‘You always desert your partner without saying goodbye?’ He moved against her and she gasped, realising that he knew exactly what he was doing. ‘No, Libby. You ran that night because what we shared was so frighteningly good—so intense—that you were scared witless. You panicked.’

She was writhing under him now, her body arching in an effort to ease the intolerable ache in her pelvis.

‘Andreas…’

He gave a low growl and raked a hand through her blonde hair. ‘Tell me how you feel, Libby. Tell me.’

She stared up at him, lost in the expression in his dark eyes, her whole body feverish and quivering. She just felt so hot. ‘I want you…’

He gave a groan of frustration and bent his head to capture her mouth. ‘Admit that it’s not just sex.’

Desperate for him, she gasped and arched against him. ‘Andreas, please…’

‘No.’ His voice was a low growl. ‘Not until you admit the way you feel.’

Libby whimpered. ‘Do you want me to hit you?’

‘Admit it.’

‘Andreas…’

‘I love you, Libby.’ He spoke the words softly and her breathing and heart stopped simultaneously.

He loved her?

Afraid she’d misheard him, she lay utterly still and he gave a sigh and shifted slightly so that he could look at her.

‘Did you hear me?’

She nodded slowly and he gave a wry smile.

‘So this is the point when you tell me that you love me, too.’

Libby felt a rush of panic. She didn’t love him. She didn’t want to love him. It was asking for trouble. He’d hurt her…

‘It’s just sex, Andreas. Good sex, admittedly, but just sex.’

He gave a frustrated grunt. ‘You’re lying and if I have to pin you to this bed for the rest of your life I’m going to make you admit the truth.’ His dark eyes were unbelievably gentle. ‘The sex is good because we love each other, Libby. Why don’t you just admit that you’ve never felt this way about a man before and that you’re scared?’

Libby’s heart was thumping so hard she could hardly breathe. ‘All right. I’ve never felt like this about a man before and I’m scared,’ she parroted, and he sighed.

‘Relationships don’t have to go wrong, Libby. I know you’ve seen some bad examples, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t good examples out there, too. My parents were happily married for forty years. Why won’t you just trust me?’

She bit her lip. ‘Because it’s been too quick, too good to be true, and because I don’t believe that fairy-tales always have happy endings,’

‘Then you’d better prepare yourself for a shock,’ he said softly, lowering his head to kiss her gently, ‘because this particular fairy-tale is going to have the best ending you can possibly imagine.’

CHAPTER NINE

ANDREAS sat on the shaded terrace and sipped his coffee.

It was already midmorning and there was no sign of Libby. But remembering just how little sleep he’d allowed her the night before, he decided that it was hardly surprising.