Seduction: The Billionaire's Bride of Vengeance

He shoved the key in the ignition, then leant over the gear stick to take her face in his hands once more.

‘What is there to know but this?’ he murmured, and kissed her again. Softly this time and seductively, savouring the low moan of surrender she made when her lips flowered open under his.

Now that he had her where he wanted her, Russell wasn’t about to let her get away. He pressed her hard against the leather seat and kept on kissing her, at the same time letting his right hand slide slowly down her neck till it reached the valley between her breasts.

Once there, he quite deliberately lifted his mouth away so that he could watch her eyes when his hand moved underneath her dress and over her naked breast. He wanted to see her reaction, wanted to watch for signs of anything fake.

Not that it really mattered. If she was pretending desire for the sake of greed, then the outcome would not change: he would still bed her tonight.

But having Nicole Power mindless with desire for him would be an added bonus. How ironic would that be? How brilliantly satisfying!

His hand moved and her eyes flung wide open, her back stiffening when his fingers found their goal.

Her nipple was hard, like a river pebble.

‘No, don’t,’ she whimpered when he rolled it round and round with his fingertips.

He ignored her feeble protest and kept doing it till her mouth gasped open and her eyes glazed over. At that point he pushed the silky green material aside to totally expose her breast, then bent his head to put his mouth where his fingertips had been.

Her practically jackknifing from the seat told Russell all he needed to know. There was absolutely no pretence in her responses. She was his, to do with as he pleased. His to explore and exploit. His to win and maybe even to wed.

Did he want to go that far? Did he want to see her walk down the aisle in white the way Megan had that day? Did he want to see blind adoration in her eyes as well as the mindless desire he’d just glimpsed in her beautiful green eyes?

There was only one answer to those questions.

An unequivocal yes.

CHAPTER NINE

NICOLE squeezed her eyes tightly shut against the sensations bombarding her body.

Oh, yes, she thought wildly when he sucked harder on her nipple. Yes!

Her hands closed into tightly balled fists by the sides of the seat, her bag having long slipped out of her grasp. She pressed her back against the leather and lifted her chest higher for him, inviting his mouth to take in more of her breast.

His sudden desertion dragged a groan from deep in her throat, her eyelashes fluttering open to stare up into the darkly silhouetted face looming over her.

‘As much as I’d like to ravage you right here and now,’ he said thickly, ‘ I think it best that we wait till I get you home.’

A stunned Nicole just sat there as he returned to the driver’s seat and started up the engine, several seconds passing before she realised her left breast was totally exposed, its peaked nipple still glistening with his saliva.

‘Leave it like that,’ he growled when her hand moved to cover herself up.

‘I … I can’t,’ she said, shocked by the suggestion. ‘Someone might see me.’ And she quickly pulled her dress back into place.

‘As you wish, beautiful,’ he said as he sped off.

As I wish?

Nicole’s eyes darted across to the man behind the wheel, her gaze landing on his hands first. Big they were, and strong.

What she wished was that they were on her body again. His mouth, too, on her breasts and between her legs.

Nicole shuddered at how thrilling she found that thought. How thrilling she found him, wickedly thrilling.

Oh, yes, he was wicked all right.

But oh, so passionate. The things he’d said to her back at the yacht club, the things he’d done to her just now in this car …

She was still thinking about those things when his car zoomed down into the harbour tunnel and she realised where he was taking her: to her old home in Belleview Hill. But now it had become his, for twenty million dollars …

This last thought brought her back to some semblance of sense, reminding Nicole of her recent vow never to have anything to do with rich men. Not only were a lot of them corrupt and amoral, but most were also arrogant and spoiled and far too used to getting their own way.

Russell McClain was undoubtedly all of those things. Just look at the company he kept! Hugh Parkinson was a roué, if ever there was one. As for James Logan … Nicole hoped Megan would be happy with him, but she doubted it.

So what on earth was she doing going home with him?

Nicole had never been a one-night-stand kind of girl. In the past, she’d thought of herself as a prize for the man who was pursuing her, a prize worth waiting for. She’d been taught by her once-bitten mother to put tickets on herself in that regard, to not give herself cheaply and easily.

Which she hadn’t.

She’d dated David for two months before they’d slept together.

Still, David had never made her crave him the way she was craving Russell McClain right at this moment. She could not stop thinking about it, could not wait to feel again what this man could make her feel.

His being rich was irrelevant at this moment. No doubt she would regret her impulsive behaviour in the morning. But future regrets had no chance of making her do or say anything to stop the man sitting next to her from having his wicked way with her tonight.

By the time Russell arrived at his destination, the demands of his cruelly frustrated body threatened to override his need to control this situation, himself, and her.

Nicole’s silence during the drive had given him far too much time to think about the rest of the evening, his desire for her body, plus the anticipation of finally getting even with Alistair Power through his daughter, proving an intoxicating mix. He could not wait to take her, to watch her come apart in his arms.

But that would only happen if he could control his own excruciating need for release.

Not an ideal situation.

But still his priority remained to whip her up to Power’s master bedroom, where the greatest revenge of all could begin.

‘You don’t have a girlfriend tucked away somewhere, do you?’ Nicole suddenly asked as he drove through the gates. ‘Or a wife?’

Russell’s eyebrows lifted. Hardly the question a totally turned-on girl would ask.

But typical of women like Nicole Powers. They always had their eyes on the ball.

‘Of course not,’ he said truthfully.

‘You … you wouldn’t lie to me, would you?’

Something in her voice pricked his conscience.

‘Why would I do that?’ he answered a little gruffly.

‘To get me into bed.’

He parked at the base of the front steps and turned off the engine before facing her. ‘I’ve never had any trouble getting women into my bed before, Nicole. And I haven’t had to lie.’

He reached out and touched her flushed cheek before trailing his fingers over to her mouth. Slowly, he traced her lips with a single fingertip till her mouth fell open on a low moan. He might have inserted his finger for her to suck if he hadn’t already been on a dangerous edge himself.

‘There’s no need for me to lie to you,’ Russell lied as he let his hand drop away. ‘You’re an adult woman, Nicole. You’ve come here with me willingly, so let’s not play games with each other. Let’s just enjoy tonight for what it is. A man and a woman totally in tune with each other. Come on, let’s get out of here and go somewhere a lot more comfortable.’

She didn’t protest when he took her hand and led her up the curving staircase into the master bedroom. But she did look a little shell-shocked, her eyes widening when they landed on the bed, which he’d fortunately had the foresight to make that morning, complete with its French lace duvet.

‘You can’t expect me to sleep with you in my mother’s bed,’ she choked out, her bag clutched defensively in front of her.

‘My bed now,’ he said, removing that infernal bag and tossing it onto the bedside table before pulling her into his arms again. She went, but rather reluctantly, which was not what he wanted. He wanted her mindless, as she’d been back in his car.

‘Come, now, Nicole, you’re … how old?’

‘Twenty-five.’

‘Old enough not to worry about such things, then. Your mother is a woman of the world. Do you really think she’d care?’ he finished as his head began to descend.

No, Nicole realised just before he kissed her. She probably wouldn’t. All her mother cared about these days was the good life. It didn’t even bother her that her husband was unfaithful.

But still … being in her bed didn’t feel right.

Any qualms she had about where Russell made love to her, however, were obliterated within seconds of his lips meeting hers, that incredible craving returning with an urgency which brooked no excuses or objections. Soon, all she cared about was that his mouth was back on hers again. His hands, too.

A small degree of panic resurfaced when he stopped kissing her long enough to turn back the duvet. She whispered a feeble protest when Russell started undressing her, but he just said, ‘Don’t be silly,’ and kept on stripping her till she was totally naked, except for her jewellery.

His stepping back and just staring at her at that stage brought a rush of dark excitement, the like of which she’d never known before. Although not in any way ashamed of her body, Nicole had never been an exhibitionist. Having Russell’s hungry eyes raking over her bare skin, however, sent her head spinning, her nipples peaking under his hot gaze, her belly tightening with the most delicious tension.

‘Take the jewellery off,’ he commanded in a desire-thickened voice.

She managed to unhook the drop earrings and put them on the bedside table, but fumbled with the clasp of the pendant.

‘I’ll do it,’ he ground out, and strode round behind her.

She shivered when his fingers grazed the nape of her neck.

‘Was this a present?’ he asked as he slid the released necklace from around her throat.

‘Yes,’ she choked out.

‘From a besotted admirer, no doubt. No, don’t bother to answer that. I haven’t brought you here to discuss your past conquests,’ he said as he dropped the necklace next to the earrings then turned her round to face him.

‘Frankly, I prefer you without adornment of any kind,’ he said, his eyes narrowing as they travelled slowly over her totally exposed body.

Nicole didn’t know what to say or do. So she just stood there and let him look at her, her mouth bone-dry, her heart racing behind her ribs.

He didn’t make any move to touch her, just continued to stare at her till the air in the room grew a lot warmer and her head a lot lighter. When she swayed, he caught her by her shoulders, spun her round then yanked her hard against him. Once there, he released her shoulders and snaked his left arm tightly around her waist, holding her solidly captive while his other hand was left free to do as it pleased.

And it finally pleased to touch her, his widely splayed palm rubbing back and forth over her fiercely erect nipples till she didn’t think she could bear any more.

‘Oh, please,’ she whimpered.

A flash of lightning accompanied by a huge clap of thunder brought a different cry to her lips.

That tantalising hand stopped abruptly, the room suddenly very quiet except for his heavy breathing. Nicole stiffened when another loud clap of thunder rocked the room.

‘You’re frightened of storms?’ he asked, his mouth hot against her ear.

‘Yes,’ she choked out.

‘I love them.’

‘What’s there to love about them?’

‘They usually herald rain. Farmers’ sons love rain.’

When his hold on her suddenly slackened, Nicole wriggled round in his arms and looked up into his flushed face.

‘You’re a farmer’s son?’ How did you become one of the most successful real-estate agents in Sydney? she thought.

‘Once upon a time,’ he said wryly, his eyes growing distant as they turned away to glance around the room. When they eventually returned to hers, his face had cooled, his expression no longer that of a man in the throes of passion.

Yet when he smiled, a strangely erotic shiver trickled down her spine.

‘Enough of this chit-chat,’ he said, and abruptly scooped her up into his arms. ‘Time to get down to business.’

CHAPTER TEN

RUSSELL scooped her up into his arms and laid her down in the middle of the bed, kissing her with cold deliberation before withdrawing to stand at the side of the bed.

That storm had arrived just in the nick of time, reminding him of why he’d brought Alistair Power’s daughter here in the first place. Not just to satisfy his lust—which he was certainly aiming to do—but also for a far more satisfying goal.

Revenge.

Which was better taken slowly and with a cool head.

For several seconds he just stared down at her, drinking in her exquisitely beautiful body, which was even more tempting than he remembered. She looked delicious spread out like that with her legs slightly apart and her hands laid on the pillows beside her head.

The sudden thought that he would prefer her tied to the bed startled Russell. He’d never been partial to that kind of thing before. But the image of her spread-eagled and bound and totally helpless almost brought his resolve to be cool and controlled totally undone.

He had to pull himself together, had to find some composure or all would be lost. There would be no triumph for him if he became her prey. She was the prey here. She was the instrument of revenge, even if she didn’t know it.

Clenching his teeth hard in his jaw, he willed his wayward flesh to behave, then slowly, very slowly, began taking off his clothes, not dropping them on the floor but draping each item neatly over a nearby chair: jacket, tie, shirt and belt.

Once he was naked to the waist he extracted his wallet from his trouser pocket, took out two condoms and put them on the bedside chest. After that he took off his shoes and socks, placing them tidily under the chair before unzipping his trousers and removing them with all the speed of a snail.

He was playing for time, of course. Time to give his painfully swollen flesh the chance to subside a little.

He wasn’t all that successful. The sight of Nicole’s near-naked body was way too arousing. So was the thought that, soon, she would be his.

Another flash of lightning came, along with a clap of thunder even louder than the last. The storm was getting close. So was the storm which was about to break in this room, a storm which had been years in the building.

Nicole shivered, both at the sound of the thunder and the sight of Russell’s almost naked body. He was magnificently built. Tall and broad-shouldered, with a flat stomach and an enviable tan, making her wonder how he had acquired the latter. Not from a gym, that was for sure. Maybe he surfed, or swam outdoors.

He had a smattering of dark curls between his well-defined chest muscles. His legs were long, with nicely shaped calves and powerful thighs.

She could not help but compare him with David, who’d been extremely handsome, facially, but not so impressive without his clothes on. He’d had no shoulders to speak of, plus pale skin and a flabby belly.

Russell’s abruptly dropping his boxer shorts had Nicole swallowing hard. Oh! Now he very definitely left David in the shade.

Thinking about David, however, brought a jab of panic which found voice when Russell joined her on the bed.

‘I … I should warn you about something,’ she blurted out.

His face immediately darkened. ‘There’s nothing you can tell me that I want to hear. Not right now, anyway.’

Russell took a few moments to don protection, after which he rolled back and kissed her. Then kissed her some more.

A big mistake.

But he could not seem to stop, especially when she wound her arms tightly around him, one of her hands finding the back of his head and pressing his mouth down on hers even harder. The sounds she made deep in her throat were as exciting as they were distracting, heating his blood and turning his head to mush. Desire dictated his actions as his hand slipped down between her legs, her gasps of pleasure bringing him dangerously close to the edge. There was nothing cold-blooded in his actions when he spread her by then trembling thighs and surged into her. Revenge was far from his mind as her hot flesh closed tightly around him, his mouth bursting from hers with a raw groan, his heart going like a jack-hammer in his chest.

Her eyes met his, wide with excitement and something else.

Wonder shone up at him; a wonder that was as surprising as it was achingly sweet.

She looked as if she’d never felt anything like what she was feeling at this moment.

A minute or two ago, Russell would have experienced triumph.

Now he just wanted to keep that wondrous look on her face.

It was a struggle to control his own desperately swollen flesh, but he managed, wrapping her legs around his waist before rocking back and forth inside her with a gentle rhythm, finding immense satisfaction, not by indulging in vengeful thoughts, but in seeing the extent of her pleasure. She didn’t have to say a word, her body speaking for her, her mouth dropping open, her face flushing wildly, her head twisting from side to side.

When her eyes closed tightly shut on a strangled cry and her internal muscles stiffened around him, Russell realised he could let himself go. Immediately he scooped his hands under her buttocks and lifted her up hard against him, his heart thundering in his chest as he surged more powerfully into her.

Her eyes flew back open as she climaxed, her gasping sounds still full of that highly seductive wonder, as though this was a first-off experience for her. Russell empathised with how she felt when he found release and it was much more intense than he could ever remember. Consumed with the sudden need to hold her closer, he lifted her up off the bed and pressed her body to his. When her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and her head dropped to his chest with a shaky sigh, he could have stayed like that forever.

But, as his excitement faded, Russell came back to earth with a thud. This was Nicole Power he was getting all sentimental over, the rich-bitch daughter of Alistair Power, the man he’d vowed to destroy. She wasn’t some innocent little flower having her first sexual experience. She was a well-known party girl who’d probably had more lovers than designer dresses. The odds of sleeping with him being a super-special, uniquely pleasurable experience were remote. He was good in bed, but he wasn’t that good.

More likely she’d decided to act the ingénue with him tonight, thinking that might appeal to his possibly jaded sexual appetite. Hadn’t he concluded earlier tonight that she might be on the look-out for a rich husband?

For pity’s sake, get real, Russell, my boy, he warned himself. You didn’t bring your enemy’s daughter here to lose your head over her much practised charms.

It was fortuitous that she chose that moment to lift those gorgeous green eyes of hers, her expression unbelievably bewildered.

‘That was amazing,’ she said with soft awe in her voice. ‘Truly amazing.’

Yeah, right, he thought cynically. And I’m the king of England.

Russell almost laughed. Still, it had been a close call there for a while. There’d been a point when he’d almost surrendered to her spell, when all thought of revenge had been banished from his mind.

That was what was truly amazing.

He’d have to watch himself with her. She was different from any female he’d ever been with before. She made him feel things.

Russell came to a swift decision. One night of vengeful sex would have to do, his earlier fantasy of wooing his enemy’s daughter—with a view to marriage—simply too great a risk. Come morning, he would take Nicole Power back to her friend’s place and never see her again.

Meanwhile, however, he aimed to see just how far she was prepared to go to catch herself a wealthy husband.

But, first, a trip to the bathroom was called for.

‘Be back in a sec, sweetheart,’ he said before pulling away abruptly and heading for the en suite bathroom.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

IT TOOK a few seconds for the penny to drop. Nicole might have thought what had just happened was truly amazing. But Russell didn’t agree, if the look on his face and the speed of his departure were anything to go by.

In hindsight, Nicole could see that she’d acted more like a virgin bride than the woman of the world Russell must have thought he was taking to bed. Not only had she run true to form by letting the man do everything again, but she’d also gone all gooey afterwards.

The thought that Russell might be in that bathroom, wondering why he’d wanted her so much, brought a groan of dismay. It was patently obvious, now that her brain was re-engaged, that sex with her hadn’t lived up to his expectations.

Nicole groaned a second time. Why hadn’t she insisted he take her in the car?

She’d wanted him to.

Nicole vowed then and there that when Russell emerged from that bathroom, she would be a lot more adventurous and assertive. She would not wait to be touched or kissed. She’d do the touching and kissing first.

She was lying there, working up the courage to put her thoughts into action, when a flash of lightning lit up the huge balcony outside the master bedroom. Almost immediately, there was the most deafening crack of thunder and Nicole felt the bed under her actually shake.

And then all the lights went out.

Nicole didn’t scream, which was an achievement of the highest order.

But she was clutching the sheet up around her throat when she heard the bathroom door open.

‘You all right?’ Russell called out to her through the darkness.

‘Yes,’ she managed to answer without sounding too much like a frightened rabbit.

‘I’ll see if it’s just us that’s blacked out,’ he continued matter-of-factly, ‘or the whole neighbourhood.’

More flashes of lightning gave Nicole a good view of Russell as he crossed the room, heading for the French windows which opened onto the balcony. He was still naked, she noted, with the sexiest butt she’d ever seen.

Nicole found herself hoping that all of Sydney was blacked out. Then Russell wouldn’t be able to do anything but come back to bed.

‘Bloody hell,’ he swore after he’d opened one of the windows, then swiftly pulled it shut again. ‘It’s frigging freezing out there.’

‘Come back to bed, then,’ she heard herself suggesting with some of that boldness which she’d vowed to embrace. ‘I’ll warm you up in no time.’ Goodness! Had that sounded too slutty?

‘I’m sure you could,’ he said with a wry little laugh. ‘And trust me, I’ll take you up on that promise in about ten seconds. But first, I need to know the extent of this blackout.’

This time, when he opened the door, Nicole heard rain, great heavy drops, hitting various surfaces. The lightning had retreated for the moment, leaving the balcony—and the bedroom—in complete darkness.

‘Well, it’s not just this house,’ he informed her on re-entering a short time later. ‘The whole local area is blacked out. But the lights over in the city are still on. It’s the same with the bridge and the north shore. Which means at least James’s wedding night won’t be spoiled. And that reminds me …’

When he lifted the duvet and dived in next to her, Nicole stiffened. It was a last-minute attack of nerves, not a response to his chilled skin, but she decided to pretend the latter was the case.

‘Oh, you poor darling,’ she murmured as she forced herself to snuggle up to his side. But she struggled to keep her hand from trembling as it landed in the middle of his chest before beginning a somewhat tentative journey downwards. ‘You are cold.’