Selina’s lips moved but she could not get the words out, too furious to make a sound.
‘If you really care about Anna you will agree. As you said yourself, Selina, you are no longer a teenager but an experienced woman of the world. You must have had quite a few lovers—some good, some not so good … But you already know we are compatible, and a trip on my yacht will be fun. At least you’ll know what you are getting.’
A few lovers! Fun! The assumptions and the arrogant conceit of the man so enraged Selina she was almost apoplectic.
Grasping his hand at her side, she determined to break free.
Rion had put totally the wrong interpretation on her silence. She opened her mouth to tell him exactly what she thought of his disgusting proposal, but before she could say a word his arm tightened around her ribcage like a band of iron. His thumb scraped over a nipple, the fine fabric of her dress no deterrent to the hardening peak. His mouth captured her parted lips in a seductive kiss, his tongue exploring the moist interior with a subtle eroticism that soon changed into a blazing statement of intent.
Stirred on different levels—excitement, anger—Selina knew she should
resist. But it had been so long since she had been held kissed and caressed by a man … and the fact that it was Rion, her one and only lover, had a catastrophic effect on her self-control.
She trembled, and sensations she had repressed for years cascaded through her body overwhelming her defences. Involuntarily she reached for his broad shoulders and clung to him as the kiss she had thought to resist turned into a passionate seduction of all her senses, and she responded eagerly, matching his passion with her own.
His mouth left hers and she stared up into his dark eyes. She saw smouldering passion overlaid with a hint of male triumph, and the haze of desire slowly faded from her bemused mind. She lowered her head and let her hands fall to her sides. She was reeling with shock, mortified by the force of the emotions he had unleashed in her, and for the first time in years she blushed. She didn’t dare look at him.
His hand twisted in the long length of her hair and tilted her head back so she had no choice but to face him. ‘Ah, Selina, there is no need to blush.’ He pressed a kiss to her brow and brushed her lips with his as his arm fell from her waist. Only his hand in her hair was keeping her captive. ‘In fact I’m amazed you still can blush—and it is good to know the chemistry is as explosive as ever,’ he murmured against her mouth. His lips trailed across her cheek, his breath warm on her ear. ‘Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.’ And, lifting his head, he smiled into her eyes. ‘Agreed, Selina?’ Freeing her hair, he smoothed the curling tendrils over her shoulders
Furious with Rion, but even more furious with her helpless reaction to him, she wanted to slap the triumphant smile off his face. Okay, so he could turn her on with a kiss and a caress, but then Rion was the type of man who could probably turn on any woman from eighteen to eighty. He had certainly had plenty of practice, Selina reasoned.
But to insult her with his crack about blushing, and then in his arrogance ask her to trust him and think she would fall into his arms like a besotted idiot, ready to do his bidding … Well, he had another think coming …
He was in for a rude awakening.
She shoved him hard in the chest and leapt to her feet, fighting to control her breathing and her rage. She gathered her scattered thoughts before turning around to look down at him, lounging back against the bench, watching her with narrowed eyes.
‘In your dreams, maybe—but not mine, Rion. I’m no longer the naive girl you married, and I don’t have to agree with anything you say any more,’ she told him scathingly. ‘If I can’t get the money for Anna it is not the end of the world. I do own the villa, and she can stay in it for the rest of her life. As for the mortgage—I can take care of it and her salary for six months. You may be the trustee of my inherited shares until I am thirty, but you can’t refuse to pay me the dividends every six months—and if you try, I will take you to court. And we both know you would not want that.’
Selina was proud of her spirited response, even if her heart was beating erratically, and she silently congratulated herself on her mature, reasoned reply. So, okay, she had slipped a dig in at the end—call it female vanity—but she saw no harm in reminding the superior swine that he had not always got his own way …
Rion, his mouth tightening, icily furious, looked at Selina, standing a few feet away, her lips swollen from his kiss, her face flushed, but with defiance in her glittering eyes and every line of her sexy body. That the deceitful witch had the audacity to threaten him a second time with court had ignited his temper all over again. Yet he had a sneaky admiration for her nerve. But she was right—there was nothing innocent about her any more, and he had heard more than enough … He stood up.
He had not thought he was a very vengeful man, and he had had no intention of going to Stakis’s funeral. But when Mr Kadiekis had informed him he was still a trustee named in the will and his presence was needed at the reading, which was to take place straight after the funeral as Selina Taylor, the only beneficiary, planned to leave the next day, he had changed his mind.
Learning she had come back to claim her inheritance had reignited a bitter rage in Rion that he had buried for six years. He had never considered contacting Selina, but having her served up on a plate was a different matter. Then, when he’d seen her again last night—a stunningly beautiful woman, sexy as hell, frolicking in the sea and hardly the grief-stricken granddaughter—revenge had sounded better and better.
‘You are either very brave or very stupid, Selina,’ he offered. ‘I let you get away with your slanderous lies last time because it suited me to get a quick divorce, but it won’t work a second time.’
Rion stepped closer and saw her flinch.
‘Sorry to disappoint you, but the Moralis Corporation is family-owned, as I’m sure your grandfather told you. I am the major shareholder, along with Helen and Iris, and you are the fourth and very minor last,’ he said, his derisive tone a deliberate insult. ‘I am in control and there will be no dividends unless I say so. But it was a nice try …’ he drawled mockingly.
‘You can’t do that!’ Selina exclaimed, stunned by his revelation, but watching Rion tower menacingly over her she had a horrible sinking feeling he could. ‘I mean …’
‘I can do what I want, and right now I want you. But my time is limited.’ He tipped up her chin with one long finger, his dark eyes capturing hers. A shiver of fear snaked down her spine—but not enough to quell the lingering heat in her body aroused by his kiss. She shook her head and his finger fell away, but it wasn’t much help to her. He was still too close.
‘There is an American expression: three strikes and you’re out. This afternoon I invited you as a friend to join me on my yacht for two weeks—you look tired, like you could use a break. Then I offered to make a deal that is acceptable to you. Now I am telling you: my yacht is leaving at midnight. Agree to come with me or you are out.’
‘But …’
Wide-eyed and wary, Selina stared at him, her hands curling into fists at her sides, trying to hold herself together while her thoughts were in chaos. The fact that Rion thought she looked a wreck niggled, and didn’t help her confidence. Blinking, she ran her financial status through her mind and realised there was no way she could personally keep Anna—she had other vital commitments …
‘What will I tell Anna? I thought …’
What had she thought? That a man like Orion Moralis would agree out of the goodness of his heart? Hadn’t she learnt years ago he did not have one? Maybe she was still naive—because it had never occurred to her that Rion would withhold the dividends.
‘Agree and we will go and see Anna together. I will back whatever you want to tell her,’ he said, extending a hand to her.