Читать книгу Seduction: The Billionaire's Bride of Vengeance - Miranda Lee - Страница 15

SICOLE stood at the railing of the deck which overlooked the marina. The night sky was overcast, the air still sultry with not much breeze coming off the water. In the distance, several flashes of sheet lightning heralded the storm which had been forecast for later that evening.

Nicole knew she should return to the reception, but she simply could not. To sit there and be the subject of that man’s never-ending stare was beyond her.

She didn’t have to look back at him after that first time to know that his eyes were constantly upon her. She could feel them raking over her, burning into her, making her aware of her body in ways which were as disturbing as they were embarrassing.

Her fiercely erect nipples were bad enough, especially since she wasn’t wearing a bra. Even worse was the dampness between her thighs.

Nicole had stayed in the powder room for several minutes, after which she’d escaped outside, hoping that some fresh air would bring her wayward flesh under control.

But the air outside was hotter than the air inside.

She felt his presence before he spoke, her skin breaking into instant goose-pimples.

‘We meet again, Nicole,’ he said quietly as he materialised next to her.

Nicole’s fingers tightened around her evening bag before lifting it from the top of the railing. Slowly she turned to face him, grateful that he could not hear her heart thudding behind her ribs.

‘Did you get your keys?’ she asked him with creditable cool.

His smile was light and might have been charming on any other man. But not on him and not when accompanied by the predatory gleam which glittered in his cold blue eyes.

‘Indeed I did,’ he said. ‘I hope you got everything you wanted from the house.’

‘Yes, thank you.’

‘I was surprised to see you here. I presume you’re a friend of Megan’s.’

‘We went to the same school.’ No way was she going to explain her presence here any more than that. It would make her sound like some charity case.

‘What are you doing out here?’ he went on. ‘You missed all the toasts and speeches.’

Trust him to notice. But then he would, wouldn’t he? He’d been watching her all evening. And now he’d followed her out here.

Nicole could not pretend that she didn’t know the reason why. She’d been the object of male pursuits ever since she’d left boarding school. Up till her experience with David, she’d enjoyed the mating game.

But that had been before she was told she was a bore in bed.

‘I had a headache,’ she invented.

‘Have you taken something for it?’

‘Yes,’ she lied again.

‘And?’

‘I’m feeling better.’

‘In that case, would you like to dance?’ he said, his blue eyes fastening hard onto hers again.

Lord, but they were powerful, those eyes. And oh, so sexy.

‘I … I think I’d rather stay out here,’ she replied, somewhat shakily.

‘That’s all right. The music’s loud enough. We can dance right where we are.’

Before she could find some other excuse, he took her bag, placed it on top of the railing, then drew her into his arms.

‘I’m sorry if I was rude to you the other day,’ he said softly as he began to move her back and forth in a slow, sensual rhythm.

Nicole swallowed, but didn’t say anything in return. Her brain was far too busy trying to get a handle on the wild heat rushing through her. His holding her even more tightly did little to free her mind, or soothe her instant panic.

‘I have a confession to make,’ he whispered into her ear, which was now perilously close to his mouth. ‘From the first moment I saw you, I wanted you.’

Nicole jerked back out of his arms, her eyes widening as they flashed up to his.

‘I dare say you’ve had many men say that to you over the years,’ he went on. ‘Please believe me when I say I don’t make a habit of such rash declarations. That’s why I was rude to you at first, because the intensity of my feelings took me by surprise. And because I was sure that a girl as exquisitely beautiful as you are would already be taken. But your being here tonight, alone, indicates that maybe I was mistaken …’ His eyebrows lifted questioningly. ‘Is there a lover or boyfriend in your life at the moment? Someone overseas perhaps?’

Nicole still couldn’t find her tongue, but she did manage to shake her head in the negative.

The satisfaction in his eyes was both flattering and frightening. ‘Then I’m free to tell you that seeing you again tonight has done nothing to lessen my interest. In fact I want you more than I’ve wanted any woman before in my life.’

The passion in his voice, and in his eyes, both dazzled and dazed her.

‘You take my breath away,’ he ground out, cupping her chin firmly with his right hand and lifting her mouth up towards his rapidly descending lips.

His kiss was not gentle. But she loved it, wallowing in the bruising force of his lips and the savage invasion of his tongue.

If he’d stopped within a decent span of time, she might have had some common sense left. But he went on and on, draining her of the rest of her will, pushing her beyond any thought of where this would end, beyond everything but the need to keep on being kissed by him.

His wrenching his lips from hers brought a soft cry of dismay.

Russell stared down at her parted lips and dilated eyes and wondered if this was all for real—for him, Russell McClain, the man.

Her surrender seemed amazingly quick, as though she was possessed by the same mad passion which had governed both his lust-filled words earlier and his kisses just now. But it didn’t seem logical that the coolly composed creature he’d met the other day would suddenly turn into a wanton.

Of course, party girls like her did live a pretty fast life. For all he knew, she could be on something tonight, some recreational drug which had lessened her inhibitions and heightened her appetite. Or maybe she’d imbibed too much of the top champagne James had had flown in from France for his wedding; a few glasses of that could make a girl very amenable to a man’s advances.

On the other hand, maybe she’d had some time to think about her changed circumstances since arriving back in Sydney. Maybe she’d decided that Daddy’s lessened wealth might not last forever and she would need a new gravy train if she wanted to continue the good life.

Which meant this show might not be for him, Russell McClain, the man … but for Russell McClain, the potential billionaire.

Perversely, Russell no longer cared what her motivation was for looking up at him as if she couldn’t wait to go to bed with him. All he cared about right at that moment was where she would be before this night was out. He’d never felt anything like the arousal he was feeling right now. His flesh had moved beyond pleasure and into the realms of sheer and utter pain.

‘So there you are!’

Russell suppressed a groan at the arrival of the plump brunette Nicole had been sitting next to inside.

‘I was wondering where you’d got to,’ the girl added, her eyes avid as they flitted from one to the other. ‘Have I interrupted something, sweetie?’ she directed at Nicole. ‘If so, please just say so and I’ll go. I’m nothing if not discreet.’

Nicole blushed furiously, surprising Russell. It was hard to fake a blush. There again, it could be a blush of guilt.

‘Nicole and I are just leaving,’ he stated firmly.

The brunette seemed startled but not displeased.

‘Would you mind, Kara?’ Nicole said, still looking faintly embarrassed.

‘Of course not. Off you go and have some fun. I’ll leave a key to the back door in the usual spot. But I won’t fret if you don’t use it. If your bed’s still empty in the morning, I’ll tell Mother you’ve gone out on a breakfast date with a handsome hunk you met at the wedding. Nice to finally meet you, Mr McClain.’

She flashed him a saucy little smile, making him wonder what Nicole had said about him to her.

Obviously something.

‘Au revoir, sweetie,’ she finished up and, with a flamboyant wave, whirled around her plump but not unattractive frame to head back to the reception.

By this time, Russell and Nicole weren’t alone on the deck, several more people having made their way outside.

‘Come on,’ Russell said, sliding a captive arm around her waist and guiding her along the deck towards a set of steps which would take them down to the car park.

‘Where … where are we going?’ she asked breathlessly as he hurried her towards his car.

‘Not to a club, that’s for sure.’ Or to his apartment, despite it being the closer of his two current residences. He’d moved a few things into the Belleview Hill mansion yesterday and slept in Alistair Power’s king-sized bed for the first time last night. Once again, however, the experience had lacked the feeling of satisfaction he’d been anticipating.

Russell could see, however, that sleeping there tonight with his enemy’s daughter by his side would be a whole different ball game. Now, that would feel like real revenge, of the highly personal kind that he’d always coveted.

He zapped the car unlocked, reefed open the passenger door and had her inside in record time.

‘This is crazy,’ she said after he’d climbed in behind the wheel. ‘We hardly know each other.’ And she shot him an oddly fearful look which didn’t compute with her being drunk, or drugged, or directed by materialistic ambition.

She seemed genuinely alarmed at her own behaviour, which was as puzzling as it was a possible problem. Russell didn’t want her having second thoughts at this stage.

He shoved the key in the ignition, then leant over the gear stick to take her face in his hands once more.

‘What is there to know but this?’ he murmured, and kissed her again. Softly this time and seductively, savouring the low moan of surrender she made when her lips flowered open under his.

Now that he had her where he wanted her, Russell wasn’t about to let her get away. He pressed her hard against the leather seat and kept on kissing her, at the same time letting his right hand slide slowly down her neck till it reached the valley between her breasts.

Once there, he quite deliberately lifted his mouth away so that he could watch her eyes when his hand moved underneath her dress and over her naked breast. He wanted to see her reaction, wanted to watch for signs of anything fake.

Not that it really mattered. If she was pretending desire for the sake of greed, then the outcome would not change: he would still bed her tonight.

But having Nicole Power mindless with desire for him would be an added bonus. How ironic would that be? How brilliantly satisfying!

His hand moved and her eyes flung wide open, her back stiffening when his fingers found their goal.

Her nipple was hard, like a river pebble.

‘No, don’t,’ she whimpered when he rolled it round and round with his fingertips.

He ignored her feeble protest and kept doing it till her mouth gasped open and her eyes glazed over. At that point he pushed the silky green material aside to totally expose her breast, then bent his head to put his mouth where his fingertips had been.

Her practically jackknifing from the seat told Russell all he needed to know. There was absolutely no pretence in her responses. She was his, to do with as he pleased. His to explore and exploit. His to win and maybe even to wed.

Did he want to go that far? Did he want to see her walk down the aisle in white the way Megan had that day? Did he want to see blind adoration in her eyes as well as the mindless desire he’d just glimpsed in her beautiful green eyes?

There was only one answer to those questions.

An unequivocal yes.