CHAPTER ELEVEN
MINASTRETCHED,BLINKING, and surfaced from one of the deepest sleeps of her life. She felt wonderful, apart from a little tenderness. When she recalled why she was tender, she smiled. So this was what all the fuss was about!
Being with Alexei was unlike anything she’d imagined.
Better. Wonderful. She felt...different.
She rolled over to find the storm shutters open. Beyond the windows was the vivid blaze of green foliage, scarlet flowers and turquoise water. A songbird trilled and the hush of waves on sand proved yesterday’s maelstrom was over.
How long had she slept? Long enough for Alexei to be up and about.
Cravenly she wished he hadn’t gone. If she’d woken wrapped around him, she wouldn’t have a chance to think. She’d be too busy exploringhim. Carnal excitement filled her.
In his absence thoughts crammed her head, vying for supremacy over her feeling of contentment.
With a sigh she stuffed pillows behind her and sat up. The fine linen sheets felt heavy over her sensitised skin, grazing her nipples as she tucked the fabric under her arms. Making her remember last night in delicious detail.
If Alexei walked in now, she’d fling the sheet aside and indulge in her new favourite pastime. Sex.
Except, what they’d shared seemed much more than a mere physical coupling. It had felt...
Mina shook her head, her hair sliding around her shoulders. Whatever it had felt like, it had to stop.
She caught her lip between her teeth. It would be easy to tell herself she wasn’t thinking straight after such mind-boggling pleasure but she couldn’t escape her conscience. Responsibility, doing right, had been drummed into her from childhood.
Despite what her eager body urged, it wasn’t right to sleep with Alexei while he believed her to be someone else!
A selfish part of her wanted to thrust that aside. After all, he’d given Carissa no choice. He deserved whatever he got for his high-handed actions. And yet... Even in so short a time, she knew he was far more complex than the bogeyman they’d made him into. For one thing, Carissa’s father had stolen from him, on a large scale. Who wouldn’t be irate in the circumstances? Alexei was a victim of crime and deserved sympathy, not more treachery.
Besides, this wasn’t a question of Alexei’s culpability but hers. This masquerade didn’t sit well with Mina’s conscience. True, she did it for the best reasons, but it was still a lie. It was one thing to be swept off her feet in heightened passion and not reveal the truth. It was another to share Alexei’s bed while duping him. She’d feel cheap and tainted, prolonging that lie while they were physically intimate.
Mina hugged herself as a chill enveloped her. She wanted to be selfish and have more of what she’d had last night.
But she couldn’t, not without telling Alexei who she was.
Her conscience urged her to find Alexei and reveal the truth. Surely he’d understand. He wouldn’t insist on dragging Carissa into this.
Then she remembered his fury when he’d spoken of Carissa’s father. That adamantine set of Alexei’s jaw as he’d spoken of retribution. A chill spread through her like mountain frost. Mina hoped he’d change his mind but she couldn’t guarantee it. There was a chance he’d go through with his plans for Carissa.
Nausea swirled in her stomach and bile rose in her throat at the idea of Alexei with Carissa.Marryingher.
She wanted to scream that it wasn’t possible. He wouldn’t do that, not now, he’d more or less admitted that had been a ploy to get her here. But there were no guarantees. Alexei was a powerful man used to getting what he wanted.
She couldn’t risk it. Carissa had pleaded for another couple of days. If Mina revealed the truth now Alexei might still use her friend as a pawn. Mina hated to think it but she had to face facts.
Which left her lusting for a man she couldn’t fully trust. Lying to a man she liked more than she’d expected. Yearning for—
Mina thrust aside the sheet and scrambled out of bed. Two things were clear. She couldn’t tell Alexei who she was until she knew Carissa was safe with Pierre. And in the meantime, honour demanded Mina didn’t sleep with Alexei again.
‘Alexei?’
He looked up from the tray he was filling and saw her framed in the kitchen doorway. His heart did a crazy somersault.
She wore a miniskirt the colour of ripe watermelon and a sleeveless white shirt that tied at the waist, emphasising her slenderness. There was plenty of honey-toned skin on display but it was her hair, a dark cloud around her shoulders, and her glowing eyes, that captivated.
Heat scudded through him. Desire. Satisfaction.
He’d had her all night but that hadn’t sated his need.