Serpent in Paradise

by Rosemary Carter

  'Anna?' She stared at him uncomprehendingly.

  'Sexy and beautiful.'

  There had been more to the description. 'And unscrupulous,' she said dully.

  His eyes held hers a moment, then went to the lips he had just kissed. 'Right now sex and beauty was all I had on my mind.'

  She pushed herself a little away from him. 'But you do think I'm unscrupulous?'

  'You talk too much. Come here, Teri.'

  He wanted to kiss her again. And she wanted him to, God, how she wanted him to! But not in the circumstances.

  'Let me go, Sloan,' she muttered.

  'You're enjoying this.' His voice roughened a little. 'We're both enjoying it. You can't deny it. Not after the way you respond.'

  'I don't deny that you excite me, how can I?' The words came out painfully. 'But there has to be trust before there can be…' She stopped, appalled, for the word that had so nearly emerged from her lips was 'love'. 'Before there can be kissing,' she went on shakily.

  He did not answer immediately. Instead his hands went once more to her hips, drawing her to him. Expert hands, sensuous, able to seduce a girl with the merest touch of long fingers. Teri's legs felt like water.

  'I'll show you how wrong you are,' he murmured softly as his head came down.

  In the moment before his searching mouth could find hers, she summoned the strength to twist her head away.

  'You don't trust me,' she insisted. 'You really think I conned Emma.'

  'My thoughts are my own.' His voice was hard.

  'You think I conned her into giving me a share of Vins Doux.'

  'Did you?'

  What would you say if I told you that I'd declined my share? Would that take the insolent drawl from your tone and the sardonic look that I hate so much from your face?

  'Did you?' he asked again.

  Even if I hadn't given Emma a promise I wouldn't tell you the truth, Teri thought. Trust has to be given freely. That's how I want it from you.

  'You must believe what you want,' she said with a lightness she was far from feeling.

  'What I want to believe and what I know are two different things.' His tone was angry, and the fingers on her waist bit into her with sudden cruelty. 'I look at you and I see the face of an angel. Beautiful, innocent. And I know that you're not innocent at all.'

  'Get out of here!' Her voice shook.

  A hand went to her breasts. With the tantalising lightness that was so devastating, it stroked a path around one breast, then the other, then caught a nipple between long fingers. Teri closed her eyes, willing herself to banish the sweetness that was like agony inside her. She could not let herself give in to sensations that threatened to overwhelm her. She could not, for if she did she was lost.

  'Don't,' she muttered through clenched teeth.

  'You know you want it.' His voice was surprisingly rugged as a nipple hardened between his fingers. 'Your body gives you away.'

  She did know it, and the knowledge was painful. 'Yes,' she said, opening her eyes and forcing herself to meet his. 'But not like this. Not without your trust.'

  'Don't make the terms impossible,' he whispered. 'We have something good going for us, Teri.'

  The other hand began to trail a path along her throat, and then he kissed her again. Sensuously drugging kisses, kisses that undermined her resolve and coaxed a response from her.

  It was hard to think rationally when her mind and body were filled with the delight of what was happening. When all she wanted was to surrender to his demands, and to the demands of a need that was like a fire inside her.

  Hard, but not impossible. In a corner of her mind some sense still lingered, and it came to her rescue now. 'It's no good,' she said when he paused to draw breath.

  'What the hell are you talking about? It's pretty marvellous, and you know it.'

  'Not without trust, Sloan.' She didn't think she could push herself from his arms, but somehow she managed it. With hands that shook she began to fasten the buttons of her blouse.

  'You're a fool if you confuse trust with sex.' There was a strange expression in his eyes as he watched her fumbling attempts with the buttons.

  'Then I must be a fool.'

  'You're not a virgin, Teri. Don't behave like one.'

  She couldn't look at him. She was going to cry, and she didn't want him here when it happened.

  'Get out, Sloan!' Her tone was low and barely audible, pitched to a level where he would not hear the choking lump in her throat. 'Get out, because if you don't I'll press the bell and call for help.'

  'Don't bother.' His tone was heavy with scorn. 'I've never had to force myself on a woman yet, I don't intend to start now.'

  It was as well that he left when he did, for her reservoir of control was almost exhausted. A shuddering gripped her just moments after the door had closed, leaving her so weak that she sank back against the wall for support. It was a minute or two before she began to feel better. Taking a few deep breaths, she dashed the tears from her eyes with an angry hand, and resolved that she would never allow Sloan Garfield to humiliate her again.

  Some semblance of order restored to her appearance, Teri took the book she had been reading when Sloan came in and put it back where it belonged. It would be some time before she felt like learning more about Anna Deltjie.

  Taking two other books from the shelves, she settled down at a polished walnut desk with a stack of index cards and a pen. The joy that had been with her earlier, when she had been fired with the idea of reading and research, had waned. Yet she was grateful for the task Emma had given her, for it would consume hours of her time. In her determination to avoid Sloan and the need to fill her days, the library would become a haven and an escape.

  Opening one of the books, she began to read. She had read three pages when she looked up, knowing she had not taken in a word of it. A second attempt proved equally futile.

  Angrily she got to her feet and went to the window. Below her a wistaria was a cloud of delicate lilac. The scent of it would be delicious on the hot still air, but Teri could not smell it. It was as if Sloan had a monopoly on her sensations. She could still taste him on her lips, could feel his hands where he had touched her. Her nostrils were filled with the clean male smell of him. The appalling thing, the utterly appalling thing, was that she did not know how to rid herself of the sensations.

  'Dear God,' she groaned despairingly into the silence of the book-filled room, 'what am I going to do?'

  Teri toyed with the tempting idea of skipping lunch, then dismissed it reluctantly as foolish. Her absence would reveal to Sloan just how much his lovemaking had affected her. It would give him untold satisfaction, spurring him on perhaps to even more determined efforts.

  'I don't want him to touch me again,' she told herself grimly. 'And he has to know that he can't intimidate me.'

  In the event, Sloan was not there and Teri was not sure whether to be relieved or sorry. The meal, as with breakfast, was taken buffet-style, and only Bruce was present.

  'Teri!' he exclaimed on a note of pleasure, as he turned from the long serving-trolley from which he had been helping himself to food. 'I was just thinking about you.'

  'Only nice things, I hope,' she said lightly.

  'I don't think there could be anything bad where you're concerned,' he said softly. 'How very pretty you look in that outfit. Green suits your eyes, did you know?'

  She smiled bleakly. 'Why, thank you.'

  'Help yourself to some lunch and join me. I'm really glad we came in at the same time.' His tone was warm.

  The events of the morning had left Teri without any appetite, but she put some chicken on to her plate, as well as small servings of potato salad and cole-slaw.

  'So little?' Bruce's eyebrows rose at sight of her plate.

  'I'm not very hungry.'

  'No wonder you're so slender. Very feminine, though, if you don't mind me saying so.'

  Sloan had no care for Teri's reactions to the things he said. The t
hings that he did. A picture came into her mind, unbidden—Sloan's hands on her throat and at her breasts. She shivered. If memory alone was enough to produce sensations she could well do without, was there any hope for her at Vins Doux? What am I going to do? she thought again.

  'Are you all right?'

  Teri came back to her surroundings. With a little shock of surprise she saw that Bruce was beside her. He was watching her, his eyes warm with concern. For a few moments, as long as the memory had been in her mind, she had actually been unaware of him.

  Am I so far gone? she wondered.

  'Are you all right?' he asked again.

  'Yes, of course.'

  'For a moment you had me worried. You looked a little pale…'

  'I'm fine.'

  She gave another smile, forcing some brightness this time. Bruce was no Sloan. He was a caring person, a nice person. Nice was the adjective she had already decided could not be used in reference to Sloan. A moment of insight told her that the tall tanned farmer would rather be called anything but that.

  'Why don't you eat?'

  'I will,' she said.

  'Has Emma spoken to you about your project?'

  'Yes.'

  'Tell me about it,' he invited.

  Teri looked up from the food that she was pushing listlessly about with her fork. Bruce met her eyes and smiled and said, 'Please…' And there was something appealing in his face, something little-boyish that she had not noticed before.

  She had assessed him wrongly. Last night she had taken him for a man who was mechanically gallant to all women, but whose real interest lay in girls of wit and sophistication. If anything, he had seemed bored with her. I must have been wrong, she admitted to herself now.

  Attentively he listened while she spoke. Careful to make no mention of Anna Deltjie, she told him the few facts she had already discovered about the days of the earliest vineyards.

  'That's fascinating,' Bruce exclaimed when Teri lapsed into silence.

  'I think so too.'

  'I just hope you won't let yourself get too busy, though. I'll be spending quite some time at Vins Doux myself from now on, and I'd like to think we could spend some of it together.'

  Fast worker, she thought, sucking in her breath. She had enough complications in her life at this moment, she had no need of more.

  Looking up, she saw that he was watching her. As Sloan so often did. But Bruce's eyes lacked the mockery and the hardness she had grown to dread in Sloan's expression. Bruce's eyes were brown and warm, friendly.

  She could use a friend. There was Emma, of course. But she could do with a man who liked her for herself, unconditionally.

  Her face relaxed. 'I'd like to spend some time with you,' she smiled.

  'Good.' A hand reached across the table and covered her fingers. I feel nothing, Teri thought, knowing that Sloan did not have to touch her to excite her. Just his presence in a room was enough. In a way it was good that she did not react to Bruce, she had enough to cope with in the physical area already. In another way it was disastrous. Bruce could well represent Everyman. Every man other than Sloan. But Sloan was not for her, and never could be. Did that mean that she was destined to spend the rest of her life alone?

  'Interrupting things, am I?' asked a husky voice.

  'No,' Teri answered Virginia with as much dignity as she could, withdrawing her hand at the same time.

  'Glad you two are getting along so well.' There was a swift exchange of looks between brother and sister, and then Virginia went on lightly, 'At least some people are having fun.'

  'What's eating you, Ginny?' asked Bruce.

  'This place. The whole damn set-up.'

  'Ginny—' Bruce began warningly.

  'Don't shut me up! It's fine for you, brother dear. You'll have to learn a little more about the wine business, but that's no big deal. And you'll have your fun at the same time.' The last words were accompanied with a meaning look at Teri, who flushed with quick anger.

  She opened her mouth to retort, but was forestalled by Bruce, who said again warningly, 'Ginny!'

  'All right, all right.' Another exchange of looks which Teri was too angry to interpret. 'I've spent the last hour with Aunt Emma. You'll never guess—she expects me to start a day-care facility.'

  'A what?' Bruce was mystified.

  'A day-care, for God's sake. A place where the farm-workers can leave their children.'

  'That sounds a worthwhile project,' Teri said quietly. 'I was strolling through the compound just yesterday, and I wondered about all the little ones whose parents spend their days in the vineyards.'

  'Worthwhile be damned! I'm a fashion model, for heaven's sake, not a stupid nanny!'

  'You'll have to give up your modelling?' Bruce queried disbelievingly.

  'Even Aunt Emma knows better than to ask that of me. She expects me to get the wretched thing started. Someone else will run it, but I'll be expected to supervise. What the hell!'

  'We'll talk about this later, Ginny.'

  Bruce spoke with a firmness that surprised Teri and obviously impressed his sister, for the latter stiffened a moment before saying, 'Sure.' Then a smile spread over taut features as she added, 'More time at Vins Doux will have its compensations, of course. Can't say I object to seeing more of Sloan. He's some gorgeous hunk, don't you think, Teri?'

  'I hadn't noticed,' Teri said through dry lips.

  'Oh, come on! He's the sexiest creature in trousers for miles around.'

  'There's Miranda,' Bruce said tersely. 'She's still on the scene, I've been told.'

  Virginia gave a brittle laugh. 'I wouldn't have thought you'd give me Miranda as a reason to hold back, brother dear. Besides, competition adds spice to life, don't you agree, Teri?'

  'I wouldn't know,' Teri answered on a wave of pain.

  'And I thought you'd be one who would know these things,' Virginia came back archly.

  No mistaking her meaning. As an unmarried mother Teri was presumed to be wise in the ways of the world. How astounded Virginia would be when she learned the truth. How astounded they all would be!

  Just then Emma entered the room, sparing Teri the necessity of a comeback. But there would be other remarks, she knew that. Remarks that would hit at Jill's presence in her life. Until she was ready to proclaim the little girl as her sister, she would have to learn to cope with them.

  'How nice to find you all here together.' The older woman was smiling.

  'I was just telling Bruce and Teri about my project.' Virginia's tone bubbled with an enthusiasm Teri had not heard before. 'So worthwhile. So many little children left alone all day while their parents are working. It will be wonderful for them to have a place where they can be taken care of.'

  'I'm glad you feel that way, Virginia,' Emma said quietly, as Teri drew breath. 'Earlier I thought I detected some resentment. I'm so glad I was wrong.'

  'Wrong as can be, Aunt Emma. I can't wait to begin. Why, Teri, you're not off already?'

  'If you'll excuse me.' Teri glanced at Emma. 'It's later than I thought. Jessie must be wanting her own lunch. I think I should go outside to Jill.'

  Teri spent the afternoon in the garden with Jill and Emma. Jill played with the rubber doll, while the other two busied themselves with hooking the wall-hangings. It was quiet in the garden and companionable, and Teri told Emma a little about the reading she had done in the library that morning.

  'I think you'll accomplish wonders,' the older woman said.

  'I hope so.'

  'I know so. Vins Doux will at last have a history future generations can take pride in. Teri dear, I don't want to dwell on the issue—but remember your promise, will you?' And as the girl looked up, green eyes troubled, 'You will stay here a year, and you'll tell nobody that you've refused your share.'

  A promise which, on the surface of it, should not be difficult to keep, Teri reflected a while later, as she walked alone through the gardens. She and Jill could not have more in the way of creature comforts, and Emma wa
s a gem of an employer.

  It was twilight. The sun lit the sky in a blaze of vermilion glory, and a hush lay over the valley and the mountains. From the direction of the compound came the aroma of woodsmoke and roasting meat. In the distance a dog barked, then was still. It was all so beautiful, Teri thought, pausing to drink in the loveliness all around her.

  The undercurrents she sensed at Vins Doux seemed at this moment to exist in another world. Pity Sloan was not in that world with them. He was in her mind, in her senses. Every feature of his face was crystal clear, as were his voice and his gestures, the taste of his lips and the touch of his hands.

  'If only I could find a way not to think of him,' she murmured to herself. 'I have to find a way…'

  'Talking to yourself?' a laughing voice questioned, and spinning round Teri saw Bruce. 'What were you saying?' he wanted to know.

  'Something to the effect that it's all so beautiful,' she lied. She made a wide gesture. 'I've never seen anything quite like it.'

  'It is beautiful,' he agreed. 'Do you know Kirstenbosch, Teri? And Cape Point?'

  She smiled. 'Familiar names to me only, I'm afraid.'

  'Have to remedy that. I'm going your way, so we may as well walk together.' So saying, he put his arm around her shoulders. For a moment her impulse was to resist the gesture, and then she realised that a gesture was all it was. Affectionate, warm—a little flirtatious perhaps. But Bruce was her friend, and she needed a friend. She made no effort to move away from him.

  'Some day I'm going to show you all there is to see in the Cape,' he was saying. 'There's so much…'

  He stopped as a figure came into sight, tall and lean, with a face that was tanned and hard. There was a bleak expression on that face, and the sensuous lips were set in a cruel line. Sloan was angry, Teri saw in a flash, and wondered why.

  All three had stopped quite still in their tracks. Bruce chose the moment to draw Teri closer against him, sliding his hand along her arm. A provocative gesture, and one that was not lost on Sloan, for his eyebrows rose mockingly. Curtly he nodded to them, then walked on.

  'Arrogant bastard,' Bruce muttered.