despise her for this, but if he could despise her and still want her that was fine with her.
She named her price. The exact amount of money she would need to ensure Serena’s care for a year. If she was going to do this then she had to make it worthwhile. Six months wouldn’t be enough to ensure Serena’s long-term recovery. A year in therapy and rehabilitation would.
Andreas whistled softly at the amount and Siena saw how his eyes became even icier. He came close again and she fought not to back away, her eyes glued to his. In a bizarre way, now that she’d said it, she found a weight lifting off her shoulders.
‘You value yourself very highly.’
Siena burned. Shame came rushing back. Nevertheless, she tossed her head and said defiantly, ‘What if I do?’
Andreas looked her up and down and walked around her. Siena could feel his eyes roving over her body.
He said from behind her, ‘For that kind of money I think it would be within my rights to sample the goods again before making a decision, don’t you? After all, that’s just good business sense.’
Siena whirled around indignantly even as heat suffused every particle of her skin, but words got lodged in her throat. She would be the worst kind of hypocrite if she were to lambast him.
She could see that Andreas was livid, with dark colour slashing his cheeks. Before she could stop him he was snaking a hand around her neck and pulling her towards him. She had to go with it or fall off balance completely.
He ground out with disgust, ‘I don’t pay women for sex. I never have and I never will. It’s heinous and disgusting and demoralising. Especially when you want it as much as I do...’
And with that his mouth was on hers and he was obliterating any sense of reality—again. Siena’s thoughts were lost in a blaze of heat. Her hands were on Andreas’s chest and he’d gathered her closer by curling his arm around her back, arching her into him, where she could feel the burgeoning evidence of his arousal against her belly.
His mouth was forcing hers open, and once that happened she didn’t have a chance. His tongue found and tangled with hers, stroking along it, demanding a response. Siena mewled deep in her throat, almost pitifully. Andreas was possessing her with sensual mastery and, far from being disgusted, she found that her arms itched to climb higher, to curl around Andreas’s neck, and her tongue was dancing just as hotly as his.
His hand left her waist and travelled up along her ribs. Siena was aware of an intense spiking of anticipation in her blood as her breasts seemed to swell in response, nipples peaking painfully, waiting for his touch.
But Andreas didn’t cup her breast as she was suddenly longing for him to do. He stopped just short and pulled his head back. She opened her eyes with an effort, to see his, hot and molten, searing her alive, damning her for her audacity and stubborn denial of their attraction. Her breath was coming in rapid bursts and a million and one things were vying for supremacy in her brain, all of them urging her to pull away—fast. But she couldn’t move.
Roughly he said, with disgust lacing his voice again, ‘Much as I hate to admit it, I think that perhaps you might just be worth paying an astronomical amount of money to bed.’
He was the one to pull away, leaving Siena feeling adrift and wobbly.
He ran a hand through his hair and looked at her, his mouth taut with condemnation. ‘You’ve learnt your lessons well, DePiero...in the beds of however many countless lovers you’ve entertained. Were they the ones to teach you that intoxicating mix of innocence and artless sensuality designed to inflame a man?’
Siena looked at Andreas, stunned at his words. He had no idea. He couldn’t tell her gauche responses were all too real. And she vowed then that he never would know—however she had to do it.
She fought to find some veneer of composure and said, as cynically as she could, considering she
She named her price. The exact amount of money she would need to ensure Serena’s care for a year. If she was going to do this then she had to make it worthwhile. Six months wouldn’t be enough to ensure Serena’s long-term recovery. A year in therapy and rehabilitation would.
Andreas whistled softly at the amount and Siena saw how his eyes became even icier. He came close again and she fought not to back away, her eyes glued to his. In a bizarre way, now that she’d said it, she found a weight lifting off her shoulders.
‘You value yourself very highly.’
Siena burned. Shame came rushing back. Nevertheless, she tossed her head and said defiantly, ‘What if I do?’
Andreas looked her up and down and walked around her. Siena could feel his eyes roving over her body.
He said from behind her, ‘For that kind of money I think it would be within my rights to sample the goods again before making a decision, don’t you? After all, that’s just good business sense.’
Siena whirled around indignantly even as heat suffused every particle of her skin, but words got lodged in her throat. She would be the worst kind of hypocrite if she were to lambast him.
She could see that Andreas was livid, with dark colour slashing his cheeks. Before she could stop him he was snaking a hand around her neck and pulling her towards him. She had to go with it or fall off balance completely.
He ground out with disgust, ‘I don’t pay women for sex. I never have and I never will. It’s heinous and disgusting and demoralising. Especially when you want it as much as I do...’
And with that his mouth was on hers and he was obliterating any sense of reality—again. Siena’s thoughts were lost in a blaze of heat. Her hands were on Andreas’s chest and he’d gathered her closer by curling his arm around her back, arching her into him, where she could feel the burgeoning evidence of his arousal against her belly.
His mouth was forcing hers open, and once that happened she didn’t have a chance. His tongue found and tangled with hers, stroking along it, demanding a response. Siena mewled deep in her throat, almost pitifully. Andreas was possessing her with sensual mastery and, far from being disgusted, she found that her arms itched to climb higher, to curl around Andreas’s neck, and her tongue was dancing just as hotly as his.
His hand left her waist and travelled up along her ribs. Siena was aware of an intense spiking of anticipation in her blood as her breasts seemed to swell in response, nipples peaking painfully, waiting for his touch.
But Andreas didn’t cup her breast as she was suddenly longing for him to do. He stopped just short and pulled his head back. She opened her eyes with an effort, to see his, hot and molten, searing her alive, damning her for her audacity and stubborn denial of their attraction. Her breath was coming in rapid bursts and a million and one things were vying for supremacy in her brain, all of them urging her to pull away—fast. But she couldn’t move.
Roughly he said, with disgust lacing his voice again, ‘Much as I hate to admit it, I think that perhaps you might just be worth paying an astronomical amount of money to bed.’
He was the one to pull away, leaving Siena feeling adrift and wobbly.
He ran a hand through his hair and looked at her, his mouth taut with condemnation. ‘You’ve learnt your lessons well, DePiero...in the beds of however many countless lovers you’ve entertained. Were they the ones to teach you that intoxicating mix of innocence and artless sensuality designed to inflame a man?’
Siena looked at Andreas, stunned at his words. He had no idea. He couldn’t tell her gauche responses were all too real. And she vowed then that he never would know—however she had to do it.
She fought to find some veneer of composure and said, as cynically as she could, considering she
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