Free One Night in the Orient by Robyn Donald Page A

foolishness.
    From this very moment she’d enjoy the unaccustomed luxury, relish the visit to Hong Kong—andkeep reminding herself she was merely a childhood acquaintance of Nick’s, nothing more.
    She’d scarcely thought of Adrian since she’d got on the plane. Was she going to cut him out of her heart so swiftly—so easily? It made a mockery of everything she’d believed, everything she’d felt. She hated to believe she was so shallow and faithless, but unpalatable or not, it seemed she was.
    The words on the screen seemed to jump, and after a glance at the time Nick pressed “Save” and “Quit” and got to his feet. His first meeting with the Chinese delegation was less than two hours after the plane arrived in Hong Kong, so he needed to be on top form.
    And that meant sleep. But excess energy seethed through him, demanding release. What he really needed was a workout, an hour spent forcing his body past its limits and into exhaustion.
    Mouth set in a grim line, he strode to the other bedroom. A shower eased muscles set too long in one position, and once in bed he stretched the few remaining kinks out of his long limbs. Normally he’d have slept immediately, but as the jet droned on towards Hong Kong he found himself lying awake, an image of Siena in the far-too-large dressing gown curling his mouth in a smile.
    Not for long, however. His expression hardened as he faced an extremely unpalatable truth. Even swathed in what had seemed acres of white fabric, he’d wanted her.
    He still wanted her. Hunger ached through his body like a sweet fever, one that had lain quiescent for years only to ambush him the moment he’d seen Siena again.
    Not for the first time he cursed his weakness.
    He could—perhaps—have understood if it was her sister who affected him like that, yet Gemma’s beauty left him completely cold.
    Five years ago, when he’d lost his head and made love to Siena, it had felt like coming home. Afterwards, while she slept in his arms, he’d fought a desperate fight against the prospect that this overwhelming feeling for her might be love. Angry at his loss of control, he’d forced himself to ignore her warmth and soft litheness, the sense of completeness he’d never felt before.
    Love was a danger he’d not foreseen. He knew about love, had lived all his life with its other, hidden face; he’d seen too much of the havoc it could create. It held people prisoner, kept them a willing slave to another’s cruelty.
    And five years ago not only had he been immature but he’d had an empire to rule, a future to create—a future where his emotions were kept under strict control.
    A future that—until a few days ago, when Siena burst into it like a small tornado—had been lived on his terms. Although he’d always given and demanded fidelity in his relationships, he’d never expected or wanted emotional commitment. His life had satisfied him completely until now, when it suddenly seemed barren.
    But he still regretted his abrupt abandonment of her after their night together. Restlessly he turned his head on a pillow that seemed too hot, too soft.
    So why had he let himself lower his guard and take that kiss? She’d just been dumped by her fiancé, so the last thing she’d needed was for someone she trusted to make a move on her.
    Even if she were willing.
    Even if she
were
willing, he wasn’t interested in standing in for someone else, being used to banish another man’s image from her mind and heart.
    If she came to him, he wanted everything.
    Where the
hell
had that thought come from?
    From the same place, he decided grimly, that had suggested he offer her this trip to Hong Kong. He should have paid for her to fly first class back to New Zealand instead of bringing her—a delicious, desirable and damned dangerous irritant—with him.
    Except that she wouldn’t have accepted such an offer, and he had no way to force or persuade her to.
    Anyway, it was only for two days. After they got back