Forgotten Husband (11 page)

'Not hungry?'

Elise looked at him carefully, examining the strong bone-structure, the assemblage of muscle and skin that moulded his features into compelling attractiveness.

Before the accident she would not have had the least compunction about beginning an argument with him. Not only that, she would have delighted in doing battle, exulting when she succeeded in rousing his temper. It was madness, because she could never win against him.

Now she seemed hell-bent on following a similar path. His brand of caring during their time together at Palm Beach, his tender affection, had wreaked havoc with her emotional heart.

Worse, it had destroyed the very core of her resentment.

'No,' she answered at last, pushing her plate to one side.

'Have some fruit.'

Elise looked at the selection Ana had placed in the bowl, then shook her head. She reached for her glass, miscalculated, and water pooled across the table.

'Oh, hell,' she said shakily as she collected a napkin and began mopping up the excess.

What was wrong with her, for heaven's sake?

'Leave it.'

She rose to her feet. 'I'll get another napkin.'

'Leave it, Elise,' Alejandro commanded silkily. Stupid tears pricked her eyes, and she blinked furiously in an effort to prevent them from spilling over. Any second now she'd make a fool of herself, and that would never do.

She moved from the table and had taken three steps when a hand closed over her arm.

'Let me go. Please,' she begged in bleak despair, hating the degree of vulnerability evident as he tilted her chin.

'When you tell me what is disturbing you.'

She closed her eyes against the sight of him, then slowly opened them again. 'I didn't deliberately stay in the city in order to cause you concern.'

'I wasn't aware I implied that you had.' He cupped her face between both hands and brushed a thumb-pad across one cheek.

Dear heaven, why did she feel so acutely sensitive where he was concerned? A few days ago she wouldn't have thought it possible that she would find it imperative to offer him any explanation or proffer an apology. Now she was doing both.

However, soul-searching wouldn't achieve anything, for there was no easy resolution.

'Thanks for the car,' she managed unevenly, and glimpsed his faint smile as he watched the fleeting emotions chase across her expressive features.

'What good manners you have,
mi mujer,'
he drawled. 'I shall look forward to a more—passionate shall we say?—expression of your gratitude.'

It took considerable effort to keep the pain from her voice. 'Payment in sexual favours?' she queried, and saw his eyes darken.

'You little fool,' Alejandro responded with deadly softness as his mouth fastened over hers in a kiss that was meant to punish.

A silent cry of impassioned entreaty remained locked in her throat, and it seemed an age before he lifted his head.

His eyes speared hers, and she became trapped beneath the degree of latent sensuality evident, a primeval recognition that had everything to do with the senses.

Her mouth quivered, its soft curves faintly swollen from the ruthless force of his own, and she cried out a single negation as he swept her effortlessly into his arms.

In the bedroom he let her slide down to her feet, and she wanted to vent her rage against his deliberate seduction as he gently cupped her face.

Eyes that were impossibly slumberous held her own captive, and helpless frustration welled up inside her as she became caught up in mesmerised fascination.

Did he know how difficult it was for her to accept the traitorous desire she experienced in his arms? The breath seemed to catch in her throat, and her eyes clung to his, bright with anger, yet intensely vulnerable.

A hand slid beneath her hair, urging her close as his lips trailed across her forehead, then moved slowly down one cheek to settle at the corner of her mouth, teasing, gentle, and incredibly erotic as he conducted a sensual tasting that made her ache for more.

Beneath his sensual mastery a deep flame flared into vibrant life, and she gave herself up totally to the delights of unbridled ardency.

Elise made no protest when he set about freeing her clothes and his own, and her body arched of its own accord as his mouth began a supplicating path over every inch of her body.

She was barely conscious of the tiny sounds emerging from her throat as she began to plead with him, wanting, needing his total possession.

When at last he gave it, she cried out, welcoming his mouth on hers with hungry passion as acute sensation spiralled towards a mutual climax that explored the heights of primitive satiation.

Sexual ecstasy at its zenith, she accepted drowsily a long time later as she drifted towards sleep.

Elise levelled in her independence, and chose to take the Mercedes out each day.

On one occasion she visited the ward where she had worked at the Royal Children's Hospital, after which she drove by the old brick house she had shared for years with her father.

It looked different, she reflected with a tinge of sadness. The small front garden no longer existed, the curtains had been changed, and the door was now painted a brilliant green.

Was it only nine months since her world had been turned upside-down? In some ways it seemed much longer than that.

It was impossible not to ponder what her future might hold, and that of her unborn child. She wanted... What
did
she want? Alejandro's love? Was it such an impossible dream?

The blast of a car horn interrupted her thoughts, and she set the Mercedes moving away from a street that no longer held a place in her life.

Lunch, she decided, feeling suddenly hungry, after which she would head towards Double Bay to browse among the many boutiques. She might even visit a beauty salon and indulge in a facial. Then she could look for a suitable gown to wear to an important end- of-year function to be held the following evening in an inner-city hotel.

After an extensive search she discovered exactly what she wanted, added matching evening shoes and bag, and tried not to blench as she signed the credit slip.

Alejandro's appreciation of her choice was plainly evident as she bore his appraisal mere minutes before they were due to leave the house the next evening.

'I won't be able to let you out of my sight,' he drawled, and she proffered a teasing smile.

'Likewise.'

'Indeed?'

His eyes held latent passion, and something she dared not define. A tiny flame flared deep within and flowed through her body. 'Shall we leave?'

'So many beautiful women,' Elise murmured as they entered the hotel ballroom some thirty minutes later. 'Wearing a fortune in clothes and jewellery in a personal quest to outshine one another.'

Alejandro cast her an amused glance as one of several hostesses hurried forward to check their tickets and indicate their table position.

'Careful,
querida,'
he drawled. 'Your claws are showing.'

She offered him a winsome smile. 'It's one thing to show them, and quite another to use them.' Unlike Savannah, who didn't hesitate to do both, she added silently as she paused at Alejandro's side while he exchanged pleasantries with an acquaintance.

The ballroom had the capacity to seat eight hundred patrons, with tea guests assigned to each circular table. An impressive annual event, it was a draw for the city's social elite who came primarily to be seen. The promoted charity, the reason for such a gathering, was incidental.

Perhaps that was being a little unkind, Elise decided as she took her seat a short while later. Committee members affiliated to any charity organisation worked tirelessly to put something like this evening's soiree together, and deserved an accolade for their efforts.

Two seats at their table remained empty, and Elise's fingers tightened on the stem of her glass as she overheard who was due to join them.

'Savannah is always late, darling. She likes to make a grand entrance.'

Savannah's presence tonight was a foregone conclusion, but only someone with a twisted sense of humour would have placed the glamorous model at the same table as Alejandro and Elise Santanas. It was too contrived to be coincidental, and Elise could only conclude that Savannah herself had en-gineered the seating arrangements

The lights dimmed, a spotlight hit the podium, and the charity's president extolled the amount raised and its purpose. Tonight's guest speaker was a well-known dignitary who would begin his speech at the dinner's conclusion, after which music would be provided for guests to dance.

The spotlight faded, the lights returned, and there was Savannah, looking absolutely stunning in jade silk that clung lovingly to every curve. The man at her side wasn't someone Elise had previously met, and she pinned a smile firmly in place as Savannah performed an introduction.

Was it her imagination that their table was the cynosure of all eyes? Perhaps not, she conceded, although there could be no doubt Savannah's presence would be viewed with interest.

'Elise. How are you? Quite recovered from your accident, I hope?' The slightly bored tone was offset by a seemingly sincere smile which did not reach her eyes as Elise made a polite rejoinder. 'Alejandro missed you dreadfully at last week's dinner.' The smile deepened and became deliberately secretive as she switched attention. 'Didn't you, darling? Quite the devoted husband. If he hadn't been a featured guest speaker, I doubt if he would have come.'

Elise was saved from having to respond by the arrival of a waiter bearing a basket of bread rolls,' and when the first course was served she dutifully spooned the delectable potato and leek soup until it was finished.

Faced with a choice of fish or chicken, she opted for the former, and forked each mouthful with studied care. Every so often she paused to sip iced water from her glass, acutely conscious of Savannah's presence directly opposite.

Incredibly beautiful: there was no visible flaw in any one of her perfect features. Nature had bestowed with a bountiful hand, while good fortune had ensured that she'd been born into wealth. A modelling opportunity had landed in her lap at a tender age, and the test, as they said, was history.

Elise had viewed her with extreme caution the moment they had first met, and nothing had occurred in the interim to change her mind. The model was an ensnarer of men, making it very plain that Alejandro Santanas was her prime target. His marriage was dismissed as of little account, merely a mild irritation soon to be dispensed with.

'Some wine, my dear?'

Elise turned towards the man seated on her left, and shook her head. 'It's kind of you to offer, but no.'

'You're getting by with water, darling?' Savannah queried, effecting a faint
moue.
'Are you driving?'

Alejandro shifted slightly in his chair and caught hold of Elise's hand, lifting it to his lips. His eyes gleamed with warmth as he gently kissed each fingertip in turn before enfolding her hand in his.

She wanted to wrench her hand free, but even as the thought occurred, his own hand tightened measurably in silent warning, and she had no recourse but to smile. Damn him, he was little more than an elegant savage behind that sophisticated facade. Ruthless, she added, suppressing a slight shiver as she caught sight of Savannah's fixed stare.

'You're not
pregnant,
are you, darling?'

Only Savannah would ask such a question, and Elise held her breath as Alejandro met the model's seemingly innocent gaze.

'Yes, much to my delight.' There was no doubt about the element of steel beneath the silk-smoothness of his voice.

The arrival of dessert was an anticlimax, and Elise picked segments of fruit from their meringue nest, then pushed the plate to one side, choosing tea as the guest speaker took the podium.

Afterwards a DJ provided background music and encouraged guests to step on to the dance-floor. Savannah and her partner were among the first, moving through the steps with effortless ease.

She looked so—sophisticated, and so very sure of herself. Her features were faintly sultry, and Elise had no doubt that the model knew precisely the effect she was having on her partner.

The question was whether it was having the desired effect on Alejandro.

Elise cast him a surreptitious glance, and was disconcerted to meet his hooded gaze. She offered a tentative smile, afraid he might have deduced the pattern of her thoughts, and she blinked as he leached out and threaded his fingers through her own.

'Would you like to dance?'

Part of her wanted to quite desperately, for she badly needed the sanctuary of his embrace. The other part recognised the danger of having her body pressed against the hard powerful impact of his own.

With a word of assent she rose to her feet, moved out on to the floor and into his arms.

The music was slow, and her steps matched his in perfect unison. Magic, she mused. Was it possible for one human being to be addicted to another? Held in thrall as if the essence of him were some powerful narcotic?

He diminished every other man in the room, possessing an inherent ruthlessness, honed by experience and enhanced by the degree of his success.

It held a fascination that men recognised and women viewed with the speculative interest of their sex. To some it was an invisible magnet, activated by the excitement of discovering if the man, freed from corporate restraint, was as skilled at love-making as he was at adding millions to his investment portfolio.

An immensely sophisticated man, yet there was the hint of an untamed quality, a primitive savagery held rigidly in control.

A faint shiver feathered down her spine with the knowledge that he would be devastatingly heartless as an enemy. 'Cold?' His voice was a soft caress against her hair, and she murmured a faint negative.

'Someone just walked over my grave,' she offered, with a droll attempt at humour.

'Savannah?'

She missed a step, and gave an inaudible gasp as he enfolded her close against him. It was a far from conventional hold, and she tilted her head to meet the dark inscrutability apparent in his gaze.

'You're too astute for your own good,' she offered in a strangled voice.

'Is that a disadvantage?'

She chose not to answer, and when the music changed she moved back a pace and suggested they return to their table.

'I need to use the powder-room,' she murmured, aware of the effect of several glasses of water. She caught up her evening bag with the intention of doing a few running repairs to her make-up while there.

'Do you want me to escort you?' She directed at him a slow smile of amusement. 'I'm not a child, Alejandro. What can happen to me?'

What, indeed? she could only query silently several minutes later, when she emerged from a stall to find Savannah examining her make-up in front of the long mirrored wall.

'Playing to win, darling?' Savannah queried softly.

'Every time, Savannah,' she managed evenly as she took out lipstick and ran colour smoothly over her lips.

'You're very.. .small,' Savannah opined with a total lack of graciousness. 'A petite size eight?'

There had to be a purpose to this conversation, and determining her dress size was totally irrelevant, Elise reflected as she recapped the lipstick and turned to face her aggressor.

'Alejandro is so...' Savannah trailed off delicately.

'Well-endowed?' Elise suggested, deliberately manufacturing a stunningly amused smile. 'A distinct advantage, wouldn't you agree?'

Dark brown eyes glittered with dangerous venom as the model released a tinkle of soft laughter. 'He's a lusty animal, darling.' Her gaze focused on Elise's trim waist. 'Pregnancy is hardly flattering, especially in the latter stage. I can't imagine he'll practise celibacy, no matter how temporary.'

'And you'll be there for him to turn to?'

'Of course, darling.' She paused, then sharpened the verbal barb for maximum impact. 'As I have been, and always will be.'

Elise felt sickened, and it took considerable effort to summon a light smile. 'I really must go back to the table.' She turned away, only to give an anguished gasp as Savannah caught hold of her injured hand.

'Don't underestimate me.'

'I never have,' Elise assured steadfastly. 'Will you please let go of my hand? It's still quite painful.'

Savannah's grip momentarily tightened, and her eyes gleamed with a malevolence that changed her features into a hard mask.

For a few shocking seconds Elise thought she wouldn't be able to cope with the pain, then Savannah flung her hand aside with a pitiless laugh.

'I'd hate to hurt you unnecessarily.' Collecting her evening bag, she swept out of the powder-room.

For several minutes Elise was locked into immobility as she tried to control her shaken emotions. Her hand throbbed, aching with an intensity that clouded her eyes and took the colour from her face.

'Are you all right?'