'Let go,' Roarke urged gruffly, and with a gasp she abandoned the fight for self-control and instead drove on towards the goal her body craved. Roarke's hands fastened on her hips as she flung her head back in an agony of pleasure, and he matched her rhythm. It was a wild, frantic ride, and minutes later they climaxed together with mingled cries.
Collapsing on top of him, Ginny closed her eyes and waited for her pulse to stop galloping. Finally she had enough breath to speak.
'It just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?'
Roarke ran his hands caressingly up and down her back. 'Guess we must be doing something right.'
Sighing, she raised her hand and flicked her hair back out of her eyes. 'Was that inventive enough for you?'
'You can say that again. I don't know how I'm supposed to get up and go to work now.'
She knew how he felt, but the remark brought something else to mind. 'They're talking about us at the office, you know.'
'There's nothing new in that. They always talked about us,' Roarke was quick to point out.
'Yes, but now they're talking about us because we're not arguing. Do you think they suspect?'
'Probably.' Roarke used a finger to tease away hair that had stuck to her cheek. 'Do you mind them suspecting?'
'No,' she said with a shake of her head. It wasn't the suspecting that bothered her, it was the knowledge that the staff would now be speculating on how long it would last, and how she would deal with the end of it. Something she didn't know herself and, frankly, didn't want to think about.
Sensing something was wrong, Roarke frowned. 'But?'
Easing herself away from him and sitting up, Ginny grimaced. 'It's nothing really. I simply realised that if they do suspect we're having an affair, they'll also be betting on how long it lasts. Your track record isn't good,' she reminded him dryly, making light of it though she wasn't that amused really. Whilst their attraction showed no signs of waning, she could not ignore the fact that the longer the affair lasted, the closer they came to the end. A prospect that was far from pleasant, though she wasn't ready to ask herself why.
Roarke sat up too. 'I'm sorry it's bothering you. Do you want me to put a stop to it?'
Ginny shook her head and slid off the bed, reaching for her robe and slipping it on. 'You can't stop them wondering. It's human nature.'
'Maybe not. But I don't like the idea of people gossiping about your private life.'
She laughed wryly. 'The only way to stop them is to end the affair. Is that what you want?'
'You know damn well it isn't,' Roarke growled, eyes gleaming wickedly. 'I don't know what makes you so different, but I can't get enough of you. There's no way I'm letting you go.'
It did her spirits a power of good to hear that, for she wasn't ready to end it, either. 'So we just let the gossips get on with it?'
'We're news now, but it will pass the minute something better comes along.'
He was right, of course, but as she showered a little while later she couldn't help remembering, and knowing that if they were news now one day she would be old news. It was a thought that tightened invisible fingers about her heart.
Ginny was busy working on a colour scheme for one of their small hotels, which was due to be redecorated in the off season, when Roarke let himself into her office via the connecting door. Glancing up, she smiled a welcome, then glanced at her watch.
'Hi. I thought you had a lunch appointment,' she reminded him, at the same time angling her head up to receive the kiss he deposited on her lips.
'I have,' he confirmed, perching himself on a corner of her desk. 'I just got off the phone from talking to Caroline.'
'They're back from their honeymoon at last? How are they?'
Roarke grinned. 'They're fine. They've been back a fortnight, apparently.'
Her brows rose. 'Two weeks? Where have they been hiding themselves?'
'In the house they've bought in Surrey. They've already entertained your parents, and my mother. Now it's our turn. We've been invited to dinner tonight,' Roarke informed her, and her smile faded to a wary look.
'Does James know?' Her last meeting with her brother had been less than comfortable.
'Um-hum. Apparently he's relaxed a lot. He even argued with your father during their visit.'
'James did?' Ginny couldn't have been more surprised. Her brother had had the stuffing knocked out of him by their father's strictness many years ago. That he would argue with him was tantamount to treason. 'I can't believe it. The Brigadier must have gone ballistic!'
Roarke rubbed the side of his nose judiciously. 'He wasn't too amused.'
Ginny started to laugh. 'Oh, I wish I could have seen that,' she said, wiping a tear from her eye. 'She didn't happen to say anything about Lucy?'
Ginny had been expecting her sister to turn up at her door ever since she had returned from Switzerland, but there had been no sign of her. Though she knew Lucy would come to no harm, she guessed that their father had been keeping an eagle eye on her, making it difficult for her to get away.
'No, she didn't. You'll have to ask her tonight. Are you worried about your sister?' Roarke asked in concern, and Ginny sighed, tapping her fingers on the desktop.
'No more than usual. I just wish she was here and not there.'
Roarke laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. 'Lucy looked the resourceful type to me. She'll come when the time is right. Only she will know that.'
'You're right. It's the mother hen in me. I want her where I can look out for her,' Ginny replied wryly, then frowned as the rising sounds of a commotion in the outer office had them both turning and staring at the door.
'What on earth … ?' Roarke muttered, but before he could make a move to go and investigate, the door was thrown open and Jenna stood in the doorway. 'Jenna?' he exclaimed in surprise, rising to his feet.
'Don't you Jenna me, you snake in the grass!' his stepmother declared in a loud voice. She took several not-quite-steady steps towards Ginny's desk, and it didn't take a genius to realise she had been drinking. It was by closing the distance between them that the woman finally recognised who Roarke was with. A sneer slid across her face. 'Well, well, well. If it isn't your little bedmate!' she exclaimed, and Ginny's heart sank as she saw the group of people huddled in the doorway. Judging from the looks on their faces, they had heard every damning word.
Roarke appreciated the situation too, and he waved the goggle-eyed group away. They went reluctantly, closing the door behind them. Only then did he turn his attention to the other woman.
'What are you doing here, Jenna?' he demanded to know in a voice that dripped ice.
'I came to tell you what I think of you, you rat! I suppose you're proud of yourselves, aren't you? You and this little tramp!' She waved a hand in Ginny's direction.
Frozen to her seat, Ginny was looking from one to the other like a spectator at a tennis match, but the thunderous expression on Roarke's face when he heard that made her catch her breath.
'Say what you like about me, Jenna, but don't even think of insulting Ginny in front of me. Believe me, you won't like what would happen next!' he told her in a voice so full of dislike the other woman must have felt it despite her condition.
'So that's the way the wind blows, is it? My, you must have got it bad to rush to her defence this way.' She laughed scornfully.
'My feelings for Ginny are none of your business.'
'What's she got that I haven't?' Jenna wanted to know.
Roarke folded his arms and looked at her stonily. 'Integrity, for one thing. The ability to care about other people. And she doesn't see dollar signs when she looks at a man. Will that do?'
Jenna shot him a vicious look. 'All I wanted was a little fun, you sanctimonious hypocrite. What was so wrong with that?'
'You were married to my father, but I take it from your presence here that's about to change.'
'He's divorcing me, the rat! And it was her fault.' She stabbed a finger towards Ginny.
That brought Ginny to her feet. 'I did nothing, Mrs Adams,' she denied calmly. 'It was all your own work.'
Jenna glared at her. 'You said something to him. I know you did!'
Ginny shook her head. 'I said nothing. I admit I was going to, but as it turned out I didn't have to. Lewis had already seen through you.'
The other woman seethed with anger, and it took away any trace of her beauty. 'You think you're so smart, don't you? Well, Roarke may have the hots for you, darling, but he'll never marry you. He's all screwed up inside when it comes to love and marriage. So don't think you've got it made! You'll never keep him.'
Ginny looked at her coldly. 'I think you should go now, Mrs Adams.'
Jenna slayed them with a withering look. 'Don't worry, I'm leaving. The sooner I'm free of this lousy family, the better! There are other fish in the sea, and I'm going fishing!' she exclaimed, and flung herself out of the office with another crash of the door.