Rhea looked alarmed. ‘Ellie, you aren’t going to—’
‘I’m going to give him back his two hundred pounds for the same reason he gave it to me,’ she looked at her friend unflinchingly.
‘It could backfire on you—’
‘It won’t,’ she said flatly. ‘I’m immune to the “charms” of Nick Andracas.’ Once again she thrust to the back of her mind the way she had reacted to him on Monday night.
And somehow she succeeded in keeping Nick at arms’ length during the following weeks, giving him that little bit more of herself when she suspected he was becoming impatient with their relationship as it was. She felt like a kitten tormenting a potentially lethal snake.
But he continued to want to see her even though she denied him a physical relationship, only occasionally showing that old ruthlessness that she disliked so much, seeming content the rest of the time to bide his time until she felt ready and willing to give him what he wanted.
The newspapers had lost interest in them a little too since the night they went to the opening night of Broken Dolls, Nick so affably charming to everyone that evening that there was little to write about any more. Danielle could have told them the reason for his lazy charm that night, knew that he believed her passionate response to him at her apartment before they left for the theatre meant she would later spend the night with him. The argument that had followed as a result of her refusal to do so had ended with Nick storming out of her apartment.
He had returned the next day and apologised, and since then their relationship had gone along quite smoothly. As smoothly as it ever would, or could!
‘Are your mother and I ever to be introduced to him?’ her father wanted to know.
The two of them were lunching together in one of London’s finest restaurants, Danielle having expected to be questioned about Nick ever since she arrived ten minutes earlier; her parents had been surprisingly silent on the subject of her continuing to see Nick. ‘It isn’t that sort of relationship, Daddy,’ she dismissed the idea lightly.
‘Then what sort is it?’
She shrugged. ‘Casual.’
‘So casual he sees other women when he isn’t with you?’ her father rasped.
‘If he wanted to,’ she nodded, giving him a puzzled frown. Nick had insisted on seeing her almost every evening for the last few weeks; she didn’t understand what had made her father ask such a question.
‘And he obviously does.’
‘Sorry?’
He nodded behind her. ‘Andracas and one of his women,’ he bit out angrily.
Danielle turned slowly so as not to draw attention to herself. Nick was just in the process of leaving the restaurant, a beautiful raven-haired woman at his side. As if sensing her gaze on him Nick turned in Danielle’s direction, his whole body tensing as he looked from her to her father and then back again. The grey eyes narrowed with icy anger before he grasped the arm of the woman at his side and stormed from the restaurant.
‘Arrogant bastard,’ Danielle’s father muttered furiously.
She turned to him with an amused smile on her lips. Whether the woman with Nick was his new mistress or not was irrelevant, his reaction to seeing her with another man, a man he obviously hadn’t realised was her father, told her that he was still very attracted to her. And that was all that mattered.
‘I don’t like the man, Ellie,’ her father added grimly, still very angry.
She gave him a teasing smile. ‘Because he was having lunch with a woman?’
‘Doesn’t it bother you that he was?’ He couldn’t seem to understand her casual acceptance of what had just occurred.
‘Not particularly,’ she dismissed. ‘I’ll still be seeing him myself, I’m sure.’
‘I don’t understand you, Ellie,’ he shook his head, seeming dazed by her attitude.
‘I’m sorry,’ she touched his hand in gentle understanding, ‘I really am.’
‘But you’ll go on seeing him anyway,’ he realised dully.
She had to now, she had gone this far, she intended seeing it through to the end. But if her father thought she was just going to meekly accept seeing Nick out with another woman then he was wrong. Nick would know of her displeasure at seeing him here in the only way he seemed to understand, and that was physically.
‘Yes,’ she told her father softly. ‘I’ll go on seeing him.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
SHE was expecting the telephone call that came shortly after she got in that afternoon, had known from his furious expression earlier that Nick would contact her sooner rather than later.
‘I want to see you tonight, Danielle,’ he bit out without preamble.
‘You know we agreed—’
‘I know you agreed that we wouldn’t meet tonight,’ he ground out harshly. ‘You also know the reason why it’s now necessary that we see each other.’
‘No—’
‘I intend calling for you at eight o’clock, Danielle,’ he cut in autocratically.
She could tell that he really wasn’t in a mood to be pushed very far at the moment, that he was on a razor-sharp edge of telling her to go to hell. ‘Very well, Nick,’ she conceded coolly. ‘Although I really don’t see what all the urgency is about.’
‘You don’t see—! Who was the man lunchtime, Danielle?’ he demanded angrily.
‘He—’
‘No, don’t tell me now,’ he rasped. ‘I’d rather hear it when we’re face to face.’
‘That sounds ominous,’ she said lightly.
‘And isn’t it?’
‘Must I remind you that you were with another woman at the restaurant too?’ she taunted.
‘I have a perfectly good excuse for that.’
‘Well so do I!’
‘I’d be interested to hear it,’ he rasped.
‘So would I!’
‘You wouldn’t be jealous, would you?’ he sounded pleased at the idea.
‘Not in the least,’ she answered instantly, her voice ringing with honesty.
‘Damn you,’ he swore raggedly. ‘I’m calling for you at eight o’clock tonight, I would advise you to be ready when I arrive.’ He rang off abruptly.
Danielle knew by his attitude that she had been right about his wrong assumption concerning her father earlier; he was going to feel very foolish when he learnt the truth. But that didn’t stop her feeling curious about the woman who had been with him. Could it possibly be that he was already tiring of her unwillingness to have an affair with him and was seeking his pleasure elsewhere? If that were the case she would just have to remind him that it was her he wanted.
The gown she chose to wear for the evening was deliberately provocative, the black material fitting snugly to her breasts without benefit of shoulder straps, her creamy white throat completely bare. The dress showed how narrow her waist was before curving lovingly over her hips and down to the floor in gentle folds. Her hair was secured lightly on top of her head, the wispy tendrils that remained about her nape and cheeks emphasising the haunting beauty of her face.
The heavy flush of desire on Nick’s face when he saw her was enough to tell her he approved of the way she looked tonight. His mouth twisted. ‘Is this a way to take my mind off the fact that you were out with another man lunchtime?’ he derided hardly, his stance challenging in the black evening suit as he faced her across the room.
‘If it is it didn’t succeed, did it?’ she drawled mockingly.
His eyes narrowed at her lightness. ‘Now you can tell me who he is.’
‘Do you really think you have any right to demand an explanation from me?’ she taunted. ‘After all, you were far from alone either,’ she reminded.
‘That woman was my elder sister,’ Nick rasped. ‘She was here to ask my advice about her daughter.’
Danielle could see the family resemblance now, both to Nick and the woman’s daughter, Carly. ‘Do your family always run to you for help?’ she derided to cover the slightly disconcerted feeling she had at heari
ng him talk about the mother of her old school acquaintance.
‘I’m still the head of the family,’ he told her arrogantly. ‘I may have been born in America but we haven’t completely adopted the American way of life. Even though all my sisters were married and have children we are still very much a family ourselves. But we’re diverting from the point,’ he suddenly realised. ‘I want to know who the man was that I saw you with at lunchtime?’ He looked at her coldly.
She gave him an amused smile, dismissing the fleeting idea she had had of her and Carly accidentally meeting. He hadn’t said Carly was in England, only her mother. Because if she should meet the other girl she would surely recognise her, and then perhaps Nick would remember meeting her before too. ‘It seems to be a day for seeing our families,’ she said softly. ‘The man was my father.’
Nick’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, moving searchingly over her face as she looked back at him unflinchingly. ‘He didn’t look old enough,’ he finally said slowly.
She gave a mischievous smile. ‘I’ll tell him you said so, it will do wonders for his ego.’
Nick still looked unconvinced that she was telling him the truth. ‘Why didn’t you tell me last night that you were lunching with your father today?’
‘Why didn’t you tell me you were lunching with your sister?’ she returned smoothly.
His mouth tightened angrily. ‘Because she didn’t call me until this morning.’
Danielle shrugged. ‘Then you have your answer to your question too, my father didn’t invite me to lunch until this morning either. Really, Nick,’ she snapped impatiently as he continued to glare at her suspiciously. ‘You either believe me or you don’t. I’m not about to get a sworn statement from my father to convince you I’m telling the truth!’
He ran a hand over his brow. ‘I just wish I understood you more. We’ve been seeing each other for over a month now, and I’m no closer to knowing you now that I was when we first met.’
‘That isn’t true, Nick,’ she moved close to him, her arms about his shoulders. ‘I’ve told you quite a lot about my life. And you know all of my preferences in food and drink,’ she added teasingly.
His arms moved convulsively about her waist. ‘They aren’t the preferences I’m interested in,’ he growled.
She tilted her head to one side as she looked up at him. ‘They’re the only ones I care to discuss.’
‘Danielle—’
‘Are we going out to dinner?’ she interrupted cheerfully, moving out of his arms, only intending to give him a foretaste of what he couldn’t have. ‘I haven’t eaten yet because you didn’t say earlier what your plans were for the evening.’
‘That’s because at the time I didn’t have any plans,’ he grated. ‘But, yes, we’re having dinner.’
Danielle knew as he drove in the direction of the park that he had lied about not having any plans for the evening, that he had intended bringing her to his apartment all along so that he could make love to her!
It was all so familiar as they went up together in the lift, although this time she actually had a chance to see what the lounge to his home was like, finding the room very comfortable with its expensive furnishings, the paintings on the walls obviously originals.
She turned to give Nick a bright smile as he watched her reaction to being brought here, his expression wary. ‘Is this the part where you turn down the lights, switch on the romantic music, pick me up in your arms and carry me off to your bed?’ she taunted.
He flushed his displeasure at her mockery. ‘Danielle—’
‘I suppose the bed has black silk sheets with which to seduce me between?’ she continued to taunt, sitting down to look up at him with mocking green eyes, feeling confident of herself as she scorned him, older now, knowing the seduction for what it was and not imagining she meant any more to Nick than any other woman he could make love to.
His eyes narrowed to steely slits. ‘How did you know they were black?’ he rasped.
She shrugged. ‘I would be disappointed in you if they weren’t. Are you saying they are?’ she feigned innocence.
‘Yes,’ he bit out.
‘Really, Nick,’ she chided in a mocking voice. ‘I would have thought you were a little more subtle than that.’
‘Subtlety hasn’t worked with you so far,’ he derided.
‘Black silk sheets won’t either,’ she dismissed hardly. ‘I happen to dislike them intensely.’
Nick studied her closely at the bitterness he detected in her voice. ‘Your lover had black sheets on his bed,’ he guessed gratingly.
‘He wasn’t a lover,’ she said dully, the memories of this apartment overwhelming her. ‘He was a professional manoeuverer, like you,’ She stood up abruptly. ‘I’d like to leave now.’
‘No!’
‘Either you take me away from here now, Nick, or I leave on my own.’
‘You won’t do either,’ he told her grimly, coming towards her. ‘I’m tired of you making all the decisions in our relationship—such as it is!—in future we’ll do things my way.’
She could see that he meant it, that his razor-sharp mood that she had detected earlier had indeed snapped, and instead of telling her to go to hell he had decided to make love to her. ‘You’ll regret it if you force me,’ she told him flatly.
‘It won’t be force, Danielle,’ he pulled her roughly against him. ‘At least, only at the beginning. You see, we both know that you respond to me.’ He removed the single clip that released her hair, running his fingers through the silken tresses.
She blushed at his reminder of an evening she would rather forget, sure that this time he wouldn’t get such a response, that where they were and the circumstances of Nick forcing his passion on her would make it possible for her to remain detached from his lovemaking.
But she found it increasingly difficult to remain aloof to his kisses as he caressed her lips with slow thoroughness, his tongue moving temptingly along the edge of her inner lip, delving deeper inside as she remained passive in his arms. At the same time he slid the zip at the back of her gown down to her waist, the material falling away from her pert breasts without this support.
His hand was warm against her breast as it cupped beneath it, holding the nipple up to his questing lips. Danielle felt the familiar weakness engulf her, fighting the pleasure that coursed through her body, determined not to give Nick the satisfaction of knowing how weak she was when he touched her like this.
But he was far from finished with her, his thumbtip moving across the nipple in erotic rhythm as his mouth returned to hers, parting her lips wide, encouraging her to deepen the kiss to the intimacy he desired. Like an automaton she did so, instantly feeling the rush of desire that pulsed through his body, his groan low in his throat. Now he was once again the aggressor, bending her back over his arm to kiss a trail of fire across her throat and down to the tempting swell of her breasts, moving even lower as he fell to his knees in front of her.
‘No!’ she groaned her anguish. ‘Not that. Please!’ she begged him to stop.
He leisurely explored her navel before standing up. ‘I want to know every inch of you, Danielle,’ he told her deeply. ‘To kiss every part of you.’
She wanted it too, wanted the slow ecstatic lovemaking she knew he could give her!
She had no memory of being picked up in his arms, intoxicated by the sweet sensuality of his sweat-dampened skin, only coming to her senses as she felt the softness of silk sheets beneath her naked back.
‘No!’ She got up off the bed as if it burnt her, staring in horrified fascination at the black sheets, suddenly aware of how close she had come to being seduced beneath those sheets for a second time.
Nick looked puzzled by her reaction. ‘Danielle, they’re only sheets—’
‘Black silk ones,’ she said with distaste, pulling her gown up to re-zip it.
‘All right,’ he flushed his anger. ‘I’ll take the damned things off the bed.’ He began to pull at them.
His eyes glittered with fury as he glared across the bed at her, his dark hair ruffled to disorder, his shirt unbuttoned almost to his waist to reveal the curling dark hair against his chest. ‘You’re the most complicated woman I know,’ he snapped.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Like hell you are! God, I don’t know a thing about you. You won’t let me near you!’
She looked down contemptuously at the rumpled bed. ‘Not like that I won’t.’ She turned and left the room, knowing he followed her back into the lounge.
‘I can’t reach you any other way!’ he rasped. ‘Even you can’t control that response for long.’
‘Even me?’ she echoed softly, looking at him coldly.
‘You’re like ice the rest of the time,’ he told her grimly. ‘Do you ever intend to let me make love to you?’ His eyes were narrowed.
‘It isn’t a question of allowing it—’
‘Do you?’ he persisted darkly.
She shrugged. ‘Perhaps not.’
A pulse jerked in his jaw. ‘Then why the hell are you going out with me?’
Danielle looked at him with emotionless eyes. ‘All right,’ she said softly. ‘I won’t see you again.’
Nick watched in dazed disbelief as she picked up her clutch-bag and quietly left. But he made no attempt to stop her.
She was shaking badly by the time she reached the pavement and hailed a taxi. This time she really may have pushed him too far! If she had then the torture of the past few weeks had all been for nothing.
The next week brought no word from Nick, although the gossips reported that he had a new woman in his life, a sweet young actress whom Danielle felt would be utterly cowed by him in a matter of days rather than weeks. The news of his new mistress was a great disappointment to her, and halfway through the second week after she had walked out on him she decided to take the holiday she had been promising herself for months, flying out to Florida to laze in the sun for a couple of weeks and think out her future, decide what she was going to do about Nick. As she saw it she had only two alternatives, she either left things as they were between them or she did the equivalent of crawling back to him. Neither was acceptable to her.
A Past Revenge Page 11
