Love Play by Rosemary Rogers (42 page)

'Sara darling. How nice of you to drop in - and your friend too, of
course. You look so healthy, baby, that tan is just fantastic. And so is . .
.?'

Mona, being Mona, had already zoomed in on Angelo, whose eyes hadn't left
her since they'd walked in. Sara felt as if she'd made her belated introduction
to thin air.

'Mama, this is Angelo, who was nice enough to bring me here. Angelo,
this is — '

'You brought her here! Wasn't that sweet of you? I haven't seen Sara in
ages . . . hasn't it been ages, sweetie? Your father's just been so stuffy
lately that we haven't been able to communicate at all. Have you heard what
Delight's been up to? Angelo .. . mmm, what a lovely name! Do you like white
wine, Angelo? There's some in the cooler over there, if you'd like to pour us
some. It feels like a celebration!'

They all needed to celebrate something, Sara guessed. Two glasses of
wine, swallowed far too fast, while she watched with fascination how Mama-Mona
really put a hex on a man, were enough to put her to sleep. From the depths of
her hazy half-world she thought they'd begun to talk about her, just as if she
weren't there . . . but was she? She kept trying to listen - and drifting
deeper and deeper until everything vanished, except for dreams in which she was
tossed about on an ocean with waves as steep as mountains - watching one higher
than any of the others start to curl and curve over her until suddenly she
realised that she was actually being carried like a sack of potatoes over the
shoulder of a dark-faced pirate with gold rings in his ears who dropped her
roughly on the deck the next moment and began to cut away all her clothes with
his wickedly curved scimitar. Of course - she should have known him for a
Moorish corsair who would rape her first before he auctioned her off at the
slave market. .. unless she pleased him.

Never . . . never! Her mind screamed defiance, but her limbs seemed
weighted and lifeless - incapable of even token resistance as he lowered his
naked body over hers, smiling familiarly and scornfully at her shameful
surrender. She knew him, and she hated him, and she wanted to shut his face out
of her mind and her thoughts, but even when she closed her eyes she kept seeing
him through eyelids suddenly gone transparent. Dark, scowling, threatening.
Rough texture of his voice; harshness of his lips set against hers. Sometimes
laughter, sounding gratingly unfamiliar, like the smile-wrinkles that could
suddenly appear at the corners of his night-black eyes and his mouth.

'Diletta mia . . . si ,mia . . . you're mine, for as long as I continue
to want you, do you understand? And I continue to want you, witch!'

Diletta - Delight. Not Sara. Who could want a Sara? Such a plain,
uncompromising, puritanical name! No promises of excitement or enchantment.
Just a feet-on-the-ground name pinned to a girl who lived up to it - or had,
until now.

'Baby . . . come on, wake up, baby! You've slept for at least six hours
and we have to go now.' Mama-Mona's voice, coming fuzzily through a tunnel.
'Angelo mio! Are you sure you didn't give her something? All she had was two
glasses of wine!'

'I swear I did not — and how could I lie to you? No, she's just plain
tuckered out, I guess - all the excitement she hasn't been used to ... she'll
be just fine, I promise you. Hey, kid, it's me, Angelo. Time to wake up, you
hear? Your beautiful mama's ready to go home, and you should be too.'

'Baby, are you really okay?'

'Of course I am!' Sara found herself responding automatically as she sat
up and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. 'Just tired, that's all.' She
stretched, trying to avoid Mona's eyes that were suddenly far too knowing as
they searched her face. 'Hey - I really needed that sleep! Where do we go from
here?'

'Anywhere you want to, baby - but for now maybe the Hotel Mediterraneo
where we're all staying? Angelo's going to be my bodyguard, and with a free
weekend , coming up I thought we might visit the Costa Smeralda -I have some
friends there, and it's usually a lot of fun. You're going to stay for a while,
aren't you, now that you're here?'

'Do they have a disco at that hotel? And lots of cute guys?' Now that
she was standing on her feet again, Sara thought she might be able to stay that
way, in spite of all the aching muscles that suddenly made themselves felt.

'Hmm!' Her mother's voice sounded sceptical, even when Sara met her eyes
with a determinedly bright grin that was meant to deceive. But one of the nice
things about Mama-Mona was that she never prodded. 'Well, now that you're awake,
darling, do comb your hair at least - in case the paparazzi are lurking outside
- as they usually are! Perhaps you should borrow my spare sunglasses as well. .
what do you think, Angelo?'

'Of course! Then you will look even more like two sisters!'

'Aren't you a sweetheart!' Mona chuckled richly as she perched an
enormous pair of sunglasses on Sara's nose -stepping back to study her for a
few seconds. 'Isn't he adorable? We should have met before . . . But honestly,
sweetie, you look fantastic. Love that tan, and the way you're wearing your
hair now. We've got to have a straight girl-to-girl talk when we get back to
the hotel — Delight's kept me up-to-date on everything but you haven't, you
know!'

Well, of course Mona would understand everything — and explain
everything without condemning. Sara gave her a mock-salute that surprised them
both.

'If you really want to catch up, Mama mia, it might take quite some
time. Little Sara's finally grown up.'

'Fantastic, darling! What fun we're going to have!'

Sara hugged her mother and avoided Angelo's cynically upturned eyes,
wishing he didn't remind her so much of his half brother. Why couldn't she be
more like Mona, who knew just how to make the bastards of the world come
crawling to her feet? But then, she had always known and always accepted the
fact that both Mama-Mona and her half sister, who had been aptly named Delight,
had that certain something that was known as sex appeal. A sure and certain
knowledge of being all female, all woman — Lilith and Eve combined. A feeling
and a sureness that she too had felt while she soaked like Cleopatra in a
sunken marble bath and felt the perfumed oil that scented it penetrate her skin
to leave it shiny and moist, even after she had dried herself. And had known
even more strongly when she looked into coal-dark eyes that travelled over her
and wanted her before his hands began their slow exploration of her body.
Wanted - it was something every woman understood and sensed, wasn't it?
Something she had learned and admitted too late, maybe.

'Let's go, darlings! I've got this enormous suite with two bedrooms -
one just for my extra luggage - which just happens to include a few things that
you might be able to wear, baby. Those jeans are cute and quite sexy on you,
but you can't wear them all the time, you know!'

Relieved to have her mind distracted, Sara let herself be swept along by
Angelo, who had a casual arm around her waist and a less than casual arm about
her mother. 'Such a lucky man they're going to think I am! Twin beauties . . .
, who wouldn't
 
envy me?'

Angelo's compliments were as extravagant as ever, but his eyes and his
attention seemed glued on Mona, who laughed teasingly up into his face. Well,
of course Mona could still have any man she wanted, young or old. And so could
her half sister.

'Hey, Mona baby! How come you didn't let on you had a double? And some
double! Want to ride back with me, sweetheart? It'll be less crowded.'

 
Matt Baker was one of the
best-known directors in the industry - good-looking enough and wild enough to
have his picture taken as often as the stars he directed.

'Hel-lo!' he murmured, catching up and detaching Sara neatly from
Angelo's casual arm while he planted an expertly passionate kiss on her
surprised, half-open mouth.

'And where have you been hiding out, beautiful bambino? Sexy wench . .
.!'

He kissed very well, Sara thought with surprising detachment. His kisses
didn't make her tingle from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head, but
of course that had been a purely physical reaction and nothing more. Matt Baker
had a reputation that even she had heard of; as a super-,stud. Maybe that was
what she needed.

'You're not too bad yourself, caro.' Her voice was a sexy Mona-drawl
that made Mona herself lift arched eyebrows in delighted appreciation and
Angelo clear his throat to cover his surprise. Matt Baker grinned his famous
grin that made his grey eyes squint at the corners. 'Well, now - '

'Only, you do tend to move in far too fast, and I just love a man who
takes his time, if you know what I mean? You American men . . .'

How easy it was, and what a good actress she had turned out to be! Even
her accent was Italian, making Angelo hide a grin that Matt Baker didn't see as
he really paid attention to her now, taking her in from her Adidases to her
rather damp and rumpled cotton shirt that served to emphasise her tan and her
bare midriff.

'Maybe I can show you something different about American men if we spent
some time together, sweetheart. Lots of time!'

She pulled back from his possessively encircling arm, pretending she
hadn't caught Mona's admiring wink. 'You have a really terrible reputation, you
know! And I'm rather old-fashioned in my way. All these people taking
photographs . . .'

As they walked from the safety of the barriers and the fierce-looking
carabinieri, the electronic flashes were almost blinding and Sara didn't have
to fake the way she instinctively covered her face with one arm.

Matt Baker's arm tightened around her protectively. 'Listen, sweet baby,
a girl like you could change my reputation for good, if you just gave me a
chance. Jesus — what a doll! I know you're one of Mona's kids - but how come I
never heard about you before? Or saw your picture?'

'Well - it's because I was one of Mama's indiscretions, I suppose. And I
was brought up by an old-fashioned father." Well, that much was true, at
least! 'As a matter of fact,' Sara went on brightly as she allowed Matt to lead
her through the curious crowd that clustered around, 'I was actually a virgin
until just a few weeks ago — can you imagine that?'

'I don't know if I can or not, baby - considering the way you look . .
.' Matt Baker's eyes went over her, studying every detail of her appearance
before he bent his head to murmur in her ear, 'But I sure would like to find out.
. .'

Well, maybe she would let him find out! Maybe that was the best way -
the only way to stop the strange, uncalled-for feeling that was almost like
yearning for everything that she had just escaped from.

She allowed Matt to pull her close as he hustled her through the
autograph-hungry crowd to his car — a Maserati that he drove with the same kind
of careless confidence with which Angelo had handled his motor cycle. Like
Angelo, he drove with concentration, thank goodness, which was just as well,
considering the crowded streets that slowed them down.

'You're going to the hotel, aren't you?' His eyes seemed to brush over
her before he turned them ahead of him again and Sara made an effort to
unclench her hands.

'Yes, please. I'm going to have to borrow something to wear from Mona,
you see, because I left almost everything I owned behind when I ran away.'

'This is getting more interesting all the time, honey-child! Ran away,
huh? Dare I ask why or from whom?'

'From a ... tyrant!' Well, he had been, hadn't he? And perhaps if she
kept talking she wouldn't have to notice how recklessly Matt Baker drove. 'He
kept me locked up in his palazzo as if I'd been a slave or something! If not
for Angelo I might never have escaped. And I know it sounds impossibly melodramatic,'
Sara added rather stiffly when she caught Matt's quizzical look, 'but it's
true, all the same. My father probably has Interpol looking for me by now!'
Which was probably quite true also, she reflected with related uneasiness. It
was exactly the kind of thing Daddy would do, and she should send him a
telegram from the hotel.

'Looking at you, you lovely little wench, I think I can understand why a
man might be tempted to keep you all to himself,' Matt drawled, He put one hand
on Sara's thigh and she stiffened instinctively, which intrigued as well as
challenged him. What a sexy little number, with that mane of hair and that
dark-gold skin that made the green of her eyes more vivid! She talked sexy and
had certainly acted that way, but he knew women with a kind of sixth sense that
always told him exactly how each one of them needed to be seduced; and in this
one he could feel a kind of prudishness that might be quite exciting to break
through.

Just as casually as he had put his hand on her, Matt removed it - much
to Sara's relief. The car swerved sharply to barely avoid a motor scooter, and
at that moment, with a triumphant roar, a familiar-looking motor cycle shot
past them with inches to spare.

'And that, I take it, was
Angelo!' Matt said grimly. 'Mona must be crazy!'

It had been her mother riding behind Angelo with her hair flying, her
eyes concealed by enormous sunglasses. She had given them a nonchalant wave as
they passed, and was obviously much more at ease on the back of a motor cycle
than Sara had been!

'What kind of a bike was that? Honda? On a straight stretch of decent
road this baby could take it with no problem!' Matt said in a tone of voice
that made Sara want to close her eyes with terrified apprehension. He wasn't
going to try to ... the Maserati took the next bend on what felt like two
wheels, and she did close her eyes, with even thought stopping as she heard her
own heart pounding like a drumbeat.

She didn't open them again until she heard Matt swear disgustedly.
'Shit! The tricky bastard must've taken a shortcut through one of those
alleys!'