Savage Awakening(38)

       
           



       

'But it did,' she said, a dawning belief in what he was saying bringing a  tender light to her eyes. 'Oh, Matt, are you really sure about this?  We-we hardly know one another.'

'I know enough,' said Matt at once. 'I love you and I want to be with you. But if you need more time … '

'Don't be silly,' she said huskily. 'These past few days have been long enough for me, too.'

He kissed her again then, pinning her against the wall with his body,  his hands moving possessively to cup her bottom and bring her more fully  against him. The need to be with him was all-consuming, but Fliss  pressed him back when he tried to unfasten her shorts.

'I-I do need a shower,' she protested, smiling at his wounded  expression. 'Come upstairs with me. You can wait in my bedroom, if you  like.'

'And what if your father comes back?' he asked, following her up the stairs, but she only dimpled.

'He won't,' she said certainly. 'They'll be gone for ages yet.'

She was rinsing the soap from her body when the shower door opened and  Matt stepped in beside her. He was naked and her jaw dropped in  astonishment when he bestowed a hot, wet kiss on her open mouth. 'Let  me,' he said, taking the bar of soap from the dish beside her, and,  although she was almost finished, Fliss experienced the sensual delight  of Matt's hands exploring every inch of her heated flesh.

He was heavily aroused and his erection kept bumping against her bottom.  She longed to turn towards him, but once again he seduced her with his  hands before satisfying her other needs. Then, encouraging her to wrap  her legs about his waist, he lifted her onto him, and she felt again the  satisfying thickness of him deep inside her.

'Now do you believe me?' he asked her hours later, when they were lying  relaxed and replete on her bed. They'd made love again since that  passionate interlude in the shower and Fliss buried her face in his  shoulder, her lips moving against his warm flesh.

'I believe you,' she whispered huskily. 'I love you, too. So much. It frightens me.'

'What frightens you?' he asked, propping himself up on one elbow and  looking down at her. 'You know I love you. I want to marry you, too, but  I guess you need a little more time to come to terms with that.'

'Why?' She was curious.

'Well, you have Amy to think of,' he said gently. 'I wouldn't want her to think that I'm taking her mother away.'

'She wouldn't think that,' said Fliss surely. 'She thinks you're cool, you know that. My father, however, is another matter.'

'You think he won't approve?'

'He might be a little jealous,' she admitted ruefully. 'He used to be  jealous of Amy's friendship with old Colonel Phillips, believe it or  not. And he knows Amy likes you. She's never made any secret of the  fact.'

Matt bent to caress one burgeoning nipple. 'Does this mean you will marry me, then?'

'Are you asking?'

'I'm asking.'

'Then I'll marry you.' She paused. 'Except-'

'Except what?' Matt stared at her.

'Why did you go to see Diane when you were in London?' she asked unwillingly. 'You never said.'

'Ah … ' Matt gave her a wry smile. 'Well, I didn't go to see Diane. She  came to see me. Well, ostensibly she came to see my mother, but that was  just an excuse.'

'Oh, gosh, yes, your mother!' Fliss was horrified. 'I forgot to ask how she was.'

'Oh, she's improving,' said Matt easily. 'She had a slight stroke-'

'A stroke! So that was why-'

'I went dashing off to London in the middle of the night. Yeah.'

'And you told my father that?' Fliss was dismayed.

'No. I just told him to tell you I'd see you when I got back.' He  grimaced. 'He didn't exactly encourage any further confidences, and I  preferred not to discuss my mother's health with anyone else.'

'Particularly a newspaper reporter,' murmured Fliss drily, and he pulled a face.                       
       
           



       

'Am I that transparent?'

'Only to me,' she assured him softly. 'Oh, Matt, I do love you.' She  paused. 'But is your mother all right? She's not going to be very happy  when she finds out about us.'

'She already knows,' said Matt, surprising her. 'I told her how I felt about you. I took a chance that you felt the same.'

'Some chance,' said Fliss drily, and then heard the sound of a car  pulling into the drive. 'Oh, lord, Dad and Amy are back. Are you ready?'

'As I'll ever be,' said Matt, bestowing one last, lingering kiss on her lips. 'Well, let's meet the in-laws, hmm?'



By the time Fliss had got her clothes on, the doctor was back behind his  desk, and she emerged from the cubicle feeling rather flushed.

'Well, Fliss,' he said, as he'd said nearly eleven years before, 'my answer's positive. You are pregnant.'

Fliss caught her breath. 'I am?'

'I think you knew that,' said Dr Wheeler drily. He went to the door into  the waiting room and opened it. 'You can come in now, Mr Quinn. Your  wife's almost ready.'

Matt came into the room slowly with Amy dodging impatiently about behind  him. His eyes went straight to Fliss's hot face. 'Hi,' he said. 'Are  you-I mean-is everything OK?'

'As OK as it can be in her condition,' the doctor answered for her. He glanced at Amy. 'Does this young lady know about this?'

'Of course.' Matt spoke almost absently, his eyes still on his wife's  face, and Fliss could tell that he badly wanted her reassurance.

'I'm three months pregnant,' she said, looking from him to Amy and back  again. Then, turning to her daughter, 'You're going to have a baby  brother or a baby sister.'

'Wow!' Amy was impressed. She had grown up a lot in the past year and  having a father of her own had made all the difference to her. 'Kelly  Mason is going to be so jealous!'

'Yes, well, we won't be telling anyone else for the time being,' said  Fliss, linking her fingers with Matt's. She grimaced. 'At least until we  tell your grandfather, anyway.'

George Taylor had begrudgingly offered them his blessing at last, and he  had been somewhat mollified by the fact that his daughter was to be the  mistress of the big house. Just across the churchyard, too, if he  needed her.

'And your grandmother,' agreed Matt, nodding at his stepdaughter. 'You can tell her, if you like.'

'Coward,' said Fliss in an undertone, nudging his ribs, but she didn't  really mean it. In the three months since she and Matt had got married,  Mrs Quinn had become a frequent visitor to the Old Coaching House. It  was as if all she'd wanted was that her son should be happy, and there  was no doubt in anyone's mind that he was. Plus, she and Amy had taken  to one another from the start. The little girl had never known what it  was like to have a grandmother. She'd been too young when Fliss's own  mother had died.

Now the three of them left the doctor's surgery in Westerbury, and  climbed into the Land Cruiser that was waiting outside. It was autumn,  and the leaves on the trees were already turning to red and gold.

But the spring would be here soon enough, thought Fliss, resting her  head on Matt's shoulder for a moment before he started the car. And with  the spring would come new life, not just for the trees, but for her and  Matt, too. And for Amy. She smiled up at her husband, thinking what a  difference a year could make.

'Love you,' she said softly, and he squeezed her thigh.

'Love you, too,' he answered, and Amy poked her head between them.

'And I love you two as well,' she declared, and Fliss and Matt shared a  smile of complete understanding as he reached to start the car.