скачать книгу бесплатно
‘Have you ever thought of changing, Liza?’ Nick demanded seriously. ‘You’re young—you have plenty of time to start another career.’ He was satisfied he had discovered all he needed to know. Henry Brown was returning to Lanzarote. As for Liza, he was almost sure she was innocent of any crime, and, even if she was guilty, once away from financial temptation and into something more academic it was possible she could change, and he never questioned his reasoning, simply pursued the thought.
‘You could get out of finance and back into what you really want to do,’ he suggested. ‘It is never too late, Liza, believe me. I might even be able to help you.’
‘I suppose you’re right.’ Liza smiled. ‘But don’t take it so seriously, Nick; I’ll survive whatever.’ And she sat back with a sigh of contentment. ‘That meal was magnificent, Greta is a great cook.’
‘You can tell her that in a minute,’ Nick said curtly. He didn’t know why but her casual attitude infuriated him, had she no idea of the danger she was in? Did she even care? Pushing back his chair, he stood up. ‘Greta will serve coffee in the sitting room.’
But what was really bugging him was his superior intellect had apparently deserted him. He had already missed half of the family celebration in Spain and if he didn’t get back to his mother’s for the final party he and his mother were hosting tomorrow evening, his mother would never forgive him. But what to do with Liza? He dared not leave her alone on the island without telling Carl or he would never forgive him either.
He had been racking his brains to think of some way of persuading Liza to come to Spain with him, and incidentally keep her out of harm’s way, but was damned if he knew how to do it. Short of asking her ‘Will you come to Spain with me for the rest of the weekend?’ But he knew that would go down like a lead balloon, given that she had made a point of avoiding visiting the Menendez home for years.
No, he had to think of something else, and, confident as he was in his masculine powers of seduction, he doubted all the seductive technique in the world would convince Liza to fly off to Spain with him only a day after their meeting up again.
Rising to her feet, Liza followed him through into the elegant living room, wondering what had caused the sudden coolness in the atmosphere. She sat down on one of the soft hide sofas, the occasional table already held the accompaniments for coffee, and a moment later Greta appeared with a pot to add to the already prepared tray.
Liza smiled at the other woman and thanked her for a lovely meal, and then stiffened when Nick chose to sit down beside her on the sofa instead of taking the one opposite. During the meal there had been space between them and the atmosphere had been good most of the time, but now she sensed a tension in the air, and she felt distinctly crowded.
‘Will you be mother?’ Nick asked smoothly.
The words hung in the air as Liza had a vivid mental image of being mother to Nick’s child, a small dark-haired angel. Her face turned scarlet at the provocative thought and hastily she bent forward and filled two small cups with the aromatic coffee. ‘Sugar, milk?’ she asked, without looking at him.
‘As it comes.’
Lifting one cup, she turned slightly, her hand stilling. Nick was lounging back against the cushions, one long arm flung along the back, his jacket hanging open and his shirt pulled tight across his muscular chest, she could see the slight shading of body hair and swallowed hard.
He gave her a long, sardonic look. ‘Are you going to give me the coffee, or simply hold it?’
Blushing at her stupidity—she was eyeing the man like the dumb teenager she had once been—she thrust the cup at him, a little of the liquid spilling, and his long fingers curved around hers.
‘Steady, Liza. I want to drink it, not drown in it,’ he drawled mockingly.
The touch of his hand sent a warmth shimmering through her, and quickly she snatched her hand back, and, grasping her own cup of coffee, forced herself to sit back against the sofa, and lift the cup to her mouth. She took one sip and almost burnt her tongue. Her lips tightened and she just prevented a yelp escaping.
She had to get over her panic; hadn’t she decided in the hotel earlier to take a chance? Nick was just a man like any other. But that was the trouble, he was not like any other man she had ever known, she thought ruefully, casting him a sidelong glance from beneath the thick screen of her lashes. How was it, she mused, that as a young girl she had had a crush on him and was brutally cured of the illusion by the man himself? For years she thought she hated him and yet now one day in his company and all she saw was a dominant, attractive male who turned her bones to jelly.
Feeling vulnerable in a man’s presence for the first time in years, she was not sure she trusted the feeling, and common sense told her to thank Nick for the meal and leave. With that in mind she drained her coffee-cup and replaced it on the table, and, turning slightly, she glanced at his face. He was looking down at her, his mouth a hard, taut line, and for a moment Liza felt a slight shiver of fear, or was it a shiver of sensual anticipation? She was not sure which, and quickly fixed her gaze somewhere over his left shoulder and before she could weaken.
‘Thank you for a lovely evening, Nick. But I think it is time I got back to my hotel.’ She made to rise, only to find a large restraining hand on her forearm.
‘Please join me in a brandy at least,’ Nick said softly, and placed his cup on the table, his dark gaze holding her own, and his thumb caressing the underside of her arm to devastating effect.
Liza was in two minds when the arrival of Paul solved the problem for her.
‘Your mother is on the line.’ He addressed Nick, a cordless telephone in his hand.
Saved by the bell! Nick thought, a huge smile lighting his handsome features, and took the telephone. ‘Hi, Mamma.’ He listened with delight as she harangued him about leaving her a note, and flying off to Lanzarote when she had been expecting him at home.
‘You were supposed to join your uncle and family tonight for dinner, and you’d better get yourself back here quick for the celebratory lunch and the party tomorrow night.’
‘Yes, I will be there, I promise. In fact I will leave tonight, to make absolutely sure, don’t worry.’
Listening to the one-sided conversation, Liza berated herself for her stupid fear five minutes ago, and her clumsy attempt to leave. Nick had plans for the rest of the weekend and the dinner was just as he had said. Two old friends catching up with each other. Then she heard the rest…
‘But you will never guess who I bumped into today.’ Nick shot Liza a brief grin and added, ‘Liza, Liza Summers; she is on holiday here, and we’ve just had dinner together.’
As Nick knew she would, his mother responded, ‘Oh, I haven’t seen Liza in years. Perhaps you can bring Liza back with you for the party. I would love to meet her again.’
‘Well, why don’t you ask her yourself, Mamma?’ Nick relaxed back against the cushions, ignoring Liza’s frantic shaking of her head, and held out the telephone to her while tightening his grip on her arm. ‘Mother would like to speak to you, Liza.’
Reluctantly Liza accepted the telephone. Anna Menendez was a very persuasive woman, as her son knew fine well, Liza thought balefully.
‘Well, of course I would love to see you again, and it is very kind to invite me, but I really couldn’t put Nick to the trouble of flying me to Spain and then back to Lanzarote again.’ Five minutes later when she handed the telephone back to Nick she was committed to going to Spain with him.
‘I don’t believe it.’ Liza jumped to her feet. ‘Why on earth did you tell your mother I was here?’ She glanced down at Nick as he placed the telephone on the table. Call over.
‘Because you were,’ he said with a shrug of his wide shoulders, and a devilish grin in her direction. Thanks to his mother his problem was solved. Nick had set out this morning with the intention of seducing Liza into giving him the information he wanted, but as the day progressed it was he who had been seduced by Liza’s beauty, her warmth, her genuine enthusiasm for life. He would ask her outright about the diamonds in case she had any more information. But he didn’t give a damn if she was guilty or not, he was keeping her with him for a few more days and that was all he cared about.
‘But you must have known that she’d feel obliged to ask me to her party?’
Rising to his feet, he studied her from beneath lowered lids, the soft, silky skin and the generous curve of her mouth, but at the moment she was bristling with indignation. She knew she had been manipulated—she wasn’t stupid. Nick hesitated, a hint of wariness flickering through his eyes.
The mood she was in, if he asked her about the theft of the diamonds, and she was innocent, he could kiss goodbye any chance of getting her into his bed. She would probably never speak to him again, and not surprisingly he found he did not like that idea one bit. He dismissed the thought of challenging her about the diamonds—that could wait. He could sense she was moments away from changing her mind, and he had to do something fast.
‘I never thought, but it seems like a good idea.’ He reached for her shoulders, and held her gently. ‘My mother is not getting any younger and she has been quite down lately; seeing you again is just the tonic she needs to cheer her up—she always had a soft spot for you.’ It wasn’t a lie; his mother had been down, but a course of antibiotics for a mild chest infection had put her right again, and he saw no need to tell Liza that. Emotional blackmail, sensual persuasion…he utilised all his skills. ‘And I am very reluctant to part with you so soon after meeting you again, Liza.’ A gentle pressure with his fingers, and a shiver arced down her spine. ‘Will it be such a hardship to spend a few days’ holiday in Spain and make an old woman happy?’
Hardship, no, but it was likely to cause her enormous pain, resurrecting old memories. Captivated by the sincerity in Nick’s dark eyes, she could feel her resentment at his high-handiness weakening. He loved his mother, of that she had no doubt.
‘I suppose not.’ He sounded perfectly reasonable, and put like that he was right. But she stiffened in his hold, mortified by her helpless response to his touch. She hated to admit it, but she had read such a lot into her meeting with Nick, the day out and everything, and it was humiliating to realise he hadn’t been bowled over by her looks or her personality; in fact, he probably still thought of her as the no-good little tramp of years ago. Nothing had changed…
Nick watched myriad expressions flutter over her exquisite features, and knew she was still not totally convinced, so bending his dark head, he brushed her lips with his own. ‘You think too much, Liza.’
‘Better than not thinking at all,’ Liza shot back sarcastically, but her heart was not in it. She told herself she had fallen for Nick’s soft soap like a stupid kid all over again. She should have remembered what an arrogant, conceited swine he was, intent on getting his own way whatever the cost. But somehow, with her lips tingling from the taste of him, however hard she tried she could not sustain her anger with him.
‘Relax, Liza, you will enjoy yourself. Come and sit down, have a brandy.’
‘I think I need one,’ Liza murmured and let him lead her back to the sofa, and made no objection when, seated beside her, he kept one arm around her waist, holding her close to his side.
‘You know my mother,’ he prompted with a wry smile. ‘She gets an idea in her head and won’t budge. She still thinks she offended you and that is why you have never visited in years. My jet is standing by at the airport, Liza, you’re unexpectedly free for a week or so…there will never be a better time.’
With a flash of insight Liza knew she would let this man take her anywhere; after years of frustration she had finally met again the man whose slightest touch thrilled her to the core. ‘I don’t have a choice,’ she said drily. ‘I have already told your mother I would go.’ And she had already told herself earlier she wanted to see where the relationship with Nick would lead, and she would never have a better chance.
‘Never mind Mamma, I want you to come for me,’ Nick husked and looked long and deep into her eyes.
Liza felt as if he was looking into her soul, and what she had thought was a simple case of sexual chemistry between them suddenly took on a frightening dimension. She noted tiny flecks of gold in the darkening depths of his eyes, and all her muscles tensed as she forgot his mother, forgot everything except the heady awareness of this man that filled her mind to the exclusion of everything else.
‘Nick,’ she thought, not realising she had said his name out loud. He tugged at her heart-strings like no other man before, or ever would again, she realised with blinding clarity. She wanted him, and instinctively she moved closer to his side.
‘Yes, Liza.’ His voice roughened as he held her firmly then quickly slipped his other arm around her to draw her even closer. She felt the hardness of his body and the heat of him searing her, even through the fabric of her dress. His dark head bent and his lips hovered over hers. ‘I knew you would be sensible,’ he murmured and then he kissed her, his tongue slipping between her parted lips in a deeply sensual kiss.
This wasn’t sensible, Liza knew. He was implying a brief affair, but his mouth was tender and moist, filling her with sensation until she couldn’t think. His hand caressed slowly up her side and over the soft mound of one breast, and a tiny moan escaped her. His powerful sexuality overwhelmed her, making the blood run hot through her veins, and she was lost in the wonder of his embrace when he lifted his head and eased back slightly and murmured, ‘Think of us, Liza.’
‘Us?’ She was totally confused.
‘Yes,’ Nick promised, one hand gently cupping her chin. ‘I have to leave tonight.’ He kissed her again. ‘And I want you with me quite desperately.’ He mouthed the words against her lips as his other hand caught hers and pressed it to his hard manhood. ‘Feel what you do to me,’ he rasped sexily.
Her breath snagged in her throat and she saw his pupils dilating so his eyes were sinful black pools of hunger. She flexed her fingers and heard him groan. She pulled her hand away, afraid she had hurt him. Equally as ravenous for him.
He kissed her again with a deep, possessive passion, and when his mouth lifted from hers Liza’s arms were around his neck, and the breath was drawn from her body. She pulled back and briefly closed her eyes, fighting to recover her breath, the longing to know Nick in every way an almost physical pain, and thought, why not?
She might never get another chance to feel the miracle of his lovemaking and she wanted to more than anything else in her life, he had haunted her dreams for years. She was on holiday, and plenty of girls had a holiday romance they remembered with affection after it was over, without ruining their lives…she rationalised. So why not her?
Boldly she curled her arms around his neck again and urged his head down, and kissed him back with a passion, a need she had never imagined she was capable of.
‘You are exquisite,’ Nick opined huskily and, lifting his dark head, a dull flush along his high cheekbones, he added, ‘We will have a wonderful time, trust me,’ and immediately felt a twinge of guilt, an alien emotion for him. He had used her obvious attraction to him to get the result that he required, but he had never expected to want Liza quite so badly. ‘Hoist by his own petard’ sprang to mind…
‘I’ll keep you to that,’ Liza murmured huskily, and, raising brilliant blue eyes, she gulped at the unguarded smouldering desire in the black depths of his, and for a moment her throat closed in panic. Nick was so sure of himself, his sexuality so potent—was she really ready for this? Her one attempt at sex had left her thinking it was vastly overrated or she was frigid.
Nick saw the flash of uncertainty in her glorious eyes, and, not giving her time to dwell on it, he rose to his feet, taking Liza with him. ‘A call to your hotel for your luggage,’ he informed her and drew her hard against him, allowing her to feel the extent of his need, and he kissed her once again hard and fast. ‘And we can leave within the hour.’
Leave! Hell, he wanted to tumble her down on the sofa and take her now. It was what they had both been fighting all day, or maybe longer…he wasn’t sure about anything any more, except the need to get her away from Lanzarote, he reminded himself, and stepped back, setting her free.
Liza blinked and for one wild moment wondered what she had committed to. As he stood before her, dark and slightly dangerous with certain possessiveness in his eyes, she suddenly felt threatened, and she did not understand why.
His request was straightforward enough, and after a few tense seconds she smoothed damp palms down over her hips and said lightly, ‘You and your mother seem to have it all arranged, and it will be nice to see Anna again, so far be it from me to disappoint you all.’ She could play the sophisticate as good as any woman.
‘You could never disappoint me, Liza,’ Nick said in a throaty voice, and with a faint smile he slid one long finger down her burning cheek in a tender gesture. ‘But if we don’t stop this now, I cannot be responsible for my actions,’ he said thickly, his finger tracing the outline of her slightly swollen lips.
Helplessly Liza’s lips parted and just as abruptly Nick stepped back. ‘No.’ His great chest heaved. ‘Later, or we will never get out of here. I think we need that brandy now.’
CHAPTER FOUR (#u04e9a62a-79a6-5ea2-872f-2872b652d514)
‘NOW that wasn’t too painful, was it, Liza?’ Nick asked, releasing his safety belt, and, turning, he deftly unfastened the belt restraining her in the flight seat next to him, but not before dropping a swift kiss on her full lips. He saw her eyes darken, and it crossed his mind that it was after ten in the evening and there was a bedroom on the plane. It was a two-hour flight, and he doubted if a girl with Liza’s obvious sexual appetite would object.
‘Painful, no. A mad rush, yes,’ Liza quipped, striving for some sense of normality even as her head spun from his brief kiss. ‘You do realise we will arrive in Spain in the middle of the night? That is hardly going to go down well with your mother.’
She was still not sure she was doing the right thing. But Nick was very persuasive. As he had said when she was dithering while waiting for the car to take them to the airport, it was only for a few days, and it would mean the world to his mother. Liza recognised it was emotional blackmail but powerful nevertheless.
Nick’s comment that they could have fun as well and the sensual gleam in his dark eyes had told her exactly what he meant. When she had queried how she would get back to Lanzarote, he had told her not to worry, he would take care of everything and her boss needed never know she had been away. Which, she thought drily, put it in perspective; a brief affair was all he had in mind, and it was up to her just how much fun it would be.
Nick considered her thoughtfully; she was nervous and striving to cover it. He had been keeping up a subtle sensual pressure in case she changed her mind, and would like to think it was his obvious attraction that was making her nervous but he could not suppress the suspicion it was more likely the change in her plans that he had contrived. The cynical side of his nature reminded him that in his experience a really good criminal rarely liked their schedule altered by an outside influence. ‘Let me worry about Mamma,’ he reassured her with a lazy smile. ‘Relax.’
Easy for him to say, but Liza was on her way back to the house where she’d suffered her biggest humiliation, and she was scared. ‘Will there be a lot of people at this party?’ she asked, lifting guarded blue eyes to his, and there was something about the way he looked at her with a kind of amused sensuality that was incredibly arousing and she could not tear her gaze away.
‘Quite a few. You know Mamma; it is her brother and his wife’s golden-wedding anniversary.’ He was aware that she was staring at him as intently as he was studying her and the amusement vanished from his face as her gaze involuntarily darkened, the tension between them renewing itself with a cosmic force.
How did she do that? Confuse him… One look from her baby blues, and she made him feel guilty for being economical with the truth, and at the same time turned him on so hard his loins ached.
‘You worry too much,’ he insisted, strain making his tone curt. He leaned back in his seat and circled his shoulders to ease the tension. It had been a horrendously long day; the anger that had sustained him this morning had calmed somewhat after meeting Liza again, and getting the information he required. But he felt as if he had been walking on eggshells for the past few hours. Never forgetting his primary concern was to help Carl catch the criminals, but at the same time endeavouring to protect Liza from the result of her own actions; whether with criminal intent or not, she was involved up to her swan-like neck. But what to do about Liza he still was not sure…
He knew what he wanted to do… She made him feel like a randy teenager again.
He cast a sidelong glance at Liza and he saw the uneven rise and fall of her breasts, the subtle scent of her perfume—or was it simply her—fogged his brain and his body tightened another notch.
Nick dragged an unsteady hand through his hair. They were airborne now; she could not change her mind and getting her out of Lanzarote was for her own good, he told himself. He owed it to the delightful child she had been to protect her. He could not let her go to jail. It should have made him feel better, but it didn’t. Instead beneath his cool exterior he was struggling to contain emotions that were as unwelcome as they were unfamiliar.
Had he taken leave of his senses? How the hell was he going to explain to Carl that he had taken off with one of the prime suspects? His friend would think he was crazy. Maybe he was. But he knew he would do anything, pay anything to keep Liza out of trouble with the law, and if that made him a fool, so be it.
Leaping to his feet, he crossed to a cream leather sofa. Slipping off his jacket and tugging his tie loose in the process, he dropped them and his long length down on it, his angry eyes raking over her. Frustration wasn’t the word!
Liza was a walking, talking sex goddess. Either in trousers and a cheap top with her glorious hair scraped back in a childish pony-tail, as he had seen her this morning, or with her hair a tumbled mass around her shoulders and elegant in black wrap-around dress that was just begging to be unwrapped. Crook or not, she turned him on without even trying.
‘To hell with it!’ he swore under his breath. Keeping her out of jail did not mean he had to keep her out of his bed. She had matured into an incredibly sexy, sophisticated lady, and he was acting like an idiot. He was a man who prided himself on his control and anger bubbled beneath the surface of his smooth smile as he gestured with one hand to the adjoining sofa.
‘Take a softer seat. You’ll be more comfortable,’ he offered, and watched as she rose from the aircraft seat, her hands nervously sweeping the smooth fabric of her dress over her hips, and he almost groaned out loud.
She looked so shy, almost innocent, and that was part of her charm, or her act, he reminded himself cynically, and, unfolding his long length from the sofa, he stepped towards her. ‘But perhaps a guided tour first,’ he suggested, curving his hand over her shoulder. ‘The plane is divided into three compartments—this seating area, a bedroom and restroom.’
Liza had never seen anything like it. How the other half lives, she thought drily, but it was luxury with a capital L. Soft leather sofas and chairs, an occasional table and thick cream carpet, a bar in one corner, near a door that led to the galley and to the flight deck. Nick had introduced her to the captain and crew when they boarded. At the opposite end towards the rear of the aircraft was a corridor with a couple more doors leading off. She knew people who lived in smaller apartments than this plane; the thought made her smile.
‘It all looks very luxurious and very expensive.’ She lifted sparkling blue eyes to his. ‘It must be great to be so rich you can have your own aircraft.’
The smile in her eyes took his breath away. But her comment also made him wonder if she was greedy for money. Thief, gold-digger, he didn’t give a damn.
‘It has its compensations.’ Nick’s voice roughened as he turned her into his arms, and did what he had been aching to do since they left the villa. He ran his hands down the shapely length of her supple body, felt her tremble and then crushed her ruthlessly against the hard heat of his own. Using his innate masculine ability to arouse her, he quite deliberately lowered his head and brushed her pouting lips with his.
She was sweet, so sweet… He tasted her with lips and tongue, savouring her like a connoisseur of fine wine, and then he deepened the kiss until he felt her slender arms wrap around his neck. He lifted his head, the briefest of triumphant smiles curling his hard mouth, and, drawing a deep, rasping breath, he took a chance. ‘Let me show you.’ He didn’t add ‘the bedroom’ he didn’t need to.
Liza didn’t know what hit her—one minute she was talking to him, and the next she was enfolded in Nick’s arms. The mere touch of him had turned her legs to water, and when he kissed her a surge of heat enveloped her whole body. She clung to him, and when he smiled at her she began to tremble as she gazed at him in mesmerised fascination.
He was incredibly handsome with the most gorgeous, slumberous, come-to-bed eyes, dark as night and yet with a sensual gleam as gold as the rising sun. He had to be over six feet four, he was the only man she had ever met she really had to look up to. Her mouth ran dry and she felt a sudden heaviness in her breasts as her nipples tightened in helpless response.
Show her what? The thought crossed her mind but was lost as one long finger traced the outline of her full lips, then moved along her jawline to curve around her ear. She involuntarily swayed into him as his large hand moved swiftly on to the nape of her neck, his long fingers burrowing under the heavy fall of her hair. His hand was smooth but she was intensely aware of the strength in his grip, and for a second she stiffened in apprehension.
But then he lowered his head once more, and his mouth traced the curve of her cheek, tantalisingly close to her. Heat kindled in the pit of her stomach, and she couldn’t think straight, didn’t try… This was what she wanted, what she yearned for, and she turned her head slightly to find his teasing lips with her own.
A wild recklessness swept through her as his mouth took hers with a ruthless, demanding passion that in seconds had her on fire. Her slender fingers tangled through his silky black hair as his tongue delved deep, and she welcomed the hard, savage mouth, gloried in the meeting. They kissed with a ferocious hunger that emptied her head of everything but a growing deep physical ache that curled and tightened in the centre of her body.
Suddenly she was swept up in his arms, and her head fell back as his tongue licked down every inch of her throat to the shadow between her breasts. Liza closed her eyes and felt her whole body melting bonelessly in his arms, and then slowly he raised his head.
‘Look at me,’ Nick demanded. ‘Is this what you want, Liza?’ he asked in a deep slightly accented drawl.
Her dazed blue eyes clashed with jet black, and for a second she saw a look of such predatory hunger in his expression some tiny corner of her mind tried to warn her to be wary. She dragged in a ragged breath, trying to fight the pull of his attraction. ‘The steward,’ she murmured inanely. He had asked earlier if they wanted a drink and Nick had dismissed him, but…
‘It is more than his job’s worth.’ Nick declared with arrogant certainty, but the slight colour tracing his high cheekbones and the clenching of his fingers in her hair told her he was no less affected by the desire flooding through them than she was. Her pupils dilated to almost obscure the blue, she opened her mouth to reply, but, reading the answer in her eyes, he did not wait.
He shouldered the door open and in two strides he lowered her down onto the large bed. Discarding his shirt, his great body looming over her, he reached down and untied the knot at her waist and peeled her dress open.
Liza should have been shy, exposed in only black lace briefs, but her eyes widened on his lean, strong face, her pulse racing as she checked down to the broad shoulders. All her attention was captured by the perfection of his tanned, muscular chest, the intriguing pattern of black curling body hair that arrowed down to where his trousers hung low on his hips. He was her dream come true, she had waited what felt like a lifetime for this man, and at last she was trembling on the brink of knowing the full wonder of Nick, her heart’s secret desire.
