When her hands dropped to the waistband of his trousers, Nicolas had to use all of his willpower to take control of his body.
He managed to get through her undressing him without disaster striking. But the moment her hand reached out to touch him down there, he simply had to stop her.
‘No,’ he growled, and grabbed her hand in his.
Serina stared up at him, her dark eyes startled.
‘You only have yourself to blame,’ he said drily as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. ‘You are way too beautiful to last long this first time.’
She didn’t say anything, just gave him a look that implied he was lying. Which he wasn’t, of course.
‘But never fear, my darling,’ he went on as he laid her down on top of the soft blue quilt. ‘Things won’t always be this rushed.’
‘You’re… you’re not wearing protection?’ she sputtered when he went to join her on the bed.
His teeth clenched down hard in his jaw with frustration. ‘See? I’ve totally lost my head over my desire for you. Won’t be long.’And he walked off in the direction of the en suite bathroom.
Serina just lay there, staring after him and wondering if he’d deliberately tried to have sex with her without a condom.
Surely not! But if not, then what? The thought that he had been overcome with desire for her was flattering in the extreme.
Don’t go there, Serina, she warned herself. He does not love you. This is all about winning, not love.
He came striding back into the bedroom, looking like a Viking warrior intent on ravagement. The sight of his intense desire inflamed her own once more, making her belly tighten and her thighs tremble. Suddenly, it didn’t matter why he’d come back. He was here: her Nicolas, her one true love.
‘Nicolas,’ she choked out, holding out her arms and opening her legs at the same time.
He groaned, then fell upon her, much like he had that night at the Opera House, his flesh fusing with hers like a sword being slid roughly into its scabbard. She gasped and clung to him, her arms wrapping around his back, her legs lifting to wind tightly around his waist. She whimpered as he surged into her again and again, her head threshing from side to side.
‘No, don’t,’ he said with a groan when she went to shut her eyes. ‘Look at me, Serina, look at me.’
So she looked at him, and came immediately, her mouth falling open as she sucked in some much-needed air. He kissed her then, kissed her and came at the same time, without missing a beat of his merciless rhythm, Serina wallowing in the pleasure and power of his twin possessions, thrilling to the way her body responded to both. She would have stayed that way forever, if it were possible.
But his climax finally ended and his head finally lifted.
She stared up at him as he stroked her hair back from her sweat-beaded forehead, her eyes searching his face as she tried to read his mind. But nothing of his inner feelings showed on his face this time. The stormy passion she’d glimpsed earlier had obviously been sated, at least temporarily.
‘I feel a lot better now,’ he said. ‘Don’t you? No, you don’t have to answer that. I felt your climax right down to my toes. You have to admit that some things never change, my darling. You still come quicker than any girl I’ve ever been with.’
Her heart curled over in dismay that he could be so cold and cruel whilst he was still inside her. But it was good, in a way, for him to show his true colours. It would stop her from harbouring silly thoughts, the kind that had filled her soul when she’d held out her arms to him.
‘I’m rather hungry,’ he went on in that coolly casual fashion that she was sure she would soon hate. ‘I dare say you are, too. Time I think, for some refreshments. And perhaps some refreshing. Good thinking, Nicolas,’ he said, and withdrew from her body with such abruptness that she gasped.
He smiled down into her bereft face.
‘Sorry, darling heart,’ he said, patting her patronisingly on the cheek. ‘But needs must. Once I have the spa bath full and all our goodies lined up in there, it will be all systems go again. Meanwhile, let me tell you again how beautiful you are.’
‘Don’t say that!’ she snapped. ‘You don’t mean it. I know you don’t.’
His smile, when it came, was extremely sardonic. ‘I’m saying it to make all that we’re going to do this afternoon seem right.’
Suddenly, she was afraid. Of this cold, cruel Nicolas, but mostly of herself. Because she was still turned on by him. Even now. ‘What… what are we going to do?’
Sexy blue eyes glittered down into her.
‘Whatever I want you to do,’ he said. ‘That was the deal, wasn’t it… ?’
‘ANOTHER chocolate, my sweet,’ he said, and leant forward to pop one of the deliciously creamy delicacies into her mouth.
No point in objecting, Serina thought. No point in objecting to anything he suggested. The bitter truth was she simply didn’t have the willpower to resist him, or the desire.
Besides, she was ravenously hungry, having not eaten a thing since a very light breakfast—just coffee and one slice of toast.
So she ate the chocolate and washed it down with a mouthful of champagne, all the while wondering why he hadn’t suggested something more decadent than their current positions in the spa bath. They were sitting at opposite ends, only their feet touching occasionally.
It was not what Serina had envisioned. What she had, perhaps, secretly hoped for.
This wasn’t the first time they’d shared a bath. In the old days he would have placed her across his lap, his swollen sex deep inside of her whilst they lay back in the water like two spoons. His hands would have covered her breasts and he would be whispering hot words of love and passion into her ears.
‘What time is it, do you think?’ she asked suddenly.
‘Haven’t got my watch on,’ he replied. ‘But my guess is it’s just after one. Plenty of time left. We could even waste a little of it talking.’
‘Talking?’ she echoed in startled tones.
‘You don’t want to talk? Too bad, Serina. It’s not your choice. So tell me, was your marriage happy?’
The last thing she wanted to talk about was her marriage. Serina sipped some more champagne in an effort to find composure.
‘Like most marriages,’ she said at last, not quite meeting his probing gaze, ‘it had its ups and downs. But on the whole we were happy.’
His head tipped slightly to one side in that way people did when they were trying to detect if someone was lying to them.
‘Why only one child?’he went on, blue eyes boring into her.
Serina’s stomach tightened, but she managed a nonchalant shrug. ‘We tried for more. It just didn’t happen.’
‘Your fault or his?’
‘Neither. We were perfectly healthy, the doctors said.’ Now this was not totally true. Greg had discovered quite a few years back that he had a low sperm count, possibly because he’d had mumps as an adolescent. Technically, he had been still capable of fathering a child, but conceiving had not been easy.
‘I see,’ Nicolas said. ‘Well at least you have Felicity. She’s a delightful child.’
‘Delightful,’ Serina agreed.