The Italian's Unwilling Wife

Fury swept through her at those mocking words. ‘Well, maybe you’d better put an advert in the paper, because I sure as hell am not interested.’ Her eyes flashed fire at him. ‘The thought of you laying one finger on me makes me nauseous.’

She would have marched past him and out of the room at that point, but he caught hold of her arm and pulled her back.

‘We both know that’s not true.’ Although his hand was holding her firmly, the touch of his skin against hers was like an electric shock sending weird little darts through her body, intruding on her rational mind—making her tremble deep-down inside.

He was right—it wasn’t true. It was a long time since they had made love, but she remembered how much she had liked it—remembered how blissful it was to lose herself to the masterful dominance of his caresses, his kisses.

Why was she thinking like this? She hated him, she reminded herself fiercely. He had just insulted her beyond belief—hurt her beyond belief. Had she no self-respect?

‘Let me go.’ Her voice was harsh with reaction.

‘You haven’t heard the terms of the deal yet.’

‘I don’t want to hear the terms of the deal. I’m not interested.’

‘Of course you are.’ Damon smiled, but his eyes were singularly lacking in amusement. ‘Your father has lost everything, and that means you have lost the goose that lays the golden eggs—you’ve even lost this place. But I can make everything better again.’

‘All I have to do is prostitute myself to you—is that it?’ Her voice was raw.

‘Actually, as the mother of my child I’m prepared to offer you a better deal than that.’ Damon spoke calmly, but his eyes seemed to bore down through hers. ‘All you have to do is come back to Sicily with me and play at being the perfect wife and mother. Of course, you will have to share my bed. But in return I’ll keep you in the style and comfort that you are used to.’

Abbie stared at him, her heart thundering against her chest. She just couldn’t believe what she was hearing, or the fact that he was saying these things to her in such a clinical and calculating fashion.

‘You’ll have to sign a prenuptial agreement, of course. But as long as you abide by my terms and stay in the marriage you will have everything you want.’

‘That’s supposed to be a good deal, is it?’ Abbie suddenly found her voice, but she was almost spluttering with rage. ‘You really think I’d marry you? You’ve got a high opinion of yourself, haven’t you? I don’t even like you.’

‘It’s the best deal you are going to get, Abbie. The prenuptial agreement is non-negotiable.’

The harsh tone took her breath away.

‘Your arrogance is incredible. You think I’d tie myself into a loveless marriage for…for—?’

‘For wealth, security and all the baubles and trappings of luxury you could possibly want?’ Damon cut across her dryly. ‘Yes, I do. So let’s just cut the pretence, shall we?’

‘Yes, let’s.’ Her voice trembled. ‘Because the truth is that even for all the money in the world I wouldn’t want to share a house with you, never mind a bed. The very thought leaves me cold.’

Damon laughed.

‘What is so funny?’ She glared at him.

‘You are. We both know that there’s nothing cold about you. Maybe we don’t like each other very much.’ He shrugged. ‘But we have a certain thing called chemistry. When I touch you, you come alive. Sex was always good between us.’

‘As I said, you are the most conceited, arrogant man I have ever—’ She broke off as he started to pull her closer.

‘What are you doing?’ She tried to wrench away from him, but he wouldn’t let her go.

‘I’m going to kiss you and prove a point.’

‘Don’t you dare!’ Her eyes blazed up into his.

He smiled at her. ‘The sooner you accept the fact that I’m calling the shots now, the easier it’s going to be all around.’

‘I will accept no such thing!’

Her breathing was coming in short, uneven gasps from anger and from the effort of struggling against him.

‘You are just making life difficult for yourself.’

‘No, you are making my life difficult! But that’s what you want, isn’t it?’

‘No, Abbie, right now that’s not what I want.’

There was something husky about those words, something strangely inviting. His gaze moved to her mouth.

And suddenly, as his head moved lower, she stopped struggling. She wanted him to kiss her. It was as if a tidal wave of desire suddenly hit her out of nowhere, flooding her entire body, pulling her under into very dangerous currents.

His lips touched against hers, gentle at first, and then as they tasted her acquiescence they became hard, demanding and brutal. She found herself kissing him back with equal strength, as if she couldn’t get enough of him, as if she were intoxicated by his strength, by his passion.

Then suddenly, as she reached up to touch him, he pulled back from her.

She looked up at him, dazed by what had just happened. His gaze moved from her lips, down to the plunging neckline of her robe.

She noticed the look, and was suddenly very aware of the fact that if he reached out with his other hand he could pull her robe down from her shoulders, leaving her naked to his gaze.

For a shocking moment she wanted him to do that! She wanted him to touch her intimately, wanted to melt in against the powerful contours of his body. The feeling of longing overwhelmed her, rendered her helpless.

His dark eyes returned to hold hers, and there was a gleam of satisfaction there. ‘You see, Abbie? You don’t need to like me to make this arrangement work. All you need is to be your hot-blooded self and, of course, the perfect mother for Mario.’

Shame washed through her in waves. Why the hell had she kissed him back like that? Why?

She angled her chin up and forced herself to glare at him defiantly. ‘I kissed you.’ She shrugged. ‘So what? Maybe I just wanted to give you a taste of what you are missing when I walk away from…from your offer.’

‘Well, well,’ he drawled softly. ‘You really are—how is it you English say?—a chip off the old block, aren’t you? Trouble is that, like your father, you have very little ground for negotiation. I’m not going to up my offer, Abbie. The prenuptial agreement is non-negotiable. You take what’s on the table or you walk away.’

Her lips parted in a gasp as she realised he thought she was trying to make him increase his offer to her.

‘You really are insufferable.’ She grated the words unevenly, furious that he should make such an assumption. ‘I’m not remotely interested in your offer, or in you.’

The sensual line of his mouth curved into a smile as his eyes once more moved down over her body, to where her breasts were straining against the satin material. She knew he could see the hardness of her nipples through the thin material, shamefully giving away the fact that even though his hands hadn’t touched her she had been totally aroused.

‘But you are interested, Abbie, because power and money are powerful aphrodisiacs for you. You want me more than you can say.’

She shook her head. ‘I hate you!’

For one wild moment she thought he was going to pull her back into his arms to prove otherwise.

His lips stretched into even more of a mockingly amused smile. ‘Of course you do, and you hate my money even more.’