Lifelong Affair (17 page)

'They
will if you walk around glowing like that all day,' he muttered.

'You
put the glow there!' She refused to be daunted.

He
stood up abruptly, turning to capture her hand in his, marching her into the
bedroom.

'Alex, I'm hungry
-

'So
am I. And maybe even later we might eat,' he growled moodily.

In
the end they didn't bother with breakfast at all, but ordered an early lunch.
The same waiter served
the meal, his eyebrows rising slightly at the cold
food put outside from breakfast. This time Alex laughed too once the boy had
left.

Morgan
stretched languorously. 'Do you suppose all honeymoons are like this?'

He
smiled at her indulgently, the same satiation that was in her face reflected in
his eyes. 'I don't give a damn about other honeymoons, ours is—beautiful.'

'Yes,'
she returned his smile. 'I'm glad I married you, Alex.'

'So
am I,' he laughed. 'Now eat your lunch, we have a plane to catch.'

Even
the long plane journey to Los Angeles couldn't dim her happiness; she seemed to
find an endless stream of subjects to talk to Alex about, although the times
they sat in silence were equally enjoyable.

She
was more in love than ever, tied to Alex by invisible threads, and although she
knew he didn't return her love, he did enjoy their lovemaking as much as she
did.

They
hired a car once they got to Los Angeles airport, Morgan having sold her car
before leaving for England this time, as she had sold everything else she no
longer needed.

'Do
you think you'll miss it?' Alex glanced at her as they began the drive to her
parents' home, seeming as much at home driving on the right-hand side of the
road as he did on the left.

'Los
Angeles?' She shrugged. 'It's been my home for the last two years, of course
I'll miss it. But I won't pine for it.' She put her hand on his thigh. 'I have
something much better now.'

'I'm
glad you didn't say you wouldn't miss it at all,' he frowned. 'Because you're
sure to.'

'But
not so much that it will matter, you'll see,' she said with certainty.

 
'I hope so'
 
The frown still creased his brow.

Morgan
smiled mockingly. 'You've made me well and truly yours now, Alex, it's a little
late for you to start having doubts.' She slanted him a mischievous look. 'We
could always stop at a motel and I'll do my best to allay these sudden doubts
of yours.'

His
mouth quirked.
^C
I think I might be able to wait until tonight—with
a lot of restraint,' he drawled.

Her
hand tightened on his thigh, feeling his instantaneous response. 'It already is
night in England.'

'Witch!'

She
removed her hand. 'But if you would rather wait...'

'I
don't
want
to,' he moved restlessly, 'but I'm going to.' He gave her a
teasing glance. 'Mainly because I know it will be as much agony for you as it
will be for me!'

She
had held back none of her response to him, not the night before, and certainly
not today. She had revelled in their lovemaking, felt no inhibitions in
anything Alex said or did to her, at anything he showed her to do to him. It
had all been making love, and in that they were completely compatible.

She
smiled with a secret knowledge. 'My parents always go to bed early,' she
explained at his questioning look.

'Meaning
we'll be able to too?'

'Meaning
we'd better!'

He
laughed huskily. 'Maybe we should have saved this visit until the end of our
honeymoon; I can hardly keep my hands off you!'

'Meaning
you think you'll be able to in three weeks' time?' She gave him a scandalised
look.

'Meaning
you'll probably have become a little more elusive by then,' he said hardly.

She
didn't argue with him, knowing that this was

another
of those times when only her actions could prove her innocence, and three weeks
of Alex's lovemaking certainly wouldn't be enough to satisfy her. She wanted a
lifetime.

Her
parents greeted her warmly, Alex reservedly; they had only met him once at the
wedding before the air crash. But Alex was his most charming, and her own
happiness in their marriage couldn't be doubted, so much so that by the time
they all retired for bed that evening even her father had thawed towards Alex.

'Courtney
is very important to him.' Alex spoke softly as he undressed for bed.

'Yes.
Morgan sat on the side of the bed unashamedly watching him. She enjoyed the
nakedness of his body, knew every hard-muscled inch of it intimately.

'When
Courtney is a little older we'll bring him over to see your parents.'

'Mom
said it may not be too long before Dad's well enough to fly.'

Alex
nodded, peeling the shirt from his body, his muscles rippling powerfully.
'Maybe they can come over for the christening.'

'Maybe,'
The conversation ceased to be important as Alex took off the rest of his
clothes and stood naked in front of her, unashamedly virile. 'Alex ...!'

'Mm?'
he looked at her with questioning eyes, darkening to black at the hunger in her
green depths. 'How do you do it? he murmured as he came towards her. 'How do you
manage to arouse me with just a look?'

'I
do?' She stood up as he slowly stripped the clothes from her body.

'You
do,' he acknowledged grimly.

She
began to caress him, slowly erasing that grimness from his face, putting desire
and passion
there in its place, until finally he could remain apart
from her no longer.

'Have
there been a lot of women, Alex?' she asked later, their passion spent for the
moment, her head resting on his shoulder as she idly caressed the dark hair
curling on his chest.

His
arms tightened. 'What sort of question is that to ask a new husband?' he
growled.

'An
honest one.' She looked up at him. 'One that requires an answer.'

His
mouth was taut. 'I have no intenrcm of discussing such a subject on my
honeymoon.'

'Why
not?' She leant on her elbow looking down at him. 'You can't deny that you're a
fantastic lover,

'Morgan
---
'

'Oh,
I know, your English reserve means that you don't talk about such things, she
teased in the face of the dark cloud gathering over his eyes. 'But speaking for
myself, I think you make love beautifully.

'You
have nothing to compare it with! he rasped.

She
frowned down at him. ' know the difference between drowning in pleasure and
lying here like a stone.'

'Morgan,
I'm sorry,' his voice softened at her hurt tone. 'Of course you know, just as I
do. And there have been quite a few women,' he answered her question. 'Although
I've learnt to be more discriminating in recent years.

'Your
family doesn't seem to think so!'

"Damn
my family!' Anger flared in his dark grey eyes. 'You aren't married to them.'

'Thank
God!' she shuddered.

'I
didn't come all this way to discuss my family,' he scowled. 'Can't you think of
something more interesting to do?'

'Oh
yes,' she laughed happily, at once drowning in his possession.

She
surveyed the bruises on her body the next morning with a smile of deep
satiation. Alex's second lovemaking of last night had been far from gentle, and
if anything it had been better than ever before.

He
stirred in the bed beside her, opening sleepy eyes, becoming fully alert as he
saw she was already awake. His brows lowered over angry grey eyes as he too saw
the bruises, and he touched them gently. 'Did I do that? he groaned in
disbelief.

'Mm,
she confirmed lightly.

'God,
I'm an animal!' he said in disgust. 'I must have hurt you.'

'No.
And look,' Morgan touched his shoulder with soft fingertips.

He
looked down at the ragged flesh her nails had raked during a moment of
exquisite ecstasy, grinning widely. 'I wonder if we'll both survive the honeymoon!'

Survive
it they did! It was a time of lazing on the beach, of preparing and eating
leisurely meals together, but most of all a time of discovering each other, of
a single caress igniting a flame that often took hours to quench.

Alex
had hired a villa, and apart from the girl who came in to clean every morning
they saw no one. Their beach was a private one, and on the last day Morgan
finally persuaded her husband to bathe naked, something he had been reluctant
to do.

'We
could get arrested for this,' he told her as they walked hand in hand into the
blue water.

She
gave him a teasing look. 'This is nothing to what we'll be doing on the beach
later!'

Alex
laughed throatily. He had laughed a lot during their three weeks alone
together, and was nothing like the cold austere man who had gone to Los Angeles
to see her that first time. She hoped he would never return.

But
the closer they got to England the next day the more withdrawn and terse Alex
became, despite her efforts to tease him out of it. By the time they began the
drive back from Heathrow to pick up Courtney it was almost impossible to
believe the man at her side had made love to her on the beach in broad daylight
the day before, that he had chased her back across the golden sand to the villa
wearing nothing but his wedding ring.

Barbados
seemed a lifetime away, not a day, and Morgan was feeling thoroughly miserable
about the change in her husband by the time they reached the Hammond house.

"We
won't be staying, will we, Alex?' she prompted anxiously. Her mother-in-law's
probing taunts weren't something she welcomed right now. She was having a hard
enough time reconciling herself to the fact that Alex had returned to his
unapproachable self without that!

He
glanced at his watch as they walked towards the house. 'It's twelve-thirty,
almost time for lunch,' he told her pointedly.

'But
---
'

'We
can hardly grab Courtney and run, he derided. 'Don't be such a child, Morgan!'

Dull
colour flooded her cheeks. She had completely lost her own protective shield
during their honeymoon, had become used to Alex's words of admiration and
encouragement rather than his aloofness. Her mask of sophistication slipped
easily back into place as she watched Rita Hammond greet her son warmly before
giving a cool nod in her direction.

'Did
you have a nice holiday in Barbados, darling?' Rita Hammond asked Alex as they
went through to the lounge, Morgan trailing along behind them.

'Barbados
is always—pleasant,' he drawled in reply,

stretching
his long length in one of the comfortable armchairs.

Morgan
gave him a sharp look. Pleasant? Their honeymoon had been
pleasant!
Her expression was
cool as she sensed Rita Hammond's triumphant gaze on her, meeting the blue-eyed
gaze challengingly. 'If you'll both excuse me I think I'll go and see
Courtney,' she said stiltedly, not waiting for either of them to answer her but
sweeping out of the room.

She
didn't stop until she stood outside Courtney's room, taking time to steady her
breathing, feeling the familiar tension at being anywhere near Rita Hammond.

Alex's
sudden coldness after the warmth of the last three weeks cut into her like a
knife. She hadn't believed it was possible after the degree of intimacy they
had attained, when only a look or a smile was needed to tell them what the
other desired. A shield had fallen over Alex's inner emotions now, leaving only
the cynical stranger she had known before.

And
she wouldn't let him do that to them! Soon they would be at their own home,
alone together again except for the baby. Whatever was bothering Alex she meant
to find out as soon as possible; there would be no festering misunderstandings
in this marriage if she could help it; they had too much to lose now.

But
it seemed Alex had other ideas than their going home to be alone!

'I'll
drop you and Courtney off at the house,' he told her over lunch. I have to go
into the office for a couple of hours this afternoon.'

Morgan
blinked her surprise; he hadn't mentioned anything about this on the drive
here. 'Do you have to?' she asked stiffly, very conscious of his mother's avid
attention on their conversation.

His
mouth tightened. 'I would hardly be going if I didn't have to, he snapped.
'I've been away for over
three weeks already—Hammond Industries doesn't
run itself, you know.

She
flinched at the way he made it seem as if he wished he hadn't spent the three
weeks honeymooning with her, as if it had been time he had wasted. 'I do know,'
she replied coldly, holding back the tremor from her voice. How could he talk to
her like this in front of his mother?