Sale or return bride Page 9

  She wished she could put the clock back. Two weeks ago she hadn't even noticed his firm, sexy mouth, the seductive glint in his Mediterranean dark eyes or the perfect muscula­ture of his powerful body. She hadn't noticed the superb bone structure or the slightly cynical smile that turned heads ev­erywhere he went. She hadn't noticed him as a man. Now she noticed everything and every feminine part of her shrieked in recognition of his raw, untamed masculinity.

  'Naturally I didn't know that you were searching for me,' she said coolly, poking around in the fridge until she was confident that her betraying colour had subsided.

  Only when she was sure that she was in control did she remove some cheese and a bowl of glossy dark olives from the fridge and place them on the table. 'And in answer to your question, I'm making myself lunch.'

  He strolled into the room and glanced at her with naked incredulity. 'Why?'

  Because she'd never had access to so much delicious food in her life and it was just marvelous not to go hungry in order to save money.

  She shrugged. 'Why not?'

  'Because I have an extensive and well-rewarded staff,' he said slowly, enunciating his words as if he were addressing a child, his astonishment palpable, ‘ and their job is to pro­duce meals for you so that you don't have to take an incon­venient break in your shopping schedule.'

  She flinched at his cutting remark. His opinion of her was just so low. But could she really blame him for that? After all, she was the one who'd given him that impression and had to continue to do so. 'I have all the time I need to shop,'

  she said idly, 'given that I haven't seen you since our wed­ding day. And your staff have got better things to do than make me lunch.'

  He was looking at her with a stunned expression on his handsome face.

  'I don't know why you're looking at me like that.' She glanced impatiently in his direction. 'Have you never made yourself lunch before?'

  'Frankly, no’ he confessed dryly, a strange expression in his eyes as he looked at her. 'And I hadn't exactly expected you to either. Do you often waltz into your grandfather's kitchen and make yourself lunch?'

  Alesia froze. She'd done it again. Had forgotten that she was supposed to be rich and pampered. Then she gave a mental shrug.

  'I don't expect people to wait on me.' Aware that he was looking at her curiously, she sighed and rolled her eyes. 'Now what?'

  It's just that you constantly surprise me,' he drawled softly, his gaze speculative. 'Just when I think I have you all worked out, you do something that is totally out of character.'

  She cast him a look of contempt. ‘ You know nothing about my character.'

  'Evidently not,' he murmured, his shimmering dark eyes narrowed as he surveyed her thoughtfully. 'However, I think our staff might be a little shocked if they discover you in here, making lunch.'

  Alesia bit her lip and refrained from telling him that she was already on first-name terms with his head chef and that they'd swapped Greek and English recipes. 'They're your staff.'

  'You're my wife.'

  Her body tingled at his silky reminder. 'Forgive me for forgetting that fact,' she said acidly. ‘ I haven't seen you since our wedding day two weeks ago. I assumed you'd taken up residence elsewhere.'

  And she just hated him for not even bothering to show his face.

  'I didn't realize you were going to miss me so much and it was our wedding night ’ he corrected softly, studying her through narrowed eyes. 'You saw me on our wedding night. Another occasion when you surprised me. I wasn't expecting a virgin in my bed.'

  Her cheeks flamed. ‘ I don't know what you mean—'

  'You should have told me’ he said smoothly. 'Greek men are very possessive, agape mou. I might have been prepared to raise the purchase price still further had I realized the unique value of the goods. You missed out'

  She winced at his mercenary assessment of her character. 'I was satisfied with the deal.'

  His eyes glittered in his handsome face. Tm beginning to think that I might be too,' he drawled, stepping closer to her. 'You were amazingly responsive.'

  Graphic images flashed through her brain and her legs started to tremble as the memories came crashing back.

  'You paid me to perform in your bed,' she said unsteadily, 'so that's what I did.'

  He gave a short laugh and moved closer still. 'You were totally out of control, agape mou, and you expect me to be­lieve that you were acting?'

  He was too close. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.

  She wasn't used to dealing with men like him. She wasn't used to talking about sex.

  Careful not to look at him, she sliced the cheese into chunks and laid it in a bowl. 'It wasn't my choice to intro­duce sex into our marriage. I was perfectly happy to have a very different sort of marriage.'

  'One where I pay you to do nothing?'

  'You weren't paying me for sex,' she said steadily, adding olives to the bowl. 'You were paying me for the "privilege" of taking over my grandfather's company.'

  ‘It might interest you to know that that particular "privi­lege" has taken up every daylight hour since our wedding,' he drawled, his eyes raking over her in frowning contempla­tion. 'Your grandfather is an appalling businessman. You can blame him for the fact that you haven't seen me.'

  'I'd rather thank him' she said, putting the finishing touches to her salad and lifting the bowl. ‘ I had no desire to spend any time with you at all. And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm planning to go and eat my lunch’

  And phone her mother.

  That had been one of the major benefits of Sebastien's long absence. She'd been in daily contact and was following her mother's progress anxiously.

  ' No.' His voice was lethally soft as he lifted the bowl from her clutching fingers and returned it to the table. 'I do not excuse you.'

  She made the mistake of looking at him. Stormy blue eyes clashed with smouldering black and instantly the breath caught in her chest.

  The look in his eyes was intensely sexual and she could see that his mind most certainly wasn't on anything as boring as lunch.

  His eyes moved from hers, lingering on the full curve of her breasts and then sliding down to rest on her smooth, flat stomach exposed by her hipster jeans. 'Don't wear trousers again. You have great legs. I want to see them—'

  'You are such a chauvinist,' she flung at him, her cheeks flaming with colour at his remark. 'Do you always tell women what to wear?'

  'Women don't usually go out with me looking as though they're about to unblock a drain.'

  'I like my jeans. They're comfortable.'

  'So is underwear,' he said silkily, his lashes lowering as he gave her a look of pure sexual speculation. 'And that would be my preference.'

  Knees shaking, she put a hand on the table for support. 'I wiil wear what I want to wear—'

  'Not in my company’ he said, his tone suddenly icy. 'You'll wear what I want to see you in’

  She bit her lip. That's ridiculous.'

  'You should have thought of that before you sold your­self.'

  She gave him an incredulous look. 'You want me wander round your house in my underwear?'

  'If I tell you to.' His gaze was mocking. ‘ I pay enough for you. I might as well see what I'm buying.'

  She turned her head so he wouldn't see the tears that stung her eyes. He made her feel so cheap. 'Fine’ Pulling herself together, she threw him a tight smile. 'I wiil wear my jeans when you're not here, which is most of the time, fortunately. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to eat my lunch.'

  Before she could guess his intention, he curved a lean brown hand around the strip of flesh exposed by her top and hauled her against him.

  Trapped by the expression in his eyes, her heart began to hammer against her chest and her head swam alarmingly.

  He lifted lean bronzed hands and cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. ‘ Are you pregnant?'

  The question threw her and she gazed up at him in total shock. ‘ No�
�

  'Good.' He gave a devilish smile and scooped her into his arms. ‘ And you know what they say—if at first you don't succeed—'

  'What are you doing?' She started to wriggle out of his arms but then his mouth fastened on hers in the most erotic kiss imaginable and, like a starving man finally facing the prospect of a meal, she sobbed with relief and fell into that kiss.

  His tongue delved into her mouth in an explicit gesture of masculine intent that sent her pulse racing and her head spin­ning. Her arms slid round his strong neck, her fingers tangled with his silky dark hair and she wriggled in his arms just desperate for more.

  Mouths locked, they ravaged each other, biting, licking, exchanging gasps and groans, stoking the heat between them to almost intolerable levels.

  His mouth still fastened to hers, he lowered her back to the ground and thrust her back against the wall, every inch of his powerful body hard against hers.

  Alesia sucked in some much-needed air, her stomach tum­bling frantically as she felt the heavy throb of his arousal against her.

  A sound in the corridor outside made them both freeze.

  'Theos mou, what are we doing?' He glanced around him in naked disbelief. This is my kitchen, a room I have only visited a few times in my whole life.'

  She closed her eyes in embarrassment. 'Someone could have walked in—'

  ‘ No chance. If they had I would have fired them,' Sebastien announced raggedly, closing long fingers around her wrist and virtually dragging her out of the room. 'I value my privacy above everything else and my staff are fully aware of that fact.'

  Hoping the staff in question were nowhere nearby to wit­ness her surrender to caveman tactics, Alesia struggled to keep up with his long stride. 'Where are we going?'

  'Somewhere I will not have to stare at pots and pans when I have finished with you/ he said silkily, striding towards the stairs so rapidly that she virtually had to run to keep up with him.

  'Sebastien —'

  Once in the bedroom he kicked the door shut behind them, lifted her up and deposited her in the middle of his bed.

  She'd promised herself that if he ever came near her again she'd slap his arrogant face and walk in the opposite direc­tion. So why was it that she couldn't move?

  She watched in hypnotized fascination as he lifted a lean brown hand and removed his tie with a few skilled flicks of those clever fingers. His eyes never leaving hers, he undid the buttons on his shirt and yanked it off, revealing a bronzed muscular chest covered in curling dark hairs.

  Time to lose the jeans’ he suggested helpfully, his shim­mering dark gaze fastened on her flushed face as he dis­pensed with the rest of his clothes with single-minded pur­pose. ‘ Do it yourself, or I'll do it for you.'

  Alesia lay frozen, helpless to look away from his fabulous body. No wonder he was totally unselfconscious about pa­rading around naked, she thought numbly. He was as near perfect as a man could get and just looking at him made her mouth dry.

  Without the outward trappings of sophistication he was revealed in all his masculine

  glory.

  Desire heated and coiled low in her pelvis and her breathing quickened in anticipation.

  Lithe and athletic, he came down on the bed next to her, one arm sliding under her and stripping off her clothes in a series of deft, decisive moves.

  'That's how I prefer you, pethi mou’ he growled, his heated gaze sliding down her naked, trembling length in bla­tant sexual appraisal.

  Alesia squirmed with anticipation and forgot her resolve not to let him touch her again. Every part of her burned for him and the worst thing was that he knew it. He gave a low, satisfied laugh and teased the tip of one breast with slow flicks of his tongue.

  She gasped and arched towards him and he answered her unspoken plea for more by sliding his hand downwards, his strong fingers finding her slick warmth.

  He gave a groan of acknowledgement. 'Waiting two weeks clearly has its benefits,' he said hoarsely. 'It's amazingly gratifying to have a wife who is so willing.'

  The barely veiled insult went straight over her head and, with a shocking degree of masculine purpose, Sebastien raised her hips and thrust into her hard.

  ' Is this what you want?' He shifted her position and drove deeper still and Alesia let out a thickened moan, swamped by an almost intolerable sexual excitement.

  Her body exploded into orgasm and Sebastien brought his mouth down on hers and kissed her hard, smothering her sobs with the pressure of his mouth and stealing her breath with the intimate lick of his tongue.

  He thrust into her with rhythmic force, his powerful body shuddering over hers as he reached his own completion. Finally he dragged his mouth from hers and inhaled un­steadily.

  Stormy black eyes clashed with hers and then he rolled on to his side and gathered her against him, curving her slim, trembling body against his powerful frame.

  That was simply amazing’ he said huskily, sliding a lei­surely hand down her back and between her legs, ‘ if a little quick. So now we'll do it again. Slowly.'

  Still trembling from the force of her own climax, she gave a gasp of shock which turned to a moan of disbelief and longing as his skilled fingers slid into her already hotly ex­cited body. He stroked and teased her in the most intimate way possible and then rolled her on to her stomach with the supreme confidence of a man with a single purpose in mind.

  Battling with the realization that he intended to do it again and that she had no intention of stopping him, Alesia buried her burning face in the pillow and gave a moan of denial as he lifted her on to her knees and positioned himself behind her.

  She opened her mouth on a shocked gasp, intending to protest that he couldn't— they couldn't —and then felt the silken pressure of his masculine arousal against her most in­timate place. Unconsciously she moved her hips in feminine invitation and heard him mutter something in Greek before his strong hands grasped her writhing hips and anchored her for his powerful thrust.

  Alesia went up in flames. Never in her whole life had she ever imagined a sensation so indescribably, unbelievably, wickedly good . Still sensitized from her first climax, her body started to contract immediately and she heard him utter a shocked exclamation as she exploded into orgasm within sec­onds of his penetration.

  No longer in control of any part of herself, Alesia cried out and sobbed, begged and moaned, so totally uninhibited and driven by passion that her whole body was a quivering mass of sensation.

  She felt the unrestrained power of driving masculine thrusts, heard his hoarse exclamation of disbelief and then lost touch with reality as his own pulsing release sent her over the edge into ecstasy yet again.

  For a moment they were both held suspended in a place of such exquisite excitement that reality no longer existed for either of them. And then finally the wildness subsided, leav­ing them both shuddering in the aftermath of an unbelievable experience.

  Eventually Sebastien moved, but only to roll both of them back on to the bed with a very male groan of undiluted sexual satisfaction.

  Alesia lay with her eyes closed, shell-shocked and totally exhausted. She couldn't believe that she could have behaved in such a way. Couldn't believe she was capable of being so shameless and abandoned. And she couldn't believe that it had been even better than last time. This time she'd known what he was capable of doing to her, what she was capable of feeling, and that knowledge had heightened her excitement to intolerable levels.

  ' Well, that was definitely an improvement on an afternoon of meetings' he drawled, his eyes still closed as he lay on his back, one bronzed arm resting across his face, the other holding her firmly against him. 'Had I known how hot you were when I signed those papers I wouldn't have hesitated. You are worth every penny of the money you charge.'

  Plunged back into the stark reality of her life by his harsh words, Alesia kept her eyes tightly shut, wishing that he'd stayed in the meetings. At least then she wouldn't have had to cope with the knowledge t
hat she'd once more abandoned herself totally to a man who clearly despised her.

  'I don't know how you can make love to me when you so clearly hate me/ she murmured, careful to keep the shake out of her voice as she struggled to forget all the things she'd begged him to do to her while she'd been under the influence of his superior seduction technique.

  'Because we don't make love,' he drawled flatly, his eyes hard as they locked with hers. ‘ We have sex, Alesia. And, fortunately for you, having sex does not require emotional attachment. If it did then men would never use the services of prostitutes.'