Mattie, who had been congratulating herself on surviving the night, suddenly felt weak and puny.
“Want some brie and French bread?” She did not look at him as she held some food for him.
“Thanks. Paul always said living at the edge of the world was no excuse for sacrificing the good things in life.”
“So I gathered. Mr. Cormier was obviously a gourmet.”
Hugh grinned around a large bite of bread and brie. “Hey, stick with me, babe, and it'll be nothing but the best all the way.”
Mattie winced. “Nothing but the best and plenty of it?” She nodded toward the huge pile of flowers.
Hugh looked pleased as he followed her glance. “Nice, huh? I found 'em right outside the front door this morning when I went out to take a…Uh, when I went outside.”
“For your morning ablutions?” Mattie smiled sweetly.
“Yeah, right. Did you go out?”
“Yes, thank you.” She glanced back toward the bright heap. “And thank you for the flowers,” she added politely.
Hugh's expectant expression hardened. “Don't fall all over me or anything on account of a few flowers.”
“Don't worry, I won't.”
“Ouch.” He took another bite of cheese and bread. “You're certainly back in fighting form this morning, aren't you?”
“Believe me, the last thing I want to do this morning is fight.” She frowned at the tunnel entrance behind him. “What were you doing in there?”
“I left a little before dawn. I was going to bury Cormier.”
Mattie bit her lip. “Oh, Hugh. I should have gone with you.”
He shook his head. “Wouldn't have done any good. Somebody had already taken him away.”
She was startled. “His family, perhaps?”
“Cormier had no family. He was alone after his wife died. Whoever took his body cleaned the place out; the sword, the rest of his medieval collection, and everything else that wasn't nailed down.”
“Good heavens, I forgot all about the damn sword. Do you think it's possible someone killed him for his collection? Aunt Charlotte said it was extremely valuable.”
“Possible. But it's more likely somebody he trusted, maybe a member of his household staff, was overcome with revolutionary fervor,” Hugh said.
“You shouldn't have gone back there,” Mattie declared. “You might have run into whoever came for Cormier's body.”
“I'm not entirely stupid, you know. I took a few precautions. The cars are gone, too.”
Mattie looked up, startled. “Oh, my God. My suitcase was in that car. All my clothes. And my vitamins.”
Hugh cocked a brow. “Your vitamins?”
“I always take vitamins first thing in the morning.”
“Why? Don't you eat properly?”
She scowled at him. “My diet is a very healthy one, thank you. But I supplement it with vitamins to counteract the effects of stress and tension.”
“I always thought sex was supposed to be good for that.”
Mattie looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Well, I don't get a lot of sex, so I have to use other techniques to combat stress.”
“Easy, babe.” Hugh's eyes gleamed. “I can take care of the shortage of sex in your life for you. Like I said, nothing but the best if you stick with me.”
“Oh, shut up. What do you think happened to the cars?”
“Someone must have hot-wired 'em. They got lifted along with just about everything else.”
“Looters.” Mattie wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“Yeah.”
Mattie's fingers clenched around the slice of French bread. She looked directly at Hugh. “So what, exactly, are we going to do next, O great, exalted leader?”
“Keep an extremely low profile, as Charlotte would say. We'll stay out of sight today. With any luck the situation, whatever it is, will cool off a little. Tonight I'll go out and see if I can find us a boat.”
“We're just going to sit in here all day?” Mattie was alarmed.
“Afraid so. What's the matter? You worried about having to make conversation? Just think of all the stuff we have to talk about. We haven't seen each other in nearly a year.”
“We did not have a great deal to say to each other a year ago. I doubt that anything's changed.” She began rewrapping the brie. The plastic wrap crackled under her fingers.
“Look, Mattie,” Hugh said with exaggerated patience, “you're stuck with me for the next few days. It's not going to kill you to relax and treat me like an old friend of the family or something.”
“You're hardly a friend.”
“Are you kidding? I'm the best one you've got at the moment. Who else is going to get you out of Purgatory in one piece?”
“That's blackmail. You want me to be nice and friendly to you because you're doing me a favor? Just how friendly am I supposed to be, Hugh? What will you do if I can't work up any warm feelings for you? Will you get mad and leave me behind when you find a boat?”
He moved so quickly she never had a chance to get out of range. One second he was half-sprawled on an out-cropping of stone beside her; the next he had his long, strong fingers wrapped around her wrist in a grip of steel.
“Hugh.”
His gray eyes were dangerously cold. “Another crack like that and I'll do something very drastic. Understand?”
“For heaven's sake, Hugh. Let me go.” She wriggled her hand in his grasp.
“Damn it, Mattie, I've spent eight months trying to see you again, and you've done nothing but evade me.”
“What was I supposed to do? You made it clear you didn't want me.” The old rage and hurt welled up out of nowhere. She wanted to lash out at him, hurt him the way he had once hurt her. “As it happens, I spent the past year coming to the conclusion that you were right.”
“About what?”
“You told me I was not your type, remember? I agree with you now.” Her chin came up proudly. “More important, you're not my type. I should have seen that from the beginning.”
“How do we know we're not each other's type? We haven't given ourselves a chance.”
“I gave you a chance,” she reminded him in a scathing voice. “I offered to follow you to the ends of the earth, remember? And you turned me down flat.”
“I've told you before, you've got lousy timing. And last year your timing was all wrong.”
She was incensed. “Oh, sure. Blame it all on me.”
“Why not? I'm tired of having you blame everything on me. And your timing is bad, babe. Look at the way you're starting this stupid fight while we're trapped in this goddamned cave in the middle of an island that's undergoing an armed revolt. Talk about lousy timing.”
“You started this, Hugh Abbott.”
“Is that so? Then I might as well finish it.”
He used the grip on her wrist to yank her into his arms. And then his mouth came down on hers with enough force to swamp her senses.
CHAPTER
Three
Mattie clutched at Hugh's shoulders as he released his grip on her wrist to encircle her with his arms. He pulled her tightly to him and leaned back against the rocky outcropping. She was lying on top of him, her breasts crushed against his chest, her legs tangled with his. Her emotions were in chaos. She wanted to scream. She wanted to swear. She wanted to slap Hugh Abbott as hard as she could.
But most of all she wanted to let herself savor the heat of him and the fierce, hot, masculine passion she had known so briefly all those months ago.
“You feel like you've been waiting in cold storage for me, babe,” Hugh muttered. “There hasn't been anyone else this past year, has there?”
“No, damn you, no.”
“Yeah. Good. I told Charlotte to let me know right away if she saw any man moving in on you. Mattie…Mattie, babe, you've been driving me crazy.” His mouth shifted heavily on hers and his fingers kneaded her back with hungry impatience. He kissed her throat and then his teeth closed lightly around h
er earlobe. The small nip was wildly sensual. “Lord, you feel good.”
Mattie shut her eyes, inhaling the scent of him. His clothing smelled of sweat but his skin smelled of the sea. The stubble of his beard was like sandpaper against her cheek. She was vibrantly aware of the swift arousal of his body under hers.
“Kiss me, Mattie. Kiss me the way you did yesterday afternoon when you were grateful to me for getting you through those damn caves.” He lifted her chin and captured her mouth once more.
Mattie surrendered to the excitement this man seemed able to elicit so easily in her. With a soft little moan of passion she opened her mouth and let him inside.
He accepted the invitation instantly, his tongue plunging hungrily between her lips, his hands sliding down to her breasts. She felt his fingers on the buttons of her silk shirt and then he was inside, unhooking her bra, touching her.
There was a certain rough care in the way he cupped her breasts, as though he was almost in awe of her feminine softness. He touched her the way he would have touched a kitten, his big hands moving a little awkwardly, but cautiously on her. Mattie sighed as his callused thumbs glided over her nipples.
“It's been so long,” he breathed. His voice was husky with desire. “Too long. Why the hell did you keep ducking me this past year? We could have had all these months.”
His big, warm palms slid down her stomach to the fastening of her trousers. When Mattie heard the metallic hiss of the zipper she finally came to her senses.
The thing you had to keep in mind about Hugh Abbott was that he always moved fast. If a woman was going to say no, she had to say it quickly.
“No,” Mattie gasped, levering herself up and back. “No, damn it. What in the world do you think you're doing?” She wriggled farther away from him, sitting back on her heels. “Pay attention, Hugh Abbott. And get this clear. I'm not about to have another one-night stand with you.”
“For God's sake, Mattie.” He reached for her, his gaze still gleaming and intent with desire.
But Mattie was already scrambling to her feet, her trembling fingers refastening her clothing. “Good grief, I can't believe I let you do this to me. Of all the stupid, asinine…”
Hugh swore and gave up the attempt to pull her back into his arms. He collapsed back against the rock and watched her through narrowed, brooding eyes. “You wanted it. You wanted it as much as I did. Don't lie to me, Mattie. Not about that.”
“I expect it's the stress,” she said with forced calm. “It has odd and unpredictable effects on people.”
“Stress? Don't give me that. Do you city people blame everything on stress these days? Even a little old-fashioned lust?”
“I suppose you never suffer from stress?” she muttered, moving several feet away from him. She sat down again, pulled her knees up under her chin, and wrapped her arms around her legs.
“I don't know. I don't think too much about it.”
“But lust, on the other hand, is something you do understand, right?”
Hugh started to answer with what looked like an automatic yes and then paused, obviously sensing a trap. “Babe, let's not argue over this,” he said with surprising gentleness. “I can see you're kind of on edge. I didn't mean to rush you. If you want to talk a little first, that's all right with me. I mean, I know women like to talk about things; to communicate. Paul always said…Never mind. It's been a long time since we've seen each other. You probably just feel a little shy, that's all.”
“No kidding.” Her voice dripped sarcasm.
“Hey, it's okay, babe. We've got all day. We can't go anywhere until tonight. Why don't we just sit here and sort of get comfortable with each other again?”
“Oh, my God.” Mattie nearly choked. Hugh Abbott trying to be modern and sensitive was too much to take. “Ariel was right. You're hopeless.”
“Ariel? What the hell has she got to do with this?” Hugh demanded, clearly annoyed.
“You remember my sister, Ariel, don't you, Hugh? You were engaged to her for a couple of months last year. Don't tell me it's slipped your mind. You met her in Italy when she went there to tour the galleries. You two ate pasta, drank cheap red wine, and did kinky things in famous fountains at three in the morning. Then you returned to Seattle with her. The two of you told everyone you were engaged. Does any of that sound vaguely familiar?”
Hugh groaned. “Ariel was a mistake.”
“I'm aware of that. I believe I mentioned the fact to you a year ago.”
“Yeah, you did.”
“She's married again, you know. Her second husband is a man named Flynn Grafton. He's very nice. An artist.”
“Charlotte said something about it,” Hugh muttered, not showing any great interest in the matter. “Look, Mattie, I don't want to talk about Ariel.”
“I do,” Mattie said with sudden violence. “I want to know why you fell in love with her and planned to marry her when it was obvious she was all wrong for you. I want to know why you didn't notice me until I threw myself at you, and even then you didn't bother to catch me.”
“Forget Ariel. That was a year ago and I've already told you it was a mistake.”
“And I was another mistake, wasn't I, Hugh? Do you make mistakes like those a lot?”
“Not often enough to be convenient,” he shot back. “Damn it, you aren't the only one who's had a hard year. I haven't been with another woman since you, Mattie.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Believe what you damn well want to believe. You're really spoiling for a fight, aren't you?” Hugh leaned his head back against the stone and stared out at the sea. “Want to tell my why?”
She bit her lip, horrified to realize how close she was to losing her self-control. It was so unlike her; so alien to her personality. She never made scenes; never screamed at a man; never embarrassed herself with outrageous behavior. A woman like Ariel could get away with that sort of thing. Mattie did not even want to try.
Mattie had been the calm, controlled one in the family for as long as she could remember. The only time she had ever lost her common sense and abandoned herself was a year ago with Hugh Abbott, and she had regretted it ever since. She made it a point not to repeat mistakes.
“Forget it,” she said brusquely. “I'm sorry I brought the subject up. I know we're trapped here together until we can get off this island. There's no sense quarreling.”
“Why?”
She scowled at him. “I told you why. Because we're stuck in this cave, and we have to work together until we can get out of here.”
“I'm not talking about that. Don't worry, I'll get you off the island. I'm talking about why you want to bring up Ariel and the past and fling them both in my face.”
At that point Mattie did something she never did. She lost her temper. “Maybe because I want to make certain I don't make a fool of myself a second time!” she shouted.
In the deep silence that followed her words seemed to echo endlessly off the cavern walls. But all Mattie heard was fool, fool, fool.
She was appalled. “Oh, God. There. Does that satisfy you, Hugh?” she whispered. “Please. Just let it alone, all right?”
He studied her in silence for a moment. “I can't let it alone, Mattie. I want you.”
She shuddered and averted her eyes. “You don't want me.”
“Come here and I'll show you.” His voice was coaxing now, like velvet.
Mattie rolled her eyes in exasperation. “You wanted Ariel, first, remember? What is it with you? Now that you've gotten over your irritation with her, you're willing to consider another Sharpe sister? If you can't have one of Charlotte Vailcourt's nieces, you'll take the other?”
“Oh, hell.”
Mattie hugged her knees more tightly to her chest. “I know Aunt Charlotte wants you in the family. She makes no secret of it. Thinks you have good genes. Says you're a throwback. Says you're not a soft, neurotic wimp like so many modern men.”
“Nice to be appreciated for one'
s finer qualities,” Hugh growled.
“She asked you to look up Ariel in Italy because she figured my sister was her best shot at getting you into her little breeding program. Men have always been attracted to Ariel. They can't help themselves. And you were no different, were you? Aunt Charlotte was thrilled when the two of you came back engaged. But since that didn't work out, she's trying to pair you off with me. I told her you'd turned me down flat last year, but she says it was just bad timing.”
“It was. I told you that.”
“Well, I've got news for both of you. One chance is all you get, Hugh Abbott, and you've used up yours. I don't care what kind of high-level promotion or how big a cash bonus Aunt Charlotte is offering you to marry me.”
The second the words were out of her mouth, Mattie knew she had gone too far. One look at the expression in Hugh's icy eyes told her that. There was an instant of shocking silence, and then she prudently leapt to her feet. She did not know where she intended to run, but she knew she had better get going.
She never stood a chance. Moving with the fluid strength that characterized all his actions, Hugh came to his feet and reached for her. A year of aerobic training was no match for that kind of masculine power. Mattie was helpless. Hugh's hands clamped around her upper arms and he held her motionless in front of him.
“You will apologize for that crack,” he said, his tone verging on the lethal. “You will tell me you are very, very sorry you said that. You will say you know it's not true. And you will say it now.”
Mattie looked pointedly down at his hands on her arms. “Sure, Hugh. I'll say anything you want me to say. You're a lot bigger and stronger than I am and I'm trapped here with you, so you just tell me what you want to hear and I'll say it.”
He stared down at her in a kind of awed wonder. “You're really determined to push your luck, aren't you?”
“What luck? I've had nothing but bad luck since I hit Purgatory. Please let me go, Hugh.”
Silver Linings Page 5