Wait!Stop!

Chapter 4

Amanda stared at his house clearly amazed.The walls weren't hung with stern portraits of ancestors.Instead,there were modern works of art which she guessed weren't copies.

Despite herself she asked,a little breathlessly as she tried to keep up with her long gown."Is this your family home?"

Xavier waited at the top of the stairs, hands in his pockets and looking so devastatingly handsome that Amanda had to cling onto the banister.

He shook his head."No.My family occupies one of our villa downtown,I bought this about eight years ago"

"Oh"Amanda climbed the last few steps and followed Xavier as he led her down a wide, luxuriously carpeted hallway.At the end,he indicated two doors which were facing each other.

He opened the door on the left and led the way in to reveal a suite of rooms."They're two identical suites, both with bedrooms, bathrooms and dressing rooms"

Amanda guessed this was his domain by its dark colours and unashamedly masculine furnishings.She was too bemused to feel anything else at the moment, and followed him to another door, through a sitting room which had a state-of-the-art audio-visual system.

The door led into another sitting room,a mirror image of the first, albeit in softer,more neutral tones.

He turned to face her."I appreciate that this has all moved quite fast, Alisha.We don't have to start sharing the same bedroom if you need some space for now.But tonight,we are consummating this marriage,every other night,I can simply come to you when I want you"

Spots danced before Amanda's eyes and the fire in her veins was starting to bubble threateningly.They were not consummating anything tonight! From a brutal attack in Canada which had left her that scar on her stomach made her conservative and if she had ever wanted was be bedded someday.Her sister's husband wouldn't be her first time.

But then, how do you tell a man who thinks he's your husband not to touch you?

Xavier moved on and was heading for the bedroom, Amanda stomped after him, holding up her dress.

She walked in to see him standing at the open door of a dressing room, and when she looked, she saw that every surface,nook and cranny was filled to overflowing with a wardrobe of clothes and shoes.

Her jaw dropped as she walked closer.

"Consider it your trousseau"Xavier said, easily.

She looked in horror at the row upon row of undoubtedly designer-label clothes.Her skin crawled with the sensation, even if she was just filling in for Alisha,she felt as if he had bought her like some sort of living, walking doll.

"I don't like these outfits"She blurted out.

"They're ain't too different from the ones I've seen on you. I don't really care about what you want or like Alisha,you'll wear everything in there,you'll behave the way I want you to....."

She rounded on him, white with fury boiling over.

"And you call this....marriage?"

His jaw tightened."I really don't,cara.This is a business decision...pure and simple.Your family would be rich again and I have a doll to pose as a happily married wife and me....a dotting husband, I'll gain more investors, they had started to think that my single status translated to my being less than reliable on all fronts.So you see Alisha, there's nothing really bad in a marriage of convenient and if you're scared that I might be after my own pleasure.."He paused and walked closer to her."I won't be unfair to you, you'll be extremely satisfied in bed"He assured.

She swallowed the thick lump in her throat seeing him standing so close.So he wanted her....no scratch that...He wanted Alisha in bed then when they attend those boring functions,she'll have to act as a happy wife.She had always saw marriage as a blissful union,but this was far from blissful.Was this why Alisha ran away?Well she had better come back from wherever she ran off to as soon as possible.Suddenly, the three days Miguel had promised her seem like three years.

She knew she wouldn't be able to put up with him, she might just say her mind about all this shit and end up jeopardizing Alisha's marriage.

So that bitch had to return soon.

For a split second, Xavier thought she was going to challenge him but then she closed that mouth which wouldn't stop tempting him since he had a taste of it in church.

Amanda's eyes dilated when she saw him closing the small distance between them.

No!not that kiss again!

"Xavier, I....."

Her words were stopped when his mouth came crashing down on hers,his arms tight around her.Amanda's hands were fists crushed against his chest, trying to push him back.The same inevitable reaction was pooling in her body, and between her legs, but this time,she knew what it was and fought it with all her strength, even though she ached to just sink and give in.She couldn't.

Too much was at stake.

She stiffened and shut her mouth in a tight line against Xavier's sensual ministrations.He seduced and cajoled, and after torturous seconds.

Amanda found her resolve weakening under a swelling of need.To her utter disgust and chagrin,her body was betraying her again, softening....opening, instinctively, wanting to allow this man access.

Xavier's mouth gentled, and when he took it away, Amanda's head fell back.She sucked in a breath when she felt his mouth press hotly to where her pulse throbbed at the base of her neck.Big hands moulded her body, skimmed her curves and her wedding dress felt constrictive.

Without knowing how he'd managed it, Amanda felt something soft at the back of her legs and suddenly the world was tipping,she fell onto the bed in an ungainly sprawl.Shock and mortification washed through her in waves at seeing a still pristine Xavier standing looking down at her.She struggled inelegantly to sit up, hampered by the dress and her own sense of disorientation.

Dio! Kissing this woman was damn good,it made him impatient to feel what having sex with her would be like.He didn't find her this innocent and attractive before, and she didn't look at him with such eyes filled with beauty and humor.Was this what she meant by saying she was full of surprises?She was clearly manipulating him, trying to see if she could get him under her control.

Anger laced through him,she had to stop this act already.He flicked a look at the open dressing room.

"There's no negotiation on the wardrobe.You'll wear those clothes even if I have to dress you myself"

Amanda could feel that her veil had come off somewhere, and more waves of humiliation rose up as she rested back on her hands,still unable to stand up from the bed, seriously afraid her legs wouldn't hold her up.

She opened her mouth but Xavier cut her off brutally."I really don't appreciate the act you're putting up today. I know what you want from me and it's not possible.But I must say, I do like the heat between us,at least I know I won't seek pleasure in the arms of another woman,so get ready to please me well"

He bent down and came closer, snaked a hand around Amanda's neck.The skin of his hand burned against her bare skin.

"Seeing you looking so calculative before made me think you're a pro when it comes to sex but after kissing you a few minutes back, I noticed some lack of experience in you."He snickered, mischievously.

"I don't expect someone like you to be a virgin though, but clearly you've been with boys not men....not real men"He drawled.

Amanda knocked his hand away, but more because he was ready to let her go than because of her strength....... and that made her even angrier.To her intense relief,he stood up and moved a few feet back.

She sat up."You don't know me, Xavier, and you never will"

He chuckled, dangerously.

"This is the second time you're saying that to me.Should I be scared of what knowing you would do to me?"He asked sarcastically.

"I'll leave you to freshen up.And you might want to put on a little make-up to take down that flush in your cheeks.People will suspect that we've been getting a head start on our wedding night"

He calmly and insouciantly walked to the door and then turned back."The photographer will be ready soon, so when you come down, we'll get the photos out of the way.I'll be waiting downstairs."

He left and closed the door behind him.Amanda picked up a pillow from the bed and threw it at the door,where it bounced ineffectually back into the carpet.

She was slightly relieved that she wasn't spending her life with this man.

Alisha was so unlucky.

Knowing,it was useless, but wanting to do something, Amanda hauled herself off the bed and went to the interconnecting door to their rooms,her dress swishing around her feet.She locked the door, relishing the sound it made.Unfortunately,it gave only the merest hint of a veneer of security.If Alisha doesn't return soon, Xavier wouldn't be locked out forever and she was very much afraid that he would find a way into a place within her that had no lock and key.

Going into her new bathroom didn't help matters.Xavier had been right.She was flushed and her eyes were over bright.Her mouth slightly swollen and pink from his kiss.With a cry of disgust, Amanda splashed her face with cold water and went to find the make-up kit to eradicate the damage.

A few hours later found Amanda intensely alone,after photographs had been taken with her mother and Xavier's parents.He led her and her mother into his study, where their respective lawyers had been waiting.

There,the basic and sordid reality of this marriage had hit home... hard.It had been nearly too much to take in....to think that this deal had been born out of her father's desperation to get back his resort at all costs and Xavier's father's manipulative machinations.

Xavier presented a cheque for an astronomical amount of money to Isobel and they signed a contract to say that the deal was now closed...all terms and conditions met.

Amanda felt disgusted by her mother's unashamedly avaricious response.She stared at the bracelet on her wrist wishing Miguel was here..... wishing he could make her laugh and forget about her problems as always.

Did all brides feel this intensed boredom on their wedding day?

Oh!She wasn't the real bride here.

Amanda sighed,if she eventually meets her soulmate,she wouldn't feel this way on her wedding day.

She looked around the lawn, seeing the trapping of wealth around her, and feeling a little removed from everything.She had noticed countless women staring at her jealously all evening and she wanted to shout at them the truth of her sham marriage and tell them that they were welcomed to get screwed by him until her sister comes back.

And then,the tiny hairs stood up on the back of Amanda's neck.It was the extra-sensory response that was becoming annoying familiar whenever Xavier had left her side for longer than a few minutes.She saw him approach her through the crowd.

Another tall man by his side.It was only when they drew closer that she could see their startling resemblance....they were both breathtakingly handsome.... Salvador.

"Alisha, I'd like you to meet Salvador...my older brother"

They were both similar in many ways, mainly in height and build, but where Xavier's eyes were dark, Salvador's was steely grey.It surprised Amanda that his features were soft while his brother was the complete opposite.... Xavier's features were unbearably harsh.

She held out her hand."Pleased to meet you"

"Likewise"He shook her hand.

"A surgery in Rio delayed me so I couldn't make it to the church"His voice was deep and attractively accented like his brother's.

Xavier had come round to pull Amanda into his side.She automatically stiffened against his possessive hold."It's nice that you made it to the reception"

Salvador sent a mockingly amused glance to Xavier.

"I congratulate you both and wish you luck but don't expect a reciprocal visit to my wedding anytime soon. I won't be so easily caught"

Amanda all but rolled her eyes at this evidence of the insufferable arrogance running in the family.And she had thought he was actually soft.

Their mother came along to greet her oldest son, and a very definite tension spiked the air between the three of them.Amanda guessed that while Xavier and Salvador undoubtedly got on and respected each other,there was a slight uneasy wariness between them too.And she found herself wondering if there was a reason behind that.

After a few minutes of conversation, Xavier's mother made her excuses, pleading tiredness and went to find Xavier's father whose cold aura had shook her to the bones.

What was wrong with the men in this family?

Guests started leaving and Salvador drifted away to talk to a stunningly beautiful woman.

"I'm feeling really tired, Xavier, I would like to go in now"She requested trying to sound as polite as possible.

"In? That's sounds quite pleasing to my ears"

She swallowed."I meant alone"

Xavier's face went stony-hard,his eyes turned to black.

"You are my wife, Alisha and we will be sleeping together.This will be a proper marriage....in bed.Stop putting up those annoying skittish acts.Now,Let's say goodnight to our guests with a happy smile on your face.This day would be on every tabloids tomorrow so it has to end fabulously."

Amanda tipped up her chin and looked at Xavier, coolly, belying her nervousness.

"Is that all that matters to you?"

"Yes.My reputation is my first priority"He snapped.

Within minutes,he'd led Amanda around the wedding marquee as they sweetly bid their remaining guests goodbye.... including his brother who now had the beautiful woman clinging to him like a limpet and looking as if she'd just won a lottery ticket worth millions.The avaricious glitter in her eyes was unmistakable.

In that moment, Amanda caught a glimpse of how a man like Xavier could grow cynical.And then,with her hand caught firmly by Xavier's,he led her through the moonlit garden and into the house.Her heart hammered against her breastbone as they drew closer and closer to the bedroom doors.

'Think.... Amanda....think'She thought, frantically.

He opened his door and then turned and picked Amanda up into his arms so fast that her breath caught and she felt dizzy."What are you doing?"

As if she weigh nothing, Xavier said"Carrying you over the threshold"And he did just that, before putting her back on her feet on the other side.His bed loomed large and threatening just feet away from her.Xavier kicked the door closed.

Amanda backed away, and watched as Xavier's started to open his shirt to reveal the start of bronzed chest.

Panic strangled her voice."Wait....stop!"