She heard him saying mockingly, 'I thought perhaps you'd come to continue what you started this afternoon?'
Vicki gasped, 'I started nothing!'
'No?' He was so frankly disbelieving she shivered, 'You held on so tight you might have put a limpet to shame.'
'You know that's not true!' She swallowed convulsively, wondering if it was. 'Anyway, that's not what I came to talk about.'
'I couldn't think of anything more entertaining,' he said softly, watching her closely. 'I've kissed quite a few women in my time—after all, it's quite an established custom—but I've never wanted to talk about it before. Curiously, I've a fancy to kiss you again, too.'
'Well, I haven't you,' Vicki muddled, trying, suddenly desperately, to hang on to the sensible sentences she had rehearsed in her room. 'I've never wanted to kiss you,' she added quickly.
'Liar!' His eyes hardened, but his voice was still soft.
'If you won't listen, I'd better go!' Her face colouring to a betraying pink, she turned, only to find herself caught by his hand.
'Oh, no you don't,' he said coolly. 'I've just mentioned that I've a fancy to kiss you. Liking needn't come into it.
And, as I don't believe you're averse to kissing me, I don't see why we shouldn't.'
'That's no reason!' she cried, her heart beginning to race in a way which frightened her. The blaze of hatred she had felt in him when he had first found Her and brought her here had dulled to a less obvious glow, but was still there. He must have known how impossible it would be at Baccaroo to go on openly tearing each other apart, but she saw from the smouldering intensity of his eyes when he looked at her that his feelings for her hadn't changed. She was still the one who had thwarted his plans concerning his grandfather, the wife whose trickery had resulted in a son he didn't want. She must be made to pay, go on paying, if his austere expression was anything to judge by. His taunting of her like this was just another way of extracting revenge. She became conscious again of his rigorous regard, and faltered, 'You can't just go around kissing people as though it was a whim of the moment, to be satisfied as soon as it enters your head.'
As she turned, with every intention of leaving him, his arms were suddenly gripping her shoulders, forcing her around to face him. I can think of one reason at least. You're my wife, which surely gives me the right to do anything I like with you. Right now I could be interested in more than merely a few kisses.'
She stared up at him, unable to help herself, knowing he must see the pulse beating frantically in her throat. There were small flames in his eyes which nickered strangely as they rested on, her. Apprehensively she shrank back, trying not to notice how her legs felt unaccountably weak. Somehow she must make him see sense.
'Please, Wade, let me go. I fully understand you never cared for me, not even when we were first married, but I can't believe you would ever act like a—an animal!'
'I'm simply a human one,' he said roughly. 'There's not much difference.'
'There has to be' You know there is!' But is there, a small voice whispered darkly within her, when a man is provoked too far? Surely, by coming fully dressed into Wade's room, she hadn't done that? Yet the clamour in her own body seemed to jeer, rather than reassure. 'Wade,' she. entreated, 'you married me for convenience. Why all this, when you've always hated me?'
His laughter was harsh, his breath warm on her face. 'Maybe I still do, but not even you could deny a certain magnetism between us. I've heard of it, but never believed it existed. It happens only when I hold you, when I make love to you, an incredible brilliancy of the senses. I realise it doesn't happen with anyone else.'
'No, Wade, please!' That she felt terribly disturbed by his mentioning this was obvious by her strangled cry of protest, the dilated widening of her deep blue eyes. She knew too well this instant response he talked of so frankly, but it couldn't be anything to be taken seriously.
She drew an unsteady breath, holding herself perfectly still, as if willing all feeling to leave her. 'You imagine things,' she gulped. 'I never thought of you as being fanciful!'
Unfortunately this proved no discouragement. His eyes taunted her, although he didn't again call her a liar. His grip on her shoulders tightened, as he began, without words, to punish her' A hand slid through her hair, pushing it behind her ear, moving slowly over the fine skin of her neck to her nape, his eyes examining each separate feature. 'You've changed. My God, how you've changed!' The words seemed dragged out of him against his will. 'Your hair—it's longer, beautiful. Your face isn't older, but it's different. And your figure ...'
'Wade!' Vicki stirred desperately, trying to inch away from him, not knowing how much more of this she could take. Not without betraying herself. Her eyes moved over him compulsively. It was madness, she tried to convince herself, to feel this way. There was a feeling going through her that made her aware she hadn't told the truth when she had hinted at hating him. Once before she had thought she had cared for him, but it had never been like this. Now she was conscious of a depth of love, a surge and sweep of wild desire, such as she had never before known. Nor did she know how to cope with it. Her voice rose hysterically. 'Please, we have to talk about Miss Webb, Wade. Let me go!'
'To hell with -Miss Webb!' he said, very clearly—and finally. His eyes stayed close. Under her hands, which pushed against him, Vicki could feel the hardness of his chest under his shirt. She also felt the heavy beat of his heart, and for one startled fascinated moment she went perfectly still.
That was a mistake; it gave him rime to imagine she was waiting for something more. The anger of his last sentence was still in his face as he crushed her against him, as his mouth came cruelly against hers with a bruising intensity.
It was a kiss which, because of the hard passion behind it, had to end soon. Beneath the savage assault of Wade's mouth Vicki moaned, but when his head lifted it seemed there was worse to come. His hands began sliding her dress from her shoulders, dealing with zips and fasteners with decisive swiftness. When she fought him, he took no notice, simply imprisoned her hands and let his mouth wander over her bare fullness of her breasts.- She could feel the feverish heat from his body, the helpless, answering warmth of her own, the wave of hot perspiration which dampened the skin his hands were exploring.
She felt his breath on her face, touching her closed eyes and burning cheeks, then he was kissing her again, lifting her, carrying her over the room. 'I want you in my bed,' he said thickly.' ., With a moan of protest she freed her mouth from his pitiless lips. 'Wade, this is madness!' she gasped.
He did not appear to have heard her. She found herself lowered on to the hard mattress, felt the pressure of him all over, but when she tried to tell herself this was all wrong, her hands touched his shoulders and clung.
Panting, she lay against him, the flame in his eyes burning her, urging her to complete submission, promising unspoken delight. Her heart accelerated madly and, of their own volition, her fingers sought the front of his shirt.
'Wait a minute.' His voice was a husky murmur, as he unbuttoned it himself, pulling it free of his belt. Next it was his belt which hit the floor. Then he was "beside her again, and fire raced through her veins as his hungry mouth sought hers and his arms drew her ever closer.
Vicki knew she should try to avoid him somehow, that she should try to keep some common sense alive in her swimming head. Yet her resistance wavered under his primitive demands. Her strength weakened as his hands slid over her nakedness with rough, sensuous caresses that sent quivers right through her. His face blurred as she failed to keep it in focus. She thought she saw cruelty there, a desire to punish mixed with unleashed desire of another kind. No longer was there any gentleness in his hold and the beat of his heart was drumming fiercely into her own.
She closed her eyes as a sort of mindless bliss took over, as his mouth returned to crush her parted lips. His hands stroked her breasts, the soft seeking contours of her stomach and waist before lingering- deliberately on her hips. The searing longing inside her
for him to possess her, the awareness she had thought gone for ever, returned. The feverish response of her clinging arms and lips must have transmitted her intensely passionate need of him, for the intimate exploration of his hands deepened until she was lost in a world of sensual abandonment. Never could she remember that first time being as intense as this.
Vaguely she realised what she was inviting, but all sense of restraint seemed to leave her. Fear faded as her body moved, responding to his every touch. Her hands tangled in the dark hairs on his chest, slid over the muscles which rippled in his shoulders to lace tightly around his neck.
You're beautiful,' he muttered hoarsely, his mouth plundering hers on a wave of hot desire. 'Vicki, do you want me as much as I think you do?'
'Yes,' she whispered, her agonised breath pleading, not trying to disguise her feelings any more. Her fear increased, but was not strong enough to fight such sensual excitement. 'Wade,' she murmured incoherently. . She heard him gasp, felt his whole body tense as he pulled her completely under him. There was pain, but her senses, clamouring for something she had searched for for so long, denied it. Then reality faded and everything was lost in a wild storm of sensual oblivion.
Later, when he whispered against her trembling mouth, 'This time I don't think you "were disappointed?' she shook her dazed head, still floating in clouds. And when he drew her closer again, the hunger in their bodies not completely assuaged, she surrendered unashamedly.
When she woke the sun was streaming high in the sky and she was alone. As she became slowly aware of this she lay partly stunned. She was in Wade's bed, covered by a single crumpled sheet—a sheet which he had obviously thrown hurriedly over her. The rest of the bedclothes lay in a tumbled heap on the floor, silent proof that the night which had passed was not merely something dreamt up by a too vivid imagination.
Blindly Vicki stared about her as full realisation proceeded to hit her. The evidence of her own wanton behaviour was hard to accept. Bewildering pictures flashed through her mind, receiving humiliating attention. How could any of it have happened? She must have taken leave Of her senses! Tearfully she tried to concentrate. She had come in here to discuss with Wade a few urgent matters which she had considered too imperative to wait. Things which could only be sorted out between the two of them and which should not have taken more than five minutes. Yet somewhere, somehow, the conversation must have got out of hand.
Had it been her fault? Heat flowed through her as she suspected it might have been, simply by coming in here. What a fool she had been, playing right into Wade's hands. Now he would have every reason to despise her, to condemn her again as a tramp, and she couldn't altogether blame him. Hadn't he warned her, time and time again, to keep out of his way?
Feeling mortally humiliated by her own folly, Vicki crept out of bed. She was further shocked to find it only needed an hour to lunch. What would everyone think? She would have to pretend she had felt ill. A cup of cold tea by the bedside made her blink. Wade must have brought it up before he went out. What, she wondered unhappily, was she supposed to conclude from that?
Her dress, lying on the floor under his shirt and trousers, made her blush. For once she was thankful Miss Webb's rigid morning routine didn't allow for Graham coming to seek his mother out. Perhaps, Vicki conceded doubtfully, there was something to be said for Miss Webb, after all.
Vicki had never thought her own room would prove a sanctuary, but this morning it did. Closing the door tightly behind her, she leant against it in a sudden trembling relief. She still found it difficult to believe those treacherous hours through the night had ever happened and could find little joy in recalling them. As for the love she had rediscovered, she found herself unable to face it. Already, only hours after the realisation of it, she was finding it made her heart ache almost unbearably. Wade might have shown her the ultimate joy of belonging to him. He was capable, she had discovered, of teaching her many things' she had never known before, and had taken pleasure in arousing her. Why then, this morning, did she feel only bitterness?
As she showered she tried not to notice the red marks on her arms and limbs, the tears which streamed down with the water. Maybe she was getting too worked up.
Everything grew easier with time, even heartache. Wade, now he had taken his revenge, might leave her alone. That in itself, though she tried not to think of it, he might regard as further punishment, especially if he remembered her response to his lovemaking. To keep her at a distance would undoubtedly give him more satisfaction than having her in his bed again.
Putting on a thin cotton top and skirt, she brushed her hair quickly, plaiting it in a thick ponytail which hung half way down her slender back, making her look about fifteen. It was cooler this way. Then as the clock struck the half hour she ran downstairs. Her heart was still sore, but she was comforted that such a condition could be obvious to no one but herself.
Misilgoe was alone in the kitchen. Vicki threw her an apologetic smile as she placed the cup she had carried from the bedroom in the sink. 'I'm sorry I'm late,' she decided not to make a thing of it, 'I'm afraid I overslept.'
Misilgoe beamed happily. 'Missus must not worry. Miss Nurse been helping.'
'Miss Webb?' It wasn't impossible, but Vicki found it hard to believe.
'Yes, Mum,' Misilgoe's smile broadened. 'First thing Mr. Wade sends her up with you're cup of tea. "Take this up for my wife, Miss Webb", he says. Then, when she comes down, telling us you are still asleep, he orders her to help with lunch.'
Startled, Vicki stared at the girl, feeling her cheeks grow hot. 'Are you sure?' she stammered.
'Of course Misilgoe sure!' the girl nodded her dark curly head insistently. 'I was here, wasn't I?'
CHAPTER EIGHT
'Yes. Yes, of course.' Nodding her head without realising she was doing it, Vicki turned away before Misilgoe could see her flush with mortification. She was also trying to keep back a threatening wave of anger. Humiliation, won, and she wished feverishly she could be like an ostrich and hide her head in the sand—well, at least hide her head, so she wouldn't have to encounter the calculating eyes of Miss Webb. What there would be in them Vicki wasn't sure, but Miss Webb would have bad to be very blind indeed not to have come to certain conclusions when she had brought up that tea!
There wasn't even comfort to be gained from the knowledge that Miss Webb was technically staff, not paid to jump to conclusions. Miss Webb very rarely seemed to remember that, and her eyes, if expressionless, often hid curiosity if nothing else. How could Vicki tell her last night had been a mistake, one which wouldn't happen again?
Feeling herself going hot and cold in turn, Vicki went to the sink. Turning on the tap, she ran herself a glass of watery and gulped it down. It did little to sort out the mass of muddled thoughts which pursued her. Yet why get in such a state? Wasn't she legally Wade McLeod's wife— and generally husbands and wives did sleep together. She must allow that it was perhaps her own view of her marriage, more than anyone else's, that was at the root of her agitation. This, more than anything Miss Webb might have seen.
Plausible as this seemed, humiliation was still uppermost, and she wondered if Wade had set out deliberately to embarrass her. Otherwise why should he have sent Miss Webb up with her tea, knowing of their clothing scattered over the floor, the tumbled state o£ the bed?
How could Vicki explain to Miss Webb that last night had been the accidental culmination of events which had somehow got beyond control? No—Vicki frowned, biting her lip. It wasn't something she could speak of to anyone, least of all Miss Webb. Even to think of doing so was ridiculous! She must, just make sure she never went near Wade's room again. Last night she hadn't stopped to consider If she had she wouldn't have believed Wade would have taken such a risk, not after what had happened last time. Perhaps, like her, he hadn't stopped to think.
Miss Webb was late in coming to lunch. She said it was ' because of having to help in the house that morning, thus getting behind with Graham's curriculum. She
glanced at Vicki coldly, almost accusingly, and Vicki was annoyed to find herself looking away in confusion.
To make everything worse Wade walked in. He was so rarely in for a meal in the middle of the day that though there was plenty of food, she was not prepared for him and almost burst into hysterical tears. This she managed not to do, but the shock of having him sit down opposite, looking as coolly cynical as ever, was nearly too much. Her face went white and what little appetite she had appeared to vanish. It seemed she had been prepared for nothing this morning, at least nothing like this.
No one spoke immediately apart from Graham who, unless someone checked him, kept up an endless monologue of childish chatter. Apparently not curious as to why both his nurse and his mother had fallen so silent, he turned all his attention on his father.
Shooting a swift glance at Miss Webb, whose averted face betrayed clearly that some secret aspirations had been shattered, Vicki turned accusing eyes towards Wade. As their eyes met the quiet watchfulness in his changed derisively as he noted her expression.
'I trust you're feeling better this morning, Vicki?-' .
The sardonic inflection in his voice angered her again. How could he sit there enjoying his meal as if nothing had happened between them! He looked well. A lot of small lines seemed to have gone from his face and he looked somehow happier. Or was it just that he considered this whole affair a bit of a joke and was naturally amused by it? 'I feel much the same as usual,' she answered coldly.
Old Mr. McLeod stirred himself. 'Got everything arranged for tomorrow, Wade?' he asked gruffly.
'All that's necessary,' Wade didn't look at his grandfather as he spoke but at Vicki, as if he knew quite well what was bothering her. It's been a bit of a rush. Jeff had some trouble with a bunch of cattle up in the wild country. I went and flushed diem out with the chopper, but it still took time. I'd hoped to be back sooner.'
Vicki thought the Old Man must have been referring to something which concerned the station—Wade too. She was not prepared for the consternation inside her when the Old Man laughed.
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