Tell Me No Lies

by Shirley Wine

  Piper was gone as quickly and silently as she’d come.

  Victoria stood motionless in the centre of the room, ripped apart with jealousy, the thought of Keir and Davina sleeping together as corrosive as acid. With a muttered curse she strode into the ensuite bathroom and creamed her make-up off in preparation for bed.

  Through the wall she heard the rush of water. Keir was taking a shower.

  She stared at her reflection in the mirror as temptation grew into a fiery ache.

  If I loved Keir I’d fight a she-devil herself for him.

  Could she? Dare she?

  If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for Connor.

  The thought of Davina hurting Connor was a burr in Victoria’s flesh. It was too much to ask of any mother. She looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

  If I can prevent Davina harming my son, I will do so, and damn the consequences!

  Chapter Ten

  Victoria didn’t allow time for cold feet. She snatched up her hairbrush, opened the door and peered into the dim corridor.

  The coast was clear.

  She tripped along the corridor and tried the doorhandle of Keir’s suite.

  It was unlocked.

  She opened the door. The room was empty and one look was enough for her to know Keir was still using the shower.

  Moving faster than she had ever remembered, her heart thumping like a jackhammer, Victoria laid her hairbrush on the bedside cabinet, stripped off her clothes and dropped them on a chair, on top of the clothes Keir had already discarded. She snatched up the black silk pyjama top lying on the turned down king-size bed and shrugged into it.

  The top was huge and sagged over one shoulder, and no matter how she tugged at it, it still revealed a very large expanse of skin. She extinguished all the lights except for the lamp burning on the far side of the bed, then she laid the pyjama bottoms on top of the other pillow.

  The water in the shower shut off.

  Victoria dived into the bed. The pounding beat of her heart drowned out all other sound, her innards wound so tight she was afraid she’d throw up. She tore at her hair and ripped apart the intricate hairdo, yanking out pins. She was raking trembling fingers through her long tresses as Keir emerged from the bathroom.

  A cloud of steam billowed around him and there was a familiar minty scent. Water beaded on his broad, tanned shoulders and he had a small towel draped around his narrow hips. Moisture clung to the hair on his chest, and the muscles in his torso rippled as he used a second towel to dry the hair on his head. The soft light created shadows on the hard planes of his face.

  The small towel draped around his hips accentuated the broad expanse of his shoulders, and his muscular thighs were matted with dark hair that clung wetly. Keir wasn’t one to spend hours in a male beauty salon until he was as smooth and hairless as a woman, and Victoria appreciated his rough-hewn edge.

  Desire made her weak.

  She took a shallow breath as she feasted her eyes, thankful she was sitting or her knees could well have given out.

  He was halfway to the dresser before he saw her. ‘What the hell!’

  The words had barely left his lips when the door opened and Davina stepped into the softly lit room. She looked ethereal in ivory silk and lace.

  ‘Keir, darling, you never said you were expecting Davina?’ Victoria’s voice shook with emotion. She was terrified of his reaction.

  ‘My God!’ Davina’s cultured accent disintegrated into an unattractive screech. ‘Muriel said you were about to trap Keir. Next you’ll claim you’re pregnant.’

  Been there, done that!

  For one horrified moment, Victoria thought she’d actually said her thoughts aloud.

  Keir threw the towel he was using to dry his hair onto the floor, stalked into the centre of the room and stood with his arms folded across his massive chest.

  Victoria struggled not to laugh at Davina’s expression.

  One glance at Keir and Victoria’s laughter died. His arms crossed, stance rigid, Keir’s muscles bulged.

  Angry, proud and striking, he made the heart of her femininity hot and wet.

  ***

  ‘What the hell’s going on?’ Keir looked from Victoria to Davina, struggling to control his shock and anger. As if staying at Darkhaven wasn’t enough to deal with, he was now facing a situation that threatened to turn very nasty, very quickly.

  The headache pounding behind his temples upped its tempo.

  Only Davina’s cajoling had persuaded him to sink his scruples and make this visit to Darkhaven, a visit that had turned up one bewildering surprise after another. Now it looked very much like he was being pitchforked into refereeing a catfight.

  That Victoria had come to his bed was no real surprise.

  They’d been on the verge of combusting more than once this weekend. But Davina here in his room, past midnight …

  He shook his head in disbelief. So much for all her protestations that they would both lead their own lives, not to mention her carefully outlined stipulations.

  Why am I not more surprised? After Katrina, you’d think I would learn that all women lie to suit their own agenda.

  Just thinking of his ex-wife curdled his gut, and he glared at this woman with whom he’d planned a calm future.

  Davina’s eyes glittered in her flushed face and her ample breasts rose and fell with each rapid breath. ‘What’s that slut doing in your bed?’

  Keir glanced from Davina to Victoria perched in his bed and looking at him with the same hypnotised gaze he imagined a terrified rabbit would give a wolf.

  And well she might … and to think I actually thought she was different?

  Wearing his pyjama jacket, Victoria looked more like a waif dressed in her older sister’s cast-offs than a femme fatale. If that was her intention, she fell way short of the mark.

  Surely Davina could see Victoria’s apprehension?

  When she reached for her hairbrush, Keir saw her hand tremble, but it was Davina’s response that interested him more.

  ‘Really, Davina, I’d say that was obvious, wouldn’t you?’ He couldn’t conceal his amusement and his fiancée turned on him, breathing fire.

  Well, seeing is believing … I had wondered if there was any fire under that cool, classy exterior.

  ‘I won’t have it,’ Davina said.

  Victoria stroked the brush down a length of that glorious mane of hair in a movement that threatened his self-control.

  God, I want her as much now as I did that long-ago summer. Before tonight is over she’ll find out that teasing a slumbering wolf is dangerous.

  ‘Have what? Keir’s fabulous body?’ Victoria asked Davina, her challenge unmistakable.

  His brows drew together in a frown as he wondered what Victoria was about.

  ‘You wanton little trollop!’

  Davina’s screech threatened to burst his ear drums and he stared at her, astonished. Was this the same elegant woman who’d stood beside him greeting visitors earlier?

  ‘Keir’s such an amazing lover,’ Victoria said, her voice sultry and eyelids half-closed.

  ‘How dare you?’ Davina advanced toward the bed.

  He had to admire Victoria’s nerve. She never recoiled.

  Call him perverse, but suddenly this farcical situation had all the hallmarks of a black comedy. God knows he hadn’t had a woman in his bed since he’d walked out on Katrina, and now he had two jockeying for the honour. He let loose a loud belly laugh, slapping a hand against his thigh.

  Both women turned towards him, obviously startled.

  ‘What’s so funny?’ Davina demanded.

  ‘Have at it, ladies, this catfight is by far the best entertainment I’ve had all weekend.’

  ‘Is that all you can say?’ To his amusement, his classy fiancée turned on him, hissing like an outraged she-cat.

  Victoria shrugged and his pyjama top slipped off her shoulder. Through the veil of her hair a pert nipple played peekaboo.
r />   His libido leaped to attention.

  Dear Jesus! Down boy!

  Victoria smiled and looked up at him through her lashes. ‘I’m not fighting, merely reclaiming what’s rightfully mine.’

  ‘Really, Tori, first dibs?’ He spluttered out another laugh. It felt so damn good. It had been far too long since he’d found anything amusing.

  ‘Juvenile, and so not funny.’ Davina stamped her foot, her colour high. ‘Get that slut out of your bed.’

  Victoria pushed aside the covers and extended a leg over the side of the bed as if she intended to do just that.

  Hot damn. That pyjama top left little to the imagination. His libido again jumped to attention and shouted, yes please.

  ‘For God’s sake Victoria, stay put,’ Keir growled in a frustrated voice.

  Her lips curved and she gave him a wicked look. The little witch was laughing at him, aware of his discomfort. The towel tucked around his waist barely made him decent and he clutched at it to prevent it falling.

  Was Victoria trying to drive him insane?

  If this was payback for the way he’d kissed her this morning, she was exacting it in full measure. He scowled at her then glanced at Davina, thankful that she at least didn’t appear to notice his discomfort.

  ‘You’re lovers?’ Davina asked, clearly disgusted.

  ‘But of course. It’s what we sluts do.’ Victoria pouted and again looked at him from under her lashes. ‘Keir’s such an innovative lover.’

  The provocative gesture wasn’t lost on Davina.

  ‘Victoria,’ he said in soft warning.

  ‘I wouldn’t know.’ Davina’s tone was cold enough to freeze water at ten paces.

  ‘Why’s that? Surely you’ve tried before you buy?’

  ‘Some women have discretion.’

  Davina’s nostrils flared and Keir was sure he heard her teeth gnash. He glanced at Victoria, wondering if her ingenuousness was deliberate. He stepped toward her, frowning.

  ‘Or do you prefer vibrators to real men? I heard that the sex shop on Warwick has just imported a new range of glow-in-the-dark dildos, if that’s how you get your jollies.’

  It was so outrageous Keir let loose another crack of laughter. He’d be very surprised if Victoria had ever been inside a sex shop. Surely Davina must know Victoria was taking the mickey out of her.

  ‘I wouldn’t be seen dead in one of those shops.’

  ‘Good idea. I suspect they’d prefer their clientele very much alive,’ Victoria said cheerfully.

  ‘That’s enough, Victoria.’ Keir knew he needed to put a stop to this, now.

  Davina turned on him, spitting fire. ‘She’s lying. Tell me you’re not lovers? That you’ve never been lovers?’

  Suddenly, the situation that moments before had seemed so funny changed to anything but amusing. After that passionate interlude this morning, how could he lie?

  I could take you right here, right now against this tree …

  He was responsible for instigating that lovemaking and there was no way he would demean that shared passion or Victoria.

  ‘Victoria and I are lovers.’

  Davina’s expression turned to one of contempt. ‘Muriel said she’d seen you both going at it like rutting animals in the garden, but I didn’t believe her. I thought better of you, Keir. Have you no discrimination?’

  Keir stiffened, hit by a wave of furious resentment. He had been wrong to kiss Victoria this morning, but she’d done nothing to deserve this vitriol.

  ‘It very much looks that way,’ he drawled softly.

  ‘What exactly do you mean by that crack?’ Davina stepped towards him, her mouth twisted and crimped.

  ‘Why, my dear, I asked you to marry me.’

  Keir watched Davina through narrowed eyes and saw something far too familiar. Why had he not seen this side of her before?

  Because I never looked past the elegant facade.

  This insight left him reeling, his father’s words an uncanny echo … you’re catching a rocket ride to hell …

  Davina lifted a hand, her blue eyes glittering in her pale face.

  ‘Hit me, Davina,’ he said very softly, ‘and I’ll retaliate in a way you definitely won’t like.’

  Her hand wavered and then dropped. ‘I won’t stand for it.’

  Suddenly, Keir’s cauldron of seething emotions bubbled over. ‘What won’t you stand for? I need you to explain.’

  ‘I won’t have you flaunting lovers under my nose.’

  ‘I’m a normal heterosexual male. If you refuse to meet my needs, why object to me taking a lover? Do you expect me to live a celibate life after you’ve provided the obligatory heir?’

  ‘You agreed.’

  ‘No, I agreed not to trouble you with my inconvenient needs. Do you want to renegotiate?’ Davina glared at him, her eyes flashing with impotent anger, and his vision of a calm alliance evaporated like mist before the sun. Cold anger leached right through to his bones and into his voice. ‘I thought not, so why are you here, invading my privacy?’

  ‘It’s my right.’

  ‘No, Davina. You set the terms. Outside of those parameters is not your business.’

  Davina went pale and glanced at Victoria, then at him.

  ‘You expect me to live knowing you have lovers. I couldn’t bear the humiliation.’

  ‘Bloody marvellous!’ He stalked to the dressing table, picked up a comb and ran it through his wet hair. ‘What about me? What about my humiliation? Shut outside your bedroom door and begging for favours?’

  Davina flushed crimson and sought an easier target. She stepped toward the bed, hands curled into red-tipped claws. ‘Get out of there, you grasping bitch. Keir is my fiancée.’

  After this revealing exchange?

  Keir moved swiftly and intercepted Davina, manacling her wrists before she could reach Victoria. In this mood she’d maim the smaller woman.

  Davina’s temper exploded and she fought his hold.

  Keir was forced to tighten his grip, and looking at her his heart stuttered in his chest and his skin turned clammy. Davina bared her teeth, her wild eyes and contorted face bearing an uncanny resemblance to Muriel in the grip of one of her infamous rages.

  No match for his strength, Davina finally stopped struggling and Keir released her.

  ‘I warned you not to hurt Victoria,’ he said softly, pushing his face close to hers.

  She glared, her eyes glittering slits as she rubbed at the red marks on her wrists. ‘You’re a real bastard, Keir Donovan.’

  ‘But you always knew this, Davina,’ he said with a small, mocking bow. ‘That’s why you wanted to marry me. We are, after all, very evenly matched.’

  She sucked in a hissing breath, yanked the diamond ring from her finger and flung it at him. The ring hit his cheek and although he felt the sting, he made no move to catch it. The sound of it hitting and bouncing on the polished wooden floor was loud in the tense silence.

  ‘You can stick your marriage, Keir, right up where the sun doesn’t shine.’

  She spun toward the bed, her face twisted and her expression ugly.

  Keir stepped between the two women. In this mood Davina wouldn’t think twice about inflicting injury. She tried to dodge him, then she reconsidered and flounced across the room. At the door, she turned and looked back at him and Victoria.

  ‘You think you’ve won,’ she sneered, ‘but it’ll be a very hollow victory. I will make sure of it.’

  She left, slamming the door behind her with such force it threatened to burst his eardrums.

  Chapter Eleven

  Victoria eased out a shuddery breath, sick to the pit of her stomach after witnessing that ugly scene.

  Keir stood motionless, staring at the closed door for several moments.

  He turned to her and rage shimmered and twisted around him like a living cloak. It took all of Victoria’s courage not to flinch as he stepped towards the bed. ‘What the hell kind of game do you think you’re playing?�
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  Her chin jerked, and she threw back the covers and stepped from the bed. The pyjama top slipped further and she clutched at it to prevent it slipping off her shoulders completely. At the moment, standing naked in front of Keir held zero appeal.

  ‘Saving you from yourself.’

  The words sat in a pulsing silence.

  She dragged a breath into tight lungs and fought down nervous panic. Her heart jackhammered against her ribs and her palms grew damp. Had she paused for even a few minutes to think this through she might be better prepared to face the consequences.

  ‘So now I’m free to marry you?’

  Was that what he thought?

  What else did I expect him to think?

  ‘Cat got your tongue?’ he jeered. ‘Not so full of bravado now.’

  Victoria swallowed, but the convulsive movement did little to move the constriction in her throat.

  ‘So, on the strength of a few lousy screws, you expect a life of comfort and ease. You certainly rate yourself highly.’

  The crude insult had her sucking in a sharp breath, and her hands curled into fists. ‘I did it for you. I neither want nor expect marriage.’

  But it was mostly for Connor.

  Emotion made his dark eyes glitter as he stepped toward her, appearing for all the world like a jungle cat that had singled out its prey. He stopped in front of her, so close she could feel the heat of his breath on her chilled skin. The minty aroma of his toiletries mingled with the unmistakable scent of a fully aroused, very angry male.

  She didn’t move. Instinct warned her that it would be a grave mistake to allow him to think she was intimidated.

  This is Keir, he’ll never hurt me.

  But the glittering emotion in his dark eyes and the rigidity of his muscles eroded her confidence.

  ‘I’ve done what I came to do.’ To her amazement her voice sounded cool and composed.

  ‘Oh no, my golden-eyed witch, you came to my bed. You’re not leaving until I’ve sated myself.’ He caught her shoulders and hauled her against his chest. For several timeless moments he held her in a ruthless grip before he pushed her away, holding her at arm’s length. The movement dislodged the towel at his waist.