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Walking back to the car, after paying the awestruck teenage boy in the kiosk for the petrol, he flexed his craet back into the driving seat The Caht be hailed as one of the fastest andto be winning any awards for its spacious interior So about the intimacy of the small space; the warmth inside and the cool scent of Kate Edwards‘ skin, the darkness and cold outside, y
As he reached the car he saw that she was still asleep, and felt an unfa sensation in his chest Frustration, probably, he told himself sourly as he opened the door and slid into the driver‘s seat If he‘d been alone he would have reached the chalet ages ago
Starting the engine, he thought about what she‘d said She‘d been afraid in the car with him before, because of her brother Did that explain why, fro with such uncharacteristic caution? On some level did he know about her fear? Somehow, somewhere in his head, did he remember?
His h it And hope He‘d recognised her Not consciously, but as soon as he‘d seen her at the party earlier he‘d responded viscerally—physically, da that his body ren, wasn‘t it? All those memories were there He just needed to access the the next twenty-four hours with her would see to that
The powerful V8 engine gave a gratifying roar as he pulled away froh the
There were lots of tunnels on the road up into the hts back to the one at Monaco, where his car had left the track and hit the barrier He‘d watched the footage countless times, but still he couldn‘t reht bleakly Abandoning his rigorous training schedule at this stage was a huge gamble—God only knehat Silvio would say when he found out But ultiaet his life back
Because if he lost this, he lost everything There was nothing else Never had been He had been a sixteen-year-old on a fast track to self-destruction when he‘d spotted Silvio‘s car parked outside the theatre in Naples on that hot suiven hiliularly eluded both his mother and the nuns at school, Cristiano would alo Or dead
Racing wasn‘t just his career, it was his life It was histo the world that he wasn‘t the failure everyone had told hi was his justification for destroying his mother‘s life His vindication
A not-quite-complete moon had broken free fro the road ahead into a river of silver and litter in the snow at the side of it Eventually a sign for the exclusive mountain resort where Francine Fournier‘s chalet was situated loomed out of the darkness As he turned off theher back and seeainst the restriction of the seatbelt Cristiano kept his eyes resolutely fixed on the narrow road ahead as the Campano‘s wheels spun on the ice and Kate‘s head fell sideways onto his shoulder
He stiffened instantly, gritting his teeth as the pulse in his head was joined by an increase in the persistent throb of desire that he had been trying to ignore for the last four hours Scowling out into the darkness, he tried to block out the butterfly whisper of her breath against his throat, the scent of her hair, and concentrate instead on finding Francine‘s house…
Chalet les Pins
The headlae snowflakes that were now silently swirling out of the blackness Grazie a Dio Cristiano felt dizzy with exhaustion as he drove the last two hundred ine off
There was a light on over the porch of the chalet He opened the car door and got out stiffly, taking care not to move suddenly and wake Kate as the icy air rushed at his from the Campano‘s tiny boot, he wearily cli the back to get her
He opened the passenger door She had barely stirred for the last couple of hours and was still deeply asleep, so that even the sudden cold didn‘t wake her
Turned sideways in the seat towards him, she had one hand tucked under her cheek The car‘s harsh interior light gave her skin an unearthly pallor andlashes cast spiky shadows over her cheeks
He couldn‘t bring hi care not to hit her head on the low roof as he eased her out of the car, he felt an odd, light-headed sensation Her body was pliant and warainst the lust that stabbed hihed and shifted in his arms He kicked the car door shut behind him
Her eyelids flickered, and he felt her stiffen He tightened his grip
Mmm?‘
It‘s OK‘ His voice, rusty frohtly in the cavernous nightWe‘re here Go back to sleep‘