'Much as it grieves me, my sweet, I have to let you go.'
He didn't sound grief-stricken, she thought suddenly. In fact, his voice was cool and even. Almost containing a note of faint
She stared at him in confused disbelief as a small agony of shame began to uncurl inside her, commingled with anger, the spell which had enslaved her broken at last. And, if she was honest, only just in time.
Oh, God, she thought in shocked horror. What have I done? I couldn't have made it any easier for him if I'd tried.
He's totally sure of me now—and of himself...
But I should have stopped him—pushed him away, not waited for him to do it. What was I thinking of?
Except that she hadn't been thinking at all. Her reaction had been completely physical, born from the long months of deliberate starvation.
Nick, she realised, was glancing at his watch.
'In ten minutes I have an appointment with one of the tenants—Ted Radstock,' he went on, almost casually. 'And I'm sure you wouldn't want him to walk in and find us—together."
By some superhuman effort she kept her own voice level. 'Knowing that, I'm surprised you—chose to detain me.'
'I'm not sure I did choose,' he said quietly. 'Kisses can be dangerous, Cally. With your mouth under mine, I—almost forgot everything else.'
'In any case,' she continued, as if he hadn't spoken, 'there was no way that I'd have allowed—things to go any further. A moment longer and I'd have been—out of here.'
His eyes narrowed. 'I had a very different impression.'
'You think I'd have let you go on—mauling me like that— degrading me?' She gave a small scornful laugh. 'You flatter yourself. You—took me by surprise, that's all.'
'A marked improvement on never taking you at all.' His voice took on a new and dangerous softness.
As Cally turned to leave his hand shot out, clasping her wrist without gentleness. Stopping her in her tracks.
'What the hell are you doing?" She tried unavailingly to pull
'You seem to be running away again.' He picked up the phone from the desk, one-handed deftly punching in a number. 'I'm stopping you.'
'My major mistake,' Cally said huskily, trying to conceal her sudden trepidation. 'I should have kept running while I had the chance.'
'Probably.' He turned his attention to the phone, his voice charming. His grip on her arm like steel. 'Mrs Radstock? Good afternoon, it's Nick Tempest. Has Ted left yet, or could we possibly postpone our meeting until tomorrow? There's a matter here that requires my urgent attention.' He listened, smiling. 'That's fine, then. Tell him I'll call him.'
He put down the phone and looked back at her, the smiling charm wiped away, to be replaced by a stark purpose which terrified her.#p#分页标题#e#
Cally began to struggle in real earnest. 'Leave me alone,' she said, her voice high and breathless. 'You—you're hurting me. Let me go, damn you.'
'When I'm good and ready,' Nick said. 'And only when you've given me everything I want. Starting now. And how much it hurts is entirely up to you. darling.'
He reached for her, sweeping her up inexorably into his arms, and started with her towards the door.
'No.' She was desperate now, twisting in his unyielding hold as he earned her across the hall to the stairs. Then upwards. 'Nick—please—you're scaring me...'
His mouth was hard, his eyes like flint as he glanced down at her agonised face. 'Why? The incidence of virgins dying of shock during sex must be pretty low.'
They reached the bedroom and he shouldered his way in, striding across to the bed and dropping her almost contemptuously on to its yielding surface. Cally landed, winded and gasping, staring up at him as he discarded his shoes and socks, then pulled off his shirt and tossed it to one side, his hands going to the belt of his pants.
His voice was silk and ice. 'Take off your clothes, too, darling. Unless you want me to do it.'
No, she thought, in some paralysed corner of her mind. Not like this.
She struggled up on to her knees and paused, her hand going up to shield her suddenly dazzled eyes from the blaze of the early-evening sun as it streamed in through the long windows.
He noticed. 'Wait,' he said, swiftly and harshly. ‘I’ll draw the curtains.'
He crossed the room, outlined against the golden glare. Cally saw him reach up to drag the drapes together. Just as she'd watched him do a year ago, as she'd hidden in the shadows, her heart cracking open. Just as it was doing now...
She clasped her hands over her mouth to stifle the scream rising in her throat.
He came back to the bed, his footsteps slowing as he took in the rigid, kneeling figure, her eyes dilating in fright as she stared back at him over her locked hands.
Cally heard him sigh, the sound low and bitter as he sat down beside her, carefully maintaining, she realised, a small distance between them.