smiled. “How are you feeling? Any trace of seasickness?”
“None,” I said with a shy smile and a shiver, feeling my nipples pebble.
I really should’ve taken the time to find undergarments before coming on deck, I realized.
“Come here.” He gestured to the other chair next to him. “There’s a heating lamp to keep you warm.”
“Maybe I should change,” I said.
“Don’t bother. You won’t even notice the bite to the air. I promise.”
Nibbling my lip, I padded over to the seat next to Hadrian and sat down. Apparently, I wasn’t close enough because he grabbed the arm of the chair and pulled me toward him.
“Good morning,” he said, brushing his lips against mine in a quick greeting before sitting back. He’d barely touched me, and I was already breathless.
“Is it? Morning?” I asked. “Not afternoon? There wasn’t a clock in the bedroom.”
The doors to the deck slid open and Angus appeared with my cappuccino in hand.
“Thank you, Angus,” I said with a genuine smile.
“Can I get you anything else, Ms. Smith?”
“No. I’m okay, thank you.” I took a bite of the chocolate croissant.
“Bring her a crab omelet and a side of fruit,” Hadrian commanded.
“Yes, sir.” Angus retreated before I could tell him not to bother.
I raised an eyebrow at Hadrian instead. “I don’t usually eat a heavy breakfast.”
“Humor me.”
“You’re in a really good mood.”
“I slept for six hours last night,” he said. “That never happens.”
I took a moment to study him. The shadows under his eyes did look less pronounced and my heart kicked up with emotion when I thought that maybe, he’d slept well because I’d been in bed next to him.
“You sleep like a corpse,” he said. “Did you know that?”
I chuckled. “I did know that.”
“Because a boyfriend told you?”
“Boyfriend?” I looked at him in confusion. “No. I’ve been that way since I was a kid.”
“How many men have you been with, Eden?”
“Jesus, Hadrian. Can’t I have at least a cup of coffee first?” I sighed. “Just when I thought we could get through a meal without an interrogation.”
“It was a simple question.”
“One that has no bearing on us,” I pointed out. “I have a sexual past. You have a sexual past. Let’s leave it there. In the past.”
“You’re not curious about the women I’ve been with?”
“Not really, no.”
“Why not?” he demanded.
“Because it doesn’t matter.”
“I’m insanely jealous,” he clipped.
I looked at him while I took a tentative sip of my cappuccino. “Why?”
“I hate the idea of any man before me bringing you pleasure.”
Angus took that moment to return with my plate of food. “May I bring you anything else, Ms. Smith?”
“No, this looks great. Thanks, Angus.” I shot him a smile of gratitude and he beamed before leaving.
“Stop smiling at my staff,” Hadrian groused.
“I was being polite.”
He shook his head and glared at the sea.
“You’re a mysterious billionaire who can have any woman he wants. Why do you care so much about my past? You’re so Victorian, Hadrian,” I baited, picking up my fork.
“How am I Victorian?” Hadrian demanded, a bite in his tone.
“You expect me not to have had lovers, yet you were completely willing to be a one-night stand.”
“I’m possessive.”
“So I’ve noticed,” I said dryly.
He examined me. “You’re different this morning.”
“How so?”
“Last night you ran when you didn’t like the direction our conversation was going. Now you’re facing me head on. Why?”
“I have my own pride, Hadrian,” I said softly. “Everyone wants to be wanted. I knew you were possessive when I said yes to your contract.” I shrugged. “And I can’t change my past. I can’t rewrite it to make you feel better.”
“Just tell me how many men you’ve been with.”
“Why, so you can torture yourself with the knowledge? One or one hundred, it doesn’t matter. I wasn’t a virgin when we slept together.”
“I wish you had been,” he said, brogue thick and sensual. “I wish there had been no one before me so that you knew nothing except me. I wish I could’ve been the one to worship you first.”
My hand reached out to gently clasp the back of Hadrian’s neck, my thumb stroking his jaw, forcing his gaze to mine. I leaned toward him and settled my lips on his.
I was unable to stop my body’s reaction to him.
Hadrian’s hands reached out and grasped my hips, all but hauling me onto his lap. He became the aggressor.
I knew what it was like to want to change the past, but the past was already written. It could not be stricken from the book of who we