The Blackmailed Bride

by Kim Lawrence

  Biting his hand as hard as she could was not the most subtle response, but Kate was desperate by this point.

  He didn't cry out, even though she felt the salty tang of blood on her tongue, but his grip did slacken-only slightly, but it was the moment Kate had been tensely wait­ing for. It was enough to allow her to break free. With a determined, sinuous wriggle, she twisted away from him and even before she was upright began to run. Head down, she hit the floor, running like a sprinter ducking desperately for the winning line.

  CHAPTER THREE

  KATE opened her eyes and moaned. She looked around groggily. This was new-waking up in a strange bed, in a strange bedroom. Not all new experiences were good ones and actually this was one she could well have lived with­out!

  She couldn't have amnesia. She knew her name; she could even recite her pin number and other personal details. She just didn't recall the events that had culminated in her being in this bed-maybe this was an occurrence some girls could take in their stride, but not her. Don't panic, Kate, she told herself, there has to be a perfectly simple expla­nation for this.

  The problem was, try as she might, she couldn't come up with it. She attacked the problem with her usual vigour and all she got for her troubles was a brain ache.

  The last thing she remembered was getting on the flight for Palma; her memories of that were perfectly clear. She'd ended up holding a baby all the way for the harassed young mother travelling alone with two active toddlers and a fret­ful six-month-old. The mother had been grateful; the baby had expressed his gratitude by throwing up all over her cream linen designer suit.

  The unthinkable suddenly occurred to her. What if she wasn't alone in the strange bed? Holding her breath, she reached behind her, a relieved sigh escaped her lips as the search came up empty.

  Javier entered the room just as she was blindly patting the pillow, her eyes screwed tightly shut. He heard her hoarse sigh from the other side of the room. A spasm of amusement lightened the severity of his lean, dark features as he approached, a nightdress folded over one arm.

  It wasn't too hard to interpret his guest's actions. Ms K. M. Anderson--it hadn't taken long to discover that they did indeed have a K. M. Anderson staying-was wondering if she'd woken up beside a stranger. From her reactions, it seemed safe to assume this wasn't an everyday occurrence for her.

  Javier found himself idly wondering what her response would have been if her hand had encountered his own body instead of the pillow lying there beside her. For a brief moment he imagined her turning, arms outstretched, a smile of invitation on those full sexy lips. Reality intervened; it was much more likely, considering her reckless streak, she'd have picked up the nearest heavy blunt object and knocked him senseless with it. All the same, even his re­markable will power could not totally banish the lingering image of warm, welcoming arms.

  Frowning, Kate rolled onto her back. The large fans swooshing silently overhead seemed in keeping with the tasteful and expensive Colonial-style furnishings in the room around her. Her parents' beachfront bungalow had similar furnishing, though it wasn't nearly as spacious.

  Of course! She was on holiday. She was in bed at the hotel in the room she shared with Susie... Her relieved expression faded-this theory only worked to a point. This lavishly appointed space wasn't their much more modest bedroom with its twin beds, rattan furniture and a nice view of one of the pools from the dinky veranda.

  `My head hurts,' she complained out loud.

  'I'm not surprised.'

  `You!' Kate shrieked in loathing.

  She shot bolt upright, bristling with antipathy. The mys­tery of her brain blanking out the last few hours was a mystery no longer; it had merely been a protective reflex. Protecting her from the worst day of her life.

  `How did I get here?' Not under her own steam, that much she knew, and where was `here'? `Kidnapping is a very serious offence.' It was in England, and she had no reason to believe the Spanish treated this offence any dif­ferently.

  One slanted brow rose politely. `So I believe.'

  It was frustratingly apparent her stern warning hadn't had any effect on his bone-deep air of assurance-other than to infuse it with a slight edge of infuriating, indulgent amuse­ment-but then why would it...? She was talking to a hard­ened, desperate criminal. There was every likelihood he had probably done a lot worse than kidnapping! Perhaps he still thought she was some junkie who nobody would miss?

  `And there are people who will miss me...lots of peo­ple-

  She broke off abruptly clutching her head as an agony of pain shot through her temple.

  Through a miasma of pain, Kate felt the mattress give as he came to sit on the edge; her nose quivered as she encountered the attractive male fragrance emanating from him, a warm body, any closer and she might feel the warmth of his breath, Kate turned at the thought. This was getting way too abnormal for her liking! With a muffled cry of protest that hurt her head, she tried to shuffle blindly away, but a firm hand on her elbow prevented her.

  ' I won't hurt you.' Kate was mad with herself for instincti­vely believing him, despite all the evidence to the con­trary. 'You should lie down; you took quite a knock.'

  'You should know, you probably delivered it,' she retold through gritted teeth.

  'Actually you ran full pelt into the wardrobe-solid ma­huguna. Renewable sources of course; the owners have a 100% policy...'

  The information did actually correspond with Kate's own hazy recollection of the incident. `You make it sound as if I did it on purpose,' she muttered truculently. `Actu­ally, I had my eyes closed.' Like now.

  Her blue-veined eyelids flickered as she felt the pad of one fingertip brush aside a strand of hair from her forehead. Her mind supplied a vivid lifelike image-possibly aided by the fact she could still smell his elusive male scent-to go with the action. The image of long, sensitive, tapering fingers, very dark in dramatic contrast to her fair creamy skin, lingered in her mind as her stomach muscles began to quiver uncomfortably.

  Keeping her eyes closed, she told herself, had nothing to do with being afraid of seeing his raw sex appeal up close. The light hurt her eyes-that was all.

  `From the look of your spectacle lenses, it wouldn't have made much difference if you'd had them open,' he mur­mured, his deep voice laced with disparaging amusement. `Does the light hurt your eyes?

  'A little.' Kate was willing to ignore this insulting slur on her eyesight. He had her glasses-she needed them, and much as it went against the grain it was time for a bit of pleading. `You've got my glasses? Give them to me.' She opened her eyes. `Please,' she added gruffly. `Being with­out them is like...like being naked.' It was hard enough to explain the vulnerability of being short-sighted to anyone not similarly afflicted, but to someone as genetically perfect as this man it was probably a waste of breath.

  His perfection was hard to miss this close too. She didn't need her specs to assimilate the dark, brooding magnifi­cence of his strong-boned features-looking at them alarm­ingly intensified the dizziness she was experiencing.

  `I'm afraid I stepped on them in the dark.'

  `You did it deliberately!' she heard herself wail child­ishly.

  `They say your other senses compensate...'

  Kate watched with total fascination as his long fingers made a stroking sensation a hair's breath away from the pale skin of her forearm. As if those well manicured fin­gertips were electrified, the fine hairs on her skin became erect.

  Was this the unnatural affinity she'd heard abductees de­veloped with their kidnappers? she wondered hazily as her insides dissolved in the flood of scalding liquid heat which cascaded through her body. Like hell it is, Kate! Face facts! This is lust, sexual attraction at least, on my side--plain and simple. His motivation for playing cat and mouse games were less immediately obvious.

  ...when one sense is compromised,' the insidiously sexy drawl continued. `In my experience, closing my eyes often enhances and heightens tactile sensations...'


  Her shameless brain immediately provided several steamy images of situations where he might feel obliged to close his eyes. The situations revealed in those fragmented images uniformly necessitated him being naked, his golden skin gleaming beneath a layer of sweat. The hoarse groan of pleasure she imagined being ripped from his throat was so realistic drat a swiftly subdued whimper emerged from her own throat-this was getting out of hand.

  So the man was incredibly good-looking, sinfully sexy and packed more masculinity into his little finger than most men did in their entire bodies... That was no excuse to lose the plot, Kate told herself sternly.

  `This might help that naked feeling you were talking about.'

  Kate looked blankly from his enigmatic face to the creamy cotton scoop-necked nightdress he handed her. Her brain made the link between his words and the garment and she bit her lip. She wasn't-was she?

  She hardly dared, but she forced herself to look down­wards at her own body-it could have been worse, but not much. Her skin looked dramatically pale against the black of the simple bra she wore; she couldn't see them but she knew her matching pants would afford an equally stark con­trast.

  `You took my clothes off!' she choked, her voice shaking with outrage and suspicion. Was that all he'd done...?

  `I did,' he confirmed, coolly unapologetic. `It seemed the most sensible thing to do under the circumstances. You were burning up.'

  If she hadn't been, she was now! With a fraught squawk of dismay, she belatedly slid beneath the duvet, leaving only her face and tousled ash-blonde hair peeking out.

  One dark brow rose expressively. `There is really no need for a display of false modesty; women on the beach wear less than you are.' One corner of his mouth lifted as a devilish gleam appeared in his eyes. `Considerably less, actually,' he added drily. `Or are you afraid you'll inflame my lust? Don't ...I have strong control.'

  In other words, he wasn't that desperate!

  His languid drawl sent an extra-sharp stab of pain through Kate's pounding skull. Though she never normally envied Susie her looks, at that moment she wouldn't have minded having the equipment to make this man eat his contemptuous words.

  `Oh, yes, you struck me right off as someone oozing strong moral fibre,' she sneered, oozing hostility. `And as for women on the beach, they haven't been interfered with by a raving lunatic.'

  `Do you always have such lurid fantasies?'

  Kate's cheeks flamed. With one quirk of an eyebrow he'd managed to give the distinct impression he wouldn't touch her with a ten foot barge pole. `None involving you!'

  An honest girl, Kate knew she would in the future. It was inevitable; he was the sort of male that made the fe­male unconscious run riot. She just hoped her fantasies would wait until she was safe in the bosom of her family ­she refused to allow herself to contemplate if. She was go­ing to get away from this man.

  Javier saw her wince. `You really should not shout or get agitated,' he remonstrated.

  `Advice from you I can do without.'

  He gave a shrug. `I removed your clothes because you were dressed inappropriately for the weather conditions.

  Though ideally for a spot of larceny,' he added slyly. `Are you calling me a thief?' she gritted. `If the cap fits...?

  'Takes one to know one...' she countered childishly. `Takes a thief to catch a thief,' he riposted without a pause.

  `Gosh, your colloquial English is really very good.' I can't believe I just said that... ! I've been knocked uncon­scious, kidnapped, I'm lying as good as naked in a strange bed in the company of an indisputably dangerous man who could do anything at any moment and all I can do is admire his grammar... !

  His heavy lids drooped hiding the expression in his deep his eyes momentarily from Kate. `The British, they're just airless'

  'Pardon?'

  Those lush dark lashes lifted off his cheekbones reveal­ing cynical blue. `Shades of the empire; you refuse to learn another language and delight in commenting on foreigners' funny accents.'

  Kate, who was mortified by this interpretation of her un­thinking observation, couldn't help but observe that his deep velvety drawl could be classified as many things, in­cluding dangerously seductive, but funny wasn't one of them !

  `I didn't mean it like that!' she exclaimed, horrified to have him lump her together with an unpleasant, ignorant minority she had nothing whatever in common with. `Any­how, it's an absurd generalisation, and I was not being patronizing.' Why am I making such a fuss? she wondered eyeing the good-looking cause of her discomfort resent­fully. His good opinion is not something I'm going to lie awake at nights thinking about-now his mouth, that was another matter, her wilful thoughts added naughtily.

  `You look feverish.'

  Kate stiffened as a cool hand touched her perspiring fore­head-she could hardly explain the likely reason for her sweaty state. The hand lifted and she sighed.

  `I'm prepared to give the benefit of the doubt,' he an­nounced abruptly. Their eyes met and something indefin­able passed between them that made Kate's breathing quicken- perceptibly. `Actually, I went to school in England,' he added casually.

  Kate frowned. `Boarding school?' That suggested a priv­ileged background, as did his autocratic manner. Had he chosen crime out of choice or had circumstances forced him down that road? It seemed a wicked shame that someone she sensed had so much potential should waste his talents.

  `Do I detect a hint of disapproval?'

  The edge of indulgent amusement in his voice made Kate bristle. `Well, if I had children I wouldn't ship them away...' She encountered the interested glint in his eyes and bit her lip. Like he's really interested in what you'd do with your children, Kate... A sane person didn't enter into a debate on private versus state education with her abductor.

  `It didn't do me any harm.'

  Kate couldn't stop herself snorting derisively when he wheeled out the tired old line.

  `In fact...'

  'It got you where you are today-which I'd say was looking at a kidnapping charge, at the very least.'

  'Does that mean if I let you go you'll run straight to the police?'

  Kate's face fell as she realised her smart tongue had got her into even more trouble. 'I'm in no position to go to the police without incriminating myself.' She waited, fingers crossed, for his response.

  `You being such a hardened criminal...'

  Kate unable to interpret the odd inflection in his tone frowned. `Not hardened, exactly... You went to school in England-does that mean you're not Spanish?'

  `A man could be forgiven for thinking you're trying to change the subject.'

  `I'm curious. that's all...'

  'About my ancestry?'

  `About your eyes...' She cleared her throat and blushed hotly as the dangerous glint in his eyes intensified. `I just happened to notice they're blue,' she explained carelessly. `It's unusual for someone with your coloring,' she added defensively.

  `Yes, it is. I have a Scottish grandmother.'

  `It's never too late, you know...' she heard herself blurt out suddenly.

  Much to her dismay, he eased himself farther onto the bed and folded his arms comfortably across his chest. Kate had his full, undivided attention and she didn't want it!

  `For what is it never too late?'

  Feeling deeply embarrassed by her earnest outburst Kate rubbed her nose against the duvet and surreptitiously shuf­fled as far across the big bed as she could without falling off. Why can't I leave well enough alone? she wondered in exasperation. Why do I always have to try and rehabil­itate hopeless cases?.

  `Kate's problem is she doesn't know a lost cause when she sees it,' friends had frequently observed affectionately.

  `To do something else,' she muttered awkwardly. `Some­thing ... legal... '

  `Are you trying to reform me?' An expression of amaze­ment, tinged by something she couldn't interpret, chased across his sternly proud face.

  `It's nothing to me if you end up rotting in prison!' she countere
d crossly. `Now, if you give me back my clothes, I'll just be going...'

  `Just out of curiosity, what would you do if I said you couldn't go?'

  Kate's expression froze. The ambivalence of her re­sponse to this taunt was deeply troubling. A person who found anything attractive or exciting about being held cap­tive by someone like him was a candidate for the funny farm! She gulped and her throat muscles locked down tight as her eyes welded with his shimmering blue gaze. It took her a few moments before the obstruction in her throat cleared.

  `If I told you, I'd lose the element of surprise.' The truth, she reasoned, could not make matters much worse at this point. `And, from where I'm lying, that's about the only thing I have going for me,' she added with feeling.

  To her amazement he threw back his dark head and laughed; it was a warm uninhibited and incredibly attractive sound.

  `You have a lot more going for you than that, K. M. Anderson,' he announced caressingly.

  `What's with the charm offensive?' she asked suspi­ciously. And if I was a weaker, more gullible girl, it might just work-because a smile like that, she reflected bitterly, ought to carry health warnings.

  `Do you think all men have a hidden agenda?

  'No, just you,' she declared without thinking.

  He didn't appear offended by her reply. `I've never met a woman with your brand of candour; it is most disarming.'

  He didn't look disarmed, he looked worryingly thoughtful. `Are you going to get me my clothes?

  'If the doctor says you can get dressed, yes.'

  `Doctor? What doctor...?'

  On cue, there was the sound of voices just outside the bedroom door.

  `This doctor.'

  A man entered the room but it wasn't Doctor it was the heavy from earlier, looking a lot less sinister--unlike his partner in crime-in proper light. He smiled at Kate and she found herself smiling back, confused by this polite, totally unthreatening individual, a million miles away from her hazy mental image of him.

  She turned back to the man ensconced beside her on the bed. `You expect me to believe you've called a doctor?' she hissed in a contemptuous undertone.