Enemies at the Altar (6 page)

Sienna jerked upright in her seat to glower at him. ‘That was your doing, not mine,’ she said. ‘I was all geared up for the hands-off clinical deal we’d agreed on and then you sideswipe me with a wedding kiss. That was low. That was
really
low.’

His look was smouldering, and it centred on her mouth just long enough to set her lips tingling all over again. ‘It was a good kiss,’ he said. ‘I can see why you have the reputation you have. I was starting to think how it would feel to have those lips of yours on my—’

‘Will you stop it, for God’s sake?’ Sienna hissed at him. ‘My lips are going nowhere near your … your whatever. We’re meant to be keeping this strictly to the terms.’

He was still looking at her mouth with that hooded dark gaze. ‘We could always adjust the goalposts a little to suit our needs,’ he said. ‘After all, six months is a long time to be celibate.’

‘It’s not a long time for me.’

The words seemed to hang suspended in the air for a moment.

‘How long is a long time for you?’ Andreas asked.

Sienna felt the weight of his gaze but resolutely kept her head facing forward. ‘How long is a piece of string?’ she asked.

She heard him give a snort of derision. ‘You have no idea, do you?’ he said. ‘Do you even know the names of some of the men you’ve slept with?’

‘Not all of them,’ Sienna answered with ironic truthfulness. ‘Some men don’t require a personal introduction before they sleep with you.’

Andreas let out a breath of disgust. ‘You are such a shameless gold-digging whore,’ he said. ‘Don’t you have any self-respect?’

‘Plenty,’ Sienna said, lifting her chin. ‘I could’ve settled for the deal your father set up, but I know you’ll pay more to have what you want. And you want it. You want it so badly you’ll do anything to stop me from taking it from you.’

His hands went to white-knuckled fists on the armrests each side of him. ‘You’d better believe it,’ he said. ‘Don’t say you weren’t warned.’

A
S SOON
as the car pulled up in front of his villa, Andreas wanted to head to the furthest reaches of the property to put as much distance as he could between him and Sienna. He wanted to regroup before she made him lose control completely. But for the sake of Franco and Elena’s presence he was forced to play the role of devoted husband, which included carrying his new bride over the threshold of the villa. He could already feel his blood simmering at the thought of holding her against his body.

Sienna gave a little gasp as he scooped her up in his arms. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked.

‘It’s considered bad luck not to carry one’s bride over the threshold,’ he said and strode to the door being held open by his housekeeper, who was smiling broadly.

Andreas felt his skin grow hot and tight where Sienna’s arms had looped around his neck. Her right breast was pressed against his thumping heart and the fragrance of her alluring perfume teased his nostrils. She was lighter than he had expected and she fitted against him like a glove. He tried not to look at her mouth. Tried not to remember how it had felt to taste her moist hot sweetness. The taste of her lingered on
his tongue; it was a potent potion as addictive as a drug. One taste was not going to be enough. It was never going to be enough. But then he had always known that. He had fought it for so long. This raw need to have her as his had been a part of his life for so long he had no idea how to subdue it. It was an ache that resided deep within him. It would not go away, no matter how much he distracted or disciplined himself.

He wanted her
.

He lowered her to the floor by sliding her down the length of his body, his blood roaring in response to her curves as they brushed against him.

He wanted her and he would have her
.

He heard the soft intake of her breath and saw the flare of her pupils as her eyes meshed with his. The barrier of their clothes was no barrier at all. They might as well have been standing there naked.

Sienna glowered up at him. ‘Was that really necessary?’

‘But of course,’ Andreas said. ‘Elena and Franco were watching.’

‘Yeah, well, no one’s watching now,’ she said. ‘Let’s just step back into our true characters and tear strips off each other again.’

He gave a soft deep chuckle and pressed her even closer with his hand on the shapely curve of her bottom. ‘Why the hurry,
ma petite
?’ he said. ‘I’m getting to like the feel of you against me. You like it too,
sì
?’

Her eyes were pools of stormy grey and blue. ‘This is not part of the plan,’ she said, but she didn’t do anything to push him away. If anything her body shifted closer, a subtle movement that sent another hot lightning rod of lust straight to his groin.

‘Is it not?’ he asked with a mocking smile. ‘You’ve planned this from the start. You want me to think twice about ending this marriage when the time is up.’ He captured one of her hands and pressed his lips to each and every fingertip, watching as her eyes darkened with desire. ‘And what better way than to entice me into your bed as soon as you can?’

Her gaze flicked to his mouth, her tongue sweeping over her lips. ‘That’s not what I’m planning at all,’ she said in a breathless voice. ‘I don’t want to be married to you any longer than I have to be.’

Andreas’s fingers tightened on hers. Her hand was dainty and small in the grasp of his. He could have broken her fingers with just the slightest pressure. He was so close to her he could feel her body warmth radiating through him. She smelt of summer, of jasmine and honeysuckle and red-hot temptation. The skin of her hand was soft against the roughness of his. He felt her fingers move experimentally against the cup of his palm, whether to test his hold or tease him, he wasn’t quite sure. It shouldn’t have had anywhere near the sensual impact it had. It felt as if she had dipped her hand down the front of his trousers and touched him flesh on flesh.

He brought his mouth down to hers for the second time that day, and for the second time in his life a seismic shift knocked him sideways.

She tasted of sweet, hot, forbidden longings. He couldn’t get enough of her delicious moistness. He fed off her with a greed he hadn’t known existed. He savaged her mouth like a hungry beast on a rampage.

It was rapacious. It was primitive. It was raw male lust let off the leash. He hadn’t realised how out of control
a kiss could get until he thrust through the seam of her lips in search of her tongue.

Hers was hot and moist and brazen. It danced with his in a tango that was as sexy as anything he had ever experienced. It shot fireworks off in his head. Desire filled him so tightly he thought he would explode. His teeth scraped against hers. She bit him and he bit her back. It only made him want her more.

He thrust a hand at the back of her head, his fingers burying deep into her scalp as he explored her mouth with a thoroughness that left both of them breathless. His hand found her breast. It filled his palm with sensual heat, the tight bud of her nipple pressing against him. She felt so damn good, so feminine and soft. His need pulsed and pounded against her belly.

He wanted her naked
.

He wanted to see her silky skin, every gorgeous inch of it. He wanted to taste her feminine heat, to move his lips and tongue against her to make her scream with ecstasy. He wanted to drive himself deep within her honeyed warmth, to feel the tight grip of her body contracting around him as she came.

He started to lift up the skirt of her dress but she suddenly stepped back, turning away from him with her arms going across her body as if she were suffering a chill. ‘I’m sorry, Andreas,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to continue with this.’

‘Is this part of your technique?’ Andreas asked. ‘To tempt and to tease?’

Her cheeks flushed with delicate colour. ‘It was unfair of me to give you the wrong impression,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean to mislead you.’

‘The impression you gave me is that you want me just as much as I want you,’ he said.

‘Yes, well, I’m sorry about that but I had no idea that was going to happen every time you kiss me,’ she said with a return to her haughty air. ‘Maybe you should keep your mouth to yourself for the rest of the time we have together.’

‘Ah, but that would not be half as much fun, would it,
ma belle
?’ he asked. ‘I quite like kissing you. I am developing rather a hunger for it, actually.’

She challenged him with those incredible grey-blue eyes and that stubborn little uptilted chin. ‘Then you’ll have to satisfy your appetite elsewhere. I’m not going to be a rich man’s mistress.’

‘You’re not my mistress,’ he said. ‘You’re my wife.’

‘Same difference, as far as I can see,’ she threw back.

Andreas fought down his frustration and anger. She had been toying with him all along and he had been fool enough to fall for it. She knew how much he wanted her. It wasn’t as if he could hide it. She had sensed it. Damn it, she had
felt
it.

And she wanted him. He’d have to be blind not to see it. He felt it in her kiss, in her touch and in the way she had pressed herself closer as if she had wanted to climb into his skin.

He would not rest until he had her where he wanted her.

Where he had always wanted her
.

Sienna was the one woman who could make him lose all sense of control. He had sensed it all those years ago and had fought it determinedly.

But now was different.

Now there was nothing to stop them exploring the
heat and passion that was flaring between them every time they were in the same room.

He could hardly wait
.

Sienna closed her bedroom door and leant back against it, her heart thumping like a jackhammer. Her breathing was still out of control and her insides quivered with a longing so intense she could barely stand up. They had been married only a matter of a couple of hours and already things were spinning dangerously out of control. She didn’t want to feel this level of attraction, not to Andreas Ferrante, not to a man who hated her as much as he desired her. But what was she to do? Her mind said
no
but her body kept saying a resounding
yes
. It completely disregarded her common sense. Instead, it was set on a pathway to sensual hedonism that she could not control. She didn’t want to end up like her mother, madly in love with a man who only saw her as a convenient outlet for his lust. Unrequited love for Andreas’s father had destroyed her mother. After Guido Ferrante had rejected her so publicly, Nell had sunk into an alcohol and prescriptions drugs binge that had eventually killed her.

Sienna wasn’t prepared to go down the same path of destruction. She was determined to keep her heart well guarded. Andreas was by far the most attractive man she had ever met and his kisses were a temptation she couldn’t seem to resist, but that didn’t mean she had to fall in love with him. She had thought herself in love with him as a teenager, but that had just been a youthful crush, an infatuation that had got totally out of
hand. She was no longer that foolish star-struck teenager caught up in the fantasy of thinking a well-born rich and powerful man was the answer to all of her problems.

Things would be different this time.

She would do what other young women her age did and what men had been doing for centuries. She would separate her emotions from her physical needs. Sex would be just sex. Love would not come into it at all.

Sienna joined Andreas in the
salone
for the intimate celebration Elena had taken such delight in setting up for them. The housekeeper was clearly in her element, a beaming smile was spread across her face as she brought in an ice bucket and a bottle of vintage champagne.

‘I have left everything ready for you in the dining room,’ she said. ‘You will prefer to be alone,
sì
? It will be much more romantic.’

‘
Grazie
, Elena,’ Andreas said. ‘I’m sure it will be delightful.’

‘Thank you for going to so much trouble,’ Sienna chimed in. ‘I saw the dining room on my way past. It looks fabulous with all the candles and the food smells absolutely delicious.’

‘Enjoy,’ Elena said and bustled out, closing the door softly as she left.

Sienna went over to where Andreas was standing and handed him his mother’s pearl necklace and earrings. ‘I thought I’d better hand these back before I get too attached to them,’ she said. ‘I’m sure your next bride will appreciate the chance to carry on the tradition.’

He took them from her with an unreadable expression on his face. ‘Thank you,’ he said.

‘So,’ she said with forced brightness. ‘Champagne, huh?’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Would you like some?’

‘Why not?’

Sienna watched as he unpeeled the foil cover and unwound the wire before he popped the cork. A soft flutter like wings passed over the floor of her belly as she thought of those hands on her breasts and other parts of her anatomy. He had beautiful hands. Not soft and unused to hard work, but strong and capable.

She took the bubbling glass of champagne from him and was about to take a sip when his voice stalled her.

‘Shouldn’t we make a toast?’

‘Sure,’ she said, holding her glass up. ‘What shall we drink to?’

He clinked his glass against hers, his eyes holding hers in a steely little lockdown that made her spine tingle. ‘To making love, not war.’

She looked at him archly. ‘
Love
, Andreas?’ she said. ‘Don’t you mean sex?’

His eyes glinted smoulderingly as he gave her a half-smile. ‘You want it as much as I do,’ he said. ‘There’s no point pretending otherwise.’

Sienna gave a little indifferent shrug. ‘I admit the thought of seeing what you’re like in bed holds a certain fascination,’ she said. ‘But I don’t want you getting any ideas that
if
we conduct an intimate relationship it will mean anything to me other than the satiation of physical lust.’

He held her gaze for a pulsing moment. ‘If?’

She gave him a defiant look. ‘If.’

He took a leisurely sip of his champagne. ‘I think we both know this thing between us is not going to go away,’ he said. ‘The thing is, it can only last as long as six months. By that time we will both have achieved what we want and will be free to move on with our lives.’

Sienna toyed with the champagne flute with her fingers, determined to rattle his chain as much as she could. It was an impish urge in her she couldn’t quite control. ‘What if you want me to stay a little longer?’ she asked. ‘What if you get so used to having me around you don’t want to let me go?’

His hazel eyes drilled into hers with burning intensity. ‘I will let you go, Sienna,’ he said. ‘Make no mistake about that. You are not the woman I want to be my wife or the future mother of my children.’

Sienna wasn’t expecting his cutting response to hurt, but it had and deeply. Having children of her own was a subject she had put to the back of her mind. It was one of those things she didn’t want to think about. Her childhood had been so unsettled and chaotic, and her mother’s example of mothering so poor, she had always felt worried she might not be a good mother herself. But to hear Andreas say she was a totally unsuitable candidate as the mother of his children made her feel crushed in that closely guarded centre of her being. No woman wanted to hear that sort of insult. It felt as if she had been stabbed in the heart. The pain was so acute and so raw it momentarily took her breath away. She was annoyed at herself for feeling so upset. It wasn’t like her to be so emotionally ambushed by a throwaway comment.

She quickly disguised her feelings by pasting an insolent smile on her face. ‘Just as well, because I’m
not planning on ruining my figure any time soon for a brood of obnoxious brats,’ she said. ‘Even a billionaire’s ones.’

Andreas’s eyes hardened. ‘Is your twin sister as selfish and shallow as you?’ he asked.

Sienna took a sip of her champagne. ‘You can find out for yourself when you meet her in a few weeks,’ she said. ‘I’m going to be her bridesmaid. You’ll be expected to attend the wedding with me in Rome. Won’t that be fun?’