‘YOU’RE looking very beautiful this evening.’
Luccy eyed Sin warily, having joined him outside on the terrace for a drink before dinner—wine for Sin, once again a glass of sparkling water for Luccy—and finding herself once again slightly unnerved by the pleasantness of his tone as he commented on the midnight-blue knee-length dress she wore, her hair loose and gleaming about her shoulders.
Quite what she had expected Sin’s mood to be after their disagreement earlier, she didn’t know, but she certainly hadn’t expected his first words to be a compliment on her appearance!
‘Thank you,’ she accepted huskily, having no intention of telling Sin how devastatingly handsome he looked in the black evening suit and snowy white shirt he had changed into. If she didn’t mention it perhaps she could ignore it. Maybe. Although she somehow doubted it. Distance, that was what she needed. If not physically, then at least verbally.
‘Sin, we still haven’t resolved our differences of opinion concerning the future—’
‘Not now, Luccy,’ Sin cut in firmly. ‘Let’s just enjoy the peace and beauty of the evening, instead, hmm?’
Enjoying the peace and beauty of the evening wasn’t a good idea when Luccy was so aware of Sin that just being alone with him like this was making her toes curl!
That air of intimacy, the total physical awareness, was so thick and heavy between them now that Luccy almost felt as if she could reach out and touch it. As she wanted to reach out and touch Sin…
Luccy could barely breathe, let alone make the conversation she knew was necessary to dispel that air of expectation, as if they were both poised on the brink of—
The brink of what?
Luccy stiffened her spine, determined to dispel this air of intimacy between them once and for all. ‘Sin, I’ve decided that it really would be for the best if I went back to England tomorrow.’
Sin had been determined, after their disagreement earlier, to make this a pleasant evening for both of them, with no discord between them, and now Luccy had introduced—deliberately?—the one subject sure to cause a resumption of that contention.
‘I would much rather continue telling you how beautiful you are,’ he said instead.
She gave him a reproving look. ‘To what purpose?’
He frowned. ‘Sorry?’
Luccy sighed. ‘Sin, I’ve fallen for your seduction routine once already—’
‘Don’t you have that rather confused?’ he rasped, suddenly appearing very intimidating in the rapidly darkening evening.
She met his gaze unblinkingly. ‘That’s not the way I remember it.’
Sin narrowed his eyes to steely slits. ‘As I recall you were as out of control that night as I was.’
Her mouth tightened, her cheeks flushed. ‘I think it’s extremely ungentlemanly of you to keep reminding me of that.’
Yes, it was, Sin acknowledged frustratedly. Very much so. His Southern Mama would be appalled. It was just that Luccy’s constant dismissal of their physical response to each other was beginning to annoy the hell out of him.
He drew in a deeply controlling breath as he opted for a less controversial subject. ‘What did you ask Wallace to prepare for our dinner this evening?’
Luccy accepted the subject change and gave a rueful grimace. ‘I didn’t. Wallace seemed to welcome the opportunity of my being here to prepare the full English roast beef and vegetables,’ she explained with a shake of her head. ‘I didn’t like to disappoint him.’
‘It’s a pity you don’t feel the same consideration where I’m concerned,’ Sin drawled derisively.
‘Sin—’
‘Okay, okay, I’m sorry.’ He held up his hands in apology. ‘I shouldn’t have said that.’
‘No, you shouldn’t,’ Luccy agreed. She closed her eyes briefly, then took a deep breath. ‘Sin, I’m really not sure I can do this.’
‘It’s only dinner, Luccy.’
‘I wasn’t talking about dinner, and you know it!’ She glared her exasperation with his deliberate misunderstanding. ‘Our being here together like this, I—Can’t you see how destructive it is? We can’t have a single conversation without it either resulting in an argument or one of us insulting the other.’
‘Maybe if we chose an innocuous subject like the weather…’ he teased.
Luccy sighed. ‘We would probably even disagree about that.’
Sin eyed her searchingly, knowing by the pallor of Luccy’s cheeks that she really was finding all of this a strain. ‘Why do you suppose that is?’
‘I don’t know,’ she said.
‘Don’t you?’
She eyed him warily, her throat moving convulsively as she swallowed. ‘Do you?’
Sin smiled. ‘Oh, yes, I know.’
Her expression became even more wary. ‘And…?’
Sin’s answer was to reach out and touch one of her creamy cheeks, his mouth tightening slightly as she flinched before relaxing against that caress. ‘We want each other, Luccy. It’s as simple—or as complicated—as that,’ he murmured huskily, knowing it was the truth.
He wanted Luccy. Wanted to make love with her. And no matter how much she tried to deny it, he knew that she wanted him too.
It was there between them, deep and heavy, almost touchable, every time they were anywhere near each other.
Luccy moistened suddenly dry lips, unable to look away from the compelling glitter of Sin’s eyes. ‘Then it’s complicated.’
‘Why is it?’
‘Because—’ She drew in a ragged breath. ‘Because it is. Can’t you see?’
‘Luccy, the only thing I can see or feel at the moment is you.’ Sin stepped closer to her, his breath a warm caress against her temple. ‘Let’s uncomplicate it, Luccy,’ he murmured.
Her gaze, along with everything else, was captivated. ‘How?’
‘By at least enjoying what we have, of course.’
‘Sex!’ Luccy exclaimed.
Sin’s face had darkened. ‘If that’s what you choose to call it, yes.’
‘What else could it be called?’ she asked wearily as she stepped away from him. ‘Wallace will be waiting for us to go in to dinner—’
‘I’m sure Wallace knows when not to interrupt,’ Sin grated, a nerve pulsing in one tightly clenched cheek. ‘Luccy, the tension between us—the sexual tension, if that’s what you insist on calling it,’ he amended harshly at her disparaging look. ‘It’s creating an impossible situation between us.’
‘So your answer is for us to go to bed together, is that it?’ Her head was back challengingly as she met his glittering silver gaze full on.
‘Look on the bright side—at least we know you can’t get pregnant!’
Luccy gave a pained gasp as she moved jerkily away from him. ‘That was truly unforgivable!’ She shook her head. ‘I—Could you please make my apologies to Wallace? I really don’t think I could eat any dinner.’
‘Maybe you would prefer it if I made my excuses instead?’
‘I still wouldn’t be able to eat anything,’ she choked. ‘I—excuse me!’ She turned and almost ran back inside the house.
Sin stared after her in concern. Damn it, he didn’t want to argue with her. Or make her cry…
Several hours later Sin stood outside on the darkened terrace, staring sightlessly across the acres of meadow and woodland now bathed in moonlight, regretting for the first time in many years that he had given up smoking even the occasional cigar—he could have certainly done with one right now!
Dinner had been an endless affair, with Sin almost able to feel Wallace’s disapproval of the fact that Luccy wasn’t present, as if the older man was well aware that Sin was responsible for her absence. Which he definitely was, Sin acknowledged ruefully; Wallace had an uncanny sixth sense that seemed to inform him of everything that transpired in the house he ran with such quiet efficiency.
It was well after midnight now, and Luccy had probably been asleep for hours, but Sin felt too restless to retire to his own bedroom, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to sleep even if he did.
How could he possibly go to sleep when he knew Luccy was in another bedroom only a short distance away?
How could he forget the tears he had seen in her eyes earlier as she had run away from him?
‘Master Sin?’
He drew in a deep, weary breath before turning to face Wallace. ‘Yes?’
The elderly man’s expression was slightly less stiff and disapproving than it had been earlier this evening. ‘I thought you might be interested to know that Miss Harper-O’Neill came to the kitchen for a hot drink a few minutes ago.’
Not asleep yet, after all?
Sin looked at the older man searchingly. Wallace knew better than anyone that Sin did not bring women here. Just as he must be wondering why Sin had made Luccy the exception ‘She did?’ he finally murmured.
Wallace nodded. ‘She looked as if she may have been…crying.’ A slight censure could once again be heard in his tone.
Deservedly so, Sin thought. ‘Tell me, Wallace,’ he mused heavily, ‘what would you do if you knew you had behaved like a complete bastard to the woman who—’ He broke off, frowning, sure that Luccy wouldn’t appreciate him telling Wallace—or anyone else yet—about her pregnancy. Sin wasn’t too happy himself with anyone else knowing, either, until the two of them had resolved the situation to his own satisfaction.
Wallace answered him anyway. ‘I think you already know, Master Sin, that an apology is in order. That it is not polite to behave like any sort of bastard to a female guest in your home, let alone someone as lovely as Miss Harper-O’Neill.’
It shouldn’t have surprised Sin that Luccy had managed to succeed in charming Wallace; she seemed to charm every male she met, of whatever age. Even his grandfather had—
God, he was even thinking like a bastard now!
‘Even if…’ Sin paused, choosing his words carefully. ‘Even if a part of you—a large part of you—still believed you had done nothing wrong?’
‘It is especially important that the man apologise in those circumstances, Master Sin.’
Sin eyed the older man. ‘When did you get to be so knowledgeable about women, Wallace?’ Wallace had been with the family for over thirty years now, and as far as Sin was aware there had never been a woman in his life during those years.
‘I believe it may have been from observing your father’s behaviour towards your mother…’
‘Oh.’
Amusement gleamed in the older man’s eyes. ‘Yes, Master Sin.’
Sin knew that his father had always found it more politically correct—and less of a strain!—to be the one to bring an end to an argument with the beautiful and fiery Claudia.
He gave the elderly butler a small smile. ‘Thank you, Wallace. I believe you are quite correct. As usual.’
‘Thank you, Master Sin.’ Wallace nodded. ‘If there is nothing else I can get you this evening…?’
He grimaced. ‘A gun might be useful!’
‘If you think that would solve the problem, Master Sin,’ the butler said calmly. ‘Personally, I’ve always found that an apology—a sincere apology—usually does the trick.’
Sin grinned. ‘And if it doesn’t?’
Wallace shrugged. ‘Then at least one has the personal satisfaction of knowing that one tried. If you’re sure that is all, I will wish you goodnight, Master Sin.’
‘’Night, Wallace,’ Sin returned distractedly.
Would Luccy even listen to any apology that Sin made? Probably not. But, as Wallace had so succinctly pointed out, at least he would have tried…
‘Yes…?’ Luccy warily answered the soft knock that had sounded on her bedroom door seconds ago, expecting to find Wallace standing outside, her eyes widening in alarm as she found herself looking at Sin instead as he stood so tall and imposing in the hallway.
She had switched on the light on the table beside her bed before getting out of bed, pulling a matching robe on over her peach silk nightgown. She clutched that robe about her now as she faced Sin defensively. ‘Yes?’
He looked at her quizzically. ‘Wallace seemed to think you were having trouble sleeping…’
So she had Wallace to thank for Sin’s presence outside her bedroom!
Much as she had taken a liking to the elderly butler, Luccy couldn’t help wishing that on this occasion he had been less than his efficient self.
‘He insisted on making me a hot chocolate, so I’m sure I shall be able to sleep now,’ she dismissed.
Sin nodded, his gaze guarded now. ‘I believe I owe you an apology.’
Luccy stiffened. She had spent a most miserable evening sitting in her bedroom, alternating between feeling angry and then tearful as she’d brooded over Sin’s earlier remarks to her. She knew he still believed that she had made a deliberate play for him the night they’d met, and there didn’t seem any way Luccy could convince him otherwise, but did he have to be so nasty about it? Yes, she was pregnant, but if he thought she was any happier about the hand fate had dealt her—and he obviously did—then he was mistaken; she had just decided that she couldn’t change what already was.
She looked at him coldly. ‘Really?’
That coldness was completely wasted on Sin as all he could see was the way the lamplight reflected behind Luccy, rendering her robe and nightgown almost see-through to show him tantalising glimpses of firm uptilting breasts, her slender waist, and the delicious curve of her hips.
Her hair was loose and silky about her shoulders and cascading, blue-black, down the length of her spine, her face completely bare of make-up.
To Sin she had never looked more beautiful…
‘Well?’ she prompted uncertainly at his continued silence.
Sin brought himself back to an awareness of why he was actually here. It certainly wasn’t to ogle Luccy in her nightgown! ‘I shouldn’t have made that remark earlier about getting pregnant.’
‘No, you shouldn’t.’
Sin gave a rueful smile. ‘You don’t intend making this easy for me, do you?’
She arched one dark brow. ‘Should I?’
‘No,’ he acknowledged with a sigh. ‘What I said was unforgivable. I apologise.’
Luccy felt a slight softening of her anger at the stiffly made apology. She very much doubted that the arrogant Jacob Sinclair the Third felt the need to make too many of them—which was probably why he sounded so out of practice!
She gave an inclination of her head. ‘Your apology is accepted.’
‘Good.’ Sin nodded his satisfaction. ‘So we’ll begin tomorrow as if tonight never happened?’
She raised dark brows. ‘I wouldn’t go that far…’
‘For God’s sake, Luccy—’ Sin broke off, drawing in a deep, controlling breath. ‘You’re right. I’ll leave it. We’ll talk about this again tomorrow.’ He had to get out of here! Now! Before those tantalising glimpses of her curvaceous body drove him insane!
Luccy frowned slightly. ‘Sin?’
‘Yes?’ he grated between clenched teeth, a nerve pulsing in his tensed cheek.
‘What’s wrong now?’ She sighed. ‘What could I possibly have done wrong in the past few seconds—?’
‘You haven’t done anything wrong, damn it!’ Sin rasped as he found himself unable to look away from her, the naked hunger visible in his eyes.
A blush slowly crept up her cheeks. ‘Oh…’
‘Yes—oh,’ Sin muttered. ‘Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea. I should have waited until the morning.’
‘Sin?’
‘Don’t look at me like that, Luccy!’ Every part of him was tense and aching. For Luccy. For the feel of her naked against him.
Her tongue moved nervously across her lips. ‘How am I looking at you?’
‘With the same hunger I’m feeling for you,’ Sin groaned achingly. ‘Luccy, I don’t want sex from you, I want to make love with you. I want to kiss and caress every delectable inch of you. From your head to your toes. Will you allow me to do that?’
Would she? Luccy wondered shakily.
Hadn’t she felt that same aching desire the moment she had opened her bedroom door and seen him standing there?
Yes, of course she had…
It wouldn’t solve anything. It wouldn’t change anything. But she wanted it, anyway!
‘Come in,’ she invited huskily as she stood back to open the door wider so that Sin could enter her bedroom.
His gaze didn’t leave hers as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Luccy moved willingly into his arms as they curved about her waist and the heat of his lips travelled the length of her throat, his tongue a soft rasp against her skin.
She gave a gasp as Sin’s teeth nibbled her ear lobe, her throat arching and her hands clinging to the broadness of his shoulders as desire jolted through her body almost like an electric shock.
Sin wanted Luccy so strongly, so powerfully, that he had to fight to maintain control as the hard throb of his body cried out for possession of hers.
She tasted wonderful, so soft and creamy, the perfume of her hair surrounding him, both of them, as his lips sought and found hers.
‘From your head to your toes, Luccy,’ he promised gruffly as he swung her up into his arms and carried her over to the bed, laying her down on the cool sheet before taking off his jacket and dropping it on the floor before joining her there.
She looked so beautiful as she lay looking up at him. So damned beautiful!
He kissed her eyes first, then her nose, then those luscious lips once more, lingering there before moving on to her chin, her creamy neck, the dark hollows at the base of her throat, pushing her robe aside to bare the tops of her breasts to his questing lips and tongue.
‘Sit up for me,’ he groaned huskily, slipping the robe down her arms as she did so before sliding the strap of her gown down too and baring one of her breasts.
It was fuller than he remembered, the nipple darker, bigger, already hard and roused as he lowered his head and his tongue moved slowly, lightly, erotically over that hardened tip, knowing he was giving Luccy pleasure as she arched into him, her hands moving to cradle his head.
Sin teased that aching nipple mercilessly, kissing, licking, laving, biting gently, before drawing it greedily into the hot cavern of his mouth, his hand cupping its twin and moving the soft pad of his thumb on her nipple in the same rhythmic caress.
Luccy’s body felt as if it were on fire, every part of her alive and vibrating with the desire Sin ignited inside her, his lips against her breasts only assuaging part of that need as the ache between her thighs rose unbearably.
She needed to touch him too, to feel his naked flesh against hers. Her fingers were clumsy in their haste to undo the buttons on his shirt so that she could bare his shoulders and chest, to kiss and taste him, teeth gently biting as her hair cascaded over them like silk.
‘Your head to your toes, Luccy,’ Sin reminded her again as he moved back slightly to take his shirt off completely before lifting her nightgown over her head to bare her completely to his hungry gaze.
Her breasts really were fuller, sloping gently above her narrow waist, her hips and thighs a tempting curve, dark curls nestling at their apex.
He began at her breasts, placing gentle kisses against those tempting tips before moving lower, to the gentle slope beneath, and then down to her waist, the caress even gentler as he placed a kiss where his child nestled inside her, his hands following that same path.
Luccy lay back on the pillows, her eyes closing as she felt Sin’s hands like butterfly wings against her thighs, parting her, running his fingers lightly, arousingly against her wetness before finding the nub that nestled amongst her ebony curls. He began to caress her there, slowly, pleasurably, on and on, until Luccy thought she might faint with the pleasure of it.
She cried out at the first touch of Sin’s lips against her, shocked, and then totally lost as his tongue moved in an erotic caress. She gasped as she felt the climax building inside her, Sin’s hands moving down to grasp her hips to hold her against him, his tongue driving her completely over the edge as she felt the pleasure engulf and claim her.
It was beyond anything Luccy had ever experienced before. Beyond even what the two of them had shared before, and she hadn’t believed there would ever be anything better than that.
She wanted more!
Needed more.
Wanted to give Sin more.
He offered no resistance as she moved up to press him down onto the pillows, her gaze holding his as she unfastened his trousers, the descent of the zip slightly hindered by the firmness of his arousal, that pulsing shaft leaping free seconds later as Luccy removed the last of his clothes.
He was beautiful. Hard. Muscled. Lean.
The darkness of his hair was tousled about his shoulders from her wildly caressing fingers, his chest and stomach all muscled ridges, his arousal jutting out long and hard, and pulsing beneath her fingers as she reached out to curl them about that arousal, her other hand moving lower to cup and hold him.
Sin groaned hoarsely as he felt Luccy’s lips and tongue against him, tasting the length of him, before she moved to take him into the moist heat of her mouth.
He was too aroused already, needed to be inside her too much to be able to take those caresses for long, reaching down to move her up and over him, leaving Sin’s own hands free to cup and caress her breasts.Luccy’s back arched as she set the rhythm above him, her hips moving slowly, erotically as she rode Sin, feeling the tension building inside him. He moved so that he could take her breast into his mouth as Luccy rode him harder and faster.
Luccy could feel a second climax building inside her even as she heard Sin’s groan, his release sending those shock waves crashing wildly into a climax that threatened to shatter her, and him, into a million pieces.
Minutes—hours?—later, Luccy collapsed weakly onto Sin’s chest, her breathing ragged as she trembled with the force of that second, mind-shattering release.
She should regret this. She knew that she should. But she didn’t. How could she possibly regret something that had been so wonderful? So much a joining, with an equality of giving and taking that had rendered their lovemaking totally beautiful.
And it had been love, Luccy realised dazedly.
On her part, at least.
Dear God, she was in love with Sin!
She was in love with a man who didn’t trust her, let alone love her in return!
Was that why his earlier remarks had hurt so much? Why she hadn’t been able to resist him when he had come to her bedroom?
How could she possibly have been so stupid?
Sin had never known such aching arousal followed by such an earth-shattering release. He felt completely spent, and totally satiated even as he felt Luccy’s withdrawal, not just emotionally but physically too as she moved to lie on the bed beside him, long lashes lowered over those midnight-blue eyes.
What was she thinking? he wondered with a gathering frown.
Nothing pleasant, if he was reading this situation correctly!
Did she regret what had just happened?
She couldn’t regret it!
No matter what other plans Luccy might have for her own life, and consequently that of their child, didn’t she realise that what they had just shared was unusual, a compatibility that all couples sought and so rarely ever found?
‘Luccy—’
‘It’s been a very—strange day, and now I think I would like to get some sleep, if you don’t mind, Sin,’ she said flatly, her gaze still not quite meeting his.
Sin turned on his side to look down at her, not touching her, not daring to touch her. ‘Luccy, do you regret what just happened?’
Her lids flew wide. ‘Of course I—! Yes, I regret it,’ she said more calmly. ‘As I said earlier, it changes nothing. I’m still not going to marry you.’
Changes nothing!
Damn it, couldn’t Luccy see that what they had just shared gave them a basis on which to build a marriage? That maybe, in time, she might even come to love him? That he might come to love her, too? Damn it, he desired her so much he was probably halfway there already. With a little cooperation from Luccy—
‘I think you have made your point, Sin, and now I would like you to leave,’ Luccy told him coldly; she wouldn’t just like him to leave, she needed him to leave! She was going to break down and start crying again in a minute, and she really didn’t want Sin to be a witness to that.
‘I made my point?’ he repeated softly, icily. ‘And exactly what point would that be?’ His voice hardened noticeably.
Luccy’s mouth firmed. ‘That great sex can make us forget all sorts of things,’ she said. ‘It even made us forget for a while that we don’t even like each other.’
Sin felt as if Luccy had physically punched him in the stomach. She still claimed she didn’t even like him?
He sat up abruptly. ‘Then I guess we’ll just have to settle for great sex, won’t we?’ he grated.
‘What do you mean?’ She looked up at him warily as he began to pull his clothes back on.
‘I mean, Luccy, that once we’re married—because we are getting married,’ he assured her firmly. ‘I’m going to share your bed—our bed—every night. And every damned day too if I feel like it!’ He didn’t bother with the buttons on his shirt as he bent down to pick up his jacket from the carpet.
Her cheeks flushed with her own rising temper. ‘You can’t force me into marrying you—’
‘Oh, yes, Luccy, I really believe that I can.’
Luccy’s breath caught in her throat as she heard the steel in Sin’s voice. ‘Because of the baby?’
‘Why else?’ Sin gave a humourless smile.
She shook her head. ‘You would condemn our child to being brought up in a loveless marriage?’
His jaw was tight. ‘You know the alternative, Luccy.’
She wrapped her arms protectively about her body. ‘I’m not going to give you my baby!’
‘My baby, Luccy,’ he corrected. ‘The legitimate Sinclair heir. And I’ll fight you for it in court if I have to.’Luccy’s eyes glittered with a mixture of anger and tears. ‘If you force me into this, Sin, then I will hate you for the rest of my life!’
‘Hate away, Luccy,’ he said. ‘There’s an old adage that my grandfather taught me long ago—keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer. Well, I intend keeping you very close for the next fifty years or so.’
‘I am not your enemy—’
‘That’s the real problem, isn’t it, Luccy? I still have no idea what you are. One minute I’m convinced that you’re a conniving little witch, and the next you seem like something totally different.’
Luccy shook her head sadly. ‘Because you’re too blinded by your own prejudice to see the truth. Another woman used you, years ago, and because a lying adulterous creep like Paul Bridger told you I had done the same thing, you chose to believe him! Can’t you see, you’ll never understand me while you continue to believe that?’
Sin’s mouth was a thin, taut line as he looked down at her coldly for several long seconds before turning on his heel and leaving the bedroom, the door closing with soft violence behind him.
Luccy stared after him, dazed and disorientated by the anger that had followed their exquisite lovemaking.
Completely devastated by the knowledge that, in spite of everything, she was deeply in love with him…