Forbidden Seduction [ Forbidden Obsession]

She was under no illusions about why he had kissed her like that… It was his way of reminding her not just of the past, but also of his superiority… of telling her that, whilst she might be the one who was in charge of the project they were going to be working on together, he still had the power to control her… to control her and to hurt her.

Elena turned swiftly on her heel, not waiting for him to see the emotions she knew were clouding her eyes. knew were clouding her eyes.

‘The lake needs dredging,’ she commented crisply as she shuttered her eyes and stared out towards the large ornamental lake several hundred yards away from the house.

It was the wrong thing to say. She could hear the mocking amusement in Roth’s voice as he drawled, ‘Well, yes, it does, but let’s hope this time you don’t end up head-first in the mud. We’ll have to hose you down out here if you do.

There’s no way Mrs Lucia is going to let you into the Rectory smelling of stagnant lake water and covered in mud and weed…’ Elena stiffened, for the moment ignoring his reference to the ignominious fate which had overtaken her as an over-eager teenager when she had missed her footing and fallen head-first into the pond they had been cleaning out on Luca’s estate.

‘The Rectory?’ she questioned him with ominous calm.

She knew from the reports she had read before leaving New York that Roth was presently living in the eighteenth-century Rectory which was part of the estate and which, like the living which had originally gone with it, was in the gift of the owner of the Hall. To judge from the plans and photographs which She had seen, it was a very, very substantial and handsome property, surrounded by particularly attractive grounds, and she had not been in the least bit surprised to read that it had originally been built for a younger son of the family who had chosen to go into holy orders.

“Mmm… you won’t have seen it as you drove in. It’s on the other side of the estate. I’m living there at the moment and I’ve arranged with Mrs Lucia, who used to be my cousin’s housekeeper when he lived there, for a room to be prepared for you. Michael mentioned that you’d probably be working here for a number of months and he and I agreed that in view of Haverton’s distance from the nearest town, and the fact that he has warned me that you like to keep a very keen eye on the budgets, it makes sense for you to stay at the Rectory rather than waste time and money hunting around for alternative accommodation.

Especially since it seems that there could be occasions when you might have to travel abroad to check on work you’ve set in progress at other Trust properties.’

What he said made sense, but still-she wasn’t a child any longer; what she did not need to have was Roth telling her what to do!

‘But you live at the Rectory,’ Elena commented quickly.

Immediately Roth’s eyebrows rose and he told her laconically, ‘It’s got ten bedrooms, Elena, excluding the upper attics-more than enough space for both of us, I should have thought.’

‘Does this Mrs Lucia live in?’ Elena asked him stiffly

Roth stared at her for a moment and then burst out laughing.Property © NôvelDrama.Org.

‘No, she doesn’t,’ he told her coolly, ‘although I’m not sure why it should make any difference. You and I have lived under the same roof before, after all, Elena, and if it’s the thought of any unplanned nocturnal wanderings that’s

worrying you…’ He gave her a wolfish grin and to her fury actually reached out and patted her tauntingly on the arm as he told her, still laughing, ‘Don’t worry.

I’ll make sure I get a lock put on my door so that you don’t come wandering in…’

Elena was too speechless with anger to be able to respond.

‘What’s wrong now?’ Roth challenged her mock-innocently. ‘There’s no need to be embarrassed at the fact that you occasionally sleepwalk… Of course, it might be an idea to make sure you go to bed wearing something, but I’ll warn

Mrs Lucia and…’ He stopped as Elena made a female growl of frustration deep in her throat.

‘That was years ago, when I was a child,’ she told him defensively, ‘and it only happened once… I don’t sleepwalk now…’

What was she doing? What was she saying? Why was she letting him do this to her? Elena ground her teeth. Yes, once, when she had been initially disoriented and upset at her mother marrying again, she had actually sleepwalked, and might, in fact, have suffered a nasty accident if Roth hadn’t

happened to see her on his way up to bed. But it had happened once, that was all, and, even after she had eventually developed a massive crush on him, surreptitiously creeping into his bedroom had been the last thing on her mind then. She had been far too unworldly, far too naive even to think of such a thing.

‘No! Then what are you worrying about?’ Roth challenged her, his expression suddenly hardening as he demanded, ‘If it’s the fact that you’ll be living under my roof whilst Michael is in New York-‘

‘Your roof?’ Elena interrupted him quickly, suddenly recognizing a way of turning the tables on him and regaining control of the situation, of showing him

who was boss.