Her lashes flickered. She stared into his strong, handsome face and felt weak with love, her legs like jelly beneath her as she saw the extent of his love for her.
‘My paintings…’ she said in a voice filled with wonder.
‘Yes.’ He smiled, amusement in his blue eyes. ‘You see, you’d never lived your own life, and I was strongly aware of that when I married you. After our disastrous honeymoon, I knew you’d find it difficult to find your feet. For months I read your schedules, expecting to find some sign of change. But they were always the same. One month in Hong Kong, two months in London, two months in New York, a month at Flaxton…’
‘I just followed the crowd,’ she agreed, nodding. ‘I didn’t know what else to do. I went to parties when I was invited, and mixed with your friends.’
‘You weren’t changing. If you didn’t change—I couldn’t break the stalemate.’ He gave a harsh sigh. ‘I knew there was no point in forcing it. If anything, it could have destroyed any hope I had of making you face your feelings for me.’
‘Is that why you stayed away from me for three years?’
‘Yes,’ he said wryly. ‘My God, I had to discipline myself to do it. No contact from you except your schedule, and how I pored over it, watching your every move from a distance.’
‘Nick,’ she said, kissing his hard cheek, ‘I would never have guessed it. Never. You were always so much in command. If anything, I thought you just found me amusing. You used to toy with me, laugh at me, mock me…and you could be so cruel. In the end, I thought you really did hate me. You savaged me sometimes…’
His mouth curved. ‘I was getting desperate. Especially this Christmas when we were here. I was beginning to think your only hope of living your own life was if I let you go. That was the worst point for me. I seriously considered divorce, and it was hell, Serena, because I was so deeply in love with you that I thought I’d never be able to face life if I lost you. But what right did I have to keep you in this awful situation? What if I was wrong? What if you didn’t love me? What if I was just kidding myself?’
‘Darling…’
‘Then your schedule arrived and my heart missed a beat when I saw it. You were moving. You were changing. You were starting to live again and I saw the light at the end of the tunnel as I finished reading that schedule. I rang the bank and found out you were withdrawing vast amounts of cash.’ He laughed. ‘I was so excited that I nearly dropped everything and flew to you. But then I thought—no. That’s what you did last time, Nick Colterne—don’t you ever learn?’
‘My darling,’ she said softly. ‘I love that in you. You’re so exciting…’
He kissed her and said, ‘I gave you six months to get back into life. When your six months were up I came to get you. I chose New York because that had obviously become the centre of your new life. It was your strongest home territory. I knew you’d be at your most vulnerable there.’
‘Ruthless…’ she said, adoring him. ‘Quite ruthless.’
‘I timed it so you’d be asleep. Even more vulnerable. I got into bed with you, took you in my arms, started to kiss you—’ He paused, then said huskily, ‘And you whispered my name.’
Her heart stopped. She stared at him, lips parted. Then she felt hot colour flood her face and said, ‘I didn’t…did I?’
‘Yes,’ he said deeply. ‘You whispered my name, slid against me like a lover and kissed me very passionately indeed.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ she said on a gasp. ‘I had no idea I’d said your name…!’
He laughed and kissed her lingeringly. ‘Darling, I was playing the toughest poker game of my life. I needed every ace I could get. You obviously weren’t aware of your feelings. You leapt out of bed, shaking like a leaf, and demanded I go to the Plaza! That told me your feelings were only just coming to the surface. I had to hang around and fight it out until you surrendered.’
‘I had no idea…’ she said in wonder at his mind. ‘Everything looks so different now. Everything.’
‘Darling,’ he said, kissing her, ‘I love you. And I’m dying to talk about all this in more intimate circumstances! Let’s crack open the champagne and go to bed…’
Serena went into the bedroom while Nick got a bottle of chilled Bollinger from the mini-fridge in the living-room. Happiness radiated from her; she felt light as air, undressing with quick grace. It seemed incredible that he loved her, a man like Nick Colterne…
When he came back she was in bed, her face flushed, radiant in a cream silk nightdress, watching with love and desire as he shed his black jacket, loosened his silk tie, began to unbutton that crisp white shirt.
‘Nick…’ she said with a sudden stab of sick jealous pain, her eyes flashing from his bare chest as he tore the shirt off. ‘Your mistresses. I don’t think I can bear to—’
‘There are no mistresses,’ he said flatly, and dropped his shirt, walking towards the bed, kneeling on it beside her, sliding his arms around her and kissing her red-gold head. ‘I haven’t even looked at another woman since I first saw you.’
‘How can I believe that?’ she demanded, her face suddenly pale. ‘What about Monique?’
‘Monique was always just a friend,’ Nick reassured her. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t figure that out. Bony women have never been my type.’
‘You kissed her in front of me,’ she said, eyes darkening with jealousy.
‘At the Plaza, you mean?’ he smiled. ‘I was hurt because you kept telling me to get lost. When Monique appeared out of nowhere I tried to make you jealous.’
‘You went out with her that night,’ she said. ‘And stayed out until three in the morning!’
He laughed. ‘No, Serena, I didn’t. I went on a bar crawl to try and obliterate my despair. You’d just run out of the apartment, remember? I followed you downstairs, but you’d jumped in a taxi, and I was too late.’
‘I went to see some girlfriends.’
‘I realise that now,’ he said deeply. ‘But at the time I thought you might have gone to see some other guy. You might have said my name in your sleep, but that’s easily explained, darling. You were half asleep, after all. You could just have known unconsciously that it was me. It wasn’t necessarily a sign that you were in love with me.’
‘But you took Monique to the opera…’ she pointed out, still wary.
‘I needed her help,’ he drawled with a rueful smile. ‘To blow the Greyson set-up sky-high. It took me ages to explain to Monique that I needed to use her as a cover-mistress. She was very reluctant to ruin her reputation. She knew Greyson and hated him. In the end she agreed, on the proviso that I smash his head in if he did try and make a pass at you.’
‘No…!’
‘Monique likes you, Serena,’ he said with a cool smile.
‘I can’t believe it…’ she said. ‘She was so convincing as your mistress!’
‘She’s known me for years,’ he said deeply. ‘She knows I’ve been head over heels in love with you since day one. That’s why she agreed to my little plan. But you can’t imagine the agony I went through, listening at that door.’
‘That awful conversation I had with Phil…’ She broke off with a gasp. ‘Darling, you didn’t hear any of my replies, did you?’
He tensed, staring. ‘I assume you only considered divorce,’ he said thickly, ‘because you hadn’t realised how you felt, and—’
‘No.’ She touched his strong face with one hand. ‘I did consider divorce—but I knew I couldn’t do it, even then. I think that was the moment we really began to stand a chance together, Nick. You see, I told Phil I couldn’t divorce you. Never.’
He stared, face grim. ‘Is that the truth, Serena?’
‘It’s the absolute truth, darling,’ she said softly. ‘I can remember standing there, staring out at the Chrysler building, and knowing divorce was just not possible.’
‘Why?’ he demanded bluntly.
‘Because I was in love with you, even then,’ she said huskily. ‘I fo
und vast wellsprings of loyalty to you when Phil asked me to divorce you. I didn’t know why and I hated myself for feeling such loyalty, but you can’t fight your feelings, can you? I felt loyalty, baffling or otherwise, and that was that.’
He shuddered. ‘Thank God you did. I would have stopped you if you’d been determined, but it would have been hellish. All I had was my belief that you’d fallen in love with me at first sight, just as I’d fallen for you.’
‘Of course I did,’ she said with wonder, studying his face. ‘I can remember the day you arrived here, like a whirlwind of power and sex appeal…I absolutely flipped, Nick.’
‘Say that again,’ he drawled, a smile on his hard mouth.
‘I flipped,’ she said, looking at him seductively through her lashes. ‘You were the sexiest thing I’d ever seen…’
‘Oh, God…’ he said thickly, laughing, and kissed her mouth.
Her hands curled in his dark hair. ‘And it was so clever of you to bring me here, to Flaxton, where it all started.’
He tensed suddenly, lying very still. Then he slowly raised his head and looked at her with grim eyes. ‘Yes, Flaxton Manor,’ he said flatly. ‘Your home and birthplace. And the last place in the world I expected you to meet the young blond viscount.’
Serena studied him, her lashes flickering. Then she said slowly, ‘Why do you say it like that?’
His face grew hard. ‘Because it was exactly what I’d been afraid of, all along. For the three years I played a waiting game, I knew a Viscount Hannon would one day come along. I knew what he’d look like, from his blond head to his aristocratic toes, and when he turned up out of the blue last night I was terrified. I tried to provoke your jealousy by showing Jasmine the kind of attention I’d always felt only for you.’
‘You certainly provoked my jealousy—that’s why I started to flirt with Tony.’
‘And I was almost blind with panic. That’s why I caused such a scene, dragged you back here and made love to you. The viscount had the right background, but I had the right mind and the right body. It was my ace—remember? And I felt I no longer had any option about playing it.’
‘I’m glad you did,’ she said softly.
‘So am I,’ he drawled, flicking her a lazy, wicked look. ‘You can’t begin to imagine how fantastic you were. I thought the back of my head was going to come off!’ His strong fingers played lightly with her bare shoulders. ‘It was everything I’d dreamed of since I first saw you.’
‘But where did you go this morning?’ she persisted, frowning. ‘I saw Jasmine get into your car…’
‘It was coincidence, darling. I had to go to London today. There was a business emergency that I simply couldn’t avoid.’ He drew back, studying her wryly. ‘As my car drove away Jasmine came running over and asked me for a lift into town. I dropped her in the main street about ten minutes later. That’s it. That’s really all there was to it.’
Serena gave a hoarse laugh, shaking her head. ‘And I went through hell all day because of it!’
‘Is that why you went out with Tony?’ he asked darkly, jealousy in his eyes as they blackened.
‘Yes…and he spent the whole time trying to persuade me to tell you how I really felt.’
His hard mouth parted. ‘You’re kidding!’
‘No,’ she said with a faint smile, ‘we talked about you all day and how much in love with you I was. Tony said I should tell you how I felt.’ She outlined the sad story of Tony’s late love.
Nick stared for a moment, then laughed wryly, drawling, ‘Well, I’ll be a son of a bitch! My greatest rival turns out to have been my strongest ally! I’m glad I didn’t punch his face through the back of his head now. I only controlled myself because I knew you might be in love with him, and, if you were, I didn’t have the right to stand in your way.’
‘You hit Phil, though,’ she pointed out
‘Yes,’ Nick said with a ruthless flick of his brows. ‘But he wasn’t a threat—was he? He was a cheap little crook and nowhere near good enough to take you from me, Serena. I know my own worth, darling. And I certainly knew his: zero. Particularly after what he’d said to you about you divorcing me and taking me to the cleaners!’
He got off the bed suddenly, and went to get the bottle of champagne, ripping the gold foil with a cool, cynical smile on his face as he drawled, ‘I’d like to take him to the cleaners, the little bastard!’ He considered the prospect, his eyes narrowing.
Serena watched him through her gold lashes, adoring every powerful inch of him.
He looked up and caught the look in her eyes. ‘Hmm,’ he drawled softly. ‘You like it when I’m ruthless, don’t you?’
She felt herself curve like a cat, her shoulder close to her cheek as she almost purred, her lips parted, breathing unsteadily, watching him with her green eyes through her red-gold hair and wanting him to make love to her now…immediately…
Nick watched her through those carved lids, his eyes darkening. Slowly he put down the unopened bottle and walked towards her. He stood by the bed, unsmiling, then slowly reached out and flicked back the duvet.
‘Nick…’ she said thickly, sliding down into the bed, suddenly on fire as she curved her body in sensual provocation.
‘What else do you like?’ he asked softly, watching her.
‘I love it,’ she whispered, pulses thudding as she displayed herself to him, her body sensual in the silk nightgown, ‘when you give me that look.’
‘What look?’ he said softly, and flicked his ruthless eyes to her breasts, making her nipples erect fiercely as she started to breathe faster, her body curving, watching him through her lashes with deliberate sexual provocation.
Slowly he slid into bed beside her, his hard mouth coming down over hers as she started to moan, felt his strong hands move over her, cupping her breasts, tugging down the lacy nightdress with skilled movements calculated to incite wild desire in her, and he started to whisper sweet words of desire, too, telling her how sexy she was, how much she turned him on, what had run through his mind when he first saw her, and then proving it to her, his face hard with ruthless power as he stripped her, stripped himself, and slid between her quivering thighs to take her. The ecstasy was unbearable; she was helpless against him as he gave her the kind of lovemaking she had wanted from him for so long…
Later, when she was a quivering wreck of hot flesh beneath him and his damp head was laid on her shoulder, his ragged breathing and fiercely drumming heartbeat told her he felt as much for her as she did for him.
‘Darling,’ Nick murmured against her cheek, ‘has it occurred to you that you might already be pregnant?’
Serena held him very close, whispering, ‘I hope I am. It will make everything even more wonderful.’
He kissed her lingeringly. ‘I think we should call our first son Robert, after your ancestor.’
‘That’s a nice idea,’ she said, smiling up at him. ‘What made you think of it?’
His hard mouth curved in a smile. ‘I’ve thought it since I first met you. You inherited his red hair and his sex appeal and his incredible luck. It strikes me as no coincidence that you were born just when the Flaxton family needed another stroke of luck.’
She laughed, intrigued by the idea. ‘That never occurred to me.’
‘You’re not American,’ he drawled. ‘You don’t have romantic notions about history and particularly about quirks of historical destiny. But I do, and I remember how completely right everything felt when I first drove up to this house…when I first saw those Tudor turrets. I felt as though I could hear trumpets playing, and when I got out of the car I stared up at the house and saw you. I completely lost my breath as our eyes met. Just lost it. Punched out of me.’
‘And nothing was ever the same again…’ she said huskily.
‘Nothing,’ he agreed, eyes darkening, and as he lowered his dark head to kiss her she heard those trumpets play too, and felt the future unfurl in the sunlight like a bright, glorious banner of love.
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eISBN 978-14592-6275-1
RUTHLESS LOVER
First North American Publication 1998.
Copyright © 1992 by Sarah Holland.
All rights reserved Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone beanng the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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Printed in U.S.A.
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Excerpt
About the Author
Title Page
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
Copyright
Ruthless Lover Page 15