Marriage at His Convenience
Page 15
Amber smiled as Tomso insisted on placing the garlands of flowers over their heads and leading them ashore. ‘What did he say?’ she asked Lucas as they stepped onto the old stone pier. The row of about a dozen or more whitewashed houses lined one side of the earth road overlooking the bay were the same. But the twenty or so smiling faces of the locals waiting to greet them were a surprise.
‘Every new Karadines bride arriving on the island has to be met with a garland of flowers; it’s tradition.’ Sliding an arm around her shoulders, and briefly kissing her smiling mouth, he added, ‘We also have to walk to the villa.’
A great cheer went up as Lucas led her along the road, and suddenly Amber wondered if Christina had enjoyed the same welcome and her smile dimmed a little.
Sensing her withdrawal, Lucas looked directly into her eyes. ‘What’s wrong? Tired?’
‘No, I just wondered how many other Karadines brides got to do this walk,’ she replied flippantly.
‘You’re the first,’ he conceded wryly. ‘I should have added if we don’t have a tradition we invent one.’
Amber’s head jerked around and she looked at him with open-mouthed incredulity. ‘You invent…’ And staring into his sparkling eyes, she shook her head and grinned.
Hand in hand they walked up the winding path that led to the big rambling Greek-style house. Scarlet bougainvillaea made a brilliant splash of colour against one of the white walls. As they drew closer Amber could see the huge iron gates were open onto the forecourt with an ornate fountain in the centre.
‘Come on, let me show you the house.’ Lucas urged her inside out of the sun.
‘I have been here before,’ she reminded him easily.
He looked down at her, his dark glance moving intently over her lovely face. ‘As a visitor years ago. Now I welcome you to your home, Amber.’
‘And was it Christina’s home as well?’ She wanted to bite her tongue the minute she’d said it. But to her astonishment Lucas grinned and swept her up high in his arms.’
‘Never,’ he said adamantly. ‘Christina was a city girl through and through. Nothing would persuade her to visit the island. But it’s good to know you are jealous.’
Whatever she might have said was lost, as Lucas turned to introduce her to a plump lady waiting in the cool of the interior.
‘This is Anna, she keeps the place running. If you want anything you just ask. She does speak a little English.’
Anna shook hands with Amber enthusiastically. ‘Welcome, welcome. It is hot for you. You like a cool drink? Lemon?’
‘Yes, thank you.’ Amber looked around her. The impressive reception hall with its central marble staircase looked different, but she could not immediately think why. She turned enquiring eyes up at Lucas. ‘It is different,’ she said. ‘But why?’
‘Let me show you.’ Grasping her hand in his again, he gestured with his free hand to ornate double doors set in one wall. ‘Remember the sitting room? It has been extended into what was the study. The dining room, the terrace and everything else is the same. But I’ve had the opposite side extended by about thirty feet.’ Then she realised the one wall of the hall that had been blank now had two doors set into it. He led her through one of them.
Amber stared around her in amazement. Pride of place went to a custom-made oak desk fitted with all the latest computer equipment. A long low cream hide sofa overlooked a large window that opened onto a vast expanse of lawn, and in the distance there was what looked like a stone patio area. She turned to look up at Lucas. ‘This is your new study,’ she surmised.
‘No.’ He folded his arms around her waist, his black eyes holding hers. ‘This is your study. I know how much your work means to you and this study has everything you need to keep in touch with the world markets, and your office in London. Mine is next door. I did think of having one big study, but I realised if we shared one neither of us would get much work done. Do you like it?’
Like it! She loved it. Lowering her eyes from his, she swallowed the lump of emotion lodged in her throat. More importantly, she loved what it represented. Years ago he had objected to her work, and now he had done this for her. He was not quite the male chauvinist pig she had thought him to be. He understood her need to work, to be her own woman. Hope grew in her heart for their marriage. Building a study for her was not the act of a man who expected to be rid of her a few months later.
‘Well?’ he prompted when she took too long to answer.
‘I love it,’ she said simply. She could feel the threatening prickle of moisture in her eyes, and to hide her emotions she eased out of his embrace and walked back to the window and stared out.
‘I knew you would.’ Lucas followed, slipping a casual arm around her waist.
Amber leant into him, revelling in the hard heat of his body. ‘And of course you are always right,’ she teased.
‘Not always.’ He moved to her side, his eyes catching hers again. ‘But I am trying, I want you to be happy here…’ he lifted one hand, so he could gently comb his fingers through her long loose hair ‘…with me,’ he husked and she trembled, her breasts swelling against her top.
‘I think I will be,’ she murmured, wallowing in the wonderful heady sense of elation she was experiencing as she stroked a hand up over his broad chest and felt his muscles ripple with pleasure.
‘Good.’ His black eyes moved lazily over her small face, the expression in the darkening depths anything but good; wickedly sexual, more like.
‘Anna will be here any second,’ Amber said, reading his mind.
‘You’re right.’ Lucas grinned, stepping back. ‘But I shall continue the guided tour until we reach the bedroom.’ Looking out of the window, he added, ‘There is no sea view, which is a plus for a study, as it would only be a distraction.’ He indicated with his hand the patio area. ‘But you do have a view of the heliport so you will know the moment I arrive home.’
Amber couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Trust Lucas! He had given her a high-tech study so she could continue to work, but made absolutely sure she would know the second he was home. He hadn’t changed that much after all…
‘What’s so funny?’ One dark brow arched in genuine puzzlement.
‘Nothing—nothing at all,’ Amber said, shaking her head, her long golden hair shimmering over her shoulders.
Anna entered the room carrying a tray with the jug of lemonade and two glasses and, thanking the housekeeper, Amber filled the glasses and handed one to Lucas. ‘Drink your lemonade and show me the bedrooms.’
His black eyes flared and he drank down the lemonade in one go. Reaching out to flick her hair back over her shoulder, he implored her to hurry up. Five minutes later he was lowering her down onto an enormous bed, and joining her.
‘Nice bedroom,’ Amber commented, running her fingers up into his hair, and then his mouth covered hers.
Clothes were ripped off, and with eager hands and hot and urgent mouths they explored and gloried in each other, until finally once more they reached the ultimate pinnacle of passion and then slid languidly into the heated comfort of the aftermath.
‘All right, Amber?’ Lucas’s husky demand vibrated against her smooth cheek, as she lay sprawled on top of him.
‘Better than all right,’ she breathed against his chest, and, pushing herself up, she looked around. She spied her skirt, her torn skirt, and, glancing back down at Lucas, she added, ‘But we have to stop doing this or I will very soon have no clothes left!’
‘I have to go to Milan next week. Come with me and you can shop till you drop.’
She went to Milan with him, and Lucas bought her a complete new wardrobe, and on returning to the island she modelled the whole lot for him, including the lingerie, with countless interruptions.
It was lucky she had because over the ensuing weeks Lucas spent only three days a week in Athens, but numerous business colleagues arrived on the island. Though she had told herself she would not socialise, she did, and she was too much of a
As the weeks stretched into two months they developed an enviable lifestyle. They went swimming, sailed, ate together and slept together. They also talked, listened to music or sometimes simply sat companionably in the same room reading. The one thing they did not do was talk about their relationship and underpinning all their activities was the simmering desire for each other. Their lovemaking was great. They could not keep their hands off each other.
Amber wandered out onto the terrace and sat down on a conveniently placed lounger overlooking the gardens and the pool, and stared out at the sun-drenched blue of the sea beyond. Her marriage was working better than she had ever dreamed possible. She remembered their early-morning romp and a sensual smile curved her wide mouth. But was sex enough? she asked herself, chewing her bottom lip with her teeth. It was Monday and three weeks today she was supposed to return to England. She would have to go back anyway, because, although she could keep on top of her job as well from the island as England, her clients expected some personal contact, as did the other partners in the firm. She would miss this place, lazing around in only briefs and a cotton shirt, with the greatest lover in the world for company. What more could a woman want?
‘Hi, beautiful, waiting for me?’ Lucas leant over and brushed his lips lightly over her brow before sitting down on the lounger beside her, flicking open the buttons of his jacket and shrugging it off.
‘Yes. But I didn’t hear the helicopter.’ Amber glanced across at him, and watched as he unfastened the buttons of his shirt and lay back with a sigh. He had been in Athens today and he looked tired—sexy but tired.
With his eyes closed, his long lashes curled on high cheekbones, his firm lips curved in a smile. ‘That’s because I came back by boat. The helicopter is out of service until Saturday.’
‘But what about the rest of the week?’
Lucas dealt her a simmering look from half-closed eyes. ‘The rest of the week, I am going to stay here with you.’
Amber rose to her feet and, leaning over him, she murmured, ‘Promises, promises.’ She pressed her lips to his, probing his mouth with her tongue. Lucas responded by slipping his strong hands up under the soft shirt she was wearing to cup her full, firm breasts with his palms, and groaning. ‘This is what I came back for,’ he confided hoarsely, and moments later they were in the shuttered coolness of their bedroom.
Amber threw off her shirt, and watched utterly enslaved as Lucas stripped off his, and then with a husky growl tumbled her naked onto the bed.
A long powerful thigh nudged hers apart and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his mouth, his eyes, his shoulder, anywhere she could reach.
His long fingers teased her nipples, traced over her stomach and parted the soft folds of velvety flesh between her thighs. Amber groaned out loud, heat flooding through her, and he took her hard and fast, and she was with him all the way until their mingled cries of release left them absolutely sated in each other’s arms.
‘Do you think the hot climate in Greece has anything to do with making people feel sexy?’ Amber asked lazily.
A great guffaw of laughter greeted her remark, and Lucas, propping himself up on one elbow, stared down at her. ‘You know what I l…’ And he stopped, an arrested expression in his black eyes. He focused on her flushed face, her swollen mouth, thick black lashes screening his gaze. ‘What I adore about you, Amber, for all your brains and beauty, you can be so naive.’
Amber forced a grin to her lips, but for a moment there she had been sure he was going to say he loved her. ‘Better naive than world-weary, like some I could mention.’
He didn’t rise to her teasing but looked at her for a long while with disturbing intensity. ‘You’re right.’ And, rolling off the bed, Lucas strolled over to the bathroom. ‘I need a shower.’
Ah, well! Amber sighed happily. They had the whole week together. But she was wrong…
After dinner Lucas retired to his study to make a few calls and Amber headed for bed. Fifteen minutes later, showered and wearing a peach-coloured satin negligée, Amber walked back into the bedroom, the material floating around her as she moved. Tiny shoestring straps supported the bodice—a delicately embroidered web of fine lace revealing tantalising glimpses of her full breasts and dusky nipples. Outrageously sexy, it had been chosen for her by Lucas and Amber felt great wearing it. She crossed to the dressing table, and, opening a drawer, withdrew the small box that held her contraceptive pills, a dreamy smile on her face. Lucas would be joining her soon. Flipping open the top of a delicately lacquered box, she picked up a pill and lifted her hand to her mouth.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ Lucas’s deep voice roared, and the box went flying through the air, pills cascading on the floor, and suddenly her wrist was caught in an iron grip. ‘Drop it. Drop it now,’ he said in a rough threatening voice, with menace in his dark eyes.
The single pill fell from her fingers, and Amber felt a frisson of fear run down her spine. She had never seen Lucas in such a violent temper.
He pulled her towards him, the strong dark planes of his face contorted with rage. ‘What are they?’ he demanded, fury in every line of his body. ‘Tell me, damn you.’
She opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. The tension in him was so strong that she shivered at the impact of it. She stared at him, and the violence leaping in his eyes scared her witless. Amber told herself she had no reason to fear him, she had every right to take birth control pills.
‘Answer me, woman,’ he raged, his hand falling from her hair to curve around her throat, tipping her head back. ‘Tell me or so help me I’ll—’
‘You’re hurting me.’ She choked, the breath squeezed from her lungs.
Suddenly he released her, but he still held her wrist. She tried to jerk away, shaking from head to foot, but he forcibly pulled her closer.
‘Birth control pills,’ she muttered in a low, frightened voice.
‘Not amphetamines,’ Lucas grated between his teeth, some of the anger easing from his body. ‘You’re sure?’ His simmering black eyes fixed on her face.
Some opinion he had of her that he dared suggest she would take drugs. Anger tightened her mouth, and she returned his look with a hard, level stare. ‘They are my birth control pills,’ she reiterated.
‘My wife, and you—’
‘Thought I was a junkie,’ Amber cut in hardly.
She saw him stiffen ‘One cannot be too sure nowadays.’ His dark eyes were hooded and curiously blank when he added, ‘You’d better pick them up, as you seem to think you need them.’ Letting go of her wrist, he spun around and stalked off into the bathroom without another word.
Amber crawled around the floor trying to find her remaining pills, and then, placing the box back in the drawer, she climbed into bed. Lucas’s reaction puzzled her—it had been out of all proportion, and totally out of character.
The bathroom door opened and Lucas approached the bed, a small white towel flung precariously around his hips, and with another towel he was rubbing his damp hair. Helplessly Amber’s eyes trailed over his magnificent tanned torso, and she forgot their brief argument, her body warming at the sight of him.
Lucas slid into bed and, leaning over her, brushed a few strands of hair from her forehead, his fingertips stroking down the curve of her cheek. ‘Do you like children, Amber?’
‘Yes,’ she murmured, but warning bells rang in her brain.
‘So why the pill? You’re a married woman,’ he asked silkily, his dark eyes intent and a little speculative on her lovely face.
Amber didn’t want this conversation, not now, not yet… Easing away from his side, she looked up at him, and, choosing her words carefully, she said, ‘You told me to take it the first time we were together, so naturally I do now.’
‘And if I told you to stop? If I told you I wanted you to be the mother of my child,’ he suggested, ‘how would you respond?’
Her heart missed a beat, but her own sense of self-preservation made her cautious. ‘That it was not a very sensible suggestion if we are to part in a few months.’ She waited with bated breath, hoping and praying for him to ask her to stay for ever, tell her he cared. She was disappointed…
For a space of ten seconds he didn’t speak. She saw the muscles bunch at the edge of his jaw, and if she had not known better she would have thought he was shocked. ‘That could be ignored,’ he finally offered.
‘Why?’ She had to know. She had swallowed her pride once where Lucas was concerned and she wasn’t doing it a second time. It was his turn…
‘I’m forty-one, it is time I had a family, and you are twenty-nine next week. It makes sense.’
There was nothing in the world she wanted more than to have his baby, but the cold calculation in his words and his unsubtle reminder of her age were not what she had wanted to hear and her disappointment was intense. ‘I’ll take it under consideration,’ she mocked, evading a direct answer. ‘But right now, I’m tired, can we have this conversation some other time?’
‘There is nothing more to say.’ Amber flinched at the finality in his tone, the cold derision in the eyes that met hers, and when he turned his back on her and went to sleep she had a sinking feeling the honeymoon was over.
Wednesday afternoon she answered the telephone in her study, and smiled at the sound of her father’s voice. She needed something to cheer her up, as her marriage was going down the pan fast. Yesterday Lucas had buried himself away in his study, only surfacing for meals. Last night they had lain in the same bed, but as far apart as it was possible to be. Amber could sense him both physically and mentally withdrawing from her and she could do nothing about it. But realistically she knew a relationship built only on sex was bound to fail. The only question was when?
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