'Okay. I love you, too.'
The time in between Dane's call and her father coming home seemed to stretch in light years. Minta talked to Doyley until it was time for the housekeeper to go home and then set about preparing dinner, but so nervously that she burnt the pastry and made the sauce too thick and had to start again. When she heard the door bang as her father came home at last, she jumped, spilling milk on to Doyley's clean floor. She found a cloth and bent down to mop it up just as her father strode purposefully into the room.
'Minta!'
For a moment he didn't see her until she bobbed up again, which ordinarily would have made him laugh, but one look at his face told her that laughter was the farthest thing from his mind today. 'Hallo. Dinner's ready when you are,' she told him brightly, desperately trying to ease the tension.
It didn't work. 'Fenton came to see me today,' he barked at her. 'He had the temerity to tell me you were engaged to him!'
His tone immediately enraged her, but Minta tried to answer as coolly as she could. 'Let's get it right, shall we? You sent for Dane and ordered him never to see me again.'
'So you've already talked to him. I suppose he came straight here after he'd seen me?'
'No, he didn't. He phoned me. What else would you expect?'
'Is it true? Have you been abysmally stupid enough to promise to marry a man you've only known for a few days? Not that you could possibly call it knowing him in that time,' he added sneeringly,
I know him well enough to know that I loved him within hours of meeting him,' Minta retorted, her temper rising. Then, more reasonably, 'Daddy, I know it seems terribly sudden, but these things happen, they really do. I remember your telling me that you knew you wanted to marry Mummy as soon as you saw her, so you know it's true. Please try to understand,' she pleaded.
'That was different entirely. I had the sense to keep my feelings to myself until your mother and I knew each other a lot better. We also knew each other's parents and background; and I had no intention of taking her off to a foreign country, away from all her relations and friends. Good God, Minta!' He turned on her exasperatedly. 'Can't you see that it won't do? You know nothing at all about him. He could be a rank opportunist for all you know.'
'And is he?' asked Minta, striving to keep calm, but her hands balled into tight fists below the level of the table where her father couldn't see them.
He seemed about to make some sharp remark, but bit it back, even now respecting the confidences told to him as a banker. 'No, not entirely. But he needs to make money. His family . . Again he stopped, then changed tactics. 'Has he told you why he wanted to see me?'
'Yes, he said he wants the bank to act as a guarantor for his time-share project.'
'And has he told you anything of his family?'
'No. Except that he has an older brother,' Minta remembered.
'Nothing more?'
'No. Why should he? I'm going to marry him, not his family. Just as he wants to marry me—not you,' she answered impertinently, unable to see that it mattered.
But her rudeness goaded her father into losing his temper. 'I'm not going to let you throw yourself away on someone with an unstable background. He isn't right for you, and if you weren't so infatuated with him you'd realise it.'
'I'm not infatuated with him. I love him and he loves me. We're going to be married and I'm going back to the Canary Islands with him!'
'Not if I know anything about it, you're not!' her father shouted.
'There's nothing you can do about it!' Minta yelled back at him furiously, tears of anger in her eyes. 'This isn't the Middle Ages—I'm over twenty-one and I'll do as I damn well like!'
He caught hold of her arm and noticed her ring, which further enraged him. 'Have you—have you slept with him? Is that what this is all about? Has he dared to seduce you?'
Minta had never been more angry in her life. Rounding on her father, she bit out, 'Did you go to bed with Maggie last night? Are you in love with her?'
'Mind your own damn business!' he answered angrily.
'And you mind yours,' Minta retaliated. 'At least Dane and I want to get married! You're the last person who should try and throw morals at me!'
Richard Tennant's face was white with anger. 'Can't you see what Fenton's done to you? He's made you turn on me—the one person who has the right to protect you from men like him. Give him up, Minta. You don't know what the hell you're doing.'
'Oh, yes, I do. I know exactly what I'm doing. And after today you won't have to bother about me at all, because I'll be married to Dane!' Then she ran up to her room, locking the door before throwing herself on to the bed and bursting into tears.
Some time later her father came up and banged on the door, more or less ordering her to come down and have dinner, but she yelled at him to go away. He tried to reason with her, using a more conciliatory approach, but it was too late; Minta put her hands over her ears, and eventually he gave up and went downstairs again. When he had gone, she went into her bathroom and washed her face, still trembling with emotion, but fully determined on what she was going to do. Taking a couple of suitcases down from the top of the wardrobe, Minta began to pack all the new things that she had bought and as many of her favourite clothes as she could cram into the cases. Then she carefully put the trinkets that had come to her from her mother into her handbag; there were one or two other pieces, really good jewels, that also belonged to her, but they were locked away in the bank so she would have to leave them behind. Then there was nothing to do but sit and wait until her father went to bed so that she could creep out of the house and go to Dane.
She hadn't wanted it this way; she would much rather have had a proper wedding in a church, among her family and friends, and with her father giving her away with his blessing. But there was no way she was going to be parted from Dane, possibly for months, when she had the chance of being with him, not even for a white wedding and everything that went with it. Once or twice she considered phoning Dane so that he could come and get her, but rejected the idea because she wanted her father to know that she had gone to him of her own free will. She thought, too, of leaving him a note, but what was the point? He would know that there was only one place she would have gone; to the man she loved.
The thought of being with Dane alleviated much of the sadness and anger from her quarrel with her father, and Minta settled down to wait as patiently as she could until she heard him go to bed around eleven, then for another half an hour or so to make sure he was asleep. Sometimes he read in bed for a while, but when she peeped out she saw that the corridor was in darkness and there was no bar of light under his door. Loaded up with her luggage, she crept down the stairs as quietly as she could and let herself out of the kitchen door. Her Mini was parked in the square near by, but at first the engine wouldn't start and she had visions of having to go back to the house to phone for a taxi, because she'd never find one cruising around in this quiet neighbourhood so late at night. But she pulled the choke out and pumped the accelerator and eventually the cold engine spluttered into life. Minta gave a sigh of relief, thinking how ridiculous she would have felt if she'd had to lug her cases all the way back again.
The streets weren't too busy and it didn't take her long to reach the Cumberland. She managed to park in a small space in the hotel car park and left her cases in the car. The receptionist gave her a knowing look when she asked for Dane's room number.
'I'm his fiancee,' Minta told him imperiously, her chin coming up.
He didn't look as if he believed her, but picked up the phone and dialled Dane's number. 'There's a lady here, sir, who claims to be your fiancee.' He listened for a brief moment, then said quickly, 'One moment, sir. Could you give me your fiancee's name?' Then he replaced the receiver and said to her, 'Could I have your name, please madam.'
'It's Tennant. Araminta Tennant.'
The man's manner immediately changed. 'I beg your pardon, madam. Mr Fenton will be right down.'
Minta fou
nd herself a seat where she could see the lifts, but she had hardly been there a minute before a lift arrived and Dane hurried out.
'Darling! What happened? Did he…' But before he could go on Minta burst into tears again. Immediately he put his arm round her and took her straight back into the lift, holding her head against his shoulder until they were in his room. Then he sat her down and poured her a drink from one of the miniatures in the fridge. 'Here, drink this and then tell me what happened.'
Gulpingly she obeyed him and wiped her eyes. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that.'
Dane took the glass from her and knelt down beside her, taking her trembling hands in his. 'Did he kick you out?'
'Oh, no, nothing like that. But we had the most terrible row and so I—I decided to leave.'
'Why didn't you send for me? I'd have come for you.'
'No, I wanted to leave of my own free will. I—I wanted to come to you.'
'Darling!' He raised a hand to gently touch her face, to wipe away a last tear. 'Didn't he try to stop you?'
'He doesn't know I'm here. I waited until he'd gone to bed before I left.'
'Don't worry about it any more. We'll be married tomorrow as we planned and then nothing your father can say or do will hurt you again, because you'll have me there to protect you.'
'Oh, Dane!' Minta leant forward and put her head against his. He put his arms round her and held her, tenderly stroking her hair until she had quietened. Then he stood up. 'You'd better stay here at the hotel tonight; I'll book you a room.'
He moved towards the bedside telephone, but Minta got quickly to her feet. 'You don't really want that, do you?'
Dane looked at her questioningly and she came to stand close to him. 'I told you—I came to you. To be with you.' Lifting her hands, she slid them up his collar and around his neck. 'Dane, I love you so much. Please—let me stay with you.'
He drew in his breath sharply and then caught her to him, kissing her greedily, her body moulded against his. 'Minta, sweetheart,' he said thickly, 'there's nothing in this world I want more. But are you sure that this is what you want? That you wouldn't rather wait until we're married?'
'Oh, no.' She pressed herself against him, deliberately moving her hips to try and arouse him. 'I want you to love me now. Oh, Dane, please—please love me!'
'All right. If that's what you want.'
Minta raised her head to see him looking down at her with a curiously triumphant expression; curious in that there was also a bitter twist to his mouth. But then she forgot everything else as he kissed her again and then, deliberately and slowly, began to take off her clothes. His hands explored as he did so, touching her teasingly through the thin silk of her delicate underwear until she moaned and wanted to tear them off herself, but then his hands were on her skin, fondling, exploring, driving her mad with desire and anticipation. She sighed sensuously, loving what he was doing to her, but wanting so much more. Her hands moved to the buttons of his shirt, impatient to share, but Dane picked her up and carried her over to the bed, pulling back the covers and laying her on the cool sheets. For a moment he stood looking down at her nakedness, then moved away to turn off the light, leaving only the bedside lamp to illuminate the room. She heard him taking off his clothes, but didn't look until he came to lie beside her. His body was strong and athletic, perfect and beautiful. And he was so big that she was almost afraid of his strength. But coupled with this was a deep, humble gratitude that a man so good-looking, so wonderful, should fall in love with her.
Slowly she reached out a hand to touch him, letting it slide down the length of his body, revelling in the breadth of his shoulders, the hard muscles in his arms, the flat plane of his stomach and the strength of his thighs. He let her explore his body as she wanted for several minutes, but then couldn't stand it any longer and pulled her on top of him, kissing her in a fierce frenzy of passion, then rolling over so that she was pinned to the bed by his weight. Then it was Dane's turn to use his hands and mouth, bringing her to such a heat of excitement that she begged him to love her, moaning with desire. Their bodies locked together as he took her, giving her the fulfilment her body craved, making love to her so expertly that she cried out in a climax of ecstasy, her body arching under his as he, too, reached the heights of pleasure, his triumphant voice echoing hers.
For a while they lay still, just kissing gently, murmuring endearments, but Dane hadn't left her before he wanted her again and made love to her a second time.
It was well into the early hours of the morning before Minta slept, only to be awakened by Dane's kisses, his body once more urgent for love, demanding her hands and hps to gratify and delight him. Then they lay exhausted in each other's arms.
'It's morning,' he said to her. Then, with a low laugh, 'The morning of your wedding day.'
'Mm.' Minta snuggled up to him like a cat who had had a whole bowlful of cream. 'Can't we just stay here?'
He laughed and kissed the tip of her nose. 'No, I have a whole lot of arrangements to make.' He sat up, taking up most of the room in the single bed, and reached for the phone. 'What would you like for breakfast?'
She looked up at him, her heart bursting with love. She took his hand and held it against her face. 'You order for me. All I want to eat is you.' He spoke into the telephone, the order including a bottle of champagne, while Minta separated his fingers, running her tongue along the groove between each one.
'Minx!' He put down the phone and looked down at her. 'Are you trying to turn me on again?'
'Of course.' She pushed herself up in the bed and began to kiss his chest, her tongue circling, tasting, while her left hand explored the other side of his chest, touching him as he had touched her breasts during the night.
Dane gasped and caught her hand, pulled her up beside him and then on to his lap. 'Minta,' he groaned. 'If you knew what that did to me…'
Minta laughed. 'I think I'm in a position to know exactly what it does to you. Now I know how to turn you on any time I want to.'
'I can see I'm going to have trouble with you.' His eyes went over her, exploring in the daylight. 'The men in the Canary Islands don't allow female insubordination, you know. They have ways of dealing with their women.'
'Do they?' Minta asked breathlessly. 'What ways?' She moved on his lap, knowing that, even after so many times last night, he already desired her again.
'They beat them regularly every week.' He began to fondle her breasts, watching the sensitive nipples harden under his expert hands. He bent to kiss her, but they were interrupted in the middle of what could have developed into something new and really interesting by a sharp rap on the door.
'Hell!' Dane swore. 'That must be breakfast already.'
'Wait! Don't let them in yet.' Minta ran for the bathroom as he laughed and reached for his white bathrobe.
As her cases were still in the car she had nothing to wear, so she used one of the huge bath sheets to wrap around herself like a Roman toga. She gave the waiter a couple of minutes and then poked her head round the bathroom door. 'Has he gone? Can I… Oh!' She stopped with her mouth open in consternation as she saw her father standing by the door.
His staring eyes went from the tumbled bed, the clothes all over the floor, to Dane obviously in just his bathrobe, then to her semi-nakedness. Suddenly he erupted into movement, diving across the room towards her, his hands outstretched, but Dane threw himself in the way while Minta cried out in fear.
'You keep away from her!' Dane shouted.
'Me keep away? It's you! You're not fit to even touch her, let alone…' Her father took a swing at Dane's head, but he ducked easily out of the way, catching the older man's arm before he could aim another blow.
'Damn you, let me go! I knew I'd find her here with you. When she wasn't in her room this morning I knew this was where she'd be.'
'If you knew, then why the hell are you making all this fuss?' Dane demanded angrily. 'Where the hell else would you expect her to go after the way you treated her?'
Her father seemed to suddenly collapse and sink into a chair, his head in his hands, his face very white. Frightened that he might be ill, Minta went to go to him, but Dane said curtly, 'Get your things and go and get dressed. I'll handle him.'
'But he might be ill!'
'No, he's all right. And seeing you like that only makes it worse. Go on, do as I say.'
She moved to obey him, picking up her clothes from where they lay scattered on the floor. Then she gave one more scared look at the older man before hurrying into the bathroom, to shower and dress as quickly as she could.
When she came out her father seemed to have recovered a little. He had a drink in his hands and his face was a more normal colour. Dane had managed to dress as far as his shirt and trousers and the breakfast tray was on a table by the window, the bottle of champagne in the ice bucket beside it. At sight of Minta some of her father's anger returned. Swallowing down his drink, he banged down the glass and got to his feet. 'I want to talk to you—alone.'
'Oh, Dad, please. What good would it do?' Minta protested in distress. She moved to Dane's side and took his hand. 'I told you—I love Dane and we're going to be married. Today.'
'That's impossible,' Richard Tennant said sneeringly. 'You can't possibly be married that quickly.'
'Yes, we can.' Dane released her hand and put a protective arm round her shoulders. 'We got a special licence last week and the ceremony is already booked for this afternoon.'
'You got a licence last week? When you'd only just met her? My God, you didn't waste any time, you shameless bastard! Have you no scruples? Does it mean nothing to you, to use the emotions of an innocent girl to get what you want?'
Minta gazed at her father in appalled horror. Dane had gone very white beneath his tan and the hand that held her arm tightened until it hurt, but he didn't say anything; it was she who cried out. 'How dare you speak to him like that? How dare you?'
'Because it's true,' her father thundered. 'How can you possibly be so gullible as to believe that he's fallen for you? I tell you he's just using you to get at me—to make me give him the backing he wants.'
Dark Awakening Page 6