"I
wouldn't care if you were forty.
I have made love to many older women.
I adore older women.
They're adventurous and knowledgeable.
I adore
all women."
He closed in on her again.
"I adore you."
She backed away again.
Tm with Peter," she said.
He caught her hand, and kissed it.
His mouth felt light and warm on
her skin.
"I see no ring on your finger."
"We have an agreement," she said.
Raoul looked at her with his melting brown eyes.
She wondered suddenly
if he gave that soulful look to all women to entice them.
His voice
dropped to a seductive whisper.
"Peter won't mind.
He brought you here, didn't he?"
She stiffened.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Her voice was sharper than she
intended.
Raoul was close again.
"We are very modern here."
His lips brushed her ear.
"Do you understand me?
Peter knows that."
His hands went round her
waist.
"I want you, Jacey.
I wanted you as soon as I saw you in the hospital
corridor.
I wanted you more than anyone else in the whole world.
Is
it so bad of me to feel that way?"
"No," she said.
"Foolish, maybe."
But a suspicion was forming in her mind, and the more she thought about
it, the more she felt certain it was the truth.
Peter had been very
anxious for her to come to this party.
He had turned down her blatant
offer of a nice, private sexy evening, something he had not done
before.
Why was he so keen for her to go along with him?
So that
Raoul Marquez could try and charm her into making love?
Raoul could have engineered any number of ways to meet her, but here at
the villa everything was laid on.
There was even a convenient bedroom
upstairs.
A bedroom with a two-way mirror?
she wondered.
With a
hidden camera?
Was Raoul into exhibitionism?
Maybe Peter had been testing the water
by asking her if she would perform with Nicolas Schlemann?
Maybe he
was going to suggest instead some fun and games with Raoul Marquez.
Perhaps I'm supposed to be a bribe, she thought.
Raoul's family helps
finance La Primavera.
If they're happy, they'll be generous.
Was that
why Peter had objected weakly when Ana commandeered me?
Did he know
she would take me straight to Raoul?
Raoul was nibbling her ear but although the sensation was pleasurable,
she jerked her head away from him.
"Did you ask Peter to bring me here?"
she demanded.
He looked surprised.
"I suggested it.
I thought you would like to come to a party."
"This was all planned, wasn't it?"
She couldn't disguise her annoyance
any longer.
"Peter brought me here for you."
She pushed him hard away from her,
and he staggered back.
"Well, I'm not having it."
She headed for the French window.
"Peter's a bastard, so are you, and I'm not interested in either of
you."
She did not notice the man standing beside the French window until she
had almost cannoned into him.
"Lover's tiff?"
His dark eyes showed sardonic amusement.
She stepped back.
"Do you normally listen in on private conversations, Senor
Schlemann?"
"Often."
He leant against the doorpost, blocking her exit.
"But your conversation was far too noisy to be considered private, Dr.
Muldaire."
He shifted his position, with lazy elegance, and again she was reminded
of a sleek jungle cat.
"Exactly who are you no longer interested in?"
he asked, curiously.
"Our young cut-price Valentine, Raoul Marquez?"
"Don't try and be humorous, Nicci," Raoul interrupted angrily.
"You're not very good at it."
"I could say the same about your attempts to be romantic," Nicolas
said.
"Not having much success with Dr.
Muldaire, are you?"
He smiled,
moved towards her, and put a hand possessively on her shoulder.
"Maybe I'll have better luck."
Raoul stepped forward, his face tight with anger, and for a moment
Jacey thought there would be a fight.
Nicolas Schlemann was outwardly
relaxed, but she felt-the tension in his body.
Instinct told her that
he was well able to take care of himself.
She was not so certain about
Raoul.
Anxious to diffuse the tension, she pulled away from Nicolas.
"Please, gentlemen, do stop behaving like silly children."
She smiled
brightly at both of them.
"It's very flattering to be wanted, but I'm not on offer to either of
you.
I'm here with Peter Draven."
She was relieved to see Raoul stop, and then shrug.
Nicolas made no
further attempt to touch her.
Raoul turned to him and said, with a
note of challenge in his voice, "Dr.
Muldaire is quite right, Nicci.
We shouldn't force our attentions on her, should we?"
Nicolas smiled mockingly but did not move.
"I've never forced myself on a woman in my life."
He paused, and his
voice changed to a seductive murmur.
"Although the right kind of force can be exciting."
His hand reached
for Jacey again.
His fingers rested lightly on her neck, then tangled
briefly with her hair.
"Don't you agree, Dr.
Muldaire?"
Jacey knew that the next move was hers.
Common sense told her that she
should snub Nicolas Schle mann, and go back to the main room to find
Peter.
But she still couldn't fathom why Peter had brought her to this
particular party.
Had he really been planning some voyeuristic fun and
games with Raoul, it would serve them both right if she ended up with
Nicolas Schlemann instead.
Just for the evening, she told herself.
She certainly did not intend to get seriously involved with this
conceited and undoubtedly dangerous political racketeer.
Nicolas was regarding her with amused confidence.
"The desirability of using force is always open to debate," she said
lightly.
/! enjoy a good debate," he said smoothly.
"Let me get you a drink, and we'll talk."
He moved round her and at the same time managed to put himself behind
Raoul, so that as he walked towards the French window he edged Raoul
forward.
Before he left, Raoul turned to glance at Jacey, and she felt
suddenly and unexpectedly sorry for him.
He looked young, vulnerable,
and disappointed.
But at least this scenario would prove that she
really wasn't interested in ending up in bed with him.
Do I really want Nicolas Schlemann?
she asked herself.
Although she
had been determined to dislike him, she found it very hard to actually
do so when he was close to her.
Again, she had a strong feeling that
she should walk out on him, there and then.
But, for some reason, she
waited until he returned, carrying two glasses.
He had not asked her
what she wanted, but had brought her champagne, and whisky for
himself.
She took the glass from him.
"What are we celebrating?"
she asked.
"The fact that I've saved you from being pestered , into bed by Raoul
Marquez," he replied.
"Or is making love to an overgrown schoolboy your idea of an exciting
evening?"
"I had no intention of going to bed with Raoul," she said.
"I was about to go and find Peter."
"You wouldn't have found him," Nicolas said.
"Peter's gone home."
She stared back at him incredulously.
"I don't believe you."
Nicolas shrugged.
"Then go on.
Find him."
He lounged back against the balustrade.
"I'll wait here.
Come back when you get tired of looking."
She paused.
She felt certain that Nicolas was telling the truth.
How
dare Peter bring me here and dump me, she thought.
Now she was certain
that he had connived with Raoul.
She glanced at Nicolas.
He was
watching her with a sardonic smile.
To hell with Peter, she thought,
and to hell with Raoul.
I'll stay with Nicolas for the evening.
"It looks as if I've been abandoned," she said, trying to sound
flippant.
"Aren't you lucky," he said.
"Instead of being bored to death by Dr.
Draven, or pawed by that idiot
Raoul, you can enjoy a far more stimulating evening with me."
"Peter is a good friend of mine," she said.
"And I'm sure Raoul isn't an idiot.
He was just getting a little
emotionally over-enthusiastic, that's all."