LITMIR.BIZ

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in the grip of violent release, she bucked frantically back and forth, while he held her in place, making sure that she benefited from every last pulse of pleasure.

      ‘Worth the wait?’ he murmured when she quietened.

      She was still groaning rhythmically against his mouth as the pleasure pulses, having faded, continued. He started to move again and she immediately responded, moving with him, needing more.

      Making love to Lizzie was instantly familiar all over again. He knew exactly what she needed, and it gave him the greatest pleasure to give it to her. The only change he noted was that her appetite had grown.

      It was a long time later when he hauled her to her feet and they ran to cool down in the sea. He swung her into his arms both times, to avoid the shells, and when he carried her back to shore and they dressed she reminded him that they had to get back.

      ‘An appointment?’ he confirmed. ‘I remember. Sadly no time for the house today.’

      ‘Another time?’ she said.

      ‘Why not?’ he agreed.

      As they linked fingers to walk along the sand, to a soundtrack of rolling surf and seabirds calling, he wondered if he’d ever felt closer to anyone. Trust was a great thing, and he was glad he’d got Lizzie’s back.

      He was proud of her—not for that reason, but for the way she’d fought back after the trial. She’d barely spoken of it, but he knew she must have had a rough time. The spirit he remembered so well from eleven years back must have carried her through, and it was no wonder that Iannis and Stavros liked her so much, and Stavros had wanted her to come to the island.

      Rediscovering her Greek heritage would be good for Lizzie. There was nothing like a return to the homeland for restoring confidence and faith in the future.

      ‘Your new house is very beautiful,’ she said, glancing over her shoulder. You must be very proud of it?’

      ‘I am,’ he admitted, ‘especially as I had the pleasure of helping to build it.’

      ‘That must have been great,’ she agreed.

      He was pleased that she understood the pleasure he’d found in working with his hands. ‘It was,’ he confirmed.

      He glanced back too. Looking at his new place through Lizzie’s eyes gave him the same thrill that he’d felt when he’d first sat back to study his design on paper. He’d planned for the house to be in complete harmony with its surroundings, and he believed he’d succeeded.

      ‘It’s fabulous,’ Lizzie confirmed as they both paused to admire it.

      ‘I did have some help,’ he admitted dryly. But he felt the pleasure that only a man who’d selected each piece of stone from the quarry could feel. ‘Without the craftsmen I employed it would never have been built. I worked as their lowly assistant.’

      ‘That must have been a bit different for you,’ she said, ‘but from the look on your face I guess you enjoyed it?’

      ‘More than you know,’ he agreed.

      ‘Well, it was well worth the effort. You’ve created something really beautiful.’

      ‘You’re beautiful,’ he said, swinging her into his arms. ‘And one day I will bring you back here.’

      Would he? Lizzie wondered. Would Damon want her within a hundred miles of him when he found out the truth about Thea?

      ‘Beautiful’ didn’t begin to describe his new home. It was a dream home. It was the type of home Lizzie wished she could give to Thea.

      And Thea’s father owned it.

      Her mouth dried when she compared Damon’s glorious beachside mansion to the one room she shared with Thea in London when Thea was home from school. How could she deny Thea this incredible lifestyle? Thea could have half a dozen music studios and no one would ever complain about the noise.

      ‘You could paint here,’ Damon said.

      She swung around to stare at him in confusion for a moment. Her head was so full of Thea, as it always was, that she couldn’t switch track to herself.

      ‘You used to love painting,’ Damon prompted. ‘I remember you telling me.’

      ‘I did,’ she agreed. Incredibly, on that night eleven years ago, they had grown close enough to discuss lots of things, including pastimes and hopes and dreams. ‘You told me that work was your hobby,’ she remembered.

      ‘Correct,’ Damon confirmed. ‘And it still is.’

      ‘I didn’t have a clue what you meant by saying that back then,’ she admitted. ‘I’d only just left school and had no idea that the world could be so tough.’

      And the rest, she thought.

      And now you do? Damon’s look said.

      She didn’t deserve the compassion in his eyes. Damon had been forced to become even more work-obsessed after the trial, thanks to the damage done to his family’s business by her father. Damon had righted all those wrongs, but maybe life would have turned out differently for him if there’d been no fraud, no trial, and they had never met.

       CHAPTER SEVEN

      DAMON SEEMED DETERMINED to reassure her. ‘It’s good to have you back,’ he commented as they walked on.

      And good to have you back, Lizzie thought, though she knew better than to expect it to be for ever.

      She lowered her gaze so Damon wouldn’t be able to see how she felt about him.

      ‘I was worried I’d lost you again,’ he admitted. ‘I’d keep seeing flashes of the old Lizzie, but then she’d slip away.’

      There was a good reason for that, Lizzie thought, hanging back. ‘You can’t recapture time, or make it stand still, Damon.’

      ‘But I can care that you were hurt,’ he argued firmly. ‘And I can care that I was partly responsible for causing that hurt. I can care that your father abandoned you, and your stepmother kicked you in the teeth when you had no one left to defend you—’

      ‘I didn’t need anyone to defend me. I was fine on my own—better, probably. I think we look at success differently, and I’m actually pleased with the way things have turned out.’

      ‘How can you be?’ he said frowning.

      Thea was always front and foremost in her mind, and that left her nothing to complain about. ‘When I once had such big dreams, do you mean? I see things differently now. I don’t owe any money. I’ve got a roof over my head and enough food to eat.’ And, more importantly, a daughter she adored, and Thea didn’t go without anything if Lizzie could help it. ‘You don’t need to feel sorry for me,’ she said with absolute certainty.

      ‘I don’t feel sorry for you. I admire you,’ Damon insisted.

      ‘Well, that sounds a little bit patronising.’

      He seemed surprised. ‘I apologise if you think that, because it’s the last thing I intended. I do admire you, and I think it’s great that you—’

      ‘Survived?’ she supplied edgily.

      ‘I think you’ve done more than that, haven’t you?’ he argued. ‘I was going to say that you’ve got great friends, and a life you enjoy, so nothing else should matter.’

      ‘I’m glad you see it that way.’ She was determined to move on to safer ground—which meant switching the spotlight to Damon. ‘And you’ve done very well for yourself too,’ she said dryly.

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