Partners in Love

by Saunders, Jean

  “You certainly don’t.” Robin pulled away from him. “Are you going to show me the island before we eat tonight? I don’t want to come all this way and not see all of it. It’s not very big, is it? I’d like a shower first.”

  “There’s plenty of time. I’ll leave you to it while I go and have a few words with Carlotta and check on the other villas. I’ll be back for you in about half an hour, all right?”

  “Lovely,” she answered, and went quickly to her bedroom to sort out her clothes. If she was throwing him straight at Carlotta, it didn’t matter. Nothing could have made Robin see more clearly that his life was different from hers. She didn’t belong in it, except as far as business went. She made an impatient face at herself in the mirror and took her toilet things into the bathroom for a reviving shower.

  Exactly half an hour later she was ready, wearing a cool green sun dress and carrying a light stole in case the evening got cooler later on. She heard Luke come into the villa while she was changing, and he, too, showered and changed in double-quick time. He looked virile and masculine in a black open-necked shirt and light-coloured slacks, a sweater tied casually round his neck. As they left the villa, the couple Robin had seen earlier were still engrossed in each other, lying languidly on an almost motionless sun-bed on the glassy blue water in the small curve of the bay.

  “The honeymooners,” Luke observed, following her glance. “Lost in a world of their own.”

  For some reason she wished he hadn’t said that. Then she told herself not to be so silly and got in the car with him. It was incredible to think it was still only late afternoon, and there they were in Ibiza, following the same route back through Ibiza town and across to the other side of the island to take a look at the large resort of San Antonio with its hotel blocks and beautifully crystal-clear water lapping in the harbour.

  “You’d see millions of tiny fish right up against the harbour wall if you got out and looked,” Luke told her. “They’re a tourist attraction in themselves. We’ll get out if you like, but I thought we’d make this a whistle-stop tour around the coast, as I’ve booked us a meal on the other side.”

  “Oh, that’s fine by me,” Robin said. “I’m just loving it all, getting the flavour of it, if nothing else.”

  They drove up steeply winding cliff roads that took her breath away, into pine-scented hills and through farmland where the natives still looked as if they belonged to another era. They skirted magnificent coastal scenery with gigantic inaccessible cliffs and tiny villages with whitewashed houses and sparse brown fields that didn’t look as if they supported any kind of commercial vegetation at all. There were so many changing faces of nature in such a small island. Finally they stopped at a restaurant, seemingly perched on the cliff edge, overlooking the sea.

  By then Robin had lost all sense of direction. She was still slightly disoriented from just being there, and when she said as much, Luke pointed out the curve of the coastline and told her the villas were around the next bend of the hills. They had done a full circle of the island in a couple of hours, and then Robin realised she was very hungry — more than ready to do justice to a marvellous seafood meal and the excellent local wine.

  She relaxed at last. It was nearly impossible to do otherwise in that balmy atmosphere. It was dusk and the sky was beginning to be studded with myriad stars. A full yellow moon seemed to hang in midair, as if specially ordered to add to the enchantment of the island, and Robin caught her breath, ever sensitive to natural beauty.

  For a second she remembered the honeymooners at the beach and felt a twist of envy at their completeness with one another. It seemed to cocoon them, even from where she watched them, high above in the villa. How wonderful to feel that close to someone. Her eyes were appreciating all she saw and slowly came round to Luke. As she focussed on his face her heart leapt at the look in his eyes. Unaware that he had been watching her, she surprised a look that for once was devoid of male aggression, a look that she couldn’t readily define but that made her heart race and made her remember that she would keep her door locked that night. She was too vulnerable there, and he could be so charming when he set out to be ... dangerously so.

  After dinner they drove back to the villa, and Robin was pleasantly sleepy. The sound of the ocean far below the villa reminded her of home, and she thanked Luke sincerely for a lovely evening. She said good night and moved towards her room, but before she reached it he had barred her way, his arms imprisoning her, his face very close to hers. His intention was so plain that she gave a little gasp, suddenly wide awake.

  “Luke, you promised,” she said weakly.

  He brushed that aside impatiently, and Robin felt as if her legs were turning to water. The wine they had had with dinner had been more potent than she had thought, and she had drunk rather a lot of it for Dutch courage. Now she knew it had been a mistake. Her mind was muddled, knowing that in spite of all the reasons why she would never submit to Luke, he was the most exciting man she had ever met.

  And those reasons for not letting him make love to her were becoming decidedly hazy there in the warmth of his embrace, in that lovers’ paradise.

  “You weren’t really going to bed without even one kiss, were you, Robin?” His voice was soft, huskily seductive, his mouth a whisper away from hers. She almost ached for him to take his one kiss and be done with it, but she knew it wouldn’t end there. It wasn’t going to end there ...

  She heard herself give a melting sigh, and then she was winding her arms around him, feeling the taut strength in him as he held her tight. His mouth crushed hers, possessing hers, bruising its softness and forcing her willing lips apart as his tongue probed the inner warmth.

  Her senses were aroused more fully than they had ever been before. There was no right or wrong, no loving or hating, only the glorious pleasure they were sharing. An explosion of emotion that was almost physical seemed to hold her in its grip, heightening every movement Luke made. She gloried in the feel of his mouth on hers, his arms holding her close, his fingers stroking her back as if he would know every inch of her spine, the long hard lines of his body wanting possession, totally demanding.

  “I want you as I’ve never wanted any other woman, Robin,” he said thickly against her mouth. “And you want me too. Tell me you want me. You’ll stay here in my arms until you do.”

  “I want you, Luke,” she said faintly. “And I want to stay in your arms.”

  He was confusing her with words. She wanted to stay there forever, held by him, wanted by him, and the needs he aroused in her were no less than his. He suddenly scooped her up in his arms as if she weighed nothing, strode across to her bedroom, carried her inside and kicked the door shut behind them both. He laid her down on the bed gently and stayed with her, the weight of him half covering her, as if these moments were too precious for him to leave her side even for a moment.

  “Why have you been so stubborn all this time, my darling?” he whispered in her ear. “You must have known right from the beginning, as I did, that we were made for each other.”

  His fingers were unfastening the front buttons of her sun dress as he spoke, so subtly that she hardly knew it was happening until she felt the soft night air on her breasts and then Luke’s caressing hands on them. Her breath caught in her throat at the intense pleasure the seductive little movements gave her, and then she felt the cool, damp touch of his tongue on her nipple, making her gasp out loud. He circled it gently, and hardly knowing that she did so, Robin moved her own hands inside the unbuttoned black shirt Luke wore; her fingers meshed into the dark body hair and caressed the flat male nipples. She heard him catch his breath at the action.

  She neither knew nor cared how his shirt had become undone. She was dizzy with the desire he aroused in her, needing him ... wanting him ... “Luke —”

  “Don’t talk, my darling. Don’t spoil it with words. We don’t need words, do we? Everything we need to say to one another is being said already, and your responses are all I ever hoped
for. You’re so beautiful, Robin, so very lovely.”

  Her sun dress was buttoned through to the hem, and when Luke unfastened the last of the buttons, there was only a wisp of bikini briefs separating his searching hands from the last warm secret core of her. His mouth trailed a loving course over her waist and abdomen, as if he would learn every bit of her body by heart. His hands caressed her hips, teasing and playing with the thin strips of material at the sides, driving her to an almost frenzied need. He kissed the gentle curve of her belly, his fingers tugging gently at the fabric. Her eyes closed. Lit by moonlight, her skin was golden, and she felt a rush of gladness that she looked beautiful for him. It was the first time she had ever felt that way, wanting to be perfect for a man. And the ultimate moment of giving and receiving love was so near — so spectacularly near. She could hear the raggedness of Luke’s breathing and the thud of his heart, matching hers. She could feel his own arousal, and the culmination of desire was imminent.

  Dimly, as if from another world, Robin heard the slam of a car door. Other people didn’t exist. They didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Luke was loving her, and she ... she loved him so much. She knew it in one exquisite moment. She loved him, loved him ... she would have told him so right then, but she realised that his attention had wandered, and the sound of footsteps crunching on the gravel outside was getting louder. It was impossible. Not now, not now!

  Luke cursed furiously. Robin knew he hadn’t locked the front door, and the light was still blazing in the lounge. Anyone might think they were still about. The next moment she heard Carlotta’s lilting voice calling Luke’s name and inviting them both to her villa for a nightcap.

  “She won’t leave now that she knows we’re here,” Luke muttered. “I’ll try to get rid of her. Stay right there, darling. Don’t move!”

  He gave her a quick kiss and went swiftly out of the bedroom. Robin lay quite still, stunned for a moment. The cool night air that had felt so erotic moments ago now seemed to chill her as she heard the sound of voices from the lounge, Carlotta’s husky and teasing, Luke’s subdued. She couldn’t hear the words they said, but the sound of their low laughter as they shared an intimate moment seared right through her.

  Robin struggled to refasten her sun dress. She shook all over. Minutes earlier it had been with passion. Now it was with the appalling realisation that while she had so nearly confessed her love to Luke, love had never been one of the words he had used. He wanted her, lusted for her, but he didn’t love her. She had been intoxicated with the wine and with Luke, but her mind was crystal clear now and was filled with deep, raw humiliation at the way he had nearly possessed her. He must have planned it all along, she raged inwardly. Playing on her love of the idyllic serenity of Cornwall, so akin to that corner of Ibiza. Playing on her emotions, her undeniable response to his masculine charisma.

  Robin swung her feet out of bed and onto the soft carpeted floor. She was across the room in seconds, turning the key in the lock and leaning against the door, her soft lips trembling, tears shivering on her lashes. How close Luke had come to winning. Because that was all it was, of course: a seductive game in which he was determined to be the winner. Robin passed a shaking hand across her brow. It was damp with perspiration.

  She jumped as she heard the front door close and the footsteps approach. Then the door handle turned, and her throat constricted as she imagined the incredulous look on Luke’s face on the other side of the door. The egotism of the man was unbelievable! To send one girl away while he left another one waiting for him ... or was Carlotta used to that kind of behaviour? Maybe she was the kind of girl who didn’t mind if a man hopped from one bed to another, but Robin wasn’t and never could be. Her hands clenched tightly at her sides as she heard Luke’s voice.

  “Open the door, darling.”

  “I wouldn’t open it for you if you were the last man on earth,” she heard herself scream as all the pent-up rage and hurt spilled over. “Don’t you ever touch me again, do you hear? Get out of here and leave me alone!”

  “Robin, for God’s sake, open this door! I can’t leave you like this.” He sounded angry then, as if the two of them had never been almost as close as two people could possibly be.

  “Well, you’d better, because I don’t want to see you again tonight,” she shouted back. “Can’t you understand? I hate you. I want to be left alone!”

  For a minute she wondered if he’d push the door in. He was strong enough and capable enough, and Robin felt a flicker of fear. The next second she heard his voice, cold as ice.

  “Then that’s exactly what you’ll be. I shan’t disturb you again.”

  She heard the slam of the front door as he left the villa, and she didn’t need to be a genius to guess where he’d gone for consolation. She stood numbly for a few minutes more, then undressed quickly and slid beneath the thin bedcover. Let him go to Carlotta — what did she care! But when the numbness wore off and the hurt became a physical reality, Robin knew she did care, very deeply.

  In the quiet of the night she imagined she could hear the soft, throaty sounds of laughter drifting back on the still air from Carlotta’s villa. She imagined her and Luke together. She thought of the honeymoon couple, oblivious to all else but each other on that romantic night, and of the other occupants of the villas, happy in their own private worlds. Suddenly Robin felt more alone than she had ever done in her life. The grief she had felt over Elaine Fowler’s death was quite different from this. To discover the truth about herself now — that what she felt for Luke was love, deeply passionate, once-and-forever love — and then to have it thrown back in her face, was too much for her to take.

  She buried her face beneath the bedcovers and wept. It didn’t matter one iota that Luke had gone to someone else or that he might have had a legion of women before her. Painfully, Robin was learning that love took no account of the mismatching of personalities, and no matter how much she wanted the hate to remain uppermost in her mind, the fact remained that she loved him. And until he truly loved her, which was as likely as hell freezing, her own love was destined to remain sterile and unfulfilled.

  Somehow, exhausted, Robin finally slept. She didn’t hear Luke come back to the villa. She didn’t even know if he came back at all. Pale and heavy-eyed next morning, she showered quickly, not certain what she should do next. Still in her robe as she came out of the bathroom, she encountered Luke’s hard, unsmiling gaze. Her heart jolted. He wore black swimming trunks and nothing else, and her face flamed at the sight of the hair-roughened chest in which she had raked her fingers the night before. Last night seemed a hundred light-years ago ...

  “There’s toast and coffee in the kitchen if you want it,” he said in a clipped voice. “I suggest we spend a couple of hours on the beach, since it’s a shame to waste this sun. Carlotta will meet us there and has invited us to lunch at her villa. We’ll fly straight back to England afterwards.”

  It was easy to see that his male ego was badly bruised after her rejection of him the previous night. But what had he expected? What woman wouldn’t have reacted the way she had? Robin thought wildly. She tried not to look at the lean, hard, tanned body and remember the way it had felt against hers. She looked somewhere over the top of his head, her chin tilted defiantly, but in reality she was still very close to tears.

  “That sounds fine by me,” she said. Then she hesitated. This, after all, was her love. A little rush of emotion made her blurt out more than she intended. “Luke, about last night —”

  “The less said about last night the better,” he said, cutting her short. “It’s over and forgotten. Let’s concentrate on today, shall we?”

  That said it all. He’d had one of his rare failures with her, and he wasn’t a man to brood on it. There were always others. There was Carlotta. Later, when the three of them were stretched out on the golden sand, Robin realised how cruel Luke could be. It was her choice to reject him, and in all honesty he’d had every reason to expect her submission, so
she could hardly blame him for making her feel that she was the third corner of a triangle.

  Carlotta’s voluptuous figure, bronzed to perfection with assistance of the suntan lotion she asked Luke to rub into her skin while she purred with pleasure, was causing Robin acute embarrassment as well as sheer agony. He was doing this on purpose, she thought heatedly, he was paying her back, yet he was doing nothing immoral or outrageous. It was Robin’s own extrasensitive perceptions that caused her the most pain. Even when he offered to rub the lotion into Robin’s skin, too, she refused coldly, saying she would manage herself, for how could she bear the seductive caress of his palms on her flesh and not remember?

  Somehow she got through the morning and the cold-meat-and-salad lunch at Carlotta’s villa. Somehow she behaved as pleasantly as she could, considering that her heart was breaking into little pieces every time she saw the warm glances that passed between the other two. Yesterday she might have sneered as she saw Luke operate ... but that was yesterday, before she had admitted to herself that she loved him.

  Chapter Ten

  It was a relief to be on the plane, flying back to England, and even more of a relief when Luke dropped Robin off at her flat. They had spent a mostly silent and uneasy afternoon together, and once alone, Robin wilted, feeling just like a rubber band that had lost all its elasticity. The following day she would be back in the office, and Luke would be going up north to look at another prospective site. Would there be some other client with a pretty daughter to tempt him? she thought bitterly.

  But the bitterness was only temporary, because the pain of her situation was still too searingly new to be thought about lightly. She was no coquette, content to flit about from one man to the next, but a warm, passionate woman, capable of giving to one man all her most tender and ardent loving. And the one man she wanted in all the world was as careless with his affections as if he were merely tossing away a candy wrapper. For Robin it wasn’t enough. In a moment of bittersweet regret, she dearly wished that it was. To take what Luke offered — the pleasures of the flesh, as heady as wine, but without that essential ingredient of mutual love — would be meaningless. Such a relationship would end only in heartbreak for Robin, triumph for Luke. Better to have nothing, nothing at all.