All around them, the house seemed quiet. Sharon felt very tired. The day had been a long one, stretching her nerves. She felt restless too. She did not know how she should act with Bryan. Very surprising since they had between them produced two children.She did not know what was expected of her.
In making the arrangements for the wedding, he had consulted her, wanting to know what her opinions were. She had refused to cooperate, still angry, telling him to get on with it himself. He had done that and she wished now that she had taken an active interest. At the time, she was defiant. By not knowing any of the details, the wedding had seemed less real. She could pretend that it wasn't happening. That had been another mistake.
She looked at Bryan and found him watching her, his expression veiled. In the soft light, his expression was shadowed and she felt the powerful magnetism of his attraction, pulling her against her will.
He smiled lazily. 'You look serious?'
She shrugged. 'It's been a long day'. She was non -- committal, fighting a strong and almost overpowering urge to go to him and beg him to make love to her.
She looked away as she said, 'Annabelle Cole wasn't at the party'.
'No'. He was non committal as she had been.
'You didn't invite her?' something forced her to ask. Examining her need to know, she found out that she was jealous. Fiercely jealous of any woman Bryan showed an interest in, every woman he looked at.
'She wouldn't have come'. He looked at her,mockery in his smile.
'Why? Are you and she--------?' She broke off bitting her lips. Did she really want to know? Did she have a right to ask?
'Lovers?' Bryan supplied calmly. Sharon nodded, averting her eyes from the Kean hardness of his face. Although she was frightened if the truth but she did realise that she did want to know.
'Is it important?' His voice and face revealed nothing.
'Yes', she whispered, not caring what she betrayed, her green eyes finding his.
Bryan was silent as he searched her face, then he said. 'We had a brief affair about a year ago. She's a good actress. We are still good friends, nothing more'.
On his part, Sharon realised that Annabelle Cole hadn't been at the party because she still wanted Bryan.
'Oh, I see'. She said lightly trying to hide her relief.
'Do you?' Bryan's mouth twisted. 'I doubt that'.
Something in his voice warned her to drop the subject before she got in too deep.
She stood up and walked restlessly around the room. 'Lets talk about something else', she said,pretending interest in a large abstract painting, hanging on one of the walls.
'What do you suggest?' Bryan watched her as she moved round the room, slender and graceful, the silk dress clinging to the softness of her body.
She shrugged frowning. 'I don't know. Anything'.
The room seemed filled with tension and she felt the hair on the back of her neck prickling.
'Okay, let's talk about you and me', he said softly.
Her head jerked around and she looked at him warily. 'What about you and me?'
'Tomorrow we are flying out to Servile', he informed her with a slight smile.
'Serville? Why?' She felt suspicious, nervous. What was he up to now?
Bryan stood up in one lithe movement a d walked over to her. He was so tall that she had to tilt back her head to look into his face.
'I have to attend a conference and you need a holiday. I know that these past few weeks have been a strain for you.
Deftly, he removed the pins that held her hair in place, so that it fell loose and shiny against her shoulders. 'You look tired', he said gently.
Trembling violently beneath his touch, she tried to move away but he trapped her against the wall, his hands resting on either side of her.
'I am tired', she admitted and her voice sounded sharp against the unexpected kindness he was displaying.
It was true. The wedding had exhausted her, coming after weeks of hard work. Since returning from Windermere, she had thrown herself into her work, catching up on the backlog and finishing up her designs for the new collection. The past week had been spent grooming Sandra to take her place. All her strength seemed used up and the thought if a holiday, seemed enticing, although the thought of sharing that holiday with Bryan made her heart pound with worry.
'But I won't let you bully me. I don't need a holiday'.
'You will have one anyway', Bryan told her smoothly, his voice implacable. 'Call it honeymoon if you like'.
'No!' It was an involuntary rejection. 'Bryan for goodness sake....', she watched his mouth hardening, a muscle flicking in his jaw and realised that she had insulted him in her panic. He was so close that she could feel the coolness of his breath against her loosened hair and that treacherous weakness ran in her blood, undermining her willpower, her self control.
'Why ate you doing this?' she asked lowering her eyes.
Bryan caught her chin between his fingers and tilted up her face. 'Because I want you', he said calmly.
The ground beneath her feet seemed to move, the words shuddering through her.
'But I don't want you', she lied moistening her dry lips with her tongue an unknowing provocative gesture.
Bryan smiled but his eyes were smoky, heavy with desire. 'You are my wife', he reminded her in a low voice.
'Because you blackmailed me', her voice cracked.
The tension snaked between them like raw electricity, blotting out the rest of the world. She was acutely aware of him, her mind and body open to him, sensitive, achingly alive.
'It was your own decision's, he muttered angrily.
'Liar!' She tried to move away from him but he would not allow her move a muscle. She was paralyzed by the naked desire she saw in his face.
'You really think that I would have taken you to court?'
'Yes', she whispered, her heart racing. 'Yes'.
Very gently, Bryan traced the outline of her parted lips with his thumb. She shivered uncontrollably.
'You are the liar'. And there was a teasing tenderness in his voice.
Slowly, he bent his black head, his lips finding hers, tormenting her with brief hungry kisses that parted her lips then broke away. Unable to keep her balance, her hands cane up flat against his shoulders. Beneath the thin material of his shirt, she felt the smooth hard warmth of his skin, the tension in his powerful muscle. And she swayed against him, weak with longing, her sudden need matching the need she felt in him. His arm came around her, holding her tightly against the hard length of his powerful body.