Seduction: The Billionaire's Bride of Vengeance

Which meant what?

Damned if he knew.

In the end, he sat down on the side of the bed and tried to find the right thing to say.

‘So what are you usually like?’ came his careful question.

When her head lifted, her eyes were shimmering with tears.

‘A bore!’ she blurted out.

His head jerked back. ‘Come now, you can’t expect me to believe that.’

‘Then I suggest you talk to my ex-fiancé,’ she said quite bitterly whilst dashing the tears away with furious hands. ‘He informed me at length that I was the biggest bore in bed he’d ever met.’

Russell frowned. ‘Is that why he broke off your engagement?’

‘Lord, no! I broke off our engagement after I walked in on him screwing his PA on his desk. He’d have married me, bore or no. Or he would have back then, when Power Mortgages was powering along like there was no tomorrow. David wouldn’t marry me now, even if I was the best lay in the world.’

‘I see. You do realise he probably only said those things in retaliation. He was trying to hurt you.’

‘Yes, I do see that. But he was still right. I was a bore in bed. I was,’ she added, ‘till I met you.’

Russell just sat there for a long moment, drinking in this quite astonishing confession. As much as his first reaction was to shake his head in disbelief, he gradually accepted that it would explain the bewilderment he’d glimpsed when they’d first made love.

When she’d said she was amazed afterwards, she might have meant it.

‘I’ve never done half of the things I did with you last night,’ she insisted, her expression containing some of that wonder again. ‘Actually, I’ve never done most of those things.’

Russell stared into her eyes, then down at her mouth, which he’d imagined servicing many men before him.

How could he believe her? She’d been way too good at that. Way too uninhibited as well.

This had to be a line. A clever line to suck him in, the way she’d sucked him in last night. Quite literally.

When he reached out to place two fingertips against her lips, her head jerked back, her nostrils flaring wide.

‘And what about that?’ he asked her, watching closely for signs of lying. ‘Have you done that before?’

Her eyes didn’t even flicker as they held his. ‘No, never.’

‘Not even with your ex-fiancé?’ he persisted.

‘He wanted me to. But I … I wouldn’t. Just the thought of it used to repulse me. That’s why I was so shocked when I woke up this morning. Oh, I know you don’t believe me,’ she went on, distress zooming into her eyes. ‘I wouldn’t, either, if I were in your place.’

Russell didn’t know what to make of this tack. Another clever ruse, or the truth?

Damn, but it was difficult to put aside his preconceptions about her. Extremely difficult to trust anyone who had anything to do with Alistair Power, especially his enemy’s flesh and blood daughter.

A less emotional logic finally kicked in, reasoning that the Nicole Power he believed her to be would not be making excuses for her sexual behaviour last night. She wouldn’t think there was anything wrong with it at all!

Which meant she had to be telling him the truth.

It also meant she hadn’t been faking.

Russell’s male pride swelled, his ego triumphant at the thought she’d been genuinely swept away by true passion. Of course, none of this meant she wasn’t on the make as well. But it did mean that her desire for him was real, the same way his was for her.

This gave an added edge to Russell’s sudden plan to continue their affair, not just for today but longer. Much longer. He’d fantasised about her falling in love with him. What if she did? How brilliant a revenge would that be?

‘You’re wrong, Nicole,’ he said, cupping her face and giving her a softly seductive kiss. ‘I do believe you.’

The surprised pleasure which filled her eyes produced an unexpected smidgen of guilt. But Russell quickly put it aside. None of the Powers had felt guilty about his father’s suicide, he reminded himself. Not for a moment.

‘I’m not saying I haven’t had plenty of boyfriends,’ she went on hurriedly.

‘I wouldn’t expect anything different,’ he returned. ‘A girl as lovely as you. But maybe it’s time you had a boyfriend who thinks you’re great in bed,’ he added with a smile.

‘You … you want to be my boyfriend?’

‘You’re not keen on the idea?’

‘I was planning on going back overseas soon,’ she said.

He was truly taken aback. She’d mentioned some plan to her mother over the phone. He’d thought that plan might be him. It had sounded as if she was short of money. Clearly, not so, on both counts. Daddy must still be supporting her, he realised bitterly.

The thought of her escaping overseas the way Power had, produced a rush of anger which Russell had difficulty controlling, and hiding.

But he managed. Somehow.

‘Where are you going?’ he asked a bit abruptly.

‘Thailand. That’s where I was when Mum told me to come home and collect my things.’

‘Why on earth would you want to go back to Thailand at this time of the year? It’s stinking hot over there.’

‘You get used to it.’

‘You have friends there, is that it?’

‘Yes. Good friends.’

‘Not a boyfriend, though.’

‘No.’

‘Why are you being so secretive?’

She sighed. ‘I’m not deliberately being secretive. It’s a rather long story.’