Enemies at the Altar by Melanie Milburne Read Free Book Online Page B

terrace and beyond, snapping away in bliss, losing track of time as she explored the gardens.
    She was aiming for a shot of a bird on a shrub when she caught sight of a dog skulking in the distance. She lowered the camera and, shading her eyes with one of her hands, peered to see if anyone was with it. It seemed to be alone and, by the look of its sunken-in sides, half starving.
    Sienna looped her camera strap around her wrist andwalked towards the dog. ‘Here, boy,’ she called when she got a little closer. ‘Come here and say hello.’
    The dog looked at her warily, the back of its neck going up in stiff bristles.
    Sienna was undaunted. She crouched down and crooned to the dog softly, holding out her hand for it to smell. The dog crept closer, its body low to the ground, the hackles going down and its tail giving the tiniest of wags. ‘Good boy,’ she said. ‘That’s right; I won’t hurt you. Good dog.’
    Just as she was about to see if the dog’s worn collar had an identifying tag on it, there was a sound behind her and the dog tore off, disappearing into the nearby woods with its tail tucked between its legs.
    ‘You little fool,’ Andreas said. ‘You’ll get yourself bitten. That dog is a stray. Franco was supposed to shoot it days ago.’
    Sienna rose from her crouching position but, even so, he seemed to tower over her. ‘But it’s wearing a collar!’ she said. ‘It must belong to someone. Maybe it’s just lost and can’t find its way home.’
    ‘It’s a flea-bitten mongrel,’ he said. ‘Any fool can see that.’
    Sienna scowled at him. ‘I suppose you only allow pure-bred dogs with pedigree papers the thickness of three phone books on your precious property.’ She brushed past him to go back to the villa. ‘What a stuck-up jerk.’
    He caught her arm on the way past, swinging her round to face him. ‘You shouldn’t be wandering around down here without shoes,’ he said. ‘Are you completely without sense?’
    Sienna tugged at his hold but it tightened like a vice.She felt the sexy rasp of his callused fingers on her wrist and her stomach gave a little fluttery flip-flop. She met his hard hazel eyes and something shifted in the atmosphere. Her gaze slipped to his mouth. He hadn’t yet shaved and the sexy pepper of his stubble sent another shockwave of awareness through her. He smelt of man and heat and hard work, a potent smell that stirred her feminine senses into a mad frenzy. Could he tell how much he got under her skin? Could he sense it? Was that why he kept looking at her with those smouldering eyes? ‘What would you care?’ she said. ‘I’d be better off to you dead, wouldn’t I?’
    His brooding frown cut deeper into his tanned forehead. ‘That’s a crazy thing to say,’ he said. ‘Why would I want you dead?’
    ‘Because you’d automatically inherit the chateau,’ she said. ‘You wouldn’t have to go through a marriage you didn’t want to a woman you hate more than anyone else in the world.’
    ‘You hate me just as much as I hate you, so we’re pretty square on that,’ he said. ‘Or are you hiding a secret affection for me, hmm?’
    She gave him a withering look. ‘You have got to be joking.’
    He tugged her closer, flush against his rock-hard body. The heat of his arousal was like a brand against her belly. ‘You like to tease and tantalise, don’t you,
cara
?’ he said. ‘You like the power. It’s like a drug to you, to have men falling over themselves to possess you. I see it in your eyes. They dance with sensual intent. You can’t wait to have me fall at your feet. But I won’t do it. I won’t let you play your seductress games with me. I will have you on my terms, not yours.’
    Sienna pushed against his chest with the flat of her hands but, while it put some distance between their upper bodies, it made their lower connection all the more intense. She felt the thundering roar of his blood against her, the rigid length of him taking her breath