Brides for the Billionaires: The Billionaire's Marriage Bargain / The Billionaire's Marriage Mission / Bedded at the Billionaire's Convenience. HELEN BROOKS

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      ‘You never did tell me how Jerome Carlton rates as a lover?’ he looked up as he challenged her.

      Dominick had realized the last few days that he still couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else touching her silken curves, and all those secret, erotic places only he had known. He still hated the idea of someone else hearing her little cries of pleasure as she reached the pinnacle of her sensual enjoyment. And the thought of Kenzie kissing and caressing any other man in the way she had him still had the effect of making his stomach clench into knots!

      Kenzie studied Dominick for several seconds, wondering if he actually cared if she’d had another lover, and whether it had been jealousy all along that had caused him to cut her out of his life with so much finality.

      But the glittering of his dark eyes and the tightness of his jaw were evidence of cold anger rather than the jealousy she had been hoping for. By bringing Jerome back into the conversation at all he was just spoiling for another fight.

      She raised her chin defiantly. ‘As it isn’t gentlemanly of a man to tell tales out of the bedroom, I’m sure it isn’t ladylike for a woman to do so, either—Dominick, what are you doing?’ she demanded incredulously as he sprang up off the bed to grasp her by the tops of her arms. ‘Let me go!’ she instructed impatiently, glaring up at him. ‘You don’t really care whether or not Jerome and I have been lovers—’

      ‘Don’t I?’ he grated.

      She shook her head, her hair silky about her shoulders. ‘You have to feel love to care, Dominick!’

      He became suddenly still, maintaining a firm hold of her arms, his face only inches from her own. ‘Perhaps I’m just wondering how your parents would feel if they knew their little Kenzie had been sleeping around.’

      She glared at him. ‘I thought what we were discussing had nothing to do with sleeping!’

      ‘You little—’ He broke off abruptly, drawing in deep, controlling breaths as he continued to scowl down at her.

      Kenzie was tall and usually found herself on a level with most men, but Dominick had always been four or five inches taller than her, and that impression of height, along with the powerful width of his shoulders, became even more apparent as he strove to regain control of the anger she had deliberately incited.

      ‘But you don’t care, Dominick,’ she taunted coolly, determined to meet the furious glitter of his eyes. ‘You never did. Because you don’t believe in love, remember?’ she mocked, recalling the painful disillusionment the moment she had realized that.

      No, he didn’t believe in love, Dominick acknowledged, and he had no idea what he felt for Kenzie at that moment, only that the thought of her in Jerome Carlton’s arms was once again driving him crazy.

      There hadn’t been any other women in his life during the four months of their separation. Having Kenzie walk out on him in that way, leaving him for another man, seemed to have killed all desire for sex in him.

      Until the second he had seen Kenzie on Wednesday evening …

      Since then he had been filled with nothing but a desire for sex. But only with Kenzie.

      But not here. And not now. That would happen on his terms. For his pleasure.

      His hands dropped abruptly to his sides as he released her. ‘I don’t believe in love,’ he said abruptly. ‘I’ll go and use the bathroom myself now. And I didn’t make provision for sharing a bedroom for the night with my ex-wife, so, if you don’t want to be shocked out of your romantic little mind, I should turn over and go to sleep before I get back!’ He strode over to the adjoining room and pulled the door shut firmly behind him.

      Kenzie stared at the closed door, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. She knew there was no hope for her and Dominick, no common ground of conversation even. There was just anger and misunderstanding on Dominick’s part, and love, still love, on hers …

      ‘For God’s sake settle down and go to sleep, will you?’ Dominick snapped softly in the darkness of the bedroom. Kenzie became still in the adjoining bed. ‘Sorry. I didn’t think you were awake,’ she muttered, having had no idea he had been aware of her restless movements for the last hour as sleep had eluded her.

      He gave a heavy sigh. ‘You may think I lack a certain—insight where emotions are concerned, Kenzie, but I can assure you there is absolutely nothing wrong with my memory!’

      And what was that supposed to mean?

      That he was still thinking about her with Jerome Carlton?

      Or something else …?

      ‘I can’t sleep,’ she sighed.

      ‘I think that’s pretty damned obvious!’ he bit out tersely. ‘Unfortunately, now neither can I!’

      ‘Sorry,’ she muttered again.

      Dominick sat up in the bed, swinging his legs to the floor as he pushed the duvet aside.

      He could see very little of Kenzie in the moonlight shining in through the window, only the paleness of her face and the dark cloud of her hair spread out on the pillow beside her.

      ‘Do you want me to come over there?’ he taunted.

      No, of course she didn’t!

      Did she …?

      There was no denying that she was totally aware of him, and had been so since he’d called at her apartment earlier this afternoon. Sharing this bedroom with him, even in separate beds, was absolute torture to her senses.

      She hadn’t thought it would be like this. Yes, she still loved Dominick, and, yes, she was still very aware of his physical attractiveness, but she had thought his total distrust of her, and his lack of love for her, would have killed all the sexual desire she had once felt for him.

      In the last hour while she had lain here unable to sleep, she had been all too conscious of Dominick in the adjoining bed: of the even tenor of breathing, the slightly elusive tang of his aftershave, and of the heat of his body. All of which had shown her that she ached for him just as much as she ever had.

      ‘No, of course I don’t want you to come over here,’ she answered without conviction.

      ‘Are you sure?’

      She bristled at his mocking tone of voice. ‘Of course I’m sure!’

      ‘You didn’t sound very sure,’ Dominick mused.

      ‘I’m not going to deny that this situation is—difficult,’ she told him quietly.

      ‘How difficult?’ he challenged, standing up, his lithe nakedness visible in the soft light.

      Kenzie stopped breathing, her eyes wide as she looked at him. This was not a good idea. Not a good idea at all.

      ‘Look, Dominick,’ she told him quickly. ‘I’m sure we could quite easily make love together, here and now—’

      ‘We could?’ he derided.

      ‘Yes,’ СКАЧАТЬ