Taming The Notorious Billionaire (HQR Presents) Read online

  As he moved up her body to once again kiss her lips her senses were filled with the musky scent of their heated bodies, hardly aware that he nudged her legs apart, of the hardness of his desire throbbing against her as he waited for entry into her warmth.

  He was waiting for her, for that final sign that would bind her to him. Her gaze fixed steadily on his she raised herself until he possessed her, her small cry lost in his groan of pleasure, forgotten as he began to move gently, surely, within her. His movements were slow at first, increasing in tempo as her breath came in tortured gasps, capturing her mouth with his as he felt her tense, his tongue plundering the warm moistness even as she shuddered to a convulsive climax so shattering she felt weak, fresh shudders coursing through her as she felt him reach his own heady ecstasy.

  They lay satiated in each other’s arms, breathing deeply, still joined together, both loath to lose that contact.

  ‘You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known,’ Rod gazed down at her lovingly.

  She looked up at him shyly. ‘Maybe I’m a wanton, after all.’

  ‘After making love only once?’ he teased. ‘I think it’s too soon to tell.’

  She buried her face against the dampness of his chest. ‘I don’t,’ she said huskily.

  He gave a deep groan. ‘God, Keilly, I want you again!’

  She knew that, her eyes widening as she felt the desire ebbing back into his body, feeling his tension within her, raising her face to his for his kiss, her lips parted invitingly.

  He seemed to hesitate. ‘You aren’t too—uncomfortable?’

  She shook her head, blushing prettily. ‘No. You were so patient and loving with me that all I feel is lethargy.’

  ‘Not for long, I hope,’ he growled.

  His words proved correct, their second time together slower as they took their time arousing each other, Rod showing her how to caress him in return, a lesson she was an avid pupil of, soon hearing him beg for mercy as he lay beneath her.

  ‘You are a wanton!’ he gasped as her legs wrapped about his urged him deeper and deeper into her, the thrusts of his body becoming harder as she arched against him in spasmodic ecstasy, taking him along on the tide with her.

  ‘You’re wanton,’ she corrected as they lay replete in each other’s arms, smoothing his hair back from the dampness of his forehead.

  He shook his head. ‘My untamed sea witch.’

  ‘Untamed?’ she quirked dark brows.

  ‘Untamed,’ he nodded. ‘I’ll never succeed in taming you. And I don’t want to. I love you just the way you are.’

  She still couldn’t say the words back to him, had never said them to anyone. But she thought he knew how she felt about him, was sure that he did.

  ‘Do you have any idea what the time is?’ The thought suddenly occurred to her.

  He glanced at his wrist-watch. ‘Just after twelve—’

  ‘I have to go—’

  ‘Can’t you stay?’ he pleaded softly, his disappointment reflected in his eyes.

  ‘My aunt and uncle are expecting me.’

  ‘Forget I ever asked,’ he softly caressed her lips with his fingertips. ‘Of course you have to go home; I’m just being greedy. I don’t ever want to let you go,’ he admitted ruefully. ‘But for the moment I realise I have to.’

  They dressed in silence, the warmth in their faces whenever they looked at each other enough for now, their communication made without words.

  ‘Thank you for telling me about Veronica,’ she told him once they reached the hotel.

  He turned in his seat to look at her, his arm along the back of her seat as his hand gently caressed her nape beneath the darkness of her hair. ‘Thank you for telling me about your father. It isn’t something you like to talk about, is it?’

  She blushed at his perception. ‘It’s made me—shy of attention.’

  ‘Like being stared at in restaurants,’ he nodded understandingly. ‘I realised afterwards what was wrong; I could have kicked myself for being so insensitive!’

  Keilly’s eyes were wide in her pale face. ‘You—already—knew—about my father?’

  He nodded. ‘I was born here, remember?’

  Several times she tried to speak, then she just buried her face against his chest. It was too much on top of everything else that had happened tonight. What if it was knowing about her mother and father that had made him believe she would be willing to have an affair with him? She looked at him with tear-filled eyes.

  ‘No,’ he denied desperately. ‘Oh no, darling,’ he repeated with intense feeling. ‘Don’t even think it.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘I love you,’ he kissed her gently. ‘I want to spend my whole life with you. Whatever the circumstances of your birth it isn’t important to me, in any way. I’m only sorry you’ve found it difficult to live with.’

  ‘I’m not ashamed of it,’ she denied quickly. ‘It’s just—’

  ‘Other people can be cruel, especially when you’re young,’ he soothed gently. ‘But can’t you see that it isn’t important to us?’

  He was a man with supreme self-confidence, a man who cared little what others thought of him, but she didn’t have his confidence, and she knew it would always matter to her.

  ‘All that’s important is that we love each other,’ he added encouragingly. ‘And we do, don’t we?’ he prompted firmly.

  Keilly had difficulty swallowing, knowing that this time he wanted an answer. ‘I’ve already told you,’ once again she was evasive, ‘I didn’t go to bed with you lightly.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘I have to go in now, Rod.’

  He looked displeased, although he didn’t push her any further. ‘I’ll call you tomorrow. Maybe we can spend the day together?’

  ‘Perhaps,’ she nodded. ‘I’m not sure.’

  ‘Keilly…!’ He stopped her as she would have got out of the car, gently caressing her cheek with sensitive fingertips. ‘I’m still not rushing you, darling,’ he told her huskily. ‘Tonight doesn’t have to be repeated unless you want it to be.’

  ‘Rod—’

  His quick kiss on the mouth silenced her. ‘Sleep on it, sweetheart. Don’t make any decisions—about anything—just now.’

  Sleep was something that didn’t come easily to her that night, and when it did come to her it was restless and filled with dreams, terrible dreams that still haunted her when she woke up. The sea beckoned her as never before, and she escaped from the hotel shortly after seven, too troubled to swim, simply walking miles along the deserted beach.

  She arrived at The Hall shortly after nine, Kathy alone in the breakfast room, Peter already out at work on the estate, Heather at school. Keilly was glad of their absence, it was Kathy she wanted to talk to.

  ‘Sit down, for heaven’s sake,’ her cousin invited impatiently as Keilly restlessly paced the room. ‘What on earth is the matter with you?’ she frowned as Keilly made no effort to do so. ‘You look dreadful,’ she realised.

  She knew that, the mirror in her bedroom had told her so before she left this morning. But she cared little for her appearance, wanted only to hear the truth now. ‘Kathy, did Rod really lie and cheat to get you into bed with him?’

  Her cousin blanched, moving quickly to close the door. ‘For goodness’ sake mind what you say here,’ she snapped, her brown eyes blazing. ‘Anyone could have been walking by—’

  ‘Answer me, Kathy,’ she sighed her impatience. ‘Did Rod really seduce you and then let you down?’

  ‘I don’t see—’

  ‘Answer me!’

  ‘Yes, damn it, yes!’ Kathy bit out forcefully. ‘I’ve already told you he did.’

  ‘I know that. But—’

  ‘You don’t believe me,’ her cousin realised dully. ‘After all that you know I’ve suffered these last months you think I’ve been lying to you!’

  ‘Not lying exactly,’ she denied awkwardly. ‘But it did happen ten years ago, it could have become confused in yo
ur mind. You could be mistaken—’

  ‘I am not mistaken about the only other man I’ve ever slept with besides Peter,’ Kathy said furiously. ‘It isn’t the sort of thing you forget,’ she added bitterly.

  This was the answer she had been afraid of, Rod had explained away Veronica but somehow she still couldn’t reconcile herself to the way he had hurt Kathy. He had admitted that he was a different person then, a user, that he knew some of the women he slept with didn’t consider their relationships in the casual light that he did, and she had hoped Kathy had been one of the latter, that it had been her cousin who had mistaken the relationship for more than it was. But Kathy was adamant it hadn’t been like that, and she had to believe her.

  ‘He really told you he loved you, that he wanted to marry you?’ she had to try one last time.

  ‘Yes!’ Kathy snapped. ‘How many more times do I have to tell you?’

  ‘None,’ she said dully. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘For what? Keilly, what’s going on?’ she demanded as Keilly turned to leave. ‘You and he were very friendly on Saturday, you haven’t been silly enough to fall for him, have you?’

  ‘No,’ she denied quickly, although she was very much afraid her face blushed her guilt for her. ‘No, of course not. I just found it difficult to believe he was the type of man to use such subterfuge. He—he doesn’t seem the type.’

  ‘If a man is desperate enough he’ll tell you anything!’

  Those words echoed round and round in her brain as she slowly made her way back to the hotel. Had Rod lied to her to get his own way? If he had she hadn’t needed much convincing, which made what had happened as much her fault as it was his. But it must never happen again. Last night had been a mistake, she knew that now. And he must be made to realise it too.

  ‘Rod has been telephoning you every ten minutes since nine o’clock,’ her aunt informed her on her return at five minutes to ten. ‘That will be him again,’ she predicted dryly as the phone began to ring again. ‘I’ll let you answer it,’ she disappeared into the kitchen.

  ‘Keilly, at last!’ Rod instantly recognised her voice. ‘Where have you been, darling?’ he demanded to know. ‘I’ve been worried about you.’

  She moistened suddenly dry lips, her hand tightly clutching the receiver. ‘I went for a walk,’ she told him huskily.

  ‘Along the beach, hmm,’ he guessed lightly. ‘I should have thought of that, then I could have joined you.’

  ‘No! I mean—I wanted to be alone.’

  ‘Keilly?’ his voice sharpened with concern. ‘Darling, you’re all right, aren’t you?’

  ‘Of course,’ she answered abruptly, her heart silently breaking into a thousand pieces. Even supposing she could ever overcome her fear of being stared at and talked about she knew she could never live with the fact that he had deceived and hurt Kathy. In the cold light of day, away from the seduction of his love, she knew that to be the truth.

  ‘You don’t sound it,’ he rasped. ‘I’m coming over.’

  ‘I wish you wouldn’t,’ her hand shook. Would she be brave enough to tell him to his face that it was over between them? She had to be!

  ‘I’ll be there in ten minutes,’ he promised grimly before ringing off.

  Keilly put her own receiver down more slowly. She had to be strong about this, for the sake of everyone involved.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ‘THERE’;S really nothing to talk about,’ she was telling him ten minutes later, the two of them alone in the lounge. ‘Last night was a mistake, I think we should both accept it as such.’

  ‘Like hell I will!’ Rod had become more and more haggard as she spoke, his denial now a choked cry.

  ‘Yes,’ she insisted firmly. ‘I’m sure you must have made mistakes in the past, well this one was mine,’ she dismissed lightly. ‘Put it down to the eroticism of the film I had just watched—’

  ‘No!’ his reply was more vehement this time. ‘I can’t believe you would ever enter into a physical relationship because you had just seen me nude in a film!’

  ‘Because of my father?’ she said abruptly.

  ‘Yes!’

  ‘But I’m only human, Rod, and like I said, I can make mistakes.’

  His mouth was a thin angry line. ‘The next thing you’ll be telling me is that you made love with me because you felt sorry for me, because of what I had just told you about Veronica and myself!’

  ‘No!’ she groaned her horror of such a suggestion. ‘That isn’t true,’ she said vehemently.

  ‘I know that,’ he nodded tautly. ‘So suppose we get to the real reason for your change of mind?’

  Her gaze was suddenly evasive. ‘I don’t know what you mean. I’ve just told you—’

  Rod gave a deep sigh, his hands clenched into fists at his sides as he fought for control. ‘You know what I mean, Keilly, and so do I, although to a lesser degree, I admit.’

  She gave him a startled look, not encouraged by his grim expression. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about—’

  ‘Your cousin, Keilly,’ he interrupted quietly. ‘We’re talking about your cousin,’ he repeated firmly. ‘Kathy Carmichael.’

  ‘You—know?’

  ‘That you’re related?’ he arched dark brows. ‘Yes, I know,’ he nodded.

  Keilly’s gaze was riveted to his strained face, her thoughts racing, only Rod was able to answer all the questions she had. ‘How long—’ she cleared her throat noisily. ‘How long have you known Kathy is my cousin?’

  He shrugged. ‘Your aunt mentioned her daughter the first night I was here, before I came looking for you on the beach,’ he added as he guessed what was going to be her next question. ‘But I knew before that. You see, I thought it was Kathy I was coming here to see, I had no idea until I got here that the K. Grant in the letter to the magazine was Kathy’s young cousin.’

  Her palms felt damp, the dreadful reality of what he was telling her hitting her slowly. ‘You thought Kathy wrote the letter?’ she asked haltingly.

  ‘Yes,’ he admitted heavily. ‘And if it was I wanted to know why it had been written.’

  ‘You don’t know?’ Keilly accused. ‘After what you did to her?’

  His eyes narrowed to steely slits. ‘What did I do to her?’ he asked quietly.

  Keilly became flushed with anger, her eyes flashing her indignation. ‘Now I can see the man she described to me! Before I found it difficult to reconcile myself to you acting so callously, now I can see just how easily you could do it. I suppose you’ve found it very amusing watching Kathy and I squirm as we tried to keep the truth from you, that you’ve enjoyed playing your little game?’

  ‘I haven’t been playing, because there is no game,’ he bit out abruptly. ‘I want to know why Kathy felt it necessary to pretend we have never met before?’

  ‘You expect her to be proud of it?’

  ‘Keilly, will you just tell me what I’m supposed to have done to Kathy?’ he demanded impatiently. ‘I knew her several years ago, yes, but—’

  ‘"Knew” being the operative word,’ she bit out.

  ‘I see,’ he expelled a slow breath. ‘Surely you aren’t going to hold that against me? Kathy and I were both young, we were different people then.’

  ‘She may have been, but you weren’t!’

  ‘Keilly, I’ve already told you I can’t change the past, that I’ve done things I’m not proud of. Although making love to Kathy was not one of them. The only thing I wish I could change about that is the fact that she’s your cousin.’

  ‘And she wishes she had never met you!’ Keilly told him vehemently, her eyes stormy grey.

  ‘That’s been obvious,’ he said dryly. ‘I just wish someone would tell me why.’

  ‘Don’t pretend with me—’

  ‘I am not pretending,’ he told her fiercely, his fingers digging into her arms as he shook her slightly. ‘Tell me what I’m supposed to have done to her!’

  ‘The same as you did with countless other
women, I should think,’ she said with distaste. ‘You told her you loved her, implied you were serious about her, went to bed with her, and then didn’t see her again!’

  Rod released her slowly, staring at her as if he had never seen her before. He frowned darkly, turning away from her, his hands now thrust into the hip pockets of his close-fitting denims, his dark blue shirt stretched tautly across his chest and shoulders.

  ‘I see you don’t attempt to deny it,’ she scorned bitterly. ‘I think that’s as well when you so obviously moved in with Veronica King only weeks after seducing Kathy.’

  ‘Yes, I did, didn’t I,’ he agreed softly.

  He was too calm, much too controlled. His fierceness or his anger she could cope with, this calmness she didn’t like at all!

  He turned suddenly, his eyes narrowed to steely slits. ‘So that’s what she told you,’ he grated. ‘At first,’ he sighed. ‘I imagined all sorts of things, especially when you made such scathing remarks about men like me caring only for their own selfish needs, how they left the woman afterwards not caring if she were pregnant or not.’

  ‘Well it’s the truth,’ she snapped.

  ‘I made sure Kathy wouldn’t become pregnant.’

  ‘But she said—’

  ‘I don’t give a damn what Kathy said or didn’t say,’ he dismissed coldly. ‘Just as I think you should realise that your own reaction to this is so strong because you yourself didn’t have a father. I knew I couldn’t have fathered any child of Kathy’s, although for a while you did have me worried. Heather being only six years old put an end to that idea.’ He shrugged. ‘Maybe Kathy really, did think I had put her at risk, she was very innocent—’

  ‘So innocent she believed you when you said you loved her!’

  His eyes were glacial. ‘Not that innocent,’ he said abruptly.

  Kathy blushed. ‘You seduced her with your lies.’

  ‘As I seduced you?’ he prompted hardly, his jaw clenched as he waited for her answer.

  ‘No,’ she admitted quietly. ‘I knew exactly what I was doing—’

  ‘So did I,’ he interrupted grimly. ‘Which is why I think you should believe me about Kathy. If I can remember to take precautions with you, the woman I love, you can be sure I would be rational enough to use them with other women.’