Читать книгу From Mistresses To Wives?: Mistress to a Bachelor / His Mistress by Marriage / Accidental Mistress - Susan Napier - Страница 9

THE double room was luxurious, the bathroom big enough to hold a dance in. Under other circumstances, Jessica would have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of staying in one of the city’s top hotels. As it was, it meant little.

Unpacking was no priority. Especially when she’d only be here a couple of days. Reluctant to venture downstairs to eat, she ordered a light meal from room service. Looking back while she waited for it to arrive, she regretted giving up her job in Gloucester. Seeing Paul and her replacement together had been humiliating, true, but she should have stuck it out.

The evening wore on. She ate the beautifully prepared prawn salad and watched a little television, although she couldn’t have said just what she was watching. The hunger growing in her had nothing to do with food. It was Zac she craved for.

When the knock came on the door, she assumed it must be a valet or someone calling to see if there was anything else she needed. She went reluctantly to answer it, heart leaping into her throat on seeing who was standing there.

Zac didn’t wait for an invitation, kicking the door shut behind him as he took hold of her. Jessica melted into the passionate embrace, returning fire for fire, all rational thought suspended. She leaned against him helplessly when he finally lifted his head.

‘I couldn’t do it,’ he said roughly.

‘Do what?’ she managed.

‘Let you go.’ He put his lips to her temple where the hair clung. ‘Not with so much to be resolved between us.’

Jessica made a supreme effort to bring her mind to bear on the words rather than the actions.

‘Such as what exactly?’ she whispered.

‘The future,’ he said. ‘Our future.’

‘We don’t have a future.’

‘We could.’ His tone softened. ‘Marry me, Jessica.’

The shock of it struck her dumb for several moments. She gazed at him blankly.

‘What game are you playing now?’ she got out.

‘I’m serious,’ he said. ‘I want you to marry me.’

Green eyes darkened. ‘Just to make sure of a few shares?’

Zac shook his head. ‘Not just the shares. Not just to satisfy grandfather either.’

‘Oh, then it must be love, of course!’ The sarcasm was a defence of sorts. ‘Three days to fall head over heels!’

‘The time is irrelevant,’ he said. ‘We belong together.’

‘You can’t say that!’ Her voice had a crack in it. ‘You know almost nothing about me!’

‘I know all I need to know.’ The determination was there in his eyes, in the set of his jaw. ‘I won’t give up on this, Jess. The way you responded just now, you can hardly claim to have no feelings at all for me.’

‘There are feelings and feelings,’ she said, battling her weaker instincts. ‘What we have isn’t love.’

Something flickered deep down in the greyness, but his tone didn’t alter. ‘It can be part of it. A very vital part.’

Jessica steeled herself as he put his lips to hers again, but there was no resisting the surging response, no shutting out the inner voice urging her to let matters take their own course. She found her fingers easing the suit jacket from his back, dropping it to the floor to seek the buttons of his shirt with an urgency echoed in his own dextrous movements.

Her nipples sprang to his touch as both blouse and bra joined his garments on the floor, the ache increasing to almost unbearable proportions when Zac lowered his head to run the very tip of his tongue over the tender flesh. Her skirt slid all the way down her legs, leaving her nude but for the flimsy lace panties that were no barrier against the gentle caress.

She buried her face in the broad expanse of his chest as he swung her up in his arms to carry her across to the wide, canopied bed. Laid there, she watched through slitted eyes as he stood back to remove the rest of his clothing, stirred to even greater depths by the sleek muscularity of waist and hip, the masculine strength in the taut thighs. Already fully aroused, he was magnificent—the essence of manhood in all its prime. Jessica had never wanted anything as much as she wanted what was about to happen between them right now.

She reached for him eagerly, wantonly, as he lowered himself to her side, hearing his sharp intake of breath at the exquisite sensation. With Zac she felt no restriction, just an overpowering desire to explore every inch of the superb male body—to open herself to his exploration—to have him inside her, a part of her.

Zac kissed her again before removing the scrap of material that was the only hindrance left. His touch was delicate, parting the quivering flesh to find the warm, welcoming softness within—drawing a gasp from her own lips as he delved her secret depths. Back arching, face constricted, she gave herself up to the movement, the cry torn from her as she climaxed smothered as he claimed her lips once more.

‘For you,’ he said softly. ‘Now this is for both of us.’

He played her like a violin, his lips and tongue wreaking havoc in their exploration of her whole body, making her writhe in an ecstasy of sensation. She wrapped her arms about the broad shoulders as they merged at last, lost to everything but the moment. They reached the summit in perfect unison, collapsing together to lie in suspended animation while the world steadied around them again.

It took the sudden chill when Zac lifted his weight from her to fetch Jessica back from the land of milk and honey. He didn’t go far, propping himself on an elbow the way he had done that very first night, the smile on his lips echoed in his eyes as he viewed her.

‘I owe you an apology,’ he said. ‘I’m afraid the practicalities went completely from mind. Not a habit of mine, I assure you.’

‘If you’re worried about me being pregnant, you don’t need to be,’ she murmured. She searched the hard-boned features uncertainly, trying, without success, to read the mind behind the grey eyes.

‘What are you thinking?’ he asked softly.

‘That most people offered the same opportunity would probably grab it with both hands,’ she admitted.

‘It isn’t an offer I’d consider making to most people.’

‘Then why me in particular?’

Zac studied her arresting face, framed by the spread of chestnut curls over the pillow, dropping his gaze down the curvaceous length of her body and back again with another slow smile. ‘I’d say the answer to that was pretty obvious.’

‘I don’t have anything a thousand other women don’t have,’ she insisted.

‘I haven’t had dealings with a thousand other women,’ he returned equably. ‘Anyway, there’s a lot more to it than just looks. The spark was there from the word go. All it needed was the match.’

‘I’d as soon do without the clichés,’ she retorted, evoking a swift grin.

‘There go some of my best lines!’

Looking into the laughing grey eyes, Jessica felt as if a hand had gripped her heart. It would be so easy to love this man. Why on earth was she hesitating?’

Easy to love, maybe, came the answer, but what about trust? Was it really her he wanted, or just a means to an end?

‘Your grandfather…’ she began, and saw the laughter fade, his mouth take on a straighter line.

‘I can’t pretend he isn’t a factor, but only insofar as the time element is concerned.’

Jessica kept her tone level. ‘You mean, you’d still want me to marry you if he died tonight?’

Zac returned her gaze without a flicker. ‘I’ve never been against marriage itself. I just never met anyone I could contemplate being with on any permanent basis before.’

‘Which you can with me?’

‘Very much so.’

What was she waiting for? Jessica asked herself. How many times in her life was she going to be offered all that Zac could give her? There might be little real depth to what they felt for each other as yet, but that could be true of many a marriage in its early stages.

‘All right,’ she said recklessly. ‘Let’s do it!’

She closed her eyes as his mouth sought hers again.

Waking at first light to see a head on the pillow next to her, Jessica thought for a fleeting moment that she was back in the flat with Paul. Memory brought little reassurance. Last night had been sheer madness! How could she possibly contemplate marrying a man she barely knew?

Judging from his steady breathing, Zac was still deeply asleep. She slid slowly and carefully from the bed, and pulled on her cotton wrap, standing for a moment to gather herself.

The scattering of clothing across the floor bore mute testimony to just how wild a night it had been. She followed the trail, gathering the garments up as she went. A bare week ago she hadn’t even known Zac Prescott existed!

It wasn’t going to happen, of course. Zac would have second thoughts too in the cold light of day. What he needed to do this morning was go back to Dorset and clear things up. His grandfather might be angry enough to do as his grandmother had intimated, but that was a chance he would simply have to take.

As to herself, she would be doing as originally planned and taking advantage of Leonie’s offer. If the idea held little appeal, that was something she was just going to have to live with.

She was standing at the window looking out at the river scene when the strong male arms encircled her waist.

‘Why didn’t you waken me?’ Zac asked softly, nuzzling her ear. ‘I know a far better stimulant than coffee!’

‘Don’t men ever think of anything else?’ Jessica jerked out.

‘Depends on the place, the time and the incentive,’ came the undaunted answer. ‘Particularly the last. I can’t have enough of you!’

Gritting her teeth, she put the coffee cup down on the sill. ‘You’ve had all of me you’re going to get.’

He gave a low laugh. ‘That’s fighting talk, lady!’

‘I mean it!’ She caught at the hand sliding between the edges of her wrap, knowing if he touched her the way he was aiming to do she’d be lost. ‘Let go of me, Zac! I want you to let go of me!’

He did so immediately, standing back with hands raised in mock defence as she turned to face him. He was wearing one of the white towelling robes from the bathroom. It gaped at the chest, revealing the wiry thicket of dark hair she had found such a stimulant last night. She ran the tip of her tongue over lips gone dry, desisting abruptly on seeing the look in the grey eyes as they followed the movement.

Zac put his hands down and leaned against the nearby chest of drawers. His regard was devoid now of humour. ‘So, why the change of mind?’ he asked. ‘You were all for it last night.’

‘Not all.’ Jessica did her best to at least sound in control. ‘I let my better judgement be put aside for a time, but I knew deep down that it couldn’t possibly work out.’

‘Give me reasons why not,’ he said levelly.

‘Because it would be for all the wrong reasons. The only thing we have in common is sexual attraction.’

‘Not true. Not from my side, at any rate. As I told you last night, there’s a whole lot more to you than a face and body. I like being with you. I was under the impression that you felt much the same way about me.’

‘It isn’t enough,’ she declared. ‘You’ve no idea what love is.’

Zac studied her with a certain cynicism. ‘Are you all that sure you do?’

About to return a short sharp affirmative, Jessica caught herself up. Did she though? If she’d truly loved Paul, would she have got over him as fast as she appeared to have done? Would she have even considered marrying another man within a few weeks?

‘I know enough to be sure that what we have isn’t anywhere near it,’ she said at length.

‘Maybe not yet. We can learn together.’ Zac hadn’t moved from his position, but there was nothing indolent about him. ‘I’m not giving up on this, Jess!’

She looked back at him helplessly, rent by opposing forces. Dark hair tousled, jawline shadowed, the towelling robe that was so obviously his only covering on the verge of falling all the way open, he stirred every part of her.

Zac settled the conflict by reaching for her, drawing her close to kiss her with a passion she couldn’t hold out against. She felt the swift sure touch of his hands at the tie belt of her wrap, then the garment came loose, exposing her to the exquisite sensation of skin to skin; tying her innards in knots that could only be untangled one way.

‘Come back to bed,’ he murmured.

Whatever doubts she still harboured deep down, the rapture to be found in Zac’s arms was more than a match for them. Lying utterly drained afterwards, she could only compare what she felt like right now with what she’d known in the past. With no other experience to draw on, she had taken it that Paul’s self-interest was typical of all men. Zac had certainly rid her of that notion. Her pleasure was so obviously as important to him as his own.

No more hesitation, she resolved. If this wasn’t love, it was certainly heading that way. They had the rest of their lives to get to know one another.

Her objections to ordering breakfast for two via room service were rendered invalid when Zac informed her that he’d booked the room in the name of Mr and Mrs Prescott.

‘You were so sure of me?’ she said.

‘Sure I wasn’t going to give you up without one hell of a struggle,’ he returned. ‘I left you to save a scene in the foyer, that’s all.’

‘Then created one kissing me the way you did,’ she accused.

‘A mere parting gesture between husband and wife. A little premature, perhaps, but good practice for the future.’

Jessica had to smile. ‘I’ll remind you of that the first time you forget.’

‘See me off the same way every morning, and there’s no chance!’

There was something in that statement that bothered her a little, but the thought passed from mind as she contemplated the more immediate future. Mrs Zachary Prescott! Who would ever have believed it?

She opted for coffee and croissants from room service, watching in some bemusement as Zac demolished a full English breakfast.

‘How do you manage to keep so fit if you eat like that every day?’ she queried.

‘I don’t,’ he said. ‘Not every day. I just happen to have a need for extra sustenance this morning.’ The grey eyes crinkled at the corners. ‘Can’t imagine why!’

‘It’s going to be difficult telling Leonie about us,’ she said. ‘She thinks I gave you the brush-off.’

‘So, I refused to be brushed off.’

‘But aren’t you going to feel rather…awkward? I mean, considering the circumstances?’

Zac gave her a speculative glance. ‘Anything that’s taken place between Leonie and me happened before I knew you even existed. You must know her well enough to have a fair idea of her reaction. She’ll be surprised, naturally, but she’ll take it in her stride. She takes everything in her stride.’

Jessica could agree with that assessment up to a point. She’d yet to see her cousin thrown by events. Only this was surely a case on its own.

‘Just how much do I tell her?’ she queried.

Zac lifted his shoulders. ‘I see no need to bring Grandfather into it.’

‘Not even to explain why we’re getting married in such a hurry?’

‘We don’t have to explain it,’ he said. ‘It’s entirely our own affair. We’ll start the ball rolling this morning.’ He paused. ‘What about your parents?’

What about them? she almost asked, biting it back to say instead, ‘I’ll be contacting them, of course.’

Dark brows lifted. ‘Contacting?’

Jessica met his gaze with an equability she was far from feeling. ‘I haven’t seen all that much of them since the divorce. They live opposite ends of the country now.’

‘It’s hardly that big a country.’ Zac studied her thoughtfully. ‘What kind of a relationship did you have with them before the divorce?’

‘Not terribly close,’ she admitted. ‘They spent most of the time at loggerheads with each other.’

‘With you in the middle.’

‘On the periphery. I learned to stay out of it as much as possible.’

‘Could be things might have been better all round if they’d divorced a great deal earlier than they did.’

‘They probably would have done if it hadn’t been for the hotel. Finally, even that failed to keep them together.’

The grey eyes held an empathic expression. ‘It sounds as if you had a hellish childhood.’

‘Not really,’ she said. ‘They were never hard, just a bit indifferent.’ She hesitated. ‘How’s your mother going to react to all this?’

His smile was brief. ‘She’ll be happy enough once she’s met you. She always wanted a daughter.’

A daughter-in-law was hardly the same thing, Jessica reflected. ‘You must miss your father a great deal still,’ she said.’

‘Yes, I do. He’d have liked you,’ he added. ‘Grandfather does.’

‘With some reservations,’ she suggested lightly.

‘True.’ The smile this time was teasing. ‘You’re a mite too lippy at times, he thinks, but that’s up to me to do something about.’

‘I’ll make a note to be properly subservient the next time we see him.’ Jessica sobered again at the thought of how little time he might have.

‘How long is it since your cousin Brady got married?’ she asked after a moment.

‘Nearly a year.’ Zac had sobered too. ‘His wife is pregnant, hence the increased pressure on me to at least make a move toward following suit.’ He paused, regard veiled. ‘Were you serious about wanting children yourself?’

Jessica lifted her shoulders, hardly knowing which way to answer. ‘It isn’t something I’ve ever given any thought to. I just told your grandfather what I believed he’d want to hear.’

‘Right.’ There was no telling what his own thoughts on the subject might be. He put down his knife and fork and pushed back his chair. ‘We’d better get moving.’

Jessica made the appropriate answer, only too happy to put the question from mind. She would need to be a whole lot more certain of the long-term future before she gave it any consideration at all.

The morning went by on wings. With time at a premium, Zac jumped at the offer of a slot fallen free at the Register Office on the following Monday due to a cancellation. From there they went on to Aspreys, where Jessica was invited to choose both engagement and wedding rings.

‘I still can’t believe it’s only three days since we met!’ she exclaimed over a late lunch. She lifted her left hand to look at the diamond hoop once more, seeing the stones flash as they caught the light. ‘This must have cost the earth!’

Zac looked amused. ‘The only woman I ever met with a concern for my pocket!’

‘I’ve told you before,’ she responded with mock severity. ‘You’ve been mixing with the wrong type!’ She sobered again to add, ‘Speaking of which—’

‘All in the past.’ Zac was still smiling, but there was a note in his voice that hadn’t been there before. ‘As with your Paul, I hope.’

‘He isn’t my Paul,’ she said. ‘He probably never was.’

‘You think he was two-timing you all the time you were together?’

‘I suppose it’s possible.’ Jessica shook herself mentally, regretting the turn the conversation had taken. ‘It isn’t important anyway. Not any more. Did you make any decision about the Valldemosa hotel?’

Zac accepted the change of subject without demur. ‘Not yet.’

‘Do you often do that sort of thing?’

He gave her a quizzical look. ‘You consider it beneath my lofty position to go out on the road?’

‘I’d imagine it’s pretty unusual.’

‘It probably is. I’d go crazy sitting around an office all day and every day, so I take the chance whenever I can.’

‘How much of the world does Orbis cover?’

‘Just about anywhere people might want to go. The Maldives are getting to be one of the biggest draws.’

‘Have you been there?’

‘A couple of times. Wonderful scuba diving. Have you ever done any?’

Jessica shook her head. ‘I’ve always wanted to handle a snorkel!’

‘Easy enough to learn. Fancy it?’

She laughed. ‘Some chance!’

‘Every chance,’ he corrected. ‘There are tiny islands out there that are just made for honeymooners.’

It took Jessica a moment or two to come up with a response. ‘I thought we’d already had the honeymoon.’

It was Zac’s turn to laugh. ‘I doubt if we’ll be the first to have anticipated.’ He lowered his voice to a seductive murmur. ‘Imagine nights making love under a starry sky on a bed of pure white sand, with no need for clothing because there’s no one else there to see us.’

Jessica could imagine it only too vividly. The very thought set the blood sizzling in her veins. ‘Are you serious?’ she questioned uncertainly. ‘About going there, I mean?’

‘Unless you know of somewhere even better?’

‘From the sound of it, there can’t be any!’ She was too entranced for any blase act. ‘I’ve never been outside Europe before.’

‘High time you did, then,’ he said. ‘There’s a lot of world out there.’

Much of which he would already have seen himself, Jessica guessed. As a Prescott wife, she would be living on a different level from the one she was accustomed to.

‘Of course, it’s going to have to wait a while,’ Zac added.

She took his meaning at once. He would hardly want to be out of the country with his grandfather in the state he was.

‘Of course,’ she echoed.

‘I’m assuming you’ll be going to Leonie’s place tomorrow when you supposedly get back from Majorca,’ he went on. ‘Best if you give her the news on your own, I think. I’ll come round on Wednesday. In the meantime, I’d better show you where you’ll be living once we’re married.’

Jessica’s thoughts hadn’t got that far ahead as yet. ‘A flat?’ she hazarded.

‘A bit less conventional than that. You might not care for it.’

‘I’m sure it will be perfect,’ she said.

She had no reason to change that opinion when she saw the Chelsea mews. It was an absolute delight, every dwelling different, plant life abounding in every corner. Zac had both floors of number eleven. A dream of a place all round, Jessica acknowledged, roaming through the imaginatively decorated and furnished rooms.

‘A designer friend’s doing,’ Zac admitted when she congratulated him on his taste. ‘I wouldn’t have known where to start.’

A woman, no doubt, she reflected. Possibly rather more than just a friend too. As a bachelor, Zac had enjoyed the freedom to spend his nights however he chose. There was every chance he was going to find the curtailment of that freedom hard to take.

‘Hungry?’ he asked.

Not for food, she could have told him. She shook her head.

‘Coffee then? Or something stronger?’

‘Coffee will be fine. Let me make it,’ she tagged on as he made a move in the direction of the kitchen.

‘I can manage,’ he said. ‘I even cook the odd meal.’

‘I’ll have to do something to earn my keep,’ she responded flippantly.

Amusement gave way to some other, less easily defined emotion. ‘You won’t have to earn anything.’

He went from the room before she could come up with a reply, leaving her to the conclusion that she’d caught him on the raw with the unthinking remark. She found the idea reassuring in the sense that it suggested a certain vulnerability on his part: a way through, if she worked at it, to the inner man she needed to find if this marriage of theirs was to stand any chance at all of succeeding.

Whatever his feelings, he had them well under control by the time he brought the coffee in. Jessica eyed him over the rim of her cup as he took a seat on the far side of the three-seater sofa, the ache inside her increasing by the moment as she viewed the strong lines of his profile, the breadth of shoulder and muscular upper arm structure emphasised by the cream silk shirt he was wearing—the firm line of his thigh beneath the fine linen trousers.

Unable to stand it any longer, she put her cup down on the table in front of them, and reached to do the same with his, moving over to put both hands about his face and draw it down to reach his mouth with hers.

The sofa was more than big enough to accommodate them, the cushions supportive, the passion all-consuming. It was some time before either of them could gather the strength to move.

‘That,’ Zac murmured at last, ‘was worth waiting for! Not that you did,’ he added with a hint of humour. ‘And there was I trying to be all considerate, thinking you’d be too tired!’

‘I’ll never be too tired for this,’ she claimed huskily.

‘Let’s hope I can live up to demands, then.’

There was something in his voice that gave her pause for a moment, but she wasn’t sure enough of herself to start probing for possible hidden meanings.

‘As if,’ she said, ‘there could ever be any doubt about that!’

‘As if,’ he echoed drily. He planted a fleeting kiss on her lips, then eased himself upright. ‘You’ll find everything you need in the en suite. I’ll take the guest room shower.’

Jessica had thought he might suggest they share a shower, the way they’d done that morning while waiting for room service, but the cabinets here weren’t really big enough, she supposed, to hold two people.

The possibility that he’d had enough of her for one day, she refused to contemplate.

If she needed reassurance on that score, it was provided back at the hotel, where they spent the night again. By morning, Jessica had reached a state not even the coming meeting with her cousin could demolish. If it wasn’t love she and Zac shared, it was a wonderful substitute!

He left her at ten. Safe in the knowledge that Leonie would be at work all day, she took a taxi to the flat in St John’s Wood, using the key and code already provided to let herself in.

Like the Majorcan apartment, the place was beautifully done out. At twenty-nine, Leonie was in a position to afford some of the best in life. Deservedly so too.

Jessica spent the afternoon on steadily increasing tenterhooks. Her cousin’s homecoming at seven was small relief.

Blonde hair swept back in a smooth French pleat from her fine-boned face, slim, elegant figure clad in a designer suit in soft grey, Leonie looked delighted to see her.

‘You should have let me know you were coming in today,’ she chided. ‘I might have been out for the evening. What time did you get here, anyway?’

‘Around lunchtime.’ Jessica hesitated, wondering whether to wait a while before breaking the news. Yet to what purpose? Now, or later, it had to be gone through.

‘I have something to tell you,’ she said. ‘It’s going to be quite a shock.’

‘Really?’ Leonie looked intrigued. ‘What is it?’

Jessica drew a deep breath. ‘I’m going to marry Zac Prescott.’