‘I will not tolerate violence, not even from you, Lexi.’ Then his hard mouth crushed down on hers.
Fiercely she pressed her lips together, but the savagery of his kiss was not to be denied. His teeth nipped her bottom lip and her lips parted on a startled gasp of pain. His tongue plunged into her mouth, seeking out the moist dark corners with erotic expertise that took her breath away.
She vowed she would show no response—she hated him, had done for years. His hand slid from her chin to caress her throat and lower, the kiss gentled into an evocative, teasing caress and she felt something inside her leap to instant life as she threw her head back to avoid his kiss! No—to give him better access to the soft skin of her throat. His lips found the vulnerable hollow at the base of her neck, and her pulse-rate leapt alarmingly as her body responded with long-denied passion.
His free hand stroked down and edged inside the soft cotton neckline of her dress, to caress the soft, creamy mound of her breast—she was not wearing a bra—and, as his fingers stroked the burgeoning tips, bringing them to hard aching nubs of desire, she was helpless, drowning in a sea of passion she had thought lost to her forever. She felt the force of his masculine arousal, hard against her stomach, and a low moan escaped her.
‘That’s it, Lexi, let go.’ His throaty voice quivered across the soft curve of her cheek, before his lips once more claimed hers. Fire coursed through her veins, lighting every nerve and sense, until she moved restlessly in an attempt to assuage the desperate hunger consuming her.
She was hardly aware her hands were now free, so lost in her abandoned descent into passion was she, nor that her dress had been slipped down her shoulders. She cried out as his mouth closed over her aching breast to tease the rigid tip with his teeth and tongue, and her own small hand grasped his muscular bicep as he bent her over his arm, his sensuous mouth suckling, grazing, teasing her into insensibility. Her other hand tangled in the thick silk hair of his head, urging him closer.
Then suddenly she was free. Her violet eyes, deep purple with passion, stared up into his darkly flushed face. ‘Jake...?’ she queried, still enslaved by his passionate assault.
Jake straightened, and with insultingly steady hands slipped her dress back up on to her shoulders. His dark eyes seared triumphantly down into hers. ‘Later, Lexi; there’s someone at the door. My luggage I expect.’
Only then did she hear the rat-tat-tat at the door. Her face burned with shame. God! What had she done? Jake had only had to touch her and she had burst into flames...
She was trembling, her legs would barely support her and, taking a few faltering steps, she collapsed on the sofa. She looked across the room as Jake opened the door to admit the young man with his luggage.
‘Put it in the bedroom, please,’ he commanded, and not a flicker of emotion disturbed the even tenor of his voice.
Lexi gazed in something like despair as the bellboy walked straight across the room and through into the bedroom, avoiding looking at her. She had employed the young man herself last year and it hurt to see him ignore her and to see the obvious embarrassment on his face. God, what had she done to deserve this? she wondered helplessly. And, resting her head in her hands, her elbows on her knees, it took every bit of will-power she possessed not to burst into tears. She could feel the moisture pricking at the back of her eyelids; she swallowed hard on the lump that formed in her throat and, slowly lifting her head, she ran her hands through the tumbled mass of her Titian hair, shoving it ruthlessly behind her ears.
She was a two-time loser, she thought bitterly. She hated Jake with a passion that had not dimmed in five long years... Yet her traitorous body still yearned for him. She cursed silently under her breath; how had she allowed the arrogant swine to walk in and walk all over her, yet again? Would she never learn?
Worse, her job was very important to her, but how was she going to be able to keep the respect of her staff after this? Even supposing she could get rid of Jake immediately, already the rumours must be rife. The manager ensconced in her suite with a husband nobody knew she had. It was a mess, a complete and utter disaster...
She felt the brush of a hand across her head, and she jumped in her seat.
‘Take it easy, Lexi; we’ll talk later. First I need to wash and change.’
She didn’t answer, she couldn’t; instead she watched with a kind of detached fascination as Jake strode across in front of her and into the bedroom. She stared at the door long after he had closed it behind him, heard the faint sound of running water, and her mind presented her with a memory of herself and Jake in the shower. She blinked furiously to dispel the image, and gazed around her.
This was her sanctuary: the pleasant lounge tastefully decorated in blue and gold, the ornate antique Italian-style furniture. The
elegant desk, the two soft blue velvet sofas, a hotel suite, but also her home, with her own books on the shelves. She was happy here, and in less than an hour Jake had destroyed her peace, her contentment, her life. It was so unfair, all she wanted was to be free of the man.
Then it hit her: she had nothing to worry about, Jake’s agreement was not necessary; in a few short weeks she could divorce him whether he liked it or not. Firmly, she took herself to task. She had been reacting, not acting, and it had to stop... She would hear Jake out, and then send him off with a flea in his ear. Maybe sexually he still had power over her. Who was she kidding? Never mind maybe, he did: her breasts were still tender from his touch; she ran the tip of her tongue over her swollen lips and the taste of him was still in her mouth. She was like a moth to his flame and always had been...
But she was twenty-five, a mature adult woman; surely she could resist him for the short time he would be here? Or perhaps the lovely Lorraine would appear on the scene and Lexi’s troubles would be over. She sighed. Why hadn’t Jake married Lorraine? When Lexi had settled in Italy and informed her solicitor of her address she had watched the post, expecting any day Jake’s request for a divorce. When it had never arrived she’d worried, but as the months turned to years she had gradually put it out of her mind.
Suddenly it hit her! Jake was a ruthless businessman. He had married Lexi to get his hands on the manor and turn it into a paying venture, but Lorraine had no asset Jake coveted other than her body, and he wouldn’t waste a marriage vow on that.
CHAPTER FOUR
‘YOUR turn for the bathroom.’
Lexi jumped to her feet as Jake walked back into the room, and she had to stifle a gasp at his appearance. His black hair was still wet from the shower and brushed severely back from his broad forehead, giving his ruggedly attractive features a harder, more ruthless definition. He was dressed in a conventional black dinner-suit, the perfectly tailored jacket emphasising the width of his broad shoulders, the white silk shirt contrasting sharply with his sun-bronzed skin. Pleated trousers fitted snugly over his hips. He looked magnificently male yet somehow predatory as he casually strolled across the room and lowered his long length on to the sofa.
He glanced up at Lexi, his dark gaze sliding lazily over her. ‘I’ve been travelling all night and half the day; I’m hungry, so be quick,’ he commanded. ‘And leave your hair loose; I like it that way.’
‘Now wait a minute.’ Lexi finally found her voice, he was not moving in on her and taking over her life, not again...’
‘Really, Lexi, you never used to be so argumentative. Run along and get ready, unless of course you prefer we eat here.’ His hand went to the tie at his neck. ‘It might be more intimate, at that,’ he opined mockingly.
Fuming, Lexi picked up her bag from the sofa and dashed to the safety of the bedroom. She flung her bag on the bed and stopped, her eyes widening in furious amazement. The devil had deliberately laid out a pair of black silk pyjamas on the bed—a blatant statement of intent. Well, she would show him, she vowed, marching across to the bathroom, pulling her dress over her head as she went. Jake might think he had won, but he had a rude awakening coming. She would have dinner with him, and if he refused to see sense about the divorce and go quietly, he could keep the damn suite and she would share with Anna again.
Naked, she stepped into the shower and turned on the tap, telling herself there was no way she was going to jeopardise her chance of a divorce. Another six weeks and Jake could do nothing to stop her, provided they stayed separated...