Flame of Desire

by Carole Mortimer

  The silence was deafening once she was alone. Luke had been deliberately cruel to her, had in fact humiliated her—and yet she still loved him! That was the worst humiliation of all, her love for him. He had taunted her desire for him, flaunted another woman in her face, and yet still she remained here.

  He didn’t return for dinner, and she had no appetite herself, switching on the rarely used television set so that at least she wasn’t sitting in silence. She delayed going to bed for as long as possible, knowing she would never sleep if Luke wasn’t back, if indeed he came back.

  By one o’clock she was convinced he intended staying the night with the beautiful Madeleine. She crept unhappily into the double bed they still shared, even though Luke never intentionally touched her. She curled up into a tight miserable ball, wishing the hours away until morning.

  It must have been an hour or so later that she heard muffled sounds coming from the lounge. Luke! It had to be Luke. She was up and out of the bed before she had any time for thought, the transparency of her turquoise nightgown clinging to her body.

  Luke was standing by the drinks cabinet, a glass of whisky in his hand as he slowly turned to look at her. ‘Well, well,’ he drawled, his eyes narrowed, ’my little wife come to greet me. And dressed so temptingly too!’

  He was still angry, and by the smell of the alcohol eminating from him the glass of whisky was far from being his first. He smelt of stale cigarette smoke too, and she knew he didn’t smoke. No, but the lovely Madeleine did!

  ‘You’re drunk!’ she accused.

  ‘Far from it, my dear,’ he mocked, his smile unpleasant. ‘And far from incapable too.’ He took a threatening step towards her.

  Sophie backed away, frightened by the determination she could see in his face. ‘Where—where have you been?’

  His smile deepened. ‘Where do you think?’

  Her mouth turned back. ‘With Madeleine.’

  He gave an inclination of his dark head. ‘How right you are!’

  ‘You—you’ve been with her?’

  ‘Have I not just said as much?’ He took a large gulp of his whisky, no emotion on his face as the fiery liquid burnt a path to his stomach. ‘Why all these questions? I warned you what to expect before we were married if I did not find fulfilment in my own bed—with my own wife.’

  ‘You mean you—’ She gulped, unable to finish.

  ‘What else did you expect, Sophie?’ he demanded harshly.

  ‘I didn’t think you would really—I didn’t think—’

  ‘Well, now you know,’ he snapped.

  Yes, now she knew.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  AFTER the things Luke had just said to her Sophie thought it only natural to assume he would sleep in one of the other bedrooms. She was wrong. After he had undressed and showered he came into their bedroom as usual, shedding the towelling robe to reveal his nakedness without embarrassment.

  Sophie turned away from the beauty of his body, her cheeks burning as the image stayed in her mind. No man had the right to be so damned attractive, so physically magnificent, his body firm and taut, not an ounce of superfluous flesh anywhere on his muscular frame.

  She moved to the very edge of her side of the bed as he got in beside her, the male warmth of his body reaching out to her against her will, his male scent inflaming her senses. The room was in darkness, her breathing necessarily smooth and even as she sought to convince him she was asleep. In reality her tears were drenching the pillow beneath her, she was unable to stop them as she fought for control.

  ‘You are not asleep.’ Luke’s voice came to her out of the darkness, a statement, not a question.

  She took a deep breath. ‘No.’

  ‘You are not tired?’

  ‘I—No, no, I don’t think so.’ She hurriedly wiped away the tears staining her cheeks.

  She was turned gently into his arms, her head cradled on his shoulder. His long fingers caressed her face, tilting her chin up so that she looked at him. ‘Your face is damp,’ he said softly, gently.

  ‘I—is it?’ Her lashes fluttered down on to her pale cheeks, the room in semi-darkness, Luke’s eyes all too seeing.

  ‘I have made you cry,’ he said with a sigh.

  There was no point in denying what was obvious, so she remained silent, curved against the hardness of his body, the first time he had held her like this in days.

  ‘You made me angry,’ he explained. ‘For days you have made me angry. And today you offered the final insult,’ he added harshly.

  Sophie looked astounded. ‘I did? But I’ve hardly seen you all day!’

  ‘That is true, and there has been little politeness between us of late. Tell me,’ his eyes probed, ’what did you think this afternoon when you saw me with Madeleine?’

  He thwarted all her efforts to break out of his arms, so she remained in his embrace like a trapped bird. She licked her dry lips. ‘What did I think?’ she delayed.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I thought—well, I thought—’

  ‘You thought I had been making love to her,’ his words cut through the gloom. ‘Why did you think that?’

  She trembled against him, remembering the way he had been touching the other woman. She felt his arms tighten about her. ‘You were caressing her, touching her,’ she said with remembered horror.

  ‘I was touching her,’ he admitted. ‘Touching does not prove anything.’

  ‘But you—you must have been kissing her,’ she said desperately.

  ‘I was not,’ he denied grimly. ‘Did you see any evidence of my having kissed her? Was there any lipstick on my face, on my lips?’

  ‘Well…’

  ‘I will tell you, there was not. Lipstick the vivid shade that Madeleine always wears cannot be hidden. I had not been kissing or caressing her,’ he denied harshly. ‘But I had been touching her. I was getting her to pose for me.’

  ‘P—pose for you?’ Her eyes were wide ’You were painting her?’

  ‘But of course. A studio couch is not my idea of the ideal place for lovemaking.’

  ‘It was with me—’ she broke off, her cheeks flaming with colour.

  Luke’s teeth gleamed whitely in the darkness. ‘I seem to remember I carried you to my bed before it got that far.’

  ‘But why didn’t you explain that you were only painting her?’

  ‘You said you were leaving me,’ he accused.

  ‘I didn’t mean it.’ There was a terrible lethargy invading her body, every part of her aware of him as he lay beside her.

  ‘Did you not?’

  ‘Well… maybe at the time.’

  ‘I was surprised to find you were still here when I arrived home just now.’

  ‘Were you?’ It was surprising how low and husky their voices had become, almost a whisper.

  ‘I thought you had run home to your father,’ he explained.

  She was startled. ‘To Daddy?’

  ‘Exactly,’ he said dryly. ‘I thought you had run home to Daddy. I was surprised to find you had not.’

  ‘I—’ She didn’t know what to say; she had run to her father in her trouble, but just to see him had been enough. ‘You make me sound rather juvenile!’

  ‘Not juvenile, just over-protected by your father,’ he corrected. ‘He cannot always be there when you are angry or upset, and I am pleased to see our marriage is not to be subjected to you constantly running to him for comfort.’

  But she had, she had! ’I’m grown up now, Luke. I’m a married lady.’

  ‘Yes, you are.’ He pushed her back against the pillows, pinioning her to the bed with his body. ‘You are married to me,’ he said throatily.

  She shivered with delight as he nibbled her earlobe, his tongue probing every sensitive contour. ‘You said—you said just now that you’d been making love to Madeleine,’ she reminded.

  ‘Correction, I said I have been with her,’ he murmured against her throat.

  Her hands strayed across his muscled back of t
heir own volition. ‘It’s the same thing,’ she said weakly.

  ‘Not at all. I have been to a party with Madeleine and several of my other friends. I have been in their company, nothing more.’

  ‘But you did say you would seek fulfilment elsewhere.’ She retained a last hold on her sanity, his mouth exciting her until she wanted only him.

  ‘Ah, now that I do admit to saying just now, but only as a means of self-defence. I came back to find you still here when I expected you to have flown, only to have you throwing accusations at me.’

  ‘But you were out all evening. How was I to know what to think?’

  ‘I was out all evening because I did not relish coming back to an empty apartment—as I did this morning. Where were you through lunch, anyway?’

  ‘I—er—I went shopping and had lunch out,’ she lied.

  He wrenched her chin up. ‘Is that the truth?’

  ‘Why should I lie?’ she asked with feigned indignation.

  He shrugged. ‘No reason, I suppose.’ He gathered her close again. ‘But I was glad to come home just now and find you here, although this,’ he tugged at her nightgown, ’this I do not like.’

  ‘Shall I take it off?’ she offered eagerly.

  ‘It is not necessary.’ With a sharp tug he had ripped the garment from neck to hem. ‘I have my own way of dealing with these things.’

  Sophie giggled. ‘I wish you wouldn’t keep doing that.’

  His lips teased and parted hers with sensuous passion. ‘Do you?’ he breathed against her mouth. ‘Do you really?’

  Her mouth opened to receive his kiss. ‘No…’

  ‘I thought not.’

  ‘You’re very arrogant,’ she reprimanded softly.

  ‘I have to be, I am your lover.’

  ‘Luke…’ she whispered.

  ‘Mm?’

  ‘Why have you stayed away from me for so long?’

  ‘Because I was waiting for some sign from you that you wanted my lovemaking. I am afraid that tonight I have run out of patience.’

  ‘I’m glad,’ she sighed before his mouth took possession of her, his body soon following its example.

  Sophie awoke the next morning with a feeling of well-being, a warm arm about her waist, Luke’s body curved against her back. She smiled contentedly as she remembered their night together, and stretched her body with feline satisfaction.

  Warm lips nuzzled against her throat. ‘I thought you were never going to awaken,’ Luke murmured softly.

  ‘Did you have any special reason for wanting me to?’ she teased lightly.

  ‘Oh yes,’ he said throatily.

  She turned to face him. ‘And what reason was that?’ She caressed the dark hairs on his chest, running her tongue provocatively over her lips.

  ‘I have plans for you,’ he smiled down at her. ‘Very important plans.’

  ‘Mm?’ She kissed his shoulder, her hands on his firm muscled back.

  ‘Yes, very important plans.’ He sat up, throwing the bedclothes off her naked body. ‘I am waiting for you to go and cook my breakfast,’ he grinned at the indignation on her face.

  ‘Cook your… Why, you—!’

  He leant over to slap her bottom. ‘My appetite is not for you this morning. I did not have dinner yesterday and I am hungry.’

  Sophie hadn’t eaten dinner either, now she came to think about it, but it hadn’t exactly been the first thing on her mind when she woke up. ‘How mundane!’ but she climbed out of bed.

  ‘Not mundane at all.’ Luke lay back, his arms behind his head, watching her as she put on a robe. ‘How can I make love to you when I am almost fainting with hunger?’

  ‘Worse than mundane, practical!’ She pretended disapproval. ‘And stop looking at me like that!’

  He gave a slow smile. ‘I am just wondering if I might perhaps have been a little hasty.’ He made a lunge for her but she laughingly evaded him.

  ‘Too late,’ she taunted from the bedroom door. ‘Breakfast in ten minutes!’

  She moved about the kitchen, squeezing fresh orange juice and cooking bacon and eggs. She usually only had toast herself, but it was almost eleven and it was a long time since they had eaten.

  She had the bacon nicely sizzling in the pan when the telephone began ringing. Before she could pick it up the ringing stopped and she could hear the sound of Luke’s muffled voice through the closed bedroom door as he picked up the extension.

  She went happily back to her cooking; the call was probably for Luke anyway. The table was nicely laid, the last piece of toast in the rack when Luke finally put in an appearance, dressed now in navy blue slacks and matching shirt.

  Sophie’s smile faltered and died at the look on his face. ‘Is there anything wrong?’

  He leant back against one of the units, his arms folded across his chest. ‘Should there be?’

  ‘I—Why, no. But you—you seem different.’

  His brown eyes were narrowed. ‘Different from what?’

  ‘Just—just different.’

  ‘Different from the fool who made love to you last night, perhaps?’ he snapped harshly.

  ‘I—What do you mean?’

  ‘Do not pretend innocence with me, Sophie. That was your father on the telephone just now.’

  Her cheeks paled. ‘Oh!’

  ‘I notice you no longer feign surprise,’ he sneered. ‘He telephoned to ask if we would like to go down for the weekend—but then you already knew that, didn’t you?’

  ‘I—’

  ‘And you did run to him yesterday. You lunched with him,’ he accused.

  ‘Yes, but—’

  His mouth turned back. ‘Do not make excuses, Sophie. Perhaps I should really give you a reason to run to him telling tales.’

  She backed away from the violent anger in his eyes. ‘I didn’t! I only—’

  ‘You only gave him reason to be so worried about you that he felt it necessary to see the two of us together, to judge for himself just how badly I am treating you. And to think that last night I told you how pleased I was that you had not gone to him with your troubles, that you were being adult about it. You even lied to me when I asked where you had lunched. You are not worthy of trust, so I will no longer continue to trust you. You will not go out alone any more, and you will tell me of any further contact you have with your father.’

  ‘You can’t run my life like that,’ she retaliated. ‘I’m not a child! I will not—’

  His hand flicked out and struck her across the cheek. ‘You will do exactly as you are told!’

  Sophie held her reddened cheek, her surprise much greater than the pain, the slap given to put her down rather than hurt her. ‘I won’t! I—’

  ‘Would you like me to hit you again? And with much more force this time.’

  ‘You wouldn’t dare!’ Her eyes flashed angrily.

  ‘Are you sure of that?’

  She wasn’t sure of anything, she hadn’t believed he would hit her at all. Perhaps she had asked for it, but it didn’t make the pain of humiliation hurt any the less. ‘Aren’t you afraid the marks of your brutality will show when we see my parents?’ she taunted.

  ‘Who says we are going to see your parents?’

  She paled, her eyes deeply violet. ‘You mean we aren’t going?’ Tears filled her eyes. ‘You’re going to keep me a’ prisoner here just because I didn’t tell you I met my father yesterday? You can’t do that, Luke!’

  ‘I can, if I choose to. But I do not intend depriving you of your family, although your father can make what he wants of the marks on your face. I am not answerable to anyone for my actions regarding my wife.’

  ‘Then we are going?’ she asked hopefully.

  ‘Yes,’ he bit out shortly. ‘We will arrive in time for dinner tomorrow.’

  Things were so strained between them the next day as they drove to her parents’ house that Sophie knew no one could be in any doubt as to the tension between them.

  ‘Couldn’t we at least try n
ot to show my parents how disastrously our marriage is turning out?’ she finally ventured.

  Luke looked at her coldly. ‘I do not intend living a lie to suit other people.’

  ‘It wouldn’t be living a lie,’ her eyes pleaded with him. ‘The antagonism is between us, I don’t see why we should involve other people.’

  ‘I do not intend involving other people, but I will not put on an act either.’

  ‘All right, then don’t,’ she snapped, suddenly angry. ‘Let everyone know I don’t care!’

  ‘I am sure you do not,’ Luke agreed tightly.

  ‘There’s just one thing I think you should know—my father thinks there’s a certain coolness between us because I haven’t managed to fall pregnant.’

  He gave a harsh laugh. ‘A child between us now would be a total disaster.’

  ‘I know that,’ she said fiercely. ‘But Daddy mistakenly got the idea that was the reason we weren’t getting on too well.’

  ‘Did you tell him that was the reason?’

  She shook her head. ‘He just assumed it.’

  ‘And why did you not tell him the truth?’

  ‘Because I don’t know the truth! All I knew was that you no longer wanted me.’

  ‘That is not true, rather the other way round. You did not want my lovemaking. You made excuses.’

  Because he had been with her stepmother that afternoon! ’There was a reason for that,’ she said evasively.

  ‘I would be interested to hear it. The other night proved you are not averse to me.’

  ‘Did you doubt it?’ she asked huskily.

  Luke shrugged. ‘I could not be sure.’

  ‘I wasn’t that. It was just that—I thought you might tire of me,’ she lied.

  ‘After only a few days of marriage?’ he scoffed. ‘Hardly likely.’

  ‘Well, I didn’t know that. I don’t know much about men,’ she added lamely.

  ‘That is true,’ he agreed immediately.

  ‘Do you have to be insulting to me all the time?’ she snapped.

  Luke raised dark eyebrows. ‘Insulting? I was not being insulting. Your knowledge of men is limited.’

  ‘I’m sorry I’ve proved so unsatisfactory!’ she flashed. ‘I’m sure you would have preferred a wife versed in all the arts of love.’