‘You don’t mean that,’ he growled, pulling her hard against him once more. His mouth swooped on hers with savage anger. She twisted her head—anything to avoid his kiss. But one hand tangled in her hair, as his arm curved around her waist, clamping her firmly to his long body. She tried to wriggle free as he took her mouth with a ruthless passion that would not be denied.
But, even as she felt insidious warmth building inside her she recognised his strategy and was sickened by it. He was blatantly using his sexual prowess to overcome her. Her eyes clashed with his and she saw the implacable intent in their black depths, and she froze in his arms.
‘No,’ she said flatly, and at her withdrawal Alex lifted his head; what he saw in her face, gave him pause.
‘Your response was a bit lacking in enthusiasm. Does this mean the honeymoon is over?’ he queried cynically.
‘Not just the honeymoon. The marriage as well.’ She ignored the burning pain around her heart. Alex had only been able to deceive her so easily because she had wanted to believe in the myth of love at first sight. She felt him tense, and as his hands fell away from her she was free.
‘Now you’re being ridiculous, Lisa.’ he told her curtly. ‘The little scene with Margot was embarrassing for all concerned, but there is no reason to be so melodramatic. We will probably laugh about it later.’
She looked at him in the harsh glare of the overhead light. He was standing a foot away. His tall body was covered in a burgundy velvet robe, with satin lapels that fell open to reveal his curling chest hair. The belt was tied firmly around his waist but the garment ended a few inches above his knee, exposing a long length of strong tanned leg.
‘You might. I won’t,’ she bit out, refusing to be intimidated by his towering presence. ‘Somehow, finding a woman crawling into my husband’s bed not fifteen minutes after I vacated it does not strike me as a cause for amusement.’ Turning her back on him, she walked across the room towards the sofa. She couldn’t bear to look at him.
‘Wait just a minute.’ A strong hand wrapped around her arm and stopped her in her tracks. She glanced up at him. He looked dark and dangerous and for a second a shiver of apprehension slithered down her spine. ‘Don’t you think you’re overreacting? It was hardly my fault the woman called here.’
‘Hardly your fault?’ Lisa almost choked at the gall of the man. She was bitterly angry, angrier than she had been when she had overheard his conversation with Nigel. To be betrayed once was bad enough, but twice in one night! ‘Oh, please! Spare me the excuses.’
Alex was silent for a long moment, watching her with narrowed eyes. ‘I do not make excuses to anyone.’ She saw his face harden ‘And certainly not to my wife who, only a few short hours ago, could not keep her hands off me.’
Trust him to remind her. ‘But then I didn’t expect a few hours later to see another woman crawling into your bed,’ she returned with icy sarcasm.
‘If you had stayed in our bed, it would never have happened. I’d like an explanation.’
‘You want an explanation? That’s rich,’ Lisa said hotly, backing away a few paces, but Alex followed, until her back came into contact with the wall. ‘Especially coming from a man like you.’
‘So, humour me, wife,’ he drawled tightly, his eyes burning on her. ‘Because I have had just about enough for one night.’
She debated telling him to drop dead, but quickly dismissed the notion. He was standing looking down on her, his hands placed on the wall behind her, his body effectively trapping her. His black eyes leapt with anger, and she realised he was in a towering rage. Probably at being caught out, but she had no intention of testing him. She was hanging on to her sanity by a thread. She simply wanted him to leave her alone.
‘I got up to make a cup of hot chocolate. I was in the kitchen; I heard the sound of the door, and thought it was a burglar. I picked up a pan to challenge the intruder with, and crept to the hall door.’ Her eyes flashed with renewed rage as she added, ‘But lo and behold, it was a lady.’
‘Why didn’t you yell for me, or stop her?’ Alex demanded. ‘Surely those were the obvious things to do.’
‘Because I heard her speak.’ And in an exaggerated voice Lisa continued, “‘Alex, darling. Sorry I’m so late, and you’re all on your ownsome.”’ Her eyes hated him as she rashly held his gaze. ‘The lady could not have known you were going to be alone tonight unless you’d told her. My surprise arrival really upset your plan, didn’t it?’ She snorted her disgust. ‘Now get out of my way.’
‘For a girl who avowed her undying love not a month ago, you certainly have a fine opinion of me,’ Alex drawled sardonically. ‘Do you really think I asked Margot to come here?’
‘Who else?’ She raised one perfectly arched brow in query.
‘I don’t usually explain my actions to anyone, but in this case I will make an exception.’ She looked at him, and for the briefest of moments he looked away as he hesitated. Lisa did not need to hear any more. She knew him for the liar he was.
‘It doesn’t matter.’ Bone weary and sick at heart, she had neither the will nor the energy to fight with him.
‘But it does.’ He lifted his hand and cupped her chin before she could turn away, his breath warm against her skin, his dark eyes holding hers in fierce purpose. ‘Margot was at a nightclub and spoke to a man I’d had a meeting with today. I had mentioned I was staying in town tonight and that he could call me here with some information I required. Obviously in the course of his conversation with Margot he must have let slip the fact. As for her having the key to the apartment—it is true we did have an affair, but I broke it off before I met you.’
‘Your poor girlfriend didn’t seem to think so,’ Lisa said scathingly.
‘Don’t waste your pity on Margot; she was under no illusion about our relationship. It was never going anywhere; it simply mutually benefited both parties.’
‘If you say so,’ she responded grimly. ‘But, actually, I don’t really care.’ And at that moment she didn’t; she had taken too many shocks for one night, and simply wanted to be left alone.
‘That’s the whole trouble, you don’t care,’ Alex suddenly erupted, swinging away from her and marching across the room, and then turning back to face her. ‘That’s what this is all about. Any wife worth her salt would never have allowed another woman to climb into her husband’s bed in the middle of the night.’ A feral smile curved his lips. ‘I am damned sure I would not stand by and let a man walk into your bed.’
She didn’t doubt him for a moment. ‘But then, as you and I both know, unlike you, I have never invited any man into my bed,’ Lisa shot back.
‘I’m thirty-five. Few men my age have led a celibate life,’ Alex opined with a shrug of his broad shoulders. ‘Margot meant nothing to me, though I will admit she should never have got in here tonight. I have spoken to Security, but unfortunately the man on duty this evening has just returned from a rather long absence from work because of ill health. The man knew Margot, and was not aware I had since married. A mistake he will not make again,’ he declared. ‘I will not tolerate anyone who harms you, directly or indirectly.’