Lynne Graham's Brides of L'Amour Bundle

‘Not an affliction likely to attack you, is it?’ Hilary slashed back at him shakily. ‘I’m not ashamed of my emotions.’

‘I am not asking you to be ashamed, merely to keep them in check,’ Roel decreed with immoveable cool.

But Hilary was finding it quite impossible to control the number of powerful emotions swilling about inside her. ‘I loved my parents very much and I still miss them terribly. They taught me to think the best of everybody and even though I soon learned that the world isn’t always that nice a place—’

‘Who taught you that lesson?’

‘My father’s cousin, Mandy. The minute she knew our parents were dead she went into action. She convinced Social Services that she was a fit and proper person to take responsibility for raising Emma. I was considered too young and I was terrified that my sister and I would be parted. Mandy moved us all into a big rented house…’ Hilary recalled painfully.

‘And?’ Roel prompted.

‘Mandy and her boyfriend then fleeced us out of every penny they could lay their hands on. She got control of the money my parents had left. There wasn’t a lot but there would’ve been enough to keep Emma and I comfortable for a few years. When there was nothing more left to steal or sell, she just walked out one day and never came back.’

‘I assume you called in the police. Misuse of funds in a situation of that nature is a crime.’

‘The money was gone and nothing was going to bring it back. I had more important things to worry about—like finding somewhere cheaper to live and looking after my sister,’ Hilary countered defensively.

In an unexpected gesture of sympathy, Roel closed his hand over her clenched fingers. ‘You trusted Mandy because she was related to you. Her betrayal must have come as a considerable shock.’

‘Yeah…’ She was dismayed to realise that, far from receding, that dangerous and unfamiliar urge to burst into floods of tears was merely growing stronger.

‘When I had amnesia, I had no choice but to trust you,’ Roel murmured with husky bite, dark golden eyes resting on her with punitive force. ‘I believed you were my wife—’

Hilary yanked her hand free of his grip with positive violence. ‘You don’t need to say any more…I’ve got the message. But all I did was try and act like your wife. I did not go to bed with you with any ulterior motive, nor do I have any intention of trying to make money out of our marriage!’

‘Only time will prove the truth of that claim.’

‘Look, what’s your problem? You’re an incredibly good-looking, sexy bloke yet you seem to find it impossible to accept that any woman could want you just for yourself!’ Hilary slammed back at him chokily.

‘Or for my body,’ Roel countered in a tone smoother than silk.

With a suddenness that shook her, Hilary lost her head in an explosion of rage she could not control. ‘You see, that’s just one of those things I can’t stand about you. You always have to have the last word and it’s always a smart-ass remark. You’re so convinced that you never do anything wrong that you blame me for everything. If the sky fell down on us right this minute, you’d say it was my fault!’

‘Sì…’ Roel responded, impervious to attack, a bright glitter in his intent scrutiny. ‘Screaming has been known to cause avalanches.’

Hilary breathed in so deep in an effort to restrain herself that she was honestly afraid she might burst. But she was seeing his extravagantly handsome features through a mist of red. In that brief interim in hostilities, the chauffeur swept open the door.

‘I just want you to know that I hate you!’ Hilary was reduced to hissing shrewishly at him as he settled into the seat beside hers on the helicopter.

He meshed long brown fingers into her hair and held her still for the descending force of his mouth. She fell into that kiss much as if she had charged full tilt off a precipice. Down and down and down she went into the hot, wild, honeyed excitement of it. The stinging electrical charge of his seething sensuality took her prisoner and she revelled in every moment of his unleashed passion.

He drew back an inch, fierce golden eyes blazing over her. ‘We’ll stay only forty minutes at the party.’

She was out of breath and stunned by the frightening intensity of her own emotions. She saw inside herself, understood why she had been fighting with him and struggling to hold him at a distance. He had so much power to hurt her and hurt her he would while she still loved him. ‘Roel…’

‘You make me burn for you…I barely slept a night through while you were in London. But now you’re mine again and you will stay mine until I decide otherwise, bella mia.’

The helicopter delivered them to a huge, opulent yacht where they were greeted by their hosts like visiting royalty. Hilary was in a daze. All she was really conscious of was Roel, his big powerful frame taut and restless by her side, the possessive masculine arm anchored to her spine. Good manners took him from her when his host urged him over to meet an old friend.

Hilary clutched her untouched glass of wine. The music and the chattering voices seemed to be crowding in on her. Her hostess introduced a constant procession of strange faces to her. The bright dresses of the women and the glitter of their fabulous jewellery blurred in her gaze and she blinked. The slight motion of the yacht beneath her did not help. Clammy heat assailed her and she felt horribly sick and dizzy. Even as she turned in desperation to look for a seat it was too late and she slid down on the deck in a dead faint.

When she recovered consciousness, Roel was staring down at her with cloaked dark eyes. ‘Take it easy, cara. I’m taking you home.’

Lashes fluttering down again, she offered up a silent prayer that the nausea would evaporate. He lifted her up into his arms, exchanged a brief dialogue with their concerned hosts and carried her back up to the upper deck to board the helicopter again.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more immediate or magical performance,’ Roel informed her with mocking appreciation once the craft was airborne.

Belatedly she recalled his assertion that he was prepared to spend less than an hour at the party and only then appreciated that he honestly believed she had staged a fake collapse to please him and achieve an even earlier departure. The wheels and dips of the flight did nothing to settle her uneasy tummy and conversation was beyond her. At the back of her mind lurked worrying questions that increased her tension. Why had she fainted? She had never fainted in her life before, but she remembered Pippa telling her that dizzy spells were common in early pregnancy.