Nothing Changes Love

‘Right, say what you have to say and leave,’ Lexi demanded, standing rigidly in the middle of the room. Nervously she rubbed her damp palms over her hips. She was no way as in control as she sounded, but Jake couldn’t possibly know that, she reassured herself. He was standing with his back to the door, his dark eyes slow and analytical as he swept her stiff body and back to her face.

‘Sit down, Lexi.’

‘That won’t be necessary; I don’t intend you will be here that long. I am a working girl; I have a busy day tomorrow, and I want to get to bed.’

‘By all means, Lexi; we can talk in bed if that’s what you prefer.’

He sounded amused, damn him. ‘In your dreams, buster,’ she burst out, her temper bubbling over. ‘You have no right to come barging back into my life, telling everyone you’re my husband, completely destroying my credibility with my staff. Just where the hell do you think you get off? I have had just about as much of you as I can stand, and if you don’t leave in the next minute I will call the porter to throw you out. In fact, I can’t understand why I didn’t do it in the first place.’

In two strides Jake was beside her, his large hands closed over her slender shoulders, his fingers biting into the soft flesh. ‘Enough, Lexi, screaming like a fishwife will get us nowhere.’ He was right and, taking a deep breath, she fought down the frisson of awareness his touch aroused, and stepped back. He let her go...

‘Have you finished shouting?’ Jake asked quietly, subjecting her to a slow and intent appraisal that left her feeling wanting.

She had gone over the top a bit, and raising a hand to her brow she smoothed back the tangled strands of her long hair, and swallowed on her anger. ‘Yes,’ she said curtly. She had been finished with Jake long ago and yelling at the man wasn’t going to solve anything. ‘Please tell me what you came for, and go.’

‘Sit down, Lexi.’

She subsided into the nearest chair and watched warily as Jake sat down on the sofa, his long legs stretched out in front of him in negligent ease.

‘Now, isn’t this more civilised, darling?’ he drawled mockingly, while never taking his dark gaze from her flushed face.

‘Get on with it, Jake.’ She was in no mood for polite chit-chat.

‘It’s perfectly simple, Lexi, I told you earlier. I want you back as my wife, reinstated in my bed.’

It took a tremendous strength of will to retain a degree of civility, but somehow she managed it. ‘Is that all?’ she quipped lightly while her mind spun on oiled wheels. He was up to something, but what? He had said earlier that he wanted her back, and now he had reiterated the request, yet she knew it wasn’t true. He didn’t love her, never had, and why the thought should bring a flash of pain, she did not question. So what other reason could he possibly have...?

‘I get it!’ Lexi exclaimed. Of course, why hadn’t she thought of it before? She sat back in the chair, a sigh of relief escaping her. It was so obvious; in a flash of blinding clarity she saw it all. Jake was a very wealthy man, and she knew to her cost that he would do anything for money. Divorce must have terrified him, because according to the law his wife could take half of his money half his business. No wonder the swine came hot-foot to Italy.

‘Good, I am pleased. Then let’s get to bed, it’s been a long day,’ Jake drawled facetiously.

‘No, I understand, Jake.’ She bent forward, her elbows on her knees, her serious gaze fixed on his face. ‘You have nothing to worry about; I’ve instructed my lawyer. I don’t want any alimony, not a penny. Your business, your investments, everything is safe. I don’t want it. I’ll sign a contract now, tonight, if you like.’ And for the first time since meeting Jake again his lips parted in a genuine smile, even if it was a little self-satisfied.

There was no returning smile on Jake’s handsome face. Instead his gaze became hooded and he rose to his feet to tower over her. ‘Nice try, Lexi, but it won’t work.’

‘But—’ she flashed him a puzzled look ‘—surely...’ Perhaps he hadn’t understood.

‘You took me for a fool once, but never again. ‘He reached down his strong hands, and grasping her upper arms, he hauled her to her feet, and, tilting her head back with one large hand, his chillingly bleak eyes locked on hers, trapping her in his gaze. ‘You would no more give up a fortune than pigs would fly, and as for signing it away, forget it.’

‘Why, you arrogant...’ Before she could complete the sentence his dark head bent, his mouth covering hers in a harsh, bruising kiss. She twisted her head in a frantic effort to get away, her hand clawed at his shoulder while she kicked out at him with her feet, but with insulting ease Jake ground his mouth down on hers, the relentless pressure forcing her lips apart.

There was nothing she could do to prevent his plundering invasion, and to her horror she felt the betraying curl of desire ignite in her stomach. In a desperate effort to get him to desist she lifted her hand to his face and scratched the hard jawline.

Jake jerked his head back, and his dark eyes flared with inimical rage. ‘You shouldn’t have done that, Lexi,’ he said with icy menace. He shifted his weight, trapping her helplessly against him; she tried to strike out at him, but with consummate ease he trapped both her hands in one of his between their two bodies.

Lexi’s eyes widened to their fullest extent as she recognised the intention in Jake’s black gaze. ‘No, Jake.’ She was powerless, held hard against him; she could feel the heat of his body through the fine fabric of her clothes, and to her horror she could feel his masculine arousal. Then she had no more chance to think, as his mouth once more took hers in a kiss that went on and on, becoming a ravaging, passionate possession that violated all her senses but paradoxically set her body on fire. She wanted to cry, ‘Stop!’ in shame and disgust, but instead her body softened, moving of its own volition to accommodate Jake’s hard length.

She trembled uncontrollably as she felt his strong hand slide insolently over her shoulder and down into the open neck of her shirt. With a savage wrench, her blouse was open to her waist and his hand cupped the fullness of her breast. In seconds the bra was pushed from her breasts and his long fingers dragged tantalisingly over one rigid nipple; catching the aching peak, he nipped it between his finger and thumb as his mouth slid down to her throat, closing over the madly beating pulse in a wild lover’s bite that took her breath away. She whimpered, a fierce pleasure, almost pain, burning through every nerve in her body, her stomach clenched in heated excitement. She was lost, a fierce primeval need sending the blood surging through her veins like molten fire.

Incredibly, it was over. Jake, with a muffled curse, shoved her away from him, and she fell in a crumpled heap on to the sofa behind her. For a moment she did not know what had happened; one second they had been clawing at each other in desperate sexual need and now she was collapsed on the sofa, his tall dark form towering over her. Lexi did not dare look at him. The traitorous response of her body filled her with bitter humiliation. She hated him, even as she still ached for his touch. But even worse was the knowledge that Jake must know her body had betrayed her.

‘Cover yourself, woman,’ Jake snarled contemptuously. ‘You disgust me, and, God knows, I disgust myself.’

His words killed all trace of desire in her trembling body in an instant. An icy chill shivered along her skin and, struggling, she adjusted her tattered clothes. So, she disgusted him... Why did the words hurt? she wondered bleakly.

‘I won’t take you tonight.’ Her head shot up at his words; he was standing about a foot away, his dark eyes glittering with an unholy light, his face flushed with the force of his rage, and the marks of her nails carved his jaw. Her gaze dropped to his strong hands curled into fists at his thighs, as if it was the only way he could stop himself lashing out at her.

‘Chance would be a fine thing.’ She tried to sneer. He hated her...it was there in every taut line of his large body, in the black depths of his eyes, and the cruel twist of his hard mouth. She could almost taste the hatred, an evil aura in the air.