by Penny Jordan
Jeff Stanley’s wife was plump and pretty. They had been married two years and had a very active nine-month-old son.
‘Luke’s a real dreamboat, isn’t he?’ she commented to Genista when she had taken her upstairs to show her the baby. ‘I used to have the most dreadful crush on him. How did you meet?’
‘At a party,’ Genista said truthfully. Even now she could not believe that they were actually married.
‘Come on down, you two,’ Jeff called. ‘Luke’s champing at the bit! I’d hurry if I were you, Genista,’ he teased. ‘He’s not a patient man and I suspect he’s longing to get you to himself.’
Genista hadn’t changed out of her suit; there seemed little point. She had no idea where Luke was taking her. He had cancelled the business meeting which had been the original purpose of their journey, she knew that.
Seated in the car, waiting for Luke to join her, she felt her stomach tensing nervously. She was on her honeymoon, the thought brought anxiety crawling along her nerves. She was just on the point of thrusting open the car door and screaming that she couldn’t go through with it, when Luke slid in beside her, turning the key in the ignition.
‘Come back soon!’ Amy called as the Maserati slid out of the square. ‘Have a good time!’
‘Where are you taking me?’
She sounded like an abducted heroine, Genista thought crossly. The worst possible thing she could do was to show fear. She ought to be showing Luke that she felt completely in control of the situation. Tonight he fully expected that he would be sharing her bed, but she knew that she could not allow him to do so, and if she panicked she would have next to no chance of preventing him.
‘It’s a surprise,’ was all he would say, but he said it in such a grim tone that Genista felt her nervousness increase. She should never have allowed herself to be manoeuvred into this position. She should have told him right from the start that he was completely wrong about her. A confession trembled on her lips, but she quickly realised that telling him the truth would serve no useful purpose. He would still desire her, perhaps even more when he knew that he would be her first lover. Her pulse rate quickened as she remembered what he had said at her apartment.
‘Where are you taking me?’ she demanded huskily.
‘Frightened?’ The mocking question sawed at her raw nerve ends. ‘There’s no need to be. After all, I won’t be the first man to share your bed, but I intend to be the one you remember the longest, Genista.’
‘Sure of yourself, aren’t you?’
She could feel him watching her, the knowledge sending prickly warnings along her skin.
‘No more than any other man with experience of your sex. The act of love is one which should be mutually enjoyable, and I believe that our body chemistry is such that it will be. You can’t deny that you responded to me when I kissed you.’
‘I hated it,’ Genista interrupted, her voice trembling with the fear the memory aroused. ‘And I hate you!’
The scenery had become vaguely familiar, and with a growing sense of disbelief she realised that they were approaching the hotel where she had stayed with Bob and Elaine.
‘Recognise it?’ Luke asked sardonically. ‘I asked Jilly to book us a double room. I got the impression she disapproved. No doubt she’ll be extremely relieved to see that on your hand when we return;’ he added, lifting Genista’s left hand, where her new rings glittered on her finger.
She had been surprised when Luke produced both an engagement and wedding ring. They had obviously been designed to be worn together, the single beautiful diamond of the engagement ring, set into a fine platinum band cut to match the gold and platinum wedding ring.
‘Am I allowed to return to the office?’ Genista retaliated sarcastically, as much to hide her growing fear as anything else. ‘Would you trust me so close to Bob?’
‘No, but I trust him,’ came Luke’s laconic response. ‘And you won’t be returning to work—just making a visit to let everyone know how the land lies. I don’t want Bob accusing me of doing away with you. Once he knows we’re married…’
‘He won’t be tempted to resume our affair, is that what you’re thinking? What makes you think I can’t make him overcome his scruples? After all, desire for me led you to overcome yours. I can’t really be the sort of woman you wanted for a wife; a businessman such as yourself—surely you wanted a wife you could be proud of, someone who would play her part as your hostess, impress your business colleagues.’
‘I’m sure you’ll be able to do that,’ Luke said dryly. ‘And as for the rest, I learned long ago that a man has to accept women for what they are, not what he would like them to be.’
‘Because of Verity?’
‘Who told you about her?’ The sharpness of the question betrayed his anger that she knew about the other woman.
‘Amy let it slip. When you said that your sister had been deserted by her husband, I didn’t realise that he’d gone off with your girl-friend.’
‘Verity was the one who did the “going off”, as you term it. Philip was already a successful businessman while I was still struggling, and no doubt Verity thought him the better proposition. As it turned out she was wrong, but it taught me a lesson I’ve never forgotten. You might remember that if you are tempted to cheat on me, Genista.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’ She said it tauntingly, but it was true. The more she came to learn about this man, the more she wondered at her own blind folly in provoking him in the first place. One look at him was all it took to realise the steel will cloaked by the sensual body, but for some reason she had been completely unaware of the danger lurking in the depths of the cold grey eyes the first time they met. Her mind had been on other things, of course; the takeover of the company, but that did not totally excuse her. It was too late to regret her shortsightedness now, she reminded herself bitterly.
The old coaching inn was just as charming as she remembered. Built on four sides of what had once been the coachyard, into which the mail coaches had once driven, the yard had been turned into a delightful enclosed patio, overlooked by the ancient timbered walls of the inn itself.
A smiling receptionist greeted them, and under her professional greet, Genista saw the flicker of interest in her blue eyes as they lingered on Luke’s tautly male features.
‘Mr Ferguson. Of course, you booked the suite, didn’t you? I’ll have someone take up your cases. There’s still time for dinner in the main restaurant if you wish, or if you prefer it we could arrange for you to dine in your suite?’
‘In our suite, I think,’ Luke said decisively. ‘We’ve had a long drive up from the south, and we both feel like relaxing.’
‘I’ll show you to your suite and have a menu sent up to you straight away,’ she promised, with far more enthusiasm than the small task warranted, or so it seemed to Genista. Had she walked into the hotel alone she was quite positive that she wouldn’t have merited the same dewy-eyed service.
Their suite of rooms consisted of a delightful sitting room with a beamed ceiling and windows overlooking the courtyard, furnished with charming reproduction antiques; flowers arranged in the empty hearth, plus a large bedroom, dominated by a massive carved fourposter, with a luxurious bathroom off it.
A porter arrived with their luggage while the receptionist was still showing Luke the bedroom, and Genista hung back on the pretext of examining the furniture. She was interested to discover if it had been made by their client, or so she told herself, trying to find excuses for her reluctance to follow Luke into the bedroom. The sight of the huge old-fashioned bed had sent fresh fear crawling through her stomach. When a waiter arrived with a menu she gestured to him to leave it on the coffee table, convinced that she wouldn’t be able to touch a morsel of food.
The receptionist left, closing the door behind her. Luke had ordered a meal for both of them, while Genista stood woodenly by the window, trying to control her rising tide of panic. The moment the door closed, like a cell door on a condemned pri
soner, her control snapped. She flew to the door, tearing at it in a frenzy, dry sobs rasping her throat.
‘Stop it! I’ve already told you—no hysterics. You won’t get round me that way, Genista. I know all about you, remember? A few crocodile tears aren’t going to make me change my mind. I’ve paid dearly for your favours; the highest price a man can pay—I’ve bought you with my name, and I don’t intend to be cheated.’
‘You can’t do this!’
Her despairing cry was smothered against his chest as he plucked her from the door, hauling her against him so that her body was forced to endure the knowledge of his unashamed arousal.
‘I want you, Genista, and I mean to have you.’
‘Then you’ll have to take me by force,’ she told him fiercely, ‘because I don’t want you, and I never shall.’
‘You think not?’
His knowing smile made her feel faintly sick, her face paling as she realised that there was no way she was going to be able to persuade him to change his mind. For one mad moment she contemplated throwing herself from the window, but this notion was swiftly dispelled. Even had she wanted to, the windows were far too small. Luke was reaching for the phone.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Cancelling dinner,’ he said smoothly. ‘I’ve suddenly realised I have other appetites that need satisfying first. Come here, Genista,’ he commanded softly as she started to back away from him. ‘There’s no need for any games, we both know what it’s all about.’
You might do, she wanted to scream, but I don’t, but pride held her silent.
She hadn’t realised that he was very skilfully backing her towards the open bedroom door, until she felt behind her for the wall and found instead only space. She turned wildly staring at the huge canopied bed.
‘Please don’t do this, Luke,’ she begged passionately. ‘Please let me go.’
‘It’s too late, Genista.’ His eyes and mouth were hard—nearly as hard as the fingers gripping her shoulders. ‘It was too late from the moment I walked into Greg Hardiman’s flat and saw you. If you’ve any sense you’ll meet me half way, but you haven’t, have you, so we’ll have to do it the hard way. I want you, and nothing is going to stop me taking you—nothing!’
CHAPTER FIVE
HE meant it, Genista realised moments later, half dazed with fear, as Luke lifted her off her feet and carried her through into the bedroom. Her jacket slid off her shoulder as he deposited her on the bed, revealing the pearly skin beneath. He had discarded his jacket and as he followed her on to the bed, the breadth of his shoulders encased in the thin white silk made her catch her breath. In terrified fascination she watched him loosen his tie, wrenching open the top buttons of his shirt, his expression wry as her eyes flickered nervously from the tanned column of his throat to his face.
‘You should be doing this,’ he told her grimly. ‘There’s something very erotic about being undressed by one’s lover.’
‘And you’ve had lots of practice.’ Genista had intended the words to sound disdainful, but instead they were merely breathlessly hesitant. Her stomach was knotted with tension. She wanted to jump off the bed and run to the door—anywhere to get away from the man lounging beside her, his head propped up on one hand as he surveyed the rise and fall of her breasts as her breathing became increasingly agitated—but she could not bear the humiliation of being carried to the bed a second time. Trying to convince herself that the ordeal ahead was just like a particularly nasty dose of medicine, she reasoned that it would be less unpleasant to get it over with as soon as possible rather than to delay. She had come a long way from the girl who had thought that she would find some way of persuading Luke to wait, she acknowledged wryly, glancing up at the man lying beside her. He ran his hand along her arm, his fingers spreading possessively over her midriff, causing her heart to thump erratically with panic. She could feel the heat of his flesh against her own even though the flimsy silk separated them. Her heart seemed to be lodged somewhere in her throat and she was beginning to feel dizzy with the effort of appearing calm and uncaring.
‘You’re an excellent actress,’ Luke drawled smoothly, lifting his hand to push the silky curtain of her hair behind her ears. ‘Looking at you, I could almost believe this is your first time with a man, but we both know that isn’t true, don’t we, Genista?’
She was beyond words; beyond anything but the suffocating fear that gripped her as he lowered his head slowly, his eyes fastening on the soft trembling of her mouth.
His lips felt cool, the pressure of his hands on her shoulders forcing her backwards against the pillows. She could feel him sliding the thin straps of the camisole top over her skin and tensed immediately. His mouth left hers, his eyes searching her face as he lifted his head.
‘Stop it!’ he warned her. ‘It isn’t necessary, and if you insist on playing silly games you’ll force me to hurt you. You know what I want, Genista,’ he muttered thickly, desire burning hotly in his eyes. ‘And I’ll make you want it too.’
His hand was on her breast, stroking the flesh gently over the thin silk. Genista was trembling from head to foot. Her mouth had gone dry. The drugging kisses Luke was pressing against her throat and shoulders were triggering off emotions that made her feel a stranger to herself. When his fingers completely released the camisole too, laying bare the pale flesh beneath, she shuddered deeply, trying to pull away, but he flung a leg across her thighs, pinning her to the bed with his superior weight.
‘Kiss me, Genista,’ he muttered hoarsely against her throat. ‘Touch me!’ The command was a muttered groan. His forehead was beaded with sweat, his eyes almost black behind their thick fringe of lashes. Genista felt fear pound through her mingled with the first stirrings of an emotion that turned her bones to water. ‘Stop tormenting me. You know what I want!’
Her hands were drawn against her will to the hard wall of his chest. Beneath the silk shirt she could feel the crispness of the thick dark hair. Luke moaned and jerked heatedly against her, moving her fingers against the constraining buttons, until the shirt was completely unfastened. Genista trembled violently as he shrugged the shirt off. His skin was faintly flushed, beaded with sweat, and his skin felt hot beneath her fingers. His body clenched as she touched him, and her eyes flew in startled dismay to his face. Dusk was shadowing the room, and in the soft half light she could see quite clearly the structure of the bones lying beneath his skin. She was too bemused by the discovery that the flesh of his shoulders felt like raw silk beneath her fingers to be aware of the fact that he had unzipped her skirt and removed it, until it was too late to stop him.
Embarrassment flooded over her on a hot wave as he held her away from him studying her body, now clad only in her almost transparent briefs.
‘You’re even more beautiful than I imagined,’ he said slowly, and then almost reverendly lowered his head, touching his lips first to one tender rose-tipped breast and then the other. A sensation not unlike a sudden shaft of pain spread hotly through her, followed by a tumultuous clamor of excitement, so strong that it swept away her self-consciousness. Sensations she had never dreamed existed carried her along in their fast-flowing flood. She gasped as she felt Luke’s mouth against her breast a second time, shuddering mindlessly as her nipple hardened betrayingly beneath the expert stimulus of his tongue. Pleasure mingled with pain in a feeling so intense that it blotted out everything but the need to place her arms round Luke’s neck and hold his head captive against her body.
When he eventually lifted his head they were both breathing hard. His fingers cupped her breasts and fierce longing stirred deep inside her. So this was desire, she thought hazily, scarcely believing the sensations he was awakening within her body. Her mind seemed unable to control her wanton flesh. It clung and pleaded, mutely enticing Luke’s touch, until she was sighing softly with the pleasure he could evoke. Only when he started to remove his trousers did reality reassert itself. Shocked by the abandon with which she had responded to him, Genista
took advantage of his momentary withdrawal to stumble off the bed.
‘Genista?’
‘I wanted to take a shower.’ It was the first excuse that came into her head. Anything to get away from him and have a few minutes to herself in which to come to terms with this sensual side of her nature she had never dreamed she possessed. It was as though Luke’s touch had unlocked all the doors behind which she had hidden away all her natural urges. In his arms she became primitive woman, and the knowledge shocked her profoundly.
Luke’s fingers curled round her wrist. He was watching her with a hungry intensity that brought fresh colour to her skin. The expression in his eyes was so explicit that it set off a traitorous response deep within her own nerve centres. Her stomach went weak with longing.
‘Later,’ he said softly. ‘We’ll take one together, but right now, I’ve got other things on my mind.’ His tug on her wrist caught her off guard and she half fell on top of him, her small protest lost beneath the fierce pressure of his mouth as it closed over hers, banishing for ever any doubts she might have had about the intensity of his desire for her.
‘Touch me, Genista,’ he said thickly. ‘Make love to me the way you made love to Bob.’
Her hands were placed against the hard wall of his chest, the dark hair which arrowed down towards his navel, slightly rough against her palms. She could feel the fierce pulsating tide of his desire, his thigh muscles bunched with tension as he forced her back against the bed. His thumb stroking roughly over her throbbing nipples, increasing her overwhelming need for complete fulfilment. She had never known that sexual desire could be like this; rising on a spiralling tide of excitement strong enough to sweep aside everything that stood in its path until there was nothing but sensation, her body so perfectly attuned to Luke’s that she responded to him without conscious volition.