The Morning After Page 6

  ‘Funny,’ she jeered, having to force herself to retaliate through the stifling breathlessness that she was suddenly experiencing at his closeness. ‘But I thought this was the devil’s lair?’

  ‘I am merely his servant, Angelica,’ he stated grimly. ‘Merely his servant.’

  There was nothing ‘mere’ about this man. He was larger than life itself—in size, in presence, in the sheer, physical threat of the man.

  ‘I want to leave here,’ she informed him coldly.

  ‘But I’ve not finished with you yet.’ The taunting words were murmured against her cheek, dampening her skin with his warm spicy breath.

  ‘But I have finished with you!’ she snapped, turning to anger to cover up the hectic effect his closeness was having on her. ‘I demand that you fly me back to Union Island!’ She tried to prise his fingers from her other hand. ‘Now—before this silly game gets out of hand!’

  He responded by snaking a hard arm around her waist and lifting her off the ground. Ignoring the way she twisted and struggled and kicked out with feet made in-effectual by the way he was carrying her, he walked over to the sofa and dropped her unceremoniously into the soft coral-coloured cushions, then came to lean threateningly over her.

  ‘Now listen to me,’ he commanded. ‘And listen well, for this is no game. I mean business, Miss Lacey—serious business. You are here on my island for one purpose only, and that is to put you right out of circulation. From now on I am going to ensure personally that you form no danger to anyone in my family again!’

  He was talking about Susie now, of course, Annie realised. ‘And how do you intend to do that?’ she asked, blue eyes flashing a scornful challenge at green, absolutely refusing to let him see how very frightened she was. ‘By ruining my good reputation when everyone knows I don’t have one? Or do you have murder in mind, Mr DeSanquez?’ she taunted dangerously.

  His anger flared at her refusal to take him seriously, his bared teeth flashing bright white in a cruel dark face as he reached for her again. ‘Murder is too easy an escape for you, you little she-devil,’ he muttered. ‘Perhaps this will teach you to have a healthy fear of me!’

  She didn’t expect it, which was why he caught her so totally off guard when his hard fingers curled tightly on her shoulders and he brought her wrenchingly upwards to meet the punishing force of his mouth.

  It lasted only seconds, but it was long enough for her to feel again the hectic sensation of her whole body burning up, as though something totally alien had invaded her.

  She didn’t move, did not so much as breathe or blink an eyelash in response, yet, as she had been the evening before, she was suddenly and excruciatingly aware of him—aware of his strength, of the power behind the muscles that strained angrily against her, of the subtle, pleasing scent of him, the smooth texture of his tight, tanned skin.

  Her mouth was burning, her soft lips throbbing where he pressed them bruisingly back against her tightly clenched teeth. And her breasts—the damning traitors that they were—were responding to the heated pressure of his hard chest, the sensitive tips hardening into tight, tingling sensors of pleasure as they pushed eagerly towards him.

  He muttered something in his throat and whipped a hand around the back of her neck so that he could arch her backwards, the other hand coming up between them to let a throbbing nipple push against his palm.

  Annie gasped at the shocking insolence of the action, trying to pull away from him. But her gasp gave him entry into her mouth, and the next thing she knew she was being flung into a heady vortex of hot, moist intimacy.

  Never—never since Alvarez—had she let a man kiss her like this. The very idea of it had always appalled her. But with this man it was the most achingly sensual experience of her life!

  And that appalled her. It appalled her to know that she could be so receptive to a man who held her in such open contempt! And when he eventually lifted his head it was an act of sheer self-preservation that made her stare up at him with apparent indifference to the attack when in actual fact she was slowly and systematically collapsing inside.

  ‘Well, well, well,’ she heard herself murmur with an inner horror at her own gall. ‘So you too are prepared to use sex to get what you want. And there I was, thinking you way above that kind of thing. How very disappointing.’

  He stiffened violently at the taunt, then smiled ruefully when her meaning sank in. ‘Ah,’ he drawled. ‘You are implying that we are similar creatures. But that is not the case,’ he denied. ‘You see, I do not sleep around—especially with promiscuous bitches who run a high risk of contamination.’

  That cut—cut hard and deep. Not that she let him see it, her bruised and trembling mouth taking on a deriding twist as she taunted softly right back, ‘Then I think you should tell your body that, because it seems to me that it’s quite fancying a bit of contamination right now.’ And she let her eyes drop to where the evidence of his own response to the kiss thrust powerfully against Annie’s groin.

  He dumped her so suddenly that she flailed back into the soft cushions behind her, but she barely noticed because her gaze was fixed incredulously on his hard, angry face.

  He’d flushed—he’d actually flushed! She had absolutely thrown him by daring to point out his own sexual response, and elation at managing to get to him made her eyes flash with triumph.

  Spinning away from her, he went to pour himself a drink—not coffee this time, but something stronger from a crystal decanter standing on a beautiful mahogany sideboard by the fireplace.

  Annie got to her feet, studying him with more curiosity than fear now as that small revelation helped her to diminish the godlike proportions she had been allowing herself to see in him.

  How old was he? she found herself wondering curiously. Thirty-one—thirty-two? Not much older, she was certain, though her original impression last night—had it only been last night?—had been of a much older, more mature man.

  ‘Don’t you think it’s time you told me exactly what it is you do want from me?’ she suggested when the silence began to drag between them.

  He turned with glass in hand. ‘What I want from you is quite simple,’ he said, having got his temper back under control, she noted. ‘I want you taken right out of Hanson’s life, and I intend personally to make sure it happens.’

  Todd? She stared at him, amazed that she could have forgotten all about Todd! Even when he’d brought Susie into this Annie had only connected the other girl with their modelling war. Susie’s connection with Todd had not even entered her head!

  Stupid! she berated herself. How damned stupid can you get? Of course this was all about Todd and Susie, and not just Susie and the Cliché contract!

  It was like being on a see-saw, she likened heavily. One minute feeling the uplift of her own confidence returning before she crashed down again so abruptly that she was starting to feel dizzy.

  ‘How long have you known Hanson?’ he asked her suddenly.

  Almost all my life, Annie thought, with a smile that seemed to soften the whole structure of her face. Then she shrugged, slender shoulders shifting inside the white cotton top. ‘None of your business,’ she said.

  He grimaced, as if acknowledging her right to be uncooperative. Yet he tried again—on a slightly different tack. ‘But you have been lovers on an off for—what—four years, is it now?’

  ‘No comment.’

  He took a sip at his drink, green eyes thoughtful as they ran slowly over her. Annie fixed him with a bland stare; she was determined to give him no help whatsoever.

  ‘You are very beautiful,’ he remarked, making her eyelashes flicker in memory of the way he had said that to her the night before. ‘Incredibly so for someone who has led such a chequered life. It is no wonder my brother-in-law lost his head over you.’

  ‘Something you are determined not to do,’ she reminded him, smiling although the fact that just thinking of Luis Alvarez was enough to turn her stomach.

  ‘And Hanson,’ he contin
ued, as if she had not spoken. ‘He cannot seem to help himself where you are concerned.’

  ‘Is this conversation supposed to be leading somewhere?’ she asked. ‘Only, if it is, would you kindly get to the point so I can get out of here? I am tired and would like to get off this island so I can book into a hotel somewhere and get some sleep tonight.’

  ‘Oh, you will get your sleep, Miss Lacey,’ he assured her smoothly. ‘Plenty of it—in the bed already waiting for you upstairs. You see…’ He paused—entirely for effect, Annie suspected. ‘As from tonight you became my mistress, and therefore will sleep wherever I sleep.’

  ‘What—?’ Annie began to laugh. She couldn’t help it; the whole thing was getting so ridiculous that she was truly beginning to believe that she must be stuck in some real-as-life nightmare—one of those where nothing made any sense!

  ‘Oh, not in the physical sense of the word,’ he inserted coolly into her laughter, ‘since we have already established that I have no wish to go where too many men have been before me.’

  ‘Have we?’ Her blue eyes mocked him. He lifted his chin and ignored the silent taunt.

  ‘It is, therefore, simple logic to assume that I mean to create the illusion of intimacy—solely for the minds of others.’

  ‘And I’m supposed to meekly go along with all of this, am I?’ she murmured with rueful scorn.

  Funnily enough, instead of getting angry with her again, he grimaced. ‘No,’ he conceded. ‘Not meekly, I do acknowledge. But I fail to see what you can do about it since this is my island, and the only form of transport off it is in my helicopter. And,’ he continued while Annie grimly took all of that in, ‘considering I hold the very success of Hanson’s launch into Europe in the palm of my hand, I think I can—persuade you to do exactly what I want you to do. If only for Hanson’s sake,’ he added carefully.

  Annie’s spine straightened slowly, her attention well and truly fixed now. ‘What is that supposed to mean?’ she demanded.

  ‘Exactly what it said.’ He rid himself of his glass then shoved his hands into the pockets of his lightweight trousers. The action drew her eyes unwillingly downwards to that place where the evidence of his arousal had been so obviously on show.

  Not so now. The man was back in control of his body, his stance supremely relaxed. ‘As I suppose you must already know, Hanson has overstretched his resources going into Europe,’ he went on smoothly. ‘He is in dire need of a world exclusive to get his new magazine off the ground. Convincing me to let him publish my new collection is undoubtedly that world exclusive. Using your body to display that collection means he cannot fail. And indeed,’ he went on while Annie stood taking it all in, ‘I have no wish for him to fail. It would not suit my cousin, you see, for the man she loves to be a failure,’ he pointed out. ‘But,’ he then warned chillingly, ‘I am prepared to have him fail if you are not prepared to do exactly what I say.’

  The bottom line, Annie recognised as he fell into a meaningful silence. They had just reached the bottom line—as far as any protest from her went anyway. Because from the moment he said he was able to hurt Todd she had been beaten. She would do anything for Todd. Lay down her life for Todd.

  Prostitute herself for Todd.

  ‘Tell me exactly what you want me to do,’ she said huskily, and at last gave him his victory over her spirit by letting her shoulders wilt in defeat.

  Oddly, rather than pleasing him it seemed to have the opposite effect, tightening his mouth and putting an impatient glint into his strange green eyes.

  ‘Look,’ he exhaled irritably, ‘why don’t you avail yourself of some of that coffee? You are obviously jet lagged and no doubt dehydrated. Please…’ He waved a hand towards the trolley, but when she still just stood there, looking like a slowly wilting flower, another sigh rasped from him and he came to grasp her arm, guiding her to one of the chairs and pushing her roughly into it.

  Annie glanced at the hand on her arm, long-fingered and beautifully sculptured, then at his face, darkly intense and intimidatingly grim, and shivered, realising just how accurate her first impression of this man had been. Danger, her instincts had warned her. Danger—hard with resolve.

  Dangerous on several levels, she acknowledged as her senses quivered beneath his touch. Then, as she let her tense body relax into the chair, she was filled with a sudden aching kind of sadness. For the first time in her adult life she had come upon a man whom she did not feel an instant physical revulsion for, and he wanted only to do her harm.

  Lifting her hand, she began rubbing at her brow with weary fingers. Her head was beginning to ache, the long hours of travelling only to be faced with all of…this beginning to take their toll.

  A minute later a cup of strong coffee was placed into her hand, then he stood over her, with those piercing eyes probing her pale face while she sipped at the strong, sweet drink.

  ‘Please explain the rest,’ she requested, once the drink had managed to warm a small part of her numbed body.

  He looked ready to refuse, an oddly ferocious look tightening his lean face. Then, on a short sigh, he turned away. ‘Hanson will get his exclusive for his magazine,’ he assured her. ‘Only—’ he turned back to face her ‘—it won’t be you wearing the Adamas collection, it will be Susie—after Hanson has begged me to allow her to take your place, of course, when you don’t turn up in time for his deadline because you have disappeared with your lover.’

  ‘You, I suppose.’ Her smile was twisted with contempt.

  ‘Of course.’ He gave an arrogant half-nod of his dark head. ‘It has to be convincing, after all. The man may have overstretched his resources in this economic climate, but he is no fool. He knows you well enough to suspect anything less than your assurance that the love of a very rich man has brought this decision on you.’

  He paused, waiting for her to put up a protest or at least show some horrified response to his demands. But when she revealed nothing—nothing whatsoever—his frown came back, the first hint of puzzlement showing on his rock-solid, certain face.

  ‘You understand what I am demanding of you?’ he questioned. ‘I am demanding that you cut yourself completely free of Hanson—both professionally and personally. No contact,’ he made clear. ‘Nothing. He loves my cousin, but he suffers an incurable lust for you. You cannot be allowed to go on ruining lives simply because that body of yours drives men insane!’

  And whose fault is that? she wondered cynically. Mine for projecting exactly what they want to see? Or theirs for being such pathetic slaves to their wretched libidos?

  She glanced at him from beneath her lashes, wondering curiously if this man had ever been a slave to his libido. And decided not. He was Adamas—the rock, the invincible one! And just too damned proud to let himself become a slave to anything—except his family, maybe.

  And there, she realised suddenly, was his weakness! Hers was Todd and always would be Todd. His was his pride and abiding love for his family.

  ‘You know…’ she murmured thoughtfully, a small seed of an idea beginning to develop in her mind. If it worked—if she could swing it—there was a small chance that she could get herself out of this relatively unscathed. ‘You’ve forgotten one rather obvious thing in all your careful planning,’ she said. ‘If, by your reckoning, I’ve had Todd at my beck and call for the last four years, despite the countless other men he knows have been falling in and out of my bed—then he isn’t going to give up on me just because you’ve come along.’

  That deep sense of personal pride took the shape of haughty arrogance on his face. ‘He will if I insist upon it,’ he said.

  ‘Enough to make him turn to Susie for comfort?’ she charged. ‘Enough to make him thrust me from his mind? I’m sorry—’ ruefully she shook her head ‘—but it won’t happen. Todd loves me, you see,’ she stated with a soft and sincere certainty. ‘Loves me from the heart not the body. Or why else do you think he keeps coming back to me no matter what goes on in my life?

  ‘Ask Susi
e if you don’t believe me,’ she prompted when deriding scepticism that anyone could love a promiscuous bitch like her turned his attractive mouth ugly. ‘Ask her why all her other attempts to make Todd dismiss me from his life have failed. And ask yourself why a beautiful, desirable woman like Susie cannot win her man on her terms without having to bring you in to do it for her.

  ‘Ask her—’ she gently thrust her strongest point home ‘—if she’s ever asked Todd why he refuses to give me up, and if she’s honest, Mr DeSanquez, she’ll tell you that she has asked him, and Todd had told her, quite clearly, that he loves me and will always love me until the day he dies—no matter what I do.’

  Silence. She had him wondering, and Annie had to stifle the urge to smile in triumph. The way his sleek black brows were pulling downwards over the bridge of his long, thin nose told her that she had forced him to consider what she’d said.

  ‘You could keep me here for six months—a year! but when I eventually went back Todd would be waiting for me with open arms. Is Susie prepared to live with that?’ she challenged. ‘Knowing that, no matter how deeply she manages to inveigle Todd into her clutches, I will always be there like the shadowed wings of a hawk in their lives, waiting to swoop down and steal him right away from her?’

  This felt good—really good! Annie thought with relish as he spun restlessly away. He poured another drink, swallowed it down in one go then turned, forcing her to smooth the pleased glow out of her eyes as he glanced sharply back at her.

  ‘You really are the shrewd, calculating bitch my family label you, are you not?’ he said grimly.

  ‘I am what I am.’ She shrugged, throwing his own words of earlier right back at him.

  ‘And what made you what you are, I wonder?’ he mused angrily.

  ‘Oh, that’s easy,’ she said. ‘There’s a final ingredient in all of this which should clear that up.’ She looked him straight in the eye. ‘You see, I love Todd in exactly the same way that he loves me. Only, we are not allowed to show it because of Todd’s mother. You do know who Todd’s mother is, don’t you?’ she questioned tauntingly.