Shipwrecked with Mr. Wrong - By Nikki Logan Page 0,50

this yesterday? Look how long that lasted.’

Reality bit. She wasn’t going to be able to just walk away from this. Or him. ‘Then it goes no further.’

The cogs turned wildly in that handsome head. ‘Agreed.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘What is agreed?’

‘That we go no further than this.’

‘That’s not what I—’

‘It’s a fair compromise. Very modern.’

She stared at him. ‘Rob, this is ridiculous. I’m not suggesting we can make out like a pair of teenagers whenever we want but go no further...’

‘Why not?’ He leaned up and pressed his lips to her throat, causing a tremor that ran down her spine. She lurched backward. ‘It’s a great plan.’

‘It’s a ludicrous plan.’ It did nothing to address the question of her loyalty to her family.

Except limit the damage.

Honor frowned. That was something, after all. Maybe it would get them through the next few uncomfortable days without tearing off too big a chunk of her soul. And when the supply boat came with the parts Rob needed, they could part as friends. Not enemies.

‘People do this all the time, Honor. Get to know each other slowly. Enjoy each other. Without making a big physical commitment.’

The fact that idea was such a novelty to him said a lot about the world he came from. A faster, racier world than any she’d ever known. ‘It won’t change my feelings, Rob.’

It was written all over his face. He thought he could take a mile if she just gave an inch. That was because he didn’t truly know what he was up against. She’d been living on the memory of her family for four years now. These past few days—no matter how intense, no matter how breath-stealing—were a blip on her emotional radar. Just a few more days and she could get back to normal.

It wasn’t as if they’d be kissing twenty-four seven. Surely she could contain her growing feelings for a few more days?

‘No further,’ she warned and then only half dreaded the celebratory contact she knew would follow. But Rob surprised her by giving her the most radiant of smiles and then the most gentle of kisses on her forehead.

His hand slid up to cover her eyes and press her lids closed as he pulled his naked body out from under her sleeping bag. ‘Wouldn’t want to tempt you so soon into our agreement,’ he joked, his voice moving away from her.

The appalling conceit made Honor laugh and she felt kilos of weight lift off her shoulders. Weight she hadn’t known she’d been carrying.

‘Sleep now, gorgeous,’ he said from behind her ear. ‘I’ll wake you in a few hours.’

And then he was gone with a swish of the tent flap. Honor opened her eyes and sat swaying on the spot, the space around her feeling enormous now that he’d left it. She quickly stripped down to her underwear and slid under the sleeping bag before Rob’s heat and scent entirely dissipated.

She lay staring up at the sunflower ceiling, breathing him in. Smiling stupidly.

Rob wanted her.

Lord knew she wanted him too, but having him would never be an option. Kisses she could deal with. Maybe they’d keep him occupied enough that he wouldn’t notice how much of herself she was holding back. Maybe the thrill of the chase would disappear now that he’d got what he wanted—part of what he wanted.

Maybe turtles would take wing.

Part of her hungered to be close to someone again after so long. Her body had sung out with it yesterday and just now. But she trusted Rob to be as good as his word and not push her for more. Sometimes you had to feed the beast a little in order to control it.

She’d rather feed it her kisses than her soul.

CHAPTER TEN

FOR three days it went like that. Honor slept by day, monitored the birds in the late afternoon and the turtles by night and—in those mystical hours while the sun dawned over the eastern horizon—she gave time to Rob and let him fill a bit of the gaping solitude she carried around with her.

He effortlessly switched his body clock to nocturnal so that they could spend more time together, but mostly so that he could crawl into the tent with her and snuggle up close for the best sleeps either of them remembered having.

Rob was as good as his word, never pushing her for more than kisses—even if they broke out fresh supplies of ChapStick and even if some of those kisses got perilously intense and left them both strained