by Bobbi Smith
Adam just didn't know how to deal with the situation. He could no longer deny that he wanted her. Lianne affected him as no other woman ever had before. It seemed she was a fire in his blood. All he had to do was think about making love to her, and the heat would throb through him anew.
He rubbed his forehead in a weary gesture as he continued his battle against his desire for Lianne. He couldn't want her. He knew what kind of woman she was —or did he? Again, Alex's stories about Lianne haunted him. Could it really be true that this attraction between them was something neither one of them could control? A part of Adam wanted to think so, but the other, more logical side of him denied it. The battle raged on within him.
Frustrated, Adam took another deep drink from the bottle he held loosely in his hand. He had started off using a glass, but had grown tired of continually having to pour himself another drink. After his first two double shots, he'd decided to discard the trappings of civilization and give in at least that much to the way he was feeling—slightly barbarous.
His gaze fell upon the single sheet of paper lying somewhat crumpled on the floor. A sneer curled his lips as he stared at it in disgust. It was a note from Suzanne, who'd sent her messenger over in the middle of the night to deliver it. Her brazenness bothered him, but there was nothing he could do about it. He'd convinced her that she was the woman he wanted, even though he'd married Lianne, and now he had to deal with it.
Suzanne had wanted him to come to her tonight, but he'd refused to go. He'd sent the servant back with the message that he would not be able to get away to see her until the next day. The thought of being with her, of her blond beauty and lush curves, did not appeal to him at all. Instead, he found himself envisioning Lianne in his arms, hungry for his kisses, welcoming his touch.
Adam snorted derisively at the thought. Lianne hated him. She had from the very beginning and probably always would.
It occurred to him rather abruptly that he'd never given Lianne any reason to love him. The thought was sobering. Driven by his own desperate need for revenge, he had taken over her home without a thought as to what she was thinking and feeling. He had taken her innocence in much the same way, and the end result had been that he'd gotten her pregnant even as he announced his engagement to another woman. Was it any wonder Lianne couldn't stand the sight of him? he asked himself with detached rationality. Adam scowled blackly and took another drink. It didn't sit well with him to think that he could have been wrong in any of this.
A small sound drew his sodden attention just then, and he glanced up to see Lianne enter the study. He stared in disbelief, for it almost seemed as if his musings had somehow conjured her up. She hadn't noticed him yet, so he didn't speak and instead took the time to feast his eyes upon her.
Lianne was undeniably gorgeous, Adam decided, and he drunkenly complimented himself on his choice of a wife. Her thick burnished tresses hung unadorned about her shoulders, and he found himself wanting to see her hair fanned out on a pillow beneath her as he kissed her to senselessness. A lopsided smile quirked his lips at the mental image. The white gown she wore was demure in styling. The bodice was cut modestly, revealing little of her cleavage, and a single blue ribbon was tied beneath her breasts in the style of an empire gown. The sleeves were full and flowing as was the body of the nightdress. It was created of a gossamer fabric that enticed even as it concealed, and Adam found himself completely mesmerized by that which he could see and that which he could not.
He watched with intense interest as she seemed to float across the study to the desk where the lamp glowed softly. As she moved in front of the light, its brightness cast her luscious young body into shadowed relief against the filmy material of the gown, and Adam was treated to a innocent sensual display.
The effect upon him was instantaneous and electric as his barely controlled desire for her erupted to full-blooded passion. Adam wanted her. What he felt for her was as old as time, and his body embraced the knowledge openly, even as he consciously denied it.
Adam realized later that he must have made a sound, for Lianne spun about to face him, her expression wary and frightened. He thought she looked much like a doe before a hunter, poised and ready for flight at the first sign of danger.
"You're here . . ." Lianne said breathlessly as she stood before him.
She wanted to look away, but she couldn't. Adam was so handsome, and the physical attraction she felt for him was so potent, that she stood there spellbound staring at him. Her gaze went over him hungrily, taking in everything about him . . . the dark thickness of his hair, the strong column of his throat. He had unbuttoned the neck of the white shirt he wore, and Lianne could see the beginning of the black curling hair that covered the magnificent width of his chest. She found herself remembering what it had felt like to be cradled there against his heart, and a smoldering passion sparked to life deep within her.
"Did you think I'd left you?" Adam's voice was deep and rich, and it went over her in a velvet caress, stoking the already fiery desire she was feeling.
Lianne couldn't tell by his tone if he was mocking her or not, and she certainly didn't want to admit the truth to him.
"Would it matter?" she challenged huskily.
Lianne knew she should flee from his presence, but somehow she just couldn't make herself turn away from him. She discovered that she wanted him. She knew he didn't want her, that Suzanne was the woman he truly loved, but right now, this minute, it didn't seem to make any difference. Lianne wanted to kiss the firm line of his mouth until the sternness of it softened with passion. She wanted to touch him, to caress the leanness of his ribs and tangle her fingers in the fur on his chest. She ached to hold him close and take him deep within her.
The memory of the searing heat of his body melding with hers sent her senses soaring. Vaguely, Lianne wondered if this was what it was like to be in love. If it was, it wouldn't matter, for Adam despised her, she realized poignantly. There could never be anything between them.
Adam's gaze darkened as it met hers, and what she saw revealed there in the molten depths sent a quiver of excitement through her.
"Oh, yes," he said in a voice that was a low, almost predatory growl. "It matters."
He set the bottle aside as he came to his feet and crossed the room to where she stood. Lianne couldn't move. She stood transfixed before him, watching him come, helpless to do anything but wait for her fate. Adam lifted one hand to caress her cheek with his knuckles. Lianne shivered at his touch, but did not try to evade him.
"We want each other. We always have," Adam told her huskily, thinking that at least they had that much to build a relationship on.
Lianne didn't respond. Her mouth was dry, and her pulses were racing. Every fiber of her being was aware of him.
Adam felt his own desire for her raging to life as he looked down at her. She looked so innocent, so guileless. Was it possible that she had been the one trapped into this marriage and not the other way around? Was it possible that his cruelty to her had all been unfounded?
"You are so beautiful, Lianne," he said softly as he bent to kiss her.
Adam honestly expected her to run away from him, and at that moment he wouldn't have blamed her if she had. To his surprise, she stayed, and as his lips touched hers, he heard her sigh softly.
The gentleness of her sigh touched a chord deep within his heart, stirring something there he'd never experienced before. With the most delicate care, he lifted both hands to frame her face as the kiss went on and on. His mouth touched hers in a sweet, cherishing touch, but Lianne grew anxious for him to deepen the exchange. She opened her mouth beneath his as a flower opens to the sun, and she gloried in the boldness of his questing tongue.
A shudder of ecstasy wracked her at the ardor he displayed, and, almost without conscious thought, she moved closer to him. Her willingness stirred him to even greater heights of excitement. With an emboldened touch, he cupped one hip and brought her full against him, holding her there so she could feel
the proof of his desire for her.
Lianne gave a low rapturous moan as her hips nestled against his. He was so hard against her softness and so very masculine that her knees grew weak. She wanted Adam. She wanted him with a fierce, frenzied need that drove all thoughts of his betrayal from her mind. Perhaps, she thought deliriously, love and hate were only a wit apart . . .
"I want you, Lianne, more than I've ever wanted any woman," Adam confessed as he broke off the kiss to gaze down at her, his dark eyes mirroring the intensity of his need.
"I want you, too, Adam," Lianne admitted without reluctance. There seemed no point in trying to fight it any longer.
He kissed her again then, a powerful, devouring kiss. This time her knees did buckle, and he swept her up into his arms and carried her to the loveseat as if she weighed no more than a mite. Adam sat down on the sofa and kept Lianne on his lap. With a tenderness born of love, he sought to please her in every way. His every caress was cherishing, his every kiss devoted. He thought only of Lianne and her pleasure.
Lianne was lost in a haze of bliss-filled ecstasy. Their other joinings had been exciting and exhilarating, but this time there was something different about the way Adam was touching her and kissing her. She knew she should try to analyze the difference so she could understand, but her passion won out. She surrendered mindlessly to the joy of his lovemaking.
When Adam slipped the negligee from her, Lianne did not protest but thrilled instead to his low exclamation telling her how lovely she was. His lips sought her throat and then traced lower to tease her breasts with hot, arousing kisses. She was like a wild thing in his arms as he lay down with her fully against him. Lianne moved restlessly in his embrace, wanting to get closer to him, wanting to know his most intimate possession.
Adam shifted to lie on the bottom and brought Lianne above him, savoring the feel of her wriggling hips against his hard-driving need. He wanted her desperately, but he did not want to hurry. He wanted to make love to her in the deepest sense of the word. Positioning her, he sought the fullness of her breasts as she arched herself to him.
The touch of his mouth at her bosom left Lianne feeling enraptured as she supported herself slightly above him. Her head was thrown back and her eyes were half-closed as she moved her hips against his in a wildly restive motion. She knew she was tantalizing him with her movements, but she was feeling too wonderful to care.
When Adam slipped a hand between her thighs to test her readiness, she gasped at the sensation his touch aroused. He began to massage her then, taking her higher and higher to the brink of love's pinnacle. Complete abandon overtook her as she reached the peak of excitement. She was swept away on the burning fire of her need, spiraling to the heavens in a crescendo of ecstasy and then drifting down to the blissful lull of fulfillment.
Lianne was feeling a bit shy as she rested with her head on his shoulder. Embarrassed by her abandoned response to him, she kept her face turned away from his and her eyes closed as she savored the aftermath of her now-sated passion. Lianne could feel the heat of his desire for her still hard against her, and it filled her with pleasure to know that he wanted her as much as she had wanted him.
Languidly, she opened her eyes, intending to initiate the full completion of their lovemaking. Then, for the first time, she noticed the crumpled sheet of paper on the floor nearby. She hadn't seen it before, as caught up in Adam's embrace as she'd been, but now, staring at the note, she recognized Suzanne's scrawling handwriting.
My darling Adam,
I miss you so, even though we haven't been apart for very long. Come to me tonight. I need you and I want you. I'll be waiting . . .
Love,
Suzanne
Reality—Harsh, cruel, and taunting —raised its ugly head, and Lianne went stiff in his arms. Of course his touch had been different! she berated herself. He'd been thinking of his precious Suzanne all the time he was making love to you! In an almost violent move, she threw herself from his arms.
"Lianne?" Adam had been content for the first time in what seemed like ages. He had given Lianne complete joy and had planned to make slow, magnificent love to her all night. His body was alive with his unsated passion for her. Now suddenly, for no reason, she had left his embrace. "What is it?"
"How could I have been so stupid?" Lianne demanded, more of herself than him. "How could I have let you do this to me?"
"Do what to you? We were making love, Lianne . . ."
She froze him with a look as she snatched up the note from the floor and thrust it in his face. "And then what, Adam? Were you going to leave me and rush off to Suzanne?"
Adam felt his desire fade as he realized the reason for her upset. "No, Lianne. I was—"
"You were what, dear husband! Were you going to go from our marriage bed to your lover's bed? Were you going to compare Suzanne and me when you were done and then choose between us?" Lianne threw the note aside in disgust.
In that moment, seeing her anguish, Adam knew that he loved her. He couldn't bear to hurt her any longer with his emotions. He wanted to tell her everything.
"It's not what you think, Lianne," Adam began to explain as he came off the loveseat and tried to take her in his arms.
Lianne gave a cynical laugh as she evaded him. "I should have remembered! Why is it every time you touch me, I forget everything that's important?" she agonized out loud.
"Lianne, I — " He was feeling the full weight of his deception now, and he wanted to clear the air.
Adam reached out to take her by the arm and drag her back to him. But Lianne was not about to allow him to touch her again.
"No, Adam!" Like a savage she-cat she attacked him, slapping him with all her might. "I hate you! I hate you with all my heart and soul! Don't you ever come near me again!" she cried, backing cautiously away from him, her eyes wild. "Go on to Suzanne, Adam! She's the one who's waiting for you! She's the one who wants you! Not me!"
With that, Lianne fled the study, not caring that she was nude and that she'd left her gown behind, not caring about anything except the need to escape. She reached the bedroom and locked the door behind her. Panting from her mad dash to safety and trembling with fright over the force of the emotions that filled her, Lianne fell upon the bed and clutched her pillow protectively to her.
Lianne was miserable as she contemplated what she had almost allowed to happen. Adam had only to touch her, and her resistance vanished. She tried to fight against acknowledging the truth, but it pounded through her with relentless ferocity. She loved Adam! She loved him desperately! The realization pounded through her, even as she wanted to deny it. Why else would he constantly haunt her thoughts? Why else would it hurt so badly to think of him with Suzanne, making love to her?
Tears fell unheeded as Lianne admitted to herself the hopelessness of her love for Adam. There, alone in her room, she cried, alternately fearing that he would come after her and also that he wouldn't. When she heard the sound of men's voices outside, she left the bed and rushed to the window. She brushed the curtains aside just in time to see Adam ride off into the night in the direction of Willow Bend.
Adam stood helplessly by and watched Lianne run from the study. She hated him . . . He'd known it, but for just those few minutes he'd allowed himself to forget all that had happened before and just love her. Like a man in a trance, he picked up the discarded negligee and stared at it blankly. The material was soft and sleek in his hands, and Adam found himself thinking of how satiny Lianne's skin had felt beneath his touch. The ache returned to his loins. With an angry curse, he tangled his hands in the nightgown and tore it to shreds in a single, vicious motion, then cast it aside.
Suddenly becoming aware of what he'd done, Adam knew that he had to get away from Lianne. The torture of living with her and wanting her and never being able to have her was driving him to madness.
He would go back to the Sea Shadow, he decided. He and Beau had prearranged a system for relaying messages, and he would send one to him tonight let
ting him know that he wanted to go back to sea again as soon as he could.
Adam strode from the room and roused a servant to bring a horse from the stables for him. When the horse was brought around, he rode off without leaving word of where he would be or when he would be back.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Suzanne was fairly dancing down the hall with excitement. Adam had finally arrived! She'd been more than a little disappointed the night before when he hadn't come to her as she'd asked. All the doubts Cyrus had created within her had crept back into her thoughts. She'd passed the long hours of darkness imagining Adam making love to his insipid little wife and getting very angry. Now that he was here, she knew all her turmoil had just been the result of her overactive imagination. He'd just been too busy last night to get away. Today, he was here and he was hers.
"Adam, darling." Suzanne went into his arms where he stood waiting for her in the parlor and lifted her lips to his for a passionate kiss.
For the first time since he'd begun his pretended courtship of her, Adam really did not want anything to do with her. Still, he knew his game had not yet been played out, and it was essential that he continue the charade. Grimacing inwardly, he met her in that exchange. No desire flared within him as he kissed her. All Adam felt was disgust. He was relieved when Suzanne broke off the kiss and moved away to sit on the sofa.
"Come join me," she invited, patting the seat next to her, and Adam knew he could do little else. "I've missed you, Adam."
"I've missed being with you, too," he lied.
"I really wanted to see you last night," Suzanne purred, rubbing her breast against his shoulder as she leaned toward him.
