A Daring Deception (Harlequin Presents)

by Amanda Browning

  Rachel glanced at Nathan, but his expression was as smooth as glass. She had no idea what he was thinking. She found out, though, the instant the silent efficient Michael had shown them to their room.

  The door closed softly, and Nathan turned to her with a grim look on his face. ‘Just what the devil do you think you’re playing at?’ he demanded furiously.

  CHAPTER SIX

  RACHEL’S lips parted on a gasp of surprise. ‘Excuse me?’

  A nerve ticked in Nathan’s jaw. ‘Don’t play dumb. I’m referring to the game you were playing with Ames out by the pool!’ he enlarged grittily.

  She simply couldn’t believe she was actually hearing this. Amazed at this totally unexpected attack, she took umbrage. Eyes narrowing dangerously, she crossed her arms aggressively. ‘I was doing what you asked me to do!’ she countered, with what she considered justifiable indignation. The man had said flirt with Ames, and that was precisely what she had done. No more, no less. What could he find wrong in that?

  Apparently quite a lot. Some deep emotion flashed ominously in his eyes. ‘That didn’t mean you had to crawl all over him like a rash!’ he thundered back through clenched teeth.

  Her chin went up at that crack. Well, of all the nerve! She had done nothing of the sort. ‘I wasn’t all over him. I…’

  The angry words tailed off abruptly as she suddenly fell into what was happening here. It was staggering. What she had thought downstairs had been part of the act was, in actual fact, very real. He was furious with her for doing what was expected of her. Her heart took a crazy lurch, for she could think of only one reason for his behaviour. A reason which took her breath away whilst it opened up a realm of possibilities. Yet she responded to it with caution, in case she was misreading the signs, protecting herself by acting in character.

  ‘Why, Nathan, I do believe you’re jealous!’ she exclaimed gleefully, and all the while her heart was tripping crazily in her chest at the thought of what could be possible.

  Immediately a shutter went down over those scintillating blue eyes. ‘Now that is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard you say!’

  Hearing such an emphatic denial, the more certain was she that she was right. He was jealous. Taking great care, she spread her hands in a sign of mystification. ‘Then why are you so angry?’

  ‘I am not angry!’ he denied, so forcefully that for the life of her she couldn’t help laughing.

  ‘Of course not!’ she agreed, smiling broadly, eyes dancing.

  He was far from amused already, and that, apparently, was a step too far. He closed the distance between them in one swift stride, voice dropping warningly. ‘Don’t laugh at me, Rachel,’ he advised softly.

  She tried, but the knowledge she had just gained acted on her like fine wine. She was drunk on it, and a giggle escaped her. ‘I can’t help it. You’re so funny!’

  ‘I’m warning you. Stop it, or I’ll stop you!’ he threatened, and Rachel went still, her eyes locking with his. Suddenly the air was positively seething with suppressed emotions, making it hard to breathe.

  ‘And just how do you propose to do that?’ she taunted softly, thinking she had to be crazy to be baiting this man, but too caught up to stop now. So much was at stake, it was time to be reckless.

  That dangerous something flashed in his eyes again the second before he caught her by the upper arms and yanked her to him. ‘Like this!’ he growled, and brought his mouth down on hers.

  It was everything Rachel had dreamt it would be, and a whole lot more. She had never believed it would happen, and now that it had she quite forgot to breathe. At first Nathan’s lips were hard on hers, revealing his anger, but he couldn’t maintain it, and within seconds the pressure altered subtly, taking on an urgency that sought a response from her that she was only too happy to give. This was no gentle seduction, but she didn’t care. Her lips parted, welcoming the thrust of his tongue, meeting it with her own. Like two combustible chemicals, they came together and became an explosive mixture. His hands released their hold as his arms slid around her, pulling her crushingly close. It was as if he could not get enough of her, and, quivering with newly awakened desire, she knew that she wanted more too.

  From nowhere, this sexual conflagration swept over them with the effect of a forest fire. They were hungry for each other, and the air positively sizzled with the force of this sudden need. Her whole body trembled, her nerve-endings so receptive she was almost humming with the incredible pleasure of his lips on hers and the feel of his body hard against her own. Even then the need was to get closer, and when one powerful thigh thrust between hers she went up in flames with a helpless moan.

  Perversely, it was that small sound which brought Nathan back to his senses. He tore his mouth from hers and, breathing heavily, stared down at her incredulously.

  Rachel looked up at him dreamily, her eyes half-closed, her lips bruised by the power of his kisses. ‘Oh, Nathan, don’t stop…’ she sighed, attempting to put her arms around his neck and pull his head back down to hers, but that was too much. He thrust her away from him and she staggered backwards, only regaining her balance with an effort.

  Nathan dragged a visibly trembling hand through his hair and glared at her. ‘Damn it, I knew you’d try something like this!’ he accused, stunning her in quite a different way.

  Even so, it didn’t take her addled brain long to realise that he was placing the blame on her. Whilst she would have been prepared to share it, she had no intention of taking it all on herself. ‘Hey, just a second. You kissed me, remember!’ she countered swiftly, coming out of her kiss induced daze with a vengeance.

  He shot her an icy look. ‘You had nothing to do with it, of course!’

  Rachel shook her head in sheer disbelief. ‘I didn’t make you do anything you didn’t want to do!’ He could have broken off the kiss when it had still been a punishment, but he had chosen to prolong it and the kiss had changed dramatically. What was sticking in his craw was the fact he hadn’t been able to help himself any more than she had.

  He rounded on her with a look that would have made lesser mortals back off, but Rachel was made of sterner stuff and stood her ground, albeit with a thudding heart. ‘Do you imagine for one second that I really wanted to kiss you?’

  That hurt, because he knew as well as she did who had been in control. She jerked her chin at him belligerently. ‘It certainly felt like it to me!’

  That nerve started up in his jaw again. ‘Take it from me, you were wrong.’

  ‘Liar,’ she accused, the word slipping out before she could consider the consequences of saying it.

  Nathan looked as if he wanted to resort to violence. ‘Nobody gets away with calling me a liar,’ he declared with dire promise, and though Rachel’s heart skipped a vital beat she stayed where she was.

  ‘What are you going to do, kiss me again?’ she taunted, whilst part of her longed for that very thing. She was hooked. One kiss would never be enough.

  A nasty smile twisted his handsome mouth. ‘You’d like that, wouldn’t you?’

  Unable to back down, and knowing the real Rachel would show too much hurt at the way he was destroying a moment she had felt was so precious, she hid once again behind the person he thought her to be.

  ‘I wouldn’t say no. That kiss certainly had potential. It’s a shame you ended it so soon,’ she complained with a touch of mockery.

  His chest expanded as he drew in a deep, steadying breath. Lowering his head, he placed his hands on his hips and studied the tips of his shoes for a long moment before glancing up at her again. She could see immediately that his anger had been mastered, and there was only a glittering mockery in his eyes.

  ‘Don’t play games with me, Rachel. I warned you about that before.’

  It seemed to Rachel that they had come a long way in the last few minutes and were still nowhere. She couldn’t let it go without hitting back. ‘At least admit that you enjoyed kissing me,’ she goaded, slinking towards him with her h
ead tipped on one side consideringly. ‘Or aren’t you man enough to do that?’

  ‘Oh, I enjoyed kissing you,’ he admitted without hesitation, and the irony in his eyes was painful to witness. ‘That doesn’t mean I’d want to do it again. After all, I like sugar, but I avoid it because I know it’s bad for me.’

  She pouted prettily, whilst inside she knew she could be good for him if he would only give her the chance to prove it. ‘That must take a lot of the fun out of your life.’

  He smiled thinly, ‘I know, but at least I’ll live longer. Now, I suggest you shift that delightful backside of yours into gear and get ready for lunch, before they send out a search party.’

  Saving face being the priority, Rachel picked up her case and headed for the bathroom, pausing briefly in the doorway to give him a sly look. ‘How interesting. You like kissing me. You like my backside. You even think I have a lovely smile. I’d be careful, Nathan, darling, for these are worrying signs. Who knows where it will end?’ she taunted, and closed the door on any possible answer he cared to make.

  The energy went out of her in a rush then. She sagged back against the door and closed her eyes. Automatically her hand rose to her mouth, her fingers probing lips which still tingled. So much had happened she scarcely knew where to begin, but the main thing she would never forget was how Nathan had kissed her. He had been angry to start with, but desire had quickly over-mastered it. For a few vital moments he had dropped his guard and given himself up to her. Of course, after that it had all gone wrong, yet there was no ignoring the revelation of his anger. He hadn’t liked her flirting with Ames, despite the fact that that was what she had been brought here to do.

  A smile slowly curved her lips. She knew when a man wanted her, and Nathan had certainly wanted her just now. He was jealous because he wanted her. He had given himself away unmistakably, and he knew it. That was why he was fighting such a dirty rearguard action. But it was too late. His defences had been compromised. He should never have been angry. That had been his first mistake. His second had been telling her he didn’t want to kiss her again, when he had kissed her in a way that said the opposite. Once wouldn’t be enough, not now he knew what he was missing.

  She shook her head in wonder. All this time he had been hiding his attraction to her, just as she had been hiding hers to him. After all his protestations to the contrary, he was not immune to her, and never had been. She had discovered the chink in his armour. He used words to keep her at a distance, because the minute he touched her he went up in flames.

  With a sigh she pushed herself away from the door and set her case on the toilet seat. OK, she knew that wanting wasn’t love, but it was a start. The smile faded as she considered where they went from here. One thing was certain: he wouldn’t come to her; she would have to do the seducing. It would be no easy job to undermine his resistance, and if he should smother his dislike of who he thought she was enough to want an affair with her would she want that? Her body might, but her heart was another matter.

  But that was putting the cart before the horse. For now it was enough to know that he was powerfully attracted to her. That was where she had to start her campaign if she wanted to win their private war. There would be time enough later to decide just how far she wanted to go.

  All through lunch Rachel kept up a light flirtation with Ames, who was all too ready to join in the game. What Nathan thought of her behaviour she had no means of knowing, for though he laughed and joked, and made light conversation with the other members of the party, there was a shutter down over his eyes which gave nothing away.

  It irked her no end, and caused her to flirt more outrageously, which got her nowhere except in possible deep water with Ames who, not knowing what she was about, took it seriously. She had changed into a pair of very short shorts and a skimpy top which defied gravity only by means of two pencil-thin straps. Nathan, having settled on trousers and a short-sleeved shirt, had taken one look at her and his jaw had set disapprovingly, yet he said nothing. Ames couldn’t keep his eyes off her, and had rained compliments on her constantly. When, after lunch, he suggested once again that he show her over the house, the hairs stood up on the back of her neck in alarm. Automatically she turned to Nathan.

  ‘Honey, Luther’s going to show me round the house. Do you want to join us?’ she invited lightly, but her eyes sent a message that she expected him to say yes. Fortunately for her, Ames was the kind of man who liked to show off his possessions, and consequently added his invitation to hers.

  ‘Please do. I have a large collection of antique jade and ivory which may interest you,’ he said, in that offhand way which implied he expected his guests to be suitably impressed.

  Much to her relief, Nathan inclined his head in agreement. ‘I have a small collection of netsuke and inro myself,’ he remarked modestly, and Ames smiled in faint interest, for he much preferred to be the centre of attention.

  Standing, he helped Rachel to her feet and tucked her hand in his arm possessively. ‘Really? Then you must give me your verdict on my humble display. This way.’ He led the way into the house. Nathan smiled faintly, tucked his hands in the pockets of his trousers and ambled after them.

  ‘Wouldn’t your other guests like to come, too?’ Rachel enquired, but Ames merely laughed.

  ‘Oh, they’ve seen it many times before. We’ll leave them to amuse themselves for a while.’

  Ames’s ‘humble’ collection was displayed in cases throughout the house. He had eclectic tastes, but expensive ones. Rachel had lived with antique porcelain and china all her life, and recognised good pieces when she saw them. Not that she said so.

  ‘How much did you say you paid for this?’ she asked of a Meissen figurine she held.

  Ames shrugged. ‘Oh, I believe it was a mere snip at $30,000,’ he said idly. ‘There are only two in the world.’

  She raised her eyebrows expressively. ‘You paid that for this?’ she exclaimed, in tones which said he had to be crazy, though she had always thought it a wonderful piece. Her grandmother had owned the pair to it, and had left it to Rachel in her will.

  Ames didn’t seem at all surprised that she was less than impressed. It was what he expected of her. ‘You have to have an eye to appreciate it,’ he declared, retrieving the piece and restoring it to the display case.

  Rachel shrugged. ‘I guess that’s so. I was just thinking of all the clothes I could have bought with that kind of money.’ She sighed wistfully.

  ‘That’s a hint to me that she still wants to go shopping,’ Nathan observed dryly, and Rachel turned an offended shoulder and puffed up her hair.

  ‘A promise is a promise, I say. You wouldn’t go back on a promise, would you, Luther?’ she charged, batting her eyes at him and giving Nathan a frosty look.

  Ames appeared to enjoy the by-play, and she knew it would give him great pleasure to split them up. He was the sort of man who enjoyed such pettiness. It was to their good that they could use it against him.

  ‘I would never go back on a promise I made to you, angel,’ he declared fulsomely, and, preening, Rachel slipped her arm through his and brushed herself up against him.

  ‘Now that’s what I like to hear,’ she said huskily, and thought she caught the faintest hint of a muffled growl issuing from Nathan’s throat.

  ‘What was that, darling?’ she asked limpidly, glancing over her shoulder at him, her breath hitching when she caught sight of that telltale tic in his jaw. As a barometer of his displeasure it was registering stormy weather ahead, and boosted her morale instantly.

  ‘Just clearing my throat,’ he responded, with a flash of fire at the back of his eyes, and a tiny feline smile curved her lips at this further sign of displeasure. By doing wrong she was doing something right!

  ‘You said something about ivory?’ Nathan diverted the conversation abruptly, and Ames shot him a faintly mocking look.

  ‘So I did,’ he conceded. ‘It’s this way.’

  He took them up to his own private
rooms in the tower and threw open the door. ‘Now, tell me what you think of that,’ he said proudly.

  Rachel had never seen so much ivory and jade in one place, but, though she admired the jade, no matter how old the ivory was she couldn’t forget the elephants which had been killed to provide it. Nathan was taking a much closer look, and Ames watched him with barely concealed excitement.

  ‘You have some very fine pieces here,’ Nathan remarked after he had toured the cases and started round again.

  ‘A netsuke came on the market several months ago. It would have made the collection complete. Unfortunately it went for a small fortune to a mystery buyer,’ Ames remarked with annoyance.

  Nathan glanced at him with a faint smile. ‘Yes. I considered it money well spent,’ he said casually, stunning Ames out of his puffed-up pride.

  ‘You were the mystery buyer?’ he ejaculated incredulously.

  ‘It now has pride of place in my collection,’ Nathan confirmed. ‘Rachel thinks I should have spent the money on her,’ he added sardonically, quirking an eyebrow in her direction.

  Feeling all at sea, she somehow managed to respond. ‘It’s such a little thing, and nobody ever sees it except you, darling. I can’t see what you see in it!’ she said grumpily.

  ‘Of course you can’t!’ Ames declared irritably, and if she hadn’t been playing a role she might have been offended. As it was, she barely caught back a startled giggle. ‘You can’t see beyond the glitter of diamonds, but Nathan and I can.’

  ‘Well!’ she exclaimed, pretending to be affronted. ‘I don’t think that’s very nice!’ But she went ignored. Ames had bigger fish to fry.

  ‘How much do you want for it?’ he asked Nathan bluntly, who showed only mild surprise at his host’s tone.

  ‘I have no intention of selling. As I said, it’s the pride of my collection.’

  Ames made a valiant attempt to curb his frustration, but he was clearly not the most patient of men. ‘You must at least let me try to persuade you. I simply won’t take no for an answer,’ he said, trying to make light of it.