Stormspell (37 page)

'Thanks for the escort, old man,' he remarked dryly, and then stepped purposely forward as Ruth retreated.

In the revealing light of the living room, she faced him bravely, her hands linked tightly together. With her eyes focussed somewhere near the dark blue knot of his tie, she addressed him stiffly, realising that this interview could well be the most significant of her whole life.

'How did you find me?' she asked tautly, and Dominic moved his shoulders in an offhand gesture.

'Your aunt told me.' He took a step towards her. 'Ruth, you have no idea—'

Ruth took an involuntary backward step, then Stiffened herself again. 'What—what exactly did Aunt Davina tell you?' she persisted, avoiding his eyes, and Dominic made a sound of impatience as he searched for a reply.

'What did she tell me?' he echoed. 'What do you think she told me?' He sighed. 'She said that you had told her you weren't happy in England. That you wanted to return to the island, of course. What else?'

'What else?' echoed Ruth faintly, the weakness of relief almost robbing her of the strength in her legs. Of course—Aunt Davina would not have told Dominic the truth. She still held out hopes that at some future time Ruth would change her mind about Martin.

'Ruth, I had to see you!' Dominic took another step towards her. expelling his breath with unsteady urgency, but now she knew where she stood.

'You realise, of course, that the whole island will know about this by the morning, don't you?' she declared tautly. 'If you have no thought for yourself, you might at least have spared a thought for me!'

'For you?' he repeated, gazing at her blankly, and she nodded.

'Of course. I—I—this is my home. I have to live here. What kind of a person will they think I am, inviting callers into my home at—at—' she glanced anxiously at the clock,'—at midnight!'

Dominic's expression took on a cynical twist, is that all you have to say to me. Ruth? I travel—I don't know—four thousand miles, and all you can do is worry about your reputation!'

Ruth bent her head, it—it may not seem important to you—'

'Of course it's important,' he interpolated impatiently. 'I've been left in no doubt as to the importance you place on reputations. But I'm hoping what I have to say may alter your opinion of mine!'

Ruth could not allow this to continue. 'Dominic,' she said, and her tone was less defensive now, 'Dominic, you shouldn't be here. You're wasting your time—'

'Am I? Am I?' He came towards her then, and although she stepped back, she came up against the front of the cabinet, and could go no farther. 'Ruth, I love you, and I think you love me. Can you honestly stand there and tell me that I mean absolutely nothing to you?'

Ruth moved her head jerkily from side to side. 'I—I—I admit, we did have some—some good times together—' she began, seeking an escape, but Dominic would not let her get away with it.

'Good times?' he echoed savagely, placing his hands on the cabinet at either side of her. 'Good times? I don't believe you. Ruth. They were more than just—
good times!"

Ruth's nervous gaze darted up at him then, and the sight of his thin, haggard face was almost her undoing. Whatever he had been doing since she last saw him, it had taken every ounce of flesh from his cheeks, and his eyes were dark-rimmed and slightly bloodshot, yet burning with an intense brilliance.

'You don't understand,' she got out unsteadily. 'You don't understand! I—I can't go on as we were doing. I can't stand the pace. I—I know you think you care for me. but your kind of loving and mine differ, and—well, it's better if we just—just forget one another.'

'Can you forget me, Ruth?' he demanded fiercely, pushing-his face close to hers. 'Can you forget this— or this—' And suddenly he was kissing her, over and over again, kisses that rapidly changed from an angry salutation to a bruising caress, kisses that brought her up close against him, and subsequently destroyed any hope of resisting him. He was so much stronger, so much more determined, and for a time she gave herself up to the mindless possession of his mouth.

'Ruth—oh, Ruth,' he breathed, in a shaken voice. 'When I found you'd left me, I nearly went out of my mind!'

It was these words that brought Ruth abruptly to her senses. For a while, the searching seeking pleasure of his mouth had acted like an intoxicant upon her, muddling her thinking and blinding her to the obvious recklessness of what she was doing. Nothing had changed, she realised desperately. She had known Dominic wanted her before she left England. But he was going to marry Barbara, and she was still pregnant!

With a concerted effort she freed herself from him, taking advantage of his sensually-induced weakness, putting the width of the couch between them.

'It's no good,' she declared breathlessly, wrapping her arms close about her. 'I won't be your mistress, Dominic, however I may feel.'

'My mistress!' He turned, lounging against the cabinet, a look of intense weariness crossing his face. 'My mistress,' he said again, massaging his temples. 'Dear God, Ruth, do you think I'm going to give you up now?'

Ruth's lips trembled. 'What do you mean?'

'What do you think I mean?' he demanded, straightening. 'I didn't come here to find a mistress. I came to claim a wife.'

'A wife?' Ruth couldn't help it, but she could not take this in. 'Dominic, don't tease me—'

'Tease you—
God
! I'm in no mood for teasing.' He unloosened his tie and breathed out heavily. 'You're not listening to me, Ruth. I want you to be my wife.'

Ruth turned abruptly away, putting up a hand to her hair, tugging absently at the lapels of her wrapper. Could it be true, what he was saying? Could he seriously mean what he had said? Was her own desperate need to believe him playing tricks with her, or had he actually said he wanted to marry her?

'I—I found out today how—how Daddy found out about us,' she said suddenly, needing to keep her head, even though her heart was pounding. 'It—it was Joseph, you know. Joseph who told him. Oh, not intentionally. I suppose, but he did it just the same.'

'Ruth!'

it was the day after. The day you left.' She licked her dry lips. 'Joseph has a soft spot for Celeste, you know. Oh, he's married, and his wife has several children, but Celeste—well, he's always been fond of her.'

'Ruth, look at me-'

'You remember Harold, don't you? The young man who lent you the motorbike. Celeste's
cousin!
Well, apparently he spent the night with Celeste, and Joseph was furious. He went to Daddy and actually complained!' She stifled a half hysterical laugh. 'Yes, he complained, and he mentioned that Harold had lent the motorbike to us, just to give his story weight, I suppose. Anyway, Daddy was shocked, as you might imagine, and—and he told Doctor Francis. It was Doctor Francis who told the story to me.'

'I'm sorry.' Dominic sounded weary, but Ruth had to go on.

'It's all right. He didn't know what had really happened, you see. I mean—when he reproached me, I thought—I thought you'd told him, but you hadn't, and he didn't know—not everything, anyway.'

'I'm glad.' Dominic spoke with sincerity. 'Perhaps you can forget it now.'

'Yes.'

Ruth bowed her head, then she felt him behind her, his hands sliding about her waist, drawing her back against him. 'Ruth,' he said, rubbing his lips against her neck. 'Your father need not have worried. You bewitched me, almost from the first moment we met.'

'I don't—I mean, I can't—' Ruth was finding it hard to speak, with his hands sliding up over her rib cage, moulding the swollen fullness of her breasts. 'Dominic—that's not true.'

'It is true.' he insisted huskily. 'You don't know this, but I knew all about Aunt Davina long before I saw your picture with her in the paper. I actually had someone look into your family history, to ensure myself that you wouldn't be alone if anything happened to your father.'

'But—but that's not the same thing—'

isn't it?' Dominic's tone was wry. 'Oh, love, don't you know I was so eaten up with remorse for leaving you. I found it incredibly hard to think of anyone else?'

She shook her head. 'But if I hadn't come to London—'

'—I'd have ended up here, sooner or later,' Dominic told her gently.

'But what about Barbara?' Ruth persisted, turning in his arms to face him. 'Dominic—'

'Barbara and I were having problems even before we went to Barbados,' he replied honestly. 'Why do you think I took the yacht out in the storm? Why do you think I didn't want anyone to know where I was?' He sighed, and then went on huskily: 'Ruth, my father chose my fiancee for me. It was to be what you might call a suitable match. I wasn't madly keen at first, but I had no radical objections, and we just—drifted into it, I suppose.' He shook his head, as she slanted her gaze up at him, and added: 'That may sound weak to you, but until I met you I'd never encountered a woman I could imagine spending the rest of my life with.'

'And—and Barbara?'

'Oh, Barbara's ambitious. I knew that. Just how ambitious for me. I learned later.'

'But after you got back—'

'After I got back to England, Barbara went away. Her sister had just had a baby, and we decided it would be good for both of us if we had a break. Unfortunately, so far as I was concerned, it didn't work.'

'But you didn't break your engagement.'

'At the beginning, no.' He compressed his lips for a moment. 'You have to understand my position—'

'There's no need,' she began, but he removed her silencing finger.

'There's every need,' he insisted, and then could not resist covering her parted lips with his, when her tongue appeared in unknowing provocation.

'Anyway.' he continued at length, somewhat thickly, 'it all has to do with my brother Michael.'

'The one who died?'

'You know about that?'

'Aunt Davina mentioned it.'

Dominic nodded. 'I see. Well—yes, it has to do with him.' He paused. 'He was killed, you see. He fell from his pony when he was just seven years old. My mother was desolated.'

'I can believe that.' Ruth was shocked. 'How terrible for her! Where did it happen?'

'Can't you guess?' Dominic nodded at her look of awareness. 'Yes—Marlin Spike. That's why she never goes there now, why there are no horses in the paddock.' He shrugged. 'She can't bear to think of it.'

'Poor woman!'

Dominic agreed, touching her cheek tenderly. 'So you see.' he went on, 'I became the most important thing in her life.' He said this without conceit, and Ruth understood. 'It's very touching, but also very wearing. And naturally, I've always tried to fall in with their wishes—my parents', I mean.'

'Yes, I see.' Ruth looked doubtful now. 'So how—'

'Give me time,' he reproved her. kissing her nose. 'Much as I long to make love to you, I want you to know that breaking my engagement to Barbara was not the traumatic thing you might expect.' He shrugged. 'We had a row, of course, but then we've had a number of them lately, and I think we were both realising that our marriage simply wouldn't work.'

Ruth bit her lip. 'But your mother—'

'I know. I know. I know my mother spoke to you about us. She confessed that she'd suspected there was something between us, and she didn't want you to be hurt.'

'Me?' Ruth's eyes widened.

'Well, that's her story, and she's sticking to it,' remarked Dominic wryly, and Ruth's lips quivered into a smile. 'After all,' he said, 'you're going to be her daughter-in-law, and she has visions of becoming a grandmother before too long.'

Ruth's face coloured then, but fortunately Dominic did not make the association. 'So.' he continued. 'after speaking to my father, and gaining his blessing, if you like. I couldn't wait to see you.' He sighed. 'Unfortunately, as you know, .you were away —for a few days, your aunt told me. So instead of driving myself frantic, wondering where you were and what you were doing, I took myself off to the north of England, to visit our plant in Cumbria. By the time I got back you'd already left the country.'

'Oh, Dominic!'

'Oh, Dominic, indeed.' he muttered, his hands on her hips, pressing her against him. 'And that aunt of yours wouldn't even come to the phone! When I eventually went to the house, she actually threatened to have me thrown out!'

'But why?' Ruth was horrified. 'What did you say to her? "Were you rude? Why wouldn't she speak to you?'

Dominic hesitated. 'I suppose she doesn't like me.'

'No.' Ruth frowned. 'No. I thought that. But then you didn't like her either.'

'No.' Dominic conceded dryly. 'However—'

'So how did you get to speak to her?' Ruth persisted. 'How did you find out where I was? Did Martin tell you?'

'Martin wasn't there,' said Dominic flatly. 'She said he was on some rally or something.'

'Oh, yes.' Ruth smiled. 'Martin is very keen on motor-cars, at the moment.' She gave Dominic a teasing look. 'I'm very fond of Martin. He was very kind to me. and he needn't have been, in the circumstances.'

'What circumstances?' Dominic frowned.

'Well—' Ruth considered her words carefully, 'I was the usurper, wasn't I? I mean, not every son would welcome a stranger into his home, particularly not someone on whom his mother was spending a lot of money. Money that he might conceivably regard as his one day.'

'Oh, I see,' Dominic nodded. Then, as if coming to a decision, he said: 'Yes, I suppose you're right. Martin isn't such a fool as I thought.'

Ruth linked her arms around his neck. 'Are you sure—'

But Dominic had covered her mouth with his again, successfully silencing her, and she could only cling to him weakly, lost to the rapture of his kiss.

It was some time later before either of them felt like talking again. In the faintly luminous glow before dawn, Ruth awoke sleepily to find Dominic nuzzling her nape with his lips, while his hand strayed disturbingly down over her still-flat stomach. It was the first time she had actually slept with him, and there was a tingling delight in feeling his warm hard body close to hers beneath the sheet that covered them, one leg sprawled possessively across her thighs. In the eager hunger of their lovemaking, she had had no time to think of other things, but now the simple pleasure in knowing he was not going to leave her again made her move ever more urgently against him.