Born of the Wind

by Margaret Pargeter

'My God,' Scott laughed tautly, 'you can't know how gentle I was! I would never be so considerate again.'

  'Maybe she wasn't ex-experienced…'

  He broke in cynically, before she could sink further into a self-made morass, 'You could be right. Before she met me, she confessed she'd been to bed with only a few men and never yet found one who didn't disgust her.'

  'Oh.' Defeated, Sherry lowered her thick lashes in confusion, yet she couldn't help wondering how any woman married to a man like Scott Brady wouldn't welcome his attentions. Incoherently she mumbled, 'That's why you divorced her?'

  'Correction,' he snapped, 'she divorced me. Now she spends her time working for women's rights.'

  'You shouldn't let it make you bitter,' she whispered.

  'Bitter!' Again his glacial glance froze her. 'Being a gentleman, I allowed my name to be dragged through the mud of the divorce courts, but I count myself plain damned lucky to be rid of her.'

  Feeling too bewildered to find a suitable comment, Sherry was relieved when they reached their destination. As they left the airport, to travel the four miles to the city, she asked nervously, 'Have you any idea where they might be?'

  'If they're here,' Scott said curtly, 'there are a couple of possibilities. Otherwise it could take longer.'

  Expecting he would be taking her with him, since he seemed unwilling to let her out of his sight, she was startled when he added, 'I'm taking you to a hotel before I begin looking.'

  'Won't I be going with you?'

  'No,' his voice was uncompromisingly firm, 'I want to see them alone first.'

  'First?'

  'Afterwards I'll bring them to see you.'

  'W-will they want to see me?' she faltered, uncertain of her own feelings.

  'The outcome will be interesting,' he said enigmatically, leaving her to wonder what fiendish thoughts were going through his head. What pleasure could he hope to derive from such a meeting? Did he intend making them all grovel?

  He had evidently instructed their driver before leaving the airport, because the taxi stopped outside a huge hotel. It was so large, one might stay here without being noticed, and she guessed that was why Scott had chosen it. He asked for a room, not rooms, but she made no comment. It made her feel anxious, but her weariness was suddenly too great to allow her to worry on that account. And finding Kim and Ellen could take him all night.

  He escorted her to the lift, after a porter who was obviously wondering why they had no luggage. As Sherry flushed uncomfortably at what he must be thinking, Scott's hand dug in the middle of her back. 'I won't run away!' she breathed.

  He didn't answer or even glance at her, but she saw his mouth tighten. His fingers might be burning into her skin, but he didn't seem aware of it. They were conducted to one of the best rooms when the porter left them, after enquiring if there was anything else they required.

  She expected Scott to leave as well, but he came in and closed the door. Her blue eyes searched his face in silent enquiry, and she felt a flutter of apprehension as he stood regarding her silently. He was able to make her heart beat faster just by looking at her, she was discovering, and was mortified to realise he knew it.

  'What did you tell them at reception?' she asked, her mind in chaos again.

  His brows rose. 'I merely asked for single accommodation. I'm in no mood to think up plausible explanations, which no one would believe anyway.'

  'The receptionist recognised you.'

  'So what? I've stayed here before.' The grey eyes were hard and brilliant, without mercy as he suddenly dragged her to him. His face was cruel as he totally disregarded her startled cry. Before his mouth came down on her parted lips, his glance slid over them, contemptuously brooding.

  As Sherry struggled to free herself of the drugging onslaught of that kiss, sparks from the leaping lire of Scott's passion spread to her own body. She moaned helplessly, a curious weakness invading her, her bones melting as his hands began travelling sensuously over her. Her mind stopped functioning to the extent that she suffered severely from shock as he swiftly thrust her away.

  She shook her head violently, as if to deny her own response, but gazed at him blankly as he spoke. 'Do you believe I would really touch you? That little demonstration was merely to set your narrow little mind at rest. I couldn't leave you as easily if I had any intention of seducing you. You're flattering yourself if you think I'd be foolish enough to risk any further involvement with your despicable family. Do you imagine I would put another weapon in your brother's hands?'

  Her face paled. She could understand his reasoning but not his methods. 'Don't worry,' she replied fiercely, 'I'm getting very tired of being used—by both you and Kim. In staying here, with you, I was only thinking of my reputation.'

  'Have you one to lose?'

  She knew he was implying other things as well, but she was too tired to fight him. If he appeared to have forgotten,' at least briefly, what he had come to Brisbane for, she hadn't.

  Ignoring his derisive query, she said stiffly, 'What about Kim and Ellen? Aren't you interested in finding them any more?'

  'Naturally,' he rejoined curtly, his eyes on her white face, 'but before I go I want your promise you'll be here when I return.'

  So that was why he had waited, She laughed mirthlessly. 'You have my promise, for what it's worth.'

  She meant, for what he considered it worth, and he nodded harshly. 'I have no choice but to trust you. Don't think I give a damn where you run to, but any city can be dangerous at night.'

  'I wouldn't know where to run to,' she replied tautly, 'and I didn't bring much money.'

  'Just as well,' he said curtly. 'While I'm gone, I advise you to get some rest if you can't sleep.'

  When the door closed behind him, Sherry sank down on the bed. Her nerves were strung so tight, for a moment she feared for her sanity. It took several deep breaths to ward off the feeling of panic. Despondently she glanced round the room, which after only minutes was beginning to feel like a prison. It was large and luxurious with a bathroom attached, the kind of hotel room many dream of but can seldom afford. The carpets and curtains were beautiful, while the covers on the bed were of the finest silk.

  Eventually, when weariness completely overcame her, Sherry slipped off her shoes and stretched out on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She would have given a lot for a cup of tea, but while she supposed there was room service, she didn't ring for anything.

  After a while she dozed, wakening to find two hours had passed. It was after midnight and she wondered how long Scott would be. If he was bringing Ellen and Kim back with him she would need to have her wits about her. Feeling anything but bright, she decided to take a shower in order to revive herself a little. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes. She was just drying herself when she heard a key turn in the outer door and Scott strode in.

  She recognised his step and gasped in alarm. 'Sherry?' she heard him call impatiently..

  'I won't be a minute!' she cried hastily.

  Sensing he was alone, she felt a return of her former panic. Why hadn't he brought Kim and Ellen? He wouldn't have come back if he hadn't found them! Blindly, Sherry simply threw a towel round herself and stumbled into the bedroom.

  At a glance she saw her fears were well founded. Scott was indeed alone. In vain her eyes searched and putting the back of a hand against her mouth, she bit hard to regain control. 'Where are they?' she asked unsteadily. 'Didn't you find them?'

  'Yes.' His voice was clipped as his glance swept over her. 'You can dress first, if you like.'

  'No!' Her voice rising, she was beside him, clutching his arm, unaware of the abandoned picture she made, the towel covering little of her slender body, her dark hair streaming over her shoulders.

  As she swayed and her startling blue eyes threatened to engulf her face, Scott drew a harsh breath while his mouth thinned. 'I found Ellen,' he said, as she silently entreated him to go on. 'We have an apartment here that she sometimes uses. I almost didn't go as I th
ought it would be too obvious.'

  Sherry was shaking so much she could hardly get another question past her lips. 'They are married?'

  Scott laughed, with such acridity, she shrank from him. He replied flatly, his eyes icy with anger, 'Ellen is married, all right, but not to your brother.'

  Sherry must have fainted. When she came round she was lying on the bed with Scott bending over her, trying to revive her.

  'I'm all right,' she moaned, everything coming back in a flash. 'What did you say about Kim?'

  'Later,' he said tersely.

  She hadn't noticed he was gently massaging her nape. The towel had slipped from her shoulders halfway to her waist. 'Oh!' she cried, crimsoning as she felt his eyes on her small but perfect breasts. Her body began to tremble and for the second time that night she was utterly bewildered by the feelings he aroused in her. 'Please don't touch me,' she whispered, quite incapable of stopping him herself.

  His head lifted and his mood frightened her as she felt the desire to hurt which raged in him. 'You're right to be worried,' he grated savagely. 'When I thought you might be my brother-in-law's sister, that put you out of bounds. Now you're the sister of my sister's despicable accomplice, I intend taking you some time, if only for revenge.'

  'Scott!' Half sobbing, her face white, she trembled as the hard pressure of his hands forced her back against the pillows. She knew he was considering taking her there and then, as some terrible violence increased inside him, demanding release. He wanted to invade her body, to crush her to a vortex of mindless response and feverish flesh. Every movement he made was so full of dark intent that she felt terrified. 'Scott,' she repeated, as his threats made her almost faint again, 'what do you mean? How can Ellen be married, if not to Kim?'

  He was angry, burning with rage because, perhaps for the first time in his life, someone had made a fool of him. 'She married Barry White's foreman, one Rory Kingsley Grant, commonly known as Red, owing to the colour of his hair.'

  Sherry couldn't recall a day when she'd had so many shocks altogether. She stared at Scott in horror, quite forgetting she was lying half naked under his unrelenting hands. 'I don't understand!' she breathed hoarsely. 'I thought Ellen was in love with Kim. Didn't she tell you she was going to marry him?'

  'Yes,' he nodded grimly, 'and I believed her, which was what I was supposed to do.'

  The self-mockery in his voice was all too evident and Sherry felt even more confused. 'But what about Kim?' she cried. 'Or was she deceiving him, too?'

  'No,' his face tightened. 'I wouldn't have felt so bad about him if she had been. Apparently he was helping her to mislead me.'

  Sherry couldn't believe it. 'Was it his idea?'

  He stared into her anguished, incredulous eyes. 'It appears she got upset one evening when she was telling him about Red. She knew I would never approve and it was something impulsive they dreamed up together.'

  Completely stunned, Sherry shook her head. 'I can imagine Kim enjoying the possibilities of such a scheme, but I find it difficult to believe he would take it seriously.'

  'Doesn't the evidence speak for itself?'

  Sherry nodded numbly. She couldn't dispute it, but while she was aware of Kim's faults, she wouldn't have thought deceiving people was one of them. 'Have you any idea why?' she asked helplessly.

  'Seemingly, according to Ellen, he didn't like the way I patronised him.'

  'You—you did a bit,' Sherry said hesitantly.

  'Sherry,' said Scott, in flat controlled tones, 'we could spend hours looking for reasons. He was probably bored and fed up, wanting acclamation before - he earned it, but none of that can possibly justify what he did. I consider his part in this affair an outrageous invasion of my family privacy.'

  Distraught, Sherry gazed up at him, and he stared back at her. Something quivered between them and his eyes darkened formidably as he rejected whatever it was. Sherry knew she wasn't thinking constructively— but how could she, with a mind torn by shock jumping distractedly from one thing to another?

  'Aren't you taking any responsibility?' she asked jerkily. 'You didn't approve of Kim, but surely the man Ellen's married must have something to recommend him if he was Barry White's overseer? You must have given her some cause to believe you wouldn't accept him either?'

  For a moment Sherry thought he wasn't going to answer, but he did. 'Months ago I found her flirting with him at a barbecue the Whites were giving. I thought she was merely amusing herself.'

  'You didn't say anything?'

  'I said plenty,' Scott admitted, without noticeable signs of regret. 'I said enough to leave her in no doubt as to what I thought of her behaviour.'

  'With someone you considered unsuitable?'

  The sarcasm in her voice didn't escape him, but he merely nodded. 'I've told you before, Sherry, Ellen's probably a victim of her environment, she's both idle and extravagant, and I can't see her reforming overnight. Grant can never hope to support her, as I've done for years, and I don't look forward to keeping the two of them.'

  'Maybe her husband doesn't want to be kept,' Sherry pointed out. 'And doesn't Ellen have anything of her own?'

  'Nothing to speak of,' he replied curtly. 'My father left very little.'

  Which must prove that the rumours of Scott's Midas touch weren't completely without foundation! Yet surely he wouldn't see his own sister starving? And if he hadn't been so busy making money he might have seen what was going on!

  Wearily Sherry brushed some hair from her face, surprised to find her skin deathly cold. Again her thoughts jumped erratically.

  'Didn't you realise in Bourke that it wasn't Kim she'd married?'

  'No,' he retorted grimly. 'I was told she had married someone called Kingsley Grant, who I naturally assumed was your brother. Ellen had obviously seized on the coincidence of similar names and traded on it. Unfortunately I didn't wait to make further enquiries.'

  'And—in all this, Kim aided and abetted her?'

  'One way of putting it,' he agreed contemptuously.

  The madness of it all made Sherry feel more like collapsing every minute. It was becoming rapidly more difficult to think straight. Suddenly it occurred to her that she had no idea where Kim was. If he hadn't married Ellen, why hadn't he returned to Googon?

  'Do you know where Kim is?' she asked unsteadily.

  Scott's eyes flashed as though he wished he did, while the sudden clenching of his hands suggested he wouldn't have minded them round Kim's neck. 'According to Ellen, after the ceremony he left for Sydney.'

  'Sydney?'

  He hesitated, but only a second, before twisting the knife. 'Then London.'

  'Oh, no!'

  His eyes reflected a cruel satisfaction as Sherry's face went whiter. 'I imagined he might want to put some distance between us, but not that much.'

  Sherry couldn't take it in. She hugged the towel round her quivering body, immune to the derisive glitter in Scott's eyes as she drew it over her breasts. 'Wh-what about Googon?' she cried.

  'You'll have to ask your brother that,' Scott said indifferently, 'when he gets in touch.'

  In the meantime, what am I to do? Sherry wondered feverishly. Fright welled up inside her, feelings of absolute terror. Everything was hitting her like an avalanche. She felt abandoned, betrayed, utterly desolate. Kim had lied to her for weeks, letting her believe he was in love with Ellen, all the wrong things. He had been amusing himself at everyone's expense!

  'He can't have realised what he was doing!' she cried hoarsely, thinking he couldn't possibly, otherwise he couldn't have carried on.

  'Don't try and make excuses for him,' Scott rasped furiously. 'If you're going to worry, I suggest you begin worrying over yourself, because someone's going to pay for his sins. I might have overlooked a lot if your brother had been emotionally involved, but to deliberately assist a girl to deceive her own family is beyond comprehension.'

  Sherry stared at him like a frightened child, her lips quivering as she saw the blazing rage on his
face. She guessed this whole thing had been distasteful to him from the beginning. Other men might enjoy such dramatics as Ellen indulged in, but Scott Brady believed in discretion. His affairs with women might be hot-blooded, but the world at large would never know of them. Helplessly Sherry bit her lip, wondering what he meant by threatening that she might have to pay for Kim's sins. Surely he knew she had no money? Remembering his earlier threats, she shivered, but refused to take them seriously.

  'What will Kim do in England?' she muttered, talking to herself.

  Scott said mockingly, 'Aren't you wondering if he's not asking himself what will you do here?'

  Sherry found a flicker of defiance. 'I'll stay at Googon, of course, until he comes back.'

  'If he ever does.'

  Faintly, Sherry allowed, 'You have a right to feel bitter.'

  'Your brother helped ruin my sister's life.'

  Kim had acted badly, so badly that Sherry realised it might be a relief not to see him again for a while, but she couldn't believe Ellen's life was ruined. She suspected Ellen wasn't nearly as helpless as Scott imagined her to be.

  Drawing a steadying breath, she said, 'Kim shouldn't have done what he did, Scott, but I can't agree that Ellen's marriage won't work out. What would you do if you fell in love with someone you considered your social inferior?'

  He glanced at her mockingly. 'I would certainly not deprive myself,' his eyes flicked over her so she flushed as she understood his meaning, 'but I certainly wouldn't marry her. As for Ellen's marriage, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?'

  'I—I just hope you won't be too hard on her,' Sherry murmured, not sure why she was pleading leniency for a girl who had shown her so little consideration.

  Scott shrugged, appearing to lose interest in his sister. 'I told you, you'd be wiser to worry about yourself. Have you had any dinner?'

  His abruptness was confusing. 'No,' Sherry remembered, 'I wasn't hungry.'

  'I was, but I didn't have time to eat.' Lithely he rose to his feet. 'I'll ring for coffee and sandwiches. If they arrive while I'm having a shower, let them in.'

  Her breath shortened. 'You mean here?'