And just as his warmed hands had formed a ball of energy after he rubbed them together and held them apart, a similar force of chi grew in the space between them. As their bodies warmed and their breath soughed in measured hisses, his life force picked up hers and grew into something bigger, unseen, yet tangible. Energy swirled between them like ocean currents and trade winds and molten lava deep in the earth’s core.
This was what it would be like to make love to her. Pure Zen. For a moment, he imagined this feeling could permeate a whole life together.
But that was an illusion. Another attempt to rationalize the sex he ached for. He’d seen the hurt in her expression last night. He couldn’t ignore how vulnerable she was beneath that veneer of mouthwatering beauty and heart-stopping bravery.
She pivoted them north for the final scoop, bring feet together, fist into palm and close with a bow.
With his bent body, he thanked her for the practice and he thanked her for the teaching. He was not a man without cravings, only a man who pretended not to have them. But satisfying those cravings at the expense of someone else would put a weight on his soul.
So he would not, and could not, satisfy his craving for her. He would exercise discipline and resist.
He straightened and went directly to the chill waters of the plunge pool.
LULI FROWNED WHEN she logged in and saw a balance had dropped significantly lower than she expected. She popped into the account and gasped.
“You’re in!” She flashed a look at Gabriel, lounging indolently on the sofa across from her, feet on the ottoman, his own laptop on his thighs. His amused gaze hit hers.
“Since last night. Took you long enough to notice.”
“I haven’t had a chance, have I?” They’d been on the savanna all day, then swam and ate and finally settled in with their devices a few minutes ago.
She closed the lid of her laptop, setting it aside. “Congratulations?” she offered.
His brows moved in an infinitesimal acknowledgment, unimpressed with his own prowess. Given this was how he made his living, she had expected him to outmaneuver her very quickly, but she still craved an acknowledgment of the effort it took him to do it. She wanted him to see her as a laudable opponent.
And she desperately needed to know, “What now?”
He already held all the power between them. Even the sexual supremacy. It didn’t seem to matter if they were half-naked in the plunge pool, moving within inches of each other through the forms of tai chi or sitting like this, feet almost sole to sole. He indicated no more than casual awareness of her while she was in a constant state of heightened senses. His scent, the heat off his body, the husk of his laugh. It all made her thirst for more.
Consent went both ways, she kept telling herself morosely.
His cheeks hollowed. “Come tell me what’s going on here.” He nodded at his screen.
She moved to perch next to him. “Oh. I didn’t agree with Mae on this, but she had a longtime relationship with that company.”
Thirty minutes of discussion followed on a handful of other funds and transactions in Mae’s portfolio. Gabriel had a higher risk tolerance than Mae, which made Luli feel defensive about the decisions she had made in the past.
Gabriel watched her mouth while she spoke, which distracted her. They were spending nearly every waking minute together. Which was the point of a honeymoon, she supposed, but married couples usually exorcised this tension with sex. Her desire for him was making it nearly impossible to respond to his incisive questions.
She finally sat back with her hands in her lap. By this time she had her knees folded beneath her and was facing him on the sofa.
“I have to know, Gabriel. Are you going to lock me out? I really like doing this.”
“I can tell,” he said, not mocking her. “And some of my Ivy League executives aren’t putting this much analysis and consideration into their decisions. I can’t run all these as separate entities for any length of time, though. It’s not practical.”
“You’re firing me?”
“Consider yourself on notice. Keep doing what you’re doing for the moment, but discuss all your decisions with me. I’ll start breaking this into pieces and farming them out once we’re back in New York and I can meet with some of my people.”
“You just said I’m good at it!”
“No, I said you’re thorough and careful. You’re micromanaging, which has its drawbacks.”
“You’re going to fire me because I care? What am I supposed to do if I don’t do this?
“Be a society wife?”
“Ha-ha. You don’t want a wife. Not me, anyway. Is that why you’re planning to fire me from that, too?” she asked on a sudden burst of understanding that his rejection had nothing to do with whether she wanted children. “Because I care too much?”
He turned his head, expression a dark glower. “Yes.”
Crushed and trying not to show it, she shifted to sit straight, knees hugged to her chest. Her mind reached and tried to grasp, but only found thin air.
“Luli.” He sighed. His elbow nudged hers. “I care enough to want to look after you. Don’t worry about whether you’re working.”
“I want to look after myself,” she muttered, feet hitting the floor in a stomp. “Of course I’m going to worry about it.”
“Where are you going?” he asked as she started toward the door.
“Where any society wife goes when her husband tells her to quit her job and stay home. To spend his money at the nearest shop.”
“If you come back wearing zebra print, I’ll divorce you on the spot.”
“I’ll buy them out, then.” She swung the door shut behind her.
* * *
Disappointing a woman was not new territory for him. Feeling like an ass about it was. Gabriel stood by what he had said, though. It wasn’t practical to keep her running a separate entity, double-checking and doubting herself, simply to give her something to do. Granted, she’d never been given the chance to take full responsibility. In time, she might prove to be more assertive and successful, but he’d find something else for her to cut her teeth on.
In the meantime, he half expected her to lock him out of Mae’s accounts again—or at least try. He plugged all the holes she’d found in his code, but she was wily.
Apparently she wasn’t the type to hold a grudge, though. She came back from the gift shop with a bar of specialty chocolate and offered him some.
“I’ll find something for you,” he promised her.
“I don’t want nepotism. No one would respect me—including me.” She popped a square into her mouth, chewed thoughtfully. “All I knew was beauty pageants until I worked for Mae. Education is never wasted, but sometimes you need more despite what you have. I’ll figure out the next stage for myself. You don’t have to give me a job just to make me feel useful.”
He respected that desire for independence, but still wanted to look after her. It was