The Price of Seduction (6 page)

Bree tilted her head back and sighed, her full lips still parted, her eyelids lowered, desire smouldering in every feature.

Holding her gaze, he pushed the gown aside and his eyes slid down to admire the smooth curve of her bosom, now fully exposed. A soft cry escaped her lips but she didn’t push him away.

She tilted her head back and beckoned him with her eyes. Those ey
es which had spurned him before now begged him soundlessly to take her.

Hot sexual yearning burned through his body. Surely she must feel the same.

Slowly he slid his hand over to her other shoulder, knowing how easily the smooth satin would slip off her fine, smooth skin.

Would she let him undo the sash and watch the gown fall completely from her body?

She’d already told him she wasn’t for sale yet she was allowing him to admire the goods, to touch them. She was telling him she wanted him.

“You see, everything has its price,” he said softly.

Suddenly her eyes burned not with desire but with anger. “No, Conrad. Not everything has a price.”

“I didn
’t mean that you were for sale.”

She
pulled the gown across her chest and folded her arms. “I don’t care what you meant. Please leave. I’d like to rest now.”

“I know you must be tired but I don’t want you to misunderstand.”

“I understand better than you think. It’s been a tiring trip and I need some time to myself.”

Conrad took a step back and nodded before turning to leave the room.

He’d assumed too much. Insulted her.

He didn’t blame her.

*          *          *

Bree
lay on the crisp white sheets of the king size bed, knowing sleep was useless. She looked at the clock on the ornate carved Balinese bedside table. It was after one. It’d be a long night if she didn’t get any sleep.

She’d long ago turned off the air conditioning, preferring the tropical air of Il Bosco to the sterile artificiality of climate control. She’d opened the French doors leading to the balcony which hung over the Chelsea River but there wasn’t even the hint of a breeze. Tonight there would be no respite.

Pressing her eyes closed, she tried to force herself to sleep though she knew it’d be useless.

It had been a dreadful evening. Conrad had tried to pursue some polite conversation over dinner and although
she’d been thankful there were several other guests at the table with them, she hadn’t felt like being sociable, retiring early to her room.

T
hen again perhaps Conrad had done her a favour by telling her everything had its price. He’d made her feel like a piece of meat, a commodity, something that could be purchased. And in doing that, he’d probably saved her from the mistake of sleeping with him.

Because that was exactly what had been about to happen.

After finding out about Trevor and his engagement, she’d decided to do as she pleased on this trip. Decided to take whatever was on offer.

It was nothing to do with Olivia or winning the Eden Enterprises account. And it wasn’t an act of revenge against Trevor. In the most painful way possible, he’d
shown her he’d moved on and wasn’t looking back. It was time for her to do the same.

Conrad Savage was everything a woman would want in a man. Rich, good looking, success
ful, sophisticated. Or so she’d thought.

Until he’d so coldly told her everything had its price.

Bree sat up in bed and dangled her legs over the edge. She’d been right in the first place. Conrad might be several steps up from Trevor Daniels but basically they lived in the same world and had the same values and that kind of man was not for her.

No, she needed someone more like herself. She had a career and a well paying, well respected job but she was more grounded than the likes of Conrad and Trevor. You didn’t get to be that wealthy without treading on people
and compromising your integrity – two things Bree would never do.

She was never going to get to sleep at this rate. Perhaps
a short walk would help relax her. Sliding off the bed, she looked down at the candy striped shorts hanging from her hips and hot pink singlet she wore as her bed time attire.

There was no point getting that satin gown which had done such a poor job of covering her earlier on. Anyway, no one else would still be up at
this time of night.

She stuck her head out of the door to confirm what she’d thought. The lounge area was empty, lit only by a couple of lamps, and the concierge’s desk was unattended. Everyone was asleep.
Everyone except her.

An odd sound cut through the quiet of the sultry night air.
A rustling or swishing sound. Like gentle waves, perhaps. Turning towards the doors leading to the patio, Bree noticed one of the sliding doors had been left slightly open, the sounds from outside flowing into the room easily.

Curious, she stepped towards the glass door. They were so far from anywhere
that she wasn’t concerned about the possibility of burglars or vagrants. This wasn’t Sydney. Yet who else would still be up at this time of night?

She slid through the small opening, her eyes caught by movement at the far end of the swimming pool. The pool lights were on and there was a full moon so she could clearly see a
man walking around the pool.

Was it footsteps she’d heard or the sound of lapping water? She wasn’t sure.

The man stopped and turned towards her, and instinctively she ducked down behind a pot plant. She’d recognised Conrad immediately and didn’t want to get caught spotting him like a peeping tom.

She could have called out to him or simply slipped back inside her room but she was drawn. There was something about the solitary figure in the pale moon
light which enraptured her. She couldn’t have made herself leave even if she’d wanted to.

Conrad’s
hair was shiny and wet so he must already have been in for a swim. Bree’s eyes were glued to his manly physique as he walked around from the far end of the pool.

His shoulders were broad and muscular, as was his chest, before his torso tapered down to his slim waist and hips. His chest bare, it was impossible even for the dim light to diminish his power and strength.

He was all man.

She
couldn’t help but notice the confidence of his stride, his certainty. She’d thought him arrogant but now he appeared assertive rather than conceited.

Her eyes were glued to his masculine form as he stopped, his back to her. The moonlight fell on him in such a way that she could see the outline of the muscles on his back and the lateral muscles down the side of his body.

Dropping her eyes down lower, her lips parted. She hadn’t realised this was a midnight skinny dip and Conrad was completely naked.

Bree couldn’t help but stare at t
he tightest, sexiest butt she’d ever seen. His buttocks clenched slightly as he moved, reminding her this wasn’t a Michelangelo statue. This was a living, breathing man.

He raised his arms. T
he muscles of his back, bottom and legs elongated before he dived into the pool with the quiet swish of a well-practiced swimmer.

Bree stood
from behind her hiding spot but tripped on the door mat. As she hopped through the narrow opening of the sliding door, she glanced towards the pool to see Conrad had turned in her direction.

Had he seen her? She hoped not.

“You handle the four wheel drive well,” Bree said.

She was trying to leave last night behind her, trying to forget about their argument but it kept coming back to her, as did the vision of Conrad naked by the pool. It was amazing she
’d managed to get any sleep at all after that.

He hadn’t mentioned anything about his midnight swim and she certainly wasn’t going to bring the subject up.

Last night was over and today she was back in public relations mode. Conrad had brought her up to Il Bosco to show her the property, or at least part of it, as it was impossible to see all of the million acres. She couldn’t let herself forget she was here on business.

Conrad glanced at her, his gaze returning to the gravel road ahead of them. “You sound surprised.”

“I had you pegged as more of a city guy.”

“I’m Sydney born and bred and I don’t pl
an on living anywhere else. There’s still something about this part of the world that grabs me. This country is beautiful and rugged but it can also be extremely unforgiving. You have to know how to take care of yourself up here.”

“Is that
why you’re buying Il Bosco?”

Conrad grinn
ed. “Il Bosco is a challenge. It needs a lot of work, needs to be better developed and promoted and at the same time it needs to be protected and looked after.”

“You like the challenge?”

“I don’t like to do what’s expected of me but I’m no fool. I’m buying Il Bosco out of love for the land
and
because I know it’ll be a successful business proposition.”

She shrugged.
“I guess it’s another excuse to travel up here more often if that’s what you want to do.”

Her tone was light hearted as she’d already decided to make an
effort to be pleasant today. Nevertheless, she considered his words carefully.

Conrad didn’t like to do what was expected of him. Perhaps he was just doing as he pleased or
maybe there was a deeper reason. She recalled reading on the Eden Enterprises website that Conrad had taken over the company ten years ago after his father’s death.

“Is this what you’ve always wanted to do?” she asked. “
I don’t mean the travel. I mean running a large business.”

It was a few moments before he answered.
“It wasn’t at first. I was only twenty-four when my father died and that’s a heck of a lot of responsibility for a young man but it’s different now. I’m comfortable with it. It’s what I do.”

“Didn’t you have any other family to help out?”

“My family were supportive but I was the only one up for the job. My mother had never shown much interest in the company and she was finally at a stage in her life where she could enjoy herself now the kids were off her hands. I have an older brother, James, an architect. All he ever wanted to do was design buildings. He was married and his wife was pregnant with their first child and basically he put his own family first. He didn’t want the stress.”

“Do you mean he
shrugged off his responsibility?”

“Not at all. Actually I admire him for it
. He knew what he wanted and stuck to his guns. His firm does most of the design work for Eden so it’s worked out well.”

“And you were expected to run the
company?”

Conrad let out a short laugh. “I’m good at it. That certainly helps. But I’ve paid my dues and now I’m doing what
I
want. Like spending more time up here. Did I tell you about dinner tonight?”

“No, is something special happening?”

“I’ve ordered in some caterers to cook up a four course dinner for the guests at The Residence tonight. We’ll all be dining together.”

It appeared he
, too, was making an effort to be pleasant. That should make things run more smoothly.

Moments later
, the Landcruiser turned off the gravel road onto a dirt one and they pulled up near a tourist sign announcing their arrival at Zebra Springs.

Bree
jumped out of the four wheel drive. There was the familiar red dust of the area, the Australian gum trees with which she’d grown up, but here they were mixed with palms and ferns, reminding her they were in the far north, not far from the Equator.

Two worlds met here – the outback and the tropics.

They’d stopped talking and the familiar hum of the car engine had ceased. It was so quiet, so far from everything.

Suddenly she was struck by the isolation into which she’d entered. They weren’t far from the Il Bosco Residence but it was a two hour trip by four wheel drive to Kim’s Creek, the nearest town, and they were over four thousand kilometres from Sydney.

She’d travelled around the world and been to many countries across Europe but had never before felt this sense of isolation. Everything she knew was far, far away.

Conrad stretched his arm out to her.
“Are you okay?”

She nodded and took his hand, then strode silently ahead, leading the
way along the dirt path to the springs. She could hear Conrad’s footsteps behind her. She had the sense that they were very much alone, far from the safety of everything she knew and all the things that made up her world.

They were in a place where anything could happen. If she let it.

After weaving their way along a path, they stepped over two small wooden bridges that took them them over trickling creeks.

Passing through a canopy of trees, Bree stopped in awe to look at Zebra Springs and the multitude of little pools at the foot of the gentle waterfall in front of her. Spring waters cascaded over large sandstone rocks. A rich pocket of tropical vegetation surrounded them, dappled light filtering down over the rocks and the water.