Finally she could stand it no longer. She grabbed at his head with her hands, digging her fingers into his scalp as she pressed her mouth to his. He took immediate control by going in search of her tongue, the sensual and commanding thrust of his destroying any hope of her resisting him. She slammed her body up against his, rubbing herself against his arousal, delighting in the crackling sexual energy that fired between them at the intimate contact.
He growled against her mouth as he walked her backwards to the clothes-strewn bed. ‘Get your clothes off.’
‘Off the bed or off me?’ she asked, tearing at his shirt, popping buttons with scant disregard for the designer label it bore.
‘Let’s start with you,’ he said, pulling off her T-shirt as if it were nothing more than tissue paper.
Sienna landed on the mattress with a gasp as he came down on top of her. Somehow her jeans and knickers had met the same fate as her T-shirt. She was naked and sizzling with need as he parted her, thrusting into her with a groan of primal pleasure that made the skin on her arms come up in a fine sandpaper of goose bumps.
He set a rhythm that was breathtakingly fast, his strongly muscled body pumping into hers with raw urgency until she was screaming out loud her release. She wrapped her legs around his waist, desperate to hold on to the exquisite sensations for as long as she could. She sobbed as the final waves coursed through her. She had never felt such exhilarating pleasure. It racked her body with its aftershocks just as his release burst out of him. She felt every shuddering pulse of his body as he spilled. She felt the way the muscles of his back and shoulders finally relaxed under the soothing stroke of her hands.
In that quiet moment of the aftermath, she felt the carapace of her closely guarded heart fall away as if chipped at by a sharpened chisel.
It terrified her.
She could not allow this to happen.
She had to squash it before it took hold.
‘Get off me,’ she said, pushing against him.
Andreas frowned as he moved to let her get up. ‘What’s wrong, ma petite?’
Sienna shoved her hair back from her face. ‘Why do you always switch languages?’ she asked irritably. ‘It totally confuses me.’
‘You understand both Italian and French,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t confuse you at all.’
‘I am confused,’ she said, snatching up a wrap to cover her nakedness.
He rose from the bed and came over to where she was standing with her back towards him. He put his hands on her shoulders, his breath skating past her ear as he drew her back towards him. ‘What’s confusing you, cara?’ he asked.
Sienna turned to face him. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, letting her shoulders go down in a slump. ‘I think I’m letting my sister’s wedding get to me. It’s so … so starkly different from ours.’
His eyes searched hers. ‘And that’s a problem for you?’
She shifted her gaze from his. ‘No,’ she said, fiddling with a dress on the bed that was now in desperate need of an iron. ‘Why should it be? It’s not the same thing at all. We’re not in love or planning a future together. We both want what we can get out of this arrangement. This little affair we’ve got going is all well and good for now, but I don’t want to be tied to you in the long term any more than you want to be tied to me.’
A long silence ticked past, measured by the rustling of her increasingly haphazard sorting.
‘Do you want some help packing?’ Andreas asked. ‘It looks like you need it.’
Sienna turned and faced him again. ‘I can do it by myself,’ she said. ‘I think it’s time I learned how to sort out the mess of my own making.’
‘This is not your mess,’ he said, frowning as he raked his hair with his fingers. ‘This is my father’s.’
‘Is it?’ she asked, giving him a world-weary look. ‘Is it really?’
He held her gaze for a long moment. ‘I suspect my father wanted to teach me a lesson,’ he said. ‘He wanted me to understand how hard it is to choose between what I think I want and what I really need.’
‘So have you figured it out yet?’ she asked.
He continued to hold her gaze. ‘I already know what I want,’ he said. ‘I’m not sure, however, that it’s what I need.’
‘And what is it that you want, Andreas?’ she asked. ‘More money? More fame and notoriety?’
He took her by the upper arms and pulled her close, making her heart beat triple time as she felt his body stirring against her belly. ‘I think you already know the answer to that,’ he said and pressed his mouth down firmly on hers.
CHAPTER TWELVE
‘YOU look absolutely amazing,’ Sienna said as she made one last adjustment to Gisele’s veil. ‘Emilio is going to be speechless when he sees you.’
Gisele smiled as she squeezed Sienna’s hands in hers. ‘I think Andreas is going to have a similar reaction when he sees you,’ she said. ‘You look stunning.’
‘Thanks …’ Sienna slipped her hands out of Gisele’s and moved to the dressing table so she could do a last minute touch-up of her make-up before Hilary, Gisele’s mother, came back from the suite next door where the hairdresser was styling her hair. With all the bustle of getting ready, it was the first time Sienna had been alone with her sister.
‘Is everything all right?’ Gisele asked.
Sienna met her twin’s grey-blue gaze in the mirror. It still startled her sometimes to see an identical replica of herself standing there. They were so physically alike it was uncanny, and yet they were so different. ‘I’m fine,’ she said, forcing a bright smile to her lips.
Gisele came over and put a gentle hand on Sienna’s bare shoulder. ‘You and Andreas are happy together, aren’t you?’ she asked. ‘It was such a whirlwind courtship, I just wondered if—’
‘Of course we’re happy,’ Sienna said, dipping the lipstick brush in a pot of lip-gloss. ‘We’re just peachy.’
‘You don’t have any regrets about having such a small wedding?’ Gisele asked.
Sienna’s hand trembled slightly as she painted her lips with the lipgloss. ‘No, why should I?’
Gisele caught her gaze in the mirror. ‘I saw you looking at me when Mum was helping me into my dress,’ she said. ‘You had such a sad look on your face. I realised then how difficult it must have been for you, getting married without your mother to help you. Is that why you kept things so simple?’
Sienna put the lip brush down with a little clatter on the dressing table. ‘I’m not like you, Gisele,’ she lied. ‘A big wedding has never interested me. For one thing, I’d be rubbish at organising it. I’d probably forget to invite someone terribly important or not order the right colour flowers. Anyway, can you see me wearing white? I wouldn’t make it to the church without spilling something on it or tripping over the train or something.’
Gisele smiled and tucked a wayward strand of Sienna’s hair back into the elegant style the hairdresser had arranged earlier. ‘You’re good for Andreas,’ she said, putting her hands on Sienna’s shoulders and meeting her gaze in the mirror once more. ‘I could tell from last night’s dinner that he has a tendency to be a little formal and distant. It probably comes from his wealthy background. He doesn’t feel comfortable letting people get too close until he works out whether he can trust them or not. I see the way he looks at you. It was as if he can’t quite believe his luck to have found someone who loves him for who he is, not for what he can provide.’
Sienna reached for the bronzer brush, even though she really didn’t need it given that her cheeks were doing a perfectly fine job of blushing all by themselves. ‘He is lucky to have me,’ she said. ‘We’re lucky to have each other.’ Even if it’s only for another few months, she thought.
‘He’ll make a wonderful father,’ Gisele said. ‘Have you talked about when you’ll start a family?’
Sienna averted her gaze. ‘I’m not … He’s not … We’re not … ready …’
Gisele smiled. ‘It’s just I have some news f
or you,’ she said. ‘I wondered if that was why you and Andreas married in such a rush. I got all excited. I thought it’d be so cool if we were pregnant together.’
Sienna swung around on the stool so quickly her head spun. ‘You’re pregnant?’ she said.
‘Yes,’ Gisele said, beaming radiantly. ‘Emilio is beside himself with pride. We haven’t told anyone, other than Mum. I wanted you to be one of the first to know. We’re having twins.’
‘Twins!’ Sienna grabbed Gisele’s hands, desperately trying to ignore the sudden pang of envy that seized her. It was wrong of her to feel jealous. It was hideous of her. It was selfish. She wasn’t the one who had longed for a family since she was a young girl. Sienna had no idea of what to do with a baby. She hadn’t even held one in her arms.
What right did she have to wonder what it would be like to carry a pregnancy to full term? To feel those tiny limbs growing and moving inside her? To hold that precious little bundle soon after it was born? To smell that sweet innocent smell and stroke that soft fluffy head?
A wave of longing rushed through her. It set off an ache that felt like a weight pressing down on her heart.
There would be no sweet-smelling babies for her. Andreas had already made it clear how unsuitable he thought her as a mother for his children. He had left nothing to chance. Every time they had made love he had used protection.
The ache tightened in her chest like a spanner working on a nut and bolt.
Just as Sienna couldn’t imagine having someone else kiss her or make love to her, she couldn’t imagine having someone else’s baby. She didn’t want anyone else’s baby.
‘Do you know if they’re identical?’ she asked, thinking of those little limbs wrapped around each other like she and Gisele had been.
‘Yes,’ Gisele said. ‘The ultrasound showed they’re sharing the same placenta.’
‘And what about the sex?’ Sienna asked. ‘Do you know if they’re boys or girls?’
‘Boys,’ Gisele said, placing a hand on her only very slightly rounded tummy. ‘After losing Lily, I never thought I’d be able to face a pregnancy again, but this time I just know it’s going to be different. It feels different.’
The door of the suite opened and Hilary came in, looking every inch the stylishly coiffed and very proud mother of the bride. ‘Ready, darling?’ she said to Gisele. ‘Emilio is eagerly awaiting his beautiful bride.’
Sienna handed Gisele the bridal bouquet, forcing an I’m-so-happy-for-you-smile to her lips, while inside her heart felt as if it were being backed over by an earth-mover.
She had already forfeited love.
Would she have to forfeit motherhood as well?
Andreas felt his heart do a couple of leapfrogs in his chest as Sienna walked up the aisle ahead of her twin sister. She was wearing a floor-length latte-coloured satin gown with a cream bow tied over her left hip. Her hair was up in an elegant style that gave her a distinctly regal air. She was breathtakingly beautiful, but then, so too was her twin sister.
He tore his eyes away from Sienna to look at Gisele as she floated up the aisle in an ivory satin gown and a stunning veil and diamond tiara. Before the bridal party dinner last night he had only seen photographs of her in the press. The likeness, even in print, was amazing but meeting her in the flesh had been totally surreal. It was like looking at a mirror image of Sienna.
It occurred to him then, with an unexpected twinge of guilt, that this was what Sienna would have looked like as a proper bride if he had married her under normal circumstances.
Had she wanted something like this?
He felt another ferocious fist of guilt grab at his gut.
Didn’t most young women dream of having their day as a fairy tale princess?
As the service got underway he watched to see if any of the heartfelt vows that were being exchanged were affecting Sienna. She stood looking at her sister and the handsome groom with a smile on her lips, but Andreas wasn’t sure if that glittery moisture in her eyes was from happiness or something else. She looked rather pale, he thought, and once or twice he saw her lick her lips, from nervousness or dryness, he couldn’t quite tell.
Andreas was surprised to find the service so moving. He had attended weddings before and, while he had mostly enjoyed them, he had not felt a lump of emotion suddenly stick like a nut halfway down his throat when the groom promised to love and protect his bride.
Emilio Andreoni was clearly a man deeply in love. His voice cracked unashamedly as he slipped the wedding band on Gisele’s finger. Gisele looked up at him with absolute devotion, tears of joy shining in her eyes.
Andreas felt ashamed of how his marriage to Sienna had been such a sterile, businesslike affair. She hadn’t looked at him with her eyes full of love. Hers had glittered with hatred. Their clinical, emotionless union made a mockery of one so sacred and deeply poignant as this. How had his life become such a tawdry sideshow alley game of smoke and mirrors?
He caught Sienna’s eye across the church. She smiled at him but it was a weak movement of her lips that didn’t involve her eyes. She looked away again, focusing her gaze on the bride and groom as they exchanged their first kiss as a married couple.
Andreas wondered if she was thinking of their first kiss. Their mouths had never touched until they had exchanged those meaningless vows. He was reminded of the electric shock of that kiss every time he had kissed her since. It was a power surge in his flesh. He could feel it now just thinking about it. His body ached for her. His blood thrummed with it. He had expected the pulse of lust to wane a little by now, but if anything it had increased. Would the five months left of their marriage contract be enough to satisfy him?
Because she was part of the bridal party, Sienna was separated from Andreas for most of the reception. It made his hunger for her all the more intense. He couldn’t wait until the formalities were over so he could stake his claim. His whole body prickled with annoyance when she danced with the best man as part of the bridal waltz routine. Andreas clenched and unclenched his fists under the table as he watched the best man’s arms go around her and bring her up close.
Jealousy was a new experience for him. He could not remember ever feeling it before. He bristled with it. It made his teeth grind together. It made his jaw ache. It made his blood boil.
His gaze narrowed. Was Sienna flirting with that guy? She was smiling up at him with that dazzling smile of hers. Her left hand was on the guy’s shoulder and her right encased in the grasp of his. Her body was moving in time to the music, a slow romantic waltz that had her pelvis brushing against the best man’s every now and again as her feet tangled with his.
Andreas strode across the dance floor and laid a firm hand on the best man’s shoulder. ‘I’d like to dance with my wife,’ he said.
The best man dropped his hold on Sienna and stepped back. ‘Sure,’ he said with an easy smile. ‘She’s a fabulous dancer. I have two left feet but she made me dance like a pro.’
Andreas ground his teeth behind his stiff smile. ‘She is indeed an expert at executing tricky manoeuvres.’
Sienna’s grey-blue gaze collided with his once the best man had gone. ‘What the hell are you playing at?’ she asked in a hushed voice. ‘You interrupted the bridal party waltz, for God’s sake.’
Andreas turned her so she wasn’t facing the wedding guests. ‘I had to step in before you made a complete fool of yourself,’ he said. ‘You were practically crawling into that guy’s skin.’
She glowered up at him. ‘I was not!’
He tugged her against him. ‘The only man you should be getting up close and personal with is me,’ he said. ‘We’re married, remember?’
‘Only for another five months,’ she said, challenging him with her haughty gaze. ‘After that, I’m free to be with anyone I want and you won’t be able to do a thing to stop me.’
He whipped her around as the music changed tempo, his groin alive with want as her slender thighs bumped against his. ‘I wouldn’t dream
of trying,’ he said, ‘but for now you are my wife and I expect you to act accordingly.’
Her eyes flashed at him like blue lightning. ‘I’m not really your wife,’ she said. ‘This is just an act, a stupid little game of charades. I’m surprised no one has already guessed we’re not the real deal. I’m sure Gisele already suspects something.’
‘What makes you think that?’ Andreas said, holding her close to him as another couple glided past.
‘She kept grilling me on why we got married so quickly and why I hadn’t gone for a big wedding,’ she said, frowning and chewing at her lip as if the conversation had somehow distressed her.
Andreas deftly led her off the dance floor to a secluded area behind a column. He kept his arms around her, his body thrumming with need with her standing thigh to thigh with him. ‘Are you disappointed we didn’t have a proper wedding?’ he asked.
She pulled her chin back against her neck in a gesture of scorn. ‘Are you joking? Of course I’m not disappointed. What we have is a sham. It was bad enough lying in front of a celebrant, let alone a priest and a huge congregation. Anyway, it’s different for Gisele. She loves Emilio and he loves her. They have their whole lives to look forward to.’
Andreas held her gaze for a beat or two. A shadow had passed through her eyes and her beautiful white teeth began to nibble at her bottom lip again. He pushed against the soft pillow of her lip with the pad of his fingertip. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.
She jerked her head away from his touch. ‘Nothing.’
‘I know you better than that, ma petite. You always do that to your lip when you’re brooding or mulling over something.’
She drew in a breath and then let it out on a long exhalation. ‘I’m being stupid and sentimental,’ she said, slipping out of his hold. ‘Weddings do that to me, or at least ones like this.’
‘Yes, well, it was certainly a very moving service,’ Andreas conceded. ‘Anyone can see Emilio and Gisele belong together. I’ve never seen a more radiant bride.’
Enemies at the Altar Page 14