She wouldn’t listen through the keyhole, but how she wanted to! Instead she went back to her abandoned meal and sat down and stared at the cold cheese and limp toast. Very few minutes had passed before she heard the front door slam and the roar of a car soon after.
Damien’s unmistakable tread came towards the kitchen and Emily pushed her untouched food away.
‘I want to talk to you,’ he said as he entered the room.
Emily felt her stomach free-fall at the sheer height of him looming over her like some dark knight intent on righting the wrongs of his underlings.
‘I’m having my dinner,’ she said defiantly, pulling her toast back towards her.
He gave the small plate a cursory glance. ‘That’s not dinner—that wouldn’t feed a gnat.’
‘I’m not that hungry.’
‘Are you upset?’
She looked up at him.
‘Upset?’
‘You told me you can’t eat when you’re upset. Remember?’
‘Oh.’ She turned back to her plate. ‘No.’
‘Well, I am,’ he said.
She looked back at him at that. ‘Because Danny was here?’ she guessed.
‘That and other things.’
‘He’s your brother. I didn’t realise I was banned from speaking to him. Apart from your aunt, are there any other relatives you’d like me to keep away from?’
His expression darkened. ‘Who else have you entertained while I’ve been away?’
She got to her feet and slammed her chair in forcibly. ‘No one, although I don’t see that it’s any business of yours. I haven’t asked for a minute-by-minute account of your time away, although no doubt it would be very enlightening.’
One of his hands snaked out and caught her arm, pulling her back to face him. ‘I don’t want you to spend time with Danny alone.’
‘Oh?’ She arched one fine brow provocatively. ‘Why? Because you don’t trust him? Or is it that you don’t trust me?’
She suddenly found herself slammed up against him, her face far too close to his, her breasts rising and falling against the wall of hard muscle at his chest.
‘I don’t trust myself around you,’ he ground out, ‘let alone anyone else.’
She could hardly breathe but managed to ask, ‘Am I to be put under lock and key?’
His dark chocolate gaze fixed on her flashing blue glare. ‘No. I have other plans for you.’
‘Torture?’
He gave a bitter half-smile and her stomach lurched again. ‘That depends.’
‘On what?’ Her voice sounded breathless, husky even.
‘On this,’ he said, and covered her mouth with his.
It was torture, she decided some minutes later. Torture to be in his arms and know he didn’t care a jot for her. They’d moved from the kitchen to the sitting room but she couldn’t quite recall how. She’d locked her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as his mouth had worked its magic on hers, and when she opened them again she was being pressed to the expanse of the sofa and he was on top of her, each hard line of his very aroused body imprinting itself on hers.
His mouth moved from hers to trail a path of heat along her neck. She turned her head as he pressed soft, spine-tingling kisses along the sensitised skin, her hands tightening around his shoulders, her nails digging into his firm flesh.
‘You’re a wildcat,’ he breathed against her mouth. ‘Do you know that?’
She answered him with an open-mouthed kiss of her own, her nails digging even deeper. He returned her kiss while flames of uncontrollable desire licked along her flesh wherever his hands or fingers touched. Her clothes were a barrier that he soon dispensed with. She heard something tear and then realised it was the back of his shirt as she wrenched it out of his trousers. Two buttons flew through the air to land alongside her bra and top, and his tie coiled like a ribbon-dancer’s as it joined them on the floor.
She was lost. All her determination to resist him had disappeared, replaced with a desire so strong she had no hope of turning back its tide. It was like the force of a hurricane, overtaking everything in its path, hurling reason and intellect into the swirl of relentless desire.
His hands covered her breasts, moulding their firm globes under expert fingers, tracing her sensitised nipples in tiny circles until her breath locked in her throat as he replaced his fingers in turn with his mouth. His tongue rolled over each hard nub until she thought she’d scream with her need of him. Her body arched beneath him, her pelvis melting into the strength and purpose of his.
He entered her so deeply she shuddered at the impact. He checked himself, murmured something in her ear which in her overcome state she didn’t properly register. She let her body do the talking for her instead. Her legs tightened around his, her back arched to take him further, and she heard him groan as her hands raked along his back. Each movement of his body in hers brought her closer to the edge of ecstasy, only just out of reach but moving inexorably nearer. His mouth returned to hers, drawing a fiery response that left them both gasping for air.
Her cry of pleasure when it came seemed to fill the room. She bit down on his shoulder as the last of the waves rolled over and through her, and his answering groan of release was like a salve along her heated flesh.
It was a long time before either of them moved. Emily kept her eyes shut; her arms had relaxed their grip somewhat but were still around his neck. Damien’s chest rose and fell rhythmically, the steady beat of his heart close to hers.
‘Emily?’ He shifted his body and she immediately felt empty and alone. ‘Did I hurt you?’
She shook her head against his shoulder, not trusting herself to speak. He lifted himself up on one elbow to look down at her.
‘I shouldn’t have done that. I told myself I wouldn’t.’
‘It’s OK.’
‘No, it’s not OK. It’s not part of the deal.’
‘Please, Damien—’ She pushed against him to get up off the sofa. ‘It’s not a big deal. It was just sex.’
‘Thanks.’ His tone was resentful.
She flicked him a wry glance. ‘Very good sex,’ she said, stepping back into her discarded clothes.
‘I thought so too,’ he said as he reached for his trousers.
She had to look away.
‘Have you had dinner?’ she asked, plumping up the squashed cushions on the sofa, wondering privately what Mrs Tilberry would think if she’d seen the way their bodies had just flattened them.
‘No—’ she heard him sigh ‘—you know what aeroplane food is like.’
‘Can’t be much worse than soggy cheese on toast.’
‘Comes close, I’d say.’
She gave a reluctant smile as she turned to face him. He was looking at her intently, his dark gaze penetrating.
‘When you smile your eyes dance,’ he said. ‘You should smile more often.’
Emily looked away, her cheeks aflame.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing. You just reminded me of someone, that’s all.’
‘Who?’
‘Someone I met the other day.’
‘Who?’
‘Your Scottish neighbour, Mrs McCrae.’
‘Never heard of her,’ he said dismissively.
He poured them both a drink and, handing her one, asked, ‘What did Danny want?’
She took a deep sip before answering. ‘We didn’t get to that.’
‘No.’ He put his drink down. ‘You were too busy discussing your motives for marrying me.’
‘It wasn’t quite how it sounded.’
‘Oh?’ His arched brow was sceptical.
‘I can’t see why you should be feeling affronted. You’ve made your own motives more than clear,’ she put in.
‘Have I?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I’m a smokescreen for the real love of your life. Everyone knows it.’
‘Everyone?’
‘Well, I know it.’
‘You know no
thing. You just make it up as you go along to suit yourself.’
‘That’s not true,’ she said crossly, then, inspecting the whisky decanter intently, added, ‘Was she with you interstate?’
‘Why do you want to know?’
Emily turned to look at him. ‘Because I will not be made a laughing stock, that’s why.’
‘I wasn’t with Linda,’ he assured her. ‘I was catching up on clients.’
She turned away again, not wanting him to see the relief on her face. ‘If I’m to believe your word then you should at least believe mine.’
‘Point taken,’ he said, putting down his glass. ‘But I still don’t want Danny to visit you alone.’
‘Danny is nothing to me.’
‘Other than a way to gain access to my aunt.’
‘I’m keeping my side of the deal,’ she said. ‘Even if you’re not.’
His eyes moved away from hers and she felt a small sense of victory. An awkward silence fell between them. Emily finally broke it with, ‘I didn’t ask him to visit me.’
‘Perhaps not, but you were discussing me with him.’
‘Is that not allowed?’
‘Absolutely not,’ he insisted. ‘Would you like it if I discussed what just happened between us with another party?’
‘I didn’t tell him anything I wouldn’t have said to your face.’
‘If that’s supposed to reassure me, it doesn’t. You’ve said far too much to my face as it is.’
‘Only what you deserved to hear.’
‘Ouch.’
‘You have only yourself to blame.’
‘Be that as it may, I still think you should keep away from Danny,’ he said again.
‘You don’t like him, do you?’ she asked.
‘I don’t trust him,’ he answered. ‘Any more than I trust you.’
Emily felt an inexplicable pang of hurt deep inside but covered it with a sharp barb of her own. ‘That’s a harsh statement from his own flesh and blood. I thought brothers stuck together through thick and thin?’
‘Danny doesn’t always behave like a brother,’ he said, bending down to pick something up off the floor. He straightened and handed her one of her earrings, his fingers brushing hers as she took it from him. She re-inserted it into her ear lobe nonchalantly, as if nothing intimate had happened between them. She felt him watching her, her fumbling fingers betraying her façade of cool composure.
‘How was your business trip, anyway?’ she asked to cover her nervousness. ‘Successful?’
‘Nothing out of the ordinary.’ He picked up his tie. ‘How about you? Did you get any work done?’
‘Work?’
‘Aren’t you working on a new book or something?’
‘I…I’ve got writer’s block.’
‘So what does one usually do when such a condition strikes?’ he asked.
Emily shrugged. ‘Chocolate, lots of chocolate. Sometimes wine, but only when I’m really desperate.’
‘Red or white?’
‘Red,’ she said. ‘The full-bodied, headache-the-next-morning variety.’
He smiled and reached for a corkscrew in the drinks cabinet. ‘Are you desperate enough for this?’ He held up a gold-labelled Cabinet Savignon that she knew probably cost more than her first car.
‘Not desperate,’ she said. ‘But tempted.’
‘Good.’ He deftly uncorked the bottle and reached for two crystal glasses. He poured the blood-coloured liquid and handed her one.
‘Cheers,’ he said, lifting his glass to chink against hers.
‘What are we toasting?’ she asked. ‘Our paper marriage?’
His eyes glittered wryly as he took a sip of the wine.
‘It’s hardly a paper marriage now, is it?’ he said.
Emily took a deep sip of the wine before responding. ‘It’s hardly a marriage. I know nothing of you; you know nothing of me.’
‘I know what gives you pleasure,’ he reminded her.
Emily buried her flaming face into her glass. ‘I’m sure you’ve left a lot of very satisfied women in your wake,’ she bit out tartly, ‘but sexual satisfaction hardly constitutes a fulfilling relationship, let alone a marriage.’
‘But it’s important, surely? I mean, it would be a very stale relationship if there was no chemistry at all.’ He took another sip of wine and watched the fleeting emotions on her face.
‘What is it you want from me, Damien?’ she asked. ‘I’m getting a little mixed up over the fine print. I was under the impression this was to be a hands-off relationship, everything on paper. Wasn’t that the deal?’
He put down his glass and met her fiery gaze.
‘I didn’t intend to sleep with you—’ he began.
‘You haven’t slept with me!’ she railed, thrusting her own glass aside. ‘You just tear my clothes off when you feel like it and have sex with me. I haven’t spent the night in your arms once!’
‘Is that what you want?’ His voice rose in frustration. ‘To sleep with me? For this to be a physical marriage?’
Emily bit her lip and turned away, reaching for her glass to cover her feelings. One mouthful of good wine and she was asking for the moon. What was wrong with her?
‘No,’ she said determinedly. ‘I just want to stick to the rules.’
‘OK, then,’ he said. ‘I promise not to touch you. But you have to promise something to me. I want you to call your agent and tell her the book’s not going to be released—ever. That it’s not going to be written at all.’
‘But I thought—’
‘No. If that book is ever released I will sue.’
‘You’d still sue me? Even though you’re married to me?’ she asked incredulously.
His expression hardened. ‘Is that why you married me? Did you think I wouldn’t follow through? You’re a good lay, I’ll give you that, but I won’t see my aunt’s name dragged through the mud to fund your retirement, even if you are my wife.’
Emily was speechless. She stood there, the wine glass almost falling from her nerveless fingers.
‘I can’t believe you’d be so…so…’ She struggled to find the words.
‘So what, Emily?’
‘So…so inhuman.’
‘Who’s being inhuman now? You’re the one who wants to write a parcel of lies about a fragile old lady who never got a chance at happiness.’
Emily felt a wave of guilt rush through her.
‘Tell me, Emily, did you ever consider the outcome of the sort of book you write?’
‘I—’
‘Of course you didn’t,’ he cut across her. ‘You just sit at that computer of yours and tap away at someone’s life as if it means nothing but increased sales. The more scandal, the more sales—isn’t that right?’
There was nothing she could say. A lot of what he’d said was true. In the past she’d done exactly that: written anything with a hint of scandal in it to boost the interest in her work. It had definitely worked with her book about Raife Norton-Floyd, even if her own name had subsequently been dragged through the mud along with his. She’d thought by working on Rose Margate’s biography she could somehow resurrect her reputation, but Damien’s involvement in her life had changed all that. She was caught like a fly in a spider’s web, the intricate fibres wrapping around her, tying her invisibly to him. She couldn’t get away if she tried.
‘Call her now,’ he commanded, handing her the cordless telephone. ‘Tell Clarice Connor that you’ve had second thoughts. Tell her anything. Unless you do I will be making my own legal moves in the morning.’
Emily took the telephone from him, her hand almost shaking as she did so. ‘I’ll never get another contract,’ she said desperately. ‘I’ll be blackballed.’
His expression was resolute. ‘You’re now under contract to me. Cancel the book indefinitely. I’ll deal with any counter-suits personally.’
She dialled Clarice’s number and waited for her to answer. The answering machine cut in after the fifth r
ing and Emily hesitated. Damien stood in front of her, his arms folded against his chest in an indomitable pose, and she began to speak in a cold, detached voice, as if it were not her writing career she was destroying but somebody else’s.
She handed him back the telephone once she’d finished and snapped, ‘Happy now?’
He put the phone back on its recharging cradle and reached for his wine. ‘Once you get to know my aunt you won’t regret doing that.’
‘So you do intend for me to meet her some time?’ she asked. ‘What changed your mind? I must be a better lay than I thought.’
He frowned as he twirled the contents of his glass. ‘Don’t cheapen yourself like that.’
‘You said it, not me.’
‘I’m sorry—it was inappropriate. I was uptight and angry.’
It was a gruff apology but an apology for all that. Emily huddled herself into a corner of the sofa and sipped her wine.
‘I’m going to get myself something to eat,’ he said at last. ‘Would you like something?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m not hungry.’
He gave an exasperated sigh and left the room. Emily pushed her wine away and buried her head in her hands. How had she got herself into such a mess?
CHAPTER NINE
DAMIEN came back to the sitting room some time later with two omelettes on a tray and set them down in front of the sofa. Emily eyed the appetising food and shifted herself as far away as possible.
‘Are you expecting someone?’ she asked.
‘No. I thought you might be hungry by now.’ He handed her one of the plates and she hesitated.
‘I told you, I’m not hungry.’
‘Emily, you can’t not eat. You’re way too thin as it is. I can’t have people thinking I don’t feed you.’
She took the plate resentfully and poked at the omelette with the fork he’d handed her.
‘It’s not poisoned,’ he assured her.
‘I didn’t think it was.’
He sat down beside her and picked up the remote control for the television.
‘More wine?’ he asked.
She shook her head, prodding at the food once more. She tasted a small mouthful and was surprised at how hungry she felt once she’d sampled it. A short time later the plate was empty, and she pushed it almost guiltily on to the coffee table in front of them.
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