Married By Christmas Bundle: Anthology

by Carol Marinelli

  A sudden wave of anger washed over her, heating her blood, making her back straighter. She whipped her hands down, jerking her wrists free of Marco’s grip and lifted her chin in defiance.

  ‘You are despicable,’ she said.

  ‘As despicable as falling into another man’s bed only days before your wedding?’ he sneered.

  ‘You knew—but still you…’ She drew in a shuddering breath. ‘I felt so guilty. I tried to stop it, but you were so…persistent.’

  ‘You wanted it as much as I did,’ he reminded her.

  ‘You set me up!’ Claudia cried. ‘Appearing outside the Ritz. Following me to Wales.’

  ‘You ought to be used to set-ups,’ Marco said. ‘But you don’t like it when the tables are turned on you. Personally, I rather enjoyed myself. And I thought there was a certain poetic justice in the location—Wales always was special for us.’

  Claudia’s head was throbbing and her mind spinning with what she was hearing. She’d never seen Marco behave like this before. Had never heard him use such a harsh tone of voice. Had never heard him say such cruel things.

  ‘You’re so different,’ she said, running her eyes over him almost desperately, as if by looking hard enough she might see some sign of the Marco who had meant so much to her. ‘I don’t even recognise the man in front of me.’

  ‘Is this better?’ he asked, stripping off his jacket, then his shirt.

  ‘What are you doing?’ She stared in shock at his naked torso. Her heart started to beat out a rhythm of alarm and a surge of adrenaline flooded her body.

  ‘This is how you’ve seen me most frequently over the last couple of days,’ Marco said. ‘I thought seeing me like this might help you get things in perspective.’

  ‘I’ve got everything in perfect perspective,’ she snapped, thinking just how much her world had changed in a matter of minutes. ‘Thank you for showing me, in case I hadn’t fully realised yet, just how much of a brute you are.’

  She straightened her shoulders, refusing to take even one step backwards, although part of her wanted to turn tail and flee. Another darker, instinct driven part of her wanted to let her eyes roam over his naked skin. But she kept her head up, meeting his gaze steadily with her own.

  She was wearing the smart high-heeled shoes she’d changed into for a day in the city, giving her three inches of extra height, but still he towered over her, making her feel shorter than she was.

  ‘You do realise nothing has changed,’ Marco said. ‘We are still the same people we were half an hour ago. You’re the same woman who made love to me, only days before her wedding.’

  ‘It wasn’t like that,’ Claudia protested. ‘I would never have done that if…’ She bit her lip—it was so hard to explain. ‘The wedding—it’s not what you think.’

  ‘What do I think it is?’ Marco asked smoothly.

  ‘It’s just a business arrangement,’ she said.

  ‘Is that better than the alternative?’ Marco asked. ‘The traditional reason for marriage—that you’ve fallen in love.’

  Claudia dropped her gaze, suddenly flustered.

  There was another alternative—blackmail. But she couldn’t tell him that. If she did, he would discover the power Vasile had over her. Then he could take that power and use it for himself.

  The man she’d thought he was would never do such a thing, but now she knew he was ruthless and had no honour. She could never expose her father to him.

  ‘It’s not going to be that kind of wedding—it will be platonic, a business arrangement only.’ Claudia lifted her hand and pushed her hair off her face.

  ‘To get your hands on your trust fund five years early,’ Marco said derisively.

  ‘How do you know about my trust fund?’ Claudia said in shock. Her father had always kept it quiet to protect her from people interested in her only for the money she would have one day.

  ‘I told you—I’ve made it my business to know these things,’ Marco said. ‘I suppose you’ve had enough of working for a living and can’t wait for the money.’

  ‘It’s not that simple,’ she said. ‘I need the money for something really important.’

  ‘And what does Vasile get out of it?’ he asked in a way that made a nasty prickle of distaste run down between her shoulder blades.

  ‘Nothing,’ she said automatically, then realised that wouldn’t sound very convincing. ‘Well, some money, of course.’

  ‘Only money?’ Marco said incredulously, letting his eyes roam across her suggestively. ‘You’re not naive enough to think Vasile won’t want to taste the delights of that body himself?’

  ‘You’re disgusting!’ she gasped, suddenly feeling the blood drain away from her head, making her feel dizzy with shock. The very idea of it made her feel sick. That was not what she had agreed to. She would never agree to something like that.

  ‘You’ve done a deal with the devil—what did you expect?’ Marco said harshly. ‘You can’t seriously think he won’t take everything he can get?’

  ‘Not that!’ she gasped, feeling her stomach turn over in revulsion.

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Marco said, lifting a hand and slipping it into her hair. ‘Vasile’s never going to get a chance to lay a finger on you.’

  ‘What…what do you mean?’ Claudia stammered.

  A shudder of apprehension suddenly rippled through her and at the same time she became ultra aware of his hand in her hair. She tried to take a step backwards, but Marco responded instantly, slipping his hand to the back of her head to hold her in place.

  ‘I’m not letting him have you,’ he said.

  He was so close that she could feel the heat radiating off his naked chest. See the subtle flare of his ribcage as he breathed.

  ‘It’s got nothing to do with you.’ She fidgeted under his intense gaze, unsettled by how breathless her own voice sounded. His eyes were boring down into her, penetrating the defensive barrier of emotional control she was trying to hold up against him.

  ‘It has everything to do with me,’ he said, pulling her slightly nearer to him. ‘You’re mine now.’

  Claudia’s eyes widened and she swallowed nervously. Her body was already responding to the sexual message in Marco’s words—and that was the last thing she wanted.

  ‘You’ve just spent the last few minutes telling me what a terrible person I am,’ she said. ‘Why would you care if I married a man you hate?’

  ‘Vasile is not having you,’ he grated. ‘He’ll never have you.’

  ‘You don’t want me,’ she whispered.

  ‘You know I do. And you still want me,’ he goaded her.

  ‘No!’ She denied it. ‘How could I want someone so heartless—someone who was using me all along?’

  ‘I don’t know, bella mia,’ Marco said, skimming his hand down the back of her neck and slipping it under the soft collar of her blouse. Then he slowly drew it flat against the skin across her shoulder, around to the base of her throat. ‘Maybe because you’re not the kind of girl who marries for love.’

  Tears sparkled in Claudia’s eyes as she looked at him. How could she challenge him? She had just told him she was marrying for business reasons. And, despite all the deception between them, she knew there was some truth in his words now. She did still want him.

  His hand was burning against her skin, slipping lower and lower against her breastbone with every shallow breath she took. She had to stop him—but she didn’t want to.

  ‘Don’t do this.’ Her voice was shaky and she knew it lacked conviction.

  ‘We’ve been here before,’ Marco reminded her harshly, ‘when you begged me in the shower not to take your clothes off. Then, later, you were writhing in my arms as I made love to you.’

  ‘That won’t happen now,’ Claudia said, trying to pull his hand away from the inside of her blouse. But his reactions were too quick and she found her own hand pinned beneath his, flat against the skin above her left breast. She could feel her heart beating beneath her pal
m and the iron strength of his grasp as he held her hand in place.

  ‘I know it will,’ Marco said, lifting his free hand and starting to undo the front of her blouse. ‘But I don’t have time to play any more games. We have a flight to catch to the Caribbean and must be on our way back to the city soon.’

  ‘I’m not going to the Caribbean with you!’ Claudia gasped, barely aware of his fingers making quick work of her buttons. Did he know absolutely everything—even that she was supposed to meet Francesca and Vasile in the Caribbean? ‘I…I’ve made a commitment. I have to see it through.’

  ‘You’re coming with me,’ he said.

  ‘But why?’ she said, desperately trying to think of a way she could protect her father. If she didn’t marry Primo Vasile as she had agreed, Vasile would turn her father in to the police.

  ‘I plan to take everything from Vasile.’ Marco’s eyes were gleaming dangerously, setting Claudia’s sense of self-protection on to red alert. ‘Every little thing that is of any importance to him. And you are one of those things.’

  ‘I’m not a thing!’ Claudia’s voice quavered, but she squared her shoulders and stood up taller. The slight movement made her aware of her own hand just above her breast, with Marco’s hand pressing over it. But she carried on, determined to defend herself. ‘And I’m not important to Vasile.’

  ‘Your trust fund is,’ Marco said brutally.

  ‘It’s only money,’ she replied.

  ‘Money he desperately needs,’ Marco said. ‘Money he thinks will save him.’

  ‘From you?’ Claudia’s voice was small.

  ‘He doesn’t know it’s me,’ Marco said. ‘I’ve been squeezing him dry, pressuring him from all sides, waiting for him to make a mistake.’

  She stared up at him, appalled all over again by what she was hearing. He was consumed by his need for revenge and she was to be part of that. His conquest of her was linked in his mind to the destruction of the man who had ruined his family.

  ‘It was Vasile who hurt your family, not me,’ she said. ‘What have I ever done to you to make you treat me like this?’

  ‘Enough,’ Marco said, suddenly closing the distance between them and bringing his mouth down on hers.

  For a fraction of a second she wondered what he meant by the word enough. Did he mean that she’d done enough to deserve his revenge, or that they’d done enough talking?

  Then all her thoughts were blown away as a surge of sensation rose up through her body. Marco was plundering her mouth with a kiss that was forceful and possessive. And incredibly erotic.

  She tried to pull away but hot arousal sizzled along her nerve endings, obliterating any thought of resistance from her mind. She felt his hands sweeping quickly over her, striping off her blouse, unhooking her bra. Then reaching under her skirt to tug down her lacy briefs.

  The next moment he lifted her on to the wide leather topped desk, pushing things out of the way impatiently. She was lying on her back with her knees bent. Her skirt had ridden up to show the wide band of lace at the top of her hold-ups and she was still wearing her high-heeled shoes. She moved her feet, intending to kick them off.

  ‘Leave them on,’ Marco commanded, pushing forward between her legs so that he was kneeling over her, his arms braced on either side of her shoulders.

  She stared up at him, hearing her own breath already coming in shallow gasps as she anticipated his lovemaking.

  All the unpleasant emotions that had been raging through her only minutes earlier seemed to have been converted into hot, physical desire. Maybe it was a subconscious act of protection against more pain. Or maybe it was simply that she still burned with sexual longing for Marco. Whatever the reason, she was suddenly desperate for him to make love to her.

  His black hair fell down over his forehead, but it did not soften his appearance. His dark eyes were narrowed with intent and there was a fierce set to his jaw line.

  Without saying a word, he dipped forward and took her nipple deep into his mouth. He kissed it roughly, drawing it into a diamond-hard peak of throbbing sensation. Then he moved to the other breast and repeated his actions. Her whole body trembled and she arched her back, pressing her shoulders down against the hard surface of the desk and thrusting her breasts up towards him.

  Then he pulled back and in one fluid movement dropped down so that his head was between her legs.

  Claudia gasped and tried to sit up, suddenly unnerved by that extra level of intimacy. But his hands were moving, pushing her back down on the desk, then forcing her skirt higher, before sliding round to hold on to her bottom to keep her still.

  A moment later his mouth found the most sensitive place on her body.

  ‘Oh!’ The moan of pure sexual pleasure tore from deep within her lungs and she flexed her feet, digging her heels down and instinctively tilting her pelvis up towards him.

  His tongue glided over her quivering flesh, teasing her mercilessly, making her body writhe beneath him. She rocked her hips, almost unable to bear the intensity of the pleasure he was giving her, but he held her tight.

  He kept his mouth pressed against her flesh, continuing to stimulate her with exquisite movements of his tongue and lips. It felt like the most intimate possession of her body she had ever known. As if somehow Marco was right inside her being, driving her experience from within.

  He was in total control of her body. Every flick of his tongue sent waves of bliss undulating through her. There was nothing she could do but surrender to it—surrender to him.

  She felt as if she were flying, soaring out of her body into the heavens. Marco kept on, driving her relentlessly towards her ultimate release. Then suddenly, magically, she reached the highest point.

  A shimmering moment of rapture took her, bursting though her body like a million points of light, transporting her to another wonderful place.

  For a moment she lost all awareness of her surroundings and she didn’t feel Marco pulling away from her. The next thing she knew, he was lying over her, pressing in between her parted legs, positioning himself to thrust deep into her body.

  She was still floating halfway between the heavens and earth and her muscles felt weak and shaky, but she reached up to grip his shoulders and lifted her legs to wrap them around his hips.

  Then, with one perfect movement, he drove himself into her.

  ‘Oh, Marco!’

  A renewed burst of pleasure took hold of her and she cried out his name. She didn’t know that it was possible to go any higher than she already had, but with every powerful thrust he was carrying her upwards, beyond anything she had ever even dreamed of.

  A torrent of molten pleasure surged through her helpless body, making her tremble and moan. She clung to him, every inch of her vibrating with the red-hot energy that was pulsing within her.

  Overwhelming sensations spiralled out from where their bodies were joined, and the feelings were building—growing stronger and stronger. Like a force of nature, Marco possessed her body, taking her to a place so wonderful that nothing but pleasure existed. He was thrusting faster and faster, harder and harder into her.

  Suddenly Claudia cried out and dug her fingers into his back. Her inner muscles contracted, clenching tightly around him, drawing him deeper still. And her world exploded into a rainbow of glittering stars.

  Then, a moment later, Marco gave a ferocious shout as he reached his climax.

  It was only a couple of minutes later when Marco lifted himself away from Claudia. He got dressed without speaking and then turned his back on her to look out of the window.

  The estate stretched out below him, towards the jagged peaks of the Alps. Earlier, when they’d arrived, everything had looked the same. But now the long winter shadows and the burnished light of the approaching sunset made it hard for him to recognise anything. In his memory he had always seen the property in the hazy brightness of high summer, with the grapes ripening on the vine and his sister riding her pony.

  But whether the view he saw t
oday matched his memory didn’t matter—he’d worked for this for so long, and now it was nearly in his grasp.

  He found himself looking down at the fountain courtyard—she same place he’d seen in Claudia’s photographs in Wales. He’d been looking at that photo of Hector, thinking about taking back what rightfully belonged to him. Then he had turned and seen Claudia weeping.

  An unexpected jolt of emotion spiked through him as he remembered how sad and vulnerable she had looked. He could still see her face—her wide golden brown eyes glistening with tears and her full sensual lips quivering as she’d tried not to cry, tried not to let him see how upset she was.

  Then she had told him Hector was dying, and she had clung to him and wept, letting all her feelings out. He’d responded automatically to her distress, which had seemed so genuine, so deeply heartfelt. For a moment he’d felt himself softening towards her, until he’d remembered everything she had done. Weeping for her father did not cancel out the way she had preyed on his innocent sister. Or the way she’d played him—setting him up, getting him out of the country so that Vasile could get his hands on Bianca.

  Anger suddenly surged through him. Claudia deserved whatever she got. And he hadn’t finished with her yet.

  He heard quiet noises as she started to get up coming from the desk behind him. He was surprised. Her orgasm had been so intense that he hadn’t expected her to be moving so soon.

  ‘Oh!’

  The sound of her gasp made him spin round immediately.

  She was sitting on the edge of the desk in a state of instantly arousing disarray. Naked to the waist, a gloriously untidy curtain of coppery hair hung past her shoulders, partially hiding her breasts in a way that made him itch to slip his hands beneath its silky weight and cup her soft flesh. Her skirt was rucked up over her hips, showing her long slender legs right past the lacy tops of her stockings. And, amazingly, she was still wearing those sexy high-heeled shoes.

  He dragged his eyes away from her body and looked at her face. The second he made eye contact she spoke.

  ‘I hate you!’ she spat out.