by Anne Mather
William Fielding’s mouth tightened and when he turned to his daughter, Lily knew he expected her to back him up. But she didn’t know what Oliveira might say if she refused him. He looked just unpredictable enough to say anything to get his own way.
‘Maybe—five minutes, Dad?’ she suggested, hating the hold Oliveira had over her. She was letting her father down and she’d never done that before.
The older man regarded her distantly. ‘If that’s what you want, I can’t stop you,’ he said with evident disapproval. He glanced once more at the visitor. ‘Please don’t keep her too long.’
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
RAFE DIDN’T ANSWER. He was not in the mood to placate the other man or anyone else. Nombre de Dios, he doubted Fielding knew he had done anything wrong.
Reverend Fielding hesitated a few moments but then, when it became apparent that Rafe wasn’t going to say anything more in his presence, he uttered a most uncharacteristic exclamation and walked out of the room.
He left the door ajar, however, but, to Lily’s dismay, Oliveira brushed past her and went to close it. Then, turning, his shoulders resting against the panels, he regarded her with a curious mix of wariness and regret.
The silence stretched between them for several seconds and Lily’s nerves were drawn as tight as violin strings. She was on the point of demanding he say what he had to say and get out when he spoke.
‘I am sorry if the maid upset you,’ he said unexpectedly. ‘She had no right to enter the suite. Be assured, she has been—advised of that fact.’
Lily drew a tremulous breath. What was she supposed to say to that? she wondered. Did he think telling her that the maid had made a mistake in coming into the room excused him? He’d still abandoned her to go and see his ex-wife.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said now, just wanting him to leave before she said something she’d regret. He’d left the villa without even stopping to take a shower or change his clothes. He was both a bastard and a liar. After all he’d said, she was filled with both bitterness and despair.
‘It does matter,’ Rafe contradicted her bleakly now. ‘I can imagine how you must have felt.’
‘Oh, really?’ Lily was scornful. ‘It’s happened to you too, has it? Forgive me if I find that very hard to believe.’
Rafe straightened away from the door, anger simmering. What right had she to criticise him when she wouldn’t even give him a chance to explain?
‘I see I was right,’ he said harshly. ‘Although you pretend to be a woman, you act like a child! I do regret what happened. All of it. Believe me, the situation was not of my making.’
Lily turned away. She was trembling, but she was damned if she’d let him see that. ‘Well, thanks for your apology, if that’s what it was.’ She moved towards the outer door. ‘I’ll tell my father you said goodbye.’
He swore then. Lily didn’t understand the words but their meaning was clear enough. What she wasn’t prepared for was that he should grasp her shoulders and jerk her back against him, or that he would continue to mutter imprecations, his breath hot and sensual against her neck.
Rafe hadn’t intended to touch her. Indeed, when she’d made her acid little retort and turned her back on him, he’d told himself it was probably best for all concerned.
She was too young for him. That was the truth. And, in the present situation, he shouldn’t risk getting her involved. But it was also true that when he was with her he had little or no control over his actions.
Even being here with her now, knowing her father was in the next room, didn’t stop his thoughts from retracing the intimacies they’d shared that afternoon. And the sooner he put some distance between himself and the temptation she represented, the better.
But she’d caught her glorious hair up in a loop this evening and the heat had plastered tiny tendrils of honey-streaked silk against her nape.
Her neck was gently curved, sweetly soft and achingly vulnerable. And it was that vulnerability that drove him to haul her back against his body that was already throbbing with need.
His mouth moved against her skin, loving the scent of her, instinctively finding the sensitive nub of skin he’d bitten that afternoon.
She flinched and he guessed she’d put on this silk top, with its cowl neckline, to protect the mark from detection. But Rafe exulted in the proof of his possession, laving it with his tongue, causing her to shiver in spite of the resistance he could still feel.
‘Querida,’ he muttered thickly, all his previous determination to leave her foundering in the depths of his growing desire. The taste of her was like ambrosia, the sensuality she exuded drugging his senses, dragging a tortured, ‘Please, do not let us quarrel, mi corazón,’ from his lips.
‘Let me go, Rafe.’
It took an enormous effort of will to say the words, but Lily told herself he deserved them. He couldn’t think he could behave as he had this afternoon and then turn up here tonight as if nothing had happened.
If he thought he could seduce her into forgetting his duplicity with his beguiling words, he was very much mistaken.
His fingers dug into the bones of her shoulders and for a moment she wanted to cry with the pain. But then, with another exclamation, he twisted her round to face him, his dark face revealing his frustration.
‘Qué?’ he demanded roughly. ‘You enjoy tormenting me, es asi? Bien, two can play at that game, querida.’ And, cupping her face between ungentle hands, he fastened his open mouth to hers.
Lily wilted when he thrust his tongue between her teeth. It was too soon, she thought weakly, her senses swimming beneath that sensual invasion. Her body remembered the afternoon only too well and, while her brain might tell her he couldn’t be trusted, her resistance melted in the heat of his possession.
‘Please,’ she whispered against his mouth, but it was as much a plea for her own sanity as a bid for him to release her.
‘You do please me, querida,’ Rafe told her harshly, drawing back to gaze into her flushed face with hungry eyes. ‘Too much for my own good.’
His thumbs found the underside of her chin, digging into the soft flesh with scant regard for the pain he was inflicting. His eyes were dark and tormented as he stared down at her.
‘I came here to apologise for leaving you this afternoon, but also to tell you I could not see you again.’
‘To apologise?’ Lily managed a tortured laugh. ‘Because you left me to renew your relationship with your ex-wife?’ she demanded.
‘Mierda, what are you saying?’ Rafe drew back to look down into her accusing face.
Obviously she knew about Sarah—Carla had warned him of that. But what story had that stupid maid told her? A mangled version of events, that was for sure. In consequence, Lily had got completely the wrong idea.
Sighing, he said, ‘Do you think I wanted to see my ex-wife? I had hoped never to have to see her again.’
Lily stared at him. She’d been praying that the maid was wrong. But she realised now that the man was a consummate liar, and she’d been stupid enough to get caught in his web.
‘I think you should leave,’ she said shakily, trying to pull away from him, and Rafe gave a bitter nod.
‘I think I should too,’ he muttered. This was probably not the time to try and make explanations. And yet... ‘But instead you tempt me to stay.’
Lily caught her breath, torn in spite of herself. ‘I don’t tempt you!’ she declared huskily. ‘I’ve asked you to go, haven’t I? But you’re still here.’
‘Perhaps you are unaware of what you are so generously offering.’ Rafe was sardonic now. But he put her away from him, lifting his shoulders in a dismissive shrug. ‘Sí, pequeña, go running back to your father. If he finds out his precious daughter was with me this afternoon, he will be sure to imagine the worst.’
Lily held up her head, stung by his sarcasm. ‘I wasn’t a virgin,’ she said tightly, but Rafe wasn’t convinced.
‘Physically, perhaps not.’ His lips twiste
d. ‘But in other ways...’
Lily drew a ragged breath. ‘Stop treating me like a child,’ she protested.
‘But you are a child,’ he said without malice. ‘I am at fault for thinking otherwise. My only defence is that, in the past, I have always known what I wanted.’ He paused. ‘And, for my sins, I wanted you.’
Lily swallowed. ‘So you went after me,’ she stated tensely, and his eyes darkened.
‘As I recall it, querida, you went after me,’ he reminded her, angry that he couldn’t get the memory out of his head. His lips twisted. ‘Or do you deny that much of what happened this afternoon was a direct result of your provocation?’
Lily’s face flamed with colour. ‘That...that’s not a very polite thing to accuse me of.’
‘I am sorry.’ He lifted his shoulders. ‘I am not a very polite man.’ He stepped back from her. ‘I fear your father is right. I should not have invited you to my home. It was a—what shall I say?—a reckless thing to do.’
Lily drew in an uneven breath. Despite her feelings, she felt sick inside at the thought that he regretted what had happened. ‘It’s a little late to tell me that now.’
‘I know.’ Rafe groaned. ‘But please, querida, do not think I took you to Orchid Point to seduce you. I did not.’ He covered the space between them again and bent until his breath was hot against her parted lips. ‘And you did ask me to make love with you, did you not? What can I say in my own defence? I am only human.’
Lily couldn’t answer him. ‘I think you should leave, Mr Oliveira.’ Her breath quickened as his thumb traced the sensitive curve of her mouth. ‘I don’t think there’s anything more to say.’
‘Muy bien.’ Rafe’s patience gave out but, not trusting himself to go on touching her, he spread his hands wide. ‘However you regard me, be aware you drive me crazy,’ he told her harshly. ‘And this is something I will have to live with.’
Lily took advantage of her sudden freedom to move right away from him, only stopping when her back encountered the unyielding frame of the unit behind her.
She wasn’t capable of dealing with him at present. She was too vulnerable. Too aware of how it had been between them. Maybe later, when her blood pressure didn’t rise every time he came near her.
Rafe sighed. ‘Will you tell your father about this afternoon?’
‘Why?’ Lily drew an unsteady breath. ‘Are you afraid of the consequences?’
‘Do not be foolish.’ Rafe shook his head. ‘Perhaps I should tell him myself.’
Lily gasped. ‘You wouldn’t do that.’
‘No. Because I have more respect for you than that. And I did not come here to threaten you or make the situation even more fraught.’ Rafe sighed. ‘I came to tell you why I had to leave so precipitately. I had had word—’
‘From your ex-wife,’ Lily interrupted him flatly, and he gave her a weary look.
‘In a manner of speaking,’ he began, but once again she broke in.
‘You needn’t say any more,’ she said tightly. ‘I’m not a fool, Mr Oliveira. I realise now what kind of man you are.’
Rafe felt his temper rising. ‘I doubt that very much.’
‘You underestimate me, Mr Oliveira,’ she retorted, brushing past him to swing open the door. ‘Please, don’t let me keep you. I’m sure you have a more exciting evening in prospect.’
Rafe’s jaw tightened. ‘You do not know what you are talking about,’ he declared coldly. ‘You simply prove I am right. You are a child at heart.’
‘Perhaps I am.’ Lily refused to let him see that he had hurt her. Instead, she exclaimed, ‘Look at you.’ She waved a hand at his unkempt appearance. ‘You must have been so desperate to see her that you snatched up the first shirt and trousers that came to hand.’
‘These?’ Rafe demanded grimly, flicking a finger at his outfit. ‘This would be the shirt and trousers you so kindly helped me to take off!’
‘Whatever.’ Lily couldn’t meet his eyes. ‘I hope she appreciated your haste.’
Rafe’s anger propelled him across the room again until he was standing right in front of her. ‘The woman I went to see was not there,’ he told her icily, putting a hand on the unit at either side of her, effectively imprisoning her. ‘Did not your spies tell you that?’
‘I don’t have any spies.’ Lily concentrated on the open vee of his shirt, where the arrowing of hair on his chest was moved tantalisingly by her breath. ‘I only know what I was told by your staff.’
‘And Laura Mathews?’ he suggested harshly, guessing that the other girl had been involved. ‘It does not occur to you that she might have an agenda of her own?’
‘What agenda?’ asked Lily, finding the courage to lift her head and meet his glittering gaze. ‘Are you two having an affair?’
Rafe was stunned. This, after everything they’d shared. That she could think he’d go straight from her arms to those of his ex-wife was bad enough. But that she could believe that Laura, that scheming little gold-digger, might be part of the equation was simply too insulting to be borne.
Yet, feeling his body throbbing, he was disgusted to find he was still aroused. ‘Por Dios,’ he swore angrily; he would conquer his need, stifle his attraction to her, once and for all.
He was about to turn away from her and leave without saying another word when the expression in her eyes arrested him. Was that apprehension he could see, or fear?
Nombre de Dios, he was appalled. She couldn’t be afraid of him, could she? Or was she simply afraid of what form his reaction to her accusations might take?
He acted without thinking. Grasping her chin in his hand, he tipped her face up to his. He stared at her for a long moment. Then, almost against his will, he bent towards her, grinding his mouth against hers in one last searing kiss.
He was gone before Lily had recovered from that shattering assault on her senses. By the time she’d scrubbed a trembling hand over her mouth and turned towards the window, there was no sign of him.
But the aftermath of his kiss was evidenced in the pain that stirred deep in her belly. In the moisture she could feel pooling between her legs.
* * *
‘Lily?’ She was holding onto the sink, trying to quell the nausea that was rising inside her, when her father spoke from the doorway into the hall. ‘My dear, are you all right?’
No, I’m dying, she thought miserably, hoping he couldn’t see the way her knees were trembling. The last thing she needed right now was for her father to take a sudden interest in her welfare.
‘I was watching a firefly,’ she lied, hoping her face didn’t give her away. She turned to look at him. ‘Did you finish your supper?’
‘Apart from dessert,’ said William Fielding, ever pedantic. ‘But you haven’t eaten a thing, Lily. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.’
He paused and then continued stiffly, ‘It’s that man, isn’t it? He’s upset you. What did he come here for? You were only with him this afternoon. Where did he take you, by the way? Myers didn’t say.’
Myers didn’t know, thought Lily bitterly. She wanted to laugh, and she had to swallow the sob of hysteria that rose in her throat at his words.
‘He took me to see his house,’ she said, knowing the truth would come out sooner or later. ‘But don’t worry.’ She paused. ‘He...he’s much too old for me.’
‘Well, I’m very pleased you realise that.’ Apparently reassured by her answer, her father glanced thoughtfully over his shoulder and she guessed he was eager to get back to either his supper or his study.
He really was amazingly trusting when it came to his daughter, she thought, half ashamed that she was deceiving him in this way.
But then, just when she was beginning to breathe more easily, he added, ‘I have to say, I’ve nothing against the man, personally. And I’ll be interested to hear what you thought of what he’s done to the house. Although, after the way he’s treated the Mathewses, we must be wary, mustn’t we?’
Lily’s tongue sought the ro
of of her mouth. ‘The way he’s treated the Mathewses,’ she echoed, daring to hope he was at last going to tell her what he’d meant earlier.
But at that moment the telephone in William Fielding’s study rang.
‘Dear me,’ he said, turning away, any further confidences forgotten. ‘What a busy evening we’re having. Excuse me, my dear. I think I ought to answer that, don’t you?’
* * *
The following morning Lily slept in.
Usually, she had her breakfast and was on her way to the agency by nine o’clock. She had an old Renault that she used for running about in. And just occasionally her father borrowed it when his ancient Lincoln refused to start.
But, as it had been the early hours of the morning before she’d managed to fall into a troubled sleep, she was still drowsing when Dee-Dee shook her awake.
‘Lily! Lily!’ She opened her eyes to the sight of the housekeeper’s round expectant face staring down at her. ‘You all right, girl?’ The woman was evidently concerned. ‘I didn’t even know you were still in the house.’
Lily blinked. ‘Dee-Dee,’ she said in some confusion. And then, as comprehension dawned, ‘What time is it?’
‘Time you was on your way to work,’ declared Dee-Dee sagely, stepping out of the way as Lily flung back the sheet. ‘Your daddy sure ain’t gonna be pleased when he finds out you overslept.’
Lily sat up, swinging her legs to the side of the bed and then groaning as her head thumped in protest. If she didn’t know better, she’d have said she had a hangover. Was there such a thing as an emotional hangover?
‘What you been doing with yourself, girl?’
Dee-Dee fussed around her and, considering the West Indian woman was almost six feet tall and over two hundred pounds in weight, she was an intimidating presence. ‘You got a headache, yeah? Dee-Dee, she got something for that.’
‘It’s okay, thanks.’ Lily didn’t trust Dee-Dee’s herbal remedies. She could never be sure what she was being given.
‘You been drinking?’