now.’

‘Shh,’ he whispered, placing two fingers against his lips.

Madeline’s pupils dilated as she followed the movement. The desire to feel his fingers on her lips, to suck them into her mouth and taste the beautifully aromatic oil, was shocking. She didn’t understand where such a thought even came from. She’d never felt so out of control of her own body until meeting Marcus.

‘Lie down, Maddy,’ he ordered gently.

She was quite the conundrum, was Madeline Harrington. Why did a beautiful, desirable woman look so perplexed by a man’s touch? Surely her fiancé touched her all the time?

He would if that was his ring on her finger.

Marcus felt her tense as he slid his hands into her hair, gathering the loose tendrils together to push it off her neck. The scent of her shampoo wafted towards him - frangipani and cinnamon – and Marcus fought the urge to bury his face in her beautiful locks.

He was moving into dangerous territory. The look she’d just given him had been heavy with desire and he knew he was walking a very fine line between therapeutic and something else entirely different. Something that could get him struck off had she been a patient.

But she wasn’t.

Madeline practically heard the oil sizzle as it landed on the heated flesh of her shoulders. She definitely heard his breathing as his fingers stroked gently through the liquid. Was she mistaken or was it as uneven as hers?

Lavender filled the air with its sweet fragrance. There were other fragrances as well that she couldn’t place and she cleared the huskiness from her throat.

‘What’s in the oil?’ she asked. She prided herself on sounding almost normal. This was good. This was what she needed. A little conversation to distract her from the traitorous pulse of her body.

‘Guess,’ he said, and slowly ran two glistening fingers under her nose and along her top lip.

Madeline almost moaned out loud and the temptation to suck them inside her mouth was so real she ground her toes into the bed to stop herself.

She swallowed. ‘Well, there’s lavender, of course, but it smells a bit minty, too? And there’s something else...I don’t know what.’

He chuckled. ‘Very good. Lavender, peppermint and the other fragrance is melissa oil — it has a citrus aroma.’

Madeline shut her eyes as Marcus’s fingers probed the muscles of her shoulders and neck. He applied more oil and worked a little deeper and she bit her lip to stop herself from whimpering. ‘And what do you use as a base oil?’ she asked, desperate to convey normality.

‘It depends,’ he said. ‘Lately I’ve been using grape-seed oil.’

She vaguely heard his answer. The effect of his touch was profound and she gave up trying to fight it. The strangest sensations were taking a grip on her body. All her tension oozed from her pores. The longer he kneaded and caressed, the better her head felt. It wasn’t long before the migraine had all but disappeared.

Heat unfurled along her nerves, melting her muscles and dissolving her bones. She felt weightless yet heavy at the same time. Her breasts ached and there was another ache, deep down low, and she pressed her thighs together to get some relief from the steady build-up of pressure.

Simon had never touched her like this. Therapeutically, sexually or otherwise. They’d been engaged for four years and together for ten and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this hot under the collar. When had been the last time they’d been carried away on a wave of passion?

Looking back at their relationship, she had to admit it hadn’t been just the last couple of frantic years when their intimacy had taken a nose-dive. It had never really been based on passion. They’d known each other since kindy and had just kind of fallen into a relationship at university without really realising it.

Simon lost his mother in the first year of med school and she’d been there for him. Having only just lost her own mother to breast cancer, she’d understood his devastation. So they’d started to hang out together and people had started to assume and it had been convenient for two busy med students to not have to worry too much about matters of the heart. And then when Abby had died five years later during her final exams, he’d become her rock.

But, as Marcus’s fingers continued to weave their magic down the length of her spine, Madeline had to wonder what the hell she’d been missing out on! Simon’s touch, his kisses had never been like this. They had been nice rather than passionate, polite rather than magical. But that had been OK.

What did that stuff really matter when you loved someone?

Actually, it had suited her. Secretly, deep down she’d always thought that her profound grief had rendered her incapable of grand passion. It had been hard to get in the mood when sex had seemed unimportant compared to the things she had already lost. But now, lying there as Marcus made her body hum and sing and come alive with a deft touch and a bit of oil, she knew she’d been wrong.

She was sexual. She did have needs. Sex mattered.

A lot!

The thought was depressing as all giddy up. Here she was, nearly naked on her bed with a man she barely knew who was creating complete and utter havoc inside her, and there wasn’t anyone she could turn to. What would Veronica say?

Turn over right now and let him massage your front.

She bit her lip. She couldn’t do it. It just wasn’t her. But as she gave herself up to the kneading and the stroking and the rubbing, a blissful euphoria enveloped her, lulling her into a deep relaxing slumber. And a little piece of the ice around her heart started to thaw. Marcus had started a flame, a tiny spark of heat, and each rub of his fingers fanned it a little higher.

It took Marcus several minutes to realise that Maddy had fallen asleep. He was way

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