'Beautiful bones, glorious clouds of hair and very little else" he said flatly. 'We'll have to fatten you up or we'll misplace you."
He handed her a drink, grinning suddenly as she grimaced.
'Brandy for medicinal purposes,' he informed her. 'Watch it doesn't go to your head in your weakened condition. I'd hate to see you get merry and lose all that cool control.'
His eyes were intently on her face and she anxiously joked at once. 'And go around knocking those expensive ornaments to the ground?'
'I wasn't actually thinking of that kind of treasure,' he shot back at her with a quirk to his lips when she looked at him quickly.
Luckily Josie came in then to announce that dinner was served, and Anna was thankful to turn the conversation to more safe topics and listen to Dan as he talked about the islands.
Panic struck her again later, though, as Josie came in when they were sitting in the drawing-room with coffee. She had come to say goodnight and, incongruously, she was wearing a small white hat. Anna had to stifle laughter as she nodded her farewell.
'Does she go to bed in a hat?'
She was almost bursting with laughter, but Dan's reply wiped the smile from her face.
'Josie and Abe have finished for the day. They're going home. She always travels in style.'
'Home? They don't live in the house?'
'No.' Dan got up to pour more coffee. 'They live on one of the bigger islands a few miles away. That small launch by mine is theirs. I bought it for them. It was the only way I could get them to work here. The rules were that every night they went home. I had to agree, and I must confess it suits me.'
'Then who ... I mean-we-we're alone here as soon as they go?'
'Yes.' He turned to look across at her. 'There's nothing to worry about. If you dream of pirates just shout out, I'll be there like a rocket'
She hadn't meant that. It was bad enough being here with Dan when there was someone else. Now apparently they were alone on the island, and as she heard the sound of a launch leaving the small quay she felt a wave of near fright.
'What-what will people think?' she burst out.
'What people?' He came and looked down at her. 'You've been safe with me for so many years that I'm astonished you don't feel safe now.'
'I-I do. I was only thinking that people....' She couldn't say Daphne. She couldn't bring herself to even think the name evenly.
'Ah! You mean Bryan?' he said mockingly. 'But he doesn't know at all. Just don't enlighten him.'
'I-I don't keep secrets from Bryan.' Every defense was up; it was not that she feared Dan but that she feared herself.
He was towering over her, a strange feeling in him communicating itself to her without any words.
'He doesn't even know your whereabouts yet. Telephone him now. You did say he would be frantic.'
He sounded remarkably sardonic, as if he just didn't believe her, and she took the bull by the horns in sheer self-defense.
'I will, thank you, if you'll get me the number.'
'No sooner said than done!'
When he had the number ringing, he left her to it and closed the door behind him, to her great relief. Bryan wasn't frantic, he was simply astonished, and she had a good talk to him, longer than she would normally have done.
It was just wonderful to hear a sane voice. She was beginning to think that she was anything but sane, and she had her suspicions about Dan's sanity. If Daphne should suddenly come ... Not being married didn't mean a thing. Daphne had Dan's child, and if they decided to live together unmarried then it was no different, really. Dan belonged to Daphne, and she would be hurt and angry to find someone else here.
When she rejoined Dan he was not looking too pleased, and she felt guilty about the cost of such a call. 'I-I'm sorry I was so long. The time simply flew.'
'It's supposed to, 'when you're in love! I remember it so well.' He suddenly relented, smiling at her and opening the door. 'Let's stroll on the beach before bedtime,' he suggested. 'There's a great moon tonight. We'll look for pirate ships!'
They walked quietly on the beach in the silvery moonlight, but she was still as tight as ever inside, and nothing that Dan said did anything to relax her. He left her at the door of her room, but came slowly just inside as he watched her walk away from him.
'When you're back to your normal weight we'll take a trip to Nassau and get you a few things to wear,' he informed her quietly. 'Not much use in rigging you out in the wrong size. I presume you don't always intend to stay as you are? You do intend to gradually eat more than you did at dinner?'
'I won't need any more clothes!' Anna protested quickly.
'Of course you will! I fly to the studios from time to time, and regularly drop over to Nassau for dinner at night. Naturally you'll come with me.'
'I won't be here that long!' She swung round on the edge of panic, thinking of meeting Daphne and Dan's little son.
Did Daphne know that she was here? Had he told her when she'd phoned earlier? What would she think? After all, she wasn't Dan's sister!
'How do you intend to leave?' Dan asked quietly, and he must have been joking, although there was no smile on his face.
'You've kidnapped me?'
She joked too, but the smile remained only tentative as he said evenly, 'Yes.'
'I wish you wouldn't make such scary jokes, Dan!' She gave a rather desperate little laugh, but he just stood watching her, his eyebrows raised the tawny eyes very wide open.
'Who's joking?' he asked softly, then walked out, closing the door on her as she started the trembling that came on a wild and burning wave of excitement. It was, of course, ridiculous, but his face had looked so serious. She got into bed, shivering in spite of the soft warmth of the night.
CHAPTER FIVE
WITHOUT any orders or suggestions, Dan seemed to have set up a regime for her total recovery. It was foolproof. During the day he worked and ignored her. He was in his study before she got up, and he stayed there, the sound of the typewriter warning her that he was not to be disturbed.
Josie treated Dan's work with almost religious fervor, even tiptoeing past the study when he was working. It finally began to amuse Anna, and she did the only things she could do. She rested, ate, wandered around the island and swam in the pool behind the house. Gradually her health returned, she became brown and she put on the much needed pounds. Dan made no comment, but at dinner each night his eyes would flare over her in a quick, intent inspection, and she would see the firm lips quirk in amusement as he noted her progress. He was the most cunning man she had ever known. She was still fighting to keep him out of her life, but it was hard, harder each day.
It dawned on her one morning after breakfast that there was no sound of work coming from the study, and when she went into the kitchen to enquire Josie told her why.
'Mr. Dan, he's gone off to Nassau early on,' she said with a smiling complacency, her hands busy polishing the silver. 'He says not to wait lunch but he'll be back soon after.'
It made her feel slightly trapped, as if he really had kidnapped her, and she wandered restlessly about all morning until Josie served her lunch. She was just finished when the launch came in, and Dan was soon striding into the room, his arms full of boxes.
'Did you miss me?' he asked brightly, with a quick flicker of amusement on his lips as he noted her rather sullen face.
'A trip out would have been nice!'
'I was shopping,' he announced, piling the boxes at the end of the table. 'I decided that you're coming along nicely and it's time you had more things to wear for our regular trips to Nassau for dinner, at least twice a week.'
'You shopped for clothes for me?' She didn't know whether to be delighted or severely annoyed. 'There's not much chance of a fit!'
'I had Josie look at the labels in your clothes for size, and I had the help of an old friend who owns a boutique. When we'd gone through her possible things that would suit, she went with me to the other shops and here we are. You're an un
grateful wretch, girl!'
He wasn't angry though, and he strode out, calling to Josie for a late lunch. Anna looked at the boxes with mixed feelings. What had he told his friend? Did he tell her that he had his sister staying? Did his friend know Daphne?
She was irresolute for a while, and then her desire to open the boxes won. She picked them up and staggered to her room, letting them tumble on to the bed and diving into the first one to hand. She couldn't have chosen better. It was a dream of a dress, almost the same color as the dress she had worn as chief bridesmaid.
She held it in front of her and looked through the mirror, surprised to see that her color was back to normal, her thin arms now merely slender. She looked well, she even looked happy! She swirled around, watching the dress flare with her, and Dan's burst of laughter from the open door had her flushing painfully.
He was leaning against the doorway, watching, his eyes so vividly alive that a quick flare of intense feeling shot through her.
'Oh, Dan, it's lovely!'
'So are you!' he said quietly. 'I'll never forget how you looked at the wedding. You'll wear that the first time we go to Nassau?'
'Oh, try and stop me!' she sang out, and he walked slowly in towards her.
'I wouldn't try to stop you no matter what you did,' he said softly.
He stood there looking at her and she couldn't take her eyes from him. Her fingers curled around the dress and she took a great shuddering breath.
His eyes followed the movement of her fingers and he reached out, gently uncurling them, taking the dress and tossing it on to the bed. She stood still, her legs too weak to move, accepting it as fate when he reached for her as he had done once before, and cupped her face in his hands.
'Now what are you scared of?' he asked softly. His eyes flared over her face, his fingers gently massaging her nape and her eyes closed slowly. 'Nobody's going to hurt you, Anna,' he murmured.
He brushed his lips across her forehead and then he was gone, leaving her trembling and fighting a disappointment that was shame itself. She had wanted him to kiss her, her feelings hungry and uncontrolled. He hadn't meant to, hadn't wanted to, and why should he? There was Daphne, his son, his own life here that she knew nothing of. Her own feelings were dangerous, and they were beginning to take over all her thoughts!
Gradually she became more settled. It was hard not to be settled with Dan. He was too much a familiar part of her thoughts to remain a stranger, and he worked too much to be a constant worry to her. She was not lonely, though. There was so much tranquility here that loneliness was out of the question. It was a place that healed.
Although the island was only three miles square, there seemed to be a lot of it and Anna walked over most of it after suitable warnings from Dan. The shoreline was the interest that drew her most; the fine white sand and the clear turquoise sea an endless delight. She wanted to see the secret underwater world, and although she never pestered Dan he seemed to know where she spent most of her time.
'I think you're about ready to try your hand at scuba diving,' he remarked one morning, coming to join her as she wandered in the rock pools, peering down at the miniature world of water with fascinated eyes.
'Now?' She couldn't keep the enthusiasm from her voice, and he grinned at her and nodded.
'Why not? I should have been more attentive to you, I know, but when a book is running well, I hardly know that anyone else is around.'
'I noticed!' Her rather dry rejoinder drew his eyes back to her face.
'You feel neglected? I gained the decided impression that you wanted to be left alone. You've become resigned to captivity?'
'You have a weird way of teasing,' she muttered in embarrassment, but he simply went on looking at her steadily.
'Teasing?' he murmured, his tawny eyes intent. 'What if I told you that I had no intention of letting you go?'
'I'd stowaway on Josie and Abe's boat!' she snapped impatiently. 'Be serious, Dan! Can we dive now?'
'Sure!' It was his American connection coming out, and it immediately reminded Anna of Daphne and the little boy. The eager look died on her face and Dan looked at her quizzically.
'I offered to take you,' he protested. 'It was even my own idea, if you remember. Why the sulking, I can't imagine. Come on!'
He walked back towards the house and Anna followed more slowly. The delight had all gone out of it. It was so easy to forget everything when she was here. The mind only remembered the things that pleased it, that held no hurt.
He waited for her on the veranda and then led her to the back of the house. As to her supposed sulks, he ignored them. The equipment was stowed away indoors, to her surprise, and she felt less inclined to be miserable as Dan pulled out masks, cylinders and flippers.
'The bikini, I think,' he ordered, waving her off to her room as he began to check the air pressure in the two cylinders. When she came down, he was already coming back from the boat for a second load.
Josie appeared with a basket containing a packed lunch, and Anna took it excitedly, her eyes on Dan's face.
'Will we be out for long?'
Her voice was a little anxious; in fact, she felt a sudden uneasiness that contained more excitement than fear. Dan turned to look at her, looking almost immediately away.
'It depends upon how apt a pupil you are. If you can't master the technique we'll be straight back and we'll eat our lunch on the veranda.'
He was dismissive, as if she were a nuisance, and Anna's lips tightened angrily. Her expression merely gave him cause for a sardonic smile, and she settled herself in the white launch as he took the wheel and headed out to sea to make a swing around the island. She had expected to have to wade out from the shore, and the idea of going straight in off a boat was a little alarming but after that derisive look she was not about to query anything at all.
When the boat finally stopped and Dan anchored in a tiny bay, Anna looked around in surprise. She had thought that in her wanderings she had covered all of Amara Cay, but she didn't recognize this place. There was no beach. The thick vegetation grew down to the water, hanging over it in many places, in others stopping at white, rocky outcrops like small cliffs. It was a very tranquil, secret place.
There was no time to gaze about, though. They had come to dive, and Dan immediately began to gear up. He was businesslike and brisk.
'Into this. I think it's going to fit!' He handed her a wetsuit, his eyes watchful as she struggled into it.
'Did you buy this on your shopping expedition?' she enquired nervously, speaking more to relieve the strain of his tawny eyes on her so intently than to find out where it had come from.
'No. It belongs to a friend of mine who likes to dive. She's not going to mind one bit.'
Daphne was the first thought in her mind, but it might not be. Dan's life-style might not preclude other women.
'Do you dive here? I-I mean-when she comes to stay....' There was a morbid desire to be told about her, to be told about any woman who came here. It made her feel childish, but she couldn't help asking.
'No. She's a good diver. We dive off Andros!'
'Will we go there when I know what to do?'
He was still simply staring at her, and she didn't know what else to do but ask foolish questions.
'You? Not likely! There's a deep water drop there. One thousand fathoms, to be exact. However good you get, you'll never go there!'
'I might get as good as your friend!'
He turned impatiently away and began to hitch a cylinder on to his back, not even answering. She noticed that he was not in a wetsuit. His black shorts and T-shirt were his only protection. His legs were strong and golden, the black shorts emphasizing his lean hips. Her eyes roamed over him of their own free will, her cheeks flushing as she found him watching this appraisal.
'You're not wearing a wetsuit!' she said hastily.
'I know what I'm doing,' he assured her drily. 'Down there it's not quite as safe as on the deck. Don't touch anything unless I l
et you know that it's safe. You can be cut or burned by coral, and there are plenty of other things to either sting or cut you-sea urchins with spines, jellyfish sometimes. Just stick with me until you can recognize danger for yourself.'
'Does-does she stay at the house?' Her face was rosy with embarrassment, but the words just poured out by themselves.
'Naturally!'
He never asked her what she was talking about. He seemed to know that she was still deeply concerned with the previous conversation.
'Does she sleep in the room I have now?'
'You mean does she sleep with me?' he asked coldly.
'I-I meant nothing of the sort!' Her face flushed wildly because she had meant that and he knew it.
'Then if you meant nothing of the sort, you'll not want an answer, will you?' He turned to her with the flippers and she bent to fix them, glad to be able to look away.
When she straightened he was holding a cylinder and simply twirled his hand, indicating that she should turn away. She felt the weight on her shoulders as he slid the straps into place and came around to fasten it securely.
'Only the mask now!' He went to the side and looked over and then motioned her forward. 'I'll go over. You come down the ladder carefully and just wait as soon as you touch the water. Dip your mask in and then hang on until I tell you to move. All right?'
She nodded and looked away. She felt more uncomfortable, she felt lonely. With a few words he had distanced himself from her, all their new-found friendliness gone.
'There's nothing to worry about.' Dan's voice was suddenly softer, and his hand came to her arm.
'I'm not at all worried!' She looked determinedly at him and he nodded, and then he was just stepping off boat, but in fact they were some way away from that. As she followed him he suddenly dived and she followed, finding herself in a spectacular underwater cave. Even here the strong sunlight penetrated, and as Dan rose to the surface she followed and found that they could hold their heads above water.
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