by Shirley Wine
His hot, hungry mouth would not be denied.
With a belated effort she tried to hold back, tried to deny the reality of the moment and dampen down the desire rising from the core of her being.
But those pesky hormones had their own agenda.
Victoria knew she was facing ignominious defeat, with not one clue of where they would go from here. And then she was beyond thinking as she surrendered to his ravenous hunger, her hands buried in the silk of his hair, her seeking fingers kneading and renewing acquaintance with every once familiar contour.
Her surrender fed his confidence and the temptation that streaked through her. She moaned, the sound swallowed by his voracious mouth. She writhed against his hard body, needing to be so much closer.
Her clothes were now a serious impediment.
His arms tightened, crushing her even closer and imprinting her soft flesh with his male hardness. He opened her coat, his hand delving and insinuating itself against her warm body, its chill making her shudder. The involuntary reaction was enough to make him break the kiss. He lifted his head and intense eyes raked her face with a predatory gleam.
‘Still adamant you won’t be my lover? I could take you right here, right now, against this tree.’
Shocked into awareness of what she was inviting, Victoria made a belated attempt to escape his arms, which had now become a prison. Slowly, he let her slide down the full length of his very aroused body, leaving her with little doubt about how he wanted this encounter to end.
‘You don’t play fair.’ She moved away, mortified to find she was as helpless now against his potency as she’d been at eighteen.
‘When was life ever fair? When my mother abandoned me? When your mother died, leaving you alone and bereft?’
She had no ready answer, and shaken, she picked up the end of her plait, running it past her lips in a defensive gesture. ‘Keir.’ It was a struggle, but she forced herself to meet his eyes as a belated sense of pride stirred. ‘You’re engaged to Davina, and on your own admission, you have no intention of breaking your engagement. So leave me alone.’
Conflicting expressions crossed his face, and his generous lips twisted. ‘It’s pointless to deny my attraction to you,’ he said, his voice laced with derisive self-contempt, ‘but I stand by my promise to Davina. You’re young, and you will no doubt meet some man who is worthy of you, but that man is not me.’
Each measured word was a knife thrust to her heart.
‘Who are you trying to convince? You or me?’ she asked, seething with resentment. ‘I wasn’t the only person lost in that kiss.’
A dull flush suffused his face. ‘That kiss was a mistake.’
Her loud, scornful laugh startled a foraging blackbird. ‘Some mistake.’
He paced across the small clearing before turning back to face her. With an impatient movement, he sent a small stone spinning with his boot and it made a pinging sound as it hit a tree trunk.
‘Laugh if you want, but I promise to leave you alone.’
‘You promise?’ She closed the space between them and punched his chest with a clenched fist. ‘You know what? Your promises aren’t worth spit. Years ago you promised me you’d never forget me, and yet you waltzed off and married another woman. Now you’re promised to Davina, but did that stop you kissing me senseless?’
When she went to punch him a second time he caught her fist in a tight grip. ‘God. You’ve turned into a shrew.’
Victoria jerked her hand free as she sucked in a sharp breath of the chilly, damp air. The faint smell of mothballs from the borrowed jacket mingled with the sharp odour of horse, sweat and stables.
‘I’m no longer a besotted teenager, Keir. I’m a woman, and as such, I find your actions deplorable.’
‘Maybe.’ His dark eyes glittered and his mouth thinned to an unforgiving line. ‘But you created the problem by coming here with Logan.’
He released a breath in an explosive huff, and a cloud of white vapour swirled around his head, giving him the appearance of a smoke-breathing dragon.
‘I created the problem?’ She shook her head, her long braid swinging over one shoulder with the force of the movement. ‘Do you really think we’d never meet in a town this small? You surely can’t be that naive.’
Keir pushed a hand through his dark hair, leaving it rumpled and standing in spikes and giving him a rakish air.
‘What is it that you want from me?’ His chocolate eyes gleamed through the extravagant fan of his lashes. ‘For that matter, why did you choose to settle here in the first place?’
The incisive question brought her up short. Why had she settled in Cambridge, a small satellite town south of Hamilton, and not gone further afield?
The answer stood a few feet in front of her.
When she’d first discovered she was pregnant, she’d come to Cambridge in the hopes of finding Seth Donahue. In an unguarded moment, he’d told her his father owned racing stables on the outskirts of the Waikato town, but he neglected to mention the name of the stables. Later, when setting up her business, she’d settled on Cambridge. Sure, it was a good business move. The town was well to do and gave her access to a wealthy clientele.
But from the moment I first opened the doors of Victorian Grace, I’ve harboured the secret hope that one day my lover would walk through my shop doors.
And what? Rekindle that long ago summer holiday romance?
God! I’m a dreamer. But I never once envisaged my Seth entering my shop as a married man.
The shiver that ghosted through her had nothing to do with the wintry nip in the air but rather a cold dose of reality. Could she continue to live here, knowing Keir was married to that chillingly beautiful blonde?
‘So you did come here looking for me.’
The accuracy of his guess made heat flood her cheeks and she paced across the small wooded dell.
‘Would I have ever found Seth Donahue?’ she challenged, pausing to face him. ‘Now who’s colouring the truth?’
‘I’ve explained that.’
‘Don’t you think it would have been a darn sight better had you not lied to me in the first place?’ Victoria looked up at him, moistening suddenly dry lips with the tip of her tongue.
‘Maybe, but we’ll never know now, will we?’ He shrugged, but he held his gaze steady. ‘If I promise to leave you alone, will you do something for me?’
‘That depends,’ she said, and seeing his expression, her heart seemed to stop and then race, and her breathing grew shallow.
‘Let me unbind your hair?’
Shocked, she stared at him, unable to believe he was serious.
‘Please?’
It was the please that had her debating with herself for long, fraught moments. Then, with a shrug, she slowly reached for her braid.
He took it from her.
Gentle fingers made each touch an erotic caress as he unravelled the skein of hair until it was spread out around her body in a silken shawl, while he ran it through his hands.
Victoria stared at him, mesmerised by the changing expressions on his face. He leaned forward and, not touching her anywhere else, kissed her softly on the lips.
The gentle, almost reverent gesture held her transfixed.
He lifted his head and ran a finger down her cheek.
‘This is how I’ll remember you.’ His voice was soft with regret. ‘I won’t bother you again, Victoria.’
For long moments, they looked at each other, tension sharp in the air. She lifted a shaky hand then let it fall. She wanted to say something, anything, but the words wouldn’t form.
Was this the end? She took her trembling lower lip firmly between her teeth. She would not beg. One look at Keir’s expression and she knew it was useless to even try. The only sound in the small clearing was the sound of breaking dreams.
Tension cloaked the air.
‘Just make sure you don’t marry Logan. I’d hate history to repeat itself.’
What history?
Before she could ask, he stalked off. He paused a moment at the edge of the dell and looked back over his shoulder at her. In that one unguarded moment, she read his true thoughts.
I’m sorry … give me time …
Alone and sad for the disillusioned boy who lived inside the man, Victoria dismissed all notion of a silent plea. Keir Donovan was a blind fool. Couldn’t he see that any marriage with the Strathmore heiress would be as disastrous as that of his parents? Victoria’s knees gave out and she slid down the tree trunk to the ground. Heedless of the damp grass, she clamped her arms around upraised knees.
Go to Keir … tell him about his son.
Head bowed, she rested her face on her knees.
No! I will never stoop to blackmail.
She loved Keir.
In a moment of clear-sightedness she knew she had no chance of gaining Keir’s love or respect if she resorted to underhand tactics to make him come to her.
I won’t deny my child his father, but I refuse to use Connor to manipulate Keir.
But oh, she wanted to shake him until his teeth rattled, shake some sense into his stubborn male head.
She’d missed the chance to tell him about their son last night, and the only option now was to continue with her original decision and hope that Keir would understand. The cold and damp seeped into her cramped muscles. With real reluctance she rose and trudged up the path into the weak sunshine trying to penetrate the swirling mist.
Through the trees she could see horses in a nearby paddock, and irresistibly drawn, Victoria walked through the shrubberies for a closer look. An eddying breeze sent hair billowing around her face. Strands of hair caught in her mouth and eyes, and with an impatient gesture she pushed the mass of hair back over her shoulder while she groped in the borrowed jacket pocket for something to hold it in place.
Of course, there was nothing suitable.
She gave a surprised start when a hand clamped on her shoulder, and she looked up to see Logan staring at her, clearly stunned. He reached out a hand to touch her hair. ‘My God, your hair is so beautiful.’
She took a defensive step backward as she scooped the fall of hair over her shoulder, unwilling to accord him the intimacy she’d allowed his stepbrother. ‘I was in a rush and forgot to braid it.’
‘In a rush? Or did it receive help?’
‘Not your business.’ She looked at him through narrowed eyes. ‘Why did you pester me to visit this weekend?’
His eyes twinkled at the rebuff. ‘I explained.’
‘Nice try.’ She huffed out an impatient breath. ‘And Piper’s not your lover, either?’
‘And that is not your business.’ He flushed and looked away.
‘Oh, but I think it is.’ She took a step closer. ‘After all, you’ve proposed marriage to me often enough.’
‘Which you’ve refused just as many times.’ His expression made her pulse skip and then race. ‘Why have you refused? Because you’re still hung up on my brother?’
So my suspicions were correct.
She turned away and leaned over the wooden rail, staring at the broodmares grazing in the paddock. She did owe Logan an explanation, but not before she’d talked to the other important person entangled in this mess.
Keir.
Logan had no such inhibitions. ‘Is Keir Connor’s father?’
‘I’ve told you before, Logan. My relationship with Connor’s father is not up for discussion.’
‘Isn’t it?’ He gave her a grim smile. ‘At first I thought it was an overactive imagination, but when Keir returned from the States, I knew I wasn’t mistaken. Connor is a carbon copy of him and I have the photos to prove it.’
She flinched, but she refused to confirm or deny his assertions. ‘This is my problem, not yours. Is it too much to ask you to keep out of it?’
He made a frustrated sound and looped an arm around her shoulders. ‘Come with me where we can talk without the risk of interruption.’
Victoria fought the impulse to jerk out of his hold, but they were too close to the homestead and she didn’t want to create a scene and start yet more speculation.
Logan opened a side door and ushered her indoors.
A muffled growl startled her into looking up, straight into Keir’s face. His fury cascaded over her in a scorching wave, and when he stepped towards her she edged closer to Logan.
‘You lied to me. So much for you and Logan being just friends. Couldn’t a sexy bit like you manage without a lover?’
‘Victoria’s my friend.’ Logan’s voice was as cold as tempered steel. ‘Insult her, pal, and you insult me.’
As shocked and horrified as she was by Keir’s words, Victoria was even more distressed to see the two stepbrothers bristling like savage dogs over a juicy bone. For one awful moment she thought they were about to tear at each other’s throats.
How can I defuse this ugly situation?
It was Caine who stepped in. ‘Would someone please explain what’s going on?’
Victoria shuddered and pulled away from Logan. As she went to run past Keir, he caught her arm and swung her around to face him. Panic kindled in her breast. ‘Let me go. You promised to leave me alone.’
‘What were you doing with Logan?’
She looked up into eyes filled with hurt and confusion. Acting on impulse, she laid a hand on Keir’s arm, but Caine misconstrued her action.
‘Keir!’ Caine’s voice cut through the air like a whiplash. ‘Let Victoria go.’
‘My apologies.’ Keir’s hand dropped and his expression went blank.
‘Excuse me,’ she stammered, and fled past them all, running up the stairs, desperate to escape the ugly scene. She’d almost reached the sanctuary of her allocated bedroom when she was accosted by Davina.
‘It hasn’t taken you long to manage the impossible, has it? Keir and Logan have never quarrelled until an unscrupulous, over-sexed little slut came between them.’
The outrageous insult topped Victoria’s bowl of humiliation.
Crack!
The sound echoed down the corridor. Horrified, her breast rising and falling on each outraged breath, Victoria watched the red of her palm print spread across Davina’s cheek.
‘Don’t you dare speak to me like that again,’ Victoria hissed, and went to step past the blonde.
Davina lunged and caught a fistful of Victoria’s flowing hair, giving it a brutal yank.
With a choked cry, Victoria lost her balance. Davina took immediate advantage, giving Victoria a vicious shove that sent her slamming into the wall before crashing to the floor with a sickening thud.
‘So you like it rough, do you?’ Davina stood over Victoria with her fists clenched.
As she looked up into Davina’s face, Victoria scooted backward on the floor in a desperate attempt to get out of the other woman’s reach.
‘You bitch!’ Logan shouldered Davina aside and she moved out of his way faster than a scalded cat.
Victoria understood Davina’s hasty retreat.
Logan was livid. He hauled Victoria to her feet and guided her into her bedroom. She was shaken enough to be glad of his help.
‘That woman is a nutjob,’ he said, massaging her stinging scalp.
‘You won’t get any argument from me.’
It took more than a few minutes for her shaken nerves to settle. The sooner she left this place the better. ‘I want to go home, Logan. Now.’
‘And what will running away achieve?’ Logan’s voice was as hard as his expression. ‘Does Keir know about Connor?’
‘No.’ Victoria turned her back, unable to hold his uncompromising gaze. ‘And I have no intention of telling him about Connor while we’re guests here.’
‘So I was right?’
‘After that scene downstairs do you doubt it?’
Victoria crossed to the window and rested her hot face against the cool glass. Logan may be her friend and her host, but there were limits to what she was prepared to discuss with him. Friendship onl
y went so far.
‘How old were you? And why didn’t you tell Keir you were pregnant? A man has a right to know.’
She spun to face him, her chin lifted to an obstinate angle. ‘That’s none of your business. The only people this concerns are me and Keir, okay? Is it too much to ask that you keep your nose and curiosity out of it? And I’m not impressed at being invited here under false pretences.’
Dark colour suffused his neck and he thrust his hands deep into his pockets. ‘Point taken. Breakfast will be ready downstairs.’
The thought of facing the other house guests made her queasy. ‘I’m not hungry.’
‘You need to eat. Go wash your face and braid your hair,’ he said, his voice sharp with impatience. ‘I’ll wait for you.’
With a frustrated growl, she picked up her hairbrush and retreated to the bathroom and shut the door.
Nothing about this situation made sense.
Her brush snagged a tender spot on her scalp so she threw it aside and used her fingers to part her hair and rebraid it. If there was a hairdresser handy, she’d get the whole bloody lot chopped off!
Logan was staring out the window when she emerged from the bathroom. He turned, giving her a shrewd look. ‘What did Davina say to you?’
‘It’s not important.’ With a disclaiming shrug she walked to the door and opened it.
He put a hand on her arm and she paused. ‘Take care. Davina isn’t a woman to cross.’
‘She doesn’t scare me.’
‘Maybe not, but don’t forget there is more than just you and Keir involved here.’
The soft, intense words created a prickle of fear. Would that crazy woman pose a danger to Connor?
‘Don’t you think your concern is a little late?’ she said tartly. ‘It’s a pity you never stopped to consider the repercussions before you issued your invitation to come here.’
Victoria surged past him, then paused, struck by a horrifying thought. ‘How much have you confided to Piper?’
‘Calm down, you little shrew. I’ve not said anything to anyone.’
‘Don’t expect me to be grateful.’ Victoria was unsure whether to be relieved or not, but she slowed to a more sedate pace and they went downstairs together.