Marriage Without Love & More Than a Convenient Marriage?

When she reached them the brunette’s smile was smug. ‘I nearly fell over and Kieron had to rescue me. Which he did most gallantly,’ she added, kissing Kieron lingeringly on the mouth.

Something exploded inside Briony. She had nearly been crushed to death by the crowds, but all that Kieron had been concerned about was rescuing Louise from ‘nearly falling’.

‘It’s stuffy in here,’ she said coldly. ‘I’m going to get some fresh air. I’ll meet you by the car when you’re ready to leave, Kieron.’

She hurried out before either of them could speak. Let Kieron have Louise if that was what he wanted. She didn’t care. Let them dance together and make love together. Let them.…She dashed away

the angry tears with the back of her hand, stumbling out into the fresh air and heading instinctively for the sea. She had just crossed the road when Kieron’s fingers clamped on her arm.

‘What the hell was all that about?’ he demanded savagely. ‘You little fool, you didn’t even look when you crossed the road back there!’

‘Perhaps I’m tired of looking,’ Briony said fiercely. ‘Especially at you and Louise. Oh, why don’t you go back to her? I’m sure she’s far more satisfactory than I am in every way.’

‘Except that she doesn’t happen to have borne my son,’ Kieron said softly.

‘Which is the only reason that we’re married, and I wish to God you’d remember that and stop tormenting me with this fictitious “lovemaking”. If that’s what you want, get it from Louise—I’m sure she would be more than happy to oblige.’

‘I’m sure she would, but you see I’ve set myself this goal, and I’m not giving up until I reach it.’

They had reached the car, and Kieron unlocked it. Briony climbed in, ignoring him and yanking her seat belt across her body.

The steep road climbed out of the town, the sea left far below. The road was deserted and Kieron stopped the car.

‘What are you doing?’ Briony demanded icily as he reached towards her, but the words were smothered against his jacket, his voice very dry as he murmured enigmatically, ‘Just putting into practice a little theory.’

Her lips parted in anger, trembling as they felt the hard pressure of his, his tongue coaxing them apart so that he could savour the full inner sweetness. Something had happened to her self-control. That scene in the casino had left her vulnerable and unguarded, and she longed to bury her fingers in the thick darkness of his hair and beg him to take her to a place where nothing existed but themselves and no conscience could intrude with unwanted reminders that he didn’t love her.

The kiss deepened and she sighed, suddenly pushing him away as she remembered how he had held Louise.

He let her go and switched on the engine, his face unreadable in the heavy dusk. Was that disappointment shafting through her so fiercely? She refused to think about it. It was degrading to want the lovemaking of a man who was merely slaking a desire—and obviously not a very strong desire at that, or had Louise’s arrival already slaked it?

She was barely aware of the grandeur of their surroundings. They were going back to the villa alone, and now, when it was too late, she regretted that they had not waited for the others. Kieron was merely playing with her, she was sure of that, but might he not make good his earlier threats anyway, merely as a form of punishment for her defiance. Last night after their lovemaking she had drifted immediately into relaxing sleep, but tonight, lying by his side, aware of him in every nerve, would she be able to do the same?

CHAPTER NINE

WHEN they went into the villa the telephone was ringing. Kieron picked it up and from the brief conversation Briony deduced that Louise was on the other end of the line. This was confirmed when Kieron hung up.

‘Louise wants me to go and pick her up,’ he said tersely. ‘I shouldn’t be long.’

Briony shrugged, hoping he wouldn’t see the jealousy she felt. ‘Take as long as you like, I don’t care.’

She heard the car drive away when she was in the bedroom, and only then would she admit how much she had hoped he would refuse to go, and yet if he had they would have been alone together in these impossibly romantic surroundings. She stayed by the window for a long time staring out into the velvet darkness of the night, and then Nicky murmured something in his sleep, reminding her of exactly why she was here as Kieron’s wife.

It was late when she heard him come in. She pulled the covers up round her head, forcing herself to breathe as though she actually were asleep, drawing herself as far away from Kieron’s side of the bed as possible.

She heard him moving about the bedroom, whistling slightly under his breath, her ears stretched for every single sound. It seemed an eternity before the shower was turned off and he re-emerged into the bedroom, and then the covers were twitched back, the bed depressing as he got in. She longed to turn her head and see what he was doing, but if she did he would know that she wasn’t asleep. Her throat ached with tension and as he turned over, brushing against her back she stiffened slightly, trying not to tremble.

If it hadn’t been for Marian, of whom he was so fond and whom he wouldn’t want to shock or hurt, would he have been sharing Louise’s bed tonight?

He moved again and she froze, her eyes opening wide with shock as he mocked softly, ‘Goodnight, Briony—sweet dreams.’

He had known all along that she wasn’t asleep! Her fingers curled into two small impotent fists. Why had he let her go on pretending like that, making a fool of herself, when all the time.…Her angry thoughts chased this way and that as she dwelt on various means of exacting revenge, until she realised from the deep, even breathing at her side that Kieron had bested her yet again, and was fast asleep while she was forced to lie wide awake at his side, tormented by visions of him with Louise held tightly in his arms. No doubt if he had been sharing a bed with her they wouldn’t have been sleeping with half the width of it between them.

She woke during the false dawn, wrapped in a delicious warmth, a sound like the sea in a shell pounding comfortingly against her ear, and as she wriggled languorously it was several seconds before she realised that the sound was Kieron’s heartbeat and that some time during the night she must have turned towards him and crept into the warmth of the arms that were closed tightly around her, one lean hand possessively cupping her breast. Kieron was fast asleep, dark stubble shadowing his jaw. Briony tried to move away, but his arms tightened at once, and terrified that he might wake up and find out what she had done, Briony forced herself to relax, unaware of the faint smile flickering across Kieron’s mouth as she drifted back to sleep.

The next time she awoke, it was to the piercing sound of Nicky calling her name. She opened her eyes drowsily and saw that the little boy was sitting on the bed next to her, his eyes reproachful.

‘I thought you was never going to wake up. My daddy’s going to teach me to swim, and I want my breakfast.’