Constantinou's Mistress (16 page)

He had been right. Making love to this woman was as fulfilling as he had remembered from that one night they had spent together. His memory had not been as unreliable as he had thought. And there was no emptiness, no dawning suspicion that the act of making love had left him still searching for something elusive, that he had to leave so that he could clear his head.

‘Fancy stepping outside?'

‘Stepping outside?'

‘Nowhere very adventurous. Just out of the French doors onto the patio. Feel the rain on our faces.'

‘Isn't it dangerous?'

‘Not any more. Nothing's blowing around any longer. By tomorrow morning the sun will be struggling to come out.'

‘Well…'

He pushed open the French doors and Lucy stepped outside, instantly struck by the fact that, although it was still raining, the rain was warm against her skin and the air was balmy with the smell of the salty sea tangy in her nostrils.

It also felt wickedly pleasurable to be outside with nothing on. She felt him behind her and he wrapped his arms around her with his chin resting lightly on the crown of her head.

‘If you look very hard,' he murmured, ‘you can just about make out the silver strip of the sea. The beach will be littered with driftwood brought in on the tide.'

His eyes dipped down to see the rise and fall of her breasts as she breathed in and exhaled. Tenderly he cupped them with his hands, marvelling at how perfectly they fitted, as though they had somehow been fashioned for his big hands, then he stroked her stomach until his finger finally found a path to the soft, downy hair sheathing her femininity.

‘We can go hunting for interesting bits of wood when the sun comes out,' he told her, while his finger continued its downward exploration until it was rubbing between the soft folds, finding the small bud and teasing it.

She should have been shocked. In truth, she had never done anything so public in her life before, even though there was no one around. The rain, now a steady, determined drizzle, washed over her like warm water from a
shower and she could feel Nick's naked body slippery and wet behind her.

Everything around had a drowned, scattered look, but in truth, aside from the uprooting of quite a lot of the foliage, the damage appeared to have been slight considering the sound and fury of the elements earlier on.

‘This hotel was originally designed in the knowledge that storms can sometimes strike,' he murmured, loving the way her honeyed warmth enfolded his finger and the way she quivered at his touch. ‘Not much, aside from the plants, can be uprooted. All the outside furniture is firmly cemented down and partially made of wrought iron to make them heavier, more resistant to high winds. Feel good, sweetheart?'

‘Mmm.' Lucy raised one leg so that her foot was propped against her knee and reached behind her with her hands to touch him. Then she swivelled to face him and continued to rhythmically stroke him while he did the same to her, two bodies gently being roused to a state of growing excitement.

‘We'd better not return to the bed,' he said in an unsteady voice, ‘not soaking wet as we are.'

‘What are you suggesting?'

‘Well, nothing that involves us lying on this hard patio or going back inside.' He grinned wickedly at her before lifting her off her feet, and then they were making love as she had never done before.

She was as light as he was powerful, and with her legs wrapped around him they had remarkably little difficulty in moving. In fact, it was doubly exciting to be making love outside, with the rain drenching them, his mouth finding her nipple as she moved on him, helped by the pressure of his hands around her.

They reached the pinnacle of fulfilment at the same
time and Lucy heard herself cry out with ecstasy before she subsided onto his shoulder and was carefully carried back into the bedroom and straight to the shower. From one lot of water to another, but then, dried and back in bed, so pleasurably satisfied that within minutes she was asleep.

She awoke the following morning to find that it was exactly as Nick had predicted. The debris from the hurricane had been left behind, and the sun was already staging a comeback. It filtered through the opened shutters, sending patterns of light through the room, and she drowsily felt one side of the bed to discover that it was empty.

For quite how long she had been on her own she had no idea.

All right, so they hadn't had a one-night stand. They had had a two-night stand, as he himself had pointed out.

She refused to feel remorseful. He had promised nothing and nothing was precisely what would be delivered, but she had
lived
. Magically and wholly for a few hours, and for that she was grateful.

The only question was: was she now to pretend that nothing had taken place?

She had no idea what to expect when she was finally dressed and heading towards the main restaurant in the hotel, where she was certain most of the other residents would have gathered in the aftermath of the hurricane.

She heard their voices before she even entered the room and she wasn't surprised to find that not one person had overslept. No longer were they guests who indulged themselves by staying in bed until the sun was fully up and half the day gone.

The only person who appeared to be missing was
Nick, and as she cast her eyes furtively around Gracie approached her and said,
sotto voce
, ‘He's checking what damage has occurred outside, my dear.'

‘I wasn't wondering—'

‘Of course you were! I could see it in your eyes. He's been up for quite a while, actually. I know because when I looked out of my bedroom window at six this morning I saw him heading down towards the beach with a couple of the hotel staff. Amazing how quickly the weather can change over here, don't you agree, my dear? Just think—yesterday we all thought that the end had come and now just look outside…the sun's out and the rain is pretty much over. Marvellous. Shame the British weather can't follow the example. You should get yourself some breakfast, my dear. You look a little peaky. Sleepless night, was it?' Her pale blue eyes focused with eagle-like intensity on Lucy's face. ‘Worried about us all, were you?'

‘Now, Gracie, don't be naughty.' Edie had approached and was beaming cheerfully around her. ‘Everyone's terribly excited to have been caught up in this hurricane,' she confided in a low voice. ‘I've just been speaking to the Colonel over there and his wife. They'll be dining out on this story for years!'

Lucy grinned and glanced up to see Nick. And her heart skipped a beat. He was wearing a pair of khaki-coloured longish shorts and a cream polo shirt hung loosely outside. He looked expensive and fashionably elegant even though he was returning from a trek through the grounds, establishing damage.

She gave a tentative wave in his direction, feeling her courageous stance of
je ne regrette rien
beginning to fast evaporate and he nodded and moved across to where she
was standing, stopping several times on the way to speak to various of the guests.

‘What's the damage like?' Lucy asked brightly when he was finally standing next to her. It seemed ludicrous to be conducting this type of conversation when a few hours earlier they had been making love in the rain, and she could barely raise her eyes to meet his.

‘Not as bad as it could have been.' He slung his arm casually over her shoulder and she wondered whether this was for the benefit of the sisters. ‘Some of the people who live on the island have seen their crops washed away, though, and I've instructed the staff to start a programme of preparing meals to deliver for them until they can gather themselves together, and I'll also be making sure personally that financial help goes towards them reestablishing themselves.'

‘My dear boy, that's wonderful!' Gracie clapped her hands in delight and Lucy felt her heart tug at what he had said. Was it any wonder that she had fallen so hopelessly in love with this highly unsuitable man?

‘Now, how can we be of help?' Edie asked, whereupon there was general discussion about helping out with the distribution of food and maybe with some of the preparation so that members of staff could be released to be with their families.

‘Of course,' Nick whispered into her ear as they watched the groups of guests gather to discuss details, ‘they'll have to be supervised. I should think most of our guests haven't seen the inside of a kitchen recently, never mind actually prepared food in one.'

‘Nick…about what happened last night…'

‘Yes?'

‘Well, let's just say that there's no need for you to put your arm over my shoulders.'

‘But what would our guests think if I ignored you at a time like this? When we've just been through a potentially very dangerous situation?'

So that was it. What would the illustrious guests say? They were under the illusion that she and Nick were a blissfully married couple and how could he possibly disabuse them of that notion? The arm on her shoulders felt like a dead weight, something she should shrug off before she collapsed beneath it, but they were still surrounded by people; the show had to go on.

‘Presumably, though, Gracie and Edie can now return to their original rooms…' Lucy volunteered tentatively.

Her heart took a further dive when he replied, without hesitation, ‘Oh, I should think so. I'll instruct one of the staff to return their belongings to their rooms and to have your room cleaned and prepared…'

‘Right. In that case I'll transfer my stuff as soon as possible.'

‘Transfer your stuff? What are you talking about? You are staying with me from now on.'

‘Staying with you?'

‘Naturally. You didn't think that I could possibly be satisfied with just one night, did you? Are
you
?'

‘Well…' Lucy faltered, daring to raise her eyes to his, and he smiled down at her.

‘Well? Would you be satisfied with one night? Admit it, you would not. You still want me just as I still want you. In fact, I would like to take you right now, if it was at all conceivable that we could slip away and find ourselves a private corner somewhere on this island. I would like to spread a towel on the sand and make love to you with the sound of the sea only feet away and the sun washing down over our naked bodies…'

He had never meant anything more in his entire life.
He had vaguely believed at one point that sleeping with her would somehow get her out of his system, but once was not going to be enough.

All there was left to do was settle the small matter of Robert.

And when we return to England?
she wanted to ask. Would his
wanting
still be as seductively powerful as it was here, a thousand miles away from reality? She had seen first hand how short his attention span was when it came to women, women with many more physical assets than she possessed. The plain truth was that he wanted for a short period of time and then, mysteriously, the wanting turned to boredom and indifference.

Because he had never recovered from his wife. No one could ever compete with a memory, least of all her, a woman in whom he had had not the slightest interest until now.

If she continued to sleep with him it would only be a matter of time before she saw his indifference reflected in his eyes, and when that happened not only would she be dismissed but her job would be on the line as well. He certainly wouldn't want to work alongside an ex-bed partner.

‘I don't think it's a good idea if we continue with this…'

This was not what Nick had expected to hear. Her softly spoken words hit him like a physical blow in the gut and his hand tightened fractionally on her shoulder.

He wasn't going to let her get away. He couldn't. He forced himself to smile politely at some of the guests who were glancing across in their direction. In a minute they would have to move across to where plans were being made to help out. Their expensive guests appeared to be launching themselves into the spirit of charity work
with admirable enthusiasm, including the high-level company directors who had previously been clamouring to escape the island in case they missed a few of their precious meetings. They could not physically leave the island just yet, and their energies needed to be directed into something, and helping out appeared to be filling the void.

They would need steering, though, and for that he and Lucy would have to be at hand. Good intentions and some spare time would not necessarily do the trick.

‘We need to go and see what's happening with this lot,' he said grimly, releasing her from his hold only so that he could look down at her with darkly flaring intent stamped in his eyes. ‘But do not consider this conversation finished.'

‘Because it won't be finished until you get your own way?'

‘How well you know me, my darling.'

Which meant what? Lucy wondered feverishly as the better part of the day was spent with her hands to the deck, preparing containers of food for the islanders who seemed to have suffered most, dispatching those few staff who were not outside already clearing debris to help deliver, making sure that the guests didn't overdo things.

She barely saw Nick. He himself was wrapped up in his assessment of damage and communicating with various transport services to establish when they could be reconnected to the mainland. Boats would be available the following day, but the light aircraft that normally ferried the hotel guests not for another three days at the earliest.

By six in the evening a fair amount had been accomplished. She had sent the guests away to relax and
freshen up, though not before polishing their haloes with a few well-chosen words of praise for their efforts, and she herself was fully prepared to have an hour to herself—during which she would dredge up all the necessary common sense she could put her hands on, anything that would stop her from committing the ultimate folly of prolonging the tenuous relationship she had allowed Nick to instigate.