The Playboy's Redemption (The Mackenzies)

by Diana Fraser

  She was rewarded with a deep intake of breath from James. The muscle in his jaw flickered as he tried to rein in his desire. Just seeing how she affected him fueled her own desire. He put his foot down hard and they roared up the road. She closed her eyes and smiled to herself.

  James swung the Porsche around the circular drive with a flourish. He reached over and kissed her. “Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty.”

  “I’m awake all right,” she murmured against his lips, as she slipped her hand around his head and brought him closer to her. She felt him groan against her mouth, as their kiss deepened. His hand moved up the bare skin of her legs, under her skirt. She clamped his hand so it couldn’t move. “Unless you want me here and now, I suggest you stop.” She grinned at the look of total frustration on his face.

  He sighed and nuzzled her neck. “Susie, you have no idea what you do to me.”

  “Oh”—she opened the door—“I have some.”

  He slammed the door shut and walked up to her, putting his arm around her, drawing her close. She snuggled into his body, still amazed that she was here, with him. With him… she repeated to herself.

  “Then perhaps you’ll describe it to me. I’d like to hear you tell me what effect you have on me.”

  “You want me to talk dirty?”

  Just then the concierge walked out to meet them. James kissed her chastely on the top of her head. “Later,” he murmured before greeting the concierge.

  Susie looked up at the soaring cream limestone columns and arched portico. “Wow. This is grand.”

  James took her hand and they followed the concierge and porter into the marble interior of the winery. “The previous owner had it designed to be a modern take on a classical Italian winery. It won all the architectural awards when it and the hotel were built five years ago. Come on, you can get settled, enjoy a mud bath if you like.”

  “A mud bath? You’re joking. I wear my gumboots to protect me from mud. I don’t want to roll around in the stuff. Not without you, anyway,” she whispered in his ear. Her words had the effect she wanted—she could see it in his eyes, in the grip of his hand as it tightened around hers and in the way he plucked the key from the desktop and quickened his pace. When they reached a wide flight of steps, they began to run, up the stairs and across the mezzanine to one of the half a dozen doors that led off it.

  Laughing, they burst into the suite, flung down their carry bags and she jumped into his arms, her legs curling around his hips, his hands skimming around her bottom, slipping under her panties as he walked over to the bed. They fell, laughing onto it, as he pushed up her dress and she struggled with his zip.

  She took both hands and cupped him, before drawing up his full, hard length and guiding him to where she wanted him to be. She was still clothed, her dress pushed up, her body trembling with desire. He reached into his pocket and quickly unwrapped a condom. She took it from him and rolled it on, caressing him as she went. He groaned, swept away her hands and pushed into her and held her there before slipping gently out, her body acutely sensitive to the exquisite friction of his movement. She was on the verge of coming and she cried out, pulling him to her, her fingers and nails digging into his taut muscle through the fine fabric of his shirt.

  Slowly he increased his rhythm, thrusting in and out of her with a heightening tension that showed in his face, in the taut muscles of his body, and in his breathing. She clung to him, the coils of delicious sensation tightening, until she cried out as her body clutched and massaged his, wanting everything he could give her. Only then did he come, calling out her name in a long gasp that ended with his mouth on hers.

  He scooped her into his arms and rolled onto his back. She held his face in her hands and kissed each cheek before kissing his lips. “I love you, Mac.”

  And she could see in his eyes that he felt the same way. But then, she saw something else. His eyes clouded as if a sudden thought had cast a shadow over his feelings and he withdrew and rolled onto his back, but only for a moment. Then he swung his legs onto the ground, stood up, and readjusted his clothing. He turned back to her and gave her a brief smile. “I need to go out, Suse. I won’t be long. I have something I need to take care of.”

  “What is it? Shall I come?”

  “For just about everything else but this. Just one meeting, I promise and then we’ll sort out business, go to the winery’s annual winter party, and spend a few days before we return home.”

  “Home,” she repeated, not even trying to stop the stupid grin that she knew spread over her face. “Home, I like that word. It’s different now.”

  “Because I’m in it.” He grinned before turning to pick up jacket.

  She kneeled on the bed and slipped her arms around him, resting her head on his back. “For once, your robust ego is correct—because you’re in it.”

  He turned and kissed her on the cheek. “You have no idea what it means to me either. A home with the woman I love and my son.”

  “Your son?”

  “Susie, it doesn’t matter to me if Tom isn’t my biological son, he’ll be my son from now on. I love him, and I love you.”

  He turned and Susie put her head to one side questioningly. “Sounds like you love Tom more? Should I be jealous?”

  He stood up and walked over to the window, pushing it open, letting the cool winter air inside.

  “James, what is it?”

  He didn’t speak immediately. “It’s just something I have to deal with. I’ll tell you all about it later.”

  “Is it something I should be worried about?”

  “No.” He turned to her with a quick, tense smile. “Nothing. Have a spa—mud or no mud. Look around the winery. I’ll have someone come up and show you around. I’ll only be gone a few hours and when I return”—he approached her and put his hands around her waist—“I want you dressed in your finest so I can show you off.”

  She shook her head, smiling. “Show me off? You’re one mad man. Just as well I love you.”

  He pressed his lips together as if trying to suppress something but there was no smile. He kissed her quickly on the lips. She wondered if it was what she’d said. The words had just slipped out somehow. She’d always been like that. She’d suppressed her feelings for so long, there didn’t seem any stopping them now they’d been released. “Have I said something you didn’t want to hear?”

  “No, my darling, you didn’t. It’s just that… I can’t concentrate just yet.” He pushed his fingers through his hair with the same rueful grin. “Later.” He kissed her once more and then grabbed his coat and was gone.

  She stepped onto the balcony and shivered, watching his Porsche turn around and return the way they’d come. She had no idea where he was going. So… he had a secret. She shivered again, but it wasn’t through cold this time.

  Only a few hours later the cars began arriving, disgorging the rich and beautiful, dressed in their finest. Susie didn’t move. She continued to watch until she saw James’s car amongst them. He was alone and jumped out and tossed his keys to the attendant who drove it away. He was with her in minutes. She stayed by the window. He entered the room and turned on the light.

  “Susie! I thought you’d have already gone down. You look beautiful. I love the Grecian one-shouldered look.” She looked down at the dress she’d selected because it was the cheapest in the boutique adjoining the winery.

  “You didn’t tell me it would all be so expensive.”

  He frowned. “You don’t have to worry about money any more. I have an account. I told you to put it on it.”

  “I’m not doing that. I have some pride, you know.”

  He sighed and walked over to her, all sign of his earlier strain forgotten. His hands rubbed her cold shoulders while he searched her face. “You, Susie Henderson, are one stubborn person. Anyway, what are you doing here all alone in the dark? Did you have a good afternoon? Did you enjoy the winery tour?”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t go.” She bit her lip. Sh
e didn’t want to say that she couldn’t face the tour, not while she was wondering what he was doing, not while she was wondering it she’d just make the biggest mistake of her life. Or the second biggest. “Not in the mood. Anyway…” She turned away in his arms and picked up her bag. “How was your afternoon? Get your mysterious meeting out of the way?”

  “Susie. I’ll tell you all about it. I promise.”

  “How about now?”

  He shook his head. “Not now. I can’t. It’s too soon. I can’t risk…”

  “What can’t you risk, Mac?”

  He sucked in a breath, which made her even more nervous. “Suse, just leave it. You’ve got to trust me on this one. We’re late. I need to change and get down there.”

  They walked under the massive Palladian arch, supported on either side by marble statues of naked men, their hands reaching up behind them as if to support the arch, around which marble clusters of grapes grew, dangling down from the central point.

  “What do you think?” James asked.

  Susie’s flat sandals made no noise on the marble floor, unlike the high heels of the other women, the shouts and noise of conversation that echoed around the massive, echoing marble space, built to impress. Only it didn’t work on Susie. “Think? It’s”—she shrugged—“amazing.” And it was. Beautiful people moved everywhere, fitting into the grandiose design of the building and its furnishings. “And it’s a million miles away from Whisper Creek.”

  “Over eight thousand to be exact.” James grinned. He took a couple of glasses of champagne from the tray of one of the many dinner-suited waiters and handed her a glass. “To us?”

  She raised her glass. “What’s happened, James? This afternoon you were tense, nervous about something, but now you’re happy.”

  He put a possessive arm around her. “Sure am. I’m with you, aren’t I?” He looked around. “Now let me introduce you to a few people.” He acknowledged a wave from a group of people who descended on them, effectively stopping any further conversation between the two of them.

  With each passing hour, Susie felt more and more unhappy but she couldn’t figure out why exactly. Yes, the winery dwarfed Whisper Creek in every respect, from the scale and quality of the building, its operations and the wines, to the clientele, who wouldn’t even have heard of little old Waiheke Island, let alone have been there. And then there were the people. At least here in the cellars where they’d progressed to, the differences between her world and this one, were less obvious. With the light shining down from the far end of the brick vaulted cellar, it appeared never-ending. She jumped as she felt James’s hand on her waist. She leaned in against him with a smile. “I can’t believe you’re interested in Whisper Creek when you own something like this.”

  “Used to own.”

  Susie frowned and turned to face him. He was standing with his back to the overhead light and she couldn’t see his expression, but she could hear the tension in his voice, a tension that had been present ever since they’d landed in the US.

  “But, upstairs, the chairman talked about you as if you owned it.”

  “I did. I’ve just arranged to sell it.”

  “But I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

  “It’s complicated. I should have told you in New Zealand. It’s just that I never, ever expected you and I would…”

  “Become lovers again?”

  “Yes. The most I hoped for was to see your future settled and to have some kind of forgiveness from you.”

  “That’s all you wanted? You didn’t want a relationship with me?” Susie felt a sickening feeling slip low into her gut. The residual flavor of wine soured on her tongue.

  “I didn’t dare dream of a relationship with you. I thought my life was about making the best of a bad job. So I made other plans.”

  She frowned. “What plans?”

  At that moment a group of men and women walked up and exchanged hearty greetings with James. She knew him. He’d always loved people and parties and he’d made a life here for himself in the US where he was on everyone’s guest list, on good terms with everyone.

  Susie just didn’t fit in. For the first time that evening, James had actually released his hold of her waist. He was busy talking with an animated group, laughing over jokes she didn’t understand and didn’t want to listen to. Susie crossed her arms awkwardly around her front and slipped back. She had nothing in common with any of these people. She stepped away, but James turned and looked for her and walked over to her.

  “Not much longer. I’ve done my bit, the speeches are over, five minutes and then I’ll take you upstairs and ravish you.”

  She grinned, despite herself. “Is that right?”

  He tried to pull her closer. “Absolutely. Do you want to know what I’m going to do to you up there?” He looked around and pulled her into the shadow of a huge oak barrel. He nuzzled against her neck.

  She giggled. “Mac.” She tried to bat him away. “Not here, someone may see.”

  “I don’t care.”

  His hands spread over her bottom and pulled her tight against his hard erection. Despite herself she felt her body react. She opened her mouth under his and their tongues tangled in an increasing frenzy of arousal that made her forget about the long hours she’d stood talking to people she didn’t want to know and God willing, would never see again. Too soon they pulled apart, panting, their foreheads pressed against each other’s.

  “I’d have you here, now, if I could.”

  “Do what you have to do with the others, go, say goodnight and then come to me James. I’ll be waiting upstairs.”

  She smiled as she watched him hesitate, take a deep breath and smooth back his hair and join the group of people. She slipped away from the party, away from the bright lights through into the relative quiet of the lounge bar. There, she paused. Ten minutes for James probably meant half an hour and she was thirsty.

  She walked over to the bar, empty except for an elegant woman who leaned against an open window, smoking. She was dressed in a tight white dress, which accentuated her tan and her amazing figure. She turned to watch Susie as Susie ordered a pot of tea to be taken to her room. She glanced at the woman, struck by her feline green eyes, accentuated by her short dark bob. The woman smiled at her and Susie smiled back with a brief nod. Susie had seen her earlier but hadn’t been introduced to her by James, nor had gone anywhere near her. She wondered at the obvious interest in the woman’s eyes.

  “Tea,” the woman said quietly, smiling. “Very English.”

  “I’m not English, I’m from New Zealand.”

  “Ah, of course.”

  The other woman didn’t say anything immediately but there was something about her that made Susie approach. “I’m Susie.” She extended her hand to the stranger, who accepted her hand in a firm handshake.

  “I know.”

  Susie dropped her hand in confusion as the other woman turned away and blew out some smoke into the night. Then she turned back to her. “I’m Amanda.”

  Susie frowned briefly. The name meant nothing to her. “Pleased to meet you.”

  Amanda laughed low and quiet, but without humor. “Pleased? I can see he hasn’t told you about me.”

  A stealthy, sick, chill swept through Susie. She stood quite still. “No, he hasn’t.”

  Amanda’s eyes narrowed as she took another drag on her cigarette, openly assessing Susie. “I must say”—she stubbed out the cigarette on the ashtray—“you’re not at all how I imagined.” While the words could have been offensive, they weren’t when combined with the smile, as sweet as spring.

  She stepped away from the window, walked up to Susie and picked up a lone glass of champagne. Close up, the woman was even more beautiful—sparkling green eyes, immaculate make-up, and perfect cupid lips colored in the softest shade of pink. But what struck Susie most was the sweet expression on her face. Her perfect lips were twisted in a regretful smile and her eyes had a warmth and sadness that seemed a
t odds with the rest of her.

  “And how exactly did you imagine me?”

  “I’ve been a friend of James for a long time—not his lover all that time, you understand, ironic really, considering—and I’ve seen them come and go, the women I mean. He has great taste.”

  “Ah, so you see me as an exception to that taste.”

  “Not at all. You’re lovely. Just… different. It must be, as he says. It must be for real this time.”

  Despite the woman’s warm demeanor, despite her smile, Susie was becoming increasingly tense and confused. “I’m sorry, you seem to have the advantage over me. Who are you and what are you to do with James?”

  Amanda laughed. “James said you were different and you are. Direct. I like that.” She nodded thoughtfully. “I’m pretty sure James was going to ask me to marry him before you appeared on the scene.”

  The dread and doubt that Susie had kept at bay these last few days rose in a wave, clearing her mind, devastating her heart. Susie opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She cleared her throat, looking around, as if for something that would make sense of the woman’s words. She turned back to Amanda who was watching her quietly. “Marry?” she whispered.

  Amanda nodded. “When James came to see me this afternoon, I knew something had happened. I could see it in his eyes. He’d changed. I was happy for him. Less happy for me, of course. I’m very fond of him and James would have made a superb husband. He didn’t love me of course.” She shrugged her elegant shoulders. “But that didn’t matter. I’d hoped, in time…”

  “Didn’t matter?” Susie repeated, the words somehow emerging from between numb lips.

  “No, because we both would have got what we wanted. As you no doubt know, James loves kids—you have a son I hear?”

  Susie nodded.