by Valerie Parv
Distantly, alarm bells rang in her head as she struggled to remember where and who they were. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Yet, cradled across his lap, she felt his hardening desire for her, and her own body melted in instinctive response.
When he lowered his head and rained kisses on the cleft between her breasts she arched against him helplessly, her mind emptying of all coherent thought except the need to be one with him.
As he drank his fill of her breasts, sensation slammed through her with a force which left her breathless. A fire-storm started in the core of her being, until she wondered how anyone could live through such sweet torment.
‘Love me, please, Bryan,’ she moaned, her eyes closing against the field of stars filling her vision. ‘No.’
With a roar of anger, he wrenched himself away from her and went to the window, slamming his open palm against the window-ledge with a force which rattled the panes.
He looked as if he had just run a particularly gruelling race. His clothes were in disarray and his hair was tousled where she’d run her fingers through it. Yet all the passion had drained from his expression, leaving a cold anger which struck at her heart.
Despite the heat, she felt icy without his arms around her. ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’ she asked, her voice reedy with uncertainty.
‘You know perfectly well what’s wrong,’ he ground out, separating each word so it sounded like an accusation.
‘No, I don’t. Tell me.’
With slow, deliberate movements, he slid his shirt back into his trousers and thrust his hair back, using his fingers as a comb. ‘To think I almost fell for this new ploy of yours. What a fool you must think I am.’
She felt as if the world were shifting beneath her feet. ‘What ploy? I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.’
His hard gaze raked her. ‘Haven’t you, Jill? Then this isn’t a new version of “get Bryan McKinley”?’
‘Of course it isn’t. I shouldn’t have let you make love to me, knowing what you think of me. But it wasn’t part of any plot. You make me sound like some kind of Lorelei, luring men to their fates.’
‘Aren’t you? David Hockey probably thinks you are.’
‘This wasn’t all my fault,’ she defended herself, hurt beyond measure that he should think there was some kind of ulterior motive behind her actions.
‘Granted, and I don’t absolve myself for one minute. You’re a damnably attractive woman, Jill. You could tempt any man beyond human endurance.’
‘Then why treat me like a criminal? Couldn’t the same thing have happened to me?’
‘Not with your track record.’
Her blood ran hot with unfulfilled desires, to which was added anger at the unfairness of this. Just because she had unwittingly been involved with a married man—whom she’d dropped as soon as she discovered the truth—Bryan was determined to see her as some sort of scarlet woman. ‘You’re wrong about me,’ she said with all the dignity she could muster.
His eyes were hooded. With the light from the window behind him, he looked dark and avenging. His voice reached her from the depths of the shadows. ‘Am I? Then tell me you didn’t know that Christa and I are engaged to be married.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
IT WAS one thing to suspect that Christa wanted Bryan to marry her, but quite another to hear him confirm it.
Jill felt numb as she fastened her shirt with trembling fingers. Her skin was cold where only minutes before it had burned with the fire of his touch.
Stiffly swinging her legs to the floor, she hunched her shoulders as if to protect herself from the onslaught of his accusations. How could she have allowed herself to be swept away by his caresses when Christa’s shadow lay over them the whole time? It was like David all over again. She couldn’t believe it was happening to her a second time.
This was different, she acknowledged in growing despair. She had cared for David, but had never yearned for his touch the way she craved Bryan’s. His high-handed behaviour towards her made it hard even to like him, but it didn’t stop her senses from leaping into overdrive the moment he entered a room.
‘So it’s true,’ she said dully.
He swivelled, his look searing her. ‘Then you admit it; you did know?’
The censure in his gaze made her flinch. ‘Despite what you think, this isn’t some game. I don’t want to come between you and Christa. She suggested there was something between the two of you, but I didn’t know you were officially engaged.’
‘As it happens, it isn’t official, but we do have an understanding,’ he told her coldly. ‘If you had known, would it have made a difference?’
Shocked by the accusation buried in his question, she jolted upright. ‘Of course it would have. I was shattered when I found out that David was still married. I vowed never to let such a thing happen to me ever again.’
Her voice cracked as she relived the pain of finding out that not only was David still married, but he had every intention of remaining so. Bryan’s accusation had reopened the scarcely healed wounds, adding fresh scars of his own which would take even longer to repair.
‘Well, I’m glad your conscience is clear,’ he said harshly, ‘because mine isn’t.’
It was far from clear, she realised with a pang. Any scruples she owned had fled the moment his hands took possession of her breasts. She could still taste his mouth on hers.
If she had known he was all but engaged to Christa, would she have pushed him away? With all her heart she wished she could say yes, but she was far from certain. Even now, knowing the truth, she ached to feel his arms around her again, his searching mouth commanding hers while their bodies entwined in ecstasy.
She wanted more, she realised in dismay. She wanted a lifetime with Bryan as her partner and helpmate. The truth dawned on her with shocking force. She wanted his love, and it was not for her.
Stop it, she told her thoughts angrily. With David, she could give the excuse of ignorance. With Bryan, there was no such justification. The way her mind insisted on fantasising about him was mortifying. Maybe he was right and her moral standards were suspect after all.
‘Do you love Christa?’ she asked, her voice coming out low and tremulous. It was none of her business, but she felt driven to ask the question.
‘I’m going to marry her.’ He didn’t seem to notice that it wasn’t an answer.
She fiddled with the buttons on the Chesterfield. ‘Is it because her father expects it?’
Again he slammed the window-frame with his open palm. ‘I expect it, damn it. Christa and I are a good team. When she was little more than a kid she worked alongside her father and me to help save Bowan Run. She seems to know what I want almost before I want it.’
The irony of this wasn’t lost on Jill. Christa had recognised the attraction between her and Bryan from the moment Jill arrived. Her veiled warnings had been designed to impress on Jill the importance of the status quo. It seemed she was right.
Her throat dried and she swallowed hard. ‘Then why did you kiss me just now?’
His eyes blazed and a muscle worked in his jaw. ‘Can’t you work it out?’
‘I’d still like to hear it from you,’ she whispered. How could he think she had a stage-managed some kind of seduction scene just to get her own back on him for bringing her here against her will?
‘Then here it is. I kissed you because I have never wanted to hold a woman so much in my life. I wanted you badly, Jill. I still do. But I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of another scalp for your belt, least of all mine.’
The question was torn from her. ‘But how can you think of marrying Christa when you say you want me? Surely that isn’t fair to her?’ Or to me, she thought angrily. His accusations cut her to the quick, so unfair and totally wrong were they.
‘I’m sure you have Christa’s best interests at heart,’ he sneered. ‘But we’ve managed without your touching concern and I’m sure we’ll continue to do so, long a
fter you go back to where you belong.’
‘Are you sure Christa will always want to stay here?’
His features darkened, a frown etching deep into his forehead. ‘This is plan B, is it? Try to undermine the relationship by letting me know about Christa’s restless streak. I’m well aware of how she feels, so you’re wasting your time. She’s young. I wouldn’t expect her to want to settle down just yet.’
‘But when you’re ready you’ll expect her to be,’ she surmised, frustrated that he always seemed to be one step ahead of her, even to understanding exactly what drove Christa.
‘Of course; not that it’s any of your business.’
Kissing her had made it her business, she thought in an agony of despair. Somehow she had allowed him to slip under her guard. No, there was no allowing. She could no more have turned aside the tide of passion flowing between them than she could stop time passing. It was so unfair that it had to end this way. ‘Then there’s only one thing for me to do,’ she said dully.
His lip curled into a sneer. ‘What might that be?’
‘Go back to Perth as soon as possible.’
Lightning shards of anger pierced his midnight pupils. She almost expected to see sparks flying from them as he said, ‘Now we get to the point. Do you make a habit of using your sexuality as a bargaining chip to get what you want?’
Her eyes flew wide. ‘No! It isn’t like that. I simply thought—’
‘You simply thought all you had to do was bat your big, beautiful eyes at me and I’d melt, doing your bidding without a second thought. Well, it won’t work. You heard Fred today. He’s counting on the tourism project, and you aren’t going to let him down.’
‘Can’t you see that we’d be playing with fire?’
‘You might be. I’ve had plenty of experience at fire-fighting. I should think today’s demonstration was ample proof that I can handle any fire you care to light.’
But could she handle her own feelings? The strength of her response to his lovemaking had shaken her far more than she was willing to let him see. Was this part of her punishment—to endure being near him, knowing how he was capable of arousing her, yet be unable to control any part of the situation? How could she possibly endure a month of this torment and still be expected to produce anything worth while?
Pride stiffened her spine. He might know the effect he had on her—Lord knew, she was only too well aware of it—but she didn’t have to admit it. If she did, there was no way she could finish the project with her self-respect intact, and she wasn’t about to give him any more satisfaction than she had to. There was one other option. She could let him think his suspicions about her motives were justified.
‘You men flatter yourselves,’ she said in a deliberately light-hearted tone. ‘You said you want me, but you didn’t ask how I feel about you.’
He rested both hands on the back of the sofa, his face looming alarmingly close. His breath was soft wind against her cheek. ‘Go ahead. This should be fascinating.’
She smiled a calculating little smile. ‘You’re right; it was a game. But not to get my own way. I wanted to find out how it felt to be seduced by a “ten” on my Richter scale. I’m thinking of writing a followup article about you for the magazine.’
‘If you should live long enough.’ His fingers flexed as if he imagined them curved around her slender neck. ‘I’d be furious if I thought there was a grain of truth in that outrageous statement. This was no research project. You weren’t faking a thing when I kissed you.’
She affected a shrug. ‘Who said I was faking? There’s no law against enjoying one’s work, is there? I suppose you’re annoyed because I’m not devastated about you and Christa.’
‘Liar,’ he said smoothly, his mouth creasing into a taunting smile. His hand slid around the nape of her neck, teasing the tiny hairs to alertness until a shiver slid down her spine. ‘One touch is all it takes to prove the effect I can have on you any time I choose.’
‘You bastard. If this isn’t sexual harassment, I don’t know what you’d call it.’
His eyes darkened persuasively. ‘I’d call it outand-out seduction, except that I have no intention of taking it a step further than it suits me.’
She leapt from the sofa and crossed the room to stand near the window, hoping the shadows would conceal how badly she was trembling. Damn it, she still wanted him, knowing that his touch was calculated to have exactly this effect on her. ‘I could tell Christa what you’ve said,’ she threatened with little conviction.
‘She’d find it highly amusing,’ he returned, unperturbed by her threat. ‘Especially as she knows what I think of you.’
Her mouth tightened into a bitter line. ‘Of course, she so helpfully showed you my column, didn’t she?’
‘It’s the kind of loyalty I expect from anyone close to me.’
It was hardly loyalty when Jill knew that Christa hoped to change Bryan’s mind about remaining here, but there was no point in saying it now. He was in no mood to listen to anything she had to say. He was enjoying himself far too much, watching her squirm.
How long could this go on? He was determined to have her stay, even though everything which had happened between them urged her to leave as quickly as possible. ‘How can we possibly share the same roof on a purely business basis after today?’ she asked, changing tack.
‘I see no difficulty whatsoever.’
‘Because you can separate bedroom and boardroom without a problem,’ she hazarded, not surprised when he nodded comfortably. ‘Well, I can’t.’
‘There’s no other way.’
‘Yes, there is. I can finish the job from Perth. My media contacts are there anyway, so it’s a logical solution.’
‘Except for one thing. You need a feel for this area which you can’t get by fax or telephone.’
Her heart sank as she realised he was right. ‘Surely there isn’t much more I need to see?’ she appealed.
Couldn’t he see that she had offered the only workable solution? Perhaps he could contain the attraction sizzling between them, but she wasn’t so sure about herself.
At least back in Perth she wouldn’t have to stare into the unbelievable blackness of his eyes, seeing herself reflected there in tiny perfection. His cleft chin would be beyond her reach, the sculpted dark hair a teasing memory. Most of all, his wide, full mouth with the jutting lower lip wouldn’t be able to inflame her beyond endurance, promising pleasure she had no right even to imagine.
‘The crater,’ he said at last, breaking into her tortured thoughts. ‘You’ve seen most of the stock route, so all that remains is the meteorite crater at Turuga.’
She kept her face carefully expressionless. Perhaps once she’d seen the crater he would be willing to let her leave and complete the project from Perth. ‘Could one of your men take me there tomorrow?’
‘No, they couldn’t.’ His crisp denial cut across her question.
‘You wouldn’t…’ she began on a rush of suspicion.
His eyebrows arched devilishly. ‘Why wouldn’t I take you to see the crater myself?’
‘Because you and I…we’d…’
‘We’d what?’ he asked with maddening coolness.
She felt her face flood with colour. Alone in the desert, it would be all too easy for the chemistry between them to flare afresh, swamping all the reasons why it was impossible to give in to it. Bryan was enjoying toying with her as if she were a fish on a line, she could see, but what if his iron control eventually snapped? It was madness even to consider it.
Anger rose in her, overcoming all her injunctions about not provoking him. Who did he think he was, playing with her like this? ‘We’d probably get on each other’s nerves,’ she said, striving to match his cool tone.
‘I can handle it,’ he said, mocking laughter glinting in his eyes. ‘Can you?’
‘You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?’ she threw at him, wishing she had a heavier weapon than words. Something large and heavy and ver
y breakable.
He folded his arms across his chest. ‘Oh, yes. It’s a better retribution than I’d hoped for.’
The sound of a car crunching on the gravel driveway caught her attention. She never thought she’d be glad to hear the sound of Christa’s car, but she was.
‘Christa’s back,’ she said warningly. Surely he wouldn’t continue to taunt her after the other woman joined them?
What bound him to Christa? He didn’t speak of her like a man in love. Was it passion they shared? The thought filled Jill with savage anger, until she wondered why it mattered to her. They were welcome to each other.
By the time Christa joined them in the library, Bryan had crossed the room and was pouring himself a drink from the well-stocked bar. The last few incandescent minutes might never have happened. ‘Drink?’ he asked Jill.
She shook her head. ‘No, thank you.’
‘I’d love one. Gin and tonic, please,’ Christa asked, catching Bryan’s question as she breezed into the room. She threw herself on to a chair and fanned her face with one hand. ‘It was a hot drive out to the Run and back. The breeding programme is right on target,’ she said to Bryan.
When he handed her an ice-encrusted glass, she smiled her thanks, making Jill’s stomach turn over. Watching them together made something shrivel inside her, although she hated to examine too closely what it might be.
‘What have you two been doing all afternoon?’ Christa asked after a long draught of her drink.
Jill was thankful that she had refused a drink. She would have choked on the answer to Christa’s question, betraying herself completely. But Bryan was unperturbed. ‘We were discussing the cattle drive. Jill’s going to finish developing the project from her office in Perth.’
Christa’s eyes gleamed. ‘That’s wonderful news. I mean about your plans, of course. When do you intend to return to the city?’
She might have at least pretended regret, Jill thought with a pang. But it was too obvious that she couldn’t wait to have Bryan to herself again. ‘Bryan wants me to take a look at the Turuga crater so I can incorporate it into the plans,’ she admitted.
