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His Final Bargain(12)

By:Melanie Milburne

       
           



       

Eliza tightened her mouth. She didn't want to be reminded of the nights  she had spent rolling and screaming with pleasure in his bed. She had  spent the last four years trying to forget. She threw him a dismissive  look. 'Sorry to burst the bubble on your ego, but you haven't left that  much of an impression on me. I can barely recall anything about our  affair other than I was relieved when it was over.'

'You're lying.'

Eliza gave him a flinty glare. 'That's what really irks you, isn't it,  Leo? It still rankles even after all this time. I was the first woman to  ever say no to you. You could have anyone you wanted but you couldn't  have me.'

'I could have you.' His eyes burned with primal intent. 'I could have you right now and we both know it.'

She gave a scornful laugh that belied the shockingly shaky ground she  was desperately trying to stand on. 'I'd like to see you try.'

His eyes scorched hers as he closed the distance between them in a lazy  stroll that sent an anticipatory shiver dancing down the length of her  spine. She knew that look. It made her blood race through the circuitry  of her veins like high-octane fuel. It made her heart thud with  excitement and her legs tremble like a tripod on an uneven floor. It  made her core clench with an ache that had no cure other than the  driving force of his body.

He took her by the upper arms, his fingers digging into her flesh with  almost brutal strength. 'You should know me well enough by now to know  how foolish it is to throw a gauntlet down like that before me.'

Eliza suppressed another little shiver as she flashed him a defiant look. 'I'm not scared of you.'

His fingers tightened even further as he jerked her hard against him.  'Then perhaps you should be.' And then his mouth swooped down and  slammed against hers.

It was a bruising kiss but Eliza was beyond caring. The crush of his  mouth on hers brought all of her suppressed longings to the surface of  her body like lava out of a volcano. She felt the raw need on her lips  where his were pressed so forcefully. She felt it in her breasts as they  were pushed up against his chest. She felt it unfurling deep in her  core, that twisting, twirling, torturous ache that was moving throughout  her body at breakneck speed.

How had she gone for so long without feeling this feverish rush of  passion? It was like waking up after a decade of sleep. Every pore of  her skin was alive and sensitised. Every muscle and sinew was crying out  for the stroke and glide of his touch.

His tongue stroked hers until she was whimpering at the back of her  throat. His hands were still hard on her upper arms, his fingertips  gripping her with bruising force, but she relished in the feel of his  commanding hold. His proudly aroused body was pressed intimately against  her. She felt the hard ridge of him against the femininity of her body.  The barrier of their clothes was torture. She wanted him naked and  inside her, filling her, stretching her-making her feel alive in a way  no one else could. She moved against him, speaking in a silent and  primal feminine language that was universal.

But, instead of answering the call to mate, he dropped his hold and  pulled back from her. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth as  if to remove the taste of her. It was a deliberately insulting gesture  and she wanted to slap him for it. But she would rather die than show  him how much he had hurt her.

'You've certainly got the Neanderthal routine down pat,' she said,  pushing back her hair with a flick of her hand. 'I'm surprised you  didn't haul me upstairs by the hair to your lair.'

His dark eyes mocked her. 'Surprised or disappointed?'

She held his look with a sassy one of her own. 'I wouldn't have done it, you know. I wouldn't have slept with you.'

The corner of his mouth kicked up cynically. 'No?'

'I was playing with you.' She straightened her wrap over her shoulders  with fastidious attention to detail. 'Seeing how far you'd go.'

When she finally brought her gaze back to his another involuntary shiver  trickled down her spine at the sexy, knowing glint shining there.

'You know where to find me if you feel like playing some more. My room  is three doors down from yours. You don't have to knock. Just come right  in. I'll be waiting for you.'

Eliza gave him a crushing look. 'Your confidence is seriously misplaced.'

His mouth tilted sardonically as he turned to make his way up the stairs. 'So is yours.'

Eliza was up early the following morning. Not that she had slept much  during the night. The needs Leo had awakened made her feel restless and  twitchy. All night long her mind had raced with a flood of memories of  their past affair-racy little scenes where she had pleasured him or he  had pleasured her. Erotic little flashbacks of her lying pinned beneath  his rocking body, or her riding him on top until she gasped out loud.  They all came back to haunt her-to torture her with the gnawing ache of  want that refused to be suppressed. Was that why he had stepped back  when he did? He wanted to make her own her need of him. He was playing  with her like a cat did with a hapless mouse.                       
       
           



       

She wasn't going to let him break her. She knew he wanted her pride as a  trophy. He wanted to have all the power, to be able to control what  happened between them this time around. She understood his motivations.  She had hurt him. She regretted that.

But on the battleground between them was a small defenceless child.

It wasn't fair to let Alessandra get hurt by the crossfire. Any  arguments they had would have to be conducted in private. Any resentment  would have to be shelved until they were alone.

As she was dressing after her shower Eliza noticed her upper arms bore  the faint but unmistakable imprint of his fingers where he had gripped  her the night before. It made her belly quiver to think he had branded  her with his touch. She slipped on a three quarter length cardigan to  cover the marks. She didn't want to have to explain to Marella or to  Laura, the agency girl, how they had got there.

Laura was all packed up ready to leave when Eliza went to the nursery  suite. 'Alessandra's still asleep,' she said, nodding towards the little  girl's room. 'That's the best she's slept since I've been here. She's  been a little terror the whole time. I don't think she's slept two hours  straight before. You must have a magic touch.'

'I don't know about that,' Eliza said with a self-deprecating smile.

Laura lugged her backpack over one shoulder. 'I'd better get going. I  have a ride waiting for me downstairs.' She offered her hand. 'Good luck  with it all. I don't envy you having to answer to Leo Valente. He's  quite intimidating, isn't he?'

'He's just being a protective father.'

Laura grunted. 'Yeah, well, I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of  him. Did you know him before or something? I don't mean to pry, it's  just that last night I kind of got the impression you two knew each  other.'

'I met him briefly a few years ago.' Eliza knew she had to be careful  what she said. The confidentiality agreement Leo had made her sign made  her think twice before she revealed anything about her previous  connection with him. She couldn't risk being quoted out of context. She  had no reason to believe he wouldn't be true to his word over the  consequences of speaking out of turn. There was a streak of ruthlessness  in him now that hadn't been there before. Didn't last night prove it?

'You dated him?' Laura probed.

'Not for long. It wasn't serious.'

Laura gave her a streetwise smile. 'Maybe you could have another crack  at it. He's got loads and loads of money. He'd be quite a catch if you  could put up with the foul temper.'

'I'm already engaged.'

Laura glanced at her left hand. 'Oh, I didn't realise. Sorry. When's the big day?'

'Yes, when is the big day?' Leo's deep voice spoke from behind them.

Eliza felt her face flood with colour as his gaze hit hers. She wondered  how long he had been there. Long enough if that brooding look was  anything to go by. 'Laura is just leaving, aren't you, Laura?'

'Yes,' Laura said and made a move for the door. 'I'll see myself out. Bye.'

A prickly silence filled the room once the young woman had left.

'I'd prefer you to refrain from gossiping with the hired help,' Leo said in a clipped tone. 'It's in your contract.'

'I wasn't gossiping. I was simply answering her questions. It would've been rude not to.'

'You're not here to answer questions. You're here to look after my daughter.'

Eliza returned his hardened glare. 'Is that really why I'm here? Or it  is because you have an axe to grind? Revenge is a dirty word, Leo. It's a  dirty deed that could turn out hurting you much more than it hurts me.'

His cleanly shaven jaw locked with tension. 'I'd have to care about you  for you to be able to hurt me. I care nothing for you. I only want your  body and you want mine. Last night proved it.'

Anger pulsed in her veins at his arrogant dismissal of her as a person.  'Do you really think I would allow myself to be used like that? To be  pawed over like some cheap two-bit hooker you hired off a dark alley?'