by Penny Jordan
‘Not that you couldn’t, just that you hadn’t. But you will,’ he promised softly without taking his eyes from her trembling lips.
Storm wanted to deny his words, but she could not, just as she could not prevent her lips from parting as his mouth covered them. At their touch piercing sweetness flowed through her, turning her blood to molten fire.
‘I don’t believe David’s even kissed you properly,’ Jago murmured huskily against her mouth. ‘Put your arms round me, Storm,’ he whispered. ‘I want to feel you against me.’
Even the words were subtly designed to undermine her willpower she thought despairingly as her body quivered and against her will her arms circled his neck, her fingers drawn to the thick night darkness of his hair.
His arms held her against him and her flesh seemed to melt from her bones, a feeling that she knew must be desire beating up over her, her mouth parting mindlessly under the domination he was exerting.
It was like drowning, Storm thought hazily; like being caught on a huge rolling wave and subjected to its will, only sooner or later the wave would fling her back down on to the beach exhausted and hurt. And it went on and on undermining her resistance like so much unstable sand, until she was clinging to Jago’s shoulders, her own legs unable to support her, her body crying out for the fulfilment his caresses promised.
‘Want me?’ he whispered against her throat, and she shivered in answering acknowledgement of her need.
His hands slid upwards, cupping her breasts and increasing the dull ache deep inside.
‘And you don’t love David?’
She stiffened. David! She had completely forgotten him. Forgotten the reason why she had come here in the first place.
’Of course I love him,’ she lied desperately. ‘And one day you’re going to pay for what you did to him!’ She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her, his mouth ruthlessly plundering hers.
‘You’re a liar and a coward,’ he told her. ‘Of course you damn well don’t love him. You’d never have responded to me the way you do if you did. But it isn’t over, Storm, and when I eventually hold you in my arms and possess your body, it will be my name you cry and not David’s.’
His words sent explosions of terror over her body, her mouth faintly swollen as he released her to stare coolly at her heated face.
‘I’m late for lunch,’ he drawled, shooting back a cuff to glance at his watch.
‘And you don’t want to keep Miss Townley,’ Storm said savagely.
‘Jealous?’
‘Like hell I am,’ Storm said succinctly. ‘She’s welcome to you. And I don’t suppose you’ll need to give her any lessons in how to become a woman!’
For a moment his eyes narrowed and she thought she must have betrayed the hurt he had caused her, but he merely said equably, ‘I’m sure I won’t. Angie has all the right attributes to bring out the male in any man. Even poor David.’
Storm hadn’t realised she had clenched her fists until she felt her nails pricking her palms.
‘Well, I’m sure you’ll be able to entertain one another all afternoon with a mutual exchange of expertise!’
Jago’s eyes hardened. ‘Don’t push me too far, Storm,’ he warned. ‘For your information I shall be spending most of my time talking business. You should be down on your knees thanking me if you did but know it. Sam was pretty keen for you to join us. He even suggested I might care to spend the afternoon entertaining Angie while he took you on a guided tour of the house he’s just bought.’
Storm was powerless to prevent the revulsion from showing in her face.
‘Quite,’ Jago agreed dryly. ‘Sam’s no David, and I gained the impression that the afternoon could well end with Mr Townley giving you a prolonged and thorough inspection of his bedroom—and bed.’
He was watching her like a hawk and Storm knew that he was right. Sam was a widower and had been for a good many years. Perhaps another girl might not have quibbled at the thought of an affair with the town’s wealthiest citizen, but everything about him repulsed Storm. He made her flesh crawl, and she knew she ought to thank Jago. David had not always been quite as thoughtful and Storm had had to endure several agonising lunches with a view to getting Sam to hold a little less tightly to the purse strings.
‘Thank you,’ she managed as Jago opened the door for her.
‘Did it hurt very much?’ he mocked, guessing the effort it had cost her to acknowledge her gratitude.
It had hurt, Storm acknowledged wryly when he had gone, but nowhere near as much as what had happened earlier. What was it about him that got under her skin?
‘Lunch?’ Pete invited, putting his head round her office door.
Storm shook her head. Pete saw too much and there was no telling what she might reveal to him in her present mood. She wished she had had the forethought to ask David for his friend’s phone number. She could have rung him and perhaps the contact might have made their love seem more real.
‘I’m going shopping,’ she told Pete, trying to banish the disturbing memories of Jago’s taunts. ‘I want to buy a new dress.’
CHAPTER SIX
PERHAPS it was her preoccupation with her own thoughts, Storm thought wearily as she went from shop to shop, but for some reason there was nothing that really appealed, and after nearly an hour’s fruitless examinations of all her favourite boutiques she emerged from the last with nothing to show for her pains apart from aching feet and an empty stomach. A blonde head on the other side of the road caught her eye and her head swivelled automatically, a feeling in the pit of her stomach like a kick from a mule.
What had she been expecting? she asked herself as the girl turned out to be a complete stranger. Jago and Angie? She dismissed the thought, and headed for a small coffee shop she knew in the older part of the town. As she opened the door the smell of freshly roasted coffee beans tormented her taste buds and as she stepped back to allow someone to pass, the window display of a small boutique across the street caught her eye.
Tempted, Storm hovered indecisively on the pavement. She knew the boutique by reputation. It was select and expensive, specialising in the sort of understated clothes that shrieked elegance—and certainly not the place to shop if one was budget-conscious.
There was only one dress in the tiny window, and it made her mouth water. Almost before she knew it she was across the road, opening the door.
The dress, when it was removed from the window, proved to be even more alluring on that it had been off. It was made of chiffon, layers of it, shading from palest grey to smoky violet, a low square neck supported by shoestring straps studded with diamanté, the satin underskirt split down one side from thigh to knee. As Storm moved the chiffon drifted round her like mist, the colours as soft and hazy as a winter sky and a perfect foil for her colouring.
‘It’s the only one we’ve got,’ the saleswoman told her. ‘Mrs Thompson who owns the boutique bought it for herself for an important function, but then she discovered she was pregnant and by the time the dinner dance comes round she’ll well and truly be bulging!’
Storm laughed. ‘Well, her loss is certainly my gain!’ She was steeling herself to ask the price, because she knew that she had to have the dress. In it she knew that she was most definitely all woman, and although she told herself that it was highly unlikely that Jago would ever see her in it, the merest offchance that he might was enough to make her reckless enough to buy it. And even then the truth eluded her.
As it happened the price was quite reasonable, mainly because the dress was only a size eight and had been reduced because Mrs Thompson had not thought she would be able to sell it very easily.
It was half past two when Storm finally got back to the studio. Sue raised her eyebrows queryingly when she saw the box, but Storm shook her head.
‘No time to chat now,’ she mouthed. ‘I’m late enough as it is.’
‘Yes, you are, aren’t you?’ Do you make a habit of taking one and a half hour lunch breaks?’
‘Sorry,’ she apologised huskily, ignoring the surprise in Sue’s eyes. ‘I was shopping and…’
Was that amusement she saw quirking Jago’s mouth?
‘Of course,’ he agreed dryly, ‘I should have known. I hope it’s something sexy. I’m giving a small party shortly, a sort of housewarming-cum-business affair, and I want everyone from here there. And before you ask me,’ he added harshly, ‘no, I’m not inviting David.’
Sue was busy with the switchboard and he used the opportunity to remind Storm of the warning he had given her earlier. ‘I meant every word I said, Storm,’ he told her. ‘I mean to have you, and I will.’
Why did she let him affect her? Storm asked herself as she leaned her trembling body against the door of her office. She was a fool for letting him provoke a reaction from her. Her skin was prickling with awareness, and she felt cold and shivery as though she was about to come down with a chill.
Her phone rang and she picked it up, covering the receiver as Jago walked in. He was carrying the advertising figures, and dropped purposefully into a chair as she spoke into the receiver.
‘David?’ he mouthed sardonically at her.
Her eyes flashed as she glared angrily at him. ‘No, my father.’
She expected him to get up and leave, but he merely extended his long legs in front of him, studying her with a thoroughness that discomposed her and made it impossible for her to concentrate on what her father was saying.
He was explaining to her that he would not be able to pick her up until after six.
‘I forgot to tell you this morning,’ he said, ‘I’ve got a meeting. I’ve rung your mother and told her we shall be late. What will you do, fill in the time with some shopping?’
‘I’ve got plenty of work to do,’ she assured him. ‘Don’t worry. See you about six, then?’
She hung up and looked at Jago.
‘Problems?’ he enquired lazily.
Somehow she managed to hold his gaze without betraying how he affected her. In this deceptively mild mood he seemed even more dangerous, his eyes holding all the threat of a momentarily sated tiger’s.
‘Nothing world-shattering,’ she told him coolly. ‘My father can’t pick me up until six.’
‘You could always ring him back and tell him you’re going home with me.’
Storm’s head jerked up, alarm shimmering in her eyes. ‘No, thanks.’
‘You used to travel with David,’ Jago returned equably. ‘I’m going to be living far closer to you than he did. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t travel together.’
‘None at all,’ Storm agreed tautly, watching his eyes narrow. ‘But we aren’t going to.’
‘Frightened?’ he asked succinctly. ‘Of what? That I might carry you off to my lair one dark night? I’ve told you before…’ he leaned across the desk, his fingers tilting her chin upwards, ‘when I make love to you, Storm, it will be because you want it just as much as I do.’
She forced herself to ignore the warmth spreading through her and the pictures conjured up by his words.
‘That will be never,’ she told him coldly, watching his mouth harden, his eyes a flinty grey.
‘Well, in that case, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t travel together, is there?’
He had outmanoeuvred her and she knew it. If they travelled together he would use the opportunity to further assault her defences, and there was nothing she could do about it. If she complained he would know that she was aware of him, and if she did not he would just keep redoubling the attack until she did.
Why? She wasn’t beautiful or sexy. He could have his choice of women and he must know it. Was it because she had defied him? Or was it her resolute determination to prefer David to him? She glanced at him from beneath lowered lashes, conscious of the strong moulding of his face. He was constantly deriding David to her, and her breath caught suddenly. Of course, that must be it! He despised David so much it must hurt his pride to know that she preferred him. No doubt he had expected her to fall into his arms long before now. Why not play along with him? Let him think she hadn’t guessed why. If he thought he was getting somewhere the pressure might ease off, and she was nearer to cracking under it than she wanted to admit. Let him give her a lift, as long as she played it cool everything would be all right. David would soon be home and when he was they could talk.
‘Very well,’ she agreed docilely, keeping her eyes veiled.
‘You’re learning,’ Jago told her softly as she dragged her eyes from his mouth, remembering the punishment it could evoke, and hating herself for the spasm of desire that shot through her.
* * *
But learning what? she asked herself later, sitting next to her father as they drove home. That it was possible to experience intense desire without the saving grace of love? That a man’s body could excite even while his personality repelled? She shuddered and saw her father glance at her.
‘Cold?’ He turned on the heater. ‘Better now?’
Storm smiled gratefully. If only he knew!
They chatted in a desultory fashion, interspersed with comfortable silences. Storm went straight inside while her father put the car away. She found her mother in the kitchen, in a state of intense excitement.
‘Thank goodness you’re both back! I doubt if I’d have been able to contain myself much longer. You’ll never guess what’s happened!’ she exclaimed, proffering a cheek for her husband to kiss.
‘I’m in no mood for guessing games, Mum,’ Storm groaned. ‘You’ll have to tell us.’
‘John phoned this afternoon!’
She had their attention now, for telephone calls from Storm’s brother in Australia were something of a rarity.
‘There’s nothing wrong, is there?’ Storm asked anxiously.
Mrs Templeton smiled broadly, ‘Far from it. He’s getting married—next month! He and Andrea have decided to take the plunge.’
‘I didn’t even know they were contemplating getting engaged,’ said Storm. ‘Although I suppose we ought to have guessed. After all, his letters are always full of her.’
‘Umm. I did wonder if they might get engaged this Christmas,’ Storm’s mother agreed. ‘But it seems that John has been offered promotion, but the new job is in Perth, so they had to decide between a long courtship or marriage more or less straight away.’
‘John married, eh?’ Mr Templeton smiled. ‘Well, this calls for a celebration. We’ll go in the lounge and have a drink and you can tell us exactly what he said,’ he told his wife.
Ten minutes later Storm was still trying to come to terms with her mother’s news. John married!
‘And that’s not all.’ There was a shade of anxiety in Mrs Templeton’s voice, and Storm frowned.
‘What else could there be? You’re not worried about John marrying Andrea, are you, Mum?’
She was quickly reassured. ‘Of course not. She sounds charming. No, the problem is that Andrea’s parents have asked your father and me to fly out to Sydney and stay with them until after the wedding. I spoke to Andrea’s mother and they seem to have been caught on the hop too. They suspected that an engagement might be in the offing, but they’d no idea that they planned to marry so quickly. However, as this job’s come up they realise that Andrea will want to go to Perth with John. They’ve actually been out there for a weekend already and they both loved the city. John says it’s beautiful, and they’ve managed to find a house.’
’It all sounds idyllic,’ Storm broke in, ‘so what’s the problem?’
‘Well, John wants us to fly out as soon as possible, so that he and Andrea can spend some time with us before they get married. And then there’s the wedding, and Andrea’s mother says we must see something of the country while we’re out there, and John wants us to fly up to Perth to see the house. They’re spending
their honeymoon on the Barrier Reef.’ She looked first at her husband and then at Storm. ‘I know you’ll be able to get time off, Richard, because you were only saying the other day that you could afford to take a few weeks’ holiday now that your assistant is settling down so well, but what about you, Storm?’
Storm’s heart sank. It was quite out of the question for her to go with her parents. In normal circumstances she might have contemplated asking David for unpaid leave, but if she asked Jago for a month off now he was bound to think she was trying to desert the station. Following in David’s footsteps.
‘I can’t go, Mum,’ she said quietly.
Mrs Templeton sighed. ‘That’s what I thought you’d say,’ she admitted. ‘If this was just a normal holiday… but I don’t like the thought of leaving you alone here for so long, Storm, and to miss John’s wedding.’
Storm’s eyes closed. ‘I wish I could go, but I can’t. You must, though,’ she said firmly. ‘John would never forgive me if you refused on my account, and he’d have every right. This is a big day for him, and he’ll need you there.’
She tried to quell her feeling of disappointment. She would have loved to attend her brother’s wedding and meet the girl who was going to be her sister-in-law, but there was just no way that this could be.
Richard Templeton put an arm round his daughter’s shoulders. ‘Don’t worry about it, love,’ he told her. ‘John will understand. Has he been able to get in touch with Ian?’ he asked his wife, across Storm’s bowed shoulders.
Mrs Templeton shook her head.
‘No. I haven’t had a letter from him myself for weeks. The last time he wrote he said he was just about to fly out to Africa to investigate the possibility of some new oilfields out there. I suppose he must still be there.’
The Templeton’s were used to long silences from their second son when he was out in the field and had learned not to be worried by them.
‘Well, he must have quite a lot of leave due to him,’ Richard Templeton commented. ‘It’s a pity we can’t get in touch with him. It looks as though our side of the family is going to be very scantily represented at the wedding!’