Читать книгу Modern Romance September 2016 Books 1-4 - Кейт Хьюит - Страница 19
ОглавлениеBIANCA WAS STILL reeling with the shock over Liev’s romantic getaway plans as the yacht arrived at a private island in the Bahamas. Not only had he set up the exclusive interview and photoshoot, but he’d whisked her away to the most romantic setting of white sands, blue sea and endless sunshine. A lovers’ paradise, one that should feel as good as a prison, trapping her with him and the ever-increasing desire she felt for him. It could be the warmth of the sun, or the relaxing time on the yacht along with champagne, but she didn’t feel that in the least.
‘How did you manage to set this up?’ She took the hand he offered her and stepped onto the wooden jetty, glad she could hide her shock behind sunglasses. ‘And find this idyllic setting?’
‘With all the current interest in our engagement, an exclusive wasn’t hard to negotiate, especially when I invited them to my secluded island home.’ The drawl of his voice was soft and incredibly sexy and she wondered if the sun had already gone to her head; then what he actually said finally registered.
‘Your island?’
‘Is that something you hadn’t found out about me, Bianca?’ He didn’t let her hand go. Instead he pulled her closer and she went willingly, moving so close until she was almost pressing herself against his body. ‘Maybe being here will allow us both to discover more about each other.’
‘Not with a magazine shoot going on.’ She laughed softly, hardly able to understand just how she already felt so relaxed being here with him. What would it be like if they were here for no other reason than to get to know one another? The thought sent a sizzle of excitement zipping around her and she sighed in relief knowing that photographers and their assistants would invade any peace they had, that they wouldn’t be as alone as it first appeared.
‘That is not happening until Saturday morning.’ He looked intently into her eyes and she almost forgot herself, almost melted completely against him.
‘Saturday morning! But it’s only Friday now. We can’t stay here alone together until then.’
‘We can and we will.’ He took her sunglasses from her face and she just let him. ‘I like to see your eyes, to see your thoughts in them, and right now, I see panic. But I promise you, Bianca, apart from playing your role at the photoshoot, nothing will happen here between us—unless you want it to.’
‘So why hide away here for several days?’
‘Bianca, do you really need to ask? The magazine will feel as if they have been invited into our own private love affair, able to glimpse the love we have for one another. It will also give us time to perfect that loving couple moment they will be expecting.’
Deep down she knew he was right. It would be exactly what the magazine readers would most want to see. But two days here, alone with a man who was unlocking a Bianca she never knew existed, was not a prospect she relished. But he had said nothing would happen that she didn’t want.
‘You’re right,’ she said, and she pulled her hand free of his and took back the sunglasses he held out to her. ‘We’ll do it your way.’
‘The villa is this way.’ Before she could say anything, he’d taken her hand and was walking along the wooden jetty which spanned across crystal blue waters towards the white sands, fringed by palm trees and lush green plants which shielded the villa from view.
Again that sizzle of anticipation raced through her. Two days alone with Liev. But would that be enough to get to know the real man? He led her along a pathway through the palm trees and she caught the first glimpse of the villa. It wasn’t as big as she’d first imagined; in fact, it was small to the point of being cosy and nestled in the palm trees. Beyond it she could see the ocean. It was so romantic, exactly the kind of place she could imagine the lovers from the letter she’d found when she was younger coming to.
The coolness of the interior was welcoming as they entered. It was furnished more traditionally than she’d ever have imagined a man like Liev wanting, but to her it was simply perfect.
‘It’s such a beautiful home.’ He let her hand go and she wandered to the windows and looked out over the ocean, its sparkling waters looking so inviting. She hadn’t swum in the sea for so long.
‘I’ll show you to your room and then we can take a walk on the beach, maybe even a swim.’ He stood in the doorway, his casual clothes suiting him as much as the tuxedo he’d worn for the party. She didn’t miss the mention of her room and relaxed. He obviously intended to keep his word. Nothing would happen if she didn’t want it to. The problem was, she wanted it to.
‘A walk would be nice, but I haven’t come prepared for swimming.’ She regretted that he hadn’t given her more information when he’d told her they would be away for the weekend. The thought of a swim in the ocean was very enticing.
He walked from the living area and she followed him into a lovely and bright bedroom with doors which opened out onto a small shady garden and the beach beyond, basking in the afternoon sun. He picked up a package from the bed and turned to her.
‘This might help.’ His voice had deepened and his accent had become more pronounced, but his expression had softened, as if being in the sunshine was stripping away the hardness she’d become accustomed to.
Her eyes met his and she scanned them for any hint of what it might help with, but as she took the neatly gift-wrapped box from him, she guessed what was inside the package. ‘Thank you.’
She was stunned by this thoughtful gesture. It was one she hadn’t believed a man as ruthless as Liev would be capable of. It would, though, make a swim more intimate, when she was wearing his choice of swimwear.
‘I’ll meet you outside when you are ready.’ Before she could say any more, he left, closing the door to her room behind him. Never had a man bought her a present, and unable to contain her curiosity, she pulled the red bow undone and opened the flat box. Inside was a red bikini and the most delicately beautiful cover-up she’d ever seen.
She blushed until her cheeks matched the bikini at the thought of wearing it in front of him, but she would look incredibly prudish and ungrateful if she stayed in the summer dress she was wearing. Besides, a swim in the sea was becoming ever more inviting.
* * *
Liev watched as Bianca moved out onto the terrace, pleased to see she’d accepted his gift. The sheer red chiffon cover-up wasn’t really doing its job and he could see her soft curves as the warm wind pressed the fabric against her skin. She looked uncomfortable and vulnerable with her face almost free of make-up and her hair pulled up into a haphazard chignon which left some dangling sexily around her face.
‘Red suits you,’ he said as she walked towards him and was rewarded with a slight flush to her cheeks. In fact, red suited her too much.
‘Swimwear is another look you wear well,’ she said with that impish smile he’d seen briefly before. So she wasn’t immune to him and neither was she embarrassed by him standing waiting for her in his swimming trunks and white shirt open. Was he finally beginning to melt the ice princess?
‘If we walk a little first, there is a nice sheltered cove, perfect for swimming.’
As she fell into step beside him, he remained silent, waiting for her to decide the topic of conversation, hoping that eventually it would come round to what he wanted to know about her brother and ICE. By playing it cool, he hoped to lure her into lowering all those barriers she had up against the world and him in particular.
‘How long have you had this place?’ She looked out at the ocean as they strolled along and he couldn’t resist taking in her long legs as she walked in the edge of the surf. The pull of attraction was becoming much stronger and harder to resist, just as it had each time he’d seen her, especially after the revelations of a much softer and caring Bianca at the shelter. On the way to the island there had been moments when he thought she felt the same way and his original plan of nothing ever happening between them was paling into insignificance.
He wanted her, more than he’d wanted any woman. At the same time he resented her more than any other woman. She was the spoilt little rich girl, pandered to and pampered with every luxury. But that opinion had changed. Or was it his increasing desire for her that changed it?
‘I bought it last year but haven’t yet put my mark on it.’ An island paradise had been something his parents had talked of wanting. A place to escape the harshness of Russian winters. He’d achieved that for them, but had much more to do yet.
‘I like it just the way it is.’ She looked at him, her sunglasses shielding her eyes, hiding her thoughts, but it couldn’t hide the relaxed smile or the genuine interest in her voice.
‘This is the best place to swim,’ he said, wanting to change the subject and give his mind and body something other than Bianca to focus on. He pulled off his shirt, dropped it to the warm sand and waded into the water. When he was waist-high in the ocean, he turned to look at her.
She was removing the cover-up and placing it on the sand next to his shirt along with her sunglasses. The thought of their clothes lying together on the beach only increased the throb of desire which coursed through him.
He smiled when she backed away a little as the waves came towards her. She was truly beautiful. Everything about her was perfect and he wanted to hold her against his body, feel her skin against his skin as he claimed her as his, even if it was to be only for a few days. He was under no illusions they could have anything else, not after the way they met.
‘Don’t be shy. Come on in. The water is great,’ he called above the gentle rush of the waves and laughed as she dropped down and covered her body in water before standing up again, water running off her curves, stirring the rising passion within him higher still.
With a smile that lit up her face, she lowered herself into the water and started swimming to the platform, her strong strokes taking her quickly past him and away. He swam after her, reaching the platform at the same time. Her face was alive with vitality and excitement as he looked into her eyes and all he wanted to do was kiss her.
He moved forward in the water and saw her blue eyes widen, but she didn’t move, didn’t say anything. Before he could think what he was doing and why, his lips were on hers, tasting the salty water and the woman herself. Instantly she responded, her lips moving against his, and he cursed the fact they were holding on to a platform in the ocean. Seducing her had never been part of the plan. He’d even gone as far as telling her nothing would happen between them unless she wanted it.
He drew in a sharp breath of shock as she pushed herself against him and away. She called over her shoulder as her strokes began to pull her through the water. ‘Race you back.’
He let her swim a few more strokes before pushing off, quickly catching up with her. He held back, keeping at least several strokes behind as she swam. As she reached the beach she began to run through the water and then flopped down at the edge, the waves lapping gently around her.
He joined her, sitting close and enjoying the feeling of the warm water over his legs. ‘You are a good swimmer.’ He had to force himself to talk of something neutral because all he wanted to do was kiss her—and not stop until he’d set light to the passion he knew was inside her too.
‘I haven’t swum for so long and certainly not in the ocean. I’d forgotten how liberating it can feel.’ She put her arms out behind her and leant back, her face upturned to the sun, and inwardly he groaned as that throb of desire in him intensified, calling for satisfaction that only this woman could bring.
She hadn’t mentioned the kiss, hadn’t told him it wasn’t what she wanted. If anything, she was flirting with him, taunting him with her body.
‘Bianca.’ His voice was decidedly husky as he said her name and she looked at him and he knew he’d finally found the real Bianca, the woman beneath that ice-princess exterior she liked the world to see.
She didn’t answer, but slowly she moved towards him and he knew she wanted to be kissed as much as he wanted to kiss her. If he did kiss her now, he didn’t know if he would be able to stop, didn’t know if he could just switch off the ever-increasing desire for her.
‘Kiss me.’ He could hardly hear her broken whisper over the soft sound of the waves, but he did hear the call her body made to his.
Gently he brushed his lips over hers. Then as passion fired through him he demanded more, pushing her back against the wet sand, heedless of the waves spilling over them as he covered her body with his.
* * *
Bianca couldn’t believe she’d asked him so boldly to kiss her or that now she was lying in the soft surf of the Bahamas, practically naked with the man she thought she hated. She didn’t hate him. She might hate herself for wanting him. She certainly hated him for awakening her passion, something she’d tried all her adult life to keep locked away. But she didn’t hate him.
The water on her skin was exciting, but his touch, as he moved his hands over her, was almost unbearably erotic. With one hand under her shoulder, keeping his weight from her, his other hand skimmed over her thighs, her hips and up to her waist. All the time she was aware of his aroused state, pressing hard against her, demanding and tempting all at the same time.
She’d never done anything like this before. No man had ever touched her like this, and she trembled as he began to kiss down her neck, oblivious to the water rushing over them in a way that only heightened her senses, making every touch of his more powerful.
Her arms were wound around his neck, but as he kissed down her throat she spread her hands over his wet back, enjoying the strength that emanated from him. She’d never had a man so naked against her body, never felt the sizzle of skin against skin, but as he returned his kiss in a trail of blazing heat up to her lips, she had to stop herself gasping his name in pleasure.
As if he knew her torture, his tongue slipped between her lips and a sigh of pleasure finally escaped her as his hand cupped her breast, the sensation so new and heady she could hardly breathe. Was this what being loved by a man was like?
That thought sobered her mind. Liev didn’t love her. He might desire her, but he didn’t love her, and there was no way she was going to get carried away and give herself with such abandon to this man.
‘No, stop.’ She moved away from his kiss and pushed at his chest, trying to ignore the hardness beneath her palm. ‘I can’t do this.’
She scrambled to her feet, sand clinging to her body as she trembled with unquenched desire and shock at what she’d wanted. She’d wanted to make love, right here on the beach in broad daylight with a man who was no better than Dominic. One was a gambler, the other a blackmailer, and both had used her for their own gain.
She watched as he, too, got to his feet and walked away from her, reaching down to collect their discarded garments. Was he seeking time for composure? She used those moments to press her wet hair against her head, smoothing down the disarray.
Then he turned to face her, his expression now the familiar mask of hardness, and regret pinched at her. ‘I apologise.’
‘It’s just that...’ She stopped short of spilling everything out. How did you tell the man you had just been kissing with such abandon that you were a virgin, that you had no experience of how to please him, how to enjoy the moment of intimacy she’d almost slipped into?
‘Just what?’ The words were snapped out and she knew he was angry, that he probably thought she’d led him on—and she had.
‘I just need a bit of time.’ She was stumbling over her words, the passion he’d ignited within her muddling her senses and making any kind of rational thought impossible. ‘What I mean is, I hadn’t expected that.’
‘By that, I assume you mean the desire to kiss me, the need to feel my touch, or that you wanted me as much as I wanted you, regardless of everything else?’
She blushed and knew denial was useless. Instead she looked firmly at him. ‘Yes, that is exactly what I mean.’
‘We should get back. I expect you would like to change before dinner?’
She walked towards him and took the cover-up and her glasses from him, instinctively putting both on as a shield from his hungry gaze. As she walked beside him, the beauty of the island calmed her ruffled nerves and she wondered at what had just happened, but more alarming was the fact that she had wanted more.
* * *
Liev watched Bianca walk along the terrace after dinner; her shoulders were tense and all evening her conversation had been stilted. She was obviously not as comfortable with being here with him as he’d first thought. Especially after the kiss they’d shared at the water’s edge. That had been so wildly passionate he’d hardly been able to drag himself off her when she’d demanded he stop. It had taken every last bit of his control to do that.
He walked out into the evening warmth and stood close behind her, and with her hair swept up, he longed to kiss her delicate neck, longed to resume what had been started just hours ago in the waves.
Gently he placed his hands on her shoulders and moved closer still, the urge to press his lips to her skin ever stronger. She didn’t pull away and beneath his hands he could feel her shoulders rise and fall as her breathing deepened. He lowered his head and inhaled her scent, floral and intoxicatingly sexy.
Still she didn’t pull away. Instead she leant back against him, tilting her head slightly to allow him access to the softness of her skin. As his lips met her skin, tasting her, she drew in a ragged breath and he knew she was far from indifferent to him. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.
‘You feel it too.’ He breathed the words against her skin, becoming more caught up in the desire he’d been keeping locked away since the auction, when she’d been so angry passion had blazed in her eyes. Now he wanted that anger to be nothing but passion.
She shook her head, the movement small and indecisive. She was still battling with the desire which had sparked angrily to life between them the moment their paths had collided.
‘No,’ she whispered, but he knew that denial was the furthest thing from the truth that had ever passed those sweet lips of hers.
He trailed a finger down her neck and saw her quiver and arch away from him, and he knew that he was pushing her over the edge, just as he was himself. ‘Why deny the inevitable?’
‘Because I have to.’
‘Why, when there is so much passion between us, so much desire? It is that very passion and desire that is keeping you here right now, when you could walk into the house and to your room. I wouldn’t follow you there. I meant what I said earlier. Nothing will happen unless you want it to.’
He slid his hands down her arms and he stepped closer still, until there was barely a whisper of air between them. He wanted her so much, but he had to be patient, had to wait for the right time.
‘Then you will accept that I can’t do this, can’t give in to whatever it is,’ she murmured.
‘But you admit it’s there? You feel it, don’t you, Bianca?’ He kissed a trail down her neck to her bare shoulders, breathing in the scent of her skin, tasting her and making staying in control all the harder for it.
* * *
Bianca closed her eyes and leant back against Liev’s strong body. Heat seared through her as his lips kissed her neck again and she knew she should stop it, knew it wasn’t what she needed, but it was so what she wanted.
‘Yes, I feel it too.’ The husky whisper which came from her was like no other sound she’d heard before. What was this power he had over her?
‘I can’t fight it much longer.’ The words, whispered into her hair, sent a shiver of excitement down her spine, and she bit down on her bottom lip trying to hold on to herself.
His hands slid down her arms and she turned to look at him over her shoulder, but his lips brushed hers and she closed her eyes, no longer able to resist this new pleasure. A soft sigh escaped her as he kissed her so gently and persuasively, coaxing more from her with the skill of an accomplished lover.
His hand splayed across her cheek, keeping her head where he wanted it as he deepened the kiss. Driven by a force she had no control over, she turned as his arms wrapped around her, pressing her body against the hardness of his.
His lips left hers and she dragged in air, searching the slate grey of his eyes, looking for reassurance, but all she saw was hungry desire. Desire she had no experience of dealing with.
Just as she was about to pull away, to tell him it couldn’t happen, he claimed her lips again in such a hard and demanding kiss she could no longer think. Heat which had been curling from a deep and secret place within her burst into flames, engulfing her so quickly she could hardly breathe.
She entwined her arms around his neck, pulling herself up against him, and the fire heated as she felt the evidence of his desire. This wasn’t just part of the deal. He really wanted her. Euphoria took her higher as his tongue plundered her mouth, coaxing and demanding more from her. Again those ever-present doubts surfaced. She couldn’t give more. Not to this man.
She pushed her hands against his chest and pulled back, breaking the kiss, but his arms held her firmly against him. She shook her head. ‘We shouldn’t be doing this, Liev.’
His eyes narrowed as he continued to hold her against him. Beneath the palms of her hands she could feel the rapid rise and fall of his hard and muscular chest. That in itself was almost enough to tip her over the edge.
‘Why not?’ His fierce words jolted her back to her senses and she pushed against him once more, thankful when he let her go. Quickly she moved away from him, away from temptation.
‘What we have isn’t real.’
‘Our engagement may not be, but this desire is. Are you so cold and hard you can ignore it and turn away from it that easily?’ He stalked past her back into the living room and poured himself a drink. The sound of the liquid filling the glass was almost too loud.
He thought her cold? Well, so much the better. ‘Yes, I am. We have a business arrangement and I am not in the habit of getting intimate with my clients.’
He took a big gulp and looked at her, icy coldness in his eyes. ‘That’s not how it seemed this afternoon, Bianca.’
She sighed softly. ‘Whatever you might think of me, I’m not used to this sort of arrangement.’
‘What sort is that? A lovers’ weekend away?’
‘It’s not something I’ve done before.’ If she told him she was inexperienced, would that dissuade him from looking for more than she could give?
‘You have never slipped away for a weekend of passion with your lover?’ The incredulity in his voice was clear.
‘No.’ She couldn’t quite tell him she had never had a lover. Maybe now was a good time to say goodnight. The incredulity in his voice left her in no doubt that he was more than used to such weekends. She just wasn’t ready for that yet. ‘Goodnight, Liev.’
