Blackmailed into the Marriage Bed Page 9

  ‘You don’t hate me, cara.’ He slowly unwound her hair from around his finger. ‘If you hated me you wouldn’t have come home with me from the hospital yesterday.’

  Ailsa wrenched out of his hold with a strength she hadn’t known she possessed, sending a wave of bathwater over the edge of the tub. ‘I didn’t have a flipping choice. You brought me there instead of to a hotel as I requested. It was basically abduction, that’s what it was. Then you stole my passport and—’

  ‘You know what your trouble is, cara? You don’t trust yourself around me. That’s why you have to paint me as the bad guy because you can’t bear the thought that you’re the one with the issue.’

  How typical of him to make it seem as if she was the problem. It was her self-control that was the problem but that was beside the point. ‘You think I can’t resist you? Think again. I can and I will.’ Dangerous words since his hairy legs were currently nudging hers under the soapy water and everything that was female in her was getting hot and bothered.

  His smile was confident. I’ll-have-you-eating-those-words-in-no-time confident. ‘Come here.’

  Ailsa sent him a look that would have withered a cactus. ‘Dream on, buddy. The days when you could crook your little finger and I would come running are well and truly over.’

  He laughed and moved closer, trailing a fingertip down between her soap-covered breasts. ‘Then maybe I’ll have to come to you, hmm?’

  She suppressed a whimper of pleasure as his finger found her nipple beneath the bubbles. Why wasn’t she moving away? The slow glide of his finger undid every vertebra on her spine. Only he knew how to dismantle her defences. She could feel her body moistening in preparation, the signal of high arousal. The ache intensified, the need dragging at her, clawing at her, making her desperate in a way that threatened her pride as it had never been threatened before. She tried to think of a way out of the tight corner Vinn had backed her into. How could she satisfy him—bad choice of word—without compromising herself? Was there a way she could get Isaac that sponsorship without committing to three months of living with Vinn? ‘What if we negotiated the time frame a little?’ she said. ‘What if I stayed for a week instead of—?’

  ‘One month.’

  She gave herself a mental high five. The old Vinn would never negotiate over anything. There was hope after all. ‘I was thinking in days rather than—’

  He shook his head and sent his finger down her breastbone. ‘No deal. One month or nothing. I realise three months is a little long to be away from your business but a month is hardly more than a holiday. And, from what I’ve heard from Isaac, you haven’t had one of those in a while.’

  Like you can talk, Mr Workaholic. Ailsa chewed the side of her mouth. One month was better than three and she could catch up on all her Italian clients, giving them the attention they deserved instead of fitting them around her other work. Besides, Vinn’s villa was huge. Surely she could keep her distance from him in a house that size? It was a win-win. Well, sort of... ‘What have you told Isaac about this...arrangement?’

  ‘I told him the sponsorship would ultimately be up to you.’

  Ailsa frowned. ‘You told him you were effectively blackmailing me back into your bed?’

  ‘No. I simply told him it was your decision whether I went ahead with the sponsorship.’

  ‘So he’ll blame me if it doesn’t go ahead?’

  He gave her an on-off smile that didn’t involve his teeth. ‘It would be a pity to disappoint him, sì?’

  Ailsa couldn’t refuse. She had no room to refuse. If she refused, her relationship with her brother would end up like her relationship with her mother and stepfather. Damaged. Maybe even destroyed. Isaac would blame her for ever for not being able to follow his dream. It would be her fault. Vinn had cleverly orchestrated it so she had no choice but to agree. ‘Okay. It’s a deal.’ She lifted her chin to a combative height. ‘But I’m absolutely not sleeping with you.’

  His eyes strayed to her mouth as if he couldn’t stop himself. ‘Who said anything about sleeping?’ And then his mouth came crashing down on hers.

  It was a kiss she had no way of resisting. No amount of self-control, no amount of anger, no amount of anything was going to be a match for the desire she felt for him. As soon as his lips met hers she was swept up in a maelstrom of lust that threatened to boil the water they were in.

  Vinn’s hands went to her breasts in a possessive movement that thrilled her as much as it annoyed her. How dare he think she was his for the asking? Not that he’d asked. He’d assumed and he’d assumed right, which was even more annoying. Why did she have no willpower when it came to this man? Why him? What was it about him that made her so weak and needy?

  His mouth left hers to suckle on her breasts in a way that lifted every hair on her scalp and sent shivers skating down her spine. No one knew her breasts like he did. No one handled them with such exquisite care and attention. He cradled them as if they were precious and tender, his touch evoking a fevered response from her that had her gasping and mewling like a wanton. His tongue circled her right nipple, rolling and grazing and teasing until she was mindless and limbless. Then he used his teeth in a gentle bite that made an arrow of lust shoot straight to her core. A possessive, you-are-mine-and-only-mine-bite that made her throw herself on his body, desperate for the release only he could give.

  His fingers found her folds and within seconds she was flying, careening like an out of control vehicle, her gasps and cries so loud she was almost ashamed of them. She bit down on his shoulder to block the traitorous sound, vaguely satisfied when he grunted and winced. She wanted him to feel pain. Why should it be just her who suffered for this crazy out of control need?

  But within moments that was exactly what he seemed to want, for as soon as her stormy, tumultuous orgasm was over he withdrew and sat back against the edge of the bathtub, his arms draped either side, with a cat-standing-beside-an-empty-canary’s-cage smile. ‘Good?’

  Ailsa glanced at the soapy water surrounding his groin that barely concealed his erection. ‘Aren’t you going to—?’

  ‘Not right now.’ He vaulted out of the bathtub in one effortless movement and reached for one of the fluffy white towels and began roughly drying himself.

  Ailsa silently seethed at the way he was demonstrating his superior self-control. He’d made her come but he wasn’t going to indulge his own pleasure just to show how he could resist her. Damn it. She would show him how hard it was to resist her. She got out of the bath and began drying herself with one of the towels, not roughly as he had done but with slow sensual strokes. She put one foot on the edge of the bath and leaned over to dry between her toes, feeling his eyes devour her derrière. She changed feet and swung her wet hair behind one shoulder and leaned forward again. He was the only man she had ever felt completely comfortable with being naked. She had the same hang-ups most women did about their bodies, but Vinn had always made her feel like a goddess.

  She put her foot back down to the floor and turned to face him. ‘Would you pass me that body moisturiser over there?’

  He picked up a bottle of luxurious honeysuckle-scented creamy lotion. ‘This one?’

  Ailsa took it from him with a coy smile. ‘Want me to rub your back for you?’

  His eyes darkened with simmering lust. ‘You’re playing a dangerous game, cara.’

  Ailsa squirted some lotion into one of her hands and then put the bottle aside to emulsify the lotion between her hands before smoothing some over her breasts. ‘It’s really important to moisturise after a hot bath. It keeps your skin supple and smooth.’

  His eyes watched every movement of her hands moving over her breasts, the tension in the air at snapping point. When she reached for the bottle of lotion again his hand was already on it. He held her gaze while he poured some out into the middle of his palm. ‘Turn around.’

  Ailsa turn
ed and shivered when his hand began a slow, sensual stroking motion from the tops of her shoulders to the base of her spine and then even further into the cleavage of her buttocks. Her body clenched tight with need, the sexy glide of his hands in the intimate spaces of her flesh making her forget everything but the desire that throbbed with every single beat of her pulse. He moved his hands to the front of her body, stroking over her breasts and down over her stomach before going lower. She could feel the brush of his body from behind, the hard ridge of his erection against her bottom making her need for him escalating to the point of pain.

  He turned her in his arms and looked at her through sexily hooded eyes. ‘You know I want you.’

  Ailsa moved closer so the jut of his erection was pushed against her belly. ‘Make love to me, Vinn.’

  He framed her face in his hands, his eyes holding hers. ‘That wasn’t what you were saying a few minutes ago.’

  ‘I’m saying it now.’

  His eyes dipped to her mouth, lingering there for a pulsing moment. Then his mouth came down and covered hers in a searing kiss that inflamed her need like petrol on a fire. He held her body closer, the glide of naked flesh against naked flesh stirring her senses into rapture. Ailsa linked her arms around his neck, stepping on tiptoe so she could feel the proud bulge of his arousal close to where she throbbed the most.

  Vinn deepened the kiss, tangling his tongue with hers, making her whimper at the back of her throat. With his mouth still clamped to hers, they moved almost blindly to the bedroom where he laid her down on the bed and came down over her, propping his weight on his forearms with his legs in a sexy tangle with hers.

  He lifted his mouth off hers, looking at her with a direct and probing gaze. ‘Are you sure about this?’

  Ailsa had never felt surer of anything. She would think about the implications of making love with Vinn again later. For now all she could think of was how wonderful it felt to be pinned to the bed with his weight, with his engorged length thick and heavy between her thighs. She traced a fingertip over his bottom lip, her stomach tilting when she encountered his prickly stubble just below. ‘I want you. I don’t want to want you, but I can’t seem to help it.’

  He pressed a brief hard kiss to her mouth. ‘I feel the same.’

  Ailsa moved beneath him, opening her legs to accommodate him, breathing in a quick sharp breath when he entered her swiftly and smoothly. Her body gripped him, welcoming him back with a tight clench of greedy muscles. He began a torturously slow rhythm but she egged him on by clutching him by the buttocks and bringing him closer with each slick thrust. She could feel the pressure building, the tension in her core so intense but unable to finally let go without that extra bit of friction. He slipped a hand between their bodies, finding the swollen heart of her and caressing it with just the right amount of pressure to send her flying over the edge.

  The orgasm smashed into her, rolling her over and over and over, sending waves and currents and eddies of pleasure through her body. It was almost too much and she tried to shrink back from it but Vinn wouldn’t allow her to do so and kept on caressing her until she was in the middle of another orgasm, even more powerful than the first. She gasped and cried out as the storm broke over her, tossing her every which way like a shaken rag doll. She gained enough consciousness to feel Vinn pump his way through his own powerful orgasm, his guttural groan thrilling her because it made her feel wanted and needed and desired. She knew she could have been anybody, but he hadn’t chosen anybody.

  He had chosen her.

  He hadn’t made love with anyone since she’d left. It didn’t mean he loved her. It meant he wanted to draw a line under their relationship once it was finally over, but she didn’t want to think about that now. She closed her eyes and sighed as his arms gathered her close, just like the old days when she’d fooled herself this was a normal relationship with no secrets and hidden agendas.

  Vinn stroked a hand down her thigh. ‘I would have used a condom but since neither of us has been with anyone else I thought it’d be okay. I assume you’ve still got your contraceptive implant?’

  Ailsa’s stomach pitched. Her implant had been up for renewal a couple of months ago but she’d put off making an appointment with her doctor. Why had she left it so late to get it changed? She knew exactly why—because she hadn’t had sex with anyone.

  Because she hadn’t been able to even think about having sex with anyone other than Vinn.

  Would the device still be working? She hoped and prayed...and yet a tiny part of her couldn’t help thinking about a baby that looked exactly like Vinn. No. No. No. She mustn’t think about it. Must not. Must not. Must not think about it. Allowing those thoughts into her head made it harder to ignore them the next time.

  And there would be a next time.

  There had been a lot of them lately. Thoughts. Treacherous thoughts of holding a baby in her arms. She was nearly thirty years old. Her mother had given birth to her at eighteen and to Isaac at twenty-eight. But how could Ailsa think of being a mother to a child?

  She pushed those thoughts away and gave Vinn a you-know-me-so-well smile. ‘Yep. I sure do.’

  He traced a slow circle around her belly button. ‘You’re the only person I’ve ever made love to without a condom.’

  ‘Because we were married, right?’

  ‘Not just that...’ His eyes went to her mouth for a moment before coming back to her gaze. ‘I never felt any other relationship had the potential to work as ours did.’

  Ailsa lowered her gaze to concentrate on the dark stubble on his chin. ‘It would only have worked if I’d caved in to every one of your commands. I wasn’t prepared to do that. I’m still not.’

  He brushed the hair back from her forehead with a wistful look on his face. ‘Maybe you’re right. We should have had a fling and left it at that.’

  Ailsa tiptoed her fingertip down from his sternum to his belly button. ‘Changed your mind about that back rub?’

  His eyes glinted. ‘You’ve talked me into it.’ And then his mouth came down and covered hers.

  CHAPTER SIX

  WHEN AILSA WOKE the next morning back at the villa there was no sign of Vinn. Well, apart from the indentation of his head on the pillow beside her and the little twinges in her intimate muscles, that was. He had taken her back to the villa late last night rather than spending the whole night at the hotel, and made love to her all over again. It made her wonder how she had gone so long without him making love to her. It made her wonder how she would cope once their ‘reconciliation’ was over.

  She had a refreshing shower and, wrapping herself in a fluffy white bath towel, looked balefully at her creased clothes from the day before. There was any number of outfits in the walk-in wardrobe but somehow stepping back into the role of trophy wife—temporary as it was—was a little off-putting. Was she losing herself all over again? Capitulating to Vinn’s demands as if she had no will and mind of her own?

  But this was about his grandfather more than about her and Vinn. Dom was the one they were doing this for. She was still trying to make up her mind what to do about her clothes when her phone rang from her handbag on the end of the bed. She took it out and saw it was a call from her brother. ‘Hi Isaac.’

  ‘Vinn told me you’re okay with him sponsoring me,’ Isaac said with such excitement in his voice it soothed some of her residual anger at Vinn. Some. Not all. ‘I don’t know how to thank you. I thought you’d be all dog-in-the-manger about it but he said you were amazing about it. Really amazing.’

  ‘What else did he say about me?’

  There was a little silence.

  ‘He said you two were working on a reconciliation. Is it true? Are you back together?’

  Ailsa hated lying to her brother but couldn’t see any way out of it. If Isaac knew what was really going on he might refuse Vinn’s sponsorship. She couldn’t allow Isaac’s one
chance to hit the big time to be overshadowed by how Vinn had orchestrated things. ‘It’s true but it’s only a trial reconciliation. Things might not work out so don’t get your hopes up.’

  ‘I’m happy for you, Ailsa. Really happy because you haven’t been happy since you left him.’

  ‘You don’t have to worry about me, kiddo,’ Ailsa said. ‘I’m a big girl who can take care of herself.’

  ‘What actually broke you guys up? You’ve always changed the subject when anyone mentions—’

  ‘I’d rather not talk about it if you don’t mind—’

  ‘He didn’t cheat on you, did he? I know he was a bit of a playboy before he met you but he wouldn’t have married you if he didn’t want to settle down.’

  Ailsa let out a short sigh. ‘No. He didn’t cheat on me. We just...disagreed on stuff.’

  ‘Like having kids?’

  She was a little shocked at the direct way her brother was speaking. She had never overtly discussed her decision not to have children with him or with her mother and stepfather. It was something she didn’t like discussing because it reminded her of why she’d made the decision in the first place. They knew her career was her top priority and she allowed them to think that was her main reason. Her only reason. ‘Why would you say that?’

  ‘I just wondered if you’ve been put off the idea of having kids because of Mum and Dad breaking up.’

  Alisa knew the divorce had hit Isaac harder than it had her. She had moved out of home soon after but he had still been at school and had to move between two households for access visits. Their parents had done their best to keep things civil, but Ailsa knew there were times when things had been a little messy emotionally. ‘Lots of people come from broken homes these days,’ she said, skirting around the issue. ‘It’s the new normal.’

  ‘So you do want kids?’