He caught a glimpse of Betty’s face as she looked at him over O’Reilly’s shoulder. Her eyes were smiling. But it was a smile without humor as though she knew her taunts had hurt him, and she was not enjoying it.
A moment later, Crystal leaned back in Hal’s arms and said, “There’s Luke with the drinks.”
They moved toward the bar to meet him. Hal took his drink, and Luke led them toward a vacant table in one corner.
“You two dance pretty good together,” Luke said as they sat down, and Hal could tell he was angry.
“Yes,” Crystal said easily. “I think that with some instruction, your little brother could do very well.”
“Let him get his friggin’ instruction someplace else,” Luke snarled. He drained the rest of his drink and stood up. “Right now, I feel like dancing.”
Crystal went with him to the dance floor, and Hal watched her press herself to Luke the way she had to him. He heard a chair scrape beside him and turned to see Cossel and Major Deering. Cossel indicated Crystal’s half-empty glass. “You have company?”
“Luke and Crystal,” Hal said. “If they come back, we can find a couple more chairs.”
“I see that Lieutenant Axley kept her word about coming to the party,” Cossel said dryly. “You must have a fascination I haven’t discovered yet.”
Hal looked at Major Deering sharply. The major hadn’t been surprised at Cossel’s slip when he had called Betty ‘lieutenant,’ which meant that he knew who she was.
“She didn’t come to see me,” Hal said. “I thought she was with the colonel.”
Major Deering was watching the way O’Reilly was dancing with Betty, both arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace. “The colonel had better get here pretty soon, or something could go wrong with his plan.”
“Is she going back tonight?” Cossel asked.
“I suppose so,” Hal replied.
“Not if O’Reilly can do anything about it, I’ll bet,” Deering added.
“She’s going back to London,” Hal said abruptly. “I’ll see that she gets to the train.”
“I hope so,” Cossel said. “We’ve got a mission tomorrow.”
“Speaking of missions,” Deering said, his tone serious, “starting tomorrow or the next day, I want you to start putting in some time in the map room. You’ve got to memorize as many target areas as possible.”
“How can anybody memorize all the targets?” Hal asked. “There must be hundreds.”
“Just the primaries, like Berlin and Peenamunde . . . those in the Ruhr.”
“Is that necessary? We get briefed on the target the day of the mission.”
“I know. But you should be familiar with the areas. You can only do so much on mission morning.”
“Okay,” Hal said. “I’m sold. I’ll be in . . .”
He was interrupted by Cossel’s hand on his arm. “Here comes Betty and O’Reilly.”
Hal noticed that the music had stopped while someone hastily restacked the record player. Without the music blasting, the talk and laughter seemed strained and feeble. It wasn’t a party anymore. It was, instead, a group of men and women trying desperately to forget the grim reality of war.
O’Reilly was holding Betty’s hand, leading her through the stranded dancers toward the table. Luke and Crystal were heading toward the bar. The three men at the table stood up, and O’Reilly pulled two chairs around from another table.
“A very nice war,” O’Reilly said, using his handkerchief to wipe a film of perspiration from his face. He let out his breath in a long sigh. “A very, very nice war.”
Betty picked up Hal’s glass and stood up. “Here’s to the end of all wars.”
She was draining the glass when Crystal walked up. She looked at Betty and smiled. “You think that will ever happen?”
Betty shook her head and blew a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. “No,” she said as she sank back into her chair. “Not until all the brave people are dead.”
“That’s a happy thought,” Crystal murmured with a chilly smile. She turned to Hal. “I came back after my drink.”
“Oh.” He looked at the litter of glasses on the table. “I’m not sure which one is yours.”
“I guess it doesn’t matter.” Crystal half turned away. “I’ll get another.”
Cossel stood up quickly. “I’ll get it.”
“Bring me one, too,” Deering called.
Hal stood up and indicated his chair. “You might as well sit down while you’re waiting.”
“That’s all right,” Crystal said. “I don’t want to take your place.”
“Go ahead,” he insisted. “I’ll get another chair.”
She sat down and, as Hal moved away, he heard O’Reilly ask, “How is Adel? Is he going to be all right?”
He located another chair at a table where three bombardiers were standing with their arms around each other’s shoulders and singing, “Oh, the pilot . . . is just a chauffeur. He takes us there, and then he brings us baaaaack . . .”
When he lugged the stolen chair back to his table, he heard Betty say, “I envy you men. I’d like to fly on one of your missions.”
“You would?” O’Reilly’s eyes took on a speculative gleam. “How would you like to ride with me? You can take Fox’s place.”
Betty smiled at him knowingly. “Wonderful. But who would fly the plane?”
“Autopilot. We have a great autopilot.”
“Don’t get any smart ideas, O’Reilly,” Deering said. “You’ll really get your ass in a sling.”
“Yeah,” O’Reilly agreed. He turned to Betty and patted her arm. “You can do a lot more for the war effort, doll, right here on terra firma.”
Betty looked across at Hal and smiled. “Perhaps,” she said.
Crystal noticed the look and placed her hand on Hal’s arm. “If you want to help the war, why don’t you join the Red Cross or something?” she said, her voice edged with sarcasm. “I know they can use all the help they can get.”
Hal felt his face flush with anger. Why didn’t Betty set Crystal, right? It would be so easy to wipe the supercilious look from her face by telling her the truth. So why didn’t she?
Instead, Betty said with a smile, “Oh, but I am helping. I’m a spy for MI, British Intelligence.”
“Really?” Crystal said. “And how do you manage to coax your information out of the Germans from London?”
“Sorry, I can’t tell you that,” Betty answered. “Confidential, you know.”
Deering laughed and placed his empty glass on the table with a thump. “You better stop right there, Crys,” he said. “We can’t give out any trade secrets.”
“Of course,” Crystal agreed. Then she added a parting jab, “The main thing is to keep the boys happy. And I’m sure you know how to do that. N’est-ce-pas?”
“What the hell is this?” Luke pushed through a knot of officers, sloshing their drinks and raising a wake of curses. But Luke was oblivious to anything but Crystal. He clamped his hand on her shoulder. “I thought you said you were just coming after your drink.”
Crystal did not look up, but her face became set and calm. “I did come after it, darling,” she said. She placed her hands flat on the table as she stared at Luke’s hand, which was gripping her shoulder, his fingers bunching the cloth of her jacket. “Now, if you don’t mind, you’re hurting me.”
“So, I’m hurting you,” Luke retorted. “I didn’t expect you to throw a party over one drink.”
“Luke,” she said. “We’ll talk about it later.”
“The hell with later. You left me standing back there with egg on my face. Come on.”
Her beautiful face did not change expression, but her voice sliced like broken glass. “I’ll be there when I feel like it.”<
br />
“The hell you will. You’re coming with me now.”
“Is that an order, major?”
Luke had been angry before, but now his face was contorted with fury. “If that’s the way you want it, you’re damned right; it’s an order.”
Crystal stood up slowly, her rage matching Luke’s. She turned her back on Luke to look at Hal. “I’ll be needing a ride back to Northampton,” she said to him. “Will you take me?”
Hal was dumbfounded. Why had she put him in such a position? There was nothing he could do. Luke would kill him.
Luke took a quick step forward, grabbed Crystal’s shoulder, and spun her around. “I brought you,” he snarled, “and I’ll take you back.”
“No, you will not,” she answered. “Not after this. Not unless you make it an order, in writing.”
Luke backed away, his face working as he tried to control his voice. “You can go straight to hell,” he said thickly. “And if you want, I’ll put that in writing.” He turned and headed for the bar, shouldering his way through the knots of men who had turned to stare.
Crystal turned back to the table and sat down. Her hand was remarkably steady when she picked up Hal’s drink and drained the glass.
“Well,” Deering said, his voice breaking the tension, “this party has everything.”
O’Reilly shook his head and laughed. “Hot damn! I thought for a minute we were going to have ourselves a fight. And you know,” he squinted at Crystal’s set face, “I’d have put my poke on the blonde.”
Crystal took a deep breath before she turned to Hal and again put her hand on his arm. “You will take me home, won’t you?”
Hal was acutely conscious of Betty’s eyes as she stared at him, and he felt a sense of satisfaction. This would prove that he didn’t need her. Here was the most beautiful, the sexiest girl in the world asking for his company. “Of course,” he said. “I’ll have to round up some transportation.”
“Here.” Major Deering fished a pair of keys from his pocket. “Take my car. It’s out in front. The beat-up Dodge. Just don’t wreck it, and don’t forget you’ve got a mission in the morning, and you ‘leads’ have to get up an hour before the others.”
“Okay,” Hal said. “And thanks.” He picked up the keys and looked at his watch. “If you don’t mind,” he said to Crystal, “we’d better get started.”
“All right,” she answered. “I think I’d like to go now, anyway.”
Hal stood up and held her chair. As he did, he glanced across the table at Betty. She was sitting upright, watching him, her back pressed tightly against her chair. Her face was impassive, composed, but there was a spread of color in her cheeks.
Crystal, once again regally poised, smiled at the group seated around the table. “Good night. Perhaps I’ll see you at the next party.”
She turned and walked away. Hal made a small shrug as though to say that he was a victim of circumstances. “Well,” he said. “Ah . . . goodnight.”
Everyone, even O’Reilly, was silent as he walked away.
CHAPTER 15
Hal found Major Deering’s staff car and held the door for Crystal. They were silent during the drive over the narrow English roads to Northampton. Hal was worried about the inevitable confrontation he would have with Luke. He knew that Luke’s anger could smolder for days. It might flash into violence if he were pushed. More likely, if he was not provoked, it would continue to smolder until something else took its place.
Maybe he could take some of the bite out of Luke’s anger if he could convince him that he was only doing him a favor. It hadn’t been his idea to take Crystal home. He would see her to her door and get back to the base as quickly as possible. It might not be a bad idea to stop by the Club and give Major Deering’s car keys back to him. Luke would probably still be there, and he could see that Hal had returned immediately.
It was almost pitch black in front of Crystal’s apartment, and the street was deserted. He opened the door for her, and they walked up the short flight of stone steps. She didn’t ask if he wanted to come in. As before, she fitted her hand into his and led him into the blackness. Hal wanted to resist. He wanted to turn and run, knowing that if he did not, it could ruin everything. But he was helpless. It was as though the part of him that had control of his will had been drugged with a powerful elixir.
In her apartment, Crystal pulled down the blackout shades before she turned on two small table lamps whose low wattage bulbs created ineffectual pools of light ringed with deep shadows. Then she went into a small kitchen. She quickly returned with glasses half-full of brown liquid. She handed one to Hal.
“I hope you like it without ice. These flats don’t come equipped with refrigerators.”
“If the English can stand it, I guess I can.” He stared at the drink. “What is it? Not bourbon and coke?”
“Canadian Club,” she said, smiling.
“I didn’t know they had it in this part of the world.”
“It can be had. You just have to know the right people.”
Hal sampled his drink and shuddered. “What did you mix this with?” he asked hoarsely.
“Mix? You don’t mix Canadian Club.” She took a long drink from her glass while she studied Hal. “Are you going to make a career of the Army?”
Hall shook his head. “No. I don’t have the temperament for it.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I guess Luke told you I was in college when I enlisted. When this is over, I plan on going back.”
“And becoming what?”
“Well, I’m not sure. I was going to be a teacher. But now . . .”
“You should be an architect. There’ll be plenty of work around here.”
“A good point.”
And,” she said, smiling, “the more buildings you knock over in Germany, the better your future chances for a job.”
“I never thought of that,” Hal said.
Standing before the tiny leaping gas flames in the heater, looking down at him through half-closed eyes, Crystal looked more beautiful than ever.
She moved forward to put her empty glass on the table. Without taking her eyes from his face, she moved her hands to the buttons of her jacket, and Hal stared in fascination as her fingers delicately slid the buttons through the buttonholes, until the last one was forced to release its hold and she slowly peeled the jacket away from her shoulders, her breasts thrusting hard against her pink shirt. She let the jacket drop to the floor and smoothed her skirt, running her hands down the length of her thighs.
She moved easily to the couch and sat down beside Hal; one leg tucked beneath her. She took the glass from his hand and put it beside her own on the low table. She stared at him, a half-smile playing at the corners of her lips.
“Kiss me,” she said. She did not whisper it. She said it, her voice reflecting her certainty.
As though moving in a dream, Hal slid close to her. He put his hands behind her back and bent his head, and her lips came forward to meet his. It was not a tender kiss. Her hands dug into his hair and pulled his mouth hard against hers. It was animal, and it was brutal, but he was shaken and filled with desire.
She stood up and stared down at him, the tiny smile still on her lips that were now even fuller and darkly red. Her hands slowly lifted to the buttons of her shirt, and again she performed the ritual, slowly, exquisitely, watching his face all the while.
Then she dropped the shirt to the floor and reached back to unhook her brassiere. She slid the straps from her shoulders and leaned forward to let the garment slowly slide off her arms. She lifted her head and stared at him, her eyes smoky. Slowly she straightened, pulling her shoulders back proudly, and Hal stared, mesmerized by the perfection of her breasts. She put her hands on her hips and stood in front of him, allowing him to admire her
.
She had wide shoulders and a slender waist that dipped to a flat stomach. Her skin was pale ivory with no trace of tan. Her breasts were large and full, riding high on her chest, like two massive spike-tipped shields. She smiled and gave her shoulders a tiny twist, and her breasts undulated gently.
Then, as Hal watched in hypnotic fascination, her fingers toyed with the small zipper on the side of her skirt. The sound when she abruptly jerked it down was loud in the room, making Hal start. The skirt caught on one hip, and she shifted her weight so that it fell to the floor. She was not wearing a slip, and her legs were long, smooth columns that she lifted delicately as she stepped from the skirt circling her feet.
She kicked off her shoes, and then her fingers worked their way under the waistband of her panties, and again she paused, staring at Hal as though to gauge the depth of his mesmeric fascination before she proceeded.
Satisfied, she began working the panties down her hips, shifting her weight with suggestive wiggles to help the slow descent. Then the white material was sliding down her long legs, and she kicked the panties aside and moved toward Hal.
She sat down beside him and again gave her lips to be kissed, shivering as his hands moved down her bare back, and his lips found hers. Delicately, like a frightened butterfly, her tongue touched his lips and sought the warmth of his mouth.
For Hal, this was beyond a dream. His mind was blessedly caught in a searing tide. He was drowning in love and desire. Here there was no forgetting, no remembering. There was only a blind passion. He was lost in her fire, and he must stay lost. Somewhere on the ragged borders of thought, he was aware of the movement of slender fingers which were pulling and tearing at his clothes.
Then her hands were on his shoulders, and she twisted him atop her and twined her legs around his, locking him in a savage embrace. Her nails raked his back.
“Oh, God, God! I’m ready. Take me, take me!” she moaned.
At the sound, Hal’s eyes flew open. He was suddenly aware of Crystal’s nude body writhing under him. He felt her smooth breasts against his chest, and the urgency of her hips, and cold fear gripped him. No! Don’t think of it. Don’t remember. This was not Susan. This was Crystal. He was in love with her. He wanted her. He willed himself to want her!
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