‘WHAT MAKES YOU think I’d marry you after you have kidnapped me, insulted me and accused me among other things of being a drug addict?’
Elin’s chest heaved as she struggled to control her overwrought emotions. When Cortez had announced to his party guests and the press that Harry was his son, she had felt a sense of being trapped and powerless. ‘This ridiculous situation has gone on long enough,’ she said forcefully. ‘I don’t know why you told the journalist that Harry will live in Spain. His home is in England with me.’
Instead of replying, Cortez picked up a crystal decanter and poured a generous measure of pale gold liquid into a glass. ‘Do you want a drink?’ he asked her. ‘This is F&C’s finest fifteen-year-old cask-aged sherry.’ When Elin shook her head he lifted the glass to his lips and swallowed half its contents in one gulp, almost as if he had needed the hit of alcohol. He looked at her with an unfathomable expression in his eyes. ‘So how do you think it will work if we share custody of Harry?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Will we each have him living with us for a week or a month at a time? That might work while he is a baby, but when he’s older don’t you think he will find it unsettling to be shipped between England and Spain like he is a parcel? Is that what you want for our son?’
‘Of course not.’ A memory flashed into Elin’s mind of herself as a little girl, walking up the front steps of Cuckmere Hall for the first time after Ralph and Lorna Saunderson had adopted her and taken her to England. She had only known the orphanage in war-torn Sarajevo, but even though it had not been a happy place she had been scared to leave. Moving away from familiar surroundings was unnerving for a child. She remembered how she had clung to her brother’s hand for reassurance. How would Harry feel when he was a bit older and he was separated from one of his parents and taken to live with his other parent in a different country every few weeks? Not having a permanent home would be unsettling for him.
‘What about Christmases and birthdays?’ Cortez went on relentlessly. ‘How much do you think he will enjoy those special occasions if he has to choose which of his parents to spend them with?’
‘Plenty of parents manage to lead separate lives and successfully share custody of their children,’ Elin argued. ‘We don’t have to get married for Harry’s sake.’
‘No, we don’t have to,’ Cortez agreed flatly. ‘But why wouldn’t we choose to give our son stability, security and the consistency of growing up with both his parents? Harry needs to be part of a family and surely his needs are paramount?’
‘This is crazy!’ Elin’s frustration bubbled over. Everything Cortez had said made sense, but marry him...really? ‘You are the last man on earth I’d choose to marry.’
‘Yet, if I am to believe what you told me, I am the first and possibly only man you’ve had sex with,’ he drawled.
She flushed. ‘I explained why I slept with you on my birthday night. I certainly wasn’t tempted to sleep with anyone else after I’d found out that I was pregnant by a stranger who had gatecrashed my party.’
Cortez finished his drink and set his glass down on the desk. ‘I hired a private investigator in England, who checked police records and confirmed that a male guest at your birthday party was accused of tampering with several of the women’s drinks. Tom Wilson was charged with administering a substance which is a well-known date-rape drug.’
Elin gave a deep sigh. ‘There is the proof that I behaved out of character when I went to bed with you. The drug that had been slipped into my drink without my knowledge had the effect of lowering my inhibitions.’ Deep down, she knew she could not only blame the date-rape drug for the way she had responded to Cortez’s smouldering sensuality. She had taken one look at him and been blown away by his handsome looks, but she wasn’t about to admit that to him.
She became aware that he had moved closer to her without her noticing him doing so. He possessed the stealth and predatory instincts of a wolf stalking its prey. The thought unnerved her even as her body reacted to the evocative scent of his cologne. He was always impossibly handsome, but tonight, wearing an impeccably tailored black dinner suit, he took her breath away. It hurt her to look at him and she wanted to turn her head away, but he trapped her gaze and the sultry heat in his gold-flecked eyes sent a sizzle of electricity through her.
‘You can tell yourself that it was a drugged drink that made you desire me a year ago, but it doesn’t explain your response when I kissed you at Cuckmere Hall,’ he drawled.
‘You took me by surprise.’ She was quick to defend her actions but she flushed guiltily as she remembered how she had melted in his arms. She held up her hand to ward Cortez off when he stepped even closer to her. He was so tall that she had to tilt her head to look at his face and the implacable expression stamped on his chiselled features caused her heart to miss a beat.
‘What are you doing? Leave me alone.’ Her panicky plea was muffled against his mouth as his head swooped down and he crushed her lips beneath his in a kiss designed to prove that he was her master.
She must not succumb to his sensual magic, Elin told herself frantically. But she felt boneless as Cortez pulled her into the heat and strength of his big body, making her aware of his powerful abdominal muscles and, lower down, the shockingly hard ridge of his arousal that pressed insistently against her pelvis.
He deepened the kiss, exploring the moist interior of her mouth with his tongue while he slid one hand into her hair and clamped her skull so that escape was impossible. His other hand skimmed down her bare back, his touch setting her skin alight before he spread his fingers over the swell of her buttocks. Her silk dress was a frustrating barrier and Elin longed to feel his hands on her naked bottom. Heat coursed through her veins, evoking a carnal craving that mocked her belief that she was not a sensual person.
He continued his exploration of her feminine curves and stroked his way up her body to her breasts. She caught her breath when he pushed the top of her dress aside and played with one nipple, rolling the hard peak between his fingers. Pleasure arced down to the sweet spot between her legs and multiplied a thousand times when he unfastened the halter straps on her dress and bared her breasts to the mercy of his mouth. She felt his warm breath on her skin before he took her nipple into his mouth and sucked hard until she whimpered with pleasure and he transferred his lips to her other breast.
The last vestiges of Elin’s resistance crumbled and she gave a low moan of surrender as she wound her arms around his neck. He lifted his head to plunder her mouth with his wicked tongue. In a distant recess of her mind she acknowledged that Cortez had given a masterclass in domination which had rendered her helpless against the onslaught of his passion. A warning voice in her head whispered that she would pay a heavy price in humiliation for these moments of pleasure.
She was right. He suddenly released her and she swayed on her feet, feeling utterly bereft. She lifted her fingers to her mouth and touched its swollen contours. God knew what she looked like. She could feel that her hair had half fallen out of its chignon, and her hands shook as she pulled the top of her dress up over her breasts to hide her swollen, reddened nipples that were still damp from Cortez’s tongue. She might as well have shouted from the rooftop that she was his for the taking, she thought in self-disgust.
‘Our marriage will provide our son with the security of growing up with both his parents, which is something we know from our childhood experiences is important.’ Cortez’s voice was coolly unemotional and Elin’s stomach gave a sickening lurch as she realised that he was unaffected by what had just happened. Why didn’t she learn? A year ago he had left her after
