Torn Asunder (23 page)

at Cle. "Do you go topless,
sister-in-law to be?" Roddy's question was asked of Cle, but he threw
quick glances at his brother as well.

"No,
she doesn't," Dev answered for her, the look he gave Roddy holding hard
amusement.

"You
were always possessive, big brother." Roddy didn't look one bit abashed.

"I'm
worse now." Dev had held Cle close to him, the smile he gave her intimate,
telling her he recalled every intimate moment they had ever shared. "Would
you like to go to Bondi Beach, love? After all, these are your days off. You
should have some say in what we do."

"Bondi is fine," Cle answered.
Anything is fine as. long as you hold me, she thought, her own hand gripping
his waist.

Bondi
Beach was crowded even though it was a week day. Cle assumed that many people
took their vacations at this time of year. It was so beautiful. The sky was
vivid blue, the sands hot white, the water, blue to azure to turquoise to
green. The sun was an amiable ball of fire overseeing all.

Cle
was openmouthed at the bare breasts. Dev and Roddy were appreciative.

One
curvy young lady was stepping backward her head in the air watching a beach
ball come down toward her. Roddy didn't bother to dodge her. "Ooops!
Pardon me." She grinned toothily.

Roddy's
face was wreathed in smiles. "Will you marry me?"

"Oh,
you English!" The girl giggled, grabbing the beach ball and running back
down the beach.

"I'm
emigrating," Roddy announced, looking at Dev and rolling his eyes.

Dev laughed, inclining his head and
smiling when a lovely young thing spoke to him. When he bent down to spread the
blanket, Cle pushed him hard enough to

tumble him face
down in the sand.

Stripping
off her jeans, she streaked for the water, her desire to drown the blonde who
had spoken to Dev prickling her mind. For two cents I'd take my own top off,
she thought surface diving into a roller and doing a strong crawl through the
roar of the surf. In her peripheral vision she saw a dark head next to her.
Roddy. She exhaled a relieved breath and smiled at him.

"Don't
get too comfortable," Roddy shouted to her and gestured with his head over
his shoulder.

Cle
knew what that meant. She stroked harder. Something grabbed her calf and she
knew she was caught.

Dev came up underneath her, his face
shiny wet under hers. "Pushing me into the sand, huh, lady? Before I get
even as you Yankees say, tell me why."

"You know why!" Cle tried
darting to one side, but he was there. Staring at that girl's breasts,"
she sputtered, a wave splashing into her mouth.

"Darling,
I'm an art lover." Dev laughed.

"Ohhhh."
Cle put both hands on his head and pushed with all her might. Down went Dev,
but she could feel his hands on her waist, taking her with him. They wrestled
underwater until he finally pulled her close, his mouth fastening to hers. They
surfaced just that way.

"Could you clean it up,
please." Roddy was beside them looking at them in a disgusted way.
"Have you no control?"

Cle
tried to pull free of Dev but he wouldn't release her.

"Wait
until it happens to you, brother. Then you'll understand." Dev grinned, his
eyes full of that lazy heat that made her feel as though she were running a
fever. He held her in the water with a minimum of effort.

When the three of
them returned to the beach, Roddy and Dev began throwing a ball. Cle felt too
restless to sunbathe so she began ambling along the shore, grinning

to herself as she
realized that she was in a very small minority wearing a bikini top. Somehow it
seemed natural to watch the other women topless but she didn't feel that she
would try it. Her hand went to the knot at her neck, tightening it. If the tie
didn't stop loosening, she realized she might be topless, too. She had picked
up a few pieces of dried wood when she stopped to watch a young blond giant
sail surfing. He came right into shore in front of her, grinning at her.
"Would you like to try?"

Cle
had every intention of saying no, but all at once she found herself out on the
board, flying it seemed to her. She screamed at first when it looked as though
they would turn over, but then the man named Torin righted them and they veered
at a right angle to the beach, went down a ways then returned to the beach at a
forty five degree angle all the way. Cle could hear her own shrieks of laughter
as they cannoned toward the beach.

Her
laughter died in her throat as she saw Dev there, arms akimbo, his facial
muscles working hard.

He
waded out and lifted her from the surfer. Holding her in his arms, he looked at
Torin, then swung away.

"You
might have given me a chance to thank him." Cle pushed away as Dev set her
on her feet. The slippery tie released and Cle's bra top fell at her feet.

"Cle,"
Dev roared, diving for the top. "Cover yourself." He grated this as
he pushed the thin top at her, then turned her around to tie it himself.

"Will
you quiet down," Cle hissed at him. "People are looking. No one would
have even noticed that my top had fallen if you hadn't roared like Leo the
Lion."

"Damn
you, Cle, that panting Viking you were sailing with couldn't take his eyes off
you. Do you think I'd stand here and let him ogle your breasts?" Dev's
teeth snapped together on the words.

Cle
wanted to laugh at his glowering face, but she smothered it, realizing Dev was
not in a funning mood.

When Roddy urged Dev to play ball again,
he said that he wanted to sunbathe with Cle for a while. Roddy shrugged and
ambled away. In minutes he was playing a version of volleyball with some
topless girls down the beach.

Dev
lay on his stomach next to Cle. "Open your eyes, love, I know you're not
sleeping."

"You'll
bark at me." Cle could feel the giggle deep inside herself. She was going
to milk every minute she had with him, enjoy his every breath, every word.

"You
look sexy enough with your top on," Dev muttered, his mouth at her
throat. "I saw the way he looked at you. I wanted to tear his head
off!"

The
rest of the day, she "was never more than inches apart from Dev.

On
the ride home Roddy said that he had never had such a great day. His brother
laughed. Cle pinched Dev.

That
evening, Cubby and Lucille Willson came to dinner along with Max and the
Nivenses. Cle had prepared truite en colere with the help of the caterers.
When Dev winked at her during dinner Cle heaved a sigh of relief. The dinner
was going well. They had opened up the dining room table, adding all its leaves
and the ten people were seated comfortably.

"Dev
is telling you that the food is good," Cubby leaned over and whispered to
her. "You can tell that by the frown on Sybil's face. She is fully
convinced that no one can cook except the chefs at Larren and her own home. It
upsets her when she has a good meal any place else."

Cle
laughed, then coughed to cover it up when both Dev's sisters looked at her,
brows raised.

"We
went to the museum today after the Argyll Arts Center," said Sybil. "I
saw a diverting display of aborigine art. I was able to get in touch with
someone who owned some. I intend to buy a piece."

"You
want to buy one?" Diana Nivens asked, her voice faint. "It will cost
the earth."

"Yes.
Forty thousand pounds." Sybil smiled round the table. Cle choked. Max and
Alistair gasped.

Roddy and Dev looked at one another in
irritation.

"Sister
never buys shoddy, you know." Tessa picked daintily at her trout.

"If
her taste were as good as her pocket book is big, her home wouldn't look like a
flea market," Cubby muttered from the side of his mouth. "Both his
sisters are crackers."

When
Cle tried to smother her laughter behind her napkin, Lucille glared at her
husband.

Sybil
looked down the table at Cle, a tiny frown on her forehead. "I suppose
this isn't the time to mention it, but I feel I must. Duty to the name, you
understand."

"Oh,
we understand." Cubby and Roddy chorused, getting a big grin from Dev and
a glare from Lucille.

Sybil
cleared her throat. "All children must be born at Larren." She
exhaled and took a miniscule sip of Chablis, then nodded at her sister who
nodded in return.

"I
didn't know you were pregnanat, Cle. Nice work." Roddy beamed at a
startled Cle, watching her eyes round and her cheeks redden.

"Children are nice." Cubby
smiled at Cle.

"I meant, of course, after the
marriage," Sybil said, her tones frosty. "We Carstairs do not
recognize ah ... er... the wrong side of the blanket." She inclined her
head at Cle who nodded back then took a gulp of wine.

"What's
the wrong side of the blanket, Cubby?" Roddy asked.

"Rough side." Cubby looked
wise.

"What
if your blanket is smooth on both sides?" Roddy asked, ignoring Cle's
helpless glare. When she looked at Dev, he gave her a blank stare.

"Throw it away, same as you do the
baby born on the wrong side..."

"Let's
have coffee in the lounge." Cle surged to her feet.

For
the rest of the evening, Cubby behaved. Lucille stayed within pinching distance
to see that he did. She had no compunction in doing the same to Roddy when it
looked as though he might get out of hand as well.

Dev
persuaded Cle to play the piano for them, but when he saw her nervousness in
front of his sisters, he convinced Cubby that it would be a good idea for them
to sing along with her. She played all the songs that she remembered from her
college days, then Roddy pushed her over on the stool and began to play the
school songs that had been popular in Britain.

Dev
winked at her when she looked at him, mouth agape, as he sang the bawdy songs.

As soon as Sybil and Tessa stood at the
piano the songs changed and Roddy grimaced at singing "Drink To Me
Only."

They
sang for a long time and while Cle and Diana made coffee Lucille refereed the singing
so that Dev's sisters wouldn't be too put out by Cubby's and Roddy's choices.

The
next day she and Dev went to the airport to meet his aunt and uncle. Cle could
see the resemblance between Roddy and Aunt Margaret. She was immediately drawn
to the "crusty curmudgeon" who enveloped her in a bear hug and told
her that she was probably too good for his nephew.

During
the ride to the hotel, Aunt Margaret sniffed into her hankie and told Cle
innumerable stories about her Dev vie when he was a boy.

"He
was a devil in many ways," the admiral said, sitting next to Dev in the
car. "But I'm glad he won't be lonely any more. Beautiful city, what
Mag?" Sir Reginald asked looking around him at Sydney bathed in glorious
sunlight.

"Oh,
yes, quite beautiful," Aunt Margaret said tearfully, reaching forward to
touch the nape of Dev's neck. "Without my mother Dev's life would have
been so lonely," she mused turning her regal head to smile at Cle
seemingly unaware of the red stain running up her nephew's neck. "My brother
and sister-in-law were such.. .such social people, and of course, Roddy was so
much younger than Dev and the two girls so much older." She sighed.
"And, of course, Reggie and I were so often posted out of the
country." Her smile was tremulous. "He was such a dear."

"He
was a devil. Rode my best hunter when he was only a stripling. Damned creature
could have killed him." Sir Reginald glowered at his nephew. "You
always had good bottom Devon. Liked that."

"Thank
you, sir."

Cle
could hear the affection running through Dev's words.

That
evening was much of the same since just the four of them dined together.

There
were long moments when Cle didn't even think about her departure for the States
the next day. There were even some moments when she didn't think of her
marriage that was supposed to take place on the following day... the marriage
that would never take place.

That
night when she held Dev there was desperation in her.