After the Affair(37)

'No!' he gasped. 'Keep still!'

She held herself back for as long as she could, trying to be patient. But, inevitably, her control slipped. Her body began to rock, moving with him, urging him on. Her hands gripped on to the quilt at her sides, her fingers tightening and releasing in time with the primitive rhythm. Her breathing quickened further, as did her movements, and finally he could no longer resist her urgings.

Cassie's body convulsed, her lips parting wide in her gasps of uncontrollable pleasure. And while her body was still shuddering in ecstasy Dan climaxed. Then slowly, exhaustedly, his spent body collapsed on top of her.

For several stunned seconds all Cassie was aware of was Dan's weight on her, then gradually, dreamily, the aftermath of their lovemaking took hold. All her limbs flooded with a heavy languor. A blissful peace seeped into her mind. And in this moment of satiation and contentment, her arms slipped around him, her palms sliding over the warm, damp skin on his back. He had denied her this contact, and now she wanted to revel in it. Love ran from her heart down her arms, through to her fingertips. She caressed his skin, stroked and touched him with the intensity of a woman starved of affection. This was Dan, her man, her love. She hugged him close.

When he suddenly began to roll away she cried, 'Don't go!' and clung on.

For a second he hesitated, then he sank back. Her arms crept back around him in a tightly possessive clasp.

'Oh, Dan,' she choked out. 'My darling, my love. .

His body froze above her. Then with a stiff, jerky movement, he withdrew. He spun away and sat on the side of the bed, his shoulders shaking.

'Goddamn you, Cassie,' he hissed. 'Goddamn you!'

Cassie shot upright, stunned by his unexpected desertion, his savage words. 'Dan...' Her hand gingerly touched his shoulder. 'What's wrong? What have I said? Done?'

He rounded on her, black eyes flashing, his expression one of disgust. 'Is that all it takes with you, Cassie? One good lay and you love me? Or do you love every man who satisfies you?'

She shrank back from him in horror, but he swept on, his voice full of derision. 'Let's at least have some honesty in this marriage! So the sex is good between us. More than good. Great! Well, I'm not surprised. It always was. But, for pity's sake, I don't need it served up with false platitudes. OK? Keep the my darlings and loves to yourself!'

Cassie's face began to crumple. She couldn't believe this man... He was either incredibly stupid, or heartless! For nine years she had bottled up her love for him. Nine years! And here she was at last, dying to give him every last scrap of it, offering her heart as well as her body on a silver platter. And what had he done with it? Thrown it back in her face!

Appalled, she stared into his flushed, arrogant face and fought her tears, fought them for all she was worth. Her earlier intentions of asking him about his marriage, then explaining everything she had said and done since his return, flew out of the window. She got to her feet, making no attempt to hide her nudity. She drew herself up straight and glared down at him, face proud, eyes chilling with enforced steel.

'Very well, Dan,' she said in clipped tones. 'If you'll excuse me, I am going to have a shower. You said something about taking me shopping afterwards? Forget it! I'm not in the mood. How's that for honesty?'

She spun away and marched over to the bathroom door, where she whirled to face him once more. 'And speaking of honesty, I have one more thing to say. You can stop throwing other men up in my face. There have been no other men. None at all. I lied. You were my first and only lover, Dan. First and only!'

Forcing her chin up in crumbling defiance, she threw herself into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her. But as she leant, heaving against the door, the silence from the room outside rushed to haunt her. He hadn't come after her, wasn't banging on the door, didn't beg her forgiveness. She bit her lip and stumbled over to the shower, snapping on the water just in time to let the sound of the teeming jets drown out her sobs.





CHAPTER TWELVE


Cassie stayed in the shower for ages, unwilling in her misery to face Dan once more. But at long last her water-wrinkled skin forced her to turn off the taps and emerge. She dried herself and dragged on one of the towelling bathrobes supplied by the hotel.

This marriage was impossible, she decided bleakly as she ran her fingers through her damp hair. She couldn't bear to live with Dan every day, sleep in his bed every night, having to keep herself in check, never able to tell him that she loved him. And any hope that in time he might come to love her as she did him was sheer fantasy!

A shudder ran through her at the memory of the way he'd turned on her, so soon after they'd been bound together in what she'd imagined, however stupidly, was a loving union  . But it had only been sex on Dan's part. A mere indulging of his carnal desires. On a personal level, he was as cold and ruthless as he'd once declared.