Carved in Stone: Monochrome Destiny (16 page)

“Ready to have a go at casting?”
Andrew’s words
trickled over Robyn’s shoulder tensing her muscles and rendering her insides
molten.

“Yes,”
she nodded, feeling pliant beneath his arms.  What was it he was doing to
her?

“This
time when we flick to the left, let go of the line.”  His tone was
instructive.  How could he keep so calm when she felt so out of control?

“Okay,”
Robyn nodded in affirmation but she wasn’t convincing herself.  Andrew’s
words were sliding over her mind, she wasn’t able to pay much heed and she knew
her body was going to be unable to do as instructed, not with him sitting so
close.

Andrew
pulled the rod to the right and then Robyn felt the pressure of his hands on
hers as he flicked it left.  She let the line free from under her finger
and was amazed as the line flew out of the reel and the float and bait landed
in the water twenty feet from the boat.

“Not
bad,” Andrew said, still holding her.  His chin rested on her shoulder,
his cheek against her ear, heating her to boiling.  She couldn’t help but
tilt her head towards his.  Her subconscious wanted to be as close to him
as possible.  He tightened his arms and they sat for a moment, still in
the relative silence of the ocean, the only noise the gentle lapping of waves
against the hull and the creaking of the ropes and sails.

“Do
you want to try that again?” he whispered in her ear.

“Yes,”
she was breathless and it came out as a whisper.

Taking
charge, Andrew reeled in the line.  The long fingers of his right hand
still covered Robyn’s, but he held the line between his index finger and thumb
as he reeled.  When it was the same length as when they had started,
Andrew let Robyn hold the line again and lifted the wire bail.  Again,
with his hands over hers, they cast the line.  It went further this time.
Andrew reeled it in again.

“Do
you want to have a go on your own this time?”

“Uh, no.”
 Robyn
didn’t want him to remove his hands from hers.  The feelings that surged
through her, the effect they had on her heart, the way his touch made her
respond was addictive.  She didn’t want him to move and tensed at the
thought of him getting up, at the thought of him letting go.

“Don’t
worry, I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered against her cheek.

Robyn’s
body trembled as she wondered if Andrew had felt her tension, if he knew just
how desperately she wanted him to keep hold of her.  Perhaps he only
thought she was worried about messing up the cast.  She didn’t want
Andrew, or any man, thinking that she needed him.

Andrew
took his hands off of Robyn’s and crossed his arms over her stomach, hugging
her to him.

His
arms were long and wound around her no problem but Robyn wanted to be
closer.  The thought travelled through her mind even as she began to
speak, “Andrew?”

“Yes.”

She
felt the word more than heard it.  She couldn’t believe that she was going
to do this but her desire pushed her further.  “How much danger am I in of
falling in?”

He
tensed momentarily before answering. 
“None, with me
here.”

Robyn
swallowed some of her nerves.  “Then why am I still wearing the
lifejacket?”  Her pulse rocketed at her own words.  She couldn’t
believe how emboldened she was being.

Andrew
stilled, considering the options and then without sound or whisper, he reached
around Robyn and unclipped the strap at her waist.  Her heart hammered as
his hands moved the zip gently and slowly down, his breaths dancing over her
collar as he pulled the jacket from her arms and carefully placed it aside
before wrapping himself around her once again.

God
his body felt good!  Robyn could feel the hardness of muscle in his
encircling arms as she held the rod, turned the reel and made ready to cast
again.  Against her back she could feel sculptured muscle despite her
jacket as she lifted the bail and then put her hand swiftly back on the
rod
.  Wondering what that taut chest would look like
under her gaze, she leaned back into him as she practiced her swing a couple of
times, breathing deeply, and then on the third flick, she let the line
go.  It sailed out away from the boat as Andrew squeezed her tight.

“You’re
a natural,” he whispered into her ear and then he gently kissed her neck. 
His warm lips met her skin.  Her pulse went wild beneath his graze and
remained exhilarated as he lingered.  Robyn closed her eyes and leaned her
head back against him in response, exposing her neck and jaw, desiring more,
more touch, more intimacy. 

Robyn’s
grip loosened on the fishing rod and it slipped from her hands.  Andrew’s
arms, lightning fast, reached out and grabbed it before it could fall into the
ocean.

“Sorry,”
she sucked in a breath and blinked as his mouth broke away from her skin.

“I
distracted you.  Here have another go.  I promise I’ll behave this
time.” His voice was as smooth as silk, as he gave her back the rod but it had
deepened.

Robyn
took the rod.  The line was still reeled out from her previous cast so,
copying what Andrew had done, she controlled the line between her thumb and
forefinger and turned the reel.  It took longer than when Andrew had done
it but eventually the line was back in.  She set the rod up again and cast
the line.  Andrew kept his arms around her and his cheek at her ear but he
refrained from kissing her again.

Robyn
cast the rod over and over, reeling the line in herself between casts. 
She was getting quite used to it and regularly got the hook to fly out away from
the boat.  She was concentrating so much on getting the casting right that
she forgot all about the purpose of this exercise until the line jerked in her
hands.  Robyn gasped as Andrew’s head lifted from her shoulder and his
hands came over
hers
to grab the rod.

Andrew
helped Robyn slowly reel in the fish.  She let him guide her movements as
the creature thrashed about in the water, moving closer with each turn of the
reel.  Tilting the rod up, the fish lifted out of the water, flicking its
tail as if it were still swimming and Andrew swung the fish towards them. 
He caught it and carefully detached the hook from its mouth before leaning
around her to throw it in the basket.

“Your
first catch,” Andrew turned to her, delight in his eyes.

Robyn
couldn’t help it.  Hormones surging, she simply had to act.  When she
saw his smile as he leaned over, she twisted, laid the rod on the deck and
caught his face in one palm.  As she touched his cheek, Andrew looked at
her with a combination of anticipation and
wonder
before she drew him to her, pulled his lips to hers and kissed him.

It
was meant to be slow, sensual and delicate but the heat hit instantly and
underneath that, something primal; need.  With one hand on the back of his
neck, holding him so that she could take what she needed, Robyn slid her tongue
across Andrew’s bottom lip and heard a guttural groan before those confident
hands grasped her and pushed her down onto the deck.  In seconds, Robyn
found herself underneath Andrew, pinned and desperate for his touch.  His
hands were in her hair, on her face, tracing the line of her neck.  His
mouth was devouring, his tongue exploring and she could hear her own whimpers
and moans as each touch, each caress detonated sensations deep within her.

Robyn writhed beneath
him, tugging at his clothes with frantic hands.  Her fervour drove him
wild as he tasted the decadence of her mouth.  Her needy tongue danced
around his, flicking, sampling and he groaned deep in his throat at the
pleasure of her touch.  He broke from the feast of her mouth and traced a
line of kisses down her jaw, his tongue flicking out and sampling as he nipped
and kissed his way to the soft velvet of her neck.  She moaned softly and
pulled his head closer as she twisted her head to the side to give him more
room.  His lips sealed over her pulse, the frantic beat of her heart
pounding beneath his touch and he suckled there until her body lifted from the
deck, arching beneath him.  She was so responsive to the lightest of
touches.  He could imagine her reaction to his lips on her breasts or the
intimate pink folds of her sex.  The thought made his already straining manhood
jerk violently against the constraints of his jeans.  Never had he been so
desperate to bury himself in a woman.

Robyn’s
hands tore away from his hair and instead grappled with his sweater.  She
pulled the knitwear up like she was desperate to rid him of the barrier between
them.  His own hands trailed under the hem of her shirt, where they met
the soft skin of her stomach, hot and quivering to his touch.  He groaned
as sparks electrified his need.

Robyn’s
hands found his skin, her nails sliding deliciously over his shoulders and her
touch nearly unmanned him.  Grabbing her wrists, he lifted her hands above
her head and forced them down to the deck, stretching her delicious body out
beneath him.  Holding both slender wrists in one hand, he further explored
her sensuous skin that now gleamed in the light where her shirt had pulled up
over her stomach.  She writhed beneath him, a burning fire of molten need
and he knew he could have her, take her there and then on the deck.  It
was that thought that sent fear through his veins and he jerked back, desperate
to get himself back under control.

Robyn
looked up at him in desperation at first before shock widened her eyes and she
dragged her shirt down to cover her exposed flesh.

“An
interesting response to catching a fish,” he managed as his breath began to
recover.

Robyn’s chest
heaved as she dragged in precious air.  “I nearly. . .
We
nearly.”
  Mortified by her response to Andrew, Robyn began to drag
herself away from him and tug her clothing back into place.  Christ!
 She was lying on the deck of a boat in the middle of the ocean. 
What the hell had she been thinking?

Andrew,
still breathing heavily, closed his eyes before slowly opening them. 
“Yes.  We certainly did, but as neither of us is ready for that, perhaps
we’d better get back to fishing.”

She
stared up at him, wondering what thoughts were behind those radiant eyes. 
“More fishing?”

“We
need the distraction.”  A half smile tugged at his lip and Robyn felt at
least a little comfort in the knowledge that she was not alone in her
embarrassment.

“Yes.” 
Her eyes watched as he crawled slowly backwards and sat back on his
haunches.  He then held out a hand to help her to sit up.

Handing
her the rod, Andrew settled back into his position behind her, arms hugging her
to him, chin resting on her shoulder.

“I
think this was safe,” he whispered in her ear.

“Just,”
she answered, feeling his warm breath slide over the places his teeth had only
moments ago nibbled.

Robyn pulled up
at the cottage in the dark.  The smile on her face reflected her
mood.  She couldn’t conceal it.  The day had been wonderful, lazy and
romantic.  Who knew that the aloof and disdainful man she had met when she
first arrived would prove to have such powerful allure?

Robyn
walked to the door happy and carefree.  One look at what awaited her
dispelled the warmth from her system and instead, left only ice.

The best way to
deal with a bully is to show them that you’re not afraid.  The advice that
Robyn readily gave to pupils could easily be applied to her own
situation.  It was, as she discovered, easier said than done.

She
marched purposefully across the central hall as soon as lessons were finished
on Monday afternoon.  She had spent her weekend stewing with a rage she
could barely contain.  Now, her heels clipped out a rhythmic countdown as
she stormed into the Maths corridor.  Each step denoted the closure of
distance.  If she could fight to win a Go-Karting race, she could face
Derek Ellis.  She just needed the same resolve to complete the task that
she had found on the track.  Robyn found that resolve when she had seen what
he had left dangling from her door when she got back on Saturday.

Barbie! 
He’d used a Barbie doll not only because Kat looked like one; tall, slim and
blonde, but because he referred to her that way when he gossiped.  Where
he had gotten the clothing from Robyn didn’t know, but it had been the same
pink T-shirt and pink lined tracksuit that she had often worn to work. 
Robyn had known immediately who the effigy was supposed to be.

None
of that was particularly worrisome.  It could have just been a prank. 
The rest however, was just sick.  Barbie had been attached to the door by
a noose.  Neatly fashioned from twine, it dangled Barbie from the door
knocker like some gross image of death.  To cause further hurt, Barbie had
been wearing a small sign around her neck.  Crafted like a chalkboard it
read, ‘ONE DOWN, ONE TO GO’.

Clip,
clip, clip, Robyn’s footsteps echoed off the walls.  It was the end of the
day but she knew Derek Ellis would still be in his classroom.  Clip, clip,
clip, the sound of heels on hard wood accompanied her walk as she closed on his
classroom.  Clip, clip, clip, rhythmic and steady, her feet sounded out
the calm beat of her resolute heart.

Stopping,
Robyn peeked through the glass panel that gave a window into Derek’s room and
saw that he sat at his desk, alone.

Clip.
She entered the room without knocking.

“What,
precisely, is your problem with me?” Her voice was deep, angered and
steady.  She’d been practising all day.

Derek
turned quickly, her entrance startling him.  Shock rapidly changed to
anger as his eyes widened. “How dare you barge in here,” he shouted as his body
rose to its full height, one foot already closing the distance between
them.  Thunder rolled across his face and waves of anger raged in his dark
eyes.

Robyn’s
strength ebbed as she faced Derek, but she only had to think of that doll to
help reinforce it.

“I
want to know what your problem
is?
”  She could
feel the surging adrenaline like heat boiling beneath the surface of her skin
and her words retained some of that fire.

Derek
smirked, stepped towards her and grinned menacingly.

“You
and your slapper friend do not belong here.  That is what my problem is.”
He was inches away from her.  His deep voice coated with utter
disdain.  The words slithered off of his tongue.  
“One
down, one to go.”

Robyn
heaved in a breath.  “You will not bully me out, do you understand? 
I am not leaving.”  Her control was slipping as her anger flared furiously
white.  She hated the sadistic man in front of her but the fact that she
was half his size had her holding herself back from administering the first
blow.

One
viciously strong hand struck out and grabbed her by the throat.  Fingers
encircled her neck and squeezed just enough to make her perfectly aware that
snapping her neck would be easy and of little consequence.  Derek used his
grip to pull her to him and hold her terrified stare as he bent down to her
level.

With
a half grin, he barked out words.  “You will leave, Darrow. 
Eventually they all do.”

Trapped,
Robyn could only stare.

The
fingers on her neck gripped for one, long moment more and then released her
with a simultaneous shove towards the door.  She spun around staggering to
the closed door as fast as her shaky legs would carry her.  Her hand
lifted to grasp her own throat.  Air seeped in and out in hurried gasps as
her fingers fumbled with the door handle but she finally managed to pull the
door open and escape.

Robyn’s
feet clipped down the long corridor, back in the direction of her
classroom.  The clip of her heels no longer sounded the countdown to
confrontation, but instead the dirge of defeat.

Walking across
the shingle beach, her feet alternating between sand and rock, Robyn traversed
the water’s edge as the tide lapped gently in.  She watched Andrew
throwing an old tennis ball for Max and found the simple act of man and dog
refreshing.  Max darted across the pebbles as swiftly as if he were
running on a flat surface, never once losing his footing, tail wagging
joyously.  He bound through the shallow rippling waves spilling water into
the air in plumes as Andrew threw the ball in all directions, laughing when Max
fell for a fake throw.

“You
like this.” Andrew took her arm so that they could walk along the sand
together.

Robyn
looked at her feet as they skirted the edge where dry met with wet, before
looking up.  “Yes, I like this.”  She liked that it was a far cry
from the animosity in Derek’s room.

She
had said nothing.  She didn’t want Andrew to feel obligated to confront
Derek on her behalf.  Her struggles with Derek Ellis were her own and she
would find a way to work with the man no matter how frightening she found
him.  She should never have let her anger get the better of her and
confronted him like that.  She knew better.

Andrew
stopped and turned.  He held Robyn’s
chin
firmly
and studied her features.

“There’s
strength in you.”

Robyn
tried to shake her head but his grip was firm.

“Oh,
I know you don’t see it, but it’s there nonetheless.  I can see it today,
in your eyes.”

He
dipped his mouth to hers and slowly, without the driving desperate passion of
their previous encounters, he kissed her.  It was gentle, sweet, meant to
convey something other than desire but his heat was still there, enticing and
enthralling.  From his fingertips, to his firm lips, Robyn felt heat enter
her and threaten to take control but still Andrew managed to keep the
impatience away and give only what he wanted, what she needed.  He let her
go just before dark needs took over.

“I
don’t feel strong.”  She felt heady, giddy almost.

“We
both have a lot on the line here, Robyn, but I want this to work.”

They
stood on the shore facing one another, time stretching out before them.

“I
want this to work too.”

A
bark drew their attention to Max as he dropped the ball at Andrew’s feet. 
Robyn laughed as Andrew sighed, grabbed the ball, turned and hurled it
inland.  He had a good arm, accurate and powerful.  The ball sailed
towards the grassy bank to land near the church.  It was a very long throw.

Max
took off in eager pursuit as Andrew’s attention was drawn to the bank at the
back of the church.  Without a sound, he marched off.

Robyn
stood, baffled, as Andrew stepped over
pebbles,
deftly
traversed the larger boulders and quickly reached the grass.  She began to
follow.

Andrew’s
goal was reached before Robyn found her way across the shingle.  He stood
just behind the church and bent down to retrieve something from the grass.

When
Robyn eventually got to Andrew’s side, he was turning an object over and over
in his palm.

Robyn
froze.

Jewels
glistened in the sun.

Her
heart stopped beating as her lungs solidified.  “Please tell me it’s not
pink,” she whispered against the noise of the sea behind her and looked up at
Andrew.

He
frowned.  “It’s pink.”

Dirty,
cracked across the middle and missing a large piece, there was no denying what
Andrew had found.

Speechless,
Robyn took the object from Andrew’s hand and knelt down in the long grass
feeling weak.  She watched the light dance off of the lighter, white
stones, set in heart shapes, in a regular pattern throughout the darker surface
and felt the tremendous weight of guilt settle over her shoulders.  It was
Kat’s phone cover. 

“What
is it? What’s wrong?” Andrew asked, carefully, soft.

“It’s
hers,” her voice cracked. “It’s Kat’s phone.”

A
moment’s pause stilled the air. “It can’t be hers, Robyn.” Andrew dropped into
the grass, keeping a distance but trying to make her look at him.  “She’s
gone.  It can’t be hers.”

“I
know it’s Kat’s.  I saw her with it on the platform,
before
.
. ,” she struggled to form the words, “before she left me.”

“Robyn,
listen.  She left.  It has to be somebody else’s.”  He inched
towards her but her flinch backwards made him stop.

“It’s
definitely Kat’s.  She had this cover.  This is hers.” Robyn held up
the broken, dirty piece of plastic as if it contained all the answers.

“
Robyn, that
could be anybody’s.”

No
words could change how she now felt.  The weight that had landed upon her
when she saw what he held was enormous.

“I’ve
never seen another, have you?”  Mixed emotions turned to anger.  She
was angry at herself for allowing other people’s views to cloud her own. 
She was guilt ridden and desperate.

Robyn
started looking around her.  “Is there any more, of the cover, or the phone?” 
If they found the phone she could prove it was Kat’s.

Andrew
shook his head then reached out and placed a hand over Robyn’s, the pink
plastic became sandwiched between their palms.  He had meant to calm, to
assure, but the warmth that flowed into her only managed to horrify her
further.  It was that same attraction between the two of them that had
driven Kat away in the first place and after all of Robyn’s assurances to her,
she was here, with Andrew, as Kat knew she would be.

“Don’t
do that.  Don’t try to placate me.”  Robyn pulled her hand from
Andrew’s and felt icy tendrils leach throughout her body.  “Do you know
what this means?”  She stared at him as her mind screamed the truth. 
“She came back here.  She came back and she didn’t come to see me.” 
The evidence was there, solid in her palm.

“Robyn,
think of the facts.  Is it more likely that this phone cover belongs to a
stranger, or that it is Kat’s and she returned here, sometime in the last
month, without contacting you at all?”

His
words cut like a knife, reopened the old wound and Robyn knelt there bleeding
freely.  “I pushed her away Andrew.  I made her leave.  She was
my only friend.”

“You
did nothing of the sort.”

Robyn
stared at him and felt shame wash over her.  “We fought over you. 
She ran because she knew I would be here, with you.”

“I
couldn’t have made it clearer to Kat that I wasn’t interested.  You can’t
blame her disappearance on what we have, what we can have.”

“I
have to know why?  Don’t you understand?  I need to know that I
didn’t do this.”

A
barely noticeable flicker of anger darted across his expression before he
pushed it aside and relaxed.  He grabbed her hand.

“Please,
think will you?  The police have closed the case.  They know she left
the country.  Think about what happened the last time you were sure there
was more to this.” He knelt directly in front of her.  “Remember what I
said, I don’t want you to go.  Remember the warning you had from the Head. 
This is a small town, and memories fade slowly, you cannot afford to stir this
up again.”

Perhaps
some would have dropped it.  Some would have accepted what they had been
told.  Robyn had already allowed herself to believe that Kat had left
because she merely wasn’t getting along here, but she had known that wasn’t
right.  Now, the evidence spoke differently.  Kat had been
back.  Kat had avoided her.  It was Robyn’s fault that Kat had left.

“I
have to go.”  She saw disappointment in Andrew’s face “I need some time
alone.  I’m not good company at the moment.”

Robyn
thought she read concern in his eyes but there was an element of something
else.  Was it panic? “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he whispered
tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“No,
I’ll be fine.  I have to go for a drive, I need to think, to calm
down.”  He still held her hand and she was desperate to get out of there,
to do something.  She needed to distract him so that he would let her
go.  “How did you see the case from all the way over there?” she nodded
towards the sea.

“Oh.
Um it was glinting in the sun,” he seemed caught out by her question.

Robyn
looked across the expanse of grassy bank, across the wide pebbled beach and
away to the shore where they had stood.  When she looked back, Andrew
relaxed his grip.