Bitter Enchantment

by Yvonne Whittal

'Are you happy, Melanie?' he asked, and she looked away hastily to hide the wariness in her eyes.

  'Yes, of course.'

  'Are you sure?'

  'Jason hasn't ill-treated me in any way, if that's what you were hoping for,' she assured him a little too sharply.

  'Calm down, Melanie,' he said quietly, applying the brake and parking the car in a parking area beside a children's play park.

  Alarm mingled with curiosity. 'Why are we stopping?'

  'I want to talk to you,' he replied, switching oft the ignition and turning to face her.

  'Surely you can drive and talk at the same time?'

  'Melanie…' He leaned towards her, his hazel eyes intent upon her face. 'I know about the loan your father took from Jason Kerr.'

  Her expression became guarded as a tremor of shock rippled through her. 'Do you?'

  'I also know about Greystone Manor being offered as security,' Adrian continued, ignoring the signs that should have told him that he had gone too far.

  'I don't know where you got all this information from, but—'

  'Did Jason Kerr force you into this marriage?'

  He had guessed the truth so accurately that she snapped defensively, 'Don't be absurd!'

  'Look at me!'

  Taking her chin in his hand, he forced her to meet his eyes, and Melanie resorted to anger as her only defence. 'You have no right to question me like this, Adrian.'

  'I happen to love you,' he stated calmly, 'and loving you gives me the right to be concerned about you.'

  'There's no need for you to concern yourself,' she said abruptly, brushing his hand aside.

  'Melanie—'

  'Who told you about the loan my father made?'

  'I'm afraid I can't disclose my source of information, but it's remarkable how much a tongue can be loosened after a few free drinks,' he replied unashamedly, and Melanie stared at him for a few moments in shocked, angry silence.

  'I think you're despicable!' she said at last, and her voice was as cold as she felt at that moment. 'You had no right to pry into something which didn't concern you, and as for the loan my father made, it was, and still is, a private matter between my husband and myself.'

  My husband. It was the first time she had referred to Jason in that capacity, but she was too angry to be more than vaguely aware of it as she saw a flush of embarrassment stain Adrian's cheeks.

  'What I did, I did out of concern for you.'

  'That's still no excuse for your behaviour,' she stated firmly, wrenching open the door and stepping out of the car.

  'Where are you going?' Adrian demanded anxiously. 'I'll catch a bus round the next corner,' she flung at him as she walked away.

  'Don't be ridiculous!'

  'Goodbye, Adrian,' she said with a finality that finally penetrated through to him and halted him in the process of following her.

  Realising that she could not remain in Adrian's company under the circumstances, she walked on without looking back and was fortunate enough to reach the bus stop just as a bus approached. She paid for her ticket and sat down staring blindly out of the window until her anger had subsided sufficiently for her to think clearly. She should not have lost her temper with Adrian, she realised ruefully. It would, perhaps, have been more convincing to laugh off Adrian's remarks, but it was too late now to alter the situation, and she could only hope that he would keep his findings to himself.

  Restless and worried about her grandmother, she sought refuge on the roof garden after dinner that evening. The lights of the city lay spread out before her, neon signs flickered invitingly, and the distant hum of traffic indicated the seemingly endless activity of those who went in search of entertainment. It was like standing in the middle of a restless beehive, and she hated it more and more as she thought of the peace and tranquillity she had always enjoyed at Greystone Manor.

  The sound of a step behind her made her turn, and her pulse quickened ridiculously as Jason leaned against the wall beside her and finished his cigarette in silence. His white shirt, unbuttoned to the waist, accentuated his tanned fitness in the light that shone out from the living-room, and Melanie's senses were instantly alert to the onslaught of his masculinity. The brooding intensity of his steel-grey eyes as he stood observing her succeeded in unnerving her, and she said the first thing that came into her head to relieve the tension that was beginning to spiral through her.

  'Do you enjoy living way up here in this concrete jungle?'

  'It's convenient.'

  'It's claustrophobic,' she corrected abruptly, turning from him to avoid the strange magnetism he seemed to exude.

  'Are you missing Greystone Manor already?'

  A lump rose unbidden to her throat and, ignoring his question, she said tritely, 'I saw my grandmother this morning.'

  'How is she?'

  'Her health isn't improving at all.'

  'What did you expect for someone her age?'

  'I don't know, but I certainly didn't think she would give up without a fight.' She swallowed with difficulty and clenched her fists on the wall. 'I wish there was something I could do.'

  'You can't prevent the will of God, Melanie.'

  She bit her lip, fighting back the tears, but she could not hide the tremor in her voice as she whispered, 'I know… and it makes me feel so helpless.'

  He turned her to face him, and his touch was warm and pleasing against her shoulders. 'If you could, you would move heaven and earth for those you love, wouldn't you?'

  Melanie was too choked to reply, and all at once too aware of his nearness, and the clean male scent of him, to think of anything else. The breeze lifted her hair, blowing it across her face like a silvery veil, and Jason raised his hand to remove it, his fingers lingering for a moment in the silky strands before they slid caressingly across her cheek and her throat.

  'I have a feeling that, when you love, you will love completely and absolutely,' he continued, the deep vibrancy of his voice having an odd effect on her nerves as he added, 'There'll be no half measures attached to the giving of yourself.'

  Something warned her that she was being carefully and deliberately seduced, but her limbs refused to obey the urgent commands of her brain. She stood perfectly still beneath his hands, her pulse racing, and her senses responding deliciously to his touch. 'Run!' her brain urged again, but the warning came too late. There was no escape from the arms that held her and the mouth which had descended upon hers with a sensuality that drew an instant response from her. But, more than anything, she was trapped by the unexpected storm of her own clamouring emotions.

  Jason's hands were warm against her skin beneath her sweater, and she trembled at the sensations they aroused. She was vaguely aware of her bra being loosened, but she no longer cared. Her arms went up to circle his neck, and a shudder of ecstasy shook through her when she felt the touch of his hands against her breasts.

  'You've been a tantalising and elusive little witch,' he laughed triumphantly against her throat. 'Your surrender will be adequate compensation for the loss of my freedom.'

  Sanity returned with an acute sense of shame at the thought of how easily she had succumbed and, with her emotions taking a swift downward plunge, she caught him off guard and broke free with an agile twist of her slender body.

  'Your freedom?' she gasped incredulously, resentment fanning her anger as she stared up into his arrogant face. 'What about the loss of my freedom?'

  'I valued my freedom very much, but let's not quibble about it,' he laughed, reaching for her, but she stepped back smartly and placed a deck chair between them.

  'I gave up my freedom for a worthy cause, which is something you can't claim to have done,' she cried in a choked voice, trembling uncontrollably, and horrifyingly close to tears. 'If I could wish for anything, I would wish that I'd never set eyes on you. You're arrogant, self-opinionated, and I hate you!'

  With one lithe movement the chair was swept aside, and she was taken roughly by the shoulders and shaken until she felt c
ertain her neck would snap, then he dragged her against him, his strong fingers gripping her face painfully as he forced her to look up into his furious eyes.

  'You may think you hate me,' he accused in a harsh voice, 'but I happen to know that you're not as insensitive to me as you would like me to believe.'

  'Let me go! You're hurting me!' she gasped as tears gathered in her eyes.

  'I'll let you go when I've had my say, and not before,' he rasped, slackening his hold, but not releasing her. 'I could have you now, if I wanted to, and I'm willing to bet that you wouldn't offer much resistance either, but the moment has passed, and so has the inclination. Think it over, Melanie, and think about this as well.'

  He bent over her, his muscular thighs hard against her own as he curved her body into his, and she was powerless to resist when his mouth fastened on to hers with a ruthlessness which was a punishment as well as a revelation. There was a great deal of truth in his statement, for she could not fight against her treacherous emotions any more than she could fight against his superior strength, and she relinquished the struggle, allowing herself to be swept along on a tide of sensations until she hovered on the brink of desire.

  Her surrender would have meant an uncontested victory for Jason, but she was unexpectedly freed, and shivering without the warmth of his arms about her. It had come as something of a surprise, and more so his cool, detached appearance while her emotions were in such a frantic turmoil.

  'You'd better go inside.'

  His voice was clipped and cold, and Melanie stared at him blankly for a moment, her trembling lips still warm and tingling from his kisses. Suddenly nothing made sense any more, and she turned and fled, engulfed in a wave of shame, and choking on unshed tears when she finally closed her bedroom door behind her and leaned against it weakly.

  'What's happening to me?' she wondered, humiliated and confused by what had occurred. 'For a moment out there I actually wanted him to make love to me. I wanted it so badly I wouldn't have cared what he thought of me afterwards.'

  Alarmed at the nature of her thoughts, she tried to brush them aside, but they persisted relentlessly until the awful truth was made agonisingly clear to her.

  'I can't be in love with him!' she whispered anxiously to herself as she walked unsteadily across to the bed and sat down heavily. 'I can't be in love with a man as ruthless and hard as Jason; a man who has never hidden the fact that he'd sought feminine company in the past merely to satisfy his sexual desires. I can't possibly love a man like that!'

  She pressed her fingers against her throbbing temples and closed her eyes in an effort to shut out the unbearable facts, but there was no escape from the dreadful realisation of what had happened to her. She had given her love to a man who had no need of it. He wanted her body, and that was all! When he was tired of her, he would end their marriage and seek someone else. It was an agonisingly painful thought, but she had to face facts. It was no use dreaming dreams of an idyllic future when there was no possibility of those dreams coming true. Above all else, she had to be realistic.

  She heard Jason moving about in his room, opening and closing cupboards, and a few minutes later the outer door slammed shut. He was on his way to Delia Cummings, no doubt, to seek solace in her waiting arms.

  Melanie winced at the thought and tried to shrug it off as she prepared herself for bed, but the hurt persisted and her pillow was damp with tears when she eventually fell asleep.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The doorbell chimed just before ten the following morning, and Melanie found a lean young man with unruly dark hair and smiling brown eyes standing on the doorstep.

  'Mrs Kerr?'

  It was the first time anyone had addressed her as such, and she couldn't quite make up her mind how she felt about it at that moment as she murmured, 'Yes?'

  'I'm Barnaby Finch,' he smiled, extending his hand and clasping Melanie's firmly. 'I'm liaison officer and general odd-job man for Mr Kerr,' he explained.

  'I see.'

  'I don't think you do, ma'am,' he grinned as she stood aside for him to enter, 'and right this minute you're most probably wondering what the heck I'm doing here.'

  His perceptiveness amused her and she laughed softly as she led the way into the living-room. 'You're quite right, Mr Finch, I am curious to know why my husband's liaison officer should pay me a visit.'

  'First of all, ma'am, the name is Barnaby, No one calls me anything else. And secondly, the boss told me to come round this morning to present myself to you.' His expression sobered as he sat down opposite her. 'I'm told that your grandmother is ill, ma'am, and until the boss has time to find a suitable car for you, I'm at your service.'

  Bewildered by this disclosure, she said a little sharply, 'That's very thoughtful of my husband, and I appreciate your offer, but I'm really quite capable of taking a bus.'

  'That may be so, ma'am, but I'm under orders to drive you wherever you want to go.' He placed a printed card on the small table in front of her. 'You'll find me at that telephone number any time during the day.'

  'Mr Finch… Barnaby,' she corrected herself hastily when he grimaced comically. 'I hate the idea of being a nuisance to anyone.'

  Barnaby's grin broadened, and he looked a little embarrassed as he pushed his bony fingers through his unruly crop of hair. 'To be quite honest, ma'am, I hated the idea myself, but now that I've met you, I'm looking forward to being your personal chauffeur for a time.'

  Amusement lifted the corners of her mouth, and banished the shadows which lurked in her eyes. 'It's kind of you to say so, Barnaby, and I find your honesty praiseworthy.'

  He shifted a little uncomfortably in his chair. 'Did you wish, to go anywhere this morning, ma'am?'

  'Well, I…'

  'To see your grandmother, perhaps?' he prompted eagerly as she hesitated.

  'Yes, I was thinking of going out to Greystone Manor again this morning, but—'

  'Then I'll drive you there,' Barnaby interrupted, jumping to his feet with an eagerness that made her follow suit involuntarily. 'If you'll get yourself ready, ma'am, I'll use the telephone in the study to let the boss know where I'll be.'

  Melanie nodded absently and left him to do the necessary while she went through to her bedroom to grab her coat and handbag. Barnaby obviously knew his way around the penthouse, she thought as she checked her make-up and pulled a comb through her hair, and she could not help wondering what he, and the other members of Jason's staff, thought of their employer's unexpected marriage.

  'Are you comfortable, ma'am?' Barnaby enquired as he slid behind the wheel of the Mercedes, and Melanie winced, not for the first time, at the word 'ma'am'.

  'I'm quite comfortable, thank you… and Barnaby,' she turned slightly in her seat to face him as he steered the car into the stream of traffic, 'if we're going to see quite a lot of each other in future, do you think you could dispense with the "ma'am" and just call me Melanie?'

  'The boss doesn't encourage familiarity, ma'am.'

  That was not surprising, she thought to herself, and she could not imagine anyone getting close enough to Jason to know the real man beneath that hard exterior.

  'Then I shall have to retaliate by calling you "Mr Finch" in future.'

  Barnaby grimaced. 'I don't think I could stand that.'

  'What about making it Melanie, then, when we're alone?'

  'You're the prettiest blackmailer I've ever met… Melanie,' he added laughingly, glancing at her briefly before concentrating on the road once more. 'I just hope I remember to call you "ma'am" when the boss is around, or I shall find myself minus a job!'

  The drive out to Greystone Manor seemed shorter than usual in Barnaby's company. Once the ice was broken they had chatted like old friends, and Melanie had found him entertaining in a comical but serious way.

  'What time shall I call for you again?' he wanted to know as he assisted her gallantly from the car.

  'I think I'll stay and have lunch with my grandmother today, so what about three thi
s afternoon?'

  'Fine,' he smiled, raising his hand in a brief salute as he walked round to the driver's side. 'See you later, Melanie.'

  She stared after the Mercedes as it disappeared down the drive and stood a moment longer to drink in the sun-drenched beauty of the garden with its trees and shrubs and spacious lawns. This was her very own paradise; a paradise she would lose one day because of her father's recklessness, and Jason was to be the one who would take it from her. There was despair in her glance as it roamed the gardens and the old stone house, but she pulled herself together quickly when she saw the lace curtain at the living-room window being drawn agitatedly aside. Granny Bridget was becoming impatient.

  'Who was that young man, Melanie?' her grandmother demanded almost before she had time to greet her properly.

  'He's Jason's liaison officer, Barnaby Finch,' Melanie explained, drawing a pouffe closer and seating herself at her grandmother's feet. 'Jason has asked him to act as my chauffeur for a while until I have a car of my own.'

  'How very kind of Jason!'

  'I don't think I should allow him to be so generous, though.'

  'Why ever not?'

  Melanie avoided Granny Bridget's curious glance and stared out of the window. 'I don't like the idea of Jason spending money on me.'

  'But he's your husband!' the old woman stated incredulously. 'It's only natural that he would want to buy you gifts.'

  'A car is rather an expensive gift,' Melanie laughed shakily.

  'He can afford it.'

  'Oh, Gran!' she groaned, the intended rebuke dying on her lips at the look of innocence on her grandmother's face.

  'I'm worried about you, my child. You were so evasive yesterday, and so quick to change the subject.' Those faded blue eyes searched Melanie's. 'You haven't, by any chance, discovered that you've made a mistake?'

  Melanie shook her head and looked away. 'Of course not, Gran.'

  'Look at me, Melanie,' she instructed, and Melanie obeyed reluctantly. 'Do you love Jason?'

  Her body tensed and the muscles in her throat ached as she said stiffly, 'Yes.'

  'Don't lie to me, Melanie. I want the truth.'