Rachel Lindsay - Man of Ice

by Rachel Lindsay

  'Why should I he? Do you think I'm putting on an act so that you'll let me go on making love to you? Is that the sort of swine you think I am?'

  'Don't be harsh on yourself,' she whispered, stroking his hair and enjoying the vibrant feel of it beneath her hand. 'You've been hurt and you need love.'

  'I've certainly been hurt,' he said, and to her utter astonishment began to laugh. 'Oh, Abby, you fool! You still don't know that you're the one who's hurting me. Vicky hasn't had the power to do that almost from the moment she left me.'

  'But your aunt— '

  'Aunt Matty's a writer and given to exaggeration,' he interrupted. 'Vicky hurt me badly in the beginning, but I soon realised she'd only wounded my pride and that the woman I thought she was didn't exist.'

  'And am I the woman you thought Vicky was?' Abby asked dryly, knowing that if Giles said yes she would not believe him. But to her delight he shook his head violently, and his loud 'No!' was an explosion of sound in the room. 'You're nothing like I imagined Vicky to be. You're the exact opposite of the woman I dreamed of finding!'

  He sat up on the bed and pulled her up with him, keeping his arm round her, so that she was leaning against his shoulder. 'You're not my ideal woman at all,' he continued with amusement. 'I always wanted someone tall and dark, who'd be docile by day and fiery at night!'

  'And me?'

  ‘You're fiery all the time!'

  She giggled, still unable to believe he meant all he was saying. As if he was aware of this, Giles tilted up her face and looked intently into her eyes.

  'I didn't love you when we first met. You irritated me and I was wary of the way you'd befriended my aunt. I couldn't believe anyone could be so genuinely caring about someone they hardly knew. But pretty soon I realised you were exactly the way you seemed; that you thought of others before you thought of yourself. From then on I was lost.'

  'You hid your feelings well,' she said ruefully. 'That night at the Chandrises' party when you saw Vicky, you looked absolutely shattered.'

  'I was. But not because I loved her. It was a shock, nothing more.'

  'Why did you have lunch with her the following day?'

  'Because she telephoned me and asked me. I was curious to know what was in her mind. In fact,' he added slowly, 'I had a pretty good idea.'

  'And kissing her in the cave the other day? Was that at her invitation too?'

  'At the risk of sounding ungallant, my darling, I have to admit it was. She flung her arms round me before I could stop her. If you hadn't rushed off like an agitated hen, you would have seen me push her away.'

  Abby sighed, remembering the misery and jealousy that the scene had inspired in her. 'I've been a fool, haven't I?' she murmured.

  'I've been a bigger one,' he said. 'I should have told you I was in love with you the night I sprang our engagement on you.'

  'I don't think I'd have believed you then. I still find it difficult. I'm so different from Vicky Laughton.'

  'Thank God for that!' The words were heartfelt. 'Meeting you was the best thing that happened to me, though it took me a little while to realise it. But now I do and…'

  He broke off and a spasm of deep-felt emotion contracted his features.

  'If I tell you I will never love another woman the way I love you, you might find that hard to believe, bearing in mind I once entertained the possibility of marrying Vicky. Yet I do want to say it, Abby, because it's true. You've been a revelation to me. Your honesty, your kindness… Damn it, I've already said that, and I'm fed up with words.'

  Once again he started to kiss her, and this time there was no holding back on Abby's part. With all the fervour of her generous nature she responded to him, sinking back on the pillows and pulling him down with her. Their lips fused in a deep penetrating kiss, and the gentle seeking of his hands aroused her to a wondrous awareness that filled her with an urgent need to absorb him. Convulsively she arched her body against his and clasped him close, holding his hands upon her breasts.

  'Abby, no!' This time Giles was the one to hold back and, reluctantly but firmly, he pushed himself away from her and stood up. 'When I make love to you for the first time, I want to choose the place and the circumstances. A quiet place,' he added, 'and circumstances where we'll be uninterrupted for a long time.'

  'How long?' she whispered.

  'A month. A friend of mine has a houseboat in Kashmir which he'd be delighted to loan us—if you can bear the thought of being alone with me for all that length of time?'

  'I want to be with you for the rest of my life,' she said simply, and held up her hand to him.

  'That, my sweetheart,' he said, holding the tips of her fingers to his lips and nibbling each one gently, 'is a sentiment I completely endorse.'