She stood in front of him, her eyes drinking in his tall body, immaculately dressed in a dark three-piece suit and white silk shirt, a plain dark blue silk tie knotted neatly at his throat. She tilted her head back to look up into his handsome face, and their eyes locked. 'Luc she began, but he cut her off. His arms enfolding her, his lips found hers in a long, strangely tender kiss. She was trembling when he finally broke the kiss and held her away from him, his strong hands firmly clasping her upper arms.
'The past is over and finished with, Parisa. You are my wife, and I don't think you found last night too unpleasant. In fact, you were with me all the way.' His dark eyes bored down into hers, daring her to deny it.
'Yes,' she confessed with a shy smile.
'Good. So no more arguing and no more dragging up the past, and I think we will get through the next couple of weeks famously.'
Parisa wanted to touch him, wanted to love him, but instead she took the two weeks he was offering. 'That's fine by me,' she agreed, while vowing to try and make the fortnight into a lifetime.
Luc curved his arm around her shoulders and, tilting her chin with one finger, placed a swift, soft kiss on her full lips. 'Go and get your coat,' he said and, turning her around, he patted her bottom with a proprietarily hand. 'And hurry up, wife. I'm starving, and it's not good for my system to restrain my appetite. His seductive chuckle echoed in her ears as she walked back into the bedroom.
Naked, spread-eagled on top of Luc, Parisa groaned. 'God! I'm shattered—utterly and completely shattered.' A deep masculine chuckle disturbed the tendrils of her hair spread over his chest...
'You are also shameless, my sweet wife.'
Parisa reared up, resting her folded arms on his massive chest, and stared down into his raggedly attractive face. 'I am?' she jeered. 'And who was it who dragged me out of the cocktail bar and into the lift with indecent haste to have his evil way with me?' she teased him, plopping a soft, wet kiss on his invitingly curved lips. The past two weeks had been a revelation to Parisa. She had never imagined making love could be so varied and so ecstatic. She wriggled slightly. Her stomach felt as though it were glued to Luc's naked flesh, and she loved the feeling.
'No, you don't, learn.' Luc declared throatily and, wrapping her up in his arms, he got to his feet. They had never made it past the living-room floor, the urgency of their passion overcoming common sense. 'It's almost visiting time,' he said as he carried her naked into the bedroom and dropped her on the wide bed.
She laughed up at him, her blue eyes sparkling. 'It's not me who has the gargantuan appetite.'
'Maybe not for food, but in every other respect you match me, Parisa,' Luc said with a grin, then, brushing her hair from her brow, he sat on the side of the bed. 'Why don't you spend the next couple of hours cosseting this beautiful body of yours?' His strong tanned hand slid lazily over her pouting breast and down the length of her pale body with a proprietary pleasure. 'I'll go to the hospital myself, and later, when I return, wear something stunning. I'm taking you out.'
Languorously she smiled up at him, her flesh tingling from his soft caress. 'Yes, oh, lord and master,' she teased.
'I mean it, Parisa,' Luc said, suddenly serious. 'Mother was supposed to be released today. As you know, it was postponed, but I spoke to the consultant earlier, and now it's been decided she can leave for Italy tomorrow. So you and I have some talking to do.' And, getting up from the bed, he added, 'I won't be long—a couple of hours at most.'
Parisa hugged herself as he vanished into the bathroom. Maybe, just maybe, things would work out as she wanted them to. She loved Luc with all her heart, and the past two weeks had only served to deepen her feelings, if that were possible. From the first day of their marriage she had been living in a sensual dream. Luc was a masterful lover, with an insatiable appetite that she matched perfectly. They were highly compatible. No—combustible, more like, she thought with a secret smile. He only had to look at her a certain way and she knew exactly what he was thinking. They made love morning, noon, and night. Mostly in bed, but, like this evening, quite often not making it that far.
They were lovers, but out of bed there was still an indefinable barrier between them. She told herself it was because of his mother, but she was not convinced that was all. This afternoon they had stopped for a drink downstairs, and, not for the first time, he had abruptly, almost angrily demanded she go upstairs with him. She sighed. It had ended wonderfully—it always did—but she wished she knew what he was thinking, how he really felt. Now, he said he wanted to talk, and she hoped with all her heart that it was because he wanted to continue with their marriage.
Luc strolled back into the room, and avidly Parisa watched him as he moved from the drawers to the wardrobe, pulling on his clothes. Even the simple act of dressing he managed to do with an erotic grace, she thought, unable to take her eyes off him.
'See you later, cara.' And, bending down, he gave her a swift kiss. 'And hold that look until I return.' His lips quirked in a wide, natural smile as he left.
Parisa spent the next hour happily doing as he had instructed. The only cloud on the horizon was the fact that Luc had never mentioned the two-week deadline on their marriage, and she didn't dare...
CHAPTER TEN
Parisa stepped out of the bath, and, pulling on Luc's robe, she wrapped her long hair in a towel and eyed her glowing reflection in the bathroo
m mirror. A knock on the door interrupted her toilet. Luc back already? She smiled. Tying the belt of her robe firmly around her waist, she rushed through the suite and opened the door.
She stared at the woman in the doorway, one hand gripping the door-handle in a death grip, her knuckles white with the strain, as all the air seemed to vacate her lungs in one dizzying rush. Margot Mey!
'Oh, I'm sorry, you're still here. How silly of me,' she gushed. 'I could have sworn Luc told me on Monday you were leaving Thursday. You don't mind if I come in, do you?' And Parisa, her hand dropping from the handle, gestured Margot inside, trying desperately to gather her scattered wits together. 'Is Luc around? If not I'll nip into his office and leave a note. I just couldn't wait to thank him for the beautiful bracelet.' And, stretching out a slender arm, she displayed a sparkling diamond-studded strap around her slender wrist. 'He is such a darling and so generous. But then, of course, you must know that.' She laughed. The high tinkling tone sounded like a death knell in Parisa's stunned brain.
Parisa silently welcomed the icy numbness that engulfed her. It gave her the strength to say with chilling politeness, 'Please help yourself. I'm sure you know the way, but if you will excuse me I have my packing to finish.' On leaden feet she walked into the master bedroom, and closed the door behind her.
Dear God! Was there no end to her stupidity? 'Monday' Margot had said. On that day Luc had insisted he had a lot of work to catch up on, and suggested Parisa return to Hardcourt Manor for a few hours and check up on the redecoration. Now she knew his real reason. He had arranged to meet his mistress! How could she have forgotten so completely his long-standing affair with Margot Mey? Her gaze settled on the large bed, and she shuddered. She had slept with him in the same bed he had shared with Margot and God knew how many more... A humourless smile twisted her beautiful mouth. Poor Luc—his superb efficiency had finally let him down. His mother's departure delayed a day, and he was left with two women for the night, instead of one...
Grateful for the frozen state of her emotions, she methodically moved around the large room. Shedding her robe, she pulled on a simple wool dress. The row of designer clothes hanging in the wardrobe, which Luc had enthusiastically chosen for her on numerous shopping sprees, she ignored. Only packing the few clothes she had arrived with in her own suitcase, she walked out of the bedroom.
She glanced around the sitting-room. There was no sign of Miss Mey, but her attention was caught by a lipstick lying on the mantlepiece. She picked it up. Margot's! It was a deep dark red, and defiantly she scrawled on the mirror above, 'Deal concluded. Parisa.'
Exactly two weeks to the day from her arrival she walked out of the hotel, hailed a taxi, and climbed in. The numbness that had supported her for the past half- hour eased away, and a wrenching pain forced her to clutch her stomach, her eyes squeezed tightly shut.
Parisa grimaced as she stopped her old car outside the manor house. She sat for a moment, balefully eyeing the mass of scaffolding surrounding her home. The foreman had assured her the new roof would be finished this weekend. Personally, she no longer cared. She was bone-deep tired. Two days spent camping and teaching white-water canoeing to the Seventh Battle scout troop of which David was captain had done little to improve her state of health. David had behaved like a sulky schoolboy himself, letting her know he considered she had treated him very badly. There was nothing much she could say in her own defence, because he was right. She knew she had behaved less than honourably towards him.