‘But I want you…’ An arm closed round her narrow spine, a big hand covering her thigh. ‘I’m as hard as a rock and I keep on thinking that this is my birthday and I should be allowed to do whatever I want. And right now, at this moment, I just want to be inside you again.’
Violet’s mouth fell open and then she was saved by the arrival of Tore’s relatives. They had added to the party with various boy-and girlfriends, and a slinky blonde in a rather revealing red dress took advantage of the fact that Violet had stood up to greet everybody and slid in beside Tore with a flashing smile to introduce herself.
‘Your girlfriend?’ Violet asked Sandro, who settled down beside her.
‘Wish she was. Angelina’s an actress. She jumped at the chance to meet Tore,’ Sandro informed her with a grimace. ‘He’s always a target when he goes out in public. He might as well be wearing a flashing billionaire sign above his head.’
‘He’s also very good-looking,’ Violet interposed, disliking the suggestion that Tore would only be desired for his wealth.
‘Well, look after him. She’s like a guided missile locked on a target when she wants to impress.’
‘Why don’t you make a move on her?’
‘I love to be seen out with her, but she’s not interested,’ Sandro admitted ruefully. ‘She sexes up my image but it’s only a show for the headlines. I owed her a favour and when she asked if she could come with me to meet Tore, I couldn’t say no.’
Angelina was chattering to Tore while he was hailing the waitress to order drinks for their table. The owner of the club came up to speak to him personally, positively fawning over the blonde’s graciously offered hand. Violet chatted as best she could to Tore’s family members in the midst of the noisy party atmosphere. Angelina’s girlish giggles sounded in her ear several times and when two of the other women got up to dance, Violet accompanied them down to the dance floor. She was irritated when she noticed that one of their bodyguards had stationed himself by the wall nearby. It made her feel a little like a prisoner out on parole but still under supervision.
She stayed on the floor a long time because she was enjoying herself and had no idea when she would get another chance to dance since it was obvious that Tore was not a fan of such venues. The bodyguard signalled her.
Out of breath from her gyrations, she approached him. ‘Mr Renzetti would like you to rejoin the party upstairs,’ he shouted in her ear.
‘Sorry, no…’ Violet framed without hesitation.
She wasn’t a little girl to be called to order, summoned like a servant to do as she was told. Oh, hell no! If she wanted to dance, she was entitled to dance and as she was with two of Tore’s family members, she already had a pair of literal chaperones.
Exasperated by the actress’s persistent attentions, Tore vaulted upright and strode to the balcony to see why Violet had yet to return to his side. He saw her at the edge of the floor, lights flashing across the neckline of her dress and highlighting the firm little mounds of the breasts shifting beneath the fine fabric as she moved. And then he watched her spin and twerk.Dio mio,his wife was twerking like a teenager in public! He blinked and looked again but it was happening, the hem of the dress riding up to show rather more of her slender thighs than he liked on view. Tore breathed in deep and slow. Was he being too conservative? Too controlling? But Violet down on that floor alone felt absolutely wrong to him. So obviously, he was an old-fashioned guy…was he? Since when?
Evidently, since he had married Violet, who unfortunately loathed anyone trying to tell her what to do. She had said that that rebelliousness was a trait of her twin’s, even though it was painfully obvious to Tore that she was exactly the same. And he had a bad habit of shooting out orders and expecting them to be immediately obeyed. He knew that that tendency was something he needed to work on when it concerned a wife. As she had already told him, she was not an employee of his.
But still, he went rigid as a young man began to dance up against her. Dark primal fury surged up in a tidal wave inside Tore. That someone should actually touch her was beyond his tolerance level and he strode down the stairs to retrieve her. Was he a possessive man?
He had never thought he was before he met Violet. He couldn’t have cared less about the various women who had amused him during his rare leisure moments. He had never had to pursue one of them. He had never had one who answered back and defied his wishes, either. Violet was in a class of her own. It was a marvel to him that such a small body could house such a huge personality. Only that feisty persona didn’t show on the surface. He had initially thought that she was rather timid and quiet, but dare to cross Violet and you soon found out that she had inner fire and a passion for defending her rights as an individual.
Violet saw Tore watching her from the edge of the floor, ebony brows pleated, disapproval emanating from every inch of his big, powerful body. She moved away from the guy who had been trying to get her to dance with him and sped towards Tore, holding out her hand, wanting him to take it so that he could join her on the floor. Tore reached out and grasped her fingers but used them merely to tug her even closer.
‘Tore!’ she exclaimed as he simply bent down and swept her off her feet to carry her in his arms.
‘Don’t be stupid…put me down!’ she instructed.
‘Not until we reach the car,’ he asserted. ‘If I put you down, you’ll run away again.’
‘Tore…think about this,’ she urged. ‘What does this look like?’
‘Like a guy retrieving his wife. Perfectly normal,’ Tore declared confidently.
‘Someone might take photos of us!’ she warned him.
‘Couldn’t care less,’ Tore countered truthfully, striding towards the exit after giving a nod to the club owner, his security team falling in around them to break through the crush.
‘We’re supposed to be hosting a party!’ she slammed up at him in disbelief.
‘Nobody’s going to miss us.’
‘Angelina will miss you,’ Violet told him snidely.
‘Yes, where were you when I needed you?’ Tore enquired, green eyes gleaming bright with condemnation in his hard-hewn handsome face. ‘You could’ve chased her off and instead you abandoned me.’
‘I know you,’ Violet argued vehemently. ‘You were perfectly capable of chasing her off without anyone’s help!’
