by Penny Jordan
She suspected it stemmed from her mother's death. She had been at boarding school when it had happened and had known nothing. The arrival of two strangers, who she later discovered were her father's secretary and personal assistant, who whisked her away from school without explanation and then proceeded to tell her of her mother's death, had left a scar that had never completely healed.
'He was kidnapped by terrorists,' she forced herself to say, as though by speaking the dread word she could overcome her fear.
'Tragic.' Nico sounded as though he meant it, and for a split second Saffron found herself reliving her father's grief and the sharp resurrection of her own phobia, but she quelled it swiftly with a flippant, 'Oh, I don't know—isn't it everyone's private sexual fantasy?'
It was the sort of flip statement expected among her crowd and Saffron had often used them defensively in the past, not caring about the conclusions her companions would draw, but now she did care, and she bitterly wished the seemingly callous statement unuttered when she saw the look in Nico's eyes.
'Nico?' Her voice and eyes pleaded with her to understand, begged for the forgiveness her pride would not allow her to ask for, and miraculously his expression changed, a smile soothing away the frown and with it the harsh bitterness that had seemed so alien to his character.
'I think I must have got out of my bed on the wrong side this morning.' His mouth twisted wryly. 'Or perhaps the problem is that it wasn't the right bed.' He glanced at his watch. 'How long will it take you to finish getting ready?'
No reference to the fact that ten minutes ago he had been on the point of cancelling their outing, but Saffron was too delirious with joy to mention it.
'Ten minutes,' she promised, and was as good as her word, watching with steadily escalating excitement as Nico stowed the picnic basket away in the boot of the Mercedes, and opened the passenger door for her to climb in.
They had the road almost entirely to themselves. Saffron relaxed back into her seat, enjoying the teasing caress of the breeze as it tangled her curls, breathing the hot, sensual scent of the countryside drowsing in the midsummer heat. They passed olive groves with trees so gnarled and ancient it wasn't hard to believe that they had probably been old when the Roman legions tramped these roads.
They were high up in the hills behind the villa. Below them the sea shone deep azure blue, merging into the distant skyline in misty lilac. Saffron sat with her knees hunched under her chin, aware of the heat of the sun as it beat down on to her shoulders. Half an hour ago Nico had pulled off the road in this beautiful, strangely desolate spot. Now he was lying at her side on the thin grass watching the sky. A pleasant breeze stirred the heated air. She ought to have been feeling pleasurably relaxed after the meal they had just shared, but she wasn't. Tension coiled her stomach like an over-wound spring, her body so intensely aware of the man beside her that she could sense his every movement without even looking at him.
He had removed the jeans and shirt he had worn for driving and lay on his back, and Saffron berated herself for not having followed his example and donned her swimwear beneath her tee-shirt and jeans. But Nico's brief trunks did little to conceal his masculinity, and she forced herself not to give in to the impulse to let her glance wander at will over his body. She could always go and change. There was no one to see except Nico. As though he read her thoughts he suggested lazily,
'Why don't you go and change?'
She wanted to, so why was she holding back? What was this strange self-consciousness that made her reluctant to expose herself to Nico in the brief triangles of her bikini?
'You are looking as though you were a Christian maiden who preferred being thrown to the lions to exchanging her virtue for the embrace of her Roman captor. It is a novel experience,' he continued lightly, levering himself up on one elbow to study her. Dark eyelashes swept protectively across her eyes, anxious to conceal her expression from his probing glance, fearful that he would read in her eyes the secret of her virginity. Why, when she had never felt burdened by it before, did she suddenly long for the experience and expediency of her peers? If only she had some practical sexual knowledge to fall back on, to tell her how to react.
'Why is innocence always such a lure to the men who witness it? When I look at you now, I find it hard to imagine any man other than myself has so much as touched your lips.' Nico's expression changed, hardening, his muttered, 'God, I must be losing my grip!' lost as he leaned over her, imprisoning her with his body, his voice thick and unsteady as he said against her lips, 'Something tells me I'm going to regret this, but right now I can't think past the aching in my gut, that reminds me I'm a male animal first, and a thinking human being a very poor second. What is it those soft eyes are begging for when they look at me so? Reprieve? Or this?'
Saffron had known the first time she saw him that he was a man who knew all there was to know about the female sex, but he seemed to have misjudged her badly, because the ferocious pressure of his mouth, the desire he made no attempt to temper, frightened rather than aroused her, Deep down inside him she sensed a bitter anger, an inner rage that drowned out seduction and sensitivity and left only a raw need that even she, inexperienced though she was, knew he had not meant to betray. Why? she asked herself numbly, frozen beneath his body, terrified by the emotions she sensed churning through him. She struggled to break free, panic tensing her muscles, her mind and body crying out to her that she had been a fool to allow herself to be alone with him. What did she know of him after all? What if she had merely imagined that rapport which had seemed to make conventional preliminaries between them unnecessary?
As though he sensed the direction of her thoughts the harsh pressure of Nico's mouth suddenly relaxed. He murmured an apology against her ear, stilling her frantic movements with the sensual caress of his hand stroking over her body.
'Forgive me, cara. I was too impulsive, my desire for you too intense ...'
Despite his words and the look in his eyes, Saffron had the momentary impression that he was playing a part, mouthing words he did not feel, but it died almost the instant it was born as his hand pushed aside the thin barrier of her tee-shirt, cupping the rounded softness of her breast, his lips brushing tantalising over hers, with none of the angry pressure of before.
Perhaps she had imagined his anger, she thought hazily, perhaps it had just been fostered by desire. She knew so little of. the emotions which drove men, and he was obviously not a man used to denying his sexuality.
Her body's responsiveness to him frightened her, and she tried to wriggle away. 'We ought to be going,' she murmured shakily. 'I...'
Nico glanced at his watch and then seemed to search the scenery; the deserted sky and equally deserted road.
'Not yet,' he said softly. And when Saffron continued to protest he ignored her, simply bending his head and touching his lips to the warm valley he had exposed between her breasts, his touch making her toes curl in mute protest, her breath catching on a wave of shocked pleasure.
His fingers pushed aside the flimsy lace cups of her bra, savouring breasts which Saffron knew were surprisingly voluptuous in view of the slenderness of her body, and now they seemed more voluptuous than ever, her nipples hardening against his palms as pleasure shuddered through her.
'Nico ...' His name left her lips on a tortured breath.
'I know,' he agreed huskily. 'Not here ... but you make it very hard for me—very hard,' he reiterated throatily as his lips moved provocatively against the aroused peak of her breast, stroking it lightly and then stopping as he felt the shudder she was powerless to control. Her face had gone paper-white with the strength of her emotions; the shock of experiencing such a stomach clenching intensity of pleasure. She wanted to tangle her fingers in his hair and hold him captive against her body, but shyness and inexperience held her aloof, and then Nico was on his feet, pulling her with him, straightening her tee-shirt and motioning her towards the car.
She hadn't time to protest, and then, as she waited
for him in the Mercedes, she realised that his hearing, more acute than hers, must have caught the approach of the battered Land Rover that came lumbering down the hill towards them.
It rolled to a halt and three people jumped out; two men and a girl, all dressed casually in a uniform of grubby jeans and sweat-shirts, and all of them carrying shoulder-hung machine-guns which were pointed in her direction.
Feeling as though she had suddenly strayed into a nightmare, Saffron watched helplessly as they advanced towards her. Behind her she heard Nico move, and a wave of relief swamped her to know that she wasn't alone. She turned towards him, sobbing his name.
'Get out of the car!'
It was the female member of the gang who issued the curt instructions, the heavily accented words just about penetrating the fog of terror engulfing Saffron.
'Nico ...' She murmured his name as though it were an incantation against evil, helplessly appealing to him, her eyes widening in stunned disbelief as she saw his stony expression, and heard him say bleakly, 'Do as she says, Saffron.'
'But...' Couldn't he see that if she left the protection of the car she would be that much more vulnerable? The unkind laughter of the girl with the gun as she looked from Saffron's pale, distressed face to Nico's blank, frozen mask of rejection hurt as it grazed over Saffron's jarred nerves.
'Look at her!' the girl taunted. 'Even now she can't believe it. You must have done an excellent job of persuading her to accept you, Nico. Even now she cannot see the truth. Little fool!' she mocked Saffron, smiling evilly. 'Nico is one of us. He will not help you.'
Saffron looked at the taut aloof mask of Nico's face and knew sickeningly that it was true. He turned his head, cold grey eyes sweeping every vulnerable feature,' and she knew with dreadful clarity that it had all been planned—every tiny last detail; every word; every caress, and she, like the fool she was, had fallen for it. And not just fallen for it, but woven stupidly sentimental dreams around him; deluded herself into believing that something rare and precious existed between them. Her head swam as she remembered how close she had come to giving herself to him. Thank God she had been spared that final humiliation! She pictured him and this bitter, olive-skinned girl with the hard brown eyes laughing over her lost virginity, her misplaced trust and adoration, and she reached blindly for the door handle, stumbling from the car in a daze. She stumbled on a sharp flinty stone, and would have fallen if Nico hadn't grasped her arm, but she shook him away with a gesture of bitter loathing, masking the pain aching through her, using the agony of his deception to transmute pain into anger.
Her low, husky, 'Don't touch me,' vibrated with horror and despair, and again the girl laughed mockingly. 'Ah, Nico,' she said contemptuously, 'you have spoiled all her pretty dreams. She thought you wanted her for herself, but in reality all you wanted was her father's money. How quickly do you think he will pay the ransom?' she continued. 'He had better not take too long, Rome badly need funds if we are to buy the equipment we need to .. .'
She broke off, gasping with mingled anger and pain as Nico left Saffron's side to grasp her wrist, swinging her round to face him as he said in a cold, even voice, 'Guard you tongue, Olivia!' His warning glance encompassed both her and Saffron, and Saffron felt her blood turn to ice water in her veins as Olivia tossed her head and remarked callously, 'What for? There are ways of making sure your little friend never gets to repeat anything she overhears, or have you lost your dedication to our cause, my friend? This is the' second day we have made a rendezvous here.'
Nico's shrugged, 'I was delayed,' obviously didn't please her, and her thick dark eyebrows snapped together in a frown, her voice dangerous as she looked at Saffron. 'By that?' she demanded angrily. 'Nico ...'
'I was delayed in Rome,' Nico elaborated, his face tightening as he rounded on her, saying softly, 'Try to remember that I am in charge here, Olivia, and that it is not for you to question my actions. Now, get the girl into the Land Rover, we have already spent too long here.'
'Come.' The muzzle of the machine-gun rested in the vee of Saffron's tee-shirt. 'Pretty but soft,' Olivia commented, lips drawn back over sharp small teeth. 'Look how she shakes! This gun is very sensitive,' she told Saffron. 'The trembling of your body is enough to . ..'
'She is no use to us dead, Olivia,' Nico pointed out with deadly calm. He had changed so much Saffron barely recognised him. Gone was the indolence, .the warm smile and easy charm, and in its . place was a forbidding menace that struck a chill right through her bones. His features might have been cast in bronze, every movement weighed, every thought calculated.
'Not dead, perhaps,' Olivia agreed, gloating over Saffron's pale face, 'but her papa will still pay well for his daughter, even if we mutilate her a little. You did well to choose her, Nico, let us just hope for her sake that her father cares as much for her as you say. We have read about you in the papers, Saffron Wykeham,' she told Saffron, 'of your affairs and your father's money. We heard you were coming to Italy and laid our plans carefully. Nico told us it would not be hard for him to gain your trust; you have a weakness for handsome men.-'
'Stop wasting time, Olivia,' Nico instructed. 'Get her back to the farm. I have to take the Mercedes back, and send the telex off to her father. We should see results pretty quickly. Now remember, when you get up to the farm everything should appear normal. It's bound to be checked out.'
'When will you be back?'
Saffron saw his eyebrows rise at the aggression in Olivia's possessive question.
'I don't know. It all depends how long it takes.'
'And her?' Olivia demanded, jerking her gun in Saffron's direction.
'Just stick to the plan,' Nico told her. 'No rough stuff, there's no point. ..'
'Because you don't want anything to spoil her soft skin?'
Suddenly Saffron realised that Olivia was jealous of her. What was the other girl's relationship with Nico? Were they lovers? The twisting pain in her stomach stunned her. Surely the knowledge of his deceit should have killed for ever whatever she had felt for Nico. It had done so, she assured herself fiercely; the pain she felt was the result of her shock.
'Her skin is of no interest to me apart from the price we can put on it,' Nico said carelessly. 'You should know that. You should also know that we're going to have to supply proof to her father that she's still alive, which is why I don't want a hair on her head harmed—at least not for now. I'll take the shots of her when I get back.' He glanced at the heavy gold watch he was wearing, and Saffron felt physically sick, realising how he had come by the money to afford such luxuries. She had ceased to exist for him as a person, if indeed she had ever done so; she was simply a marketable commodity.
His last words for Saffron as he turned away leaving her with her three armed guards were, 'Don't be tempted into doing anything rash. Olivia has orders to shoot if you do.'
'And not to kill,' Olivia warned her, grinning viciously. 'You'll look one hell of a lot less attractive with shattered knee-caps.'
It was impossible for Saffron to hold back her shudder of horror. Olivia's cruel laughter was drowned out by the Mercedes' engine firing, the paintwork flashing briefly in the sun before it disappeared in the direction she had driven with Nico such a short time ago.
It was the realisation of all her worst nightmares; a descent to hell itself, with every nerve in her body screaming in mindless panic as she fought against her desire to turn and run, knowing that to do so would be to invite Olivia's gleeful retaliation.
As she stood there in the hot sun, all her tentative awakening emotions were gripped with the frost of reality. Desire and burgeoning love had been crushed by bitterness and a burning desire for revenge; not so much because she had been kidnapped, Saffron realised, but because of the way it had been accomplished; the ease with which Nico had insinuated himself into her life, her vulnerability towards him. He had used her, coldly, calculatingly and callously, and she would make him pay for that if she spent the last drop of her life's blood in doing so.
A raging thirst for revenge filled her, blotting out fear and panic, and making her strong enough to face the barrage of those three cold faces and three machine-guns with pride and calm.
Her anger burned with the death touch of unyielding ice, enabling her to clarify her thoughts, and use the adrenalin pumping through her veins to think swiftly and clearly. Her father was a millionaire and that fact was well publicised, which, presumably, was why they had made her their prey, but most of his wealth was tied up in his business, and even if he could raise whatever ransom was demanded, Saffron had severe doubts that she would ever be set free. She had already read her fate in the implacable eyes of her kidnappers; how many victims suffering exactly her situation had ever been released? Look at her father's close friend. He had been kidnapped and then murdered. She was faced with two choices; either she could give in to the panic she had battened down inside herself and become a grovelling, pleading object; or she could devote her last ounce of stamina, all her mental and physical reserves in trying to outwit her captors. The same instincts which had raised her father from relative obscurity to the position he held today surfaced in Saffron; the age-old need for survival pumped urgently through her bloodstream, and without conscious volition her decision was made. As she numbly followed the direction Olivia indicated with her gun the words of an old saw floated into her mind, 'Living well is the best revenge,' but in her case simply living would be her revenge, and she would cling to that thought with every breath she drew. Somehow, she didn't know how yet, she was going to live and she was going to bring to justice those who had perpetuated this crime against her; and Nico ... Revenge was a heady wine and she had drunk deeply of it; deeply enough to overcome her fear, and her mind worked feverishly as she sought some avenue of escape, striving to ignore the dangerous silence and the two guns at her back as Olivia led the way to the dusty Land Rover.