The Valentine Affair

by Lyons, Mary

  ‘All right... all right!’ she snapped, furious at having been rumbled so easily. ‘Why don’t you just shut up and concentrate on your drink while I boot up the computer?’

  ‘Ah, that sounds far more like the Alex Pemberton I know and love,’ he murmured sardonically.

  ‘Oh...get lost, you rotten man!’ she retorted with a reluctant grin, and sat down at her desk, concentrating on the work in hand.

  Just under an hour later, Leo finished reading through the latest draft of her article. ‘It’s drivel, of course.’ He shook his head in weary resignation. ‘But I suppose it will have to do.’

  ‘It’s hardly likely to win the Pulitzer prize,’ Alex agreed with a shrug. ‘But, if I’m truthful, I have to admit that it’s a lot better than anything I could have written on my own, without your help.’

  ‘Well, for my part, I have to say that I’m surprised how quickly you’ve managed to produce the damn thing. I fully expected that we’d be at it all night.’

  ‘Thank you for those few kind words.’ She grinned, and glanced down at her watch. ‘It may not have taken all night, but it’s certainly very late, and I expect you’re anxious to get home. Which reminds me...’ she added with a slightly guilty smile. ‘I completely forgot to thank you for returning my car this morning.’

  Leo shrugged. ‘It was no problem. My local garage are always very helpful.’

  Yes—I bet they are! she thought grimly. In fact, it probably costs him a fortune, continually having women’s cars towed away from outside his glamorous apartment. And then, quickly realising where her stray thoughts were leading, she swiftly pulled herself together.

  ‘Well, as I’ve already said, I’m very grateful for your help,’ she told him, rising to her feet. ‘I’m sure you must be wanting to get home now, especially if it’s still snowing,’ she added, assuming an efficient. businesslike air, tidying the papers on her desk and turning off the main overhead light as she waited for him to leave.

  But the damned man seemed to be in no hurry to go. In fact, if anything, he seemed to be leaning back even further in his chair, clearly quite happy to continue making himself at home.

  The soft light from a nearby lamp cast shadows over his handsome features, suddenly seeming to give him a wolf-like, almost saturnine expression, which made her feel suddenly apprehensive and breathless.

  ‘Considering the circumstances, it’s turned out to be a very pleasant evening,’ he drawled. ‘I’m in no hurry to rush outside into the snow.’

  ‘Well, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you will have to face the elements,’ she said firmly, determined to keep this highly disturbing relationship as businesslike as possible. ‘It’s late, and I want to go to bed.’

  ‘What an excellent idea,’ he agreed smoothly, rising slowly to his feet.

  He didn’t move as he stood before her, but all at once the atmosphere of the dimly lit room appeared to become highly charged with an unmistakable, claustrophobic air of sexual tension. Her throat seemed suddenly parched and dry, her heart pounding like a sledgehammer as she was engulfed by a sudden mad, crazy urge to be clasped tightly in his arms. A totally insane impulse, which she swiftly and ruthlessly crushed without mercy.

  ‘I’m sure you’ve got better things to do than to hang around here,’ she told him coolly, amazed that she was managing to sound so calm and collected as she walked out onto the landing.

  But once again, as in his apartment last night, she had badly miscalculated the speed at which this man could move.

  One moment there was a good ten feet between them and the next she found herself imprisoned within his arms, her breasts crushed against his hard chest. Almost without thought, she instinctively tried to jerk herself away backwards, the force of the action bringing her spine into jarring contact with the wall behind her.

  ‘You said you wanted to go to bed. Believe me...so do I!’ he murmured thickly, his arms tightening around her like bands of steel.

  ‘Forget it! You’re nothing but bad news,’ she cried huskily, desperately twisting to try and free herself from his embrace. Unfortunately, she realised from the darkening gleam in his eyes, and the sudden hardening of the thighs pressing her so closely to the wall, that her struggling body was exciting him.

  ‘Stop...stop this at once, Leo,’ she protested breathlessly. ‘This is crazy...absolutely insane! Besides, you’ve no right to do this—not when you’re engaged to be married to Fiona Bliss.’

  ‘And if I wasn’t going to marry her...? Would you still turn me down?’

  “That’s not a fair question. The fact is you are engaged and...and that’s the end of the matter,’ she gasped, her trembling figure filled with the familiar sick excitement which she’d felt every time she’d found herself in this man’s arms. Staring, mesmerised, up at his mouth, every fibre of her being ached with longing for his warm, sensual lips to be pressed tightly to her own.

  The blood seemed to be pounding in her veins, her heart beating so fast that she was certain he must be able to hear iL Oh, Lord! What was happening to her? She couldn’t possibly be still in love with Leo? Surely not after all these years...?

  ‘Please...please leave me alone,’ she muttered helplessly.

  ‘I only wish that I could,’ he murmured wryly. ‘But it’s damn nigh impossible, when I can feel you melting and trembling so invitingly against me; when you say one thing while your body says quite another...’ he breathed thickly, lowering his dark head to brush his mouth over her trembling lips, his hands sliding down over her thin silk shirt as he sensually caressed the soft curves of her breasts.

  ‘If you can look me in the eye and tell me—quite truthfully—that you don’t want me to make love to you, then I’ll walk down the stairs and out of your life,’ he muttered huskily. ‘But I don’t think you can tell me that, Alex. Because it’s not the truth, is it?’

  He was right, she realised with despair. Never in all her life had she wanted anything so badly as she did this man. She couldn’t seem to prevent herself from responding to the demanding possession of his lips as he kissed her once more, or the potent urgency of the hard, muscular frame pinning her to the wall. Her hopeless, breathless pleas for him to stop soon became an inaudible moan beneath the melting sweetness and soft seduction of his lips.

  ‘Well...?’ he demanded hoarsely.

  ‘Oh, Leo...!’ she sighed with helpless resignation.

  One part of her mind knew that she would come to bitterly regret her decision, but it seemed she had no choice other than surrender to a force far stronger than anything she had ever known before. Slowly winding her arms up around his neck, she pulled his dark head down towards her.

  As their lips met once more, deep shudders shook his tall figure, before he quite suddenly and literally swept her off her feet.

  ‘Where’s your bedroom? Hurry up!’ he demanded hoarsely of the girl in his arms, who appeared to be in a complete daze. ‘If I have to waste time kicking in all the doors—I’ll be forced to make love to you here, on the stairs.’

  ‘I thought you could find any woman’s bedroom...just like a homing pigeon coming to roost!’ she giggled, waving him towards a room at the end of the corridor. It seemed as though, having finally capitulated to this man’s overwhelming attraction, all her fears and worries had suddenly disappeared, and she was now feeling quite extraordinarily lightheaded, as if high as a kite on champagne.

  ‘Damned cheek! It’s high time I taught you some manners,’ he growled in rough, unlover-like tones as he strode swiftly down the passage into her room, quickly switching on the light before lightly tossing her down onto the bed.

  ‘Oh, yeah?’ she laughed. ‘You’ll be lucky!’

  ‘You’re right—I’m definitely a very lucky man,’ he agreed quietly, swiftly stripping off his clothes as he gazed down at the glinting blue eyes and soft, trembling lips, the thick mane of fair, sun-bleached hair, and the high, firm breasts of her slim figure.

  Even lying dishevelled on the bed,
Alex looked totally enchanting as she smiled shyly up at him, and Leo knew that he’d completely and utterly lost all sense and caution. There was no way he could hope to exert control over his emotions, which were now adamantly refusing to respond to the tight rein he’d struggled to hold them with during the past few days.

  ‘Leo...?’ she whispered, suddenly feeling nervous, despite the heady stream of almost overpowering excitement flowing through her veins as he joined her on the bed. ‘Are you quite sure that this is a good idea...?’

  ‘Oh, yes. After waiting eight long years, I’m now quite...quite sure!’ he murmured huskily as he pulled her towards him, burying his face in her thick mane of sweet-smelling fair hair.

  Alex felt as if she was in a trance, savouring the heat of his body, through the thin layer of her silk shirt and the masculine, musky scent of his cologne as his lips moved softly over her forehead, pressing warm kisses on her eyelids, before trailing down to delicately touch a corner of her lips.

  With tantalising slowness he explored her soft mouth with gentle, sensual kisses that set the blood rushing through her veins. His moist, firm lips gradually became more insistent, his kiss deepening as he sensuously and erotically explored the inner softness of her mouth. She felt as if she was drowning, drifting way out of her depth, as she buried her fingers convulsively in his dark hair, dizzily responding to the fast, irregular beating of his heart so close to her own. the increasingly urgent hunger in his lips.

  ‘My sweet, lovely Alex...’ he breathed thickly, his hands moving over the swelling curves of her breasts and thighs before swiftly undoing the buttons of her silk blouse. She trembled with pleasure at the touch of his warm fingers on her flesh, frenzied shivers of excitement gripping her stomach as she felt the moist heat of his lips kissing the deep cleft between her soft breasts.

  Locked in passion, she hardly noticed his slow removal of her clothes, only conscious of responding with voluptuous delight as his lips traced their passing with lingering, sensual pleasure. There was no part of her that did not respond to him, her whole being vibrating in response to the highly erotic, electrifying sensations engendered by his mouth and hands as they caressed every inch of her soft flesh.

  ‘Oh, God—Leo...!’ she gasped, her body suddenly turned to molten fire, burning and craving his possession as she arched wantonly against his hard, muscular form, her total abandonment inciting his own arousal as she sobbed his name in a mindless refrain, before the intense, tingling excitement which had been filling her body suddenly exploded deep within her.

  A deep, husky growl was torn from his throat as he quickly parted her thighs, her sweet moistness enveloping his fiercely thrusting manhood. Beneath the urgently propulsive, rhythmic force of his strong body, she became a wild creature that matched him in the elemental, wildly primitive storm of passion that totally possessed them both, pleasure exploding yet again and again inside her, until, all passion spent, she floated slowly back down to earth within the warmth and comfort of his strong embrace.

  Later, as they lay quietly entwined together, with her head cradled on his arm and his lips buried in her fragrant fair hair, Alex thought that she couldn’t ever remember having been so happy. Or so emotionally fulfilled. Drowsily, almost on the verge of sleep, a name suddenly began flashing urgently in her weary brain.

  Oh, Lord—Fiona! And, even as she realised that they must talk about his engagement to the other girl, she suddenly recalled Fiona’s words about preferring horses to most human beings, that the exhilaration of riding over jumps across country was better than anything... far better than sex. And she remembered just how astonished she’d been to learn that Leo wasn’t particularly good in bed.

  But...but that had to be nonsense! She wasn’t an expert on the subject, of course. But Alex had absolutely no doubt that Leo was a truly superb lover. So why...why had Fiona been so dismissive? It simply didn’t make sense...

  The slight, puzzled shrug of her slim shoulders roused Leo, whose arms tightened about her. As his lips trailed slowly down over the long line of her neck to taste the sweetness of her breasts, she heard him give a dry grunt of amusement.

  ‘God knows what you do to me, my darling, but it seems I can’t keep my hands off you,’ he murmured, teasing her body with his fingertips in a tantalising, feather-like touch that left her breathless with desire.

  ‘Leo...!’ she gasped helplessly a few moments later. ‘No, really... there are things we must talk about.’

  ‘Yes, I know,’ he sighed, drawing her firmly back within his arms. ‘I’ve never really apologised to you for what happened during that disastrous night in Tuscany, have I? I think I was too ashamed...too distressed...’

  ‘No, I didn’t mean...I wasn’t thinking of Italy,’ she muttered quickly. ‘I meant...’ But she was prevented from saying any more as his lips possessed hers in a quick kiss.

  ‘They say confession is good for the soul, and it’s time I told you the truth,’ he murmured as his mouth left hers, and he pulled her closer to him as he lay back on the pillows.

  ‘I was twenty-three at the time, and had my own circle of friends. So I’ve never been able to understand exactly why I began taking notice of the tall, slim and gawky sixteen-year-old who’d come out to stay with my family that summer.’

  He was silent for a moment before she felt him shake his head. ‘I’ve never been able to find a rational explanation for why I first became mildly interested, and then highly intrigued, to discover what made that young girl tick. It’s only now, with hindsight, that I realise that there must have been a very strong, fierce bond of sexual attraction, which I was just too young and callow to understand at the time. And it’s not surprising that I was so blind and unable to understand my own emotions...’

  His shoulders shook with wry amusement. ‘Because your appearance was certainly very different from that of my usual girlfriends.’

  ‘I did look a fright, didn’t I?’ she sighed.

  ‘Yes, my darling, I’m afraid you did,’ he agreed with a low rumble of laughter, and leaned over to kiss her once again.

  ‘But, once I’d looked past that punk, strangely aggressive exterior, I became...well, possibly “captivated” is the right word to describe my feelings for a girl who, despite all her problems—especially with my mother!—refused to sink beneath a sea of troubles. In fact, I became fascinated by the way in which you managed to stand up and hold your own in a very difficult situation.’

  This was such a different view from how she’d seen herself at the time, that Alex had difficulty in matching the two portraits of herself. ‘But I was absolutely terrified of you all,’ she murmured. ‘And though, of course, I’d fallen madly in love with you—just the sort of mad crush that I suppose is normal for a young girl—I think I found you, Leo, the most frightening of all.’

  ‘Well, I know that I certainly didn’t behave very well. On the one hand, the difference in our age meant that I normally wouldn’t have been seen dead taking any notice of such a young girl. But, on the other hand, I couldn’t seem to leave you alone. And then...’ He gave a deep sigh. ‘Then my mother proceeded to go completely off the rails.’

  He gave another, heavy sigh. ‘I love my mother, of course, but there’s no way I can find any excuse for her behaviour towards you. When I returned to the villa that day, and found out what had been going on in my absence, I nearly had a blue fit. But, although I got you out of jail as fast as I possibly could, the damage had been done.

  ‘And who could blame you for hating and loathing every single member of my family?’ he said bleakly. ‘It was because I wanted to offer some restitution, some comfort to a girl who’d been treated so disgracefully, that I came to your room that night. And, well... you know the rest. To put it bluntly, Alex, once I’d put my arms around you—I instantly lost all control of the situation. And the fact that I finally, at the very last minute, managed to pull myself together and get a grip on life hardly reflects any credit on my behaviour at the time.
’

  ‘I thought...I thought you found me disgusting. I was so sure that...’

  ‘Absolutely not!’ he assured her quickly. ‘I was disgusted with myself! I was overcome with horror that I could so easily have taken the innocence of a young girl who’d not only been a guest in my stepfather’s house, but also shamefully treated by my mother. Believe me,’ he added with a shaky, mirthless laugh, ‘I’ve never been so near to slitting my own throat as I was later that night. Which is why I left the villa so early the next morning. I’ve no-excuse for vanishing in the way I did. I was so full of shame and self-loathing that I just wanted to put as much distance between us as possible.’

  ‘I do understand, Leo,’ she told him gently, thankful to be released from the burden which had lain so heavily on her all these years.

  ‘No, I don’t think you do,’ he said slowly, the sadness in his voice almost wringing her heart. ‘I think I said earlier that this was a confession—and so it is. Because, although I returned eventually to the villa, ready to face any and all recriminations which you might throw at my head—and fully aware that I owed you a deep apology—it was to discover that you had returned to England. And I have to say, although it hurts me to do so, that I took the weak and cowardly way out of the situation by doing absolutely nothing.

  ‘I could have made an effort to contact you, once I’d returned to England, after the holiday. And there have been plenty of opportunities, during the past eight years, when it would have been possible to locate your whereabouts and to offer my sincere if belated apologies for what had happened in Italy. But, as we both know, I did none of those things. I merely got on with my life and conveniently forgot the hurt I’d caused you. And then, eight years later, you suddenly appear in my office. My God...! I can tell you that I nearly had a heart attack when you told me your name!’

  ‘Oh, darling, please don’t torture yourself like this,’ she cried. ‘Everything that’s happened is now well in the past. Surely it’s only the here and now that matters?’