Roz trembled as those long, strong hands moved round to her back and the curve of her waist, the soft flare of her bottom beneath her briefs. She closed. her eyes and sighed with pleasure.
‘I know,’ she whispered, leaning back against his arms so that he could kiss her breasts if he wanted to. ‘That was just me being the way I was. It’s just as well,’ her lashes swept up and she saw that he was staring at her mouth, ‘it’s just as well,’ her lips curved into a smile and he looked up into the blue of her eyes, ‘I didn’t realise how much more wanton I was going to become, isn’t it? Otherwise I might have locked myself away somewhere. But if you …’
‘Roz,’ Adam’s dark eyes glinted and his arms tightened around her, ‘there is just so much wantonness a husband can take, so don’t say I didn’t warn you!’
* * *
Roz woke, up to the crashing symphony of a tropical thunderstorm and saw on the bedside clock that it was two-thirty in the morning. Then, as the curtains blew inwards and a fine spray of rain reached the bed, Adam stirred beside her.
‘Hell,’ he muttered sleepily, and got out of bed reluctantly to close the windows.
She watched him, lying perfectly still herself, and waited as he stretched, then came back to the bed and slid in beside her.
She moved to welcome him and he put his arms around, her. ‘Did I wake you? Sorry.’
‘No. It was the storm.’
He was silent for a time with his face buried in her hair. Then he lifted his head and said, ‘How do you feel?’
She opened her mouth to say fine, but paused to consider it. How did. she feel?
‘Wrecked,’ she said softly. ‘But in the nicest possible way.’
He laughed and held her close.
‘How do you feel?’ she asked.
‘I shouldn’t like to tell you.’
‘What does that mean?’ she queried, and freed a hand to smooth it along his bare shoulder.
’It means if you keep doing that, it will speak for itself shortly,‘my lovely Roz. However …’
‘I have great powers of recovery,’ she interrupted. ‘And nothing at all to do today. I could spend it like a mistress, building up my strength again, thinking about how l might tempt you tonight… ’
‘I don’t think I can wait that long. Tempt me now.’
She did, but it was different this time—gentle, slow, but all the same, almost unbearably lovely so she shuddered in his arms with the intensity of it. And also, like the last time, she made no attempt to hide her excitement or joy.
Afterwards, when their breathing had finally steadied and they were lying side by side holding hands, Roz turned her head and saw Adam’s teeth flash in at grin.
‘What?’ she whispered.
‘I was just thinking of ways to conserve my strength if this state of affairs is to continue.’
She tightened her hand around his suddenly. ‘Don’t you want it to?’
He turned towards her and kissed her cheek. ‘Of course I do, Roz.’
‘Then you’re not … angry with me?’
‘Does it look like it? Feel like it?’
‘No,’ she said slowly. ‘But wasn’t your idea the opposite? And when you get up, I mean, in the cold hard light of day …’
‘I’ve already been up,’ he broke in. ‘Not in the cold hard light of day but earlier, after the first time. When you fell asleep I found I couldn’t. So I got up and … reassured our household among other things,’ he said drily.
‘Oh…’
‘But I came back, Roz.’
There was silence. Then she relaxed with a sigh and buried her head in his shoulder. And she thought, that’s what matters, I can live with that. To expect him to say he loves me is asking for the moon, but that he wanted to come back, isn’t angry—that’s enough for me.
* * *
To live in acknowledged intimacy with a man was quite different, Roz discovered, from what had passed before in her marriage to Adam. It was also apparently evident to quite a lot of people that something had changed.
Jeanette for example, seemed to sense it immediately.
‘Oh, I’ve missed you!’ Roz said warmly. She was in her own bed at Adam’s suggestion and wearing her white silk pyjamas, and Jeanette had arrived bearing breakfast on a tray—again at Adam’s suggestion, Roz guessed. He had gone to see Nimmitabel. ‘Did you have a good time?’
‘Super,’ Jeanette said enthusiastically. ‘But I’m glad to be back.’ Her round face sobered. ‘I was so sorry to hear about the filly, though. Do you … I mean yesterday …’ She stopped.