Then the bedroom that had once been shared by her parents.
‘This house must have seemed very big when your mother died,’ Gabriel commented, gazing around him at the floral curtains and matching bedspread, and the dressing table, which, though cleared of everything, still looked as though it were waiting for someone to sit at the stool and peer into the angled mirror. ‘Did it not occur to your father that he should sell the place and retire on the generous profit he would have made? Instead of remaining here and squandering the lot?’
‘I suggested it to him.’ Laura remained by the door, rigid with tension. ‘But he said that he couldn’t bear to leave the memories behind.’
‘Ah. So he did the next best thing by running the place into the ground.’ He walked towards her, noticing the way she shrank away from him and it took a superhuman effort not to allow his surge of rage at that to cross his face. ‘And how do you feel about living here now?’ he quizzed as he walked towards her bedroom.
‘I have no choice, as it happens.’ Laura watched as he pushed open the door to her bedroom and stepped inside. This felt like the deepest invasion of her privacy, but even so she felt a betraying wave of emotion rush through her at the sight of him looking around him, looking at the bed she still slept on. ‘I ...no one is really interested in buying the house with all the stabling...’ she found herself chattering on witlessly, just to stop her eyes from flicking towards the bed and imagining him lying there, naked, with her next to him. ‘It ...Phillip says that it’s too isolated to appeal to families, who like ...like being surrounded by other houses ...the whole package seems to put them off...’ Her voice trailed off as he walked towards her, impossibly sexy, his eyes fixed on her softly parted mouth.
Her eyes slid sideways, avoiding him, and she licked her lips nervously.
‘So why not just cut up whatever land you have left and sell it to a building company? I am sure someone, somewhere, would love to erect thousands of little starter houses here.’ He was now within touching distance of her and he could sense the tension oozing out of her. Was it sexual tension? he wondered. He leaned against the doorframe, Ho that he was now impossibly close to her.
‘It’s ...it’s green-belt land ...and besides, Dad expressed the wish in his will that the place be sold lock, stock and barrel as riding stables.’
‘How considerate of him, lumbering his only offspring with the burden of trying to find the buyer in a million. You seem a little edgy. Am I making you nervous?’ It would have given him a kick of satisfaction to know that he was the reason for her shallow breathing and fluttering eyelids, but, frustratingly, he realised that he was no longer the young man he once was, sure of her responses to him. For all he knew, she could be itching to escape his presence for completely different reasons. Trapped by the man she had once rejected and loathing the sight of him because he held her future in his hands. His lips thinned to a forbidding line.
‘Of course not,’ Laura breathed, inching away out into the corridor. ‘But ...but it’s getting a bit late. Perhaps we ought to have a quick look around the stables ...before the light fades...’
Gabriel pushed himself away from the door. Whatever she felt for him now, he would make sure that time worked its magic on her, time and his persuasive powers to seduce her back into his arms, back into his bed and towards the inevitable rejection. He would allow her to wriggle but then he would reel her in. He wondered how her body would feel after all these years, and felt himself harden at the thought.
‘No need to show me the land,’ he commented. ‘Just the stables and, of course... the other outbuildings.’ He saw her pause fractionally when he said this and he knew, with a fierce stab of undiluted satisfaction, that she was thinking the same thing that he was. The offices. Home of their stealthy love-making seven years ago. She might have eradicated him from her life when he had made a nuisance of himself by daring to propose marriage to her, but she still couldn’t quite forget the passion they had shared, could she?
It was still light when they got outside, but he had not arrived till a little after four and the light was already beginning to fade.
‘I only have the three horses left,’ Laura was telling him, with her back to him as she walked past the empty stalls. ‘Two are so old that they probably won’t make it through this winter, and I really shouldn’t be spending money on feeding them, but...’
‘But you cannot bear the alternative.’
Laura turned to look at him, her eyes flashing with anger. ‘That’s right, Gabriel! I can’t bear the thought of having them put to sleep! I know that it doesn’t make financial sense and I suppose, to a man like you, anything that doesn’t make financial sense isn’t worth considering, but I’m afraid I’ve still got some compassion left!’
‘Unlike me?’ He looked at her and fought the urge to kiss her very firmly on that quivering pink mouth. God, even after all the muddy water under their bridge, he was still attracted to her! It confused him and confusion was not an emotion with which he had much familiarity.
‘Unlike you!’ she agreed with vehemence. ‘You never used to be like this, Gabriel. What happened?’ She had intended to throw that at him with scathing disdain, but Instead she winced as she heard the genuine curiosity in per voice.
‘Life happened,’ he said abruptly.
‘I’m surprised you never married.’ A slight, cool breeze lifted her hair from her shoulders and Laura wrapped her slender arms around her body.
‘Because I am such a catch?’
‘You’re good-looking and eligible. I would have thought that you would have had hundreds of women beating a path to your door in search of a band of gold.’
‘Oh, but I have,’ Gabriel drawled smoothly. ‘I prefer my life to be uncluttered, however, so I usually try and end things before the beating-down of the door occurs.’
Of course he would have had numerous lovers, but she still felt a jolt of searing jealousy at the thought of them all, lying in bed with him, making love.
‘Now, shall we continue with our tour of the empty stables? Or are there any more pressing questions you feel you need to ask?’
‘I was simply being polite,’ Laura muttered. ‘If we’re going to be doing business together, then we might as well be civil to one another, wouldn’t you agree?’
‘Doing business with one another?’ He began strolling down the corridor that ran along the stabling blocks, peering into the forlorn, vacant stalls, seemingly checking each one for signs of imminent collapse.
‘Hold on. We are doing business with one another, aren’t we?’ Laura hadn’t budged and he eventually turned around to look at her. ‘That’s what all this is about, isn’t if’ she persisted, her heart thudding as he slowly approached her. ‘You did say that you were serious about buying the place, didn’t you?’
‘I also said that it would depend on its condition. I’m a businessman first and foremost, as you were at such pains to point out. It’s hardly likely that I’m going to throw my money into a pit from which I shall never be able to recover any of it, wouldn’t you agree?’ His mouth curved into a smile and Laura gave a little shrug of her shoulders, uneasily aware that he was toying with her even though what he had said was absolutely true and would have been said by any prospective buyer. Anyone would demand to see the goods and approve them if they were to invest money.
‘My horses are just along here,’ she said, leading the way. ‘I know the stables look a bit desolate, but with sufficient money they can easily be brought up to standard.’
‘Is that the selling blurb your accountant asked you to give me?’
‘It’s the truth.’
‘They’re a far cry from how they used to be seven years ago,’ Gabriel remarked, pausing when she did to look at one of the older horses. He watched and saw the suspicious glitter in her eyes give way to tenderness as she pushed open the stable door and began stroking the horse. He could hear her murmuring under her breath.
&n
bsp; ‘Did you keep Barnabus?’ he asked softly, stepping into the darkened stable beside her and running his hands along the flanks of the horse whilst his eyes remained fixed on her down-turned head. He was assailed by a sudden rush of memories and breathed in sharply, tearing his eyes away from her just as she raised hers to his face.
‘He’s two stalls along.’ She stood up and her expression resumed its wariness as she led him out, shutting the door behind her.
‘It must be a bitter pill to swallow ...all this...’ The words were jerked out of him and her wary expression deepened.
‘What do you think, Gabriel?’ This time she didn’t enter either of the stalls, standing well back when Gabriel walked in to run his long fingers over Barnabus’s black head. It was too painful to watch.
‘What do I think...?’ he mused, leaving the stall with reluctance. Riding was in his blood. He would have liked to have mounted the stallion and ridden him across the fields, but there were more pressing things to do. ‘I think...’ he continued speculatively as he walked slowly towards the offices, making sure that he kept as close to her as he reasonably could—he wanted to make sure that she felt his presence ‘...that you find yourself in an impossible situation. This is your home, you have grown up here the riding stables formed part of your childhood. I think you would do pretty much anything to hang onto them Am I right?’ They had reached the offices but, before entering, he turned to look at her.
‘Naturally, I would like to see them brought back up to the standard they once were...’ Laura responded hesitantly, not really knowing where this was going.
‘Of course you would.’ He smiled coolly at her. ‘Because the alternative would be disastrous for you personally, wouldn’t you agree? No roof over your head, for a start.’ He pushed open the office door and stepped inside.
Just as he remembered. A little shabbier, but by far the least run-down of all the buildings. He paused in the middle of the room and looked at her over his shoulder. ‘Come inside, Laura, and shut the door behind you. It’s getting a little cold out there.’ He turned his back to her and heard the soft click of the door being shut.
From the outer reception room, he strolled into the office, still there with its desk and files and the sofa, spread against one wall. He could sense her standing by the door, hovering, waiting for him to complete his perusal of the room, and he wondered savagely whether she had ever really missed him. She would have come into this office after he had left, and thought ...what? Anything? Would she have felt some twinge of regret and wistfulness? Or would any such emotions have been quickly and easily replaced by relief that he had walked out of her life before he had become too much of a liability?
The thought of that made him clench his fists in his trouser pockets. He turned very slowly around until he was looking at her with a veiled expression.
‘So tell me, Laura, what would you do to hang onto this place? And keep your lifestyle intact? I mean, three days a week working as a secretary surely cannot pay you very much. What would you be able to afford to buy in town? Or even to rent, for that matter? A one-room studio flat somewhere? Maybe you might be forced to share a house with someone...’
Laura eyed him uneasily as he casually strolled closer towards her. Every muscle in her body had tensed and she could hear herself breathing quickly, drawing in shallow bursts of air, which seemed barely sufficient to keep her standing on her wobbly feet.
Gabriel extended his arms, propping himself against the wall and trapping her so that she was forced to look at him, could barely move without colliding with some part of his aggressively masculine body.
‘I ...I haven’t really ...given it much thought...’ she stammered as his black eyes bored into her.
‘Well, think about it now.’ He allowed her a few seconds of silence whilst he continued to stare at her. ‘Having the bank repossess the place. You would get a pittance, you know. Probably enough to cover some of the debts but certainly nothing left over on which you could reasonably live. You might even be forced to pay off some of the creditors out of your own meagre personal funds. So ...what would you do to hang on here?’ His eyes dropped to her trembling mouth, then down to her breasts, which were heaving as she inhaled deeply to gather her self-composure, which had been blown to the four winds.
‘Wh-what do you mean?’ Her voice was little more than a choked whisper. Her glazed eyes couldn’t leave his face.
‘I mean that I still want you...’ He removed one hand and shockingly placed it lightly at her waist, slipping it under her shirt so that he could run his finger along her waistline.
‘I don’t come with the property, Gabriel.’ She could have accompanied that assertion with a forceful push, but for some reason Laura found that her hands were power-less to move. ‘ ‘Ah, but would you like to?’ His hand slipped further up the shut until he could feel the weight of her breasts pressing heavily against his fingers. Her eyes were fighting him, but her body was singing a different tune, he realised. Her body still remembered what it felt like to be joined with his.
And his, he thought with a blow of startling clarity, had never forgotten. The women he had slept with during those intervening years had never fulfilled him the way this woman quivering under his touch had. The thought angered him and made his resolve harden. He cupped one breast in his hand and gently massaged it. Her breasts, like ripe, succulent fruit, had always turned him on and they were turning him on now. God, he could feel his erection stiffening in response.
‘You can’t buy me, Gabriel.’ Laura’s voice did not convey a convincing message of denial. Her nipples hardened into taut peaks of arousal, betraying her every instinct to run away as fast as she could from this man.
‘Are you telling me that I don’t turn you on, Laura? If that is what you’re saying, then I don’t believe you.’ To prove his point, he rubbed the pad of his thumb over her throbbing nipple and smiled like a cat suddenly in possession of a large saucer of cream. Yes, she felt the same. His hands, which had caressed other bodies, now felt as though they had been designed to mould just this one. He dipped into the lacy covering and scooped out one large breast and felt a fierce kick of pleasure as a small moan escaped her lips. Lips that were begging to be kissed. Just as her nipples were begging to feel the pressure of his fingers playing with them, rubbing them until they ached with sensitivity.
He lowered his head and his mouth met hers with a I hunger that he hadn’t realised he had. His body pushed hers back against the wall and with a groan of sheer yearning Laura twined her arms around his neck, her tongue feverishly and urgently clashing with his.
Oh, yes, it fell good to taste him again. She was still reaching for him when he pulled away and she slowly opened her dazed eyes.
‘Still the same fiery woman,’ he murmured, drawing away and leaving her to hurriedly try and resurrect some of her scattered wits. Laura looked at him with her arms folded protectively across her breasts. Her heart was still thudding wildly behind her ribcage, but reality was beginning to sweep away the cloud that had made her fling caution to the winds.
He had kissed her to prove a point and prove it he had in no uncertain terms.
Gabriel could sec the conflicting emotions race across her face like shadows but he felt no real sense of satisfaction. So she still wanted him, had not been able to resist him the minute he had laid his hand on her, but he wanted more. More than just the knee-jerk reaction afforded by two people obviously still attracted to one another. He wanted her body and soul.
‘If you think I’m going to come to bed with you so that you buy this place, then you’re mistaken, Gabriel.’ Her words snapped him out of his reverie during which he had been thinking of her standing before him, naked, willing and ready to do whatever he wanted. Until the time came when he turned her away.
‘I would not dream of asking any such thing of you,’ Gabriel replied, lowering his eyes. ‘You will come to bed with me because you still want me.’
; ‘I hate you, Gabriel,’ Laura whispered and in that moment she did. Hated him for being able to control her after all this time. He had once spoken about marriage and set-ting up house together, but on his terms. Even then, she doubted that he had known the meaning of love, love as something beautiful to be shared and for which sacrifices had to be made. He had wanted her enough to make her his possession, but had not loved her sufficiently to wait, to allow her to ride the storm of her parents’ disapproval in her own time, to gain the qualifications that would have meant everything to her.
It had all become apparent over time that wanting someone was not enough. And now here he was, wanting her again but allied to that urge to possess, to take what he wanted, was a cruel streak that desired retribution for the damage she had done to his pride.
Yes, she hated him, she told herself fiercely, or, at least, she desperately needed to hate him.
Her utterance was like a knife twisting in his stomach, ‘I do not know why,’ he said acidly, ‘when I am prepared to rescue you from your situation.’
‘If you buy this place, then you’re doing it for yourself, Gabriel. What will you do with it? Convert it into a leisure centre? Turn it into a country house so that you have somewhere to spend weekends away from London? Or do you really care what happens to it? Will it just be enough to know that for a moment in time you could indulge your desire to have control over me?’ She pulled open the office door, desperate to get out of the place and away from his suffocating masculine presence.
‘I already own a country house,’ Gabriel drawled, watching her retreat and allowing her the temporary victory of imagining that her retreat might be permanent.
‘You don’t live in London?’
‘Naturally, I have a penthouse there for when I have to stay in the city, but my primary residence is in the country.’
Laura edged out of the room and into the cooling air outside. He followed her and she angled around him to lock the office door, pulling back so that she could create some vital distance between them as they walked back to the house.
The Millionaire's Revenge Page 5
