Seduction: The Billionaire's Bride of Vengeance

‘That was amazing,’ he heard himself say afterwards, echoing what she’d said to him earlier.

More amazing was the strange wave of tenderness which washed through him when his hand drifted down to play with her hair.

‘No, don’t move,’ he said. His body was totally spent, his mind was already close to shutting down, and sleep was beckoning.

‘Beautiful,’ he murmured just before the curtain came down.

CHAPTER TWELVE

NICOLE didn’t realise for a while that Russell had fallen asleep. Her brain was somewhat befuddled by what had just happened. Talk about a mind-blowing experience!

She still could not believe how much she’d loved doing it to him like that. Did that happen to other girls? Or only besotted ones?

Which she obviously was. Besotted, bewitched and, yes, somewhat bewildered.

Even now that he was asleep, the temptation to wake him again was strong. She could do it, her being with Russell having tapped into a side of herself which had obviously been dormant before. She’d suddenly discovered what it was to be a woman in the most primal sense. But to rouse him from sleep to satisfy her own surprisingly fierce need would be a totally selfish act.

He was obviously exhausted.

Not so herself. She was more awake and more alive than she’d ever been in her life.

Nicole decided that the best course of action would be to get out of this bed and away from temptation.

Very slowly and very carefully she left him, the bed and the room.

Her destination was the kitchen, where all the candles were kept. Given the speed of her mother’s departure from this house, Nicole didn’t think she would have taken such incidentals with her. From the looks of it, the only things she’d taken were clothes and jewellery.

The candles were sure to be there in the kitchen cupboard, along with matches. At least that would give them some light. Who knew how long this blackout would last? From the sound of the wind and rain outside, Sydney was being lashed by quite a storm.

Unfortunately, all the lightning seemed to have stopped and there wasn’t a hint of moonlight. Everything was pitch-black as Nicole inched her way down the stairs, shivering a little from the drop in temperature. With no electricity, the air-conditioning wasn’t working and the air was becoming fresh, even inside the well-insulated walls.

Thankfully the candles were still where Nicole remembered, one half-burnt white candle already in a candlestick with a box of matches next to it. This she lit, using the light from its rather meagre flame to search the rest of the kitchen cupboards for more candlesticks. In the end she selected a three-pronged candelabra from her mother’s huge range of silverware, inserted three unused candles from a box of six and lit them before blowing the original candle out.

She didn’t head back upstairs straight away, however, curious now over just how much her mother had left behind.

When Nicole had stayed in the house the other night, she hadn’t looked in all the kitchen cupboards. Once she discovered that the pantry had been emptied of food, and the fridge contained nothing but ice cubes, she’d ordered in a pizza that night, then had had Kara take her down to a local café for breakfast in the morning.

Everything was still there, she soon discovered. All her mother’s very expensive dinnerware, all the crockery and cutlery and glassware. Really, when you took into account the contents of this house, Russell might have actually got a bargain!

Not that Nicole wanted any of it. She didn’t.

Selecting a heavy-based whisky glass, Nicole was moving over to pour herself some water from the tap when she had a sudden thought: if Russell had moved in—which it seemed he had—maybe there was some juice in the fridge.

No, she quickly saw. But it wasn’t completely empty. There were four bottles of light beer and a single opened bottle of white wine, with a silver stopper in it.

Nicole picked it up and studied the label. It was French, which meant it was probably from Alistair’s wine cellar. Another bonus for Russell, she realised. Alistair’s taste in wine was just as expensive as her mother’s taste in furniture.

Nicole removed the stopper and took a sniff. It smelled fine. In fact, its delicious bouquet was very tempting.

What the hell? she thought, and half filled the whisky glass.

It tasted as delicious as it smelled, Nicole savouring the citrusy flavour on her tongue before swallowing. Before she knew it, the glass was empty. She almost refilled it but decided she didn’t want to be drunk when she went back upstairs. She wanted no excuses for her behaviour in the morning. She wanted to look back on this incredible night with a clear memory.

Nicole returned the bottle to the fridge and rinsed the whisky glass in the sink before picking up the candelabra and heading back the way she’d come.

It came to her, as she crossed the marble-floored foyer and began a careful ascent up the curving staircase, that she no longer felt cold. Perhaps it was the wine which had warmed her. Or maybe she was just growing used to the inside temperature, which was probably only marginally cooler than the very comfortable twenty four degrees at which the house was usually kept.

A sudden flash of light on her left sent Nicole’s head jerking round, only to be met by a reflection of herself in the huge gilt mirror which graced the wall halfway up the stairs.

What an amazing sight, she thought as she stared at her naked self in the flickering candlelight.

Often, during her partying years, Nicole would stop at this precise spot on the staircase to check her appearance before skipping down the rest of the stairs and making her entrance.

Nicole moved close to the mirror, frowning as she searched her face.

Who are you? came the silent question. You’re not the Nicole Power who used never to go to bed with a man till you’d known him for ages. All Russell had to say was how much he wanted you and you were his for the taking.

And now … now you’re going back up to him for more, aren’t you?

Yet you vowed not to have anything more to do with rich men.

You know what they are. Selfish, amoral and unbelievably arrogant. When he said he wanted you more than any other woman, he didn’t mean he wanted you for forever. This is just a one-night stand or a dirty weekend. A very dirty weekend. Don’t go thinking his feelings encompass anything fine or deep.

Nicole shivered as her eyes drifted down her naked body. It was the same body she’d always known, yet it was different. He’d changed it, changed how it responded to men, how it felt about making love.

Her flesh craved him and it would not be denied.

Nicole shook her head in defeat. There was absolutely no use trying to frighten herself off. Common sense had no sway over the power of a desire this intense. She wanted Russell to make love to her again more than she’d ever wanted anything.

Scooping in a shaky breath, she whirled and walked up the remaining stairs. Once on the landing, however, she turned away from the master bedroom to go first into what had once been her own bedroom. There, she hurried into the bathroom where she put down the candelabra and reached for the hidden pins which anchored her French roll. Having her hair up no longer fitted this bold creature who’d been born tonight in Russell’s arms. It had to be worn down, she decided recklessly as she combed her outspread fingers through her hair, down and loose.

‘Yes,’ she whispered as it splayed out over her bare shoulders in sensual disarray. When she shook her head a couple of locks fell down towards one breast, not quite covering the nipple.

She swallowed as she stared at the starkly erect peak.

He hadn’t touched her breasts since that time in the car.

But she hadn’t forgotten how it had felt.

A shiver rippled down her spine at the memory.

Time to go back. Not to wake him at first. Just to lie beside him, to feel the heat of his body, to press her skin to his.

That would be enough for now.

Russell woke to darkness, and the awareness of being alone in the bed. He knew before he felt the cold place next to him that Nicole wasn’t there. He was about to leap out and go in search of her when a strange light filled the open doorway of the bedroom, pale at first, then stronger.

He saw the candelabra before he saw her.