Chapter 4 Tension

CHAPTER 4

Amanda stared at his house clearly amazed.The walls weren't hung with stern portraits of ancestors.Instead,there were modern works of art which she guessed weren't copies.

Despite herself she asked,a little breathlessly as she tried to keep up with her long gown."Is this your family home?"

Xavier waited at the top of the stairs, hands in his pockets and looking so devastatingly handsome that Amanda had to cling onto the banister.

He shook his head."No.My family occupies one of our villa downtown,I bought this about eight years ago"

"Oh"Amanda climbed the last few steps and followed Xavier as he led her down a wide, luxuriously carpeted hallway.At the end,he indicated two doors which were facing each other.

He opened the door on the left and led the way in to reveal a suite of rooms."They're two identical suites, both with bedrooms, bathrooms and dressing rooms"

Amanda guessed this was his domain by its dark colours and unashamedly masculine furnishings.She was too bemused to feel anything else at the moment, and followed him to another door, through a sitting room which had a state-of-the-art audio-visual system.

The door led into another sitting room,a mirror image of the first, albeit in softer,more neutral tones.

He turned to face her."I appreciate that this has all moved quite fast, Alisha.We don't have to start sharing the same bedroom if you need some space for now.But tonight,we are consummating this marriage,every other night,I can simply come to you when I want you"

Spots danced before Amanda's eyes and the fire in her veins was starting to bubble threateningly.They were not consummating anything tonight! From a brutal attack in Canada which had left her that scar on her stomach made her conservative and if she had ever wanted was be bedded someday.Her sister's husband wouldn't be her first time.

But then, how do you tell a man who thinks he's your husband not to touch you?

Xavier moved on and was heading for the bedroom, Amanda stomped after him, holding up her dress.

She walked in to see him standing at the open door of a dressing room, and when she looked, she saw that every surface,nook and cranny was filled to overflowing with a wardrobe of clothes and shoes.

Her jaw dropped as she walked closer.

"Consider it your trousseau"Xavier said, easily.

She looked in horror at the row upon row of undoubtedly designer-label clothes.Her skin crawled with the sensation, even if she was just filling in for Alisha,she felt as if he had bought her like some sort of living, walking doll.

"I don't like these outfits"She blurted out.

"They're ain't too different from the ones I've seen on you. I don't really care about what you want or like Alisha,you'll wear everything in there,you'll behave the way I want you to....."

She rounded on him, white with fury boiling over.

"And you call this....marriage?"

His jaw tightened."I really don't,cara.This is a business decision...pure and simple.Your family would be rich again and I have a doll to pose as a happily married wife and me....a dotting husband, I'll gain more investors, they had started to think that my single status translated to my being less than reliable on all fronts.So you see Alisha, there's nothing really bad in a marriage of convenient and if you're scared that I might be after my own pleasure.."He paused and walked closer to her."I won't be unfair to you, you'll be extremely satisfied in bed"He assured.

She swallowed the thick lump in her throat seeing him standing so close.So he wanted her....no scratch that...He wanted Alisha in bed then when they attend those boring functions,she'll have to act as a happy wife.She had always saw marriage as a blissful union,but this was far from blissful.Was this why Alisha ran away?Well she had better come back from wherever she ran off to as soon as possible.Suddenly, the three days Miguel had promised her seem like three years.

She knew she wouldn't be able to put up with him, she might just say her mind about all this shit and end up jeopardizing Alisha's marriage.

So that bitch had to return soon.

For a split second, Xavier thought she was going to challenge him but then she closed that mouth which wouldn't stop tempting him since he had a taste of it in church.

Amanda's eyes dilated when she saw him closing the small distance between them.

No!not that kiss again!

"Xavier, I....."

Her words were stopped when his mouth came crashing down on hers,his arms tight around her.Amanda's hands were fists crushed against his chest, trying to push him back.The same inevitable reaction was pooling in her body, and between her legs, but this time,she knew what it was and fought it with all her strength, even though she ached to just sink and give in.She couldn't.

Too much was at stake.

She stiffened and shut her mouth in a tight line against Xavier's sensual ministrations.He seduced and cajoled, and after torturous seconds.

Amanda found her resolve weakening under a swelling of need.To her utter disgust and chagrin,her body was betraying her again, softening....opening, instinctively, wanting to allow this man access.

Xavier's mouth gentled, and when he took it away, Amanda's head fell back.She sucked in a breath when she felt his mouth press hotly to where her pulse throbbed at the base of her neck.Big hands moulded her body, skimmed her curves and her wedding dress felt constrictive.

Without knowing how he'd managed it, Amanda felt something soft at the back of her legs and suddenly the world was tipping,she fell onto the bed in an ungainly sprawl.Shock and mortification washed through her in waves at seeing a still pristine Xavier standing looking down at her.She struggled inelegantly to sit up, hampered by the dress and her own sense of disorientation.

Dio! Kissing this woman was damn good,it made him impatient to feel what having sex with her would be like.He didn't find her this innocent and attractive before, and she didn't look at him with such eyes filled with beauty and humor.Was this what she meant by saying she was full of surprises?She was clearly manipulating him, trying to see if she could get him under her control.

Anger laced through him,she had to stop this act already.He flicked a look at the open dressing room.

"There's no negotiation on the wardrobe.You'll wear those clothes even if I have to dress you myself"

Amanda could feel that her veil had come off somewhere, and more waves of humiliation rose up as she rested back on her hands,still unable to stand up from the bed, seriously afraid her legs wouldn't hold her up.

She opened her mouth but Xavier cut her off brutally."I really don't appreciate the act you're putting up today. I know what you want from me and it's not possible.But I must say, I do like the heat between us,at least I know I won't seek pleasure in the arms of another woman,so get ready to please me well"

He bent down and came closer, snaked a hand around Amanda's neck.The skin of his hand burned against her bare skin.