Carole Mortimer Romance Collection. Carole Mortimer

      She didn’t want to go down to dinner; she needed time to think about finding him in Simon’s bedroom like that—a bedroom that, now she thought about it, was virtually dust-free for a room that supposedly hadn’t been entered for seven years… She—

      ‘Hurry up and put your dress on, Juliet,’ an all too familiar voice said from the doorway. ‘We have one minute left before we’re both in trouble,’ Liam added warningly.

      Juliet had turned sharply at the sound of his voice, staring at him wordlessly across the room. She was once again standing before him wearing only her underwear—a black bra and black lace panties this time, to go underneath the black knee-length dress she hadn’t yet had time to put on.

      Liam stood across the room looking at her, his sleepy blue gaze moving slowly across the golden length of her body, lingering on the deep swell of her breasts before moving down the deep curve of her waist to her hips. ‘But maybe the trouble will be worth it,’ he murmured as he slowly crossed the room towards her.

      Juliet watched him in mute fascination, unable to move, to protest as he took her in his arms, the gasp barely out of her lips before they were claimed by his.

      His mouth made a gentle exploration of hers, his arms about her bare waist, one hand moving up the length of her spine to become entwined in the long cascade of her hair, his hand cradling her nape as he sipped and tasted her lips.

      The kiss had been so sudden, so unexpected, that Juliet didn’t have time for resistance. Her hands tangled in the shirt at his waist, clinging to him as he moulded the length of her body to his, his thighs hard and powerful against her, the tip of his tongue moistly caressing the sensitivity of her lower lip before plunging into the warmth beyond.

      Juliet felt invaded, as if the two of them were inexplicably joined, her will completely taken from her. If he had been roughly demanding she would have been able to break the spell, but, as it was, his lips and hands were sensually caressing, evoking a response in her that she was unable to deny.

      His other hand moved up the curve of her waist to the gentle swell of her breast, cupping its softness, the thumb-tip moving rhythmically against the already hardened nipple. A heated warmth flooded her thighs at the intimate caress; her whole body felt aflame.

      ‘You’re so beautiful!’ Liam groaned as his lips left hers to travel the length of her neck and throat, his head bending even lower as, through the flimsy material, he took her other pert nipple into the warm cavern of his mouth, his tongue flicking erotically against the hardened nub.

      Juliet gasped at the intimacy, her neck arched as she pressed even closer against those pleasuregiving lips, and almost fainted with pleasure as Liam’s hand moved to cup the warmth of her inner thighs, his palm moving rhythmically against her sensitivity.

      This dual pleasure was almost too much to bear, her breathing ragged and shallow as she clung to his shoulders now—wide, powerful shoulders that evoked an eroticism of their own.

      Liam raised his head to kiss the length of her throat once again, his lips warm and searching, his tongue flicking against a spot just below her earlobe as Juliet quivered in response. ‘So deceptively innocent,’ he murmured as he raised his head to look down at her with sleepy blue eyes.

      Deceptively…? What…?

      ‘Miss Juliet!’ The call of her name was accompanied by a loud knock on the door. ‘It’s time for dinner,’ Janet continued lightly. ‘And I can’t find Mr Liam anywhere,’ she added worriedly.

      The sound of Janet’s voice outside her room had done the one thing Juliet seemed unable to do herself, and that was to break the sensual spell which Liam had woven about her. She pulled sharply away from him, staring up at him with stricken eyes. What had she been doing?

      ‘Miss Juliet?’ Janet said again, concernedly this time. ‘Are you all right?’

      She didn’t think so; she felt devastated by the intimacy she had just shared with Liam, of all people. She avoided his gaze as she moved to grab up her towelling robe from the bedroom chair, and had just tied the belt securely about her waist when Janet, having received no answer, came worriedly into the room.

      The housekeeper’s eyes widened as they took in Liam’s presence in Juliet’s bedroom. ‘You didn’t answer the door, so I wasn’t sure…’ She trailed off awkwardly. ‘Dinner is ready,’ she added lamely, looking very uncomfortable.

      Liam nodded curtly. ‘We’ll be down in a minute,’ he dismissed tersely.

      ‘I…Very well,’ Janet accepted abruptly, turning away. ‘I—I’m sorry if I disturbed you,’ she said uneasily, closing the door firmly behind her as she left.

      Oh, God, how awful! How awful that any of it had happened at all, but that Janet should now have the wrong impression about them was just terrible. Because Janet was well aware of the fact that Juliet and Liam hadn’t even met until this last week!

      She glanced awkwardly at Liam, not encouraged by the coldness of his expression, the derisive twist to his lips. But what right did he have to be derisive of her? He was the one who had instigated the intimacy, not she!

      And it was an intimacy that made her cringe when she thought about it. There had been no one in her life since Simon—which made it all the worse that it was his older brother she had responded to!

      Liam was watching her with narrowed eyes, that coldness still in his face. ‘You had better dress for dinner,’ he told her flatly.

      She didn’t want to go down to dinner now: there was no way she could sit down at the table with him as if nothing had happened between them! No way could she ever be in his company again without remembering the intimate way he had touched and caressed her. That she had allowed him to touch and caress her!

      His mouth twisted as he obviously sensed her refusal to join him. ‘Janet is already suspicious enough,’ he bit out scornfully. ‘I don’t really think we need to add fuel to that particular fire by my dining alone!’

      Juliet could see his point, but she really didn’t see how she could have dinner with him and act as if nothing had happened.

      ‘This has turned into a real family affair, hasn’t it?’ he continued mockingly, his gaze moving scathingly over Juliet’s tangled hair and kiss-swollen lips.

      She frowned. ‘What do you mean?’ It was the first time she had spoken since he had begun kissing her, and to her chagrin her voice sounded huskily low.

      He shrugged. ‘You said earlier you knew my brother too?’

      ‘Yes.’ She was still frowning.

      ‘And just how well did you know dear Simon?’ he taunted. ‘Or did you know him before my father?’

      She swallowed hard, the heat in her cheeks answer enough.

      ‘A family affair.’ He nodded coldly. ‘The father and both sons-—no mean feat really, is it?’ he said disgustedly. ‘Except that you didn’t quite add me to the list. And I have no intention of allowing you to do so in the future, either,’ he continued harshly. ‘You just failed the test, Juliet,’ he added scornfully.

      She was still reeling from the insults he had just thrown at her. He couldn’t really think…? But she knew by the hard derision in his face that he did! ‘What test?’ she asked weakly.

      Liam gave a dismissive shrug. ‘Whatever plans you have to draw me into this web you seem to have woven around the other Carlyle men, I advise you to forget them; this is a business affair to me. And sleeping with men may be the way you have got as far as you have, but as far as I’m concerned—’

      Juliet didn’t give herself time to think, didn’t need time to think, her arm arching up and her hand making sharp contact with Liam’s left cheek. ‘Get out,’ she told him forcefully. ‘Just get out of my room!’ Her eyes sparkled, deeply grey.

      He shrugged unconcernedly. ‘I wouldn’t advise