It was a kiss to lose himself in. A kiss that sent his control into a whirling blaze of heat and ash.
He moaned her name.
Her fingers tightened in his hair as she pressed herself more firmly against him. He slid one arm down her back, his bandage catching on the material of her shirt as he clenched it, pulling it up so he could feel skin, smooth, silky, warm skin, under his fingers.
‘Your hand,’ she gasped.
‘It doesn’t hurt.’ In fact, he felt no pain. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. His cock was aching, pressing painfully against the front of his shorts, threatening to burst them wide open.
She gasped into his mouth as she rubbed against him. ‘Flynn.’
‘Prita.’
‘Mum!’
‘Dad!’
She jumped out of his arms so fast, that he stumbled back. His legs hit the edge of the bed and he sat with a thump. Shit. When had they got so close to the bed? Had they been edging towards it? He’d been so lost in the heat of the kiss, in the madness of desire, if they’d reached the bed, they wouldn’t have stopped. They would have made love. And then he would have broken his vow. The kiss was bad enough, but if they’d made love that would have completely and utterly blasted his vow to smithereens. He would have dishonoured his dead wife and what they’d meant to each other. What they’d wanted for their lives together. What he was supposed to be now for Aaron.
He couldn’t do this. He shouldn’t do this.
‘Mum!’ Carter’s voice again, coming closer.
She sighed, and visibly composing herself in a way that had him marvelling at how she did that, she walked over to the door and, keeping the door to the bedroom partly closed, stuck her head out to talk to the two boys thumping up the hall. ‘Carter, stop stomping.’
‘Why are you up here?’
‘I’m just changing my top. I spilled something on it.’
‘Okay.’
‘Have you seen my dad?’
Aaron. Flynn flinched. If his son saw him in here … He ran his hands through his hair. Christ, what was he thinking? He wanted to catch Prita’s attention, make her know she couldn’t let Aaron know he was in here with her. His boy would never understand. But she wasn’t looking at him. He listened, holding his breath as she answered Aaron.
‘Yes, I did see him a little earlier.’
‘Where is he now? I can’t find him anywhere.’
He held his breath, shaking his head—no, no, no. It was all about to fall apart.
But Prita didn’t even flinch from answering that question—he was super impressed with her ability to tell a lie. ‘He cut his hand on a broken glass, so I took him into the surgery and bandaged it for him.’
Flynn nearly collapsed off the bed he was so relieved. She’d even taken care of any questions that might arise from his bandaged hand.
‘Is he okay? Is he still there? Maybe I should go check.’
‘Aaron, he’s fine. A little embarrassed really. Perhaps you should just give him a moment. He’ll come out when he’s ready.’
There was a pause and then Aaron said, ‘Yeah, Dad doesn’t like it when he gets hurt or sick. He hates needing people to help him. He always gets super grumpy.’
Flynn sat upright. He didn’t think he did that.
‘Yes, well, I told him to sit quietly for a bit, so you just need to let him do that, okay?’
‘Okay.’ A hesitation. ‘But did he ask you about the cricket game?’
Flynn swore quietly as she hesitated.
But Prita, being a consummate liar, it seemed, answered swiftly. ‘Yes, he did mention it.’
‘Can we start up a game soon?’
‘Sure. There’s plenty of room in the side paddock. But one thing—I don’t have any cricket stuff.’
‘That’s okay. We brought everything from CoalCliff.’
‘Good thinking. How about you go set up and I’ll go fetch your dad and we’ll come out as soon as he’s ready, okay?’
‘Okay.’
There was the sound of whoops and the thumping of elephantine pre-teen feet fading down the steps and out the house.
Prita shifted, shaking her head and chuckling a little, but as she turned to face him, the laughter died.
He stared at her.
She stared right back.
‘Thank you,’ he said.
‘Nobody needs to know what happened here. Certainly not our children.’
‘No.’
‘So …’
‘So …’
They stared at each other for long moments, her over by the door, hanging onto the handle as if she was afraid to let go, him sitting on the bed, holding onto the cover as if afraid to let go.
‘I think you need to go,’ she said finally.
‘Yes.’ He stood, took a few steps towards the door, but she was standing there, so he stopped. ‘You need to move.’
‘Yes.’
She shifted but didn’t move fully away from the door, pulling it open with her movement, while holding onto the door handle as if she was afraid she would collapse on the floor. Or reach for him.
He shoved his hands into his pockets before he could reach for her again. He really wished she’d move to the other side of the room, but that didn’t seem like it was going to happen. Her scent enveloped him, the sun coming in through the far window creating a golden glow across her skin, the rich addictive taste of her still on his tongue and lips. He stopped, jaw clenched against the insane desire he didn’t seem to be able to get control of. ‘Can you please move away from the door?’
‘Why?’
‘Because I need you to. I can’t be around you,’ he blurted out. ‘You’re too dangerous.’
Her eyes widened, her fingers tightening on the door handle. ‘You’re blaming me?’
Shit. He ran his hand over his hair. ‘That’s not what I meant.’
‘Really? Because that’s what it sounded like.
