Haunted Summer

by Joanna Mansell

  Nathan stood up again and began to shrug off his own clothes. At the same time, he bent his head and kissed her, so that the contact between them was constant.

  Another vivid flash of lightning revealed the lean lines of his body to her, and she found herself wishing it were clear daylight, so that she could see him better. Yet it was curiously tantalising, just catching brief glimpses of him as the lightning momentarily illuminated the room.

  He was breathing hard now, but so was she. That was new, as well. She wasn't used to this rapid arousal of her senses. Rose began to wonder how many more unfamiliar sensations she was going to experience before this was all over, but her whirling thoughts were interrupted by the sudden closeness of Nathan's body, moving in on her.

  Wet skin moved easily against wet skin, increasing the tactile pleasure they found in each other. They were on the bed now, although Rose didn't remember how they had got here. It was another massive four-poster, the heavy canopy looming above them.

  Very romantic, she thought hazily. Everyone should make love in a four-poster bed. Then the increased pressure of Nathan's hot body drove all other thoughts from her head.

  'It's been too long,' he said in a tight, husky voice. 'Can't wait. Sorry.'

  But, to her amazement, Rose found herself already caught up in the spiralling storm of intense delight. And although it was all over in just a few dazzling minutes, they were the longest, most exquisitely pleasurable minutes she had ever experienced in her entire life.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THEY both lay very still for some time. The storm outside the window continued to rage, though, and Rose soon realised that the storm inside the room wasn't yet over.

  Nathan stirred and let his hand rest against the curve of her hip. 'I didn't think it would be quite like this,' he said in a throaty voice.

  'Quite like what?' whispered Rose.

  'Different.'

  She wasn't sure she liked that. 'Different in what sort of way?' she asked uncertainly.

  Unexpectedly, Nathan smiled. 'In every way possible.' His hand moved upwards, lingering over the inward curve of her waist.

  Rose found herself trying to see his face more clearly. She could only tell so much from the tone of his voice. The dark clouds were still circling overhead, blotting out most of the natural light.

  She began to feel oddly unsure of herself, despite what had happened between them. 'I wish we could put the light on,' she blurted out. Nathan reached out and switched on the lamp beside the bed. Nothing happened. 'Power cut,' he said. 'No lights, I'm afraid.' He looked at her curiously. 'Why do you suddenly want the light on?'

  'You'd be able to see me,' she said in a low voice. 'Here, in the darkness, I could be anyone. You wouldn't even have to close your eyes to pretend I was someone else.'

  She hadn't meant to say anything of the sort, and immediately wished that her tongue hadn't run away with her. He would get angry now, and everything would be ruined.

  Nathan propped himself up on one elbow, so that he was looking down at her. His features remained relaxed, though, and his voice, when he eventually spoke, was quite calm. 'I know exactly who you are. You're Rose, with the small, beautiful breasts, and the long, long legs. I haven't, even for one second, forgotten who I'm with. And I don't want to pretend that you're someone else. I'll never want to do that.'

  His fingers lightly began to caress her again, causing small shivers of pleasure to ripple immediately over her skin.

  'You like everything that I do to you, don't you?' he said in a pleased tone.

  'Yes,' she admitted simply. She was aching to touch him in return, but he lightly caught hold of her wrists when she reached out to him.

  'Not yet,' he instructed huskily. 'I want to be in control a little longer—and I won't be, if you touch me.'

  Rose was a little awed by the desire she could arouse in him. And her own body felt beautiful for once. Not long and lanky, and too thin, but sleek and supple, capable of being completely female.

  How could one man make her feel so different? she wondered rather dizzily. Why him, and no one else?

  Nathan didn't give her a chance to answer her own questions. His fingers tormented and teased until she was gasping under his touch, and then he licked her into total submission. He was allowing her to touch him by this time. At least, he made no attempt to stop her when her hands moved over his lean, hard body, caressing him almost with reverence.

  His mouth found hers again, only more roughly than before. These kisses were fiercely demanding, and she understood that his self-control had snapped much more quickly and easily than he had expected, or wanted. It didn't seem to matter, though. She had the feeling that it was never going to matter.

  The shared pleasure was as intense as before, and only slowly subsided into warm, relaxed exhaustion. As if in harmony with their mood, the storm outside finally began to move away, rolling slowly off into the distance, so that peace gradually returned to Lyncombe Manor. By then, though, neither of them knew anything about it. They were both deeply asleep, curled up together, limbs twined in a tangle, in the huge four-poster bed. Rose was the first to wake up. She was amazed to find that it was morning. She had slept for hours. They had slept for hours, she corrected herself, as she turned her head to look at Nathan, who was still sprawled out beside her. In the clear, bright light of morning, she found it hard to believe that any of it had really happened. She wasn't a girl who blithely jumped into bed with anyone. In fact, there was only one other bed she had jumped into in her entire life, and she hadn't actually jumped at all. She had gone with deep reluctance, only finally agreeing to it because she had thought it was the only way to keep the relationship going. All that had happened, though, was that she had been made to feel inadequate, and the relationship had failed anyway.

  Nathan certainly didn't make her feel inadequate. Quite the opposite, in fact. He had let her see, very clearly, that she could arouse him with great ease. And give him intense satisfaction when that desire reached its peak. So, what did it all mean? she wondered uneasily.

  In fact, Rose had the feeling that she knew very well what it meant, but she didn't want to admit it to herself yet. For a while longer, she would go on pretending that she was puzzled by the whole thing. It might not be very honest, but it would probably be a lot better for her peace of mind. Nathan stirred at that point, and Rose promptly forgot everything except her anxiety as she waited for his first reaction.

  His slate-grey eyes blinked rather sleepily. Then they became much more alert as they fixed on her.

  'That was a spectacular storm, wasn't it?' she gabbled with a sudden burst of nervousness, saying the first thing that came into her head.

  'I think that the whole night was fairly spectacular,' he replied lazily. Rose swallowed hard. 'I don't want you to think— I don't usually—well, I mean I don't--'

  'Do this kind of thing on a regular basis?' he finished for her with some amusement, as her voice stuttered to a standstill. 'I know that.'

  'How?' she asked curiously, forgetting her awkwardness for a few moments.

  'I may be rather out of practice, but there was a time when I was very experienced at this sort of thing,' Nathan replied drily.

  'And you could tell that I wasn't very experienced?' she mumbled.

  'Yes,' he agreed. 'But there's no need to look so downcast. It doesn't matter. It isn't in the least important. In fact, I liked it.' His gaze darkened noticeably. 'I liked it very much.'

  Rose noticed the change in his face—and in his voice—and rather hurriedly wriggled over to the far side of the bed. She wasn't ready to go through all that again, not yet. Her emotions were still in total turmoil, and she needed time to sort them out before she let this go any further.

  She grabbed the sheet and managed to wrap it round her. Then she slid off the bed and edged towards the door. 'I think I'll—er—take a bath,' she said edgily.

  'Good idea.' He threw back the covers. 'I'll join you.'

&nb
sp; 'No!' she yelped. Then she found herself hurriedly looking away from his naked body, which was perfectly ridiculous considering how very close she had been to it all night.

  Nathan seemed to be watching her confusion with some amusement.

  'Perhaps I'll have a bath later,' he said, his eyes dancing. Rose let out a silent sigh of relief. All she had to do now was to get out of this room. She fumbled for the door handle, and managed to turn it. 'Well, I'll--er—I'll go and--'

  'Take a bath?' he reminded her helpfully.

  Rose scowled at him. He was making fun of her now. She held the sheet a little tighter around her, muttered something rather incoherently under her breath, and then backed very rapidly out of the door.

  The last glimpse she had of Nathan was of him lying back on the bed, looking very relaxed and grinning from ear to ear. For some reason, it annoyed her that he looked so very pleased with himself.

  'Men can be so smug,' she told herself crossly. Then she hitched up the sheet and headed quickly towards the bathroom, locking herself in, just in case Nathan took it into his head to ignore her sudden prudishness and try to join her.

  The air was much fresher this morning, after the violent storm, but it didn't make Rose's head feel any clearer. Even a nearly cold bath didn't improve matters. Every time her thoughts wandered anywhere near the subject of Nathan, she was engulfed in instant confusion.

  You should have kept running last night, she told herself more than once. You shouldn't have let him come anywhere near you.

  Yet, ever since she had first set eyes on Nathan Hayward, part of her seemed to have known that she would eventually end up like this. Perhaps it was why she had never made any serious effort to leave the manor. Why she hadn't fought very hard after he had caught hold of her last night. A deep sigh escaped her. This meant trouble, no matter which way she looked at it. Nathan might want her now, but there had been no talk of a serious relationship. She didn't even know how he felt about her—assuming he felt anything at all, except for a brief surge of desire. She was beginning to realise how she felt about him, though. In fact, she had probably known it for quite some time, but hadn't had the nerve to face up to it.

  'Well, you'd better face it now,' she told herself with a nervous grimace.

  'And figure out what you're going to do about it!'

  She dried herself, and quickly dressed. Then she went down to the kitchen, but found she didn't want any breakfast. In fact, she felt as if it would be a very long while before she could face food of any kind. Instead, she went out into the courtyard and sat in the warm sunshine, beginning to feel distinctly dazed as the full implications of what had happened began to sink in.

  About half an hour later, Nathan sauntered out and joined her. As he sat down on the wooden seat, Rose nervously edged away a few inches. He must have noticed it but, to her relief, didn't comment on it. 'How are you planning on spending today?' he asked her in a conversational tone.

  'I'm going to clear the flower-bed by the duck pond,' she told him.

  'I see.' His voice was thoughtful now. 'In other words, you're going to pretend that it's just a perfectly normal day.'

  'It is a normal day,' she shot back quickly.

  One of his dark eyebrows rose questioningly but he didn't push the point any further. 'If you're going to work in the garden, I might as well spend some time at the piano,' he said at last.

  'That sounds like a good idea.'

  He turned his head and looked straight at her. 'And how long are you going to keep this up?'

  Rose gulped nervously. 'Keep—keep what up?'

  'Pretending that last night didn't happen.'

  For some reason, his words got to her. 'I know perfectly well that it happened!' she retorted.

  'Then why are you behaving like this?'

  But Rose didn't want to tell him the truth. It would give him too much of an advantage over her. 'I suppose I just wasn't ready for it,' she mumbled. 'It was too soon. I wasn't expecting it.'

  There was no amusement in his slate-grey eyes now. 'I think that you've been expecting it ever since the day you moved in here,' he told her softly. His perceptiveness highly alarmed her. If he knew that, what else did he know?

  'How can you say that?' she said with sudden fierceness. 'Soon after I came here, you told me that you weren't interested in me, that I wasn't your type. Then I had to hear all about your obsession with Jancis Kendall, and how she was the one you always wanted in your bed. How was I to know you'd take me for a substitute, since she wasn't around any longer?'

  Rose had never meant to say any such thing, but the words had just seemed to pour out of her. And it wasn't until she had actually said them out loud that she realised that this was what she had been afraid of all along. That Nathan wouldn't look at her twice if Jancis Kendall were still around. He growled something angrily under his breath.

  'I didn't hear that,' she said tensely.

  'I was just wondering how a girl as bright as you can also be so incredibly stupid!'

  Rose got angrily to her feet. 'Well, I suppose it just takes a lot of practice!'

  She was about to stalk off, but Nathan also got up and laid a restraining hand on her arm. Rose tried to shake it off, but his fingers gripped her too firmly.

  'I don't want you to go like this,' he said tightly.

  'Why not?' she challenged him. 'Do you really care, one way or the other?'

  His face altered, taking on a darker hue. 'Rose, don't spoil things,' he warned.

  'As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing to spoil,' she threw back at him defiantly. 'We had one good night together, and that's it! I don't think that either of us should try and make it into something that it isn't.'

  His grip had slackened now, as if she was finally beginning to get through to him. 'You really feel like that about it?' he said tautly.

  'Of course,' she lied. Better he should think that than realise just how much he was beginning to get to her.

  'Then you'd better go and carry on with your gardening,' he said, his tone suddenly distant. 'You're obviously more interested in that than you are in me.'

  Rose didn't move for a moment. What was she doing? she thought with a spurt of panic. If there was a chance in a million that this would turn into something good, wasn't it better to take it, and to hell with her pride and her stupid fears?

  But when she turned back to Nathan, she knew that her chance had gone. His face was now as distant as his voice. No more lazy amusement, gentle teasing, words whispered softly and intimately in the darkness. She had just ruined whatever they might have had going for them. And why? Because her obsession with Jancis Kendall was threatening to become as uncontrollable as Nathan's had once been. She slowly walked away, and he made no effort to call her back.

  The rest of the day passed slowly and drearily. Rose could hardly believe that, just a few hours ago, she had lived through that long and magical night. She stayed in the garden for most of the time, but she couldn't concentrate on anything she was doing. She pulled up flowers instead of weeds, hacked down bushes instead of gently pruning them, and occasionally found tears dropping on to the ground that had already been soaked by last night's rain.

  'This is ridiculous,' she told herself more than once, sniffing hard. 'How can you get this upset over someone you've known for such a short time?'

  The answer, of course, was painfully obvious. But, because she still didn't want to face it, she pushed it to the very back of her mind and made a determined effort to ignore it.

  She stayed out in the garden until late in the evening, when the light finally began to fade. She had been back into the house only once, to grab a quick sandwich and a drink. Although she still hadn't been in the least hungry, she had hoped the food might help to dispel the awful empty feeling inside of her. It didn't, though. It simply seemed to stick in her throat, threatening to choke her.

  As the last of the light faded, Rose reluctantly trailed into the house. For the first time since her ar
rival, Lyncombe Manor failed to cast its usual spell over her. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, she forced down some more food. Then she decided to escape back to her own rooms, before Nathan put in an appearance.

  She hadn't seen him all day. When she had occasionally moved nearer to the house, though, she had heard the sound of music drifting out of the open windows of the room which held the piano. Obviously, he was working on his new collection of songs, and had managed to put her right out of his mind.

  Rose trudged wearily up the stairs that led to the east wing. It was almost dark now, but she didn't bother to switch on any lights. This house was becoming so familiar to her that she felt she could have found her way around it blindfolded.

  Because of the gathering shadows, she didn't see Nathan waiting for her at the top of the stairs. When he finally stepped out in front of her, she jumped violently. Then, ignoring her thumping heart, she said in a stiff voice, 'What are you doing here?'

  She couldn't see Nathan's face very clearly, so it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. When he spoke, though, his voice certainly sounded very relaxed. He seemed to have found a way of getting rid of all that tension that had built up between them in the garden this morning.

  'I thought I'd come and ask you where you intend to sleep tonight,' he said, his eyes briefly glittering even in the darkness.

  Rose gave a small inner shiver. She supposed she should have expected this, but she hadn't. And that meant she wasn't ready for it. 'I'd prefer to sleep in my own bed,' she said in a fixed tone.

  'All the beds in this house can sleep two people quite comfortably,'

  Nathan remarked.

  She suddenly became very angry. 'You seem to be . assuming rather a lot!'

  'Such as?'

  'Such as the fact that you would even be welcome!' she retorted. Nathan's voice lowered to a soft purr. 'Oh, I think that I'd be "welcome.'

  Then his tone changed again. 'Things were fine between us last night, Rose. If something's gone wrong since then, then let's try and put it right.'