The Man at Key West (14 page)

‘That’s what you like to think...’ she began, and he lowered his head.

‘Let’s see, shall we?’ he murmured against her lips.

For the next few minutes Sue knew what it was like to be the target of his anger. Leisurely he took his time, kissing her with brutal intentness, moving his mouth over hers until she felt near to fainting. Then he released her arms to caress her palpitating breast beneath the thin silk top.

His hands burned her skin as they moved to the top of her skirt. Already her heart was out of control and her body was about to follow suit when she made a desperate effort now that her arms were free. Jay had shed his jacket at the villa and his shirt was open to his chest.

Pushing as hard as she could against his shoulders, she tried to move her mouth from his. But if she was fast losing her control over her emotions Jay certainly was not.

He lifted his head and his eyes were accusing. ‘Well?’ he challenged, giving way to her steady pushing. ‘You’re fast running out of resistance, aren’t you? And don’t kid yourself that I’m not either. You were lucky the water was between us that day you skimmed by and saluted me so rudely. That memory of you with your luxurious tawny hair flying in the breeze and your delicious limbs outlined against the blue of the sea has tormented me ever since.’

‘That was pure lust,’ she spat at him.

‘Oh, no, it wasn’t. It was frustration because you happened to arrive before I was ready to give up my freedom for marriage. I fought you all the way, even to lying in bed thinking about you, damn you.’

He lay down beside her with his hands clasping the back of his head.

‘But you knew I’d never marry you,’ she said. ‘I told you you were too much like my father, with no roots to speak of, and I wasn’t having that again.’ Sue’s lips were throbbing from his callous kisses and she wanted to hurt him as he had hurt her. ‘Do you know why I married you? It was in order that you could help my father out of his present financial difficulties. By marrying you I knew you would have to help him.’

His reaction to this was startling, but not in the way she had expected.

‘What the hell are you babbling about?’ he demanded. ‘Your father is not in any financial trouble that I’m aware of. Unless it’s developed overnight, which is very unlikely. I wanted him to come to the wedding, but he’s coming to dine with us this evening instead.’

‘But there must have been something wrong, because Connie as good as said so. They went away without telling me and
—’

‘Why should they tell you?’ he said crisply. ‘Connie has been very foolish in borrowing money from that rat Cassells, and she came to me to stop him from pestering her. She wanted to impress your father, and who’s to b
l
ame her? Connie’s all
right. She’ll look after your father.’

Sue was silent. She could see her folly now. She had made the mistake of not letting go of the reins where her father was concerned. She had to be noble and sacrifice herself to save him, and she had done that all right.

She said uneasily, ‘You mean you’ve seen my father and he knew we were getting married?’

‘Your father has known for a long time that ... well, since the day I first saw you ... that we would probably marry,’ he said. ‘Connie didn’t know about it. I think she’s had her lesson in having anything to do with a man like Cassells.’

Sue said quietly; ‘How much did she owe Henry Cassells? I’d like to settle it without my father knowing about it.’

‘You mean you’d rather you help her than me?’

‘Well, she is family, and I don’t want my father worried. Beside, it has nothing to do with you,’ she said crossly.

‘She’s my in-law, you know. We’re married.’

‘Not really,’ she contradicted. ‘There’s no reason at all why I shouldn’t go back to the Villa Repose. I might even take a plane back to London.’

‘Why don’t you start right away?’ Jay suggested coolly.

Taken aback, Sue gathered her wits as anger boiled up inside her.

‘Why not?’ she retorted, and levered herself up. The pain in her injured ankle was excruciating, but she turned her face away so that he would not see the tears in her eyes.

She limped for a few agonising steps and gritted her teeth, determined to make it to the villa or die in the attempt.

Jay had come quietly behind her to scoop her up
into his arms before she realised it.

‘Put me down, you big oaf!’ she cried.

‘Shut up,’ he said, ‘and listen. I knew you wouldn’t settle here for long. You couldn’t bear the thought of your father shutting you out. Incidentally, you might try to like Connie a bit more. You have her at a disadvantage because you’ve known your father all your life and she has only recently met him and married him.’

She said through her teeth, ‘You’re interfering in something which doesn’t concern you.’

‘Oh, but it does. Now that you’re married to me you’ll find Connie a different person.’

‘I am not married to you except in name, and' that’s how it’s going to be.’

‘That’s what you think. When you leave this island it will be as my wife in every way. Now stop struggling and be sensible.’

‘Sensible?’ she echoed. ‘I am being sensible. It’s you who isn’t. Why, you’ve really tricked me into marrying you. You knew I didn’t want to marry you.’

‘But I wanted to marry you.’

‘You mean you had to do so in order to get me!
’
she retorted hotly.

Jay strode through the villa to take her to his room and set her down on the bed. Then he went to the bathroom to emerge with a cold wet sponge and a bath towel. In silence he placed the sponge on her injured ankle and wrapped the bath towel around it. Then he straightened.

‘Don’t go away,’ he said. ‘I’ll fetch a bandage to strap your ankle up. You’ll have to rest on it for a day or so.’

The tears came when he had left the room. If only she had not sprained her ankle she would have been on her way off the island, making
for
Villa Repose and possibly home to London. Lying on the bed, she covered her face with and fought back the tears. She had taken off her sto
ck
ings.

When Jay returned with the bandage she hi y quietly, taking care that he could not see her
fac
e. He was very gentle strapping up her ankle. He c
a
ressed her leg afterwards.

‘Beautiful legs and neat ankles,’ he murmured. ‘Tell me if you find the bandage too tight.’

Sue did not answer, and he leaned over her to push the hair away from her face.

‘Leave me alone,’ she muttered.

‘I can’t, my sweet Sue. That’s been the trouble since I first saw you. I simply can’t leave you alone. You must know how I feel about you. You’re something that’s never happened to me before.’ He was stroking her hair. ‘I admit that at first I thought you were no different from the others who deliberately attracted my attention. That rude gesture you made at me on the boat was in my opinion just a ploy to demand my attention. Then I discovered that it wasn’t. But by that time it wouldn’t have mattered if it had been. I was hooked. I had to have you.’

‘So you married me,’ she said huskily.

‘Of course I did, darling. That’s what a man does when he finds the woman whom he wants to share his life, someone whom he loves above all others.’ His fingers pushed her silky hair aside in order to kiss her neck, and Sue went rigid. The truth was just getting through to her. It was unbelievable. Jay loved her—he had said so. He had not married her to achieve his own ends as she had thought. He really loved her more than his freedom
that
he prized so much.

She turned her head to look up at him, brushing the tears from her cheeks childishly with the tip of a finger. Her heart was racing madly at the touch of his lips, his hands.

‘Tears?’ he mocked, dealing with the drops like jewels on her lashes. ‘While I can’t bear to see you cry I have no intention of letting you go. I know you’ll think I’m ruthless, but I love you, and I’m going to make sure you learn to love me. I know you don’t like my way of life, but I can compromise on that.’ He was kissing her all over her face. ‘Our married life will never be boring, if our wedding is anything to go by. It sure was the strangest wedding I’ve ever been to.’

‘You mean Gloria?’ Sue began to giggle, recalling Gloria’s deadpan make-up and way-out hair style.

She was aware of Jay laughing inwardly. His arms had gone around her and he was laughing in her hair. He was convulsed and so was she. They were both shaking fit to burst and Sue was almost hysterical. Jay loved her, and her love for him was greater than anything that she had ever dreamed of. The recent insight into his character, his compassion and understanding where Connie was concerned had amazed and delighted her.

The tears came again in force as she envisaged him as the father of her children, tender, caring and above all else compassionate and understanding. She was aware of him going quiet and still and he lifted his head to look deep into her eyes. She closed her eyes against the growing passion in his, then he was kissing her with the hunger of a man who had long held himself in check.

His mouth moved slowly over hers, making her
aware of his overpowering masculinity.

‘My sweet Sue,’ he whispered in a voice low and husky with desire, and Sue had neither the strength nor the desire to prevent the rising tide of passion that was consuming them both. She felt the triumph in him as his lips sought and demanded the response he was aching for, and she gave it gladly, for she was aflame with a passion so great that she was losing touch with reality.

‘But, Jay darling,’ she protested piteously, ‘I don’t want to live your kind of life. I want roots and a husband who’s at home every night. What kind of marriage could we have with you careering all over the globe? I gave that up when Daddy married.’

‘You talk too much,’ he whispered against the fragrance of her neck.

His lips were shatteringly sensuous as they moved down her throat to the gentle rise of her breast. Sue fought against the hypnotic effect of his kisses and caresses as he slowly divested her of her clothes.

‘Stop it, Jay! You’ve got to listen to me.’

Sue put a detaining hand on his wrist as he went to unfasten her bra.

‘I’m listening,’ he told her, drawing closer to move his thumb across her protesting lips in a caressing way. ‘I told you I’d compromise. I’ll deal with it.’

‘I’m sure you will. Before we make love or after?’ she said desperately.

He went very still. ‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’ he said carefully.

‘Jay! Can’t you see that afterwards it will be too late? We shall be really married.’ Sue quivered.

‘I thought we were married,’ he murmured lazily as he unfastened her bra. ‘Stop worrying. We’re married, and I’m going to make love to you as I’ve longed to do since the moment I saw you.’

‘But you can’t, not until we’ve talked things over,’ Sue cried passionately, it isn’t fair!’

His lips, warm and tantalising, were brushing her quivering mouth. Her bra was off and his hands moved down to her panties.

‘I can’t see anything unfair in making love to my wife. What do you want me to say? That I love you, which is true? That I’ll do anything to make you happy, which is also true? That with my body I shall worship you, which is also true? You’re mine, my sweet. You gave yourself into my keeping and I’m going to make sure that we keep it that way.’

He spoke the last words against her mouth as he crushed her objections into silence. He had stripped her of all defence as he had stripped her of clothes. Her senses swam as his expertise created a surging longing in her which only he could assuage. Swooningly, Sue knew that later she would hate herself for giving in to him. But with the promise of a glorious fulfilment regrets were ignored.

The only thing that mattered was that she was in Jay’s arms and that he was as hungry for her as she was for him. In a wonderful world narrowing down to just the two of them she wound her arms around his neck and clung until kisses no longer satisfied them. To Sue, who had never given herself to a man before, physical contact was a cataclysmic experience as their bodies merged together. To her it was a total fulfilment in the natural expressions of shared love. The beloved weight in her arms was all that romantic dreams were made of.

She floated with Jay on clouds of bliss, to become throbbingly alive to the demands of mar
r
iage. Much later their mouths still clung as they were reluctant to part. Jay buried his face in her silk tawny hair and Sue nuzzled against his breast. She felt blissfully warm and protected as if she had come home. But doubts were beginning to crowd in.

‘What are we going to do about us, Jay?’ she asked, kissing his chest.

He smiled and lifted her chin with a firm finger
. ‘I
f our lovemaking is a sample of what our marriage is going to be then I suggest we carry on as we are. It’s been the most uplifting experience of my life. I adore you.’

‘I love you terribly too,’ she confessed as he kissed her.

‘Not terribly,’ he murmured. ‘Beautifully. I’ve never known such a beautiful response. I give you my promise that you’ll never regret marrying me. I’ll seal it with a kiss.’