Undying Love

Undying Love

Carole Mortimer

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

THE first person Shanna saw when she entered her brother’s spacious lounge was Rick Dalmont. And that was enough to make her want to leave again!

But she met that black-eyed gaze without blinking, nodding cool acknowledgment before turning to talk to her sister-in-law, Janice. But she knew those strange dark eyes still watched her, was always aware of Rick Dalmont’s gaze on her whenever they happened to meet. And that had been all too often lately as far as she was concerned.

‘I’m so glad you made it,’ Janice said with some relief; she was a small blonde-haired woman, married to Shanna’s brother Henry for the last ten years; their two offspring, a boy and a girl, were fast asleep upstairs.

Shanna didn’t need to question her sister-in-law’s feeling of relief; she knew the reason for it—Rick Dalmont. Half Spanish, half American, the black-haired, black-eyed business tycoon had made no secret of his pursuit from the moment they met two weeks ago. Until that time a young up-and-coming actress had shared his life; she had been asked to leave the night Rick met Shanna for the first time. A lot of women would have been flattered by the almost single-minded pursuit by such a man—Rick Dalmont was a very eligible bachelor—but Shanna would rather he turned his attention elsewhere. Ricardo Dalmont, to give him his full name, wasn’t her type at all. His reputation with women was no secret, his method of ending those relationships was not always gentle. In fact, it was very often cruel; the women were simply replaced, without notice.

But that wasn’t the reason for Shanna’s lack of interest, she simply wasn’t interested in any man at the moment. Clinically she could admire Rick Dalmont’s looks, the over-long black hair, the hard tanned face, the jet-black eyes that revealed none of the man’s thoughts; his mouth was a cynical twist, his tall body leanly muscled, his sexual magnetism tangible even to the immune Shanna. But as a person she disliked him intensely, disliked all that he stood for.

‘For goodness’ sake get him away from Henry,’ Janice pleaded with her. ‘This is supposed to be a party, not a business meeting,’ she groaned.

‘I’m sure Henry doesn’t mind,’ Shanna said dryly, knowing her brother’s preoccupation with business. She hadn’t reached the age of twenty-five without learning that of her older brother.

‘He probably introduced the subject,’ the other woman nodded. ‘But he suddenly seems to have lost Rick’s attention,’ she mocked dryly.

Shanna followed Janice’s amused gaze, her green eyes clashing with his black ones. She had never seen eyes like Rick Dalmont’s before, so dark a brown they appeared black. That dark gaze moved slowly over her body, from the smoothness of her straight shoulder-length black hair with the feathered fringe from a centre parting, her green eyes surrounded by dark sooty lashes, the small straight nose, the bright lip-gloss on her slightly pouting lips, the slenderness of her throat, the perfection of her body in the clinging knee-length red dress, her long legs thrust into black high-heeled sandals, adding to her already considerable height.

She met that intimate gaze with a challenge of her own, and made herself return the inventory, the over-long black hair swept back from the wide intelligent forehead, the harsh features carved as if from stone, the animal elegance of the powerful body beneath the black evening suit, the material stretched over wide shoulders, tapering to a narrow waist and powerful thighs. Rick Dalmont was a magnificent specimen of manhood; and he left Shanna cold, both physically and emotionally.

And he knew it too, had known of her coldness from the beginning, and it only increased his desire for her. She should have known such a man would consider her a challenge, that he would meet that challenge head-on. If she had known of his presence here, at what was primarily a private party for a few friends of her brother’s, she would have refused the invitation. That was probably the reason Henry had remained silent; her brother was well aware of her feelings in regard to his new business acquaintance.

The newness of Henry’s apparent friendship with the other man bothered her somewhat. Rick Dalmont wasn’t a man’s man, his relationships were mainly sensual, his many business interests seeming to be his only other occupation. The Dalmont fortune had been made by Todd Dalmont, Rick’s father, originally in oil, but since Rick Dalmont had taken over fifteen years ago he had diversified the family fortune, successfully, into a number of different industries. A man like Rick Dalmont would be successful at anything he set out to do, from winning the woman of his choice to getting the best deal for Dalmont Industries!

And that was what bothered her. Henry and Rick had absolutely nothing in common socially. Henry was a staid family man, very much in love with his wife, whereas Rick Dalmont had made his opinion of marriage known on more than one occasion; he approved of it for other people, but not for himself. So that only left business that Henry could have in common with the other man, and yet even that didn’t seem plausible, for as far as Shanna knew Rick Dalmont had no interest in the newspaper business, and as Henry ran and owned one of England’s biggest newspapers…

‘He’s coming over,’ Janice whispered softly.

She had been expecting it, could sense his presence even now, was aware of the warmth of his body as he came to stand beside her, could smell the spicy aftershave that was exclusive to him, as were the cheroots he smoked.

‘Shanna,’ he greeted in a voice of gravel and honey. She had been surprised by that voice the first time she heard it, had never heard such a smoothly seductive voice cloaked in such husky tones, his accent softly American.

‘Mr Dalmont,’ she returned smoothly, knowing he found her distant behaviour amusing.

‘Could I get you a drink?’ he offered gruffly.

‘I’m sure Henry——’

‘Rick knows the way to the bar,’ her brother dismissed unhelpfully.

Shanna gave a haughty inclination of her head, left with no other choice. ‘Then I accept your kind offer, Mr Dalmont.’

Her arm was taken between vicelike fingers as she was steered away from Henry and Janice and through to the bar in the adjoining room. ‘I wasn’t being kind at all, Shanna,’ Rick told her softly. ‘Not unless you count to myself. You left Doug Gillies’ party two evenings ago before I even had the chance to talk to you.’

She would have left this evening too if it hadn’t been her brother’s party. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said coolly, only reaching up to his shoulder despite her own considerable height.

He grinned, deep grooves in the hardness of his cheek, his eyes a deep enigmatic black. ‘You aren’t sorry at all,’ he derided. ‘But I’ll let it pass for now. Dry Martini, isn’t it?’ he nodded towards the bar.

Shanna didn’t question his knowing her preference in drinks; this man would make it his business to find out her preferences in everything! ‘Thank you,’ she accepted distantly.

‘My pleasure,’ he drawled suggestively.

Shanna ignored the innuendo, realising that this man was used to a more positive reaction from women, that her indifference to him intrigued him. She had had no choice, she either showed him her indifference or gave him what he wanted. And as he wanted her, made no secret of the fact, she had decided to show him indifference. Either way he was sure to lose interest soon, and this y there was no harm to her. She had no intention of sleeping with a man just as a means of getting him out of her life! Rick Dalmont wasn’t a man who enjoyed the chase for long, she just hoped he would tire of her soon; he was making it awkward for her to go anywhere, always seeming to be where she was.

‘Here,’ he held the long glass out to her, somehow managing to touch her slender fingers in the process. ‘Not very subtle,’ he acknowledged the slight raise of her brows. ‘But I figured it’s the only way to touch you at all. Do you usually freeze men off the way you’ve been freezing me?’

He was beginning to tire, she could tell that. Until tonight Rick Dalmont had shown her of his attraction to her, but it had always been charmingly done, never a word or movement out of place. Tonight his behaviour was noticeably different; the chase was over, the feline abobout to catch his prey, any way he could. It was the time she had been dreading the most; her own polite but distant behaviour was no longer enough to repel him. She would have to be as blunt as he intended being.

She met his gaze unflinchingly, her black hair swinging back over her shoulders. ‘Yes,’ she answered abruptly.

The charm had gone from his face now, leaving his expression harsh, his mouth taut, his eyes narrowed. ‘So I’m not the exception?’ he bit out, seemingly unaware—or just unconcerned—of the people standing near them, the conversation and loud laughter doing a lot to mask this very private conversation.

‘No,’ she drawled, knowing the idea displeased him. Rick Dalmont was a man who arrogantly dismissed women when they displeased him; he was never dismissed himself. It would have been that way all his life; the Dalmont fortune had been made long before Todd took his young Spanish bride and produced Ricardo. Rick Dalmont had grown up with a gold spoon in his mouth, and the determined line of his mouth said he wasn’t going to allow a mere woman to deny him something he wanted—even if it was her! For thirty-seven years nothing had been denied him, and Shanna Logan wasn’t about to be the exception, not even when it was her body he wanted. ‘What do you and my brother have to talk about so earnestly?’ She decided attack was still the better form of defence.

Rick’s mouth twisted derisively. ‘He hasn’t told you yet?’

‘No,’ she evaded.

‘I wonder why?’ he taunted.

She gave a careless shrug. ‘I have no doubt he will, in time.’

Rick gave a haughty inclination of his head. ‘In time. But will that be too late?’

‘I have no idea. Will it?’

He gave a husky laugh. ‘It could be,’ he mocked her attempt to get information out of him.

‘Then perhaps I’d better go and talk to Henry now.’ She turned to leave.

Firm fingers grasped her arm, strong relentless fingers that held Shanna to his side. ‘It can wait,’ he dismissed abruptly. ‘Maybe if you ask me nicely enough I might be persuaded to tell you.’

She eyed him coldly. ‘I can get the information from Henry with much less effort.’

His breath was warm against her cheek. ‘Would it be so much of an effort?’

‘Yes!’ she snapped—and then cursed herself for her show of anger. She had intended to show this man no emotion at all, but his manhandling of her couldn’t go without retaliation of some sort. She pulled pointedly out of his grasp, knowing her arm was going to be bruised in the morning from his reluctance to release her. ‘Yes, I’m afraid it would, Mr Dalmont,’ she repeated coldly. ‘And I hate having to make an effort of any kind.’

‘Poor little rich girl,’ he rasped.

Her cool green eyes openly mocked him. ‘Isn’t that slightly ridiculous, coming from you?’

‘I worked for my place as head of Dalmont Industries from the time I could understand what stocks and shares were,’ he bit out fiercely. ‘My father never gave anyone anything for nothing in his life, and he wasn’t about to start with me. What’s your excuse?’

She had hit a raw nerve, she could tell that; Rick Dalmont would lose his temper only rarely. He had just done so very effectively. ‘I don’t have one,’ she told him quietly. ‘I’m the editor of a magazine Henry owns.’

‘So he informed me,’ Rick nodded abruptly. ‘A cursory title, I’m sure.’

‘Then don’t be,’ she snapped. ‘Fashion Lady may only be a women’s magazine, and unimportant to a man like you, but I run it to the best of my ability.’

‘And how good is that?’

She flushed at the quietly intended insult. ‘Ask Henry!’ her eyes flashed.

To her chagrin Rick Dalmont began to smile. ‘At least this is an improvement. I’ve made you lose your temper with me three times in the last five minutes.’

‘I think that probably makes us even,’ she taunted.

‘Nothing like it,’ he still smiled. ‘My temper has been much less controlled since I met you. But you could soon change that,’ he added throatily. ‘All it would take is one word from you.’

And she knew exactly what that word was! ‘I haven’t been using that word too often lately,’ she said abruptly.

‘Since your husband died.’

Shanna froze. ‘What do you know about that?’

Rick shrugged. ‘It’s no secret that he died, is it?’

‘No.’ She avoided that black-eyed gaze, knowing this man could see into her soul if he wanted to. And from what she knew of him he would want to.

‘Or how he died?’ His eyes were narrowed now, sensing her increased hostility.

She swallowed hard. ‘No.’

It had been no secret how Perry died, it had been emblazoned across the front page of every newspaper in the world. A famous ex-racing driver killed in a road accident was world-wide news.

‘Or that you were in the car with him at the time?’ Rick continued his prodding into her personal pain.

This time she didn’t even answer him; her expression was wooden, refusing to show any emotion to this man. He would take any sign of weakness and use it to his advantage.

‘Or that your marriage had already ended.’

The cruelly stated words brought a light sheen of perspiration to her brow, although her dull gaze remained fixed on one of the light-fittings on the far wall.

‘That the two of you be together at all was an unusual occurrence.’

Her gaze slowly moved back to the hard face of the man standing in front of her, missing the taut enquiry of his expression, seeing only the determined cruelty of his eyes and mouth. ‘If you’ll excuse me, Mr Dalmont——’

‘And if I won’t?’ Once again his fingers bruised her arm, but this time she didn’t even feel the pain.

‘You will.’ The cold dullness of her voice made his hand drop away, and without another glance in his direction she walked away.

People rarely spoke to her of Perry, most of them respecting the fact that she must still feel her husband’s loss after only six months. But Rick Dalmont had a hard cruelty about him that didn’t respect anything, even a widow’s grief. He had even mentioned the reports in some newspapers that her marriage to Perry had been far from happy at the end. Only an insensitive swine could have done that. Rick Dalmont would use anything to get what he wanted, including her grief for Perry.

‘Shanna,’ Henry touched her arm lightly. ‘What have you said to Rick?’ he asked anxiously. ‘He looks like thunder.’

She blinked up at her brother, her elder by five years, his receding hairline adding to his air of maturity. Although right now he looked very worried.

‘You haven’t upset him, have you?’ He kept shooting worried glances at the other man.

‘Does it look like it?’ she mocked. Rick Dalmont was now leaning against the wall talking softly into the ear of a giggly blonde.

‘Rick isn’t interested in Selina,’ Henry dismissed.

‘Oh?’ She was regaining control now, wishing she hadn’t made her distress quite so obvious to Rick Dalmont. He was a man who shouldn’t be given any advantage, and she had just given him one.

‘You know he isn’t,’ her brother sighed.

‘Do I?’

‘You’re too old to play coy games, Shanna,’ he said impatiently. ‘The man wants you, and you know it.’

‘I also know he isn’t going to have me!’ Her eyes flashed deeply green.

‘Shanna——’

‘Henry, I think we should talk,’ she watched his flushed face warily. ‘I don’t like the way you’ve suddenly become involved with that man.’

‘That’s business, Shanna——’

‘But what business? When did Rick Dalmont become interested in the world of newspaper publishing?’

‘He isn’t——’

‘Then what business are you involved in with him?’ she frowned.

‘We can’t talk about it here, Shanna,’ he avoided. ‘This is a party. And you know Janice doesn’t like business discussed at her parties.’

She sighed. ‘Tomorrow, then?’

‘Sunday? Mm, come to lunch,’ he added. ‘Peter and Susan will like that.’

Her expression softened at the mention of her nephew and niece. And she had a feeling she was being manipulated once again, and this time by her own brother; Henry knew how fond of Peter and Susan she was.

‘We’ll talk about Rick Dalmont before lunch.’ She didn’t let him even think he had got away with the distraction. ‘I’ll come over about twelve.’

He grimaced. ‘Fine.’

She smiled at his lack of enthusiasm. ‘You got into this, Henry,’ she drawled at his discomfort. ‘Now you can explain it to me.’

‘Shanna——’

She touched his cheek mockingly. ‘Tomorrow, Henry. And I shall expect a full explanation.’

‘But——’

‘A full explanation,’ she repeated determinedly.

‘I’m beginning to wonder who’s the eldest in this family,’ he muttered before moving away to join his wife, as a couple of the guests were taking their leave.

‘A good question,’ drawled an amused voice from behind her, an unmistakable voice of honey and gravel. Shanna spun round, wondering just how long Rick Dalmont had been listening to her conversation with her brother.

‘You really shouldn’t pressurise Henry, honey,’ he mocked. ‘Now me, you wouldn’t have to pressurise at all.’

‘I told you——’

‘You wouldn’t even have to be persuasive,’ he cut in softly. ‘Let me take you home and I’ll tell you all.’

She stiffened at the intimate warmth of his gaze. ‘I have my car here.’

He shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘Then you drive me home—I came by cab.’

‘I’d rather not,’ she refused distantly.

Anger flashed in the dark eyes. ‘No wonder your husband turned to other women!’ he rasped.

Shanna went deathly pale. ‘What did you say?’

‘When a man is frozen out of his own bed it’s inevitable that he’ll turn to other women for physical satisfaction,’ he scorned.

‘Are you saying that’s what Perry did?’

‘It’s public knowledge,’ he shrugged again.

‘Is it?’

‘Was he still sleeping with you before he died?’

‘Our sleeping arrangements have nothing to do with—Oh!’ she gave a painful gasp as her wrist was grasped and her arm twisted up behind her back, her body brought dangerously close to the hard-muscled flesh of Rick Dalmont. ‘Let me go,’ she ordered between gritted teeth.

‘Smile,’ he instructed curtly, his teeth showing white against his dark complexion. ‘I said smile, damn it,’ he bit out savagely at her lack of response to his order.

She looked about them desperately, amazed that no one could see what this man was doing to her. And then she realised that several people who had come here alone were now in rather close clinches with a man or woman they had met here tonight. Janice would be shocked to know that some of these couples whom she had only just introduced would even be in bed together later tonight.

But not Rick Dalmont and herself. And he was still hurting her, his hold on her arm brutal. ‘How can I smile when you’re breaking my arm?’ she groaned.

He lightened his grip slightly, although the relaxation made her body curve more intimately against him. ‘I’m sorry,’ but he didn’t look very repentant. ‘Now answer my question,’ he ground out.

‘I’ve forgotten what it was,’ she muttered.!

‘Liar!’

She blinked at the vehemence of his tone. ‘I won’t discuss my marriage to Perry with you!’

Rick sighed, releasing her completely at the inflexibility of her tone. ‘Even in the face of danger you choose to defy me.’

‘Danger?’ She raised black brows.

‘So cool,’ he shook his head. ‘It isn’t natural. Your eyes speak of fire, of all you have to give a man——’

‘Not you!’

‘Me,’ his eyes glittered furiously. ‘I’m getting tired of waiting for you, Shanna——’

‘What is it, Mr Dalmont?’ She refused to rub her aching wrist and arm; she wouldn’t show any weakness to this man, ever. ‘Did you think that because I’ve been widowed for the last six months I would fall into your arms like an over-ripe plum? Did you think I would be so sexually frustrated that you would have no trouble at all getting me into bed with you?’ Her voice rose angrily.

‘Maybe you’re sexually cold,’ he dismissed.

‘Oh, that’s usually the next insult!’ she scorned. ‘Then I’m supposed to sleep with you just to prove that I’m not cold at all. I’ve been through it all before, Mr Dalmont. I must say, I’m disappointed in you—I expected more sophistication from you.’

His mouth tightened. ‘Why do you have to fight me?’ he asked quietly, impatiently. ‘I’ve asked you out so many times over the last two weeks that I’ve lost count.’

‘Then give up!’

‘I want you, Shanna,’ he told her forcefully, pinning her to the spot with the intensity of his gaze. ‘And I never give up on something I want as badly as I want you. I’ve left a trail of broken people behind me who could tell you that.’

She had gone very pale, believing his threat. ‘That was business——’

‘Business or personal, it doesn’t matter,’ he shrugged. ‘I always win in the end.’

She had heard of his ruthless business dealings, of the people he had ruined in his desire to add to the Dalmont coffers, but she had never heard of this singlemindedness with a woman before. Although perhaps he had never been turned down before! ‘No,’ she shook her head. ‘Not this time you won’t,’ she told him with quiet conviction.

‘You loved your husband, is that it?’

She couldn’t help flinching at the scorn of his tone. ‘Yes,’ her voice was husky, her head bent.

‘You still love him?’ he grated.

‘Yes.’

‘I don’t believe it!’

Her head went back proudly, her eyes flashing. ‘It’s the truth,’ she snapped.

‘And the parties almost every night, the men who pay you attention—that’s mourning him, is it?’ Rick derided harshly.

‘He wouldn’t want me to stay at home.’

‘I would!’ he bit out fiercely, his eyes jet-black. ‘I’d want you to lock yourself away until you died too.’

His intensity took her breath away, and she swallowed hard. ‘Maybe that’s what I am doing, waiting to die,’ she said softly.

‘At parties every night?’ he scorned.

She looked at him with steady green eyes. ‘Maybe I just don’t want to be alone when I die.’

Rick Dalmont looked as if she had physically hit him, paling slightly beneath his olive complexion. ‘Shanna…?’

She sighed, shaking off his hand. ‘Selina seems anxious for you to return to her side,’ she drawled. ‘I’m sure she’ll be much more—amenable than I could ever be.’

‘I don’t want Selina,’ he rasped.

‘Poor Selina,’ she murmured, her cool façade back in place. ‘She’s very attractive.’

‘She doesn’t have black hair and green eyes.’

‘I’m sure there are thousands of willing women who do.’

‘With emphasis on the willing, hmm?’ he taunted.