happened behind the bicycle sheds at school. I don’t even want to know about the girls you took to the Dancing Dragon.’
‘I explained.’
‘Yes, I remember your explanation-very carefully edited, which was probably wise of you.’
He regarded her wryly. ‘Do you want chapter and verse?’
Warning bells went off in her mind. This was straying into dangerous territory.
He was lying on his back with Olivia on her stomach beside him with a clear view of his face and its suddenly withdrawn look. Two instincts warred within her. She was curious about his life yet reluctant to sound like a jealous nag.
‘Of course I don’t want chapter and verse,’ she said firmly. ‘I know you must have played the field. It would worry me more if you hadn’t.’
She put an arm about his neck and lay over him, her face against his shoulder, feeling him curve his arm to hold her more closely.
‘There is one I’d like to tell you about,’ he said at last. ‘So that there are no secrets between us.’
‘All right. Go on.’ Now the moment was here she only wanted to back away, but it was too late.
‘I was like you for a long time,’ he said. ‘I never let myself get too far into a relationship. I knew where I was heading and I didn’t want anything to get in the way. But a few months before I left England I fell in love with a girl called Natalie.
‘Everything seemed perfect. We planned to get married and come to China together. But one day I found her looking through advertisements for houses, hoping to buy one for us to live in. When I reminded her about China, she laughed and said, “Isn’t it time to be realistic?”
‘I understood then that she’d never really meant to come with me. She’d thought of it as nonsense that I’d get over. When she realised that I was serious, she became angry. She forced me to choose between her and China, and so-’ He paused. ‘And so we said goodbye.’
Olivia had raised herself so that she could look down at him. He turned his head to look at her, and now she wished she could read what was in his eyes.
‘Did you ever regret letting her go?’ She had to ask, although she feared the answer.
‘She’d been deceiving me all that time, keeping a distance between us when I’d thought we were so close. Our minds would always have been apart.’
‘But if you loved her-it’s not just minds, is it?’
He glanced at her naked body leaning over him, the beautiful breasts hanging down so that the nipples touched him, and he caressed them gently.
‘No,’ he said softly, ‘it’s not just minds. But you and I have everything-minds, as well as hearts and bodies. Have you not felt that?’
‘Yes, from the first moment.’
‘You would never hide your thoughts from me, or I from you. I didn’t tell you about Natalie before because I was afraid you would misunderstand and think it had more importance than it has.’
‘And how much does it have?’
