Page 15 of Bound by a One-Night Vow

But Andrea was prepared to take his time about it. He wanted her to be the one to come to him. And her coming apart on his thigh in the elevator was an indicator of how close she was to capitulating. She was only resisting him because he had rejected her advances seven years ago. He knew she had only targeted him back then because she knew it would jeopardise his relationship with her father. He’d been tempted. Sure he had. Every cell in his body had felt the strain of resisting her come-and-get-me eyes. For years he’d worked hard not to show it. Whenever he came into contact with her at one of her father’s parties or events he would screen his desire behind a mask of cynicism. But inside he was simmering, smouldering with lust.

It was different now. She wanted him, not as a rebellious teenager out to make mischief. This time she wanted him as a fully grown passionate woman.

He closed down his computer and smiled. Yes. It was only a matter of time before she would be finally his.

* * *

Izzy had eaten so much she had to lie down, but she refused to lie on Andrea’s bed. That seemed way too intimate, too...anticipatory, as if she was waiting for him to come and make love to her. She wasn’t... But she had thought about it. A lot. It was all she seemed to think about. Her body felt agitated, restless, needy. The response he had evoked in her in the elevator had made her hungry for more. She wanted to feel his arms around her, his body within her, his mouth locked on hers.

She had a reputation as a sleep-around slut but she’d only had a handful of lovers and none of them had been satisfying. She’d always been uncomfortable with physical intimacy and had made herself tipsy in order to get through it. None of her partners had taken the time to get to know her needs or preferences but carried on regardless. She figured it was easier to pretend she was having a good time rather than speak up and risk being called a freak or frigid.

Not that she felt frigid when she was around Andrea. Far from it. He only had to put his knee between her thighs and she’d shattered into a million pieces of bliss. What would happen if he made love to her in every sense of the word?

Izzy curled up on one of the sofas in the sitting room and wrapped herself in one of the cashmere throw rugs. She had to stop thinking about Andrea making love to her. She had to stop craving his touch. She had to stop imagining his hands and lips and tongue on her flesh. Had. To. Stop. She turned on the television to watch one of her favourite shows but it didn’t capture her interest as it normally would. She closed her eyes and promised herself she would keep an ear out for when Andrea came back in...

* * *

Andrea entered the suite and found Izzy fast asleep on one of the sofas. She was wearing one of his hotel’s bathrobes but it had fallen open, revealing the slender length of her legs. Her feet were bare and her toenails were painted in an electric blue. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail but some strands had loosened and now fell about her face. Her skin was make-up free and as pure and unblemished as a cream-coloured rose, her eyelashes and eyebrows so dark in contrast she looked like a modern version of Sleeping Beauty. He had always considered her beautiful, but without the adornment of make-up and proper hair styling she looked almost ethereal, like an angel in a Renaissance painting. Serene and untouchable.

He approached the sofa but she didn’t stir. He gently straightened the throw rug so it covered her legs, then he brushed back her hair, tucking it behind the shell of her ear. She smelt of the essential oils he had selected as the signature scent of his hotel chain. She gave a little murmur and burrowed her head further against the scatter cushion she was leaning on.

He felt a jab of disappointment she hadn’t woken at the sound of him entering the suite. He hadn’t realised how much he’d been looking forward to sparring with her. He enjoyed the way she not only locked horns with him but threatened to rip his off and stab him with them. The way she stared him down and threw insults at him like darts. He enjoyed baiting her, watching her colour rise and her eyes flash. She hated him but she wanted him, and to him that was a sexy combination.

He began to move away when she suddenly jerked upright, pushing her hair out of her face and looking at him through narrowed eyes. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I was covering your legs with the throw rug.’

She got up from the sofa and tied the edges of her bathrobe more securely, her cheeks stained a light pink. ‘Have you eaten?’ She glanced at the dinner trolley and her cheeks darkened a notch. ‘I was kind of hungry so you might need to order up some more.’

Andrea picked up the bottle of champagne out of the ice bucket. ‘Fancy some?’

‘It might seem strange to you but I don’t actually feel like celebrating.’ Her tone was so sour it would have curdled milk.

He uncorked the bottle and poured two glasses. ‘You should celebrate. You’re now a very wealthy young woman.’ He handed her a glass of champagne. ‘A very wealthy married young woman.’

Her eyes flashed and her mouth thinned. She took the champagne and for a moment he wondered if she was going to throw it in his face. Then she touched her glass against his. ‘That is if we last the distance.’ She gave a small frown. ‘How can I be sure you won’t sabotage this by walking out before the six months is up? As you so kindly pointed out, I have the most to lose.’

Andrea stroked a finger down the curve of her cheek. ‘You’ll have to trust me, won’t you, cara?’

Something hardened in her eyes and she brushed his hand away from her face as if she were shooing away a fly, almost spilling her champagne in the process. ‘Stop touching me. I can’t think when you do that. And I thought I told you not to keep calling me that. No one’s here but us. It’s totally unnecessary and it’s damn annoying.’

‘What you find annoying is how much you like it when I call you that,’ Andrea said. ‘You like lots of the things I do to you but you’re too proud to admit it.’

She plonked her glass down on the nearest surface. ‘I’m going to bed.’ She threw him another glare. ‘And no, that is not an invitation for you to join me.’

Andrea put his glass down and came to her, taking her by the hands before she could step away. ‘I will not take advantage of you, Isabella. We’ll only make love if or when you give me the go-ahead. You have my absolute word on that.’

She didn’t try to pull away from his hold and her expression softened slightly, the tight muscles of her jaw eased and her eyes lost their sheen of don’t-mess-with-me brittleness. ‘I still don’t understand why you’re doing this... Why you wanted to marry me in the first place. It doesn’t make sense.’

He massaged the backs of her hands with his thumbs, holding her gaze with his. ‘Remember I told you it was convenient for me to get married just now? I have a hotel merger I’ve been negotiating for a while. The owner has a teenage stepdaughter who has developed a rather embarrassing crush on me. I figured if I had a wife then that little problem will be taken care of until I get the merger completed. A temporary marriage between us seemed a perfect solution to both of our problems.’

Izzy’s expression looked like she had eaten something that had disagreed with her. ‘What a pity you didn’t think to pull a convenient wife out of a hat seven years ago when I made that pass at you.’

‘I knew what you were up to back then. You wanted to embarrass your father.’ He gave her hands another slow stroke with his thumbs. ‘It would have been wrong for me to get involved with you, not just because of my relationship with your father but because you were too young and headstrong to be in a proper adult relationship.’

Her teeth pulled at her lower lip, her eyes lowered. ‘He always made me feel so inadequate...so stupid and useless.’ Her voice held a note of bitterness that underlined each word.

Andrea frowned. Was she talking about the man he had known and admired for his business acumen and charitable work? ‘Your father?’

---