‘From the clutches of your sticky little fingers, I did. Which leaves my wanting of you unfettered by romantic complications. We still want each other, Reba, and it’s as strong now as it ever was. So don’t kid yourself you’ll find it hard going to bed with me.’
That was a calculated slap in the face, telling her in no uncertain terms that the violent attraction she felt was too powerful to fight. There would have been nothing shameful in the knowledge if she had been free to choose with her heart, or if he still loved her, but neither of those things applied. She couldn’t deny she wanted him, but she loved him too, though God knew why, when he could make the suggestion he had. Yet the heart obeyed only its own rules, otherwise she would hate him, as her brain said she must.
She looked at him, unaware of the sadness in her eyes which made his own narrow. ‘You’ve changed.’
‘You should be proud of your work, Reba. Now there’s one less gullible male around.’
Only a cynical one in his place. She wasn’t proud of that. ‘I think you’d better go.’
Hunter’s teeth flashed as he grinned wolfishly. ‘Oh, I’m going, but I’ll be back. Sleep on what I said. I’ll give you thirty-six hours to give me your answer—after that I go straight to Eliot.’
Reba didn’t have a reply. All she could do was watch him disappear out on to the balcony without a backward glance. Damn him, he had her trapped and she knew it. She could twist and turn, but the result would always be the same. Eliot was lost to her. She knew how he felt about his cousin; he would never stomach the knowledge that she and Hunter had once been lovers. All she could do was save face by breaking off the engagement herself.
But what about her mother’s operation? Perhaps Eliot would still loan her the money? He knew how desperately she needed it. Why, he had even told her she should have come to him. Surely he would accept a business arrangement? It was a slim hope—the only one she had. She didn’t dare think about what she would do if he refused.
Whatever happened, she would never agree to become Hunter’s mistress! It wasn’t even an option, despite the fact that he had offered her the money he thought she wanted. Well, she might need it, but nothing would induce her to accept his terms. Because he was only offering her sex, and sex was no substitute for love. Foolish or not, love was what she wanted from him, and nothing less.
Oh, it would be so easy to give in to the lure of passion, to tell herself it didn’t matter that she was virtually confirming the lie she had told him, and was bartering herself for money. But it did matter, because saying was one thing, doing another. Give in, and he would have no cause to doubt.
No, she would not be accepting his offer, however tempting the siren call was to her battered heart, because she was so terribly afraid that if she did it would devalue her love for him, and the memory of that was all she had to cling on to.
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘I KNOW, why don’t we send a message down to Jacob to make the yacht ready? We’re sure to be much cooler out on the water,’ Eleanor declared over breakfast the following morning when, despite the early hour, the island’s atmosphere was already beginning to resemble a hothouse.
‘That’s a marvellous idea, Nell. You’ll come too, won’t you, Reba?’ Sibyl responded immediately, and Reba had to admit that a day’s sailing would be perfect. She needed to get away from the island, and all chance of running into Hunter. He had given her thirty-six hours, and she intended to use all of them. Who knew? She might even think of a way of beating him.
‘I”d love to,’ she accepted without hesitation.
‘How about you, Eliot?’ Eleanor turned to her brother.
‘Oh, Eliot isn’t a very good sailor. He won’t mind staying behind,’ Sibyl answered for him, and Reba’s heart sank as she knew she should really stay behind with him.
However, Eliot, who had been listlessly picking at his food, looked up quickly. His smile was tight. ‘If Reba wants to go sailing, then I’m going with her,’ he declared, reaching for Reba’s hand and enclosing it in his own.
Sibyl tossed her head and laughed. ‘Isn’t it amazing what love can do? He’d never brave seasickness for me.’
No, thought Reba, wondering why he was doing it now. An ugly suspicion grew inside her that his joining the expedition wasn’t for her benefit, because he knew she loved sailing, but because he didn’t want to let Sibyl out of his sight. She didn’t like thinking that way. It seemed disloyal, which was ridiculous in the circumstances, but she couldn’t help it. He wasn’t responsible for the mess she found herself in and, until she broke the engagement, he was her fiancé and deserved her loyalty.
Unaware of her thoughts, Eliot responded by getting to his feet. ‘Maybe I don’t want to stay here and stifle either. I’ll have a word with Neville,’ he finished, and disappeared indoors in search of the butler.
‘Shall you be coming with us, Aunt Helena?’ Sibyl asked into the hiatus which accompanied his departure. The mood over breakfast had been peculiarly tense, with everyone making too much effort to appear normal.
‘No, dear. You young ones couldn’t really relax with me there. I shall be quite happy here while you four go and have a good time. I’ll have a picnic made up for you, then you can make a day of it.’
That was the cue for them all to leave the table, and they made their way back up to their rooms to get ready.
It didn’t take long for Reba to slip a bikini on beneath her shorts and top, and collect into a bag anything else she thought she might need. She was just leaving her room to go back down to the hall when she heard a sharp cry, followed by the sound of someone falling. Hurrying to the top of the stairs, she was in time to see Eleanor at the bottom, trying to push herself to her feet.
‘Here, let me help you,’ she called, running down and giving the other woman a helping hand. ‘Have you hurt yourself?’ she asked in concern.
‘It’s my ankle. It turned under me. I only fell three steps,’ she explained, wincing at a brief attempt to put weight on the injured leg.
Reba helped her to the nearest seat and knelt down to examine the ankle. It was swelling already. ‘It looks like a bad sprain, I’m afraid.’
‘Oh, damn. That means no sailing for me today.’
Sibyl had joined them by now, and heard her friend’s disappointment. ‘We won’t go. There will be other days for sailing. You agree with me, don’t you, Reba?’
Before she could answer, Eleanor interrupted. ‘Don’t be silly, you must go. There’s no point in us all sitting around just because I was idiot enough to sprain my ankle. I’ll curl up with a book, and you can tell me all about it afterwards.’
She wouldn’t be budged, and in the end they gave in. They made her as comfortable as possible before Eliot drove them down to the harbour. Despite the bad start, Reba felt excitement grip her, as it always did at the thought of being out on the water, hearing the rush of waves beneath the hull and bringing the sail up into the wind to get maximum speed.
It was a while since she had been on a boat—not since…Hastily she brought the curtain down on the memory. That had been the last time she had seen Hunter until just two days ago. She shivered, not wanting to think about Hunter and the ultimatum he had issued. He wouldn’t be with them. For a whole day he would be left behind, and she could relax.
‘You girls go on ahead. I’ll bring the hamper,’ Eliot suggested, once they had stopped, which was how he came to be some way behind them when they walked down the jetty to where the yacht lay moored.
There was one man aboard her, and the size and shape of him caused Reba’s steps to slow. It couldn’t be! But it was. At that moment Hunter looked up from his task to wave. She couldn’t see the smile on his face, but she guessed at the mockery. She would have given anything to turn back then, but with Eliot behind her she had to go on. At her side, Sibyl uttered a soft cry of delight and hurried forward.
‘Hunter! What in the world are you doing here?’
In one lithe movement, Hunter jumped down on to t
he jetty and swung her round in a laughing embrace which threatened to tumble them into the water. It shouldn’t have surprised Reba to realise they knew each other, for they moved in the same circles. All the same, it was a shock. By the time Sibyl was on her feet again, there was the faint hint of colour in her cheeks. A shaft of undiluted jealousy ripped through Reba as she looked on, closely followed by despair. They looked at ease together, happy—everything her relationship with Hunter no longer was.
It was a moment before she realised that she was no longer alone. Eliot arrived in time to witness the greeting. His reaction took her by surprise.
‘What the hell is going on? Let go of her, Hunter! You can’t seem to keep your hands off anything that doesn’t belong to you!’
Sibyl looked to be about to send back a pithy retort, but Hunter squeezed her arm bracingly before he let her go, and took a step forward, arms akimbo. ‘You can only be engaged to one woman at a time, cousin, and, as far as I’m aware, that woman’s Reba,’ he pointed out sardonically, gaze drifting to where Reba stood in a state of near-paralysis. His eyes silently queried whether his statement was still correct, and glittered mockingly when she tipped her chin.
Anger and anxiety made an uncomfortable mix inside her. What was he doing here? He had said she had thirty-six hours to think over what he proposed, but his words had been as much a warning to her as a taunt to Eliot. He wasn’t going to allow her to forget he had the whip-hand, and time was passing.
Eliot seethed angrily. ‘Sibyl is a guest here, and under my protection!’
Hunter looked him up and down. ‘Yeah, and I know how protective you can be!’
Drawn from her own disturbed thoughts by the exchange, Reba saw Eliot turn white. When he spoke, anger had turned to bluster. ‘What are you doing here, Hunter? And what the hell were you doing on my boat?’
As if he had got the response he expected, Hunter smiled. ‘Making ready to sail. You ordered the yacht out, or have you changed your mind?’ he drawled.
Eliot coloured angrily. ‘Where’s Jacob?’
‘Jacob’s hurt his hand, and the last thing he needs is to get the wound infected. As I was here, and I’d nothing planned for the day, I offered to take his place. So, are you going to keep wasting time or are you coming aboard?’
Sibyl glanced round the frozen tableau, then reached out to take Hunter’s proffered hand. ‘We’re coming aboard, of course,’ she agreed, and within seconds was on deck.
Reba stared at Hunter in impotent fury. He hadn’t had to offer at all, but she just knew he couldn’t resist it. Damn him!
‘Well?’
She looked at Eliot, expecting him to refuse, willing him to, but once again he surprised her. ‘Take this and get out of the way,’ he said ungraciously.
Hunter, barefoot and bare-chested, and clad in cutoff denims, took the hamper Eliot thrust at him and jumped aboard effortlessly. His blue eyes drifted to Reba who was still standing on the jetty. ‘Coming?’
He knew as well as she did that she couldn’t be the only one to refuse to go. She was trapped and they both knew it. Stepping forward, she held up her hand, and as she did so her eyes sent him a withering look.
‘If we drown, I’ll sue you,’ she managed to joke, although as far as she was concerned the day was irretrievably ruined. All she could do now was grin and bear it.
The satisfaction on his handsome face told her he knew exactly how she was feeling, and with something approaching a flounce she turned away and took a seat as far away from him as possible. She need not have bothered, for Hunter forgot about her in an instant as he prepared to cast off. She couldn’t help watching him then as he moved about, and perversely it did her heart good to see his lithe grace as he manoeuvred the beautiful craft away from the jetty and headed her out to sea. He had strength when it was needed, and subtlety too, and he used both when controlling a boat or making love to a woman.
She wished she could hate him for what he was doing, or at the very least not love him, but that was impossible. Her heart wouldn’t be dictated to, even in her own defence.
‘Do you know Hunter?’ Sibyl asked from beside her, and she started out of her reverie, colour washing into her cheeks as she wondered what she might inadvertently have revealed.
‘Hunter?’ she parroted, trying to get her brain to work, knowing she must sound like a fool.
‘Hmm. You were watching him with the strangest expression—I thought perhaps you knew him,’ Sibyl expanded, making Reba feel worse.
She managed to shrug. ‘I met him the other night. It wasn’t exactly a pleasure,’ she admitted, almost smiling at the irony.
Sibyl looked amused. ‘He probably made a pass, just to get at Eliot.’
Reba gave a half-hearted laugh. ‘Hunter seems very protective of you,’ she remarked, recalling that brief interchange a moment ago.
The other woman’s face took on a tender expression. ‘I’ve know him since I was little. Hunter’s a great guy, the sort you can take your troubles to. Which is more than can be said for some.’ Her gaze moved to where Eliot was just disappearing below, and there was no mistaking her meaning.
Reba felt as if she was the only one in the dark. Even Hunter seemed to know what was going on, and it was clear whose side he took. ‘Why don’t you like Eliot?’
Sibyl tensed, and the smile she gave was stiff. ‘Surely it doesn’t matter why I don’t like him, so long as you do,’ she responded.
Once Reba would have thought so, but not now. ‘Why didn’t Eliot want Hunter to touch you?’
Sibyl gathered up her bag and gave her a bland smile. ‘You’ll have to ask him that. I’m going down to the cabin to change. Are you coming?’
The subject was closed, but it left Reba unsatisfied. However, right now she had her own problems to think about. ‘I’ll be down in a minute,’ she promised and, when she was sure the other woman was out of sight, she crossed to where Hunter stood at the wheel.
He cast her glance as hot as the sun which beat down on them. ‘Alone at last!’
She was as angered by his quip as by the fact that every nerve she possessed responded to a glance which had been deliberately provocative. ‘What on earth do you think you’re playing at? You gave me thirty-six hours, remember?’ she gritted through her teeth, eyes blazing with fury.
Undaunted, his lips curved into a sensual smile. ‘Just keeping an eye on my investment, tiger-eyes.’
The look curled her toes and nudged her into instant denial. ‘I’m not your investment!’
‘Yet,’ he reminded her, and laughed huskily when she paled. ‘You’d better go and see to your fiancé. He was looking decidedly green just now,’ he prompted, and turned his attention back to the task in hand.
Reba was left staring at his back and shoulders, already gleaming with effort and exuding a tantalising scent which brought back poignant memories and turned her knees to jelly. Time seemed to stand still as she fought an almost overwhelming urge to run her hands over his tanned flesh, to use her tongue to savour the essence of him. The sheer eroticism of it scorched her, but not nearly as much as the flame which burnt in his eyes as he turned and caught her unguarded expression.
‘The sex was always good, wasn’t it, tiger-eyes?’ he taunted softly.
His choice of words brought her to her senses, and with a strangled groan she turned to gather up her bag and stumble below. It was sex now, not making love, and it was a barometer of how his emotions had changed.
She met Sibyl on her way up. Now wearing a dashing yellow bikini beneath a flimsy beach-top, she looked fresh and appealing.
‘Are you all right?’ Sibyl asked anxiously as Reba almost missed a step.
‘I’m fine, I just haven’t got my sea-legs back yet,’ she lied, and took a steadying breath. ‘Have you seen Eliot?’
‘He’s in the master cabin, dying. He said he doesn’t want to be resurrected until we land somewhere. I don’t know why he bothered to come.’
Sibyl’s scorn
made Reba glance at her sharply. Her next words were a shot in the dark. ‘I imagine he wanted to stop you telling me something he wants kept secret,’ she said evenly.
‘He should know me better than that!’ Sibyl retorted, then caught her breath as she realised what she had said.
‘So there is something,’ Reba pounced. ‘Are you in love with Eliot?’
Sibyl laughed, and the tone of it would have been denial enough. ‘I had a crush on him once,’ she admitted calmly, ‘but that passed. If you want to know what we fell out about, I’m afraid you’re going to have to ask him. He might tell you the truth—or he might not. It all depends on how he thinks you’ll react. Eliot likes to manipulate people.’
Reba frowned. ‘In what way?’
The other girl sighed heavily. ‘Oh, hell, haven’t you learnt yet that Eliot always likes to get his own way?’ she demanded, before nimbly climbing the ladder on to the deck.
Reba stared after her, more confused than ever. She couldn’t match up Sibyl’s description of Eliot with her own. He had never tried to make her do anything she didn’t want to do. He was kind and generous, not deserving the kind of hurt Hunter was forcing her to give him. But she wasn’t going to think about that today. Hunter could wait for his victory.
She carried on to the main cabin, but there was no answer to her soft knock, so she left Eliot alone and retreated to the nearest cabin. Stripping off her clothes, she revealed the skimpy black bikini she had chosen to wear. She wished now that she had chosen something which covered more of her, but she hadn’t known then that Hunter would be on board. Sighing, she found her tube of sunscreen and went to join the others.
Sibyl was talking with Hunter, laughing as he gave her a lesson in steering. Reba grimaced at the anger the sight produced, and deliberately turned her back. Coating herself with sunscreen, she spread a towel out and lay down, doing her best to ignore what was going on, although her ears seemed to pick up the slightest sound. Every laugh sent knives into her flesh, and irritably she turned over, exposing her unprotected back to the sun, but too dismayed by her own jealousy to care. Burying her head in her arms, she tried to block the sounds out.
The Bitter Price Of Love Page 11