But suddenly he was pushing away from her. ‘What the hell—!’ He turned angrily, looking down to where Ragtag was pulling on his trouser leg, growling low in his throat as he shook the material. ‘Get this damned animal off me!’ he shouted angrily, trying to shake loose of the clamped teeth.
Ryan didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry. Since they had been in London Ragtag had seemed completely cured of his aversion to men, although he definitely didn’t like Alan. He was right not to. Alan’s intent was obvious, and where charm had failed he intended force to succeed. Ragtag had other ideas.
‘Let go, Ragtag!’ she instructed, holding his collar to pull him away, looking challengingly at Alan as he bent to inspect his trousers.
‘He’s ripped the damned material!’ he snapped, glaring at the unrepentant dog.
‘Yes,’ Ryan nodded, as Ragtag stayed at her side.
‘Well, don’t sound so damned happy about it!’
She sighed. ‘I’m not happy about it, although I’d prefer your denims to be ripped to being raped myself.’
Dull colour entered his cheeks. ‘I wouldn’t have raped you.’
‘You would have had to,’ she told him quietly.
‘Why?’ he asked exasperatedly. ‘I always thought you were attracted to me.’
‘I was.’
‘Was?’ Alan echoed sharply.
Ryan nodded. ‘I think you’d better leave.’
‘No, I—; he broke off as the dog at her side began to growl again. ‘Why don’t you put him in the bedroom and we can talk? he said persuasively.
‘Talk?’ She raised her eyebrows mockingly.
He flushed. ‘What’s the matter with you, Ryan?’ he demanded irritably. ‘What’s wrong with going to bed with someone?’
‘Nothing,’ she smiled at this new ploy. ‘As long as you want to go to bed with that someone. I don’t happen to want to go to bed with you. And there’s nothing wrong with me, so don’t think I’ll meet that challenge.’
He picked up his jacket with a disgruntled scowl. ‘I might as well go, then. I have better things to do than waste my time with a little tease.’
Ryan allowed him his moment of anger, taking the wine glasses and bottle through to the kitchen as she heard him leave. So much for a harmless evening!
‘An angry man at the door just told me I was taking my life into my hands coming in here to face the vicious animal. I hope he meant Ragtag!’
Ryan had spun round at the first sound of that achingly familiar voice, the glass slipping out of her hand as she gazed at Grant with shocked eyes.
‘Careful!’ he ordered as she almost stepped on to the broken glass with her bare feet, having moved towards him without realising it. ‘We don’t want any more accidents.’ He went down on his haunches to pick up the biggest pieces of glass, putting them in the bin. ‘Do you have a dustpan and brush? No, don’t move,’ he instructed firmly. ‘Just tell me where it is.’
‘I—In the cupboard, over there,’ she pointed behind him.
This couldn’t really be happening, Grant couldn’t really be here, and he certainly couldn’t be crouched at her feet sweeping up broken glass. She must be hallucinating, must have drunk more wine than she had realised.
But if it was an hallucination it was a very good one. Grant’s dark hair was thick and springy, and her fingers ached to touch it; his face was as strong and handsome as she remembered, the pale green shirt and dark green trousers he wore showing the leashed strength of his body as he stood up to dispose of the glass and put the dustpan and brush back in the cupboard.
Lean fingers closed about her upper arms as he moved her to one side, turning on the taps to rinse his hands under the hot water. ‘Sticky,’ he grimaced. ‘What was in the glass?’
‘Wine,’ she croaked, wondering at the fact that she could talk at all. This wasn’t an hallucination! Hallucinations didn’t do practical things like sweep up broken glass and wash their hands.
Grant was really here! But what was he doing here? It was ten-thirty at night, hardly the time to make a -social call. Besides, he should be at the Hall with Mark and Diana.
He had dried his hands now, and was looking at her through narrowed lids. ‘You didn’t answer my question,’ he prompted.
‘What question?’ Ryan asked dazedly, mesmerised at his presence here, hardly daring to question why he was here.
‘Are you the vicious animal?’ His mouth quirked.
His humour broke the spell, and she gave a breathless laugh. ‘No, that’s Ragtag.’
‘This Ragtag?’ He bent down to stroke the dog roughly, Ragtag loving every minute of it. ‘He wouldn’t hurt anyone.’ Grant straightened, while adoring brown eyes looked up at him.
He certainly wouldn’t hurt Grant, he was behaving like a lovesick idiot over him! Or perhaps Grant just brought back happy memories of Sleaton; Ryan knew Ragtag hadn’t been very happy in London.
‘It depends who it is,’ she shrugged. ‘He didn’t take too kindly to Alan being here.’
‘The man who just left?’
‘Yes.’
‘And did you?’ Grant prompted softly.
‘Not really,’ she shook her head. ‘It was a mistake. We used to be—close, but not any more.’
‘No?’
‘No,’ she said briskly. ‘Shall we move out of the kitchen?’ she suggested nervously. ‘It’s much more comfortable in the lounge.’
Grant preceded her through to the adjoining room. ‘It’s a comfortable flat. What will you do when Diana moves out?’ He turned to look at her.
She swallowed hard. ‘They told you they’re getting married?’
His mouth hardened. ‘Amongst other things.’
Ryan stiffened, but the hardness of Grant’s face told her nothing. ‘Other things…?’ she repeated lightly.
‘Yes. Tell me, how do you like being back in London?’
She found his evasion annoying. What else had Mark told him? Had they mentioned her at all, or did Grant still believe she had wanted to marry Mark?
‘I—It’s home,’ she shrugged.
‘Is it?’
She frowned. ‘I—Yes.’
Grant stretched his long length out in one of the armchairs. ‘I’ve always believed in that old clich&é that home is where the heart is.’
‘Yes?’ Ryan was wary now.
‘Yes.’ Cool green eyes held her mesmerised, the blandness of his expression telling her nothing that he didn’t want her to know. ‘Don’t you believe that too?’ he quirked his dark brows.
She ran the tip of her tongue lightly along the edge of her mouth, an unconsciously provocative gesture that darkened the colour of Grant’s eyes, then blushed as she realised his gaze was fixed on the slow caressing movement. ‘I—I’ve never thought about it,’ she said jerkily.
Grant was very relaxed, like a sleek jungle cat, with the ability to pounce if it became necessary. And she was the only ‘victim’ in sight! ‘I’ve been thinking of a lot of things the last two months, even more intensely on the drive down here this evening. I must admit that—Alan, came as something of a surprise to me, Diana assured me you’d been seeing no one since you came back to London.’
Ryan flushed. ‘Why should she tell you something like that?’
‘Because I asked her,’ he said with cool arrogance. ‘Those thoughts I’d been having only needed slight verification.’
His calmness, his relaxation when she was a bundle of nerves, made her reply short and angry. ‘What were these thoughts?’ she snapped.
His gaze roamed slowly over her flushed face. ‘Loyalty and friendship are special qualities,’ he said slowly.
‘Yes.’
‘Will you give me the same loyalty and friendship you gave to Mark?’
Friendship? He wanted friendship from her? She looked at him with bewildered eyes. She couldn’t accept friendship from him, wanted more, so very much more—
‘And love, of course,’ he added softly. ‘The same love
you gave me on the most memorably beautiful night of my life.’
‘Grant…?’ she gasped.
He was standing now, coming towards her, the most incredibly loving expression on his face. ‘I told you I didn’t care to think about your reasons for that night,’ he murmured softly, his eyes full of tenderness, his mouth gentle as he kissed her brow, holding her lightly in his arms. ‘After you’d gone I could think of nothing else,’ he shuddered at the memory, his face buried in her hair. ‘I thought of your beauty, your gentleness, your love for anything hurt or in trouble, of the way you give love unreservedly, and I knew that that night you gave me love. You did, didn’t you, Ryan?’
‘Yes.’ She quivered in his arms, afraid to believe he could be here to tell her he felt the same way. He couldn’t be here for that—maybe he was just an hallucination after all? If he was it could go on for a lifetime!
‘You love me?’ Grant spoke huskily against her throat.
She trembled as his lips probed her skin. ‘Yes.’
‘And I love you, did you know that?’
Ryan looked up at him, afraid to believe what she was hearing. ‘Say—say that again.’
His smile was gentle, his lips caressing against hers. ‘I love you, Ryan. I’ve loved you from the beginning, I think.’
‘No—’
‘Yes.’ His mouth roamed the silkiness of her face, mounting desire within her, each nerve, each particle of her being attuned to his caress. ‘Can we talk later, darling?’ he moaned huskily against her lips. ‘Right now I need to convince myself—and you—that we love each other, that once the explanations have been made we’re going to be married.’
‘Married?’ Ryan swallowed hard, her trembling hands groping on to his shirt front as she searched his love-softened features for the truth of his words.
‘Yes—married, my darling,’ he smiled down at her. ‘I’m going to tie you to me for ever, never out of my sight or my heart for the rest of our lives. Now, do I have your permission to convince you with more than words?’ he teased gently.
Her eyes glowed as she slowly nodded her head, and as his mouth claimed hers her lips parted to deepen the kiss, her whole body shaking as she allowed herself to believe in heaven, heaven here on earth, in Grant’s arms…
A long time later they lay in each other’s arms, Grant lying back on the sofa, Ryan nestled against his bare chest, his heartbeat at last beginning to steady, the rapid rise and fall of his chest starting to regulate.
‘I didn’t think it could possibly be as good as the first time,’ his voice was gruff, ‘but it was better! Oh, my darling…!’ he kissed her heatedly, turning to press her back into the cushions, desire at once rekindling. ‘I could make love to you all night,’ he groaned. ‘In fact,’ he raised his head to smile, ‘I intend to.’
Ryan buried her face against his chest, amazed she could still feel this way after the intimacies they had once again shared.
‘Don’t be shy,’ he raised her chin gently. ‘You believe I love you?’ he frowned.
‘Oh yes!’ Her eyes glowed, leaving him in no doubt as to his feelings for her. He had told her time and time again as he made love to her, had left her in no doubt of his love. ‘And I love you.’
His eyes deepened in colour. ‘That first day I met you I had no idea how important one tiny young lady was going to be in my life.’
‘Tiny?’ She pretended indignation.
Grant looked down at her nakedness, his eyes darkening as he cupped one creamy breast. ‘Perfect,’ he kissed the taut nipple. ‘I can’t wait for the day I see my child taking its life force from this exact spot,’ and his lips caressed the nipple once more.
Delicate colour heightened her cheeks. She wanted Grant’s child too, and the thought of it filled her with delicious wonder. ‘We were talking about the day you met the tiny young lady you love,’ she prompted to cover her emotion.
‘Coward!’ he laughed softly. ‘Yes,’ he sighed, ‘I had no idea when I first looked into a pair of stormy blue eyes that within a very short time, a matter of days, in fact, you would be the woman I love. Before we go any further,’ he frowned, ‘I think I should explain Valerie. No, don’t,’ he pleaded as she would have moved away. ‘I went out with her, I’ll admit I even went to bed with her, but I never loved her, and I never told her I did.’
‘She seemed to think she was going to be your wife,’ Ryan said huskily.
‘Never,’ Grant said fiercely. ‘It was never even a possibility. I was far from being Valerie’s first lover, Ryan, and I very much doubt I’ll be the last. The Valeries of this world needn’t bother you, darling. Don’t you know you’re the very pinnacle of my existence, the reason I want to live for a thousand years?’
‘I’m that—important to you?’
‘More.’ His arms tightened about her. ‘You mean more to me than anything else in my life ever has—more than the estate, more than Mandy or Mark.’
‘I’m not just another one of your orphaned lambs you like to take in and care for?’
He laughed softly. ‘You certainly aren’t a lamb, more like a lioness, and I’d want to marry you even if I had to fight parents and six brothers to get you. And talking of brothers, how could you let me believe you were in love with Mark?’
Ryan blushed guiltily. ‘At the start it didn’t really pose a problem, but later—’
‘When you fell in love with me,’ said Grant with satisfaction.
‘Yes,’ she smiled. ‘Then it was a problem.’
‘Don’t I know it!’ he grimaced. ‘The night we made love, I tried to stop, to tell myself you belonged to Mark, but it didn’t matter. I wanted you, loved you, and I had to have you. I knew you were an innocent, and when you denied it I couldn’t understand why. Then I thought that perhaps you regretted it, that you thought that if I knew it had been your important first time I might tell Mark and ruin things for you with him. When he told me tonight that he was going to marry Diana I didn’t know whether to throttle him for hurting you or thank him for leaving you free. I finally did the former, although I didn’t quite throttle him. Then he explained everything,’ Grant’s expression was stern. ‘And that’s where your loyalty and friendship came in, wasn’t it, even over your love for me?’
‘Yes.’ Ryan was so relieved he knew, so relieved it was over.
‘Mark had no need to go to those lengths, you know. Oh, I might have been—overprotective—in the past, but I knew straight away that Diana would make him the steadying, loving wife that he needs. You, however, were a different matter.’
She touched the dark wiry hair on his chest, feeling how his skin had cooled after their lovemaking, her lips tasting salty after she had bent and kissed the hardness of his flat stomach.
‘Don’t try and change the subject!’ He pretended disapproval, spoiling the effect with his fierce kiss. ‘You would never have been a good wife for Mark, you’re too independent, too fiery, too—’
‘—Much in love with you,’ she finished huskily.
‘Yes!’ he laughed triumphantly, then suddenly sobered. ‘I have some other news for you, if you’re interested, about Mandy.’ He raised dark brows.
There was only one thing Ryan wanted to hear about Mandy, and from Grant’s air of indulgence she had a feeling he had given up on the idea of his sister marrying Colin. ‘She’s going to marry Peter,’ she said excitedly.
He frowned. ‘How did you know that? No, don’t tell me,’ he sighed. ‘You seem to have been their confidante over the last few months. I can’t understand where I went wrong,’ he shook his head.
Ryan smoothed the frown from between his eyes. ‘You didn’t go wrong, darling, Mark and Mandy just grew up without your realising it. They have Diana and Peter to depend on now—’
‘And you have me.’
She nodded. ‘And I’ll never lie to you or hold anything back from you. I only want to make you happy.’
That deserved renewed kisses and caresses, and it was several minutes bef
ore either of them felt the need for speech.
‘Diana said she’ll stay at the Hall until we get back,’ Grant murmured into her throat. ‘I think we should stay here long enough to get married. The end of the week should do it.’
Ryan had no objection to that; she would have married him tomorrow if it could have been arranged. ‘You haven’t told me yet how Mandy and Peter sorted out their troubles,’ she pouted.
‘You romantic!’ Grant teased softly.
‘Well, they seemed so—apart.’
‘They were.’ He sobered. ‘And that was my fault too—although I had no idea of that, I didn’t even know they were in love. You see, ten years ago, I was engaged—’
‘To Rebecca—I know.’
He gave a rueful smile. ‘I should have known. Mandy, right?’
‘Yes,’ she admitted huskily. ‘She said you loved Rebecca very much.’
‘I did—in a calf-love sort of way.’ He grimaced. ‘I knew just after we got engaged that I’d made a mistake, but it seemed too late then to do anything about it, Rebecca was already arranging the wedding. Then she and Peter came to me and said they’d fallen in love, that she wanted to end the engagement. Of course I said yes, but before anything could be done about announcing the broken engagement Rebecca was killed in a car crash. By then it was superfluous to tell people I’d no longer been in love with her, and I had cared for her. All this time Peter has been feeling guilty about what happened, and when he fell in love with Mandy he decided to fight it—he didn’t think it fair that he now wanted to marry my sister. I drove her over to his house on the way over here once I knew she loved him, and they should have worked it all out by now. It only remains for us to reunite Ragtag with his loved one, and then everyone will be happy.’
‘Ragtag?’ Ryan repeated incredulously. ‘I don’t understand.’
Grant grinned. ‘At the beginning of the week Riba presented him with six progeny, two boys and four girls.’
‘Ragtag and Riba?’ she gasped.
‘Yes,’ he laughed. ‘They couldn’t be anyone else’s but Ragtag’s, they’re the cutest puppies I’ve ever seen.’
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