Sinful Nights(28)

It seemed smaller than she remembered and as she edged back against the  quarry wall, trying to sit down she realised why. Like the path, the  ledge had been partially eroded away. Every time she moved she could  hear the rattling of shale and small stones. How safe was the ledge? She  could die here and no-one would be any the wiser. Would it matter if  she did? Was life really worth living without Blake? If one judged life  on its quality rather than its quantity then no. Without him her life  had no direction; no purpose. Without his love  …  Wearily her body  relaxed into a numbing lethargy that was almost a relief, her mind  torturing her with images of Blake and on to the point where death lured  her with its promise of oblivion.

Suicide had always been something she had viewed with horror-until she  lost Blake, and now with sharp clarity she remembered those first months  after she had left him, when she would have given anything not to have  had to wake up in the morning. Now she was going to lose him again. The  moon slid out from behind a cloud illuminating the still water below. It  beckoned to her, casting a spell that seemed to reach out and enfold  her until she could almost imagine she was already in its icy embrace.  As though obeying the directions of a voice only she could hear Sapphire  stood up, drifting like a sleep-walker towards the edge of the ledge  where she stood poised, drawn by the inky black depths below, her powers  of reasoning clouded by the greater force of her emotions.    

 



 

No!'

At first Sapphire thought the taut cry had been torn from her own  throat, but when it was followed by her name, called abruptly by a  familiar male voice she started back from the edge of the ledge, staring  up in disbelief to find Blake looking down at her.

Perhaps it was a trick of the moonlight, but his face seemed oddly white  and drawn, his eyes burning as though he had looked into the fires of  hell.

Stand back from the edge Sapphire, and I'll throw you down a rope.'

She was too bemused to question how he had got there, simply obeying the  commands he shouted down to her, feeling the coarse fibre of the rope  bite into her waist as Blake hauled her back up the quarry face, until  she was lying flat on her back, on the ice-cold grass, breathing in  great gulps of air, like a landed fish.

Blake's fingers tugged at the knotted rope, unfastening it from around  her. His head bent over his self-imposed task, Sapphire resisted the  urge to reach out and stroke the thick darkness, but she couldn't  restrain the brief quiver tensing her body when she remembered how they  had made love.

Keep still,' Blake's voice was terse, his hands clinically detached as  they examined her body. Nothing seems to be broken  …  Come on, I'd  better get you back and alert the rest of the team.' As she stood up  Sapphire saw that his mouth was compressed, his eyes darkly bitter as  they studied her.

The team?' Was that really her own voice, soft and husky almost begging him to reach out and touch her?

The Rescue Team,' he reminded her in the same clipped voice. Your  father called them out when you didn't come back. Tom Barnes rang me and  asked me to stand in for Geoff Plant-he's away at the moment. I had no  idea when I set out that it was you  … ' He broke off and turned away from  her, rubbing his forehead with tense fingers. I called at Flaws on the  way to see if you were there-I thought you might have decided to spend  the evening with your father  … '

In view of his ailing health I suppose you mean,' Sapphire cut in  sarcastically, only to be silenced by Blake's brusque, Not now  Sapphire. You realise your father's practically frantic with worry, to  say nothing of how I felt  … '

And how did you feel Blake?' she asked bitterly, suddenly furiously and  intensely angry, the adrenalin flowing fiercely along her veins.  Worried that you might not get Flaws after all? Oh yes, I know all  about how the pair of you deceived me. Your very good friend Miranda  enlightened me. My father I can forgive because I know he acted in what  he believed to be my best interests, but you  … ' Her heated words were  silenced by the brief blast Blake gave on the whistle he was holding.

We can discuss all that later,' he told her curtly. Right now, like  the rest of the team, all I want to do is get home to bed. You do  realise that if I hadn't remembered about this damned quarry, you'd have  been there until morning, if not longer, don't you? And just what the  hell were you playing at when I arrived, for God's sake?' he shouted at  her, fingers clenching into her shoulders as he shook her roughly. Once  given life it seemed as though his anger couldn't be quenched, and  Sapphire listened in silence as it flowed moltenly over her. Blake was  angry  …  It was a phenomenon she had never witnessed before. Before he  had always been so cool and in control.

Other members of the team alerted by his whistle were hurrying towards  them, and he stopped berating her, turning instead to assure them that  she was quite safe.

She slipped off the path and luckily for her landed on a ledge,' was  the explanation he gave his co-rescuers, and after Sapphire had endured  some well-deserved chaffing on the subject of her carelessness Blake  started to guide her towards where he had left his Land Rover.

I'll call at Flaws and let Simon have the good news,' one of the men  offered. It's on my way, and you'll both be wanting to get back home.  Hot baths and a good mug of toddy, put the pair of you to rights  … ' He  winked over his shoulder at Blake, and Sapphire felt the warmth seep up  under her skin as she intercepted the very male look they exchanged. And  the worst of it was that deep down inside her she still yearned for  Blake to take her into the warmth of his bed and hold her until all the  nightmare details of the day faded into oblivion.

Instead she had to sit with him in the Land Rover, the tense quality of  the silence stretching between them acting on her nerves with all the  torment of a thumbscrew. When the Land Rover eventually came to a halt  in the farmyard she was out the moment Blake cut the engine, shocked to  discover how weak her legs felt as she clung wretchedly to her open  door.    

 



 

You should have waited for me.' The terse, unsympathetic words brought  tears of weakness and pain to her eyes, but thankfully it was too dark  for Blake to see them. She wanted to protest when he walked round to her  and hauled her carelessly into his arms, but she knew that she just  didn't have the strength to object.

Upstairs she lay on the bed where he had dropped her knowing that she  couldn't endure sleeping with him now. Not that he was likely to want  to. Her mouth twisted bitterly. Had he, like her father, hoped they  might have a child-preferably a son who could inherit the rich Flaws  acres he coveted? Was that why  …  Unable to endure the torment of her  thoughts she gave a low moan, rolling on to her stomach.

Can you manage to get undressed or  … '

Until Blake spoke she had forgotten she was still wearing her outdoor clothes.

I can manage.' Her voice was colourless and completely dry.

Sapphire, we have to talk.'

Was that uncertainty and pain she could hear threading through the  determined words? Anger hardened her heart. Whatever he might be  enduring through guilt and fear of losing Flaws was nothing compared  with her own agony. Tomorrow,' she told him briefly. I don't want to  talk tonight Blake  …  I need to think.' It was a lie, but at least it got  him out of her room.

When he had gone she struggled exhaustedly to remove her clothes, almost  crawling into the bathroom. Her legs were bruised and scraped where  they had rubbed against the rough stone of the quarry walls, the  abrasions stinging with the hot water. Bathed and dried she went back  into the bedroom, tensing as she saw Blake waiting there.

I already told you, I don't want to talk tonight Blake,' she told him  rudely. I'm tired, and so if you don't mind  … ' Glad that she had had  the forethought to take her nightdress into the bathroom with her, she  swept past him with magnificent disdain, hoping that he wouldn't guess  how vulnerable and hurt she was really feeling.

It's a bit late for this isn't it?' Lean fingers reached out and tugged at the fine lawn fabric. After last night  … '

Last night is something that should never have happened and would never  have happened if I'd known  … ' Sapphire gasped out loud as Blake's  fingers moved from the frill of her nightdress to the vee of its  neckline, stroking softly over the upper swell of her breasts.

You think not?' Blake's voice was soft, almost detached, but there was  nothing detached about the look in his eyes Sapphire realised, her heart  starting to thud with powerful, heavy thuds. I'm getting tired of  playing "let's make believe", Sapphire,' Blake told her thickly. Last  night you wanted me, and tonight I could make you want me again.'

No!' The harsh denial was out before she could stop it and the moment  it was said Sapphire knew she had made a mistake. It was almost as  though something snapped inside Blake, some fine thread whose snapping  unleashed a savage tumult of emotions that demanded expression.