JAKrentz - Uneasy Alliance (7 page)

Abby wondered if she might have overpacked when she realized she could hardly drag her large suitcase to the front door. But how could anyone guess how long she'd be gone in a situation like this? Better to have overpacked than underpacked. With a great deal of pushing and shoving she got the case into position by the door and was going back to the bedroom for her coat when the doorbell rang.

It was then that she remembered the date with Torr Latimer. A horrified glance at the clock showed that it was ten to one.

"Damn!" Now she was going to have to make up some very hasty explanations for breaking the date. Why hadn't she thought to telephone him earlier? He probably wasn't going to appreciate arriving at her door and discovering that she was on her way out of town.

"I'm awfully sorry. I was just going to call you," she began firmly as she threw open the door and found him standing there. He was dressed in his usual conservative style, wearing a tan long-sleeved shirt and dark brown slacks. A soft suede jacket was folded neatly over one arm. Abby realized it must be drizzling rain outside because there was a glistening dampness about his dark hair.

Torr looked down at her without saying a word for a moment, taking in the slightly frazzled look of her carelessly combed hair and the well-worn jeans.

"Call me about what?" he finally asked reasonably.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to go out of town," she said quickly, struggling for a viable explanation. "Very unexpected. Just got a call from relatives. You'll have to excuse me, I'm feeling a little hassled. Been packing all morning and I…"

"Where are you going?" he demanded gently, stepping forward with such implacable intent that she automatically gave ground.

"The, uh, the coast," she answered, thinking that sounded as reasonable as anywhere else. "I'm going to spend a week or two on the coast."

His amber eyes narrowed. "At the resort where you spent a weekend during the winter?"

Abby paled at the reference to the scene of her present disaster. Torr couldn't know, of course. He was just taking a guess based on having seen that brochure lying on the counter. Deliberately she cleared her throat. "Actually, I'll be staying a bit north of there this time. My relatives have a place near
Lincoln
City
."

"How long will you be gone?" He moved away from her as he spoke, stalking across the vanilla carpet with a seemingly directionless grace.

"Oh, a week or so," Abby tried to say lightly. She frowned anxiously as he wandered toward the kitchen counter. The crumpled photograph she had received the night before still lay where she had left it while talking to Cynthia. He didn't appear to notice it, however.

"A little sudden, isn't it?" He lounged negligently on a stool, one foot braced against the floor, the other hooked over a rung.

A cold chill coursed down Abby's spine. She didn't like the laconic attitude and she didn't care for the casual questions he was throwing at her. It was time to take a firmer hand. "I just got the call this morning. My aunt wants to spend some time by the sea and she needs someone to look after her. It's a great opportunity for me to take a few days off and enjoy the ocean." Abby made a show of glancing at her watch. "I really should be on my way. It's getting late and I promised I'd be there by dinner. She's the type who will worry, poor dear."

"I'm the type who worries, too." A strange ghost of a smile touched his mouth.

Abby stared at him, uncertain of his mood. "What about?" she asked flatly.

"Oh, this and that."

"Torr…"

"I might worry, for example, about why you would break a date with no notice just to rush off to visit auntie. Or I might worry about why you look so tense and flustered when all you've got planned is a drive to the coast to stay with a relative." His large hand shifted suddenly on the counter, closing over the crumpled photograph. "Then again," he went on musingly, "I might worry about the real reason you've suddenly decided to take off for the coast. It seems to be a popular vacation retreat for you."

"I happen to like the coast," she muttered, experiencing a twinge of genuine panic. Dealing with Torr was taking on overtones of dealing with an unpredictable beast. It wasn't fair! She had enough on her mind.

"So do I. Maybe auntie would like to have an extra houseguest. Why don't you invite me along, Abby?"

Her mouth fell open in shock. "Invite you along?" she squeaked. "Torr, that's impossible! My aunt's place is very small and she doesn't like strangers. Besides, I can't just…just invite you to spend a week or so with me! For heaven's sake, I hardly know you."

"I'll stay at a nearby motel if you feel your aunt wouldn't want an extra person in the house."

"Torr, you're being ridiculous!"

"No more ridiculous than you're being trying to convince me you've got a sudden invitation from an aunt that you have to honor." He paused and frowned at her. "You weren't even going to call me, were you? You were on your way out the door when I arrived. What's the matter, Abby? Do you always jump this fast when he calls? I would have thought you'd have more pride."

"When who calls?" she whispered blankly.

Torr carefully flattened the crumpled photograph and glanced down at the male figure in the picture. "Him. The guy you go to the coast with so often."

Abby swallowed nervously, her eyes never leaving Torr's hard face. "You know nothing about this. And I'm under no obligation to explain myself to you. It's time you left, Torr."

"I'm not leaving without the truth," he stated quietly.

"And if you don't happen to like the truth or believe it?" she retorted.

"Then I probably won't leave at all. At least, not without taking you with me."

Her mouth went dry. "Torr, you can't do this."

"Do what? All I'm asking for is an explanation."

"I've given you one! As well as an apology for breaking our date. What more do you think you're entitled to, anyway? Torr, I don't owe you anything!"

"Are you in love with him?"

"In love with who?" she yelped furiously.

"The man in the photograph."

"No, I am not in love with him!"

"Then why are you dashing off to spend a week on the coast with the man?"

"I am not going to spend the week with Ward!" Abby shut her eyes in self-disgust as she realized how much she'd been goaded into saying.

"Ward?"

"Never mind. Just leave, Torr. Please. I have to get out of here."

"I'd like a last name to pin on him," Torr remarked placidly, studying the photo.

"Well, you can wait until hell freezes over!"

He glanced up, his gaze still and strangely frightening. "Don't you know," Torr uttered very softly, "that the outer reaches of hell are already frozen? Hell is a very cold place, Abby. Not a warm one. Cold and infinitely lonely."

In that moment Abby recognized with great certainty that Torr Latimer knew what he was talking about. They regarded each other across the distance of the room. Abby was aware that she wasn't going to get rid of this man without giving him some answers.

"Believe what you want to believe," she finally said wearily. "It doesn't really matter, anyway."

"Try telling me the truth. I think I'll believe it when I hear it."

She moved restlessly, going across the room to sink down onto the sofa. "I don't want to talk about it, Torr. Please. Go away."

He stood up with a smooth, lithe movement that made her flinch. He crossed the room before she could get to her feet and an instant later his strong hands closed around her upper arms. He lifted her off the couch until she stood facing him, her face stark with helpless defiance.

"Is the man in the photograph your lover?" Each word was delivered with the impact of a body blow.

Fear came to Abby then. The kind of fear she had dreaded experiencing again with a man. With it came a fierce determination not to be crushed by it.

"I've told you he's not my lover."

"Who is he?"

"I don't wish to tell you that."

"Abby, you're going to tell me."

"And if I don't?" The challenge took all of her courage. She could feel his blunt fingers sinking deeply into the flesh of her arms and the strength of him made her catch her breath.

"You will." It wasn't a threat. As Torr had explained, he simply made statements of fact. Quite suddenly Abby believed him.

"My cousin's husband," she whispered. "Ward Tyson. The man who runs Lyndon Technologies, my uncle's computer firm."

"And you're not on your way to spend the week with him?"

"No!"

"But you spent a weekend with him this past winter?"

"That's none of your business!" she hissed.

He said nothing but his big hands moved up her arms to curl around her throat. The fear smashed through her in a sudden burst and she opened her mouth to scream.

He stifled the cry with his lips, crushed them beneath his own with an intensity that robbed her of breath. Frozen with panic, she went utterly still, waiting for the tightening of his fingers around her throat. Her eyes stayed open and her body was taut under his touch. She would fight, she vowed silently.

But the big, blunt fingers on her throat never tightened. And while his mouth took control and coolly dominated hers, the kiss was not one of violence. For a timeless moment Abby braced herself for cruelty. It wasn't until she felt his fingers gently massaging the nape of her neck, attempting to draw a response from her, that she understood Torr was not going to hurt her. The relief was as enervating as the fear had been paralyzing.

"Abby," he groaned huskily. "Abby, why are you so afraid of me?"

She recalled the way he handled flowers, and sagged against him, taking in air in huge gulps as he allowed her to lay her head on his shoulder. His palms moved along her spine now, soothing and assuring. Abby began to realize that there could be comfort in a man's strength. The thought was enough to make her head spin.

"Torr, none of this affects you," she got out in a painful voice. "Please believe me. I have to go."

"Then I'll go with you," he muttered into her hair. "And I'll keep you with me until you tell me the whole story. Don't you think I know something is very, very wrong? You've been nervous since the last night of class. And when that photograph arrived, don't you think I saw the way it affected you? Abby, what happened this morning? Why were you going to pack and leave without even remembering to cancel our date?"

"I can't explain. I'm not even sure myself what's going on. I don't want you involved, Torr," she whispered honestly.

"I am involved. Honey, I'm going to keep you with me night and day until I find out exactly what's going on."

"You can't!"

"Do you really believe you can stop me? Abby, very soon I'm going to be your lover. I have a right to protect you."

She shook her head, feeling trapped by his strength and his intent perseverance. She had a premonition that it might ultimately be impossible to deny this man anything. "You can't say that. You don't know what will happen between us. Torr, be reasonable. Can't you accept my word that you shouldn't get involved?"

"No. And I'm being perfectly reasonable because I do know what will happen between us. I've known since the night I took you home after class."

"Torr, I won't let you take control of me like this!" The protest was faint but it carried determination. "I won't be rushed into a relationship I'm not sure I want and I won't let you assume rights I'm not prepared to give."

"Then we'll just sit here in your living room and talk about it until you are willing to be rushed into a relationship with me and until you are willing to give me some rights."

She could hear the lazy amusement in his voice and her head jerked up as annoyance began to replace some of the hopelessness and anxiety she had been feeling all morning. But before she could speak, she found herself tumbled lightly down across his thighs as he seated himself on the sofa. His golden brown eyes gleamed with a trace of his indulgent humor, but they also reflected the depths of his inflexible will. Abby felt a kind of puzzled wonder as she tried to comprehend the man who cradled her.

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"As you've pointed out, I'm always serious. Abby, I don't get involved in anything I don't wish to be involved in. But once I've made the decision…" He shrugged with massive finality. The message was clear.

"I used to watch in amazement as you made those flowers do exactly as you wished in class," she murmured, searching his face for answers to unknown questions.

"Just remember that I never bruised or broke one in the process." He toyed with several tendrils of her honeyed hair. "Abby, are you sleeping with that man in the photograph?"

"No."

"Did you go away with him this past winter? Did you sleep with him then?"

"Would it matter?"

"No. Not if it's all over between the two of you now. If it isn't, I want it over. And I'm willing to do the job if you're afraid to face him and tell him."