And what senses!
Even standing here, warring with him, every one of these senses was on red alert. It was as though the time they had spent apart had never happened. She actually wanted his kisses, her body called out for them, and yet the sane part of her mind warned her that to do so would be a huge mistake. One she might later regret.
But did she listen to the sane part of her mind? No! When Adam was so close that she could see each one of his incredibly long eyelashes individually, when she could, if she so desired, reach out and touch his jaw where already new growth was showing, when she could hear his breathing and see the sudden flare in his eyes, it was too late to back away.
A warm hand curved behind her neck and eyes that she’d once felt herself drowning in burned into hers, asking the question but not waiting for an answer.
Sienna’s heart drummed an age-old rhythm. Each beat built up her senses, and when Adam’s lips claimed hers she was totally ready. It was like much-needed rain after a dry summer. It was like finding water in the desert. It fed her inner needs and against her better judgement she returned his kiss.
It dived deep into the heart of her, arousing senses that had long lain dormant, sending thrill after thrill through her body so that she tingled and sizzled and did not want him to stop.
It was Ethan who put a stop to it, running into the room to show his father a toy boat. It did not faze him that they were kissing—he merely tugged at his father’s sleeve. ‘Daddy, I have a boat just like this at home.’
With her cheeks flaming, Sienna was thankful that her son saw nothing wrong. She guessed he thought it was what all mummies and daddies did. But it brought her to her senses, made her realise that spending any length of time with Adam was dangerous.
‘Then you’re a very lucky boy to have two boats,’ said Adam. He too appeared untroubled by the interruption, though he did look darkly at Sienna, as if to say that they would carry the kiss on at another time. ‘And guess what, Ethan? I have the real thing.’
‘You do?’ Ethan’s eyes widened into two enormous orbs. ‘A real boat?’
‘A real boat.’
‘Can I see it? Can I go on it? Where is it? Can we go now?’
‘Ethan!’ Sienna was appalled by Ethan’s questions. ‘You cannot go on your father’s boat. I will not allow it. You’re too young.’
‘I can swim, Mummy, if you’re frightened I’ll fall into the water.’
‘Of course you can, but it’s different in the river from the swimming baths. Go back and play.’
Ethan looked crestfallen but did as he was told and as soon as he was out of earshot Sienna turned on Adam. ‘You shouldn’t have told him. Haven’t I told you not to flash your wealth in front of him? You’ll make him impossible to handle.’
‘And why would that be?’ Adam’s thick dark brows drew together over eyes that were suddenly fierce. ‘He’ll find out one day, why not now?’
‘Because it’s too much too soon. He’s only four, Adam. He doesn’t really understand.’
‘Exactly. Therefore I don’t see what you’re worrying about. Now, what were we doing before we were interrupted?’ A faint smile twisted the corners of his lips as he moved in on her again, but Sienna was too quick for him.
If he thought she was going to slip back into a relationship with him because of Ethan, he was sorely mistaken. She might still fancy him like mad but she could get over that. She’d done it once, why not again?
Except that now, because of Ethan, he was a permanent part of her life. She could not introduce Ethan to his father and then never let him see him again. Somehow she had to ignore the emotions that flowed through her like a raging river. She had to pretend they did not exist. Adam was Ethan’s father. Full stop. Not her lover any more. Just Ethan’s father.
‘It’s time for Ethan to have a bath and go to bed,’ she declared, hoping her voice sounded normal.
Earlier Adam had shown her the bedrooms. One room with twin beds that he thought Ethan could use, a room with a double bed, both rooms having their own bathroom, and his own impressive suite with its king-size bed and not one but two bathrooms and an interconnecting dressing room.
Talk about excess, she had thought, though she had wisely kept her words to herself.
Ethan was totally impressed that he had his very own bathroom and Sienna thought that she might have problems getting him to sleep in a strange bed. But, no, he dropped off straight away, after persuading his father to read him a bedtime story.
Adam appeared a little awkward at first but soon his voice relaxed and he even managed to put on different voices for each character.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Ethan loves being read to.’
‘He’s a good child. You’ve brought him up well, Sienna.’
His voice dropped to a low husky growl and alarm bells went off in Sienna’s head. Things were moving a lot faster than she had intended. It felt like only yesterday that she had faced him and told him that he had a son. Now they were staying with him and she was afraid that a weekend would lead to something more.
‘I only wish that I’d known about him from the beginning.’
Then you shouldn’t have ignored me and spent all your hours at work, thought Sienna. He had no one to blame but himself.
‘But I intend to make up.’
Her eyes flashed a warning. ‘All he wants is your love.’
‘And how about you, Sienna? What do you want?’
The steady look in his eyes, the husky tone of his voice, warned her that she needed to be careful. ‘I want Ethan to be happy. I don’t want him to get too close to you and then you let him down.’
‘You think I’d do that?’ Blue eyes darkened and narrowed, his chin lifted with familiar arrogance.
‘You let me down and it destroyed our marriage.’
‘Only because you didn’t understand. You never made allowances. There was a reason I—’
Sienna’s eyes flashed as fiercely as his. ‘The fact was you neglected me. And if you dare do that to Ethan, I’ll make sure you regret it to the end of your days.’
‘There is one way you can ensure I don’t neglect him.’
Sienna’s heart drummed a little more quickly. ‘And that is?’ She knew what he was going to say and she had her answer ready.
‘You can move in with me.’
‘Not in a million years.’ The words came out as quick as a flash. ‘I’ve had one dose of living with you, Adam. It didn’t work then and it wouldn’t work now. Besides you can’t cage Ethan in an apartment. It wouldn’t be fair.’
‘Then I’ll buy a house with a garden. Problem solved.’ He folded his arms and looked at her down the length of his nose.
If only it were that easy! Adam really had no idea what this was all about. It wasn’t about them moving in with him. Despite what Sienna had said, she now knew that this wasn’t about Ethan any more. It was about the two of them.
Their relationship.
Adam was as sexy as hell and there was clearly still an incredibly strong attraction between them. They would be spending more and more time together because of Ethan, and if things continued the way they were, Sienna knew, deep in her heart, that it wouldn’t be long before she was sharing his bed again. But there was more to life than making love. Adam could declare as many times as he liked that he would change his working habits but she knew differently. Words were easy. Doing it was another matter.
He enjoyed the cut and thrust of business, it was his whole life, it meant more to him than a wife, and it would inevitably mean more to him than a child. Even though he would say he was doing it for Ethan. To provide for his future.
Heavens, he was wealthy enough never to work again. But work was his first love and his last love. She and Ethan would always come a poor second.
‘I suggest we take things one step at a time, Adam,’ she said carefully. ‘Let’s see how we get on. This is all very new for Ethan. He’s excited now but—’
‘But
you’re still afraid I’ll let him down? Maybe not today or tomorrow, not even next week or next month, but in a year’s time you’re wondering what sort of a father I’ll be?’
There was steel in his voice, which made her shiver. Nevertheless, she kept her tone firm and her eyes hard. ‘You’re forgetting I know your track record.’
‘We also had a track record in love-making.’ His voice changed, softened, and he took a step towards her.
Sienna held her breath. It would be so easy to melt into his arms, to let him kiss her senseless and carry her off to bed. That huge bed with its tempting gold and cream quilt. Not a man’s colour, though it creatively relieved the brown carpet and curtains.
It was a sumptuous bedroom and everything inside her quivered at the thought of sharing it with him. Their earlier kiss, brief though it had been, had rolled back the years, made her aware of the power Adam had once wielded over her. And when he looked at her from beneath those thick dark brows, the sort of look that would turn any woman’s bones to jelly, she knew that that power had not waned.
It felt like a trickle of electricity running through her body, sparking and tingling and making her want to feed from his kisses. Which was crazy, considering their circumstances. But if he touched her now, if he attempted to kiss her, she would not be able to stop him. Instead, she would go up in flames.
‘That was then, Adam. Things are very different now.’ Somehow she kept her voice steady and indifferent.
Adam’s lips quirked. ‘A pity. It’s been a long time since anyone shared my bed.’
Sienna let her brows rise upwards in a searching question.
‘You think I’ve had a stream of women in your wake? Not so, Sienna. I’ve dated, yes, but I’ve brought no one here. This is my sole preserve—though I’m willing to share it with you.’
‘It’s a pity, then, that I don’t want to.’ Sienna kept her eyes steady on his.
‘Maybe I could persuade you?’
Another step and he was so close that she could feel the warmth of him, see the intent in his sensational blue eyes, smell the rich male scent of him. It was a heady cocktail. A dangerous one.
She closed her eyes in self-defence, not wanting to see him, not wanting to feel. And was totally shocked when his arms slid behind her back and his mouth claimed hers all in one swift, devastating movement.
Unable to move or speak, unable to stem the tide of hunger that shot through her, Sienna kept her eyes tightly closed and allowed herself the luxury of feeling Adam’s power, of experiencing a sensational explosion of feelings so strong that they stunned her.
Crazily she did not want him to let her go, she wanted to spend the night in his arms and in his bed, making amazing love. Adam had always been an innovative lover but she imagined that he would have improved, that he would take her to places she had never been before.
And her body cried out for fulfilment.
‘So what is your answer, Sienna?’ Adam lifted his mouth from hers and Sienna immediately felt that he had deserted her.
She shot her eyes wide. His kiss had disturbed her senses, made her forget everything except the thrill of the moment.
If he was going to carry on kissing her like this, turning her body into a mass of sensation that could only be relieved by making love, her answer had to be yes.
But if his intention was to win her over solely so that he could have access to his son, she would be foolish. There was no way on this earth that she was going to let Adam use her.
She pulled swiftly away from him, darts of sudden hostility shooting from her eyes. ‘I need my head examined.’ She needed more than that, she needed brain surgery. How could she have let him kiss her?
There were dark, dangerous thoughts going through his head and if she wasn’t careful she would play straight into his hands.
To her amazement Adam laughed, a cruel laugh that sliced into her heart, and his face was inscrutable as he moved away. ‘Drinks on the terrace?’
Sienna wanted to be anywhere but with Adam. He had tested her and humiliated her, and unfortunately there was no escape. It might be a luxury apartment but there was no place to run. She was committed to spending the weekend with him, whether she liked it or not.
Chapter Six
SIENNA chose to sleep in the same room as Ethan. Here she was safe. Here she could relax. Adam’s continual assault on her senses spun her out of control. But also served as a timely warning.
It was total insanity letting him see that she was still painfully weak where he was concerned and she needed to be careful, to be on her guard at all times, to make sure that it did not happen again. Otherwise he would have her back in his bed. Not because he loved her, she knew that there was no chance of that, but because he wanted Ethan and he knew that they came as a pair. In effect he would have the best of both worlds.
After breakfast they walked along the river, they fed the ducks, they lunched at a riverside restaurant, and Ethan never stopped talking.
He was a welcome diversion. This was what the weekend was supposed to be about. Ethan and Adam getting to know one another.
To give him his due, he was very good with Ethan. They had long conversations and he didn’t try to impress his son again by splashing his money around.
It was not until they got back to his apartment and Ethan shot away to play with his new toys that she found herself once more alone with Adam.
He had discovered what a joy Ethan was. How good it felt to have a son, his own flesh and blood. A little companion. Sienna had denied him that pleasure and he made no attempt now to hide his resentment. ‘I’ve enjoyed today with Ethan,’he said, ‘more than I thought possible. But I’ll never forgive you for keeping him a secret.’
‘Perhaps I should have told you sooner, but do you remember what our marriage was like, Adam? What do you think you would have done if I’d told you I was pregnant?’ Sienna’s brows drew into a swift frown. ‘Don’t answer that, allow me to. You’d have been angry, furious, in fact. You’d have said it was all my fault. You weren’t ready for children, or marriage for that matter.’
‘Maybe I wasn’t,’ he agreed, ignoring the hint of guilt at the back of his mind. ‘Nevertheless, you stole his first years from me, Sienna. I’ve missed out on seeing him learn to walk, to say his first words, all the cute little things that babies do.’
‘Cute little things?’ echoed Sienna, her eyes flaring. ‘When have you been interested in cute? You had time for no one, Adam Bannerman. No one, not even me.’
‘So how did we produce a baby if I had no time for you?’
She tossed him a scornful glance, one that could have frozen water. ‘Because like all men there’s one thing that you cannot do without. But rest assured, Adam, it will never happen again.’
Her demeanour, her whole attitude, fired him up and made him want to kiss her despite his anger. He knew that to do so would be fatal, but it did not stop him thinking about it. Sienna had grown spectacularly beautiful over the years. She had an added confidence about her now, a haughty look. He loved the way she tilted her chin, the way she challenged him. She’d been lovely before but the in-between years had turned her into one very stunning woman.
Her rich chestnut hair seemed to have thickened and he was sorely tempted to run his fingers through it. Snatch her face close to his and kiss her fiercely. Her blue eyes were clear and bright and they danced with fire. Hell, he could feel himself hardening.
It had definitely been a mistake suggesting they spend the whole weekend with him. He’d arranged it for his son’s sake, because he wanted to get to know Ethan, but the power of Sienna was in danger of overriding it.
He had never expected to feel like this about her. He’d been as angry as hell when she had told him about Ethan, so angry he could have throttled her with his bare hands, and, yes, he still was angry. But now that he’d spent time again with Sienna he was beginning to realise how stupid he had been to let her go.
And stupid also to think
that there might be a future for them, because she’d made it crystal clear that it was not what she wanted.
Even though she responded to his kisses!
There was certainly more to Sienna than he had ever thought. Not only had she improved in looks, she had more guts, more of everything, in fact.
Sienna did not wait for Adam’s answer but walked away from him, out onto the terrace where she could look out over the Thames, throwing over her shoulder as she did so, ‘Why don’t you go and play with your son?’
She wished that her own body was as reassuringly calm as some of the boats making their way slowly towards their goal. Their earlier kiss still haunted her. It had been madness, letting it happen. On the other hand, it was a timely warning. One she must remember.
When Adam spoke softly in her ear she jumped because she had believed, had hoped, in fact, that he was safely with Ethan. She needed this breathing space to come to terms with what was happening. Had he deliberately trodden softly? Was he trying to home in on her thoughts?
She turned round swiftly—and found herself trapped between his arms. He was not touching her, not even a hair from his strong powerful forearms caressed her body. But she was his prisoner nevertheless, his hands either side of her on the safety rail. Judging by the way her body reacted, though, he may as well have been touching her.
The musky scent of his skin filled her nostrils and with her heartbeats accelerating to a million times a minute, a flood of heat gathering speed through her limbs, she stood in total shock, her eyes locked with his. ‘What do you think you are doing? Ethan might—’
‘He’s asleep.’
‘What?’
‘I think his walk wore him out. He was lying on the floor with his toy boat in his hand. I’ve lifted him onto the bed.’
‘I’d best go to him.’ Sienna attempted to push past Adam but he was having none of it. He caught her arm and swung her to face him.
Married Again to the Millionaire Page 6