Sinful Nights(13)

It saved the bother of buying a new one,' he told her sardonically  correctly following her chain of thought. He glanced at his watch  flicking back his cuff in a manner that was achingly familiar. It  shocked her that her mind should have stored and retained so many minute  details about him. We'd better get back. I take it you don't want to  go out and celebrate our reunion     ?'

Can you think of any reason why I should?' Her voice was as cool as  his, her eyes locking with the gold blaze that glittered over her too  pale face. I've married you for one reason and one reason only Blake-my  father's peace of mind, and just as soon as  … ' she gulped back the  stinging tears that suddenly formed,  …  just as soon as that reason no  longer exists our marriage will be over.'

The silence that filled the car on the way back to the valley was not a  comfortable one. Sapphire sat back in her seat, her head on the  headrest, her face turned dismissively towards the window, and yet  despite her determination to ignore Blake, she was acutely aware of him.  Every time she closed her eyes she saw his face; pictured the lean  strength of his hands on the steering wheel. For a moment, unnervingly  she even pictured those hands against her skin, touching; stroking  …   Stop it, she warned herself. Dear God what was happening to her? Blake  no longer possessed the power to affect her in that way. She was  completely over him and the childish infatuation she had once had for  him.

We'll drive to Flaws Farm and pick up your things first.' His cool  voice broke into her thoughts. I've got the vet coming out this  afternoon to look at the mare, so we won't linger.'

The fact that we're married doesn't mean we have to do everything  together,' Sapphire pointed out tartly, not liking the way he was taking  control. I can easily drive myself over to Flaws. In fact,' she turned  in her seat to look determinedly at Blake, in view of my father's  illness and the fact that no-one knows that we've been divorced, I think  it would be quite acceptable for me to remain at Flaws  … '

Maybe it would,' Blake agreed sardonically, if your daughterly  devotion wasn't a bit late in coming, and I was prepared to agree. Oh  no, Sapphire,' he told her softly, I want you where I can keep an eye  on you. You're not running out on me twice. Besides,' he added, if you  don't come back to Sefton House with me, your father's going to get  suspicious.'

His last words were undeniably true. Biting down hard on her lip to  prevent her vexation from showing Sapphire turned back to stare out of  her window, relieved when she saw the familiar turnoff for Flaws Valley.  This tension between herself and Blake wasn't something she remembered  from the past. Of course, she had always been aware of him; but surely  never like this, with a nerve-rasping intensity that made her muscles  ache from the strain she was imposing on them.

You're back early.' Mary greeted them without any surprise, but of  course as far as she was concerned she and Blake had merely had a  morning out together. Are you staying for lunch?' Her question was  addressed to Blake, but his arm tethered Sapphire to his side when she  would have slipped out of the room. We haven't got time, I've got the  vet coming this afternoon.' He released Sapphire to smile down at her,  his eyes so warm and golden that his glance was like basking in the heat  of the sun. I'll go up and see your father while you pack.'    

 



 

He was gone before Sapphire could speak, leaving her to face Mary's  raised eyebrows and expectant expression. Sapphire couldn't face her. I   …  I'm going back with Blake,' she said hesitantly, I  …  we  … .'

Your father will be pleased,' Mary assured her coming to her rescue.  Look,' she added, why don't I make some coffee and then come upstairs  and give you a hand with your packing. Not that you brought a lot with  you.'

Sensing the speculation behind her words Sapphire said shakily. N  …  I had no idea then that Blake  … '

Still loved you?'

The words surprised her into a tense stillness, but mercifully Mary was  too busily engaged in making the coffee to notice her startled response.  It had been on the tip of her tongue to blurt out that Blake had never  loved her, but fortunately she had caught the words back just in time.

It was over an hour before they were finally able to leave. Her father  had been so pleased by their news. Sighing Sapphire tried to settle  herself in the car, telling herself that her sacrifice must surely have  been made worthwhile by her father's pleasure.

I'm going to have to leave you to find your own way about,' Blake told  her tensely when he stopped the car in his own farmyard. I want to have  a word with the shepherd before the vet arrives. You'll have to make  yourself up a bed I'm afraid-unless of course you prefer to share mine.'  The last words were accompanied by a cynical smile.

Hardly,' Sapphire told him crisply, I'm no masochist, Blake; nor am I a naive seventeen-year-old any longer.'

No,' he agreed bitterly, and for a moment Sapphire wondered at the  deeply intense timbre of his voice and the drawn expression tensing his  face, before dismissing her impressions as false ones and berating  herself for allowing her imagination to work overtime. Blake had no  reason to feel bitter-unlike her.

As she let herself into the kitchen she was struck by the fact that  despite, or perhaps because of its gleaming appearance the room seemed  oddly sterile; not like a home at all. The mellow wooden cabinets which  should have imparted a warm glow, looked too much like a glossy, cold  advertisement; there were no warm, baking smells to tantalise or tempt.  Blake's aunt had made her own bread, she remembered with unexpected  nostalgia, and she remembered this kitchen best filled with its warmly  fragrant scent. Of course if the smell of freshly baked bread was all it  took to bring the place alive, she was more than capable of supplying  that herself. Her culinary efforts so much despised by Blake's aunt had  improved rapidly in the security of her own small home. Alan often asked  her to cook for important clients and among their circle of friends she  had quite a reputation as a first-rate hostess. Alan approved of her  domestic talents; Alan! Her body tensed. What was he going to say when  he heard about all this? She could well lose him. Why was she not more  concerned at the prospect; after all she had been planning to marry him?  Pushing aside the thought she opened the kitchen door and stepped into  the square parquet-floored hall.

On the plate rack encircling the hall were the plates she remembered  from the early days of her marriage, the smooth cream walls otherwise  clean and bare. The parquet floor glistened in the bright March  sunshine, but the table was empty of its customary bowl of flowers and  she found she missed their bright splash of colour. Whatever her other  faults Blake's aunt had been a first rate housewife, and she had  obviously learned something from her Sapphire thought wryly, noticing  the thin film of dust beginning to form on the hall table. The rich reds  and blues of the traditional stair carpet carried her eye upwards. The  house had six bedrooms and two bathrooms; a more than adequate supply  for two people. Did Blake still occupy the master bedroom? It had been  redecorated especially for them before their marriage she remembered, in  soft peaches and blues that Blake had told her he had chosen with her  eyes in mind. Her mouth curled into a sardonic smile. And to think she  had been fool enough to believe him. The door handle turned easily under  her fingers, but she stood still once it was opened. Everything was  just as she remembered it; everything was clean and neat, but the room  gave the impression of being unused.

Re-living old memories?' Blake's voice was harshly discordant making her whirl round in shock.

She said the first thing that came into her mind. It doesn't look used.'

It isn't.' His voice was still harsh, his eyes fiercely golden as they  all but pinned her where she stood. Let's face it,' he added cynically,  the memories it holds aren't precisely those I want to take to bed  with me every night. I sleep in my old room, but you can have this one  if you wish.'    

 



 

His old room. Unwillingly her eyes were drawn along the corridor to the  room she knew he meant. She had only been in it once. She had come with a  message from her father and finding the kitchen empty and hearing  Blake's voice had hurried upstairs. He had emerged from his room just as  she reached it, a towel wrapped round lean hips, his body still damp  from his shower. She hadn't been able to take her eyes off him, she  remembered sardonically; and neither had she been able to speak. Blake  had drawn her inside the room closing the door. What is it little  girl,' he had asked tauntingly, haven't you ever seen a man before?'  She had turned to flee but he had caught her, kissing her with what she  had interpreted as fierce passion but which in reality could only have  been play-acting  …