From the Torrid Past

by Ann Cristy

Sean and Keele were back in minutes. D'Arcy had the bags sitting in the front hallway so that all Keele had to do was sling them in the car.

  "Mommy, you should have seen Mushroom in the car. She likes Fwawis." Sean beamed from the back.

  "How discriminating of her."

  "Keele says that Mushroom will like our new house, 'cause we're not going to be far from my school, 'cause I'm going to school with Jimmy. Keele says..."

  D'Arcy was beginning to think that Sean couldn't start a sentence any other way by the time they turned into the curving drive. They followed the drive to a huge brick and stone mansion that sat on a gentle slope leading down to the Sound. "It ain't much, but it's home," D'Arcy mumbled to Keele, as she sat and watched the liveried man come to remove the luggage from the trunk.

  Keele laughed, lifting her one hand to kiss the ring on her finger. "Did you imagine that Gregor could do anything less than the ostentatious when he was entertaining? He's a Greek who came up the hard way. He enjoys spending his money, but he is a hard worker and he has a good heart."

  "I know that," D'Arcy said, feeling contrite, not wishing in any way to denigrate the goodness of the bluff Greek.

  "Madame." The liveried man coughed to get her attention. "You and your son have the bungalow on the grounds, so that the young man will be near the stables, madame. His horse's name is Jockey."

  "He can't ride," D'Arcy said over the whoops of her son.

  "I'll teach him," Keele said. "I have the bungalow next to Mrs. Kincaid, is that correct?"

  The man coughed. "Ah... it has been changed, sir. The bungalow has been given to a Mr. Hudson who is already in residence. You have a room on the second floor, sir." The man's face, didn't change, but Keele's color did.

  "I see. Well, then, you take my luggage to Mrs. Kincaid's bungalow. I'll be staying there." Keele's head swiveled to D'Arcy's, the look of violence on his face silencing her protest.

  Sean was pulling on her arm, saying that he wanted to see his horse.

  D'Arcy felt like an outsider with Sean on one side and Keele on the other. They, boy and man, talked to each other as though she weren't there.

  "Bungalow" was a misnomer. What they arrived at was a roomy house with two bedrooms, a small kitchen and dining area, a large lounge with fireplace, and two bathrooms, one off each bedroom. There was a small patio off the sliding glass doors of the dining area, and a wooded path led to the stables, the tennis courts, and the pool area. It was off by itself and very private with just a glimmer of the main house through the trees.

  D'Arcy was tight lipped when she thought of Elena Arfos. She was sure in her own mind that it was Elena who had arranged for Keele to stay in the main house. D'Arcy knew that she was coming apart when one part of her wanted to carve Elena's initials in her ample bosom with a saber, and the other part of her wanted Keele as far away as possible. She waited until the luggage had been deposited in the bedrooms and the man had left before turning to Keele and clearing her throat.

  "Save your breath, D'Arcy. I'm staying here. I've arranged for a rollaway bed to be brought to your room for Sean. I'll occupy the other room." His lip curled in one corner. "Did you think I'd let you stay down here alone when a man like Philo Hudson was staying nearby? Forget it." He went into his bedroom, leaving a slack-jawed D'Arcy unable to decide if she was relieved or horrified.

  There was plenty of room for the rollaway cot and Sean seemed intrigued at the idea of being in the same room with his mother.

  D'Arcy had the uneasy feeling that his pleasure was made tenfold by finding that Keele was sharing the bungalow.

  "Hurry, Mommy. Keele said we can see the horse." Then he wailed. "But he says we have to wait for you. Hurry."

  D'Arcy glared at her son's back as he raced from the room. Traitor! After all she'd done for him!

  She marched into the outer room, determined to have it out with Keele, but the sight of him talking on the phone and Sean standing next to him looking up at him, pulled her up short. They had matching shirts on! They were dressed alike! How had Keele found a matching Black Watch tartan shirt like Sean's? Then she browned as Keele turned away from the phone. "Where did Sean's shirt come from? Where is the brown shirt that he was wearing?"

  "Keele changed my shirt, Mommy. See. I have jeans just like his too. I can use them for riding if I wanna," Sean explained, standing next to his father, looking like his miniature.

  The two images blurred before her eyes and she put a shaking hand up to her mouth,

  "Sean, that was Gregor on the phone. Stavros's son is coming to fetch you to show you the playground..."

  "I want to see the horses." Sean scowled.

  "Your mother and I will come to get you later. Now go out to the patio and wait for Stavros's son. You'll enjoy the playground."

  Keele must have closed the glass doors behind Sean, then come up close to her back. She kept her hand pressed to her eyes as she tried to compose herself.

  "I didn't think that you would be so upset because of the outfits. I can change his clothes again without too much trouble." He spoke into her hair, his arms sliding round her waist.

  "No. No, don't do that. You don't understand." D'Arcy gulped.

  "Then explain it to me," he ordered softly.

  "I...It seemed so...so right somehow." D'Arcy gave him a watery smile, feeling the tremor in her lips.

  Keele pushed the hair back from her face, his fingers lingering in the auburn curls. "Did I tell you that your round bottom looks enticing in jeans and that your lovely breasts are popping through your shirt?"

  "Keele!" She gave an excited laugh, even though she could feel the color running up her neck as she reacted to the heat in his gaze. There was a throbbing in her, as though she were coming down with something. The pulsations were akin to headache sensations, but with this there was no pain, only anticipation. She was wildly glad that he liked her body!

  She looked up at him and remembered London, seeing that same hot look in his eye. She felt cool but aflame.

  His eyes studied her, his own a liquid gold. "God, I'm glad we'll be married soon." He stared at her, seeming to draw her into him by the power of his eyes. "I can't wait for us to be married, darling," he muttered, his mouth descending to hers.

  D'Arcy lifted herself on tiptoe, wanting to be closer, her arms closing about his waist as his arms imprisoned her.

  "Dammit, D'Arcy, I can't wait anymore. I've waited four years too long as it is." He mumbled love words against her neck, his one arm reaching down behind her knees.

  "Sean! We can't." D'Arcy's voice had a weak breathy quality, even as her hands threaded through the hair at the nape of his neck, tugging and pulling, remembering.

  "Sean is playing. We're going to pick him up. Remember?" Keele said softly and not breaking stride as he pushed open the bedroom door and lowered her to the bed. "I want you, D'Arcy. For God's sake don't deny me.

  Silently she reached up and pulled him down to her, lifting her body to help him divest her of her clothes. Her own hands were as busy as his and she could hear him chuckle as she struggled with his belt.

  The familiar touch of skull under her hands as she pulled at his hair to bring his mouth to hers made her realize how many dreams she'd had like this, how much she had wanted him, how desperate had been the hunger that she had forced into hiding. Her subconscious mushroomed with the hidden starvation and all thought of denying him died in an eruption of passion that had her dizzy.

  Keele muttered her name over and over as he strove to dampen down his own feeling in order to satisfy hers. His tongue roved her body.

  When D'Arcy felt she could take no more, he moved over her, his body shaking as though the feel of her under him was driving him crazy. She rose to meet that wildness with her own primitive force that stunned her with its magnitude.

  Any veil of pretense that she used to mask her love for Keele was sundered six ways to the middle as she crested with him in awesome satisfaction.

  She would have lain th
ere without moving forever if Keele hadn't lifted her, showered with her, bullied her with kisses into dressing.

  When they strolled toward the playground some twenty minutes later, Keele kept her fastened to his side with one hard arm, stopping every few steps to kiss her face, her neck, her lips.

  As they stepped into the clearing that contained the outdoor gym where Sean was playing, Keele stopped to let his tongue trail around her lips.

  "Why are you doing that to Mommy?" Sean said, looking much like a bulldog with his head thrust forward and his fists at his side.

  Keele didn't release D'Arcy even when she squirmed to free herself. "I'm going to marry your mommy and I'm going to be kissing her all the time and holding her," Keele instructed in a low voice.

  "Oh." Sean looked at his mother. "Is that awright?"

  D'Arcy felt Keele's fingers digging into her side at her hesitation. "Yes, dear. All married people kiss and hold one another."

  "Oh." Sean was silent for a moment, looking from one to the other. Then his face cleared. "Can we see the horse now?"

  Keele grinned down at him. "Indeed we are going to see the horse now."

  Keele held one of her hands threaded through his as they followed signs with arrows indicating the direction of the stables. Sean skipped, singing a cartoon song off key.

  After the tree darkened path, the sudden sunlight had a blinding effect. D'Arcy didn't see the other persons clustered around the paddock. Gregor's booming laugh turned D'Arcy's head in his direction just as the Greek ordered a man to bring the horse called Jockey.

  "He is a small one, as you ordered, Keele, my friend, and his nature is docile. Go ahead, lift the boy to his back. You'll see," Gregor urged.

  D'Arcy heard the gasps of the women with half an ear. Her concentration was on Sean and the mixture of fear and excitement that was on his face.

  "My God," Elena Arfos said. "No wonder you wanted to marry this bitch."

  Keele looked around, still holding Sean, his questioning gaze on Elena's twisted face. Anna Davos was looking at her with such shocked malevolence that D'Arcy stepped back. When she saw the look switch to her son, D'Arcy knew. She felt the blood drain from her body as she made an instinctive lunge for her son atop the horse.

  "D'Arcy! What the hell... Back off, darling. I have him. He's all right." Keele looked puzzled.

  One of the stable boys came over and offered to mount behind Sean. Keele was about to explain that he was taking the boy.

  "Let Sam take him, Keele," Elena shrieked, making the snorting horse sidle.

  "No." D'Arcy swallowed. "I want him with me."

  Keele looked at D'Arcy's parchment white face, her eyes like burning holes, and handed the reins to the boy. "Take him once around and be careful."

  "Yessir."

  The boy mounted behind Sean and chucked at the horse who moved out with dainty even steps. D'Arcy didn't take her eyes from Sean.

  "Darling, what's wrong? Are you ill?" Keele placed an arm around her stiff body.

  "I should think she is ill." Elena gave a high laugh, bringing her father's scowl on her.

  "You are being hysterical, Elena. I do not like it. There will be other people here soon. You will not make a scene."

  "I am not the one making a scene, Papa. Anna sees it, don't you, Anna?"

  The older woman nodded once, clasping her hands in front of her, frowning at Keele's arm around D'Arcy.

  "I don't know what the hell is going on here, Gregor, but your daughter is upsetting D'Arcy and I won't have it," Keele said in a hard voice.

  "Stop it at once, Elena," Gregor roared, looking from D'Arcy's frozen face to his daughter's enraged one.

  "I'll stop it at once all right as soon as that whore is off my property," Elena said.

  The forward thrust of Keele's body carried D'Arcy with him. Elena stepped back.

  "Tell him," she screeched at the mute D'Arcy. "If you won't, I will."

  "No," Anna Davos stated, her voice harder than usual. "Someone will hear."

  "Then I'll whisper," Elena said, her voice coming like a snarl from her throat. "Look at her son, Keele, the son she has the audacity to dress like you. Is that why she forced you to marry her, showing you the son that is your image? When did you take her to bed? When she was married to the first husband or the second?" Elena's saliva bubbled at the corner of her mouth.

  Keele seemed to turn to stone from his feet to his head. At first his eyes never left Elena's face, then like an automaton he turned to look at the gleeful boy on the back of the horse.

  "Elena, you are a fool," her father thundered. "I order you to be silent."

  Anna Davos moved toward her nephew, but Gregor stretched his arm out toward her.

  "And you, woman, will stay where you are." His voice avalanched from his chest, freezing Madame Davos in her tracks.

  D'Arcy felt her body sway in reaction to the force field that was Keele as he stood there, body jutting forward, staring at Sean.

  The child's laughter was the only sound until a sentry crow cawed loud and left his perch as though he too sensed the menace.

  She felt rather than saw Gregor herd the other two women away, taking dazed note of Elena's protest.

  Keele strode to the circling horse and pulled on the check rein. "Give him to me," he told the startled stable boy. "Go!" he ordered. "Leave the horse here. I'll take care of it."

  "I don't need anybody behind me," Sean piped, glaring at Keele for removing him from the horse's back.

  "No?" Keele looked down at him, his eyes opaque. "Let's see, then, if you can be a horseman." He steadied the horse with a murmur, then lifted Sean back onto the horse called Jockey.

  "No." D'Arcy came out of her frozen state. "You mustn't." She ran toward Sean, her arms outstretched, her feet feeling like lead as she strove to reach her son. She came hard against Keele's chest. "I'll ride behind him."

  "He says he can do it himself." He pinned her to his side with one arm and handed the reins to Sean with the other. "You are to guide him gently, in the same circle as before. If you go any faster, I will pull you off and you will not ride alone again. Do you understand me?" Keele held the check rein until Sean nodded, then he stepped back one step, carrying D'Arcy with him, shushing her when she moaned.

  They watched him together, both of them taut as pulled bow strings.

  Sean's tongue was out the side of his mouth as he concentrated, his hands held high as the stable boy must have shown him.

  "I did that." The words seemed pulled from Keele.

  "What did you do?" D'Arcy breathed, feeling the ache in her ribs from Keele's tight hold.

  "Pushed the tongue out the side of my mouth when 1 zeroed in on something. I almost bit it off once when 1 was learning to ski." He gave a hard laugh, as though he hadn't wanted to share that with her.

  It was hard to get Sean off the horse, but finally Keele just ordered him down and he turned right into his father's arms. Keele signaled to the stable boy. Sean was allowed to give the horse a sugar cube before it was led away to be rubbed down.

  Sean bounced, chattered, and whooped all the way back to the bungalow, effectively masking the doomlike silence of his parents.

  "He is mine, isn't he?" Keele barked at her as they approached the bungalow.

  "No, he's mine." D'Arcy's voice was hoarse.

  "I once told you that I couldn't imagine a situation where I would want to strike you. I was wrong."

  "Then plan on killing me," she shot back, stopping on the path, her fists clenched. "Because I will not give Sean up to you or anyone."

  Keele's teeth bared, his thumbs rubbed over the curved fingers in his hands. He swallowed, his throat working. He took her arm and pushed her ahead of him across the patio and through the sliding glass doors to the dining area.

  Sean was sitting at the table. A woman in a ruffled apron tied a bib around his neck and then poured him some milk. Small mounds of crackers and cookies sat on the table.

  Keele glared at
the woman, then pulled D'Arcy with him into the bedroom. "We have to talk, but we can't do it here. I'm going to make some calls. You can watch our son, D'Arcy, but don't make any foolish plans. You won't get away from me this time. There isn't a landlady ready to give a story about you going to Scotland this time." He ground his teeth at her. "By the time I figured it was a red herring, you were gone. The airlines didn't even have a record of your flight."

  "I flew under the name of R. Kincaid and wore a black wig. I wanted to get away and hide." D'Arcy pressed her lips together.

  "You didn't think we had something, something very special together?"

  "I thought you'd think I was a one night stand, that I was easy because I fell into bed with you." She threw the words at him. "I wasn't going to be your mistress."

  Keele stared at her, his face a twisted mask. "Get out there with Sean."

  She almost ran from the room.

  If Sean had asked her in some future time what was said between them while he finished his snack, D'Arcy could never have told him. She couldn't remember a word. She felt a sense of relief when the woman cleared the things and left.

  Sean was yawning and D'Arcy was glad to have something to do to keep busy.

  She had to steel herself to face Keele after Sean dropped off to sleep.

  He was standing in front of the mantel, looking down into the flames. His head lifted like a challenging stallion when she entered the lounge. "Henry and Adelaide will be here in a few hours," he announced in hard tones.

  "Why? Why did you call them? It isn't their fault that I didn't tell you about Sean."

  "I know that. I cleared it with Gregor. They are staying here in the bungalow with Sean. It would hurt him if we told him he had to leave right away with us, so Adelaide and Henry are going to be Gregor's guests for the next two days while we're gone."

  "Gone?" D'Arcy took deep breaths readying herself for battle. "I'm not leaving my son."

  "He'll be well taken care of. Not only Henry and Adelaide, but also Gregor will see to it."

  "What makes you think that I would go anywhere with you?"

  "You will, my dove, or face the court battle of your life. I have the money and the battery of lawyers. I am fully prepared to spend every nickel I have to see that my son becomes mine legally. You can either fly to Nevada with me this evening and marry me, or it's war."