Miranda Lee -The Blackmailed Bridegroom Read online

  Stunned, she stared up at him from the depths of the sofa. She'd never experienced or imagined such a position. Yet it was surprisingly comfortable, especially after her legs snaked around his waist, her ankles linking. Her hips were well supported by the soft leather arm, her buttocks firmly clasped in Antonio's strong male hands.

  It was also an incredibly erotic position, with their bodies so explicitly displayed for each other's eyes.

  Paige thought Antonio looked magnificent, standing there with his long legs braced solidly apart, his broad shoulders and muscular arms having no trouble holding her to him like that. The years hadn't brought any flab to his stomach, though his tan was possibly more due to his Latin genes than time spent in the sun. His body hair seemed darker and more menacing than she remembered, or maybe that was because she hadn't seen that part which was now totally exposed, and closest to her wide-eyed gaze.

  Dressed, Antonio always looked a handsome and elegant man. Nude, he was the primitive lover Paige had always pictured, and wanted.

  His glittering black eyes took in every inch of her body with a slow and decidedly thorough survey, bringing a flush of heat to her cheeks and a squirming feeling to the pit of her stomach. Under his gaze her parched lips fell further apart, her nipples peaked harder, her belly tightened.

  When his eyes reached that part of her which was as one with his he began to move, and to move her, his hands pulling her hard against him with each thrust of his hips.

  'Oh, God,' she moaned, and simply had to close her eyes, her head twisting to one side, her helpless hands finding and grasping a cushion with frantic opening and closing movements of her fingers. It was impossible to think of anything but what he was doing to her body. How he felt How she felt.

  The blood was roaring in her head. Her heart was going faster and faster. Everything was spinning way, way out of control.

  And just when Paige began to panic she shattered

  around him, crying out his name, her tortured face and

  wildly spasming body bringing hot tears to her eyes. For

  this was even worse than she'd feared. The pleasure.

  And the pain. :

  Because Antonio did not love her. He would never love her.

  Just like Jed.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ANTONIO was stunned by the power of her orgasm, and the rush of elation it evoked within him.

  Strange...he'd never been that kind of man before, whose ego needed stroking by the woman he was with. He'd never felt the urge to prove himself a greater lover than her last, never strived to impress in bed so that his partner thought he was the best thing since Casanova,

  But it seemed that with Paige he was. His dark triumph at being able to give her such pleasure was only exceeded by the pleasure he was finding in her body. Maybe his memory was playing tricks on him, but he couldn't remember it feeling this good, even with Lauren. Or this wild!

  Antonio had to admit that Conrad's daughter had been his sexual nemesis for a long time. But especially now, with her violent climax propelling him towards a climax of his own which was as compellingly irresistible as it was highly risky.

  For he wasn't wearing a condom.

  He'd meant to go and get one. There were surely some in his bathroom or in his bedside table drawer. Antonio always believed in being prepared.

  But things had got out of hand. When she'd urged him to just do it, he'd totally lost his head.

  Of course, he could still withdraw and get one.

  Or he could just withdraw.

  But he wasn't going to, was he?

  Not because he was trying to get her pregnant.

  Frankly, the thought of Paige conceiving would complicate things. How could he divorce the mother of his child?

  The truth was he didn't want anything between his flesh and hers when he came. He wanted to keep feeling the heat of her, the tightness, the wetness. And he wanted to go on experiencing the indescribable ecstasy of what he was feeling at that moment.

  Her contractions showed absolutely no sign of abating. It was unbelievable! Unbearable! If only he could last for ever. But then she called out his name again, and arched her back in one long, voluptuous movement, shifting the angle of her body, breaking what little was left of his control.

  He came with a lightning flash of sensation, his cry as loud as a thunderclap. His fingers were digging into her flesh and his thighs trembling uncontrollably when the sudden urge for closer contact sent him bending over to scoop her up from the depths of the sofa, holding her tight against him while he shuddered deep within her.

  At first she just clung to him, but then she started to cry, with deep, gasping sobs.

  It rocked him, that gut-wrenching sobbing. Rocked and rattled him. Waltham had said something about her crying with him afterwards.

  But surely this wasn't the same kind of crying! This couldn't be dismay or disappointment, or, God forbid, disgust. It had to be a reaction to the intensity of her release. He'd heard of such things happening, though hadn't come across it before.

  He wanted to comfort her, to say something, anything to stop her heartbreaking weeping.

  'Hush, honey, hush,' he found himself saying, his hands shaking slightly as they stroked her hair down her back. 'It's all right, Paige. It's all right. Please don't cry. Please, sweetheart...don't.'

  She gradually stopped, and with one last hiccuping sob lifted luminescent blue eyes to his. They searched his face, looking for...what? he wondered.

  And then she murmured something which rocked him even more than her crying.

  'Make love to me, Antonio.'

  He stared down at her. What did she think he'd been doing?

  And then the penny dropped. The reason for the weeping. The disillusionment with Jed, and all her other lovers. Her distress over what had just happened between them. She didn't want just sex. She wanted love. She didn't want harsh reality. She wanted romance. It was as Conrad had said.

  Just tell her you love her, said a voice in Antonio's head, and she'll be putty in your hands. Consolidate your declaration with some truly tender lovemaking, and marriage will be just around the comer.

  He instinctively recoiled from such a cruel deception. She deserved better than a husband who didn't really love her, who would manipulate her like that If he cared about her at all he would take her home right now and walk out of her life for ever.

  And leave her for Brock Masters? His pragmatic side piped up again. Throw away everything you've worked for as well?

  And what about your child? another voice inserted savagely. The one who might have been conceived here tonight? Who can say what Paige might do if she finds herself pregnant? Could you live with yourself if she does what Lauren did, not out of greed, but despair? You can see how vulnerable she is, man. Just look at her!

  A whole host of emotions tore through Antonio. And while he tried to tell himself there were mitigating circumstances for what he'd done tonight, and what he was about to do, his main feeling was a raging guilt.

  Oh, Paige, Paige, he agonized as he bent to cover her lovely mouth with his. Forgive me...

  Paige could not believe the gentleness of his kiss. Or the way he looked down at her afterwards. With such sweet tenderness.

  It brought tears to her eyes, and to her soul. Her parched, love-starved soul.

  'Antonio,' she murmured, and held her hand against his cheek.

  He didn't say a word as he carried her into the darkened bedroom; nor when he drew her down with him onto the huge bed; nor when he started making love to her again...

  No matter. She didn't want words at that moment. Words would have spoiled the fantasy, the fantasy that Antonio loved her.

  In the security of her silent dreamworld Paige could believe anything she chose. And she chose to believe there was more to Antonio's lovemaking than lust this time. It was there in the softness of his mouth and the gentleness of his touch. But most of all it was in the swift readiness of his body to give her ple
asure and satisfaction once more.

  No man, Paige enjoyed deluding herself, could want her again so quickly, unless she meant more to him than a one-night stand.

  Not since her days at school had she enjoyed one of her fantasies so much, letting reality slip away as she sighed beneath her pretend love, sighed, then groaned, then gasped, her hips lifting to meet Antonio's as they came together one more amazing and marvellous time.

  It was only afterwards, while Paige held him in her arms and felt him slip away into sleep, that reality resurfaced and she knew she could never bear to do this again. -

  Once was enough.

  Once she could live with.

  Twice would surely destroy her.

  The only plus from tonight was that there was no possibility of a pregnancy to compound her stupidity. She'd started taking the pill a couple of years ago, after a near-date-rape scare one night, at the suggestion of a kindly doctor who'd said girls these days were always at risk, with sexual assault so rampant. Of course, she knew the pill wouldn't protect her from AIDS or other STDs. And once or twice she'd contemplated stopping. She was glad now that she hadn't.

  Lord knows what Antonio had been thinking, however, when he'd gone ahead without protection. Had he presumed she was using some form of protection? Or did he believe she would think nothing of having an abortion if she fell pregnant?

  She hated to think he would think that badly of her. Still, she supposed the responsibility for what had happened was mainly hers. She'd been the one to push the issue. She'd been the one who'd refused to go home, who'd told him to just do it, asked him to do it again. Fair enough if he assumed the worst.

  He probably thought she was a big tart.

  Not that it really mattered what he thought of her. All that mattered was that she extricate herself from his life as quickly as possible. Knowing men, he would probably want to keep her on tap for the rest of his fortnight's

  holiday. Heck, why not? He probably thought she was good for every which way he might like his sex. Kinky. Straight. Wild. Warm. He must have thought he'd won the sexual lottery!

  Paige bit her bottom lip to stop herself from crying again, steeling herself inside with tough thoughts. She'd shed enough tears tonight. Frankly, she'd shed enough tears over Antonio to last a lifetime! Enough was enough. Time to take control of her wayward heart and weak flesh. Tune to show him who was boss of her life.

  She really could not allow herself to continue being a victim of her futile feelings.

  She had to make a stand!

  Sliding out from under him, she slipped from the bed, stopping only long enough to pick up the bottom of the quilt and throw it over his naked body. She could not bear to look at him like that, or to look at him at all for that matter. Not right now. Shortly, perhaps, when she'd washed the smell of him from her body and put something on to cover the evidence of his lovemaking. Maybe then she would be able to face him.

  Antonio woke to a shake of his shoulder. He blinked a couple of times into the overhead light before focusing on the figure beside the bed.

  Paige, he finally realized. Fully dressed. And with a slightly impatient expression on her face.

  'Sorry to wake you,' she said briskly. 'But I really must be going home, and I didn't bring any money with me.'

  Antonio's brain was still fuzzy from sleep. 'What do you need money for?'

  'For a taxi, silly. You don't think I expect you to get up and drive me home, do you? You must be wrecked after your long day. Not to mention your pretty exhausting night.

  'Not that I'm not grateful, mind,' she added, bending and giving him a peck on his startled mouth. 'You're as fantastic in bed as I always thought you'd be. And, frankly, after Jed, I needed my faith in male virility restored a little. But let's be honest, Antonio, you're not looking for a permanent female to share your life, whereas I'm reaching the stage where real commitment is what I'm looking for. Actually, one-night stands never did appeal to me. Why do you think I always lived with my boyfriends?'

  She batted her eyelashes at him and smiled a sickly sweet smile. 'So, darling, as much as I fancy you enormously, I think we'll leave it right here. Oh, by the way, if you're worried there's a chance a little Scarlatti heir might have been produced tonight, then don't be. I'm on the pill. Not that I usually tell a man that. But you can know now that our sexual relationship is over.'

  Antonio could find nothing to say to her. He supposed he should have felt relieved about the pill business. But he wasn't. Frankly, he was too taken aback by this whole unexpected turn of events to assemble his emotions- and thoughts-properly. Only one fact was sinking in, which was that despite Paige's verbal flattery over his performance in bed she wasn't nearly as vulnerable to him as he'd thought, or hoped.

  'We really were both very silly tonight, weren't we?' she went on, in that faintly patronizing tone. 'I guess I was upset over Jed, and you...well perhaps you've been working too hard, Antonio, and not getting enough regular sex. What you need is some desperate divorcee to satisfy your needs over the next fortnight, and I'll look for someone a little more suited to my needs. You get my drift?'

  Antonio got her drift all right. Desperate divorcee indeed!

  And there he'd been earlier, worrying about taking advantage of the girl, thinking she was a push-over. She was about as much of a push-over as her father!

  But she'd shown her hand to him in more ways than one tonight. For one thing she wasn't in any way frigid, as Waltham had implied. That idiot must have been pretty terrible in bed. Paige liked her sex and she liked it a lot. She just preferred it with commitment.

  Commitment, he mused, was the name of the game. Not love, so much. Or even romance.

  Now commitment he could handle. Commitment he was familiar with. He'd been committed to Fortune Productions for years. All he had to do was do what he did at work when he went after a contract or a deal. Devote every breathing, waking moment to the challenge, and never take no for an answer!

  'You don't have to go home, do you?' he said softly, and sat up, the quilt falling off his naked shoulders.

  She turned away from him and stood up, laughing. 'Oh, yes, I do. No way am I going to waltz up home tomorrow morning after staying out all night with you, Antonio. A girl has her pride.'

  'Pride?'

  'Everyone around Fortune Hall knows you're the love 'em and leave 'em type. I have no intention of being added to your list of idle conquests. Bad enough that I once made a fool of myself over you. I don't intend to repeat the performance, or give Evelyn any opportunity to sneer down her nose at me. Not to mention my father! Good grief, the thought is too horrible for words. So you

  can either hop up and drive me home, or lend me some money for a taxi. It doesn't matter to me either way.'

  Oh, it didn't, did it? Antonio began to fume. We'll just see about that, Miss Love 'em and Leave 'em yourself! I've got news for you. You won't be loving and leaving me, honey. You're going to be my wife, whether you want to be or not!

  'I wouldn't dream of sending you home in a taxi,' he said with a smooth smile, and, throwing off the quilt, bounced naked from the bed. 'Just give me a minute...'

  Paige groaned as she watched his gorgeous behind disappear into the en suite bathroom. That was not a sight which reinforced her decision to have done with the infernal man once and for all!

  On top of that, Antonio himself didn't seem to want to leave things between them at a one-nighter. If he had, he would have taken up her suggestion of a taxi. He would not be rushing to escort her home.

  Antonio had seemed genuinely taken aback by her decision not to see him again. No doubt he wasn't used to such rash treatment from women he'd just brought to rapture in his bed. Paige could not imagine many of his sexual partners not lining up eagerly for seconds. Or thirds.

  But she wasn't one of his casual sexual partners, was she? She loved the man.

  No! She would not weaken. She'd spoken her mind to him-and, in essence, it was the truth. She did want commit
ment. She'd had enough of loneliness, and heartache. She was fed up to her eye-teeth with men asking her out, then expecting her to jump into bed the very first night. She wanted someone who wanted what she wanted. She wanted someone whom she could love, and

  who would love her back. She wanted...the impossible. She sighed.

  The bathroom door opened and out strode Antonio, all wet and glistening from the shower, his still naked body just barely decent with a towel slung round his hips.