He recoiled as if she had hit him, the diamond earring he held slipping from his fingers back into the case. ‘They were a gift, Danielle,’ he said dully. ‘Not payments for any services you may have given!’
‘Do you know the difference?’ she snapped.
‘Do you?’
She paled at the pain in his voice. ‘Pierce—’
‘Danielle, no matter what you believe, they were a gift. I thought how beautiful they would look against your hair, and I imagined the pendant nestled between your breasts, the way I like to be when we sleep.’ His voice was harsh now. ‘Gratitude might have had something to do with it,’ he nodded grimly. ‘But for the honesty you always give me, not for your body.’
She had sadly misjudged the situation, had badly hurt his feelings. ‘Pierce, I’m sorry,’ she looked at him pleadingly. ‘I just thought—I think too much!’ she groaned awkwardly. ‘And I’m not doing a very good job of it. Do you think the management would mind if I brought a lawn-mower up here?’
His expression lightened at her feeble attempt to lessen the tension. ‘I think they might. Can’t you think any other way?’
‘Swimming in a pool? No, th$$’s you,’ she dismissed. ‘Nope, it’s the mower or nothing,’ she derided.
Pierce took her in his arms. ‘For what I have in mind for the next hour or so you don’t need to think at all,’ he murmured.
‘Oh?’ She pretended puzzlement.
‘I have a yearning to see you in the necklace and earrings,’ he spoke softly against her throat. ‘Just the necklace and earrings.’
Danny chuckled appreciatively, sensing the moment of danger was over. ‘How deliciously erotic, Mr Sutherland.’
‘That’s what I thought.’ He smiled down at her. ‘The assistant downstairs would have been most shocked if she had known what I was thinking as I purchased the jewellery.’
‘And you think I’m not!’ She feigned indignation.
‘I know you aren’t,’ Pierce chuckled. ‘When it comes to making love you’re unshockable!’
Although he tried to shock her through the hours of the night, coming to her again and again with a shared pleasure. And as they rested in each other’s arms between those times Danny could only cling to him, glad that the near-disaster she had made of the evening had been averted. Pierce was a man who needed to give materially, simply because he couldn’t feel love. The gift of the jewellery was his only way of showing emotion. And she had so nearly thrown it back in his face. The necklace and earrings were far too expensive for her to keep, but she would give them back when—when she had to let Pierce go.
‘Darling?’ he queried huskily as her arms tightened about him instinctively.
‘Just a bad dream.’ She smiled down at him reassuringly as he rested against her breasts.
‘Sure?’ He frowned.
‘Yes.’ She nodded, knowing that she was searching for a dream, although not a bad one. It was one where she and Pierce remained together always; an impossible dream. ‘I think I’m feeling neglected,’ she pouted.
‘Neglected!’ he snorted disbelievingly.
‘Very,’ she said in a hurt voice, her eyes twinkling with mischief. ‘Isn’t jet-lag wonderful; you feel wide awake when you should be sleeping and sleepy when you should be awake! I’d like to stay awake all night and sleep all’ day tomorrow.’
Pierce grimaced as he leant up on his elbow. ‘You’re the first person I’ve ever heard call jet-lag wonderful,’ he derided. ‘And besides, you aren’t supposed to feel jet-lag after travelling on Concorde.’
‘Then why am I awake when I should be asleep?’ Danny frowned.
‘Because you’re feeling neglected.’ He nuzzled her throat with firm lips. ‘I’ll soon remedy that.’
She found the ‘remedy’ quite exhausting, falling into a deep sleep in his arms afterwards, the rigours of the day finally catching up with her.
Pierce was in the shower when she woke next morning, and she lay back on the pillows as she waited for him to come back.
He was wearing only black trousers when he emerged from the bathroom, rubbing his hair dry with a towel. ‘Good morning,’ he greeted indulgently.
She smiled. ‘I told you I was awake when I should be sleepy, and vice versa.’
‘What was the dream, Danielle?’ He frowned.
He would become withdrawn again if she told him it was losing him! ‘I can’t remember,’ she dismissed, holding out her arms to him.
Pierce sat on the side of the bed to receive her good morning kiss. ‘Not today,’ he mockingly refused as she would have pulled him down into the bed. ‘I have to go out in a few minutes.’
Keeping silent wasn’t one of her best qualities—as she had proved on more than one occasion!—but somehow she managed to do it this time. Disappointed as she may be at the thought of Pierce going out without her again she wasn’t about to be accused of making ‘whining complaints’ again!
‘Don’t make your tongue bleed,’ Pierce mocked.
‘Hm?’
‘You’re biting down on your tongue so hard to stop yourself speaking, I thought you might hurt yourself,’ he derided with amusement.
‘Beast!’
He laughed softly. ‘You know you love that particular part of my nature.’
She remembered every gentle caress, every fierce touch of the night before, knew that although Pierce had often been savage with her that there wasn’t a bruise on her body, that the ‘beast’ in him was firmly controlled as he gave her pleasure beyond all imagination. ‘And you enjoy the witch in me,’ she huskily reminded him of the pleasure he had known in her caress.
He frowned as he noticed the subtle change in the statement. ‘Does it still worry you that I can’t love you?’
It was like asking her if she could be satisfied with the rainbow when she could have the crock of gold at the end of it! The rainbow was beautiful but it didn’t last forever, as Pierce’s attraction to her wouldn’t.
‘I don’t worry about anything any more.’ She spoke softly.
‘Danielle—’
‘Have you ordered breakfast yet?’ she asked lightly. ‘I have a fancy for strawberries. Have you noticed how well I’m adapting to being the mistress of a rich man?’ she teased. ‘I usually only have toast and coffee for breakfast, and then only if I have time.’
Pierce didn’t smile. ‘You aren’t my mistress,’ he rasped. ‘You’re a beautiful young woman who somehow finds something to love about me.’
‘It’s the dimples on your—’
‘Danielle!’ he warned softly, well aware of where the dimples were that she found so fascinating. ‘Next time we turn off the light!’
‘I like to look at you,’ she told him gruffly. ‘Maybe we could get one of those mirrors put over the bed at your house so that I—’
‘And you call me decadent!’ He stood up, shaking his head. ‘You had better get up if you intend having breakfast with me; I have to leave in half an hour.’
‘We had time after all!’
‘Not for what I have in mind,’ he growled, his eyes dark.
It was a strain being so teasingly cheerful all the time, and yet none of it showed when she joined him for breakfast ten minutes later, wearing her yellow sun-dress, her face bare of make-up, her hair secured in its single braid down her spine.
Pierce kissed her lightly before she sat down opposite him. ‘What will you do with yourself today?’ He watched her mockingly as she sprinkled a liberal amount of sugar on her bowl of strawberries.
She shrugged. ‘I’ll find something to do.’
He frowned. ‘I don’t want you to leave here.’
Danny nodded. ‘Mm, these strawberries are delicious.’ She licked the juice off her lips. ‘Try one.’ She spiked one of the fruits with her fork and held it out in front of him.
‘Danielle—’
‘Don’t you like strawberries?’ She frowned. ‘I thought everyone liked them. They—’
‘I like them
!’ He fiercely ate the red fruit. ‘Danielle, I can’t impress on you strongly enough—’ He broke off as a knock sounded on the door. ‘Danielle, I want you to—’
‘Shouldn’t you answer that?’ she prompted as the knock sounded a second time.
Pierce glanced impatiently at his wrist watch. ‘It’s my car,’ he realised abruptly, standing up to pull on his jacket. ‘Stay in the hotel, Danielle,’ he warned as he walked to the door.
‘Taken for granted already,’ she derided. ‘No goodbye kiss,’ she taunted as he frowned.
The kiss he gave her was distracted to say the least. ‘You worry me,’ he muttered.
‘I do?’ Her brows were raised.
‘You do,’ he said grimly. ‘Poker last night, God knows what you’ll get up to today!’
‘Maybe I’ll persuade Peter and Bob to take me to one of those bars where—’
‘You will not!’ Pierce told her gruffly. ‘They have strict instructions to take care of you.’
She had already guessed that, just as she had guessed Pierce had been trying to obtain a promise from her that she wouldn’t leave the hotel, which had been the reason she had constantly interrupted him; she couldn’t possibly stay in this hotel suite, no matter how comfortable it was, all day. And she had no intention of dragging the two men he had left with her round on the sightseeing tour she intended taking. They had probably been to Washington hundreds of times before, would be bored by the whole thing.
She switched on the television programmes that never seemed to stop once Pierce had gone, inviting Bob and Peter into the lounge to have their breakfast. ‘I’m going back to bed for a while,’ she smiled.
Peter put down his coffee cup. ‘I’ll be just outside your bedroom door.’
‘Please finish your breakfast,’ she insisted with a beguiling smile.
‘We’re supposed to guard whichever room you’re in,’ Bob said firmly.
‘You are guarding it,’ she teased. ‘From in here.’
‘That isn’t the way Mr Sutherland wants it,’ he told her sternly.
Her smile remained in place with effort, already feeling closed in. ‘It’s only a matter of a few minutes,’ she chided. ‘You’ve almost finished eating.’
‘I’ve finished,’ Bob decided firmly. ‘Peter will be in here, and I’ll just be outside if you should need either of us.’
‘But—’
‘I know you think all this is unnecessary, Danny,’ he sympathised. ‘But this is the way Mr Sutherland wants things done.’
‘Very well,’ she sighed frustratedly, going through to the bedroom to sit on the bed impatiently twiddling her thumbs. This was intolerable. She wanted to see Washington. And, damn it, she was going to see it!
She marched over to the door, pulling it open. ‘Bob, I’d like to go down to the shops.’
‘Of course,’ he nodded. ‘I’ll just tell Peter where we’re going.’
She tapped her foot impatiently on the ground as she waited for him to talk to the other man, waiting until they reached the lift before making another move to get away. ‘Oh, damn.’ She pretended irritation. ‘I’ve left my handbag in the bedroom; Bob, would you be a dear and get it for me?’ She felt almost guilty about the money burning a hole in the pocket of her dress, Pierce insisting she take it yesterday.
He looked uncertain. ‘If you’ll just come back with me…?’
‘I’ll wait here,’ she told him brightly. ‘See,’ she motioned towards the lift where the light indicated it was coming up to their floor, ‘I’ll stay here and hold the lift for us.’
He hesitated only a minute more before nodding abruptly. ‘I’ll only be a few seconds.’
Long enough for her to step lightly into the lift before it smoothly descended, going down to the floor beneath the main reception of the hotel to the desk where the tours were booedk, just managing to get on the bus that would take her to the Greyhound Bus Station where she could go on a conducted tour of Washington, having read about these arrangements in the hotel’s brochure in the suite.
The White House looked much more impressive than it did on the television, the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials much bigger than she had imagined, Abraham Lincoln looking as if he could get up out of the chair at any moment and address the people.
Danny decided to give the last port of call on the tour a miss, cemeteries not really one of her favourite places, even one as famous as the Arlington Cemetery where John F. Kennedy was buried. Instead, she took a taxi over to the Air and Space Museum, the woman at the booking desk having recommended it to her. And it wasn’t difficult to see why, the exhibits of planes interesting enough in themselves, the rockets fascinating to look at.
It was only the hungry rumblings of her stomach that told her it must be getting late, although it took her several minutes to reverse the hours on her watch, having forgotten to adjust it to Washington time. Five-thirty. She had been out for hours, much longer than she intended; no wonder she felt hungry! She could only hope Pierce hadn’t got back yet.
She felt the stirrings of unease when she stepped out of the elevator on their floor to find no one guarding the suite door. Although she instantly dismissed that, with Pierce not back yet, and her out too, there would be no one to guard.
She walked in to pandemonium, Don Bridgeman and Jerry Adams in the bedrooms on different telephones, Pierce pacing the lounge as he talked coldly to the two men seated in the room, a tall elderly man on the sofa, a brash-looking younger man in a chair. Pierce must have brought his business home with him.
His head snapped back as she entered quietly, the anger in silver eyes so intense that Danny thought for a moment he was going to hit her.
‘I’ll go in to the bedroom—’
‘Danielle!’ Pierce’s voice cracked like a whip-end as he strode across the room to grasp her arm and swing her round. ‘Where have you been?’ he demanded fiercely.
‘Sightseeing. Look, I’ll leave you to finish your meeting, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’m sorry, gentlemen.’ She gave the two men she didn’t know a regretful smile.
‘These gentlemen are policemen, Danielle.’
‘There’s nothing wrong is there?’ she asked sharply. ‘Cheryl and Nigel?’ She looked up at Pierce apprehensively. ‘My parents?’
The eldest policeman stood up. ‘Would this be Danielle Martin, Mr Sutherland?’ he said in a weary voice.
‘Yes,’ Pierce bit out with cold impatience.
‘Pierce, is it Cheryl?’ Danny was becoming alarmed by the situation.
‘No, it’s you, damn it,’ he rasped harshly, his fingers tightly gripping her arm as he turned back to the policemen. ‘It would seem I’ve been wasting your time, gentlemen,’ he told them in a clipped voice. ‘Miss Martin has merely been sightseeing!’
‘Very well, sir,’ the older man nodded, gesturing to his partner. ‘We’re glad everything worked out.’
Danny was still frowning once the two men had left. ‘They were here because of me?’
‘Yes!’ Pierce released her only long enough to turn to the two guards he had in the suite, both of them off the telephone now as they stared at her sympathetically. ‘You can go now,’ he instructed harshly. ‘Wait outside.’
Danny swallowed hard at the coldness in Pierce’s voice, never having seen him quite this angry before. ‘I’m sorry if I’ve caused trouble—’
‘Trouble!’ He swung away from her, his jaw clenched, his eyes blazingly angry. ‘Where have you been all day?’
‘Going round Washington.’ She stated the obvious. ‘I didn’t realise what a fascinating city it is—’
‘And if you walk in certain sections of it there’s a chance you may not come out alive!’
‘Oh, I haven’t walked anywhere—well, only a little, in one of the park areas. I just couldn’t believe how beautiful it all was. You hear all about Disneyland and places like that for holidaying in America, but they don’t really tell you about the elegance of Washington. The bus tour was
so informative—’
‘You’ve been on a bus?’ Pierce asked with barely controlled violence.
‘And in a taxi, to the museum, and another one back here.’ She nodded. ‘Everyone is so friendly—’
‘My God, Danielle, do you have no sense at all?’ he cut in fiercely. ‘Anything could have happened to you while you’ve been happily wandering about the city.’
‘Don’t be silly, there were hundreds of women on their own like me—’
‘Not like you,’ he grated with suppressed violence.
‘I’m really not that attractive, Pierce,’ she scorned.
‘To me you are,’ he bit out. ‘And by now a few people will have realised that. I went against my better judgment bringing you here in the first place.’ He turned away. ‘It was a mistake.’
‘Just because I snuck off for a few hours to look at the city?’
‘Because you tricked my security guards and went off alone!’ he blazed.
Danny sighed. ‘They make me claustrophobic.’
‘Do you have any idea of the trouble you’ve caused?’ he rasped coldly. ‘I got back here at eleven-thirty to be told you had disappeared. Dawson left you at the lift for a matter of seconds and by the time he got back you had disappeared. We all thought you had been abducted. I’ve been going quietly out of my mind imagining what might have happened to you,’ he recalled bitterly. ‘The police assured me it was too soon to make assumptions, but I insisted you couldn’t have gone off alone voluntarily.’
‘Oh, Pierce, I’m sorry.’
He recoiled as if she had hit him. ‘Sorry!’ he repeated furiously. ‘Sorry isn’t good enough, Danielle!’
‘I really didn’t mean to worry you.’ She frowned at what she considered his unnecessary fury. ‘But I’m back now, it’s all over; I won’t do it again.’
‘You’re right, you won’t,’ he ground out. ‘We’re all returning to England tomorrow.’
‘You’ve finished your business?’
“Even if I hadn’t we would be going back,’ Pierce told her grimly. ‘And I hope, for their sakes, that Dawson and Redman have left by the time we get back.’
‘Bob and Peter…?’
‘They’re on their way back to England right now.’ He nodded abruptly.
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