LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

you didn’t give him reason to think those things, Bryce? To get rid of him so you’d have a clear running track for what you wanted.’

      ‘Your relationship with him was finished.’ He hurled an arm out in savage dismissal. ‘You acted on that. Why wouldn’t I act on it?’

      ‘He came to see me. Not you. You had no right to…’

      ‘You gave me the right by being in my suite, my bath…’ His eyes glittered with angry possessiveness as they raked her up and down. ‘…my bed!’

      Sunny clenched her hands, fighting the sexual power he projected. ‘You didn’t own me, Bryce.’

      ‘You were with me,’ he asserted, his eyes burning that undeniable truth straight through her defences. ‘Why would I let a drunken fool whom you had rejected, violate the intimacy you were sharing with me?’

      Her mind spun on one point she hadn’t known. ‘He was drunk?’

      ‘And creating trouble.’

      ‘Trouble because you wouldn’t let him see me,’ she shot at him, determined not to get distracted from the main issue here.

      ‘He had lost the right to demand anything of you, Sunny.’

      The mention of rights exploded any gain he’d made with his picture of a drunken Derek. She stormed around the suite, putting distance between them, seething at his arrogance in making that judgment. Which he’d clearly made to suit his purpose.

      Never mind that she’d been hurt by her belief that Derek seemingly hadn’t even noticed her absence that night. Bryce hadn’t cared about her feelings, except in so far as making them more positive towards him. She swung around to accuse him of it, noting he hadn’t moved. He stood tautly watching her, channelling all his energy into working out how to achieve his ends this time.

      ‘The truth is…you weren’t going to give him any second chance, were you, Bryce?’

      ‘He’d had his chance with you and blew it,’ he grated.

      ‘That was for me to decide.’

      She saw him gather himself, shoulders straightening, his formidable chest lifting, strength of mind emanating powerfully from him as he stepped towards her, his gaze holding hers with mesmerising intensity.

      ‘What are you telling me, Sunny? You would have had him back?’

      It was a pertinent question, challenging where she stood as he closed on her. Sunny’s chin lifted defiantly. Just because she had married him didn’t mean she would overlook how he had dealt with possible opposition.

      ‘I’ll never know now, will I?’ she flung at him. ‘I didn’t hear what he had to say.’

      Bryce kept coming, relentlessly determined on his will prevailing. ‘You heard him the next morning,’ he pointedly reminded her.

      ‘Yes, I heard him.’ Her heart was pounding. He was so big, so indomitable, and one perverse side of her liked the fact he wouldn’t be beaten. Yet he shouldn’t have taken her choice out of her hands. ‘And I wonder now what you said to him the night before.’

      ‘I told him we were negotiating a new position for you in Los Angeles and I didn’t care to have our discussion interrupted,’ came the imperturbable reply.

      ‘Did he fight that?’ she instantly queried, knowing she would have fought, as she was fighting now for integrity in her relationship with Bryce.

      ‘Yes.’ Contempt flashed into his eyes. ‘He lied, claiming you were his fiancée, which I knew you no longer were. I faced him with the lie and told him you were free to contact him at any time…if you wanted to.’ His hands curled around her upper arms, pressing his truth. ‘But you didn’t want to, Sunny. You wanted to be with me.’

      ‘I thought there was nothing left with Derek,’ she argued, resenting the way he was boxing her into a corner.

      ‘He’s not worth the candle you’re burning for him, and you know it,’ he insisted. ‘You liked what you had with me. You wanted it.’

      Her eyes warred with the blazing certainty in his, yet she couldn’t deny the wanton desire he stirred in her. ‘What I’ve learnt from this, Bryce, is that you play to win,’ she bit out angrily. ‘Whatever it takes, you play to win.’

      ‘You’re right. I do play to win,’ he conceded with ruthless intent. One hand slid up and tangled in her hair at the nape of her neck. ‘That’s the kind of man you married, Sunny.’

      She couldn’t bring herself to move or even protest. Her mind screamed it was wrong to feel excited by the electric energy swirling from him, yet her whole body was tingling, and when he spoke again, his voice seemed to throb through her bloodstream.

      ‘I wanted you as my wife. I got you as my wife. And I’ll do everything in my power to keep you as my wife.’

      Then he kissed her.

       CHAPTER FIFTEEN

      BRYCE lay awake in the darkness long after Sunny had fallen asleep in his arms. She had responded to him as she always did, caught up in the storm of desire that raged through them, demanding every possible satisfaction. His mind kept hotly buzzing she was his. But a more chilling section of his brain acknowledged he had made her his.

      He had blocked Marsden out and seized the advantage of the rebound effect, refusing to believe that such a stupid loser could possibly be the better man for Sunny. He still didn’t believe it. Yet why relationships worked for the people involved was often perplexing to an outside viewpoint. Needs could go right back to a person’s roots and seem totally illogical to anyone who hadn’t lived that life.

      Yes, he’d won the play. Sunny was his wife. Yet if her emotions were still tied up with that guy…what did he have? The use of her body. Not long ago he might have thought that was enough. Certainly he’d expected no more from Kristen. But Sunny…

      Somehow everything was different with Sunny. He wanted the whole package—heart, body and soul. Why she inspired this craving for all of her he didn’t know, but he knew he wouldn’t be content until he had it.

      The black irony was he’d felt their honeymoon had moved her much closer to him. It had been a risk coming to Sydney so soon, but it was the appropriate course to take—meeting Sunny’s family and collecting what she wanted of her clothes and other possessions—and he’d thought he had the risk covered.

      Sherman had straightened Marsden out about the legal consequences of malicious slander and damage during his stopover in Los Angeles. There’d been no loose talk at the Sydney office when he’d resigned—of his own free will, no pressure involved on that front. Bryce hadn’t been anticipating any comebacks.

      Careful questioning of the managing director had assured him the resignation was interpreted as a matter of pride. And given Marsden’s lack of career interest at the conference, he wasn’t considered a loss to the company. On the business side, the field had been cleared. It was the personal side that had slipped past him.

      Marsden had mouthed off to one of the family.

      So who had been tactless enough to face Sunny with her ex-fiancé’s rantings? Her mother? No. Too kind-hearted. Alyssa? No. She’d been happily positive about the marriage. He doubted Alyssa would have done anything to take the shine off it. Which left Nadine. Little flashes of envy there. She was the most likely candidate, though she probably hadn’t meant to undermine Sunny’s confidence in her decision to marry him.

      The critical question was how much harm had been done. Certainly Marsden had been brought right back to the forefront of Sunny’s mind, and what had been clear-cut on the morning of their wedding day, was now muddied. Somehow he had to get Sunny positive about their marriage again. Wipe Marsden right out of the picture.

Скачать книгу