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SILK WICKEDNESS 23
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YOUR LOVE (ROMANTIC SERIES) SILK WICKEDNESS 24
‘So was I.’'What? The T-shirt didn’t even make it over her head. It froze halfway and resumed temporary thigh-to-cleavage cover.‘I fell asleep. Crashed. Out for the count.*Why on earth didn't I guess? I was shattered enough to crash out, and I wasn't even driving.‘Then I’m glad I didn’t ring and wake you. You obviously needed it.’‘I should have set the alarm.’ His voice was no longer exasperated. Its edges had softened, like bitter chocolate in the sun. ‘Do you want a written apology, or shall I just grovel?’He added that little half-smile that would have melted anybody, and she was duly melted. Or perhaps woozed would have been more accurate. ‘No grovelling will be necessary,’ she said lightly. ‘It was a tiring day.’‘In more ways than one.’‘Hard on the feet.’‘And the patience.’‘Especially the patience.’For several long seconds, this verbal ping-pong ceased. Only their eyes spoke in the dark.‘How’s your cat?’‘Still with us. Just about.’‘I’m glad.’ His voice was like that
YOUR LOVE (ROMANTIC SERIES) SILK WICKEDNESS 25
‘Sort of. I’m not sure.’‘What’s she saying?’ Paul said. ‘Tell Uncle Paul all about it, Claudia. Is he a cad and a dashed bounder who’s only after one thing, as your old Granny used to say?’ He launched into his Moany Old Bag voice that never failed to have them in fits. ‘That’s all they ever think about these days. I blame the television.’‘Will you stop it?’ Kate giggled. ‘This is seriousV‘Yes, dear. Sorry, dear. Tell me all about it.’‘She thinks maybe he didn’t really fancy her before,’ Kate explained, ‘but once he realized she fancied him like mad, it sort of got him going.’‘Well, it would/ Paul said.‘And she thinks maybe he thought he was in with a chance, and that’s why he tried it on.’‘He’d hardly try it on if he thought he wasn’t in with a chance.’‘Paul, you’re not helping!’‘OK. Let me speak to her.*There was a scuffle as the phone changed hands. ‘Sounds as if you’ve got yourself in a bit of a tizwoz, me dear,* he said. ‘Want some advice from the enemy camp?’‘Yes, ple
YOUR LOVE (ROMANTIC SERIES) SILK WICKEDNESS 26
His voice was low and husky, and she knew exactly what he was going to say. Not, Are you sure you want this? He could hardly be in any doubt.‘I don’t have anything,’ he whispered. ‘Is it -?’‘It’s all right,’ she whispered back. ‘It’s fine.’From then on she was swept along in a red mist of urgency. Everything happened in a confusion of heat and need: his mouth on her nipples, the hot line his lips traced from breasts to thighs as he slid her bikini pants to her ankles, the shudder of ecstasy as his tongue probed fleet- ingly between her thighs.Then they were on the bed, her fingers frantic as she helped him get rid of his shirt. But when she groped for the fastening of his shorts he stopped her‘Don’t be in such a hurry.’ He took her wrists and held them, but his rough whisper only betrayed his own suppressed urgency. ‘Wait a little.’It was like asking her to wait for oxygen, but he made her. He tortured her with waiting, as his lips and tongue teased and sucked and flickered over
YOUR LOVE (ROMANTIC SERIES) SILK WICKEDNESS 27
I looked everywhere I could think of. The coffee-shop, the pool ... I even looked on the beach, although it’s pitch-dark and still as windy as hell. Eventually I came back to her room, to see whether she’d come back while I was gone.‘And she hadn’t.’‘No.’ He paused. ‘I went down to Reception to see whether her key was there. She went out about three o’clock.’‘What ? How can they know?*‘The guy on the desk remembered her because she looked pleased and excited. He asked her if she was going somewhere nice, and she said, “You bet I am.” ’Claudia suddenly felt sick. She turned away, ostensibly picking up a pair of shoes from the floor.You have to tell him , she thought, putting them in the cupboard. You can’t not tell him. It’s probably nothing to worry about anyway.‘Where the hell can she have gone with no money?’ he demanded.Unsteadily she sat on the bed. ‘Guy, I think she might have gone off with someone.’‘ What ?’ He started, his hands coming sharply out of his pockets. ‘Who?
YOUR LOVE (ROMANTIC SERIES) SILK WICKEDNESS 28
A waiter appeared with the menus. ‘Desserts, sir?’They paused to order and Guy filled their glasses again. ‘If I’m boring you to death, say so.’She could hardly say, I’m riveted. ‘Not in the least.’‘We started arguing,’ he went on. ‘I don’t think An- oushka was what they call a difficult baby, but we had our share of teething and so on, and it was usually me who got up in the night. Anna was worn out. I didn’t properly realize at the time, but she was still a child herself. She wanted someone to look after her. And I did, at first. Cooked most of the meals, fussed her when she had a cold. But I had my finals looming, and what with the baby as well I just couldn’t run round after her like I had before.’Their desserts arrived, frothy concoctions of meringue and tropical fruits and cream.‘Was that why she left?’ asked Claudia. ‘Because she needed someone to look after her?’‘More or less. It came to a head when Anoushka was ten months old. She’d been ill - just a cold or something,
YOUR LOVE (ROMANTIC SERIES) SILK WICKEDNESS 29
When she came back, he was still standing by the window. ‘I’m sorry,' he said. ‘I shouldn’t be here. It’s not your problem.’‘Oh, Guy.’ On an impulse she went up and put her arms around him. ‘I’m glad you came. I’ve hardly slept either.’He did not shake her off, as she’d half expected. His body was resistant at first, as if he was afraid that sympathy would make him crack, then slowly his arms came around her in return, and he stroked her hair with fingers that were not quite as steady as they might have been.‘I feel so bloody helpless.’ His voice was tense with a gritted anger that she knew was only a mask for his fears. ‘I want to go and look for her, but I don’t know where to start.’What he needed more than anything was to sleep, but it was useless to say so. She’d sound like her mother and he’d probably shake her off with an impatient, How the hell can I sleep?So what could she do? Distract him, obviously, but how? She detached herself, picked up the phone, dialled room servic
YOUR LOVE (ROMANTIC SERIES) SILK WICKEDNESS 30
There was no reply. Only the gasping, indrawn breath that comes before a river of tears.It was well over an hour later that Claudia left her. For the rest of the afternoon she waited in an agony of impatience for Guy to return.He phoned at five. T’m just back and I’m shattered. I’ll sleep for a couple of hours before dinner.’A couple of hours weren’t going to make much difference. ‘Fine. I’ll be ready when you are.’‘How’s Anoushka been?’Leave it for later. ‘Exhausted. She’s been sleeping most of the day.*‘I thought as much. I gave her a knock on my way up but she didn’t answer.’ He paused, and his voice lost its crisp- and-businesslike tone. ‘How are you, after all the dramas?’‘Fine.’‘You sound a bit tense.*‘I’m fine, really.’‘Then I’ll see you later. If I’m not with you by seven- thirty, give me a ring.*‘I will. Sleep well.’He arrived all fresh and showered and looking as if he’d had at least six hours’ sleep the night before. He kissed her and told her she looked great a
YOUR LOVE (ROMANTIC SERIES) SILK WICKEDNESS 31
‘You have to talk to her. Explain that it was all a misunderstanding.’There was another long silence, and when he spoke again his voice was roughened with emotion. ‘I wish to God I could look her in the eye and tell her truthfully that I never even thought it. But I did. And nobody will ever know how guilty I felt afterwards.’She longed to put her arms round him, even take his hand, but she didn’t. Any word or movement, she felt sure, would make him clam up.‘Until she was born, I felt very little,’ he went on. ‘Anna had this big lump that squirmed now and then, and I knew eventually it was going to come out and there’d be nappies and sleepless nights and a non-existent sex-life for weeksafterwards. I pretended, for Anna. But when she was bom . . .*He paused. Td had this idea that it was like shelling peas. I was utterly unprepared. Anna was in agony for hours, and I’ve never felt so helpless in my life. I got angry with the nurses, told them for Christ’s sake to give her somethin
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