Flynn’s eyebrows rose. ‘He did those photos you had in your practice.’
‘Yes.’ Now they were gone too. But she wouldn’t let that sadness taint her at the moment. She concentrated on her story. ‘Chandra actually met Vivaan on one of our trips. He was volunteering to rebuild a village in East Timor and ended up coming back home with us. Chandra and he set up a yoga and massage therapy business and I kept travelling.’
‘You didn’t think of getting divorced after Vivaan came on the scene?’
‘No. It made it easier for them with Chandra and I still married. Besides, being married to Chandra was a great way of putting men off.’
‘Why did you have to put them off?’
Because she couldn’t trust herself. Because she’d got to a point where sex meant nothing. Because she’d been afraid. All of those things were true but she couldn’t say any of them now. ‘I just wanted to do my work. That’s all that was important.’
‘Do you feel that way now?’
‘No. Carter changed things.’
‘And me? Did I change things?’
‘Yes.’ Oh god, was there a heater on in here? She was so hot. And the words wouldn’t stop. ‘I wanted to sleep with you.’
‘Because you wanted a relationship with me?’
‘No.’ She still didn’t want that. Did she?
The thought halted when he said, ‘Good.’
‘What?’
‘Because I don’t want a relationship but I do want to sleep with you.’
She stared at him, her mind blanking for a moment as she tried to comprehend what he was saying. ‘You want to sleep with me?’
‘Yes.’
‘Because?’ When had his hands moved to slide into her ponytail, pulling it free so that her hair cascaded onto her shoulders and down her back? His fingers stroked through her hair and then he moved his hands to cup her head, tipping it back even further, his gaze searching her eyes and then slipping down to her mouth.
‘You weren’t the only one to feel the attraction. Between us.’ His voice was so soft, a husky whisper, but it strummed through her, lighting every nerve on fire, making it impossible for her to do anything but nod. This was not the way she thought this conversation was going to go—knew she should backtrack and make him talk about his issues too, see if she could help—but for the life of her, she couldn’t stop the direction this was going in. Didn’t want to.
‘We both fought it. Neither of us want anything serious in our lives, right?’
She managed to nod a little and licked her lips.
‘Except, I could do with a distraction though. I think, so could you.’
She nodded, bit her lip as his gaze flickered down to the movement before lifting back to hers, the fire sparking there so hot, so needy, sparking an equal needy heat in her. She wanted him, so badly. ‘What kind of a distraction?’ she asked, unable to stop herself from teasing, just a little.
He stared at her for a moment, then smiled. ‘This.’ His fingers didn’t tighten on her face as he lowered his mouth to hers, giving her the ability to pull away if she wanted.
She didn’t want.
She’d never not wanted to do something so much in her life before, even though she knew this was foolish. Even though she knew she should pull away, should want to pull away. She hadn’t given in to anything like this in years. Ever really. Nothing had ever felt like this before. What was so wrong in taking a little distraction for herself when she needed it so badly?
She moved up just a fraction, meeting his lips as they came down to meet hers.
The shock of the contact rocked through her, so much more than it had when they’d kissed before. This time, she knew where it was heading. He’d spoken his intent.
They were friends.
They didn’t want to be more.
But they wanted this.
It made so much sense. She didn’t know why she hadn’t seen it earlier. A solution to meet both their desires. Their needs.
‘Prita,’ he gasped pulling back. ‘Please say yes.’
She didn’t have to think about it—many of her best decisions had been made without thinking about it. Especially when they felt right, and good. And by all that was holy, this felt both right and good. ‘Yes.’
One of his hands was suddenly on her arse pulling her close, so close, but not close enough. She could feel his thick length pushing against her stomach and oh my god did it feel good, but it wasn’t enough.
‘Too many clothes,’ she said as his lips left hers to blaze a trail along her chin. She tipped her head back to allow him better access to her neck. One hand was on her breast now, knuckles brushing over her nipple, making it tighten and lift.
‘We should do something about that,’ he said.
‘Yes.’
Her hands were in his hair, brushing over his muscled shoulders, clenching his arse. He groaned when she did that and his mouth returned to hers as he lifted her.
‘Your knee.’
‘What knee?’
‘Couch,’ she said as he began to
