by Penny Jordan
'I just don't need this,' Suzy heard him mutter savagely, but then his hand was pushing through her hair, securing her head at just the right angle for his mouth to home in on hers, to take it and make her want to return the passion she could feel in his kiss. It was the same passion that was running through her like liquid fire and honey. Any thought of resisting him or of denying herself the pleasure her body craved was forgotten!
She lifted up her arms and put them round him. This time it was her tongue-tip that probed the line of his lips, but it was Luke who drew it deep inside the dark, warm sensuality of his mouth, coaxing it, encouraging it, and then fiercely mating with it. Her heart was bouncing around inside her chest like a yo-yo. She could hardly breathe—and not just because of the way Luke was kissing her.
Like a snake sloughing off an unwanted skin, she wriggled her body until the towel dropped off, her action driven by instinct and not any deliberate thought. She was incapable of that! Incapable of anything other than responding to the subtle pressure of Luke's hard hand holding her head, Luke's equally hard mouth on hers.
His hands were on her naked back, splaying out against her skin, sliding downwards to her waist and then her buttocks, cupping their rounded softness and then pulling her fiercely into his own body, his own arousal. Helpless to stop herself, Suzy ground her hips against him.
What he was doing was crazy, Luke warned himself. He must be out of his mind for even thinking about contemplating what he was contemplating. If he had any sense he would back off right now and—
He felt Suzy's body move against his own, heard the soft, hot sound of excitement she made against his skin and his aroused body refused to obey his demands. He lifted his hand to cover her naked breast, feeling the taut nub push eagerly against his palm.
Suddenly Suzy realised what she was doing. With a small moan of anguish she pushed at Luke's chest.
Immediately he set her free. His face was hard with anger and her own face felt tight with shock and misery.
Unsteadily Suzy retrieved her towel, dreading what Luke might be going to say. Had he guessed what he had done to her? How he had made her feel? How he had made her want him?
To her relief he strode towards the bathroom without saying anything, leaving her alone to dress.
* * *
In the bathroom Luke fought furiously to sandbag his feelings. How could he have allowed himself to react to her like that—to respond to her like that? He tried to pinpoint the second things had got out of control, and the reason, rerunning the whole thing through his head in order to reexamine it and sort out some kind of damage limitation plan. But to his disbelief he realised that remembering how Suzy had looked standing there naked was already arousing him again.
Turning on the shower, Luke stepped under its icy blast, savagely angry with himself and equally angry with Suzy. Did she really think he had been deceived by the role she was trying to play, or by the white-faced look of despair he had seen in her eyes as she tore herself out of his arms?
As she tore herself out of his arms. The icy jets of water needled onto Luke's skin unnoticed as he stood still.
Suzy had been the one to end their intimacy, not him, and if she had not done so by now she would be lying beneath his body.
Cursing himself Luke tried to ignore the images his mind was relaying to him. He was a man who intended to live his life to a specific moral code; she was a woman who didn't have a moral bone in her body! An impossible coupling! And he intended to ensure that it remained impossible!
* * *
'Ready?'
Numbly Suzy nodded her head, not trusting herself to speak.
She was wearing a simple linen top with shoestring straps with her trousers, and Luke frowned as he looked at her, recognising how effective the outfit was at making her appear fragile and somehow vulnerable.
As he opened the suite door for her Suzy snatched a brief look at Luke, helplessly aware that the sight of him, in a pair of immaculate dark-coloured trousers and an equally immaculate soft white shirt, was doing things to her she had no wish whatsoever to acknowledge.
As they descended the impressive staircase together, Suzy was acutely conscious of him at her side. When they reached the hallway he touched her bare arm lightly, and immediately she flinched.
'We're a couple, remember?' Luke warned her in a low, cold voice.
As he reached past her to push open the door Suzy caught the clean male smell of his skin, and immediately a quiver of response ran down her spine. She felt an overwhelming urge to turn round and bury her face in his throat, just breathe in the smell of him until she was drunk on it.
'In here!'
The door opened and Suzy stepped through it, Luke behind her. The two children she had seen earlier were seated on a windowseat, their heads bent over a computer game. Suzy felt an unexpected tug of emotion as she saw that, despite their clean clothes, they somehow had a heart-rending air of neglect about them.
Was it because of her own childhood she was so immediately and instinctively aware that these children lacked a mother's loving input into their lives? Suzy wondered ruefully as she watched them.
Sir Peter was picking up the drink which had just been poured for him by the smartly dressed waiter. As he saw them he put it down.
'There you are! Suzy, my dear, what will you have to drink, Luke, are you going to break your normal abstinence tonight?'
For all that he was their host, Suzy could see that Sir Peter was actually a little in awe of Luke, and she watched the interaction between the two men curiously as Luke announced that he would simply have a tonic.
'And Suzy?' Sir Peter pressed, giving her another warm smile.
'Tonic for me too,' she echoed.
'I'm afraid we have to let the children have dinner with us,' Sir Peter apologised to Suzy as the young Italian waiter handed her her drink. 'It really is a nuisance having them here, but I'm afraid I wasn't given the opportunity to refuse.'
A heavy sigh accompanied the frowning look Sir Peter gave his children, and Suzy's sympathy for them increased.
'Perhaps I should go and introduce myself to them,' she suggested gently, leaving Luke standing with Sir Peter whilst she made her way over to the windowseat.
As Suzy walked away Luke discovered that his gaze was focused on the gentle sway of her hips and the rounded curves of her bottom.
'Lovely girl,' he heard Peter saying appreciatively at his side. 'I envy you, old chap.'
Luke saw that the other man's gaze was lingering on Suzy's curvy posterior as well.
For no reason he could think of Luke moved to block his view.
'I wish we could hear definitely that our chap is going to come through…' Peter was complaining, and automatically Luke turned his attention to what he was saying.
'Hello, I'm Suzy.' Suzy introduced herself to the children with a smile.
'You're Lucas's girlfriend, aren't you?' the little boy demanded, adding importantly, 'Maria told us. She's one of the maids.'
Luke's girlfriend! Something turned over inside Suzy's chest, and an odd and unwanted feeling of loss and pain ached inside her.
'Charlie, you shouldn't gossip with the servants. Mummy wouldn't like it,' the little girl announced primly, and Suzy could see the mixture of anxiety and protectiveness in her eyes as she looked at her younger brother.
'You can't tell me what to do, Lucy,' He retaliated immediately. 'Does being Luke's girlfriend mean that you are going to get married?' he asked Suzy.
Married! To Luke!
A feeling of fierce intensity shot through her.
'Charlie, it's rude to ask personal questions,' Lucy told him imperiously.
'Our mother and father were married,' Charlie told her, ignoring his sister, 'but they aren't any more. Our mother is married to someone else, and he doesn't like us, does he, Lucy?'
'Charlie, you aren't supposed to say things like that,' Lucy hissed, red-faced.
'Why not? I heard Mummy saying it to
Aunt Catherine.'
Poor children, Suzy thought sadly. Charlie was still too young to be aware of what he was saying, but Lucy was old enough to be embarrassed and upset by her younger brother's revelations. Suzy could see that, so she gently distracted them, asking, 'What was that game I saw you playing?'
Her simple ploy had the desired effect. Immediately Charlie began to enthuse about the game and his skill with it.
As she listened to him Suzy turned to look at Lucy. The little girl gave her a hesitant smile. The pristinely laundered dress she was wearing, whilst unmistakably expensive, was too short and too tight, Suzy recognised, and she wondered absently if she had perhaps chosen to wear it because it was an old favourite.
Still listening to Peter complaining about the way the visiting Head of State kept changing the carefully made arrangements, Luke looked towards the window.
The children were now seated either side of Suzy, apparently hanging onto her every word—nestling against her, almost.
For some absurd reason the sight of the three of them together aroused an emotion inside him he wasn't prepared to name, and it was with relief that he heard the sound of the dinner gong.
* * *
'Suzy, my dear, you don't know what a pleasure it is for me to have the company of such a very attractive and charming young woman,' Sir Peter announced flatteringly once they were all seated around the magnificent antique table. 'And I'm sure the children agree with me—don't you, children?'
Obediently Charlie and Lucy nodded their heads.
'Luke, you are an extremely fortunate man. I just hope, Suzy, that we will be able to persuade you to spend some time with us as well as with Luke. The children would certainly welcome your company, I know.'
Suzy hid a smile as she realised what Sir Peter was trying to do. He obviously saw in her arrival an opportunity to persuade her into helping out with his children. And to be honest, she acknowledged, she would be perfectly happy to do so. It would give her something to occupy her time during her enforced imprisonment.
With that in mind, she smiled compliantly at her host.
'You must take Suzy for a walk through the gardens after dinner, Luke,' Sir Peter announced amiably, after giving Suzy a warmly approving smile. 'The grounds to the villa are very beautiful. There's a lake—'
'And a grotto,' Charlie broke in eagerly. 'I want to explore it.'
Immediately his father gave him a stern look. 'Charlie, I've already told you that you are not to go near the grotto. It's unsafe and too dangerous, and that's why a metal gate has been placed across it—it's too dangerous for anyone to enter!' Turning to Suzy, he told her, 'There is supposed to be some sort of tunnel and an underground chamber beneath the grotto, which was built originally as a folly.'
Suzy shivered as she listened to him. She had always had a fear of such places, and certainly did not share Charlie's enthusiasm.
'But you must show Suzy the sunken garden, Luke. It's a very romantic walk, Suzy,' he added warmly,
'and if Luke hadn't bagged you first, I can assure you I would have enjoyed showing it to you myself.'
Sir Peter was flirting with her!
Hastily Suzy took a sip of her wine, and then choked a little as she realised how strong it was.
The food was delicious, but she seemed to have lost her usual appetite, Suzy acknowledged as her churning stomach prevented her from eating more than a few mouthfuls of her meal.
Was it because every minute that passed meant that it was getting closer to the time when she would have to go back upstairs with Luke to that suite? Their suite. Their bed.
A tense shudder ripped through her and she reached for her wine again, hoping to distract herself.
The children were looking tired and had started bickering. It was far too late for them to be eating, in Suzy's opinion, and the food was surely too rich for young digestion.
'Charlie, that's enough!'
Peter was giving his son an angry look, but Suzy could see that the little boy's behaviour was caused more by tiredness than wilfulness.
'Finish your dinner,' Sir Peter instructed.
'I don't want it. I don't like it.' Charlie resisted stubbornly.
'Charles!'
'I think the children are tired,' Suzy intervened gently. 'It is rather late. I don't know what time they normally go to bed…'
'Of course. You are quite right! It is late!' Sir Peter agreed immediately. 'I'd better send for one of the maids to take them upstairs and put them to bed,' he added, signalling to the hovering waiter.
Within minutes a plump, elderly woman appeared, and their father instructed the children to go with her.
A small frown creased Suzy's forehead as both children followed the maid without receiving a goodnight kiss from their father.
Half an hour later, their own meal over, Suzy was beginning to feel tired herself—and to regret the two glasses of red wine she had drunk!
Coffee was to be served in the same salon where they had had their pre-dinner cocktails, and once they had made their way there Sir Peter settled himself on one of the damask sofas. Patting the space beside himself, he invited, 'Come and sit here, next to me, Suzy, and tell me all about yourself.'
Hesitantly Suzy began to walk towards him, only to come to an unsteady stop as Luke stepped in front of her.
'If you don't mind, Peter, I think I'd like to have her to myself for a while,' he announced smoothly, taking hold of Suzy's arm as he did so.
Just the feel of his fingers on her bare arm was enough to make her quiver from head to foot, Suzy recognised dizzily.
'Of course, of course. Don't blame you, old chap,' Sir Peter responded heartily.
Before she could say or do anything Suzy discovered that she was being almost force-marched in the direction of the salon door. She could almost feel the blast of heat from Luke's anger as he opened the door and propelled her out into the hallway, up the stairs and into their suite.
As soon as he had closed the door behind them he rounded on her, demanding savagely, 'What the devil do you think you are playing at? Or do I need to ask? It's the same old trick, isn't it? I warned you—'
'I'm not playing at anything!' Suzy denied fiercely.
'Liar! You've seen that Peter is susceptible to you, so you're doing everything you can to encourage him…giving him limpid-eyed looks, pretending to be concerned about his children—'
'I am concerned about them!' Suzy stopped him.
'And as for me encouraging him—I was doing no such thing! You're behaving like a jealous lover!' she threw furiously at him. 'Accusing me of things I haven't done, and have no intention of doing!'
A jealous lover! Luke stared at her.
Suzy gasped as she was dragged into Luke's arms. She tried to protest. And she tried to resist. But the wine had obviously weakened her resistance. Of its own accord her hand clutched at the sleeve of his shirt and her body leaned into his. Greedily her senses absorbed the feel of him. Tough, male, strong…She looked at his mouth. She looked into his eyes. And then she looked at his mouth again. She could feel the sound he was making in his throat vibrate through his body in a feral growl of warning male arousal.
He was lowering his head and she wanted to reach up and hold it, so that he couldn't escape, so that his mouth had to cover her own…
And it did! How long had she yearned for this? Suzy wondered dizzily as her lips clung to his. Surrounded by the sensual soft dark of the Italian night, she gave in to her own need. She was in his arms and then in his hands—quite literally, she realised in soaring shocked pleasure as they moved over her, shaping her, learning her…
Into the darkness of their room she moaned her uninhibited delight. She could feel her breasts swelling into his hands whilst her stomach tightened with expectation. She lifted her arms to wrap them around him, her fingers sliding into the softness of his hair. His mouth tasted erotically of wine and man, and she wanted to feed on it until all her senses were sated with the pleasure of him. Th
e straps of her top had slipped down her arms and were digging into her flesh, and she wanted to beg Luke to remove it from her body, right here and right now.
Helplessly Luke gave in to the need he had felt the first time she had kissed him. Then he had denied it, buried it, but somehow it had survived, tormenting him in his dreams. Luke felt his body shudder as his hunger for her ripped through his defences. Now he was beyond reason, beyond sanity, beyond anything and everything but wanting her. He was, Luke recognised distantly, completely out of control. And she was the one who had done this to him, who had driven him, aroused him, made him so insane with need for her. That eager female sound she had just made had logged straight into his body and switched on every damn thing, sending him completely crazy. He lifted his hand to push Suzy's auburn hair off her creamy neck and shoulder, leaving them exposed to the exploration of his hungry mouth. A tiny pulse jumped and skittered beneath his kiss and he paused to touch it with his tongue.