Nothing Changes Love

by Jacqueline Baird

  The horrible truth was she did want him. Held close against him, she could feel his rising awareness taut against her belly. But the mention of last night reminded her of her humiliation. She had come apart in his arms, only to hear him say she disgusted him... She strained away from him but the action pulled her shirt taut across her firm breasts, without giving her the freedom she wanted. She could feel her pulse beat faster, the blood flowing thickly through her veins. She tilted her head back to look up into his darkly brooding face. ‘I disgust you. You told me so. Why the change?’ she queried, fighting to still the tremors curling her insides.

  ‘I wasn’t telling the whole truth; your mercenary nature I can do without,’ he said with casual insolence as his indigo eyes slid from her upturned face to her breasts. ‘But your body I want.’

  She saw the darkening gleam in his gaze, and felt the subtle increase of pressure in his thighs. ‘Well, I don’t want you,’ she croaked, her throat closing on the lie.

  ‘Liar, you don’t mean that.’ And, holding her fast, he lifted his free hand to the buttons of her blouse and slowly unfastened them one by one, adding silkily, ‘But perhaps you need me to convince you...’

  Her violet eyes were trapped by the sensuous deepening gleam in Jake’s, she knew she should stop him, but was paralysed by the hypnotic magnetism of the man. She felt boneless in the circle of his arm, her senses coming alive with every touch, every brush of his hard body.

  His fingers quickly dealt with the front fastening of her bra, and her lush breasts broke free from their confinement as if leaping for his touch. ‘You have developed into a very luscious lady, Lexi.’

  She breathed a jagged breath, and tried again to push at his broad chest. ‘Wasn’t Lorraine enough for you this mor—?’ she tried to strike back, but his strong hand closed over one naked breast, cupping the fullness, and words failed her.

  ‘Forget about Lorraine; we have an agreement, you and I. Fidelity for the duration,’ he drawled huskily as his thumb delicately grazed over the soft pink tip. ‘And it won’t be any hardship for either of us, if this is anything to go by, my darling wife.’

  Lexi shuddered. He was seducing her with words and actions, and she had no defence against him.

  ‘Look, Lexi, you do want me. See how this tempting pink bud aches for my touch,’ his deep voice murmured sexily, as his fingers teased the rosy nub into pulsating rigidity.

  She closed her eyes in shame, unable to bear the humiliation of knowing she had no control over her own body, as arrows of heat darted from her breast to her groin. She knew she should protest, but instead a soft moan escaped her.

  ‘Don’t close your eyes, Lexi. Look at me,’ Jake commanded, his fingers nipping on the rigid tip of her breast.

  She opened her eyes as liquid fire swirled through her, and glanced down. She saw his long, tanned fingers contrasting sharply with her soft, pale flesh, caressing, cajoling. It was madness, she hated Jake for what he had done to her, but it was a madness she could not resist. It had been too long...

  ‘Tell me what you want, Lexi.’ His hand stroked softly to the valley between her breasts then gently cupped the other one in his large palm, his forefinger tracing circles on her hardening flesh, but stopping well short of the hungry peak. ‘Is this one feeling left out?’ he teased sensuously as his dark head bent lower and his mouth closed over hers in the lightest brush of a kiss.

  ‘Ask me nicely, Lexi, and I’ll ease the ache for you...’ he murmured, smiling wickedly as he watched her body arch instinctively towards him in helpless response.

  Then his mouth once more closed over hers, his tongue slipping between her softly parted lips, and desire as sharp and piercing as a knife sliced through her. Her tongue touched his in thrusting response. She moaned as his fingers finally captured the taut nipple, tugging, rolling her between his sensitive fingertips; she raked her hands down his broad back, her lower body moving into him, pressing against him in a urgent need.

  Jake raised his head, his dark eyes glittering triumphantly down into hers. ‘You want me,’ he grated ‘Your body doesn’t lie.’ And his dark head swooped down to her aching breast and, as one hand caressed and teased her aching flesh, his mouth curved over its partner, nibbling, kissing then suckling long and slow until she thought she would go mad with pleasure.

  ‘You’re so responsive there, so ready for my mouth,’ he rasped throatily as his dark head moved to her other breast. ‘But we must make them both the same,’ he chuckled, his mouth replacing his fingers, as he treated the rigid nipple to the same ecstasy as its partner.

  Hardly aware of what she was doing, Lexi’s hands crept up his spine to the nape of his neck, her fingers tangling in the dark hair of his head, holding him against her. She never noticed as he swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bed, because his mouth covered hers in an all-consuming kiss of passionate intent, his tongue plunging into her mouth, seeking to devour all the hot, sweet taste of her.

  She felt the mattress at her back as Jake eased his mouth from hers, and, sliding on to the bed at her side, he deftly removed her blouse and bra, his hand stroking from her throat, his palm caressing over her full breasts, first one and then the other.

  ‘Jake...’ she murmured his name. Her tongue licking out over her swollen lips, she stared up into his handsome face; his mouth was a taut line in a face flushed dark with desire.

  ‘Yes, Lexi...’ he rasped, one hand sliding her skirt down over her slender hips. ‘I’m going to make it so good for you.’

  Jake’s mouth brushed a soft kiss from the hollow in her throat down the valley of her breast. He lifted his dark head and looked slowly from her beautiful passion-flushed face to the wild mass of red hair spread across the pillow, like molten gold gleaming in the rays of morning sun cutting across the huge bed. His sensuous gaze slowly traced the thrust of her naked breasts, hard and pouting for his touch, the soft curve of her waist and gentle flare of her hips. His hand slid beneath the fine lace of her briefs and eased them down her shapely legs.

  Lexi shivered uncontrollably, aching to feel his naked flesh. Her rational mind knew he was deliberately seducing her in broad daylight, but it had been so long... She reached up to his chest, her fingers fumbling with the fastening of his shirt.

  ‘Let me,’ Jake grated and, pushing her hands away, quickly shrugged out of his clothes.

  Lexi’s violet eyes skimmed his golden body, gloriously naked stretched alongside her, the dark swirls of chest hair arrowing down past his flat stomach, the curve of his buttock, the long, muscular legs. Five years had only enhanced his male perfection, she thought wonderingly. She reached her small hands up to his chest, her slender fingers weaving in his body hair, finding the hard male nipples. She smiled, a slow, sensual curve of her mouth, as she tweaked the rigid little nubs.

  Jake groaned deep in his throat and pushed her hands away yet again. Leaning over her, he spread her arms either side of her head, and his dark eyes burned down into hers—passion, desire, she saw them all, and something else besides that slowed her rapidly beating heart.

  ‘I’ve waited five long years for this moment,’ he growled huskily.

  He was lying; five years ago he hadn’t wanted her, couldn’t get rid of her fast enough. The errant thought flickered in Lexi’s head, but vanished as his lips brushed against her brow in the lightest caress.

  ‘I’ve dreamed of having your exquisite body pinned beneath me, of making you cry out my name once more, begging me to take you, and I will not be hurried, my darling Lexi.’

  The drawled endearment should have enthralled her, but instead a quiver of fear pierced the sensual haze swamping her mind. Jake flung one long leg over her trembling limbs, holding her fast, his soft body hair, the hard heat of his arousal pushed against her thigh and she half closed her eyes, fear forgotten, at the lightning speed at which her body shook with want and need. Through the thick fringe of her lashes she saw Jake’s harsh face lower to within inches of her own. Her lips
parted for his kiss.

  ‘I am going to make love to you—’ his lips moved against her mouth and away again ‘—until every other man who ever had you is banished from your mind. Until the only name you ever cry is mine. My magnificent, mercenary little wife.’

  ‘Mercenary...?’ she murmured. He had called her that before...

  ‘That and more, but I can forget it all when I have sated myself in you.’

  Lexi’s eyes widened to their fullest extent as she gazed up into his taut features and she trembled at what she saw there, in the stark, bright morning light. It wasn’t love, not even lust, but something more sinister...

  Dazed with passion, she tried to think. Mercenary...he kept harping on that and yet she had never taken a penny from him. Then, with a flash of insight, she remembered their parting in London; she had pretended, to save her pride in the face of his infidelity, that she would rather have half his wealth than him. She smiled, and opened her mouth to reassure him.

  ‘Jake...’ She stopped herself just in time. If she explained why she had acted mercenary, he would realise just how much he had hurt her, how much she had loved him! It was the last coherent thought she had for a long time...

  ‘Yes, Lexi; I know.’ And releasing her hands, he stroked the length of her arms, the curve of her breast and her flat stomach; his strong hands curved over her hips, his long fingers trailing towards her inner thighs, but not lingering as they stroked right down to her feet and back up again.

  Her heartbeat accelerated like a rocket. She felt how a cat must feel being stroked; she wanted to purr, and rub herself against the source of the pleasure. She clasped her hands around his broad shoulders, her body arching, writhing against his in wanton invitation.

  ‘Easy,’ Jake said, his voice ragged. He looked down at her sensuously flushed face, the softly parted lips. ‘I’ll give you what you want.’ His dark head lowered and he was kissing her swiftly, repeatedly, on her mouth, her eyes, the slender line of her throat. ‘I’m glad you haven’t lost all modesty,’ Jake murmured lifting his head. His dark eyes gleamed down into hers. ‘There are a few interesting white triangles here.’ One long finger traced the soft curve of her breast. ‘A mathematician could have a field-day working out the angles,’ he husked as he bent his head, his tongue tracing the slight outline in her flesh where her bikini top had left its mark, then, cutting across, his tongue laved the burgeoning tips of her breasts.

  Lexi moaned her need, her mouth sought him, she kissed the back of his hand, biting on his forearm that lay across her breast-bone, holding her down. The taste of him was in her mouth, the male scent of him filled her nostrils; she was lost in a sea of tempestuous emotions she had thought never to experience again. Her hands grasped his hard flesh, clinging to his broad shoulders; her nails dug into his satin-smooth skin as he licked and kissed his way down her body.

  She was aflame; everywhere he touched was transformed into million points of pleasure. His long fingers found the third curling red triangle, and she cried out his name, ‘Jake...’

  He looked into her face as one strong hand gently urged her legs apart, opening her to his final possession, while his fingers stroked erotically. She watched his eyes darken to black pools, and he was shaking with the same wild desire that consumed her.

  It was as if her body had been in prison for five years and was suddenly given its freedom. She was free to experience everything, to relish once more Jake claiming her, but he didn’t. His dark head bent and she quivered from head to toe as his touch, his tongue, became so intimate she thought she would die. She felt the tremors start in the heart of her womb, the tendrils reaching in ever widening circles.

  Jake slid up her body, his mouth finding hers, his teeth and tongue biting and tasting her full pouting lips. ‘You’re hot, so hot,’ he murmured, as his hand slid between her thighs, tangling in the soft, red curls and finding the soft, feminine folds again.

  She trembled wildly on the brink while Jake looked down at her, his smile a mixture of savage triumph and fiercely held control.

  ‘Tell me what you want, Lexi.’ His fingers stroked.

  She reached for him, needing his weight, his body over her, in her, as red-hot need scorched her innermost being.

  ‘Say it, Lexi,’ he growled, his deep voice shaking as he lifted himself into the cradle of her thighs.

  He wanted it all; Jake wanted her to beg. She hated him, but desire overwhelmed her. The brush of the hard hot length of him against her was too much. ‘Jake, I want you.’ Her voice broke as her love-starved body quivered like a bow. She arched up to him, her shapely legs curving around his thighs. ‘Please, Jake...’

  Jake rubbed against her again but stopped just at the edge of taking her. ‘You do it, Lexi. Convince me, lover...’

  Her deep purple eyes clashed with Jake’s. His skin was pulled taut over his high cheekbones; his dark eyes glittered with a violent light as he fought to control his own need. He brushed lightly against her once more, teasing, almost penetrating and with a sigh of surrender she gave him the triumph he demanded. Her hand slid eagerly between their sweat-slicked bodies, her fingers crawling over his flat belly and lower, finding the satin-sheathed steel of him. He jerked reflexively, and there was no need for guidance as he drove deeply into her.

  Lexi’s hands curved around his back, clinging as he drove deep and deeper; their bodies, hot, wet and wanting, moved in frenzied rhythm. Lexi felt the widening circles flinging her out into infinity, breaking in wave after wave of tumultuous relief. She sobbed his name, then his mouth ground down on hers, as, with one final thrust of body and tongue, Jake shuddered over the edge into oblivion with her.

  ‘I’m too heavy for you,’ Jake’s rasping voice declared prosaically, and, rolling off her, he lay flat on his back, an arm flung across his eyes, as if shutting out the light.

  Lexi glanced at him, his great chest heaving in the aftermath of passion, but the space he had put between them was more eloquent than words. ‘Jake?’ she queried, reaching out to him.

  ‘No inquest, Lexi. You enjoyed it as much as me,’ he drawled callously, not even bothering to look at her.

  She briefly closed her eyes against the shame while admitting that Jake was right as usual. They had made love countless times in the past; it was nothing new, she told herself. But never had she felt so totally possessed. She tried to convince herself it was just good sex. She was more mature and could accept it as such, after all, he was her husband! Why not? That excuse was the most pathetic of all, and she knew it.

  Jake sat up, and, glancing sideways at her naked sprawled body, his gaze finally rested on her face. ‘You wanted me, Lexi! Thanks! You convinced me most satisfactorily.’ His lips quirked in a mocking smile. ‘I think we will get along just fine.’ And, swinging his long legs off the bed, totally happy with his nudity, he walked around the room collecting his clothes.

  Lexi flinched as though he had struck her, unable to respond. Five years’ abstinence had been ended by Jake’s sophisticated expertise in the art of making love. He had done it quite deliberately, reduced her to a mindless wanton in his arms. Before, she had believed Jake’s lovemaking was the ultimate expression of his love for her, until she had caught him with Lorraine... Now he had demonstrated graphically that his lovemaking had nothing whatsoever to do with love, but everything to do with possession, ownership. Jake decided he wanted her back, for whatever devious reason, and dismissed the past five years of her life as though they had never existed. Bed the woman! Back to the status quo! Reconciled! Jake was right, she had wanted him, but now, looking at him strolling around the bedroom all arrogant, smug, self-satisfied male, she wished she’d castrated the swine.

  ‘I need a shower, and then I have some work to take care of in the study.’ Jake stopped with his hand on the bathroom door and glanced to where she lay as he had left her, naked on the bed.

  Lexi met his gaze. ‘I really do hate you,’ she said bleakly, and she hated herself, she recognised sa
dly. The bright morning sun filled the room, exposing every minute detail; it was barely noon and she had... She couldn’t bear to think of it! Grabbing the edge of the lace bedspread, she pulled it up over her naked body.

  ‘Bit late for that, sweetheart, I’ve seen it all and more.’ His masculine chuckle only added to her humiliation. ‘I can have you any time I want and after this morning’s little romp we both know it.’

  His arrogant assumption was all it took to ignite Lexi’s anger and, hauling herself upright on the bed with the cover firmly clasped above her breast, she recalled his words of the previous night. ‘So much for waiting to make sure any offspring were definitely yours,’ she lashed back defiantly.

  For a moment she watched his eyes narrow assessingly on her small face, and then a cynical smile twisted his firm mouth. ‘I don’t need to, Lexi; your boyfriend was most forthcoming this morning. You forget, I speak Italian.’

  She groaned inwardly as she realised Jake must have understood every word of Dante’s angry speech earlier. Jake knew Dante had never been her lover. But still, she snapped back mutinously, ‘You don’t know everything.’

  An expression of cold derision tautened his handsome face. ‘I don’t want to; your body in my bed when I say so is enough.’ And opening the bathroom door he added as an afterthought, ‘Your luggage arrived earlier from the hotel. Maria has put it in the room next door. Don’t forget, lunch at one on the patio. Maria doesn’t like to be kept waiting.’

  Lexi bent her head, her hands curling into fists. Her fingers bit painfully into her soft palms, but it was nothing to the pain she felt inside. Silently she raged at Jake, at the circumstances that had put her here in his bed, and most of all at herself. You’re a fool, a weak-willed sex-starved idiot! she told herself bitterly, and, worse, she had the sinking feeling she had let herself in for a world, possibly a lifetime, of pain.

  Abruptly rolling off the bed, Lexi stood up, letting the coverlet fall back behind her; action might dispel her unwelcome thoughts. Quickly she searched for her clothes and, picking them up, she slipped on her briefs then winced as she fastened her bra; her breasts were still tender from Jake’s ministrations.