Forgotten Fiancee Page 10

  “If Coverdale’s just being nice, I’m a Dutchman,” Justin observed. “I’ve met his type too often before, only in it for what he can get.”

  “Stop being so suspicious,” Sarah told him. “What can he possibly get out of Mr. Norton? Come on, let’s lock up. I’m starving, and you promised to cook supper.

  Chapter Six

  The opening night of the play was only ten days away, and Miss Timmins was engaged in an orgy of prop gathering. Anybody with a serviceable item was commanded to hand it over on pain of being accused of having no sense of the fitness of things. She dispatched Justin from one end of the village to the other and back, “like a sergeant major,” he protested.

  The one thing that eluded her ingenuity was a magnificent ball gown for Sarah to wear. It was supposed to represent Amy’s flowering to beauty, but Sarah had resigned herself to wearing something bought at a jumble sale and made over.

  Strangely enough, it was Imelda who solved the problem. She didn’t normally deign to patronize Mottson’s, but when she did she managed to enter in such a way that even the doorbell sounded different. She arrived while Sarah was going over the books with Uncle Nick, and Justin was entertaining Nicky.

  “Can I help you?” Sarah asked politely.

  Imelda produced her most gracious smile. “It is I who have come to help you,” she declared. “I understand that Miss Timmins is collecting props for your latest little show and that there was some difficulty in obtaining a ball gown.”

  “We’re having trouble finding something nice enough,” Sarah admitted.

  “Then I have the answer.” Imelda laid a long box on the counter and lifted from it an ivory satin gown. The bodice was decorated with glittering beads, and the wide skirt flowed dramatically.

  Sarah gasped with delight. “It’s beautiful. Thank you so much. How generous of you!”

  “One likes to do one’s duty by the community,” Imelda announced sweetly.

  “We’ll return it in good condition,” Sarah promised. “You must love wearing such a beautiful creation.”

  “Oh, well—I could hardly wear it again, could I?”

  Sarah reddened. She was good-natured to a fault, but there was no missing the implication of Imelda’s words.

  “But I do want it back,” the older woman continued. “I wore it at a ball at which royalty was present, so it will form part of the family’s heritage collection. I brought it to you because I could hardly approach Miss Timmins.”

  “Oh, dear. Are you and she at odds again?”

  “Not again,” Imelda said frostily. “Still. That disgusting tom of hers simply will not learn his place. He’s always hanging about Princess Delphine, and it takes all my efforts to avert a misalliance.” Imelda’s eyes were hard. “Such a thing must not happen. I will not allow it.”

  “Perhaps Crosspatch isn’t as interested as you think,” Sarah suggested. “Maybe Princess Delphine doesn’t attract him.”

  Imelda gave a tinkly laugh. “That’s absurd! Hoi polloi is always attracted by class. Class must protect itself.”

  The two women faced each other, each knowing they weren’t talking about cats.

  “That woman!” Nick said with loathing when Imelda had departed. “I’d just like to get her to myself on a dark night.”

  “It wouldn’t work,” Sarah said mischievously. She’d recovered her sense of humor. “We’re hoi polloi. She’s class. Class would probably protect itself with a sharp knee.”

  “I wasn’t thinking of making advances,” Nick growled. “More like murder. You know why she did it, don’t you?”

  “To warn me off,” Sarah said with a chuckle, “in case I had any ideas about allying myself to class.”

  “How can you laugh about it?” Justin demanded.

  “I can’t help finding Mrs. Drew funny. Royalty was present, no less. Just so that I know the Drews are the creme de la crerne.”

  “Imelda Drew’s crerne went sour years ago,” Nick fulminated.

  “And the funniest thing of all is the idea that I might be chasing her son.”

  “You should have thrown her dress back at her,” Justin insisted.

  “She’d have told the others, and how would I have explained it?”

  As if to prove her right, Miss Timmins came in at that moment. The story was soon told, and she bore the box away in triumph after giving Justin a long list of last-minute items that would take him at least a day to get through.

  The result was that he was late back the next night and missed the rehearsal. It was a difficult evening. Time was running short, and tempers frayed. Alex arrived the worse for wear, and his eyes lit up when he realized Sarah was alone. She avoided him as much as possible, but when she came offstage he was always waiting for her.

  “Mom told me about her dress,” he confided, breathing brandy fumes over her.

  “It was very kind of her,” Sarah said.

  He touched her arm. “It’s a real sexy number—low cut—can’t wait to see you in it, Sarah.”

  She flinched away from him.

  “C’mon, darling, don’t give me the cold shoulder. I know you’re not really like that.”

  “Don’t call me darling, and you don’t know what I’m like.”

  “I know you’ve got a little bastard back home, which means you’re no blushing violet. Someone’s had what you’ve got to offer, so why not me?”

  She turned angry, astonished eyes on him, but Lucinda’s voice calling her spared her the necessity of saying anything. After that she managed to avoid being alone with him, but she was shaken by the revelation of his ugly thoughts. Was that how they saw her in Haven? She knew it was an old-fashioned place, and some of her neighbors regarded her as an oddity, but they were kindhearted, and if they disapproved they kept it to themselves. She became so distracted with her troubled thoughts that she forgot her lines twice.

  She was relieved when it was time to go, and slipped away through the side door. But Alex was waiting for her outside, blocking her way.

  “Let me pass, Alex.”

  “In a minute. Why don’t you come and have a drink with me?”

  “I’ve got to get home. Please let me pass.”

  He put his hands on either side of her head, pressing her against the wall with his body. “Just a kiss—one little kiss.”

  “I said no.” She tried to push him away, but he pressed harder, groping tipsily for her breasts.

  “You were giving me the come-on in there.”

  “I wasn’t”

  “Don’t try to deny it.”

  He seized her head in both hands and forced a boozy kiss onto her. Sarah rarely lost her temper, but she lost it now, fighting him off hard enough to force him back. She hardly recognized Alex. The sunny, good-tempered boy was gone. Instead his face showed fury at being denied what he wanted and a drunken determination to have his way at all costs.

  “You little bitch,” he spat. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

  He slammed her against the wall. Sarah managed to get her arm up across her chest, which infuriated him still more. He wrenched at her shirt, tearing it halfaway. She tried to cry out for help, but she was breathless from the struggle and Alex’s weight was pressing against her. She kicked and fought as well as she could and could sense that her strength came as an unwelcome surprise to him, but it only served to heighten his anger at being frustrated.

  “What game d’you think you’re playing?” he demanded through gritted teeth. “You were sending out all the signals. Think I can’t tell?”

  An angry voice spoke out of the shadows. “That’s just what I think.”

  To Sarah’s overwhelming relief the voice belonged to Justin. He appeared behind Alex with alarming suddenness, pulled him off, slapped his face and gripped him by the ear. “I think you can’t tell when a lady’s saying no, because no one ever said that to you in your whole spoilt life,” he snapped.

  Alex swore at him. He was squirming helplessly, but Justin’s ho
ld on his ear was remorseless. “Perhaps if I take you home like this, along the High Street so that everyone can see, you’ll learn that no means no,” Justin said, as though seriously considering the matter.

  Alex gave a yelp of protest and kicked Justin on the shins, just hard enough to make him wince and relax his grip slightly. Alex wriggled free and made a run for it. He got to a safe distance before turning and yelling, “No need to be a dog in the manger.”

  “And what’s that supposed to mean?” Justin demanded grimly.

  “You may have squatter’s rights now. But you won’t stick around forever.”

  Justin’s face darkened with anger. “And then you think Sarah will drop into your hands? Is that it? I have news for you, since you’re too fatheaded to understand the signals. The lady doesn’t like you.”

  Alex pulled a small whiskey flask from his pocket and tossed the contents down his throat. It seemed to renew his courage, for he said, “Well, I have news for you. That is no lady. That’s a hot little number, great for a bit of fun but in no position to be choosy.”

  By his side Justin heard Sarah’s sharp intake of breath at Alex’s cruel words.

  “I mean, where’s the kid’s father, eh?” Alex went on. “You don’t see him around, do you? She probably doesn’t even recall his name, but whoever he is, he didn’t want to know about that little bundle.”

  Dark anger was welling up inside Justin. Alex saw it, and his boozy courage drained away. He backed off, but Justin gave chase, seized his collar and begun to propel him across the green.

  “Let me go!” Alex shrieked.

  “Not before I’ve taught you a lesson in manners, you nasty little punk,” Justin said through gritted teeth.

  Some loiterers on the village green turned at the sight of Justin, holding Alex’s collar in one hand and his belt in the other, hauling him across the grass to the duck pond.

  “Don’t you dare!” Alex roared.

  “Who’s going to stop me?” Justin demanded. The next moment Alex was flying through the air to land, with a huge splash, in the dark water. Ducks rose into the air, flapping their wings and quacking furiously. Alex surfaced, spluttering and covered with mud.

  “You—” he screamed, “you—”

  But Justin was already’ walking away. He went straight to Sarah. “Let’s go home,” he said, taking her arm gently.

  They slipped into the house and up the stairs without attracting Nick’s attention. When they were in his room he pulled her against him in a hug. “Don’t take any notice of him, Sarah. He doesn’t count.”

  “Yes, I—I know.” Her voice trembled, and he held her more tightly, murmuring gentle words against her hair. “I’ve never seen Alex be like that before,” she said. “I knew he could be silly, but he seemed a nice enough boy. Only tonight he was different, nasty. He kept muttering things to me. He thought I was easy, just waiting for him to—”

  “What right has he to think you were easy?”

  “Because I’ve got a baby and no sign of his father.”

  “Damn him! How dare he judge you! He ought to be kicked from here to kingdom come.”

  She gave a shaky laugh and raised her head to look at him. “Well, you did that, didn’t you?” The words died at something she saw in his face.

  Justin lowered his head slowly until their lips were barely touching. He whispered her name, and she felt herself melting with happiness. This was what she wanted. Him. Only him. This was why she could never belong to any other man.

  He tightened his arms, covering her mouth with his own, kissing her hungrily, and she responded with equal ardor. But in the same moment Justin tensed. Sarah felt his whole body grow stiff, and the next in-. stant he tore himself away from her.

  “Justin, what is it?”

  He went to stand at the window, looking out at the moonlit scene. He was shaking with the force of the passion he was fighting down, but not for the world would he. have hurt her. And it had dawned on him with horrible clarity that after what had happened tonight his very ardor might seem an insult.

  “Don’t you want me?” she asked softly.

  With a groan he turned to her. “You know how. much I want you,” he said raggedly. “I want to make love with you right now, but I can’t, unless—”

  “Unless what?”

  “Unless you tell me that you know I’m not like Alex Drew, thinking you easy and out for what I can get.”

  “Justin, I’ve never thought that.”

  “Are you sure? Isn’t that the real reason?”

  “I don’t understand. The reason for what?”

  “The barrier between us. Because there is one, Sarah. You know there is. Even when we seem closest I can feel the shadow of something, or someone, that you can’t forget. Is it that you don’t trust me?”

  “No, no,” she said earnestly.

  “Or don’t you trust any man—because of Nicky’s father? Tell me. Don’t let me flounder, wondering what I have to do to get it right.”

  She touched his lips lightly, first with her fingertips, then with her mouth. “You don’t have to do anything,” she whispered, “except this.”

  “Yes,” he murmured against her mouth.

  “Just this, and this…”

  He gathered her to him in one urgent, hungry movement. His fears fell away as he felt the sweet ardor of her body responding to his passion. He kissed her mouth, her eyes, touching her with reverence, trying to show by tenderness what she meant to him.

  Sarah felt herself drowning in the pleasure of the long, slow kiss he gave her, his mouth moving over hers with leisurely ease. His tongue slid between her lips and found its place naturally, exploring the inside of her mouth with feather-light strokes. Each little flickering movement heightened her sensations, making her long for the inevitable conclusion. But Justin wasn’t to be hurried.

  “How dare he lay a finger on you,” he murmured. “He knows nothing about you. He doesn’t see you as I do—”

  “Forget Alex,” she said. “You said yourself he doesn’t count. Nothing else counts while we have this.”

  He covered her mouth again and began to explore more deeply. The hard length of his body was pressed against hers, and even through their clothes she could feel his rising tide of need. She trembled pleasurably at the thought of the encounter to come.

  His wandering hands discovered the torn shirt and began to remove it, revealing faint bruises on the skin beneath. He swore softly before laying gentle lips against them, driving pain away with the tenderness of his love.

  “I should have done a lot more than toss him in the duck pond,” he said huskily.

  “Never mind. It’s over now. Love me, Justin.”

  He threw off his clothes and helped her with the last of hers. Instead of taking her straight to bed he sat on the edge and drew her between his knees so he could wrap his arms around her, laying his head against her breast. She stroked his hair and rested her cheek against him.

  His fingers outlined her curves, touching her softly, intimately, in ways that she loved. His tongue was teasing one peaked nipple, circling it with small rasping movements that heightened her excitement. It felt so wonderful, pure ravishing delight streaming through her body, out to her fingers and toes.

  He felt the change in her breathing and quickly drew her down onto the bed beside him. He was a skilled lover. He knew how to excite a woman and bring her physical release. His controlled technique was a weapon, along with many others, contributing to his reputation as a man who succeeded at everything.

  But tonight he forgot about weapons and success. He was making love, his body obeying the impulses of his heart and soul. Sarah sensed it in every caress, and her body relaxed as it became more intimately his. She touched him in wonder, feeling the leashed power behind the restraint.

  He pulled back to look at her face, and something in her smile seemed to reassure him. When Sarah reached out to him he instantly took her hand, pressing it against his mouth and
stroking the palm with his tongue. It felt good, but her feverish body was beyond light caresses. She craved him deeply, primitively, and now.

  “Justin, I want you,” she whispered.

  “Are you sure, Sarah? Is this really what you want?”

  For answer she gripped his shoulders and pulled him over her in a fever of impatience. To her incredulous delight he laughed, something he’d never been relaxed enough to do in the past.

  “I guess you’re sure,” he said.

  Once he knew how much she desired him he wasted no time, entering her quickly, so that she gasped with the pleasure. She wrapped her legs around his hips, telling him silently what she wanted, and felt his powerful reaction deep within her. She was lost in the profound depths of her sensuality, giving back passion for passion with a hot urgency that removed the last of his caution. He claimed her like a man possessed, dazzled by the beauty she offered. The fierce magic consumed them both, merging them into one creature, both loved and loving, giving and taking.

  It was she who urged them on to their climax, driving against him. He responded vigorously, thrusting deep inside her, giving her his all in powerful movements of hips and thighs until their final moment of explosive release. But when the moment was past he only held her more firmly, like a man who’d discovered a secret and feared to let it slip away.

  They lay quiet for a while, then she heard him chuckle. “What is it?”

  “I was thinking of Alex in the duck pond. That was the most fun I’ve had in years.”

  She joined in his laughter. “You really enjoyed that,” she accused.

  “You bet I did.”

  “Well, maybe I did, too. You were right about Alex. He wasn’t the harmless little boy I thought.” Her laughter died. “Is that how they really think of me here?”

  “You know better than that,” he said quickly. “Don’t let that lout spoil anything. These are good, kind people. They take folks as they find them. If anyone should know that, it’s me.”

  “You’re right,” she said contentedly. And the contentment was as much at hearing how he spoke of Haven as anything else.

  It was blissful to lie in his arms, feeling the beating of her heart slow down and a drowsy heaviness overtake her limbs. No telephones, no faxes, nothing but their two selves.