When, finally, inevitably, he bent down and put his lips on hers again, he felt her tense under his mouth and paused. This time when he kissed her, it was as if he was transported back to another moment, kissing this woman, holding her in his arms. He closed his eyes, the past skipping and slipping through his mind, and no matter how hard he tried to hang on to the memories, they slid and evaded his attempt at tethering them like will-o’-the-wisps in the breeze. Fiercely, he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her closer until her toes left the track and she was crushed against him. She felt right, perfect, incredible in his arms.

Even that wasn’t close enough. Her tongue invited him in and the kiss deepened and he forgot where, or why, he was here as he breathed in the scent and the taste of the woman in his arms. And she answered him with a longing that touched the core of him with a feeling of homecoming, so tantalising, so welcoming, but still just out of his grasp.

He couldn’t remember.

Finally, their lips parted and he lowered her slowly, running her body down the length of his in slow torture until she could step back. Letting her go was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do.

When he looked into her eyes he saw the heartbreak he’d caused, and deepened, with his intense embrace, and his finger rose to brush her tears away as they fell on her cheek.

Obviously, she was struggling with him being here and he cursed himself for putting her through this. He was a jerk. A thoughtless, arrogant jerk. It had been too big an ask and he knew without a doubt that he had taken advantage when he shouldn’t have.

‘We’ve kissed many times before.’ His words were a statement and she didn’t deny it, but she stepped away further and the back of her hand rested across her mouth where he’d left his imprint. He could tell she was having trouble with her emotions.

She wasn’t the only one. His heart thumped like a piston in his chest and he wanted to snatch her back instantly, back into his arms, and do that all over again. And more.

There was only one way his thoughts could go and he didn’t understand how he could have allowed himself to risk this woman by making love to her when he must have known it couldn’t last. Damn.

‘Were we lovers?’ His voice was harsher than he’d intended, angry with himself, not her. She flinched at the baldness of the question.

She raised her chin and he remembered that from the first time she’d visited him in the hospital – he’d known she was no shrinking flower. She held his gaze, lifting her chin higher. ‘Yes!’