by Lynne Graham
‘Close your eyes,’ Nik instructed her huskily.
The sun was a warm caress on her face and another smile curved her generous mouth as he lifted her hand.
‘You can look now,’ he told her.
Feeling his tension, she gazed down in lively surprise at the ring that now adorned her wedding finger, and the diamond so dazzling it made her blink.
‘It’s an engagement ring…a proper one.’
‘Oh…’ Her throat convulsed, her eyes misted over. Once she had been a dreaming teenager who made a naïve romantic statement out of the prosaic presentation of a family ring and lived to learn her mistake. For that reason the significance of Nik’s gift of a ring touched her to the heart, for it had been chosen especially for her and it was being given with sincerity.
‘I had it engraved with our names…and the date our marriage was blessed,’ Nik imparted.
‘It’s amazing…’
‘Let it mark our new beginning.’
She gazed up at his lean, dark, angular face, as always arrestingly aware of the strong, classic planes and hollows of his fabulous bone structure. He was so incredibly handsome but even while she fought the breathless sensation he always induced she felt moved to say gently, ‘You can’t rewrite the past-’
‘But we don’t need to go there,’ Nik incised in the same authoritative tone that he might have employed to teach a stubborn child a safety lesson. ‘You’re my wife now in every sense of the word, thespinis mou.’
Her tummy muscles tightened at the mere vibration of his rich, dark drawl and his words released a shocking tide of intimate memory. In every sense, she conceded, her mouth running dry as she acknowledged the extent of his power over her. Hot-blooded, passionate and unashamedly masculine as he was, Nik had broken down her every barrier and taught her to crave him like a drug. And in his strength was a hard core of bone-deep arrogance and obstinacy. Even as his intense charisma held her fast, she knew that he believed that he could rewrite history.
His brilliant gaze fully trained on her, Nik scored a provocative fingertip gently across her lush pink lower lip. ‘And you’re happy, aren’t you?’
‘Yes…’ The sensual spell he cast made her downright dizzy with longing.
‘The past…what came before doesn’t count now, thespinis mou,’ Nik drawled with immense satisfaction.
Her mobile phone buzzed and she tore her gaze from his to dig into her bag. It was Leo. ‘I’ve got the job…I’ve finally got a permanent job instead of a temporary contract!’
Prudence grinned. ‘Congratulations. I told you that you could do it. When will you be starting at the new school?’
‘Next month. When are you coming home?’
‘Tomorrow.’
‘I’m going to ask Stella to help me find somewhere to live in London.’
‘That’s a good idea.’
‘I’ll be able to see a lot more of Stella and the kids when I move to the city,’ Leo pronounced with satisfaction.
Prudence almost suggested that he try to find out how Stella would feel about that before he made assumptions, but decided that it would be wiser to mind her own business. Tucking her phone back in her bag, Prudence noticed that Nik’s dark gaze was resting on her. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘We’re running late for lunch at the Donnington’s.’
‘Oh, dear, my fault…I took ages getting dressed!’
‘No problem,’ Nik murmured in his dark, silken drawl. ‘Where’s Leo’s new school?’
‘London.’
Nik resisted the urge to comment on how convenient London was for Oakmere Abbey. After all, he knew that Leo was just a friend, a rather needy character, who discussed his every move in life with Prudence. Nik had decided that Leo was a wimp, whom his wife mothered. A baby would knock Leo’s current appeal stone dead, Nik thought cheerfully. Often the best solutions were the most basic and simple to execute…
CHAPTER SEVEN
A LINE OF very expensive vehicles lined the imposing approach to Robert Donnington’s palatial villa outside Florence.
‘I thought this was a casual lunch for just a few people,’ Prudence commented in dismay, horribly conscious that her sun dress could never hope to compete with the apparel of the guests who owned such cars. But she said nothing about the latter; it was hardly Nik’s fault that she had taken the word ‘casual’ too literally.
‘That is how the invitation was presented. But Robert’s daughter, Chantal, likes to party,’ Nik countered with a preoccupied air.
For an inescapable moment, Nik was thinking of the reality that Theo Demakis was currently lining up the big financial guns in an effort to bring him down. Theo had no idea that the marriage he had fostered had finally blossomed. Indeed, Nik had gone to great lengths to keep the fact a secret, because he was determined to keep Theo’s malign influence out of their lives. Even so, Nik was uneasily aware that he should have cut short their honeymoon and returned to London to prepare for the battle ahead. By staying on in Italy, he had left himself more exposed. Robert Donnington would back him. But the shrewd banker had already warned Nik that his sale of his multi-million-pound yacht to speed up the purchase of Oakmere Abbey had been badly timed, since it had dented his impregnable image and revealed a weak flank. Yet, given the chance to go back in time and let Oakmere go, Nik knew he would not have done anything differently; the abbey was Prudence’s dream come true and, like the honeymoon, little enough recompense in his opinion for the disappointments she had endured in the past.
When Chantal Donnington came to greet them, Prudence tensed. She immediately recognised her hostess as one of Nik’s exes. The willowy blonde’s gushing welcome was not matched by the coolness of her green eyes, and with the excuse of taking Nik to join her father in the all-male preserve of the snooker room she divided Nik as cleanly from his wife as a surgeon.
Parked on the grandiose terrace with an alcoholic drink she didn’t want, Prudence felt uncomfortably warm even in the shade. The golden heat of midday was like a blanket. She began to wonder if it was that time of the month-when she would sometimes feel under par-although it seemed like a very long time since she had suffered that particular reminder of her womanhood. She counted back the weeks and conceded that her menstrual cycle seemed to have been upset for some time. Were the birth-control pills the cause? She could not help recalling that her last period had been unusually brief. Was there a chance that the pills might not have done the trick and that she had fallen pregnant? No, that had to be wishful thinking, she scolded herself in exasperation.
Before she could dwell any longer on why she was not feeling her usual energetic and rudely healthy self, Chantal Donnington came over and trilled, ‘Let me introduce you to a couple of guests who are just dying to meet you…’
Prudence’s eyes widened when she saw a leggy dark-haired beauty in an outrageously short skirt approaching her. The brunette was accompanied by a spiky-haired blonde dressed in the sort of clinging white dress that only a very thin woman could aspire to wearing. Unless she was very much mistaken, and Prudence did not think her memory was at fault, she was about to meet another two of Nik’s former lovers. The feminine antagonism in the air made the skin prickle at the nape of her neck.
‘I’m Jenna Marsden,’ the brunette announced tautly.
‘Zoe Amberley,’ the blonde supplied with a challenging smile. ‘You may not be aware of the fact but we all have something in common.’
‘Nik…’ Prudence saw no point in pretending ignorance.
‘Nik Angelis is an extraordinary guy.’ Zoe’s husky voice made a suggestive meal of the statement and Prudence’s tension increased. ‘Quite unforgettable.’
‘Yes, he certainly lives up to his legendary reputation.’ Chantal rested spiteful green eyes on Prudence.
Although colour had blossomed over her cheekbones, Prudence just smiled as though she had the skin of a rhinoceros. ‘Doesn’t he just?’
‘When Chantal mentioned that Nik’s wife woul
d be here today, Zoe and I agreed that we just had to meet you as well,’ Jenna declared in a defensive rush that suggested that she was uncomfortable with the animosity in the air. ‘What’s it like being married to him?’
‘Fabulous.’ Prudence was striving not to feel cowed by the fact that she had three women a foot taller than she was towering over her. Actually, it was their sheer physical beauty rather than their height that intimidated her. Every comparison she had most feared was now in front of her in full daylight and living flesh: women with perfect faces and sleek, stunning bodies without flaw. No ordinary woman could bear such a cruel contrast. How could Nik not feel that his wife was less than what he deserved? Yet had Nik not made his choice of his own free will? And Nik, she reminded herself doggedly, was no fool and no sacrificial lamb either.
‘I would not live with Nik’s womanising,’ Zoe pronounced in a pitying tone.
‘I would have far too much pride,’ Chantal affirmed.
Prudence wore an expression of polite surprise because Nik had never, to her knowledge, offered any of his mistresses his exclusive attention. Or even pretended to do so.
‘Any other woman would have divorced him long ago,’ Zoe sneered.
Prudence could only think of how hard Nik had fought to stay married to her and a secretive little smile curved her full mouth in answer.
When Nik emerged from the villa and saw the three women surrounding Prudence, he went rigid. It could be no coincidence that another two of his exes should be present at a social engagement in Italy. He was outraged that Prudence should have become a target for his sins. Dark fury and concern flashing through his big, powerful frame, his lean, bronzed face hard, he strode across the terrace.
‘Ladies…Zoe, Jenna,’ Nik acknowledged, cool as ice, curving a protective arm to Prudence’s tense spine. ‘You must excuse us…’
Disconcerted by his sudden appearance, Chantal loosed a rather forced laugh. ‘We were just curious, Nik. My goodness, you don’t need to come rushing to your wife’s rescue. All we really want to know is…what makes Prudence so very special?’
A razor-edged smile slashed Nik’s hard mouth. ‘She never forgets that she’s a lady.’
As their companions absorbed that smooth, cutting counter-attack with varying degrees of discomfiture, Nik swept Prudence off to introduce her to Robert Donnington and soon afterwards lunch was served. At the table she and Nik were seated separately.
Jenna settled down into the chair next to Prudence. ‘It took me so long to get over Nik,’ she confided plaintively. ‘I fell into a rebound romance after him and that went wrong, too.’
‘You’re so lovely, you’re sure to meet someone else,’ Prudence told her gently.
‘But not someone like Nik,’ the exquisite brunette lamented.
‘You should concentrate on what annoyed you most about him,’ Prudence advised.
The stress of deep thought was clearly marked on Jenna’s lovely face. ‘He never phoned…he wouldn’t go to parties, business always came first,’ she recited obediently.
With charged disbelief, Nik looked down the table half an hour later and saw his wife and Jenna Marsden laughing together as though they were the warmest of old friends. Glancing up, Prudence met Nik’s burnished golden appraisal and ready colour warmed her complexion. His attention lingered on her and a wicked little frisson of heat and awareness awakened in her pelvis. While Jenna continued to give her chapter and verse on her most recent romantic disappointment, Prudence found her gaze continually stealing back to Nik’s bold dark profile. Catching her watching him again, he flashed her a look and a smile which sizzled with a raw, erotic understanding that mesmerised her and set her treacherous body on fire. Nik could convey desire and invitation with a single flash of his stunning eyes.
It became an effort for Prudence to concentrate on what her companion was telling her. Mortified by the swollen sensitivity of her nipples, Prudence stopped looking in Nik’s direction altogether but it was a punishment to practise such self-denial. She wanted him. He had made her shameless. He had taught her a desire she could not quench. Love and longing, she acknowledged, were destroying her self-control.
Fresh drinks were being served when Nik appeared by her side without warning. Without giving her the chance to ask what was happening, he assisted her out of her seat with cool assurance.
‘I’ve explained that the jet is on standby and that we have to leave now,’ Nik spelt out quietly.
Prudence gathered that some business crisis was demanding that they leave Italy a day sooner than planned. Disappointment assailed her, for she had cherished every hour of their time at the villa. To have Nik all to herself for so long had been a joy and to lament the loss of a single day was childish and ungrateful, she told herself sharply. As they left the terrace she was conscious of Chantal and Zoe watching Nik with a blatant hunger that neither could hide. It shook her to see such naked sexual longing.
But was she any stronger or wiser where Nik was concerned? Did she look at him the same way? Sudden doubt and fear gripped Prudence. Barely three weeks ago, she had seen Nik as the enemy and she had been full of fighting fervour with all her defences in place. But Nik had triumphed over her fears and her insecurities by the most simple and yet subtle moves. He had treated her to a glorious honeymoon in Italy, introduced her to a passion that was indecently absorbing and had awarded her the heady effect of his entire attention. Was it any wonder that he currently had her eating out of his hand like a pet dove? And was she really planning to let that humiliating state of affairs continue?
He brought the Ferrari to a halt a couple of miles down the road. ‘Come here…’ he urged with husky impatience.
Dragged from the depths of her disturbing reflections, Prudence blinked. ‘Sorry? What’s wrong?’
‘Wrong?’ Gold fire leaping in his spectacular eyes, Nik released her seat belt and tugged her forward, saying with hungry appreciation, ‘Nothing’s wrong. A wife who can arouse me in a public place just by looking at me is a magnificent gift, not a problem. I got us out of there before I embarrassed you…’
Prudence belatedly appreciated what had prompted their speedy departure from the Donnington’s: lust. She recalled the manner in which she had watched him. Wide-eyed with disconcertion, she blushed to the roots of her hair. ‘You mean, we’re not really racing back to the villa to pack and head for the airport?’
‘We will be racing-only not to the airport. But first let me have a taste of you, pethi mou.’ Nik bent his arrogant dark head. He toyed with the luscious fullness of her lower lip, gently nipping and grazing the tender skin and provoking helpless whimpers of eager response from her. Tilting her head back, she offered him her whole mouth as a playground and he set every pulse in her quivering body aflame with the measured thrust of his tongue.
His strong bone structure taut beneath his bronzed skin, he set her back from him and did up her seat belt again with a lot less cool than he had employed undoing it. Scorching golden eyes melded to hers in a stormy collision. ‘I’m so hot for you I’m in pain but we can’t make love here,’ he pointed out raggedly, directing the powerful car back onto the road.
‘I’m not used to you behaving like this,’ she admitted breathlessly but she was trying so hard not to smile from ear to ear, for she had a wicked sense of achievement. He had just taught her how susceptible he could be and she was a fast learner. She knew that some day she would use that lesson to her advantage.
‘I’m not used to it either.’ Nik vented a rough laugh. ‘Perhaps it’s partly fired by admiration. Most women would have thrown a scene over being confronted by Chantal and co…’
Prudence winced. ‘What would have been the point?’
‘You handled it in a very stylish way. When I saw you talking to Jenna, though, I did wonder what you were talking about,’ he admitted.
His expectant silence stretched. Smiling inside herself, Prudence said nothing. Let him wonder what had been discussed! She eyed her dazzlin
g diamond ring with new complacency. She was amazed that she had been fretting about the state of their relationship only minutes earlier. There she had been, ready to get all worked up when she had nothing to worry about!
When the silence ticked on unbroken, Nik responded to the challenge. ‘There will be no other women in my life now that I have you.’
Prudence felt as if the sun had just risen inside her. These were the promise, the commitment, the words she had needed to hear, but would never have asked him to give her. ‘That’s good. Particularly because I would be very unladylike and very unforgiving in the way I handled infidelity,’ she told him softly.
Disconcerted though he was by that immediate warning, Nik almost laughed in appreciation of her timing. She was so different from every other woman he had ever known. She had no fear of him and she stood up to him. But she was no drama queen. Had it never dawned on Theo Demakis that his granddaughter was as clever as he was? It hadn’t dawned on her stupid husband, Nik acknowledged ruefully, wondering what else he still had to discover about his wife.
At the villa, Nik lifted Prudence out of the car and right up into his arms to kiss her with raw hunger and need. She melted into his lean, hard body, exulting in his strength and burying her fingers in his luxuriant black hair.
‘I want you so bad, thespinis mou,’ he growled against her swollen mouth, moving across the threshold of their room as he backed her towards the bed.
He angled her back against him and dealt summarily with the straps of her dress and the cups of her bra, groaning with satisfaction when her luscious breasts spilled free into his appreciative hold. Her legs trembled. She was hot and shivering and weak all at once. He captured the straining pink peaks between his fingers and she gasped out loud. The sensation of tightness in her pelvis increased to an almost unbearable degree.
‘Nik…please,’ she moaned, utterly helpless in the grip of that pulse beat of desire.
‘So glad you’re suffering, too…’ Nik let his teeth graze her soft, creamy shoulder while he wrenched her out of the dress with such a lack of finesse that the fabric tore. He ran his tongue down her spine, curved caressing hands to shape the sensual swell of her bottom and dropped to his knees to slowly, carefully, sexily remove her panties.