Her muscles tensed, she spiralled higher, and when his fingers finally delved beneath the elastic of her thong and circled her clitoris, she came apart on a long, drawn-out cry.

  She must’ve closed her eyes at some point because when she opened them, the reverence in Nick’s wide eyes made her want to cry.

  'Nick, that was—'

  'Just the beginning.'

  His wicked grin sent a tremor of excitement through her sated body and she gasped when he spun her around. His arm around her waist pinned her to him, her back in delicious contact with his front. His very aroused front.

  'Let me please you—'

  'You already have, sweetheart, by hearing you come,' he whispered in her ear, his teeth grazing the lobe, nipping and nuzzling, until she could do little but sag against him, boneless with longing. 'But just so you know, I'm calling the shots now.'

  ‘Good to see my bad boy is back.'

  With a faux growl, he hugged her tighter. 'Then it's time I showed you how bad I can be.'

  She shivered as he slid his hands up her ribcage to cradle her breasts, his thumbs teasing her nipples by brushing across them repeatedly until a flood of mind-numbing need drenched her.

  He didn't stop there, making good on his promise, as one hand braced the wall over her shoulder while the other stroked her wet core.

  Desire tightened within her, her hips rocking of their own volition as her inner muscles spasmed again and again as she threw back her head in absolute abandonment.

  'Nick…' She cried out his name as a part-plea, part-warning. She couldn't take much more of this teasing, needing him inside her, now.

  'I'm right here, sweetheart.’

  With a swift unzipping and a rustle of tearing foil he was back, pushing against her, holding her hips and angling them forward as he nudged against her.

  'Nick, please…'

  He drove into her, hard and fast and long, the exquisite pressure filling her. She'd waited so long for this, had dreamed about it, and when he started to pull out and thrust back into her again and again, the sheer intensity of it robbed her of breath, of reason.

  'Britt, my beautiful Britt.'

  His possessiveness thrilled her as much as his hands gripping her hips, tilting them to increase the friction as he plunged into her repeatedly.

  She met him thrust for thrust, clenching around him, moaning as his fingers dug into her hips. When he increased the rhythm, slamming into her like a man possessed, she lost the last of her sanity as he drove them towards a shattering climax.

  They yelled ‘yeah’ in unison, her entire body humming, thrumming, and sated as she sagged against him, her head lolling against his shoulder.

  His barely audible oath had her head jerking up as she spun around to face him. 'What's wrong?'

  'This. Here.' He gestured at the kitchen before lowering his gaze to her bunched skirt and thong around her knees, shaking his head. 'You deserve more than this.'

  Mustering what little dignity a woman with her panties around her knees could have, she wriggled back into her thong before jabbing him in the chest.

  'Don't you dare apologise for the best sex I've ever had. It was perfect.’ Understatement of the year. ‘Better than perfect, it was stupendous.'

  The corners of his wickedly sexy mouth kicked up. 'The best, huh?'

  She nodded. 'The best.'

  His grin widened. ‘You like a guy so out of control he can't make it to the bedroom?'

  ‘Not any guy.’ She grabbed his lapels and hauled him close until their noses almost touched. 'I like you, Nick Mancini. Every delicious, bad-boy, inch of you.'

  'I love it when you talk dirty to me.'

  'I didn't mean—'

  'I know.' He chuckled and rubbed noses with her as he stroked her back; long, languid strokes that relaxed her, and she rested her cheek on his chest, inhaling his seductive scent. 'Do you think it's ironic we're back here where it all started?'

  She pulled away and glanced up at him. 'You mean my first time?'

  He nodded, caressing her cheek with a tenderness that stole her breath and warmed her heart.

  'I wanted to make it special for you then too. Which meant the oven chose that day to malfunction so the pizza was cold, the frozen apple pie didn't defrost fast enough, and I sprayed cola all over you.'

  She smiled at the memories. 'That night was special and it was all because of you.' Her fingertips skimmed his jaw, savouring the faint prickle of stubble, before hovering over his lips, tracing their outline. 'You were incredible and I've never forgotten that night.'

  Or the few months after it, when they'd sneak down to the river to have sex underneath the towering eucalypts or beneath the beautiful jacarandas. To this day, she couldn't walk past a jacaranda without blushing, its unique fragrance a poignant reminder of Nick laying her on a carpet of purple blossoms and taking her to the heavens and back.

  'I say we recreate the magic.’ He winked. ‘Though this time, we might make it to the bedroom. You in?'

  Excitement surged through her as she nodded, and he swept her into his arms and headed for his old bedroom.

  'I'm definitely in,' she said, laughing out loud when he twirled her around a few times before bumping the door open with his hip.

  'Good, because if you'd said no, I would've dropped you.'

  Nipping the skin beneath his jaw, she nuzzled him. 'You wouldn't dare.'

  'Never dare a rebel,' he said, dumping her on the bed before joining her, their laughter surrounding them in lovely warmth.

  She glanced around the room, at the wooden shelves stacked high with trophies, several motorbike helmets in one corner, old leather jackets in the other. 'This room hasn't changed.'

  He shrugged, a blush stealing into his cheeks. 'I never stay here. My life's in Noosa now. I guess Pa was too busy running the place when he was alive to worry about changing the bedrooms.'

  Did Nick know his voice changed when he spoke about his father? Deepened, softened, as if caught up in good times. She envied him that, had always envied him the easy, close relationship he'd shared with his dad. It was one of the reasons she'd liked hanging out here so much; that, and the mean lasagna Pa cooked.

  'I love this place. Do you really need to sell?'

  A momentary shadow clouded his eyes before he blinked and it vanished. 'It's not fair to let it run down. And I don't have the time to do much out here.'

  'Why don't you hire a manager? Farm hands? Get the plantation up and running again?'

  He shook his head, the tiny indentation between his brows a sign she shouldn’t but into business that didn’t concern.

  'You know what this place meant to Pa.' He didn't have to add 'and me'. She could see his reluctance to sell in his clenched jaw, in his rigid neck muscles, and could hear it in his formidable tone.

  'All the more reason to keep it, bring it back to life—'

  ‘It's time to let the place go.’ His jaw clenched. ‘You of all people should understand the power of memories and the need to move on.'

  Oh yeah, she understood the need to move on all too well. As for memories, her good ones involved Nick and, rather than push the issue about the farm, she needed to start creating new ones.

  'Yeah, I get it.' Her gaze caught a flash of silver hanging off the mirror. 'Hey, is that the medallion I gave you?'

  He followed her line of vision, the deepening pink on his tanned cheeks a dead giveaway he'd rather forget that he'd kept a girly trinket.

  'Maybe.'

  She rolled off the bed, evading his arms as he made a lunge for her. 'I can't believe you kept it all this time.'

  'Like I said, this room has been untouched since I left.'

  Her heart expanded as she slung the delicate chain on her finger, tracing the outline of the star on the medallion with her finger.

  'You know why I chose a star, don't you?'

  He shook his head and she dangled the chain on her finger a second longer before rehanging it on the mirror.

  'Because you hung the stars and moon for me back then.'

  He came up behind her, slid his arms around her waist, and held her close. 'And now?'

  'Let's find out.' She turned in the circle of his embrace, ready for his kiss, every cell in her body crying out for him, only him.

  His mouth moved over hers, hot, challenging, and she matched him, their kisses deep and long and luscious, the type of kisses to melt a body and sear a soul.

  If they kissed like this all night long she’d be happy, but she didn't want to settle. Not tonight.

  Tonight she wanted those stars and that moon.

  'I want you so much,' he murmured, trailing his lips down her neck as his thumbs nudged the underside of her breasts, toying with her, teasing her, before drifting upwards to circle her tight nipples through the silk.

  Her head fell back on a moan as he deftly flicked the clasp on her shoulder and the Grecian dress slithered down her body in a rustle of silk, its caress almost as erotic as Nick's hands.

  ‘Wow,’ he murmured, his gaze raking her from head to foot before resting on her breasts, the naked need in his eyes making her tremor with unbridled lust. 'You're even more gorgeous now if that's possible.'

  Smiling, she tugged on his jacket. 'Still the sweet talker.'

  His dazed expression vindicated he found her mature body just as appealing as the lithe teenager she'd once been.

  Sliding the jacket off his shoulders, she started working on his bow tie. 'But for now, less talk, more action.'

  'You want to see some action?'

  His scorching kiss had her grateful for the edge of the bed bumping the backs of her knees as she collapsed onto it, happily watching as he shucked off the rest of his clothes in record time.

  'I like those,' she said, pointing to the black boxers that had been haunting her dreams ever since she'd glimpsed them on their wedding night.

  'And I like this.' He toyed with the top of her white lace thong, sending a river of heat straight to her core. 'But not enough to keep them on.'

  He whipped them off and tossed them over his shoulder, his eyes glazing as his gaze roamed her.

  'Come here.' She held her arms out to him and he entered her embrace in a second, the touch of his bare skin against hers sizzling hot.

  He kissed her, laved her, delved his fingers into her until she was panting for release, clutching at him, crying out his name, sobbing her need when the mind-numbing tension climbed and spiralled and shattered into a million shooting stars.

  She couldn't think, couldn't speak, and she whimpered when he left her for a moment to strip off his boxers and roll a condom on.

  'I'm right here, sweetheart.'

  'Where you belong,' she said, a second before his mouth claimed hers and he lay on top of her, sliding inside with a smooth, powerful thrust that made her gasp.

  He filled her, completed her, and she wrapped her legs around him, tilting her hips to encourage deeper contact.

  When he slid in and out, over and over, every move sent shards of exquisite pleasure firing through her, making nerve endings sit up and cry for more.

  He gave her more.

  He drove into her, his chest rasping her sensitised nipples, his tongue mating with hers, his rhythm taking them higher and higher until he stiffened and cried out her name, shuddering into her.

  Britt had no idea how long they stayed locked together, their heart rates slowly calming, their mingled breaths soft and ragged.

  She didn't mind his weight, didn't mind the slick of sweat between their bodies.

  She'd asked for the stars and the moon.

  Nick had delivered the whole damn solar system.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Sleeping with Britt had been a bad idea.

  Not that there'd been much sleeping involved.

  Their cataclysmic night had changed everything.

  'This place looks the same,’ she said, tugging his hand as she ran towards the river's edge, leaving Nick no option but to follow. And follow he would, to the ends of the earth if she asked, because last night had shattered any illusions he had about this marriage being strictly business.

  With every kiss, with every caress, with every gut-wrenching moan, she'd stripped away the years, catapulting him straight back to a time he’d been so crazy for her he couldn't see straight.

  Nothing had changed, absolutely nothing.

  Though even that was a lie.

  Ten years ago he'd been a fool, kidding himself that all he felt for Britt was lust. Now he knew the truth. What they'd shared had never been about lust; it was more than that, so much more.

  And their night of passion had hurtled him back a decade, to a time he couldn't get enough of her, to a time where his heart clamoured towards her while his head reeled back with the implications of trusting her.

  'Do you miss Jacaranda?'

  She stopped, alerted to the seriousness of his question by something in his voice as he pointed at the river, trying to distract her.

  It didn't work. She reached up and cupped his cheek, her simple touch as catastrophic as if she'd reached into his chest and squeezed his heart.

  'I tried not to miss it. I tried to forget.' Her fingertips trailed down his cheek, lingered on his jaw, before lowering where she placed her palm flat against his chest, directly over his heart. Claiming ownership. It was hers, had always been hers, he just never admitted it. 'But I couldn't. This place is in my blood. I never forgot it.'

  She paused, massaged his chest gently as if soothing his soul. 'I never forgot you.'

  'Same here.'

  He settled his mouth over hers, needing this kiss, aching for it. Nothing like the ache of how he'd wanted her last night, when he'd been blinded by lust and passion. Instead, this ache settled over his heart, exactly where her hand was, the kind of ache that scared the hell out of him.

  Her lips parted and he groaned as his tongue touched hers, going a little crazy as he backed her up against the nearest tree, their bodies melding perfectly, his hands sliding under her top, cupping her breasts.

  'Nick…'

  Her wanton plea made his cock throb as he lifted her top, ducked his head, and captured an erect nipple between his teeth, plucking at the lace covering it, her low moans firing him to flick the clasp and allow the tempting lushness to fall into his hands.

  But the Jacaranda fauna had other ideas as a raucous cackle of a nearby kookaburra pierced the silence and reminded him of where they were.

  In the good old days, this river bed would be deserted, but now the worn track along the bank indicated how popular this spot was with bushwalkers and tourists and he had no intention of providing an X-rated show for them.

  Reluctantly tugging her top down, he brushed a soft kiss against her lips. 'You used to love those damn birds. Too bad this one has shocking timing.'

  She laughed, a loud, joyous sound that had him chuckling with her. 'Remember the time we made out down here and we—?’

  'Can we change the subject?' He sent a pointed look at his groin. 'You're killing me, in case you hadn't noticed.'

  As she ground her pelvis against his, her smile was pure evil. 'I noticed.'

  She slid her hands around his neck, bringing her breasts flush against his chest. 'Why don't we continue this discussion back at the farm?'

  'You're a wicked woman,' he said, smoothing stray tendrils of copper gold away from her face, his heart bucking at the adoration in her eyes.

  He wanted her to look at him like this all the time. Hell, he wanted her all the time. Then why the faintest doubt he was deluding himself, about everything?

  One night of sensational sex and he'd been blinded to the transient nature of their marriage: her job, her promotion, their deal.

  Last night changed everything but they hadn't discussed it, any of it, and while now wasn't ideal there would come a time soon, very soon, when they'd need to lay it all on the line.

  'Come on, let's head back,’ she said, her smile soft.

  He didn't need to be asked twice, and as they sprinted back to the farmhouse, laughing and falling over their feet, he banished his doubts and decided to live in the moment.

  For now.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Britt paced from one end of their suite to the other, casting malevolent glares at her laptop on each circuit and the incriminating email on the screen.

  The promotion was hers.

  David had seen the preliminary pitch she'd emailed, and had been blown away by the video footage, photos of the sugar cane plantation, and the accompanying spread. He’d evaluated her entire early presentation and made his decision.

  She was the new managing director of Sell.

  She'd done it.

  Which meant her work here was done.

  So where did that leave her and Nick?

  She should be ecstatic, her dream finally a reality, with the added bonus of clearing her debt with her father and finally being free of her past.

  Instead, dread warred with regret.

  She had to tell Nick the truth.

  She’d be leaving, heading back to her job, to a dream job she'd worked incredibly hard for and strived for, had given up a heck of a lot for.

  But what if the dream had changed?

  What if the dream had evolved to include a sexy billionaire, a pristine beach, and a very real marriage?

  At the sound of the door opening she stopped, lunged at the laptop, and slammed it shut. She was nowhere near ready for this.

  Nick’s eyes lit up as he saw her. ‘Hey, how's the most beautiful girl in Noosa doing?'

  'Great.' She forced a smile, quelling the urge to blurt the truth the instant he stepped into the room.

  'Come here.’ He opened his arms. ‘I’ve had a rough day at the office and need a welcome kiss from my wife.'

  She flew into his arms, crushing her lips to his in an urgent kiss, before burrowing into his chest, seeking comfort, seeking warmth, seeking a solution to her terrible dilemma.

  She wanted the promotion.