WHEN Aneesa woke the next morning and went to get some breakfast, she wasn’t surprised to see that Sebastian had already gone to the office. Daniel passed on a message to say that Sebastian would be working late, so not to wait up. Aneesa sighed deeply. They’d gone about five steps forward and three hundred back. All night she’d had broken and disturbed dreams about a small boy standing distraught in a dark corridor while people rushed past, ignoring him.Great, she thought to herself as she poured some tea, now I’m even taking on his nightmares. But there had been something so sadly poignant about the image … and even now she silently vowed to protect her own child from any similar scenario.After breakfast she went into Sebastian’s study which he told her she could use to make calls home or for the Internet. Feeling determined, she sat there for hours and trawled the Internet for every bit of information she could find about the Wolfe family. She managed to find out a lot more this t

He’d grown up learning to duck from his father’s loose fists. He’d invariably been protected by one of his brothers and witnessed them getting a dose of physical violence, but none more so shocking than his beautiful older sister, Annabelle, the day their father had whipped her mercilessly, leaving her with permanent scars. He’d been too small to step in and help her and that sense of ineffectualness had stuck with him, heightening his sense of isolation. And his sense of fear that perhaps he couldn’t protect his own child.When they’d bought his suit for the wedding, he’d led Aneesa to a well-known designer shop on Bond Street, but on the threshold she’d pulled back and he’d looked down to see her face, puce with embarrassment. He’d frowned. He would have thought she’d have been running in, eager to indulge. But when she’d refused to budge she’d finally admitted, ‘I don’t have enough money to pay for a dress here. Let’s go somewhere else. Please.’And gruffly, he’d assured her that h

ANEESA was sitting beside Annabelle at one of the round tables where they’d just finished coffees. She didn’t need to look around to know that Sebastian hadn’t reappeared. She was trying to concentrate on the conversation but was still smarting from his cruel words.She was also reeling with the knowledge that this beautiful, immaculately turned-out woman had been so horrifically beaten. Annabelle was being very sweet and explaining that her twin brother, Alex, was a racing car driver based in Australia, and couldn’t be there.Aneesa put a hand to her bump, only realising what she’d done when she noticed Annabelle follow the movement. She grimaced. ‘It’s still small, but it seems to be getting bigger by the day now.’Annabelle smiled politely but then looked away with a small frown forming between her grey eyes. ‘Jack should be here too, our elder brother, but I haven’t seen him yet. I know Jacob wants to talk to him….’Annabelle’s eyes snagged and widened on something or someone else

Her eyes narrowed. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’He looked away and shrugged, cursing himself for showing that it bothered him on any level. ‘You always said you would want to go home.’He could feel her penetrating look and tensed. She sighed. ‘Yes, I did. And I think the time to go is before I turn into a total caricature of some kind of jealous lover.’Her honesty surprised him. He was so used to women being vague, indirect.Before he could dwell on the significance of that, she stood and said breezily, ‘You made it very clear what would happen here. What you wanted. So I really don’t see the point in prolonging my stay. Things should have died down at home, and I need to get prepared for the baby coming.‘That is—’ her voice suddenly became more hesitant ‘— unless things have changed for you …?’Sebastian looked up at her. The sun was behind her and all he could see was her narrow framed silhouette. She had to be referring to the fact that he seemed to turn into a walking human e

He palmed her breasts, making the peaks tighten into sharppoints, and she drew his head down so that he could take a nipple into his mouth. Her belly tightened with pleasure as he suckled her roughly. She met him head-on, biting the skin on his shoulder, and then licking where she’d bitten, revelling in his unique musky taste.Neither of them could wait, desperation fuelling their movements as Sebastian pushed her legs apart and settled between them. Just before he thrust, with Aneesa’s hands on his hips, her legs drawn back, he said with a guttural moan that seemed to be pulled out of him, ‘I need this … I need you.’An ache lodged in her throat and emotion surged as he thrust deep inside her. And then they were caught up in the familiar dance, which took them higher and higher until every sinew was pulled taut, and when an explosion of intense pleasure gripped her and went on and on, Aneesa wondered how she’d ever be able to cope knowing she’d never have this again.Long languorous m