He gave her a long, intense look. “Does this mean I’m under some sort of obligation to return her love? I’ve never told her I was. I am not stringing her along as you’re suggesting. In my experience one only has to press a woman’s hand for her to start hearing wedding bells. I’ve dated a lot of attractive women. Not so many of late, I’m afraid. I’m too damned busy.”
“Why wouldn’t you be, as your father’s heir?” she commented. “Why does Paula Rowlands want to hurt me? Why would she say such words? I very much resent I’m ‘after’ you. One would think it was a hunt.”
“In a way it is.” He gave a brief laugh. “We’re all out there looking, searching, hunting for a soul mate.”
“And you’ve rejected everyone so far?”
He levelled an intense stare at her. “Haven’t you?”
She looked down, a glow in her cheeks. “I admit I have kept to myself as much as possible.”
“A woman as tantalizing as you, Sonya, would pretty much have to keep up her guard. Is that the attraction with Marcus? You feel with Marcus you can control the relationship? Is that how you feel?”
She gave a sad little smile. “I’ve never been able to control anything in my life.” Some of the old bitterness and frustration began to surface. She regretted it, but family ghosts were slipping by her. “Drink your coffee,” she urged. “It’s going cold.” She picked up her own cup, trying to shake off her nerves. The best way to protect herself was to stay perfectly cool. Even detached. “When do your parents return?” she asked politely.
“They’re enjoying themselves so much they’ll probably take another month. We have many good friends in the US.”
“Have you told them about me?” Her tone was now so cool it almost snapped.
He shook his dark head. “But someone is bound to have let them know, Sonya. My parents know everybody. Most of them were at the gala. Women love to pass on gossip. You made quite an impact. But you would have known that. In fact you invited it. Which is a bit of a paradox, given your extreme reserve. Then if that weren’t enough you were wearing Lucy’s emeralds.”
“As lovely as they are, they are not the most beautiful emeralds in the world,” she said with one of her elegant shoulder shrugs.
More role playing! He wondered. At times when her composure threatened to fail her, her slight accent became more pronounced.
“You’ve worn better?” he asked, his expression frankly sardonic.
She had the foolish impulse to run down to her bedroom and take the Madonna from its hiding place. She would show it to him: diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls, extravagantly beautiful, extravagantly precious. The Wainwrights, for all their wealth, had nothing like that.
“Hard for you to believe but maybe I have seen better.”
“In the display windows of leading European jewellers, no doubt. The problem is, Sonya, they belonged to Lucy. My mother loved Lucy. They were great friends. It was an extraordinary thing for Marcus to offer them to you to wear.”
“I’d never contemplated he would do such a thing.” She was driven to defend herself. “He made it almost impossible for me to refuse. He was intent on my wearing them. More to the point, he would have known what effect that would have on all of you.”
His chiselled mouth tightened. “It’s time they never looked better,” he added ironically.
“I wish now I’d offered a strong refusal. So I must expect your parents will be predisposed to dislike me?”
“I’m afraid so, Sonya.” He couldn’t deny it. “And dislike is the least of it. We’re all very protective of Marcus. My father, extremely so.”
“So, it’s a catastrophe if Marcus falls in love with me?” She issued the challenge.
“The perceived catastrophe would be you don’t love him,” he retorted. “He’s thirty years your senior. We’ve been over this, Sonya.”
“I very much dislike the way you treat me.” Her green eyes turned stormy. “Is a big age difference all that important? Surely what is important is that Marcus finds happiness. All this emphasis on sex—a sex life surely isn’t the be-all and end-all of a marriage?”
“Of course it isn’t, but it’s a great help to be hungry for each other.” His vibrant voice deepened. “You don’t get it, do you? A lot of people are going to hate you, Sonya.”
“Well, I think you and they are very very stupid!” She spoke with sudden fire, rising to her feet again, her willowy back ramrod straight.
From where did this woman get her class, her style, her apparently natural air of superiority? Her previous life couldn’t have been one of tranquillity. She was forever on her guard. “I wish you to go.” She gave an imperious flourish of her hand towards the door.
“Certainly.” He rose to his splendid height, torn between anger and amusement. “You can show me out.”
“I will!” There was an extraordinary intensity in her green eyes. Her head was spinning. Her body was alive with excitements, hungers. She moved swiftly ahead of him, so swiftly the tiny bow on one of her silver ballet shoes hooked on the fringe of the rug. She pitched forward, cursing her haste, only he caught her up from behind.
His strong arms encircled her for the second time that day. Surrounded her like a force field. Her heart leapt into her throat as he pulled her back against him, both of them facing the door.
“Tell me again you hate me,” he murmured in a dark velvety voice.
The polished skin of his cheek rasped thrillingly against hers. Every ounce of strength, physical and mental, seemed to be draining out of her body. “You are hateful!” He was reading her reactions, she knew it. He was taking her to a place she had never gone before. Man, the traditional manipulator of women!
“Don’t lie to me,” he whispered against her ear.
The very air was spitting, crackling, with tension. “Don’t you realize what you’re doing?” Her mind was crashing. Her heart was crashing. For these brief moments she was beset by intolerable yearnings, abruptly made aware of the passionate red blood in her.
“David?” She tried to wrest away from him, but he held firm.
A certain contempt he felt for himself was no match for his desire for her. The heady incense of sex was an inciting vapour that hung in the air. There had to be countless instances of overwhelming temptation but he had never felt anything remotely like this before. There were only two possible options available to him. Let her go. Or give into this furious passion. She was bent forward over his arm. His arms had effectively locked her in. The tips of his fingers were pressing into the undersides of her beautiful high breasts. Still he didn’t release her. It was almost as though he were under a spell with all his senses inflamed.
Sonya was frantic to settle on a course of action. Her knees were buckling under the onslaught. Heat had turned to scorch. The delta between her legs had turned moist. “David, you mustn’t do this.”
True. True. True.
The two of them were locked into an impossible attraction. He could feel her trembling. “I know,” he said harshly, turning her to face him. It was a mistake. He had her exactly where he wanted her, only he knew he had to let her go. The pity was he couldn’t find the time or space to regain control. With a half-maddened exclamation, he brought his dark head down low over hers, furious with himself that he wanted her so badly. The voice of reason had quietened into nothingness …
His kiss was fierce. He had her beautiful body in his arms, their two bodies, male and female, connecting