Wife For Real. Jennifer Taylor

thought of you anywhere near me!’

      ‘Like you’re hating me touching you now? Is that why your heart is racing, Katherine?’ He pressed his finger to the pulse which was throbbing at the base of her neck, and let it rest there, so that Katherine could feel its warmth branding her flesh. She jerked back, struggling to free herself, but Jordan was too strong for her to break the hold he had on her.

      ‘Let me go, Jordan.’

      She saw his smile deepen. When he let his finger slide up her neck to come to rest by the corner of her mouth she closed her eyes, terrified of what he might see in them right now—all the turmoil and anguish she felt, all the shame that even now his touch could have such an effect on her.

      ‘It wasn’t loathing you felt that night, Katherine. Oh, you might have fought me like a she-cat, but it wasn’t because you were disgusted by what was happening—far from it.’ He slid that tantalising finger beneath her chin, forcing her head up. ‘You wanted me, Katherine. You wanted me with a passion that you had never expected, didn’t you? After all, you hadn’t married me because you were in love with me, so how could you have suspected that you would feel like that?’

      His voice was like a drug, soft and deep, and so compelling that her eyes opened almost of their own volition. Katherine stared into his face, seeing the truth of what had happened that night—which she had tried so hard to escape from.

      ‘No. Jordan, I...’

      He didn’t seem to hear her as he continued, in that same quiet tone which made a mockery of her halting attempts to deny what he was saying. ‘Maybe I was wrong to do what I did, but it wasn’t planned. It just happened, and for those first few minutes when I took you in my arms you responded to me. You can lie to yourself but we both know I’m right.

      ‘But tell me this, my sweet, who do you hate most? Me for showing you what you’re capable of feeling? Or yourself because for those few minutes you acted like a real woman, not a scared little girl!’

      He let her go, his gaze contemptuous as he strode back up the path.

      Katherine watched him go with tears burning in her eyes. She wanted to scream after him that it wasn’t true, but he wouldn’t believe her. Why should he? Both of them knew what had happened that night. One year later she was still paying the price for it.

      No matter how hard she tried she could never forget how she had lain in Jordan’s arms and felt for him a passion she never wanted to feel again!

      CHAPTER THREE

      IT WAS almost three a.m. when Katherine heard the sound of a key in the lock. She hadn’t gone to bed. There had been no point—she had known she wouldn’t be able to sleep.

      Jordan had left the reception shortly after Peter and Diane had left for their honeymoon. Katherine wasn’t sure where he had gone but she suspected that it might have something to do with Peter.

      She had stayed up, waiting for him to return, longing for him to get back but also dreading it. Of course she wanted to know that Peter had nothing more to worry about, but it was the price Jordan might demand in return for his help which worried her. She knew to her cost the kind of bargain Jordan struck!

      He was in the hall taking off his jacket when she opened the sitting-room door. He glanced round, and Katherine realised how exhausted he looked. There were deep lines etched either side of his mouth and his skin looked grey beneath its tan.

      ‘I thought you would be in bed by now.’ He tossed his jacket onto a hook then leant against the wall as though he was almost too tired to stand up. ‘Should I be touched that you waited up for me?’

      The fleeting concern Katherine had felt disappeared at once. She stared coldly back at him, hating the way he kept taunting her like that. It was something he had never done before; it made her wonder a little fearfully what had changed to make him do so now. ‘I assumed that your absence had something to do with Peter’s problems. I wanted to know what had gone on and if you had decided to help him.’

      ‘Of course.’ Jordan gave a soft laugh which held just a thread of menace. His eyes were cold as he came along the hall, the tiredness in them not quite hiding his contempt. ‘I should have realised that any concern you felt was purely on behalf of your beloved brother. Silly of me to imagine anything else, wasn’t it? I must be more tired than I realised.’

      Katherine swung round, refusing to stand there and debate the point when her nerves were already so on edge. ‘I’ll make some coffee. You look as though you could do with some.’

      ‘Mmm, there’s a lot of things I could do with, my sweet wife, but I doubt I’m going to get them tonight.’

      There was a nuance in his voice which brought the colour to her face. Katherine busied herself filling the percolator until she was sure that the colour had faded. Yet, when she glanced round, Jordan was watching her with an expression in his eyes which made her realise he had seen her reaction. The thought unsettled her even more, so that her hands shook and the coffee scattered all over the worktop.

      ‘Leave it. Instant will do. I’m too tired to wait around for that to be ready, anyway.’

      He sat down at the table and closed his eyes as he ran his hand around the back of his neck to ease the aching muscles. Katherine watched him for a second, then hurriedly switched on the kettle and made two mugs of instant coffee. She set them on the table and sat down opposite him.

      ‘God, what a day!’ Jordan sighed as he opened his eyes and took a sip of the hot liquid. ‘I don’t remember ever being this tired before. Must be jet lag, I suppose.’ He looked up and smiled sardonically. ‘But I don’t expect you’re interested in hearing about my problems, are you, Katherine? I imagine you’re waiting to hear if Peter is off the hook.’

      Katherine ignored his sarcasm. ‘And is he?’

      Jordan laughed, but it wasn’t a pleasant sound. ‘That’s what I admire about you. You go straight to the important things in your life, and there is nothing quite so important as your brother—oh, and your father, of course. We mustn’t forget him, must we? Not when he was instrumental in bringing us together in the first place. Don’t you feel just the tiniest bit aggrieved with your father for that? Or do you prefer to blame me for this predicament you find yourself in? Married to a man you loathe.’

      ‘I have no intention of sitting here listening to this!’ Katherine went to get up, shaken by what he had said. It just confirmed all her fears that something had changed. They’d had a tacit agreement not to mention the past, but today Jordan seemed to be taking every opportunity to rake it up. However, with a speed which shocked her, he reached over and caught her hand.

      ‘Don’t run away. I am merely stating a fact, not trying to start an argument again if that’s what you’re worried about. The only reason you married me, Katherine, was because I had it in my power to save your father from bankruptcy. Neither of us is under any illusion about that.’

      He gave her a brooding little smile as his fingers slid up her arm beneath the sleeve of her jacket. They felt cool against her skin and she shivered involuntarily, but Jordan didn’t appear to notice. She was grateful for that, because she felt vulnerable enough without him making anything out of the fact that she trembled when he touched her!

      ‘I wonder if it would have turned out better if I had been more like the men in your circle, the men who play by the rules you understand—like Charles, for instance. You and Charles seem to get on very well, but then you have so much in common, don’t you?’

      ‘I cannot see any point in this conversation. How well Charles and I get on has no bearing on this at all!’ she retorted, stung by the way she was reacting to Jordan’s touch.

      ‘Hasn’t it?’ Something crossed his face, an expression which made Katherine’s breath catch when she saw it. She must be mistaken, she thought wildly, because there was no reason for the sudden rage she could see in his eyes.

      ‘You’ve