Bundle of Brides

by Kay Thorpe

  ‘Thank you.’ Tyler’s New York drawl, combined with his displayed charm and generous smile was enough to make any woman’s pulse-rate soar.

  ‘I’m delighted for you both.’

  Of course, Lianne conceded. It has provided you with a social coup no other social doyenne can match. Pamela Whitcroft will be green with envy.

  ‘Come through to the lounge where the guests are assembled, and I’ll perform the introductions.’

  Oh, my. The guests represented some of Melbourne’s names Lianne was familiar with…captains of industry with their partners, a tireless charity organiser of high repute, a fashionista. Recognisable, vaguely intimidating, and eager for the latest in news.

  Carefully concealed, of course, beneath polite warmth and seeming friendship.

  Lianne’s year as Tyler’s wife in New York had served as a learning curve, for she knew how to play the social game and play it well. Consequently she assumed an expected persona, accepted a glass of fine wine and, thanks to Tyler’s apparent devotion, remained firmly at his side…despite a few subtle attempts to separate them.

  Dinner was served at eight, in a magnificent formal dining room where a large table was set for twenty-four guests.

  Immaculate damask, crystal, silver flatware, exquisite bone china, floral decorations…the setting was a work of art. So too were the name-cards nominating the seating arrangement.

  Two uniformed waitresses were on hand to serve, and a wine steward ensured there was no lapse in the replenishing of liquid refreshments.

  Conversation was varied and faultless, the various courses attributed to an excellent chef, and throughout the seemingly endless meal Lianne was aware of Tyler’s every move.

  The light touch of his hand on her arm, the warmth of his smile. The latent sensuality in those dark eyes had the most disturbing effect on her equilibrium, and it hurt unbearably to know he was only acting a part.

  The thought of his lovemaking, the passion they’d shared, confounded her on one level and confused her on another.

  She’d been with him, part of him, all the way. So caught up in their shared sexual energy she had had no thought for anything else, only the now.

  How could she feel like that when she was still in a state of ambivalence?

  ‘Lianne,’ Eleanora cajoled with polite warmth. ‘Do tell us the story behind your recent reconciliation.’

  There was a telling silence from their fellow guests, almost as if everyone was tuning in to about-to-be revealed momentous news.

  What took you so long? she wanted to ask, only to give herself a mental slap on the wrist.

  Lianne cast Tyler a sparkling glance. ‘Shall I, darling? Or will you?’ Pass the ball, please.

  He caught hold of her hand and lifted it to his lips. His gleaming gaze was for her alone. ‘You, darling.’

  ‘It’s quite simple,’ she revealed with just the right degree of musing reflection. ‘I took time out.’

  ‘Really? One can only wonder why.’

  A logical assumption to those with different values and morals, when wealth was God, and wives turned a blind eye to a husband’s philandering.

  However, the words never left her lips. Instead she gave Eleanora a winsome smile. ‘Perhaps I wanted him to choose.’

  She could almost sense the sound of a pin dropping in the resulting silence.

  ‘Naturally, there could only be one choice,’ Tyler accorded with indolent ease as he caught Lianne’s hand and lifted it to his lips. ‘Lianne.’

  ‘So romantic,’ Eleanora rhapsodised to murmurs of assent from fellow guests.

  Lianne added gloss to the gilt by casting Tyler a misty smile. ‘I think so.’

  Eleanora, ever the gracious hostess, suggested, ‘Shall we adjourn to the lounge for coffee and liqueurs?’

  It was eleven before they were able to leave, amid verbal invitations to future events for which written confirmation would follow.

  ‘Nothing to say?’ Tyler voiced as he sent the Porsche into the night streets.

  Lianne met Tyler’s musing gaze. ‘Try all talked out from playing the role of devoted wife,’ she returned solemnly, and heard his husky chuckle.

  ‘It will have broken the ice.’

  ‘The temptation to shatter it was strong.’

  ‘Should I offer thanks for your reticence?’

  ‘Definitely.’

  He directed a teasing glance. ‘I’m sure I’ll think of a suitable reward.’

  ‘For good behaviour?’

  ‘That, too.’

  He did, very thoroughly. As a reward it beat anything tangible, hands down.

  Emotional euphoria at its zenith, Lianne accorded, sensually replete as she drifted off to sleep in Tyler’s arms.

  The next day began well with a leisurely breakfast, after which Tyler left for the airport en route to a meeting in Sydney, while Lianne headed into the city in her Mini Cooper.

  Michael senior called her into his office to confer over a client’s conveyancing issue and discussed the day’s agenda.

  Lunch was something she sent out for and ate at her desk while she perused text in a book borrowed from the firm’s law library.

  It was after four when Michael senior asked her to sit in on a client consultation. At the appointment’s conclusion the client brought up his interest in aviation, expounded on privately owned aircraft in particular and the pilots employed to fly them.

  ‘A Lear jet owned by some American tycoon went down about an hour ago. Explosion on emergency landing. Heard it on the car radio as I drove into the city.’

  For one horrible moment Lianne went completely blank and felt the colour drain from her face. ‘Was it on a flight plan from Sydney?’

  ‘I believe so.’

  ‘Tyler?’ Michael senior queried of Lianne at once, and used the inter-office intercom to summon his personal assistant to show the client to the lift.

  Lianne indicated the desk telephone. ‘May I?’

  ‘Of course.’

  She keyed in Tyler’s cellphone number and waited with bated breath for it to connect, only to hear the out-of-range tone.

  Fear clutched hold of her heart and squeezed tight, almost robbing the breath from her body. Come on, come on, she begged silently, and pressed redial, only to get the same result.

  Michael senior crossed to the desk, caught up his cellphone and handed it to her. ‘Keep trying, while I make some enquiries.’

  ‘It may not be Tyler. We should be able to access the relevant details.’

  It became a nightmare as various phone calls merely confirmed that details could not be officially released until the aircraft had been positively identified, together with the pilot and passenger.

  Repetitive calls to Tyler’s cellphone resulted in a constant out-of-range tone, and Michael senior insisted she drink the tea he had his secretary bring as he endeavoured to use his influence to determine facts.

  Lianne began bargaining with the Deity, painfully aware that there was no price she wouldn’t pay for Tyler’s survival.

  Nothing else held any significance in her life, and she knew she would cease to exist if Tyler wasn’t there to share it with her.

  She began to shake, and tried to control it. Then she went into a state of icy calm.

  It seemed to take for ever before Michael senior cut the last call and turned to face her.

  ‘It’s not Tyler.’

  Lianne almost collapsed with relief, and drew a shuddering sigh as she attempted to control her emotions.

  ‘You’re sure?’

  ‘Positive.’ He relayed facts in reassurance. ‘His aircraft is confirmed as just having landed. Give me the cellphone, and I’ll call him.’

  He pressed redial and within seconds Lianne heard him providing a concise report. Then he handed the cellphone to her.

  ‘Lianne?’

  The sound of Tyler’s familiar drawl tore the breath from her throat.

  When she could speak she said the words which h
eld precedence over anything else. ‘I love you.’

  Sweet merciful mother of God. Tyler’s fingers gripped the cellphone. ‘Stay where you are until I get there,’ he said gently. ‘I’m on my way.’

  She closed her eyes and summoned a degree of inner strength. ‘I’m fine.’

  The hell she was. Tyler slid behind the wheel of his Porsche and sent it growling out of the terminal car park.

  ‘Would you like more tea, my dear?’

  Lianne shook her head and stood to her feet. ‘Thank you for your help.’ She felt like a robot, operating by remote control. ‘I’ll go back to my office.’

  Michael senior looked at her with concern. ‘I’ll instruct my secretary to sit with you until Tyler arrives.’

  ‘I’ll be fine. Really.’

  ‘I must insist.’ Tyler’s instructions had been specific.

  Lianne had little recollection of exactly what transpired after that. She remembered walking to her office and sitting at her desk. There was more hot sweet tea put in front of her, which she sipped absently while Michael senior’s secretary occupied her with conversation regarding subjects she later failed to recall.

  Then Tyler was there, looming large in a room that suddenly seemed too small.

  Lianne half-rose from the chair as he inclined his head in acknowledgement of the secretary’s presence. ‘Please close the door on your way out.’

  It said much that the woman didn’t even question him as she left the room.

  Lianne.

  If he lived to be a hundred, he would never forget the expression in those beautiful sapphire-blue eyes as they held his.

  Naked emotion laid bare. For him, only him.

  He reached her in seconds and pulled her in against him. Then, without a word, he fastened his mouth on hers, gently at first, parting her lips with his own as he savoured the sweetness.

  He needed to alleviate her fear, dispense the anxiety, and replace both with reassuring proof.

  Afterwards would come the words.

  His tongue took a sensuous glide over hers, teasing a little as he held her hair with one hand while the other cupped her bottom and held her close against him.

  Lianne wound her arms around his neck and held on, loving the feel of him, his warmth, the evidence of life in his beating heart.

  She angled her head and held his mouth captive as she deepened the kiss with hungry passion. And love.

  It was apparent in her touch, the stifled throaty moans of desire and the sensual heat of her body.

  With exquisite slowness Tyler began easing back, then he lifted his head and pressed his forehead against her own.

  ‘Let’s go home.’

  He threaded his fingers through her own and led her to the door.

  ‘My bag…keys. My car,’ Lianne protested, and met the passion evident in his dark gaze.

  ‘You won’t need them.’

  They rode the lift, walked to where Tyler had parked the car and joined the peak hour traffic vacating the city.

  ‘I thought I’d lost you.’ Was that her voice? It sounded different…almost breathy, soft. Dammit, forlorn.

  Without a word he caught hold of her hand and pressed it against his cheek, held it there until he needed to relinquish it to change gear.

  No sooner had the apartment door closed behind them than Tyler swept her into his arms.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  He pressed a brief hard kiss to her mouth. ‘Taking you to bed.’ The one place where he could prove beyond doubt he was very much alive.

  A faint smile curved her lips. ‘You are?’

  ‘Uh-huh.’ He reached the bedroom, let her slide to her feet, shucked off his jacket, removed his tie, and began divesting her of clothes.

  He got as far as her bra and briefs when she caught hold of his hands, stilling his actions.

  ‘Please,’ she began quietly. ‘There’s something I need to say first.’

  The warmth of his smile almost undid her.

  ‘The past few hours were the worst in my life.’ There was more. ‘The thought of losing you…’ Her body trembled of its own accord. ‘You’re my life.’ She lifted a hand and laid it against his cheek. ‘Everything I could ever want or need,’ she vowed gently. ‘Always.’

  His mouth angled close to hers and she lightly traced his lips. ‘I’m not quite done.’ ‘No?’

  ‘I love you.’ The words were achingly heartfelt. ‘So much.’

  Tyler closed his eyes, then opened them again, and Lianne almost died at the depth of emotion in those dark depths.

  ‘You have my heart,’ he vowed softly. ‘My love. Always.’

  He took her mouth with his own in a sensual exploration that fanned the heat, the passion, and she was hardly aware of moving until she felt the mattress beneath her back.

  What followed was an oral feast of the senses, and a possession which shattered them both with its intensity.

  Lovemaking. The merging of two souls in perfect accord, Lianne decided dreamily as they lay together in each other’s arms.

  She didn’t feel inclined to move. Doubted she even could.

  Eventually, in the depths of night, hunger drove them into the kitchen. Together they fixed omelettes, toast, fed each other morsels, then retreated to bed to sleep…Only to wake in the early dawn hours and indulge in a leisurely loving.

  Life…hers, Lianne qualified as Tyler drove her into the city, was wonderful. Magical, she added for good measure as she planted a swift kiss on his cheek seconds after he pulled in to the kerb immediately adjacent to her office building.

  ‘Take care,’ she bade softly, then gasped as his mouth fastened on hers in a brief, hard kiss.

  ‘Always.’ His voice held teasing assurance as he watched her slip out from the Porsche.

  Work took on a hectic pace as the day progressed, exacerbated by the need to make personal courtesy phone calls to several members of Michael senior’s client base, informing them of the name of the firm’s lawyer filling in during her month’s leave of absence.

  Lianne’s cellphone rang just as she was about to leave the office. She took the call and discovered Chris on the line.

  ‘You haven’t forgotten the farewell family get-together tomorrow afternoon?’

  ‘Three, at your place,’ she reiterated. ‘I’ll bring dessert.’

  ‘Sharon’s got it covered,’ Chris assured her.

  At that moment the lift doors opened and she cut the connection.

  Lianne collected seafood at her local supermarket, added various salad greens, caught up a baguette and took them through the check-out.

  The car space beside her own beneath the apartment building was empty, which meant she had time to shower and change before Tyler arrived home.

  She’d just put the finishing touches to the meal when he walked in the door.

  ‘Hmm, something smells good.’ His jacket was hooked over one shoulder and he had already loosened his tie as he crossed to where she stood and covered her mouth with his own. ‘Give me five minutes to shower and change.’

  They took their time with the meal, exchanging news of the day, shared anecdotes. Then, kitchen duties complete, they settled comfortably together and watched a movie on the DVD player.

  ‘Early night, I think.’ Tyler scooped her into his arms and carried her through to the bedroom, where they slept curled together until morning.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  IT WAS a beautiful day, with an azure sky, very little cloud, and the sun’s warmth fingered the earth. The lawns were a lush green and almost every suburban garden bore colourful flowers in bloom.

  Lianne sat back, relaxed and content as Tyler eased the Porsche on to the Nepean Highway and headed towards the city.

  So much had happened in so short a time, she reflected, for within a matter of weeks Tyler had swept back into her life, taken control, and effected the impossible.

  It was a measure of the man, his strength, power and determination.

 
He’d made her aware that their love for each other went so deep that nothing and no one could touch it.

  Tomorrow her parents were due to drive back to Geelong, and in a week’s time she would fly with Tyler to New York.

  A request for a month’s leave of absence from Sloane, Everton, Shell and Associates had been granted without question…doubtlessly a conciliatory gesture to her recognised status as Tyler Benedict’s wife.

  ‘Pleasant thoughts, I hope?’

  Tyler’s drawling voice intruded and she gave him a stunning smile. ‘How could they not be?’ The vivid memory of last night’s loving stayed with her, and she felt the customary ache deep within as she met his gleaming gaze.

  The traffic lights changed and he returned his attention to the road, swinging into a lane which only permitted a right turn.

  ‘You probably should have gone straight ahead.’ She indicated the intersection a short distance away. ‘You’ll be able to turn left there.’

  Except Tyler veered to the right and incurred her puzzled look. ‘There’s been a slight change in plan.’

  ‘We’re not going to Chris and Sharon’s place?’

  He changed gears and made it through the intersection on an amber light. ‘Not today.’

  ‘We are meeting with them and my parents?’

  ‘Of course.’

  She sent him a teasing glance. ‘If I ask, are you going to tell me?’

  ‘Tell you what?’ His voice held amusement and she shook her head at him.

  ‘OK, I give up.’ A picnic in the park? Or maybe a restaurant? Whatever, it hardly mattered.

  Toorak? She silently questioned as he entered High Street. She would have thought Southbank…

  It wasn’t until he turned into a familiar street and bypassed another that suspicion teased her mind.

  He hadn’t…No, he couldn’t possibly have…If he made a left turn into the next street….

  When he did, she gave him a faintly shocked look, which he ignored as he eased speed in order to swing in to a gated entrance.

  The same gated entrance leading to the Toorak property she’d expressed delight in when they’d viewed it together.

  At the touch of a small remote device the gates swung open, and Tyler took the curved driveway to the front portico.