Sins of Sarah

by Anne Styles

  'I'm fine, Cress, just glad it's over.' Sarah sighed. 'You and Nick were right. James was a great help.'

  'I just wish I knew where I stood with him.' Cress looked unhappily across to the shower room door. 'I love him so much, Sarah.'

  'I'm sure he feels the same about you,' Sarah comforted her.

  'I wish I was as convinced! Oh, Nick said he would be back in a minute. He went to get the dogs, so you'd better try and get James out of the shower.'

  'I'm out,' James announced. 'Stop maligning me, woman! We should have shared it, Sarah!' 'Don't push your luck, Willoughby.' Sarah winked at Cress and disappeared into the shower.

  'Come and help me get dressed?' James suggested to Cress, when the door was safely shut.

  'Dressed or undressed? In your dreams, buddy boy! I'm hungry. Get a move on.'

  * * *

  Despite the fact that they had been naked on a bed all afternoon, Sarah felt quite shy with James, and went into the dressing room to dress and make up, reappearing only as Nick came back with the two dogs at his heels.

  Even though Cress and James were watching, and teasing, he swept Sarah into his arms without any hesitation.

  'You were just sensational!' he told her. 'Poor old Lenny had a hard-on all afternoon - and he's a veteran!'

  'He wasn't the only one!' James rejoined with a grin. 'Sorry, Cress, but it was the most frustrating afternoon I've ever had.'

  'I'm delighted to hear it.' Nick looked down at Sarah. 'If you tell me you're starving, I'll strangle you!'

  'What?' Cress queried, staring at Nick's obvious pleasure in the girl he was holding.

  'Private joke!' he assured her. 'How about a steak at the pub? Mary tells me she has some half-decent claret in the cellar, and no one does a steak au poivre like she does.'

  'Great!' James hunted around for his shoes. 'I definitely will admit to being hungry, and Cress certainly is. We'll drive down - if she brought my car back in one piece!'

  'Oh, it's fine,' she assured him. 'I only got one parking ticket!'

  'We are going.' Nick laughed cheerfully at James's howl of protest. 'The walk will do us good.' They cut through the woods and Nick threw sticks for the dogs as they walked. 'How the hell did you achieve that last shot?' he asked curiously, as he lifted her over a fallen branch, reluctant to let her go.

  Sarah paused, then reached up to touch his mouth with her fingertip. 'I thought of you, making love to me the other night. It just happened then.'

  'Oh, Sarah!' Nick ached for her as he held her. 'I think this is going to be the fastest meal on record. It's indecent the way I want you all the time.' Her dress, a short, slim denim, chosen for him, had buttons down the front, and he unfastened the top ones, sliding a palm under her left breast, lifting it free of the lacy bra to touch it with his lips. 'I wanted to kill James at times this afternoon,' he admitted, his voice heavy with desire.

  'As you keep telling me. Nick, it was just a job,' Sarah reminded him sweetly. 'And thank God at last it's over!'

  Reluctantly Nick refastened the buttons. 'If I hadn't had that damn dog with me, I would've stopped off at the hotel last night,' he said reflectively.

  'After all you said about keeping this quiet?' she chided, then laughed as she saw Boots lift his leg against a tree. 'I see what Cress and James meant about your dog, he just can't pass a tree!'

  'Boots sees every tree as a personal challenge.' Nick grinned. 'Wait till we walk back, after he's had a pint of beer.'

  'Beer? You're joking!'

  'Not about that! He's renowned for it in our local at home. Don't look at me - he's Diana's dog and she's spoilt him since the day she got him. He's supposed to be a hunting dog, but all he hunts are my shoes and the contents of the larder!'

  'Surely he'll grow out of it?'

  'He's five now, and he just gets worse. He and Hoover make a good pair - as daft as each other.' He caught Sarah's arm as he pointed out a rabbit the dogs had completely missed, crouched terrified and motionless in the bushes a few feet away from them. 'That shows how stupid they are!'

  * * *

  With the thought of Nick making love to her again Sarah had hoped that the meal would be a swift one. Somehow, though, it didn't turn out like that. James was in good form, as happy as Sarah that the afternoon was over, and Nick relaxed in his company, though he rarely took his eyes from Sarah during the entire meal.

  He is in love with her. Cress realized, watching, and seeing Sarah's rapt expression as Nick and James discussed a film they had worked on together. Her heart went out to Sarah, knowing just what havoc Nick could wreak if he really got to her.

  They both refused brandy when James offered it, Nick was clearly ready to go. 'I must go and see Alex and Dave for a minute,' Sarah cried gaily as Nick insisted on paying for the meal, and left them to run over to the bar where the two men were drinking.

  'She's a real cracker!' exclaimed James with a wicked smile at Nick. 'Are you going to walk her back to her car, or shall we take her?'

  'I'll do it.' Nick said firmly. 'And stop looking so po-faced, Cressida, it's far too late for that! You worry about James behaving instead.' He went to retrieve the dogs from the pub yard, and was frowning slightly when he met them at the door. 'Did you see the guy talking to Dave and Alex as you came through the bar by any chance?' he asked James, puzzled.

  James looked back to check. 'Didn't particularly, but now you mention it he does look familiar.'

  'My thoughts exactly, but I can't place him.'

  'It'll come to you - at the wrong moment,' James laughed, and opened the car door for Cress. 'Bye, now. Sweet dreams!'

  With the dogs firmly on leads. Nick and Sarah walked along the village street towards the back gate of the house. Quite by chance. Nick looked back as he unlocked it and spotted the man from the pub standing in the road by his car, watching them. Even as he paused to let the frantic dogs loose the car drove slowly past the gate, and the realization hit him. 'That guy! He's a reporter on the Unicom! he exclaimed furiously. 'He's obviously digging for something nefarious or he would have gone through the press office.'

  'Probably heard we were shooting a nude scene,' Sarah said, worried. 'That's the sort of thing the Unicorn love. They couldn't have got any photographs though, could they?'

  'No chance.' Nick was quite sure of that. 'The rushes went to London with our own courier and they'll be watched all the way through processing. The only other photographs are the ones I took, and they're quite safe.'

  'Well, there's nothing else to report on.' Sarah shrugged. 'Unless they're chasing James and Cress.'

  'It's possible, I suppose, but it could've been you and James they're after. I just get jumpy about anyone from the Unicorn.'

  'Ronnie told me you'd had trouble with Maxie.'

  'Is there anything Ronnie doesn't know?' He laughed, then his face changed. 'Never talk to Maxie, Sarah. He is always bad news.'

  'It's a pity we went to the pub, then,' she suggested. 'I hope that man didn't overhear any of our conversation.' Nick laughed, then paused to kiss her deeply, and at length.

  'I can't really sneak about with you, can I? I did consider taking you away for the weekend, but finding somewhere discreet enough at such short notice would be almost impossible! Luckily Charlie is away till Sunday, so Hastings is the safest place to be.'

  'The curse of Do or Dare,' she told him. 'The papers think I've never grown up.'

  'I had no idea children's programmes created so much interest, or that the presenters were so sexy!'

  Reminded of Peter, Sarah was silent as they walked, throwing sticks for the dogs, only breaking the silence when they met the road leading to the house, and the house itself came into view. 'Oh, I never tire of the sight of that house!' she breathed. 'Charles is so lucky to own all that!'

  'Marry him,' suggested Nick casually, remembering his conversation with Charles, and knowing now that he was safe. 'It would all be yours.'

  'How on earth could you suggest that?' she demand
ed, hurt. 'You're planning to sleep with me, aren't you?'

  Nick stopped and took her by the shoulders. 'I'm teasing,' he reassured her. 'Though I'm not really good news for you, Sarah. You realize that, don't you?'

  'Stop lecturing me. Nick!' she said sharply. I've thought about everything you said but at the moment I don't think it matters very much.' It will, she thought I'm sure it will, but not now - please, not now. 'And, unlike you, Charles is quite old-fashioned - not my type at all.'

  'At least he's single!' Nick said, and kept his arm possessively around her as they walked the short distance to the house. 'We'll go in through the kitchen, then I can shut these two up.' He seemed to have keys for the whole estate, she thought, watching him unlock the doors.

  'Basket, hounds!' he commanded, and the two dogs scampered for their baskets without protest. Sarah hugged them both as Nick drew a bottle of champagne from the huge fridge. 'Boots can open most doors.' He smiled as he shut the kitchen door firmly. 'I don't really want him leaping on us.' 'What about Mrs Johnson?' Sarah asked nervously.

  'She'll have gone to her own flat by now,' he assured her. 'We have the place to ourselves, I promise.' He led her to the drawing room, opened the champagne and poured it for them. 'Just one more thing - give me your car keys. I'll go and put your car away just in case anyone is prowling around.' Sarah fished her keys out of her handbag.

  'My bag's in the boot, if you think I need it!'

  'Well, you might need a toothbrush!' He touched her cheek briefly with his lips and went out to move the car.

  Standing at the window, Sarah watched the floodlights suddenly switch on as the evening light became night-time. The lake was bathed with a golden glow as the stone bridge rose over it majestically in the light, the white geese like a mass of white flowers scattered on the surface.

  '"Sweet, goodnight. This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet"' She spoke the words aloud, remembered from her RADA days.

  "'Oh! wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?'" quoted Nick softly from behind her. Startled she turned to him.

  '"What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?'" she re-turned, laughing, as the lines came back to her.

  'Quite a lot, I hope!' He took her into his arms. 'I directed Romeo and Juliet at Oxford,' he remembered. 'You would have been about three at the time!'

  'I'd love to play Juliet,' she said wistfully. 'But then I suppose most actresses would.'

  'Not many have your advantages,' he told her, unbuttoning her dress to reveal one of them. He was unhurried as he touched her, his tongue lazily exploring her mouth. His whole aim was to relax her and break down any barriers that still remained from her experience at Gerard's hands. 'Let's go for a swim,' he suggested then.

  'What? Now?' Sarah thought regretfully of her hair.

  'Why not? Indulge me? I've longed to see you swim naked,' he confessed, smiling down at her.' How about it?'

  'If you let me wash my hair afterwards,' she challenged. 'Since Ronnie has only just sorted it out.'

  'I promise.' He lifted her up and carried her effortlessly along the corridor to the pool, laughing as she clung round his neck, her dress half undone.

  He only switched on the underwater lights. 'That's quite enough,' he said, and pulled towels from the cupboard before turning back to her. Sarah let her dress drop to the floor, then hesitated as he came to kiss her. 'Too many clothes,' he teased her, stripping off the rest of them.

  Her hands went to his shirt, pulling at the buttons. 'You've been looking at me naked all afternoon,' she said softly. 'It's my turn to look at you.' Nick laughed, kicked off his shoes and then shrugged out of his shirt and jeans.

  'Is that better?' he asked as he scooped her up and carried her into the water.

  It was warm, and as he let her go she floated gently on the surface before she began to swim lazily across the pool. After a few minutes she began to enjoy the sensual feeling of the water on her naked body, and started to tease and provoke him as she moved through the water. Nick swam alongside her, his tanned body pale under the lights, the dark hair of his chest and legs looking even darker. He seemed almost menacing, with his height and the width of his shoulders, and she turned to him, reaching out for him to hold her.

  Swimming with her in his arms to the shallow end, he laid her on the steps, cradling her against the hard surface as he plunged into her.

  'Put your legs around me,' he ordered her, and she obeyed him instinctively, clinging round his neck, her hair floating around them in the water. They slid down into it as he climaxed, and surfaced, laughing and spluttering, gasping for breath.

  'Nothing like trying to drown me!' she told him, giggling. 'And you haven't even got me into bed yet!'

  Nick lifted her up, as he had asked James to do, and kissed her body as he slid her down.

  'It's only a matter of time,' he said. 'Let's rinse your hair quickly. I'm not very patient.' Sarah had never washed her hair so fast, as she did, then, tilting her head back to let the shampoo rinse out as Nick sluiced the water through it, and she revelled in the sensual feel of his hands on her hair and body before he wrapped a towel round her.

  'You have five minutes to dry it,' he said. 'Go upstairs, I'll have to turn the alarms on. Penalty of country house living, I'm afraid.' He had taken her bag up to his room, and she quickly found her dryer and ran it through her hair on the hottest setting, brushing it out frantically. By the time he appeared, bringing the champagne they had abandoned, it was almost dry.

  'That'll do,' he said, running his hands through it and pulling the towel away from her.

  Sarah felt no alarm now at standing naked in front of him. She knew that since the afternoon those days had gone for ever. She leant back against the dressing table, meeting his eyes steadily as he reached out to slide his palms slowly up from her waist, exploring, using the heel of his hand to lift and knead the fullness of her breasts.

  Slowly, tantalizingly slowly, he grazed the nipples with his thumbs, bringing them to new life as he did so. He heard the swift catch of her breath as he lowered his head to them, but she made no move as his lips closed over the now taut nipple and she felt the steady pull of his mouth.

  Bracing herself against the edge of the dressing table behind her, she felt the lift of his loins under the towel he had thrown around his hips, and then felt his hardness pressing against her stomach, and still she stayed motion-less, her breath coming in soft gasps as the pressure of his mouth increased. Nick was a master with his tongue, and she was almost passing out with the sensations he was inducing. Gradually the feeling grew, to the point where she had to touch, had to touch him as he was touching her, and she reached out to pull at the towel.

  'No,' he said softly. 'Not yet.' But he did lift her and carry her to the bed. 'We have all night to make love,' he told her, 'and there are many ways to do it. I'm going to find out exactly what you like, and then I'm going to teach you how to please me.' He felt her shudder with anticipation as he said it.

  'Last weekend, I hated you,' she said reflectively.

  'And I was worried you'd run away. I'm so glad you didn't.' Sarah closed her eyes and dreamily gave herself up to his hands and mouth, to the searching, probing tongue that so quickly reduced her to a state of quivering sub- mission. No longer afraid of him, or her body, she made her own demands then. Not with words, but in her movements, her wild cries of pleasure and her hands gripped in his hair, pressing his mouth even closer as he tasted the moist warmth between her thighs.

  He paused a moment to let her drink the champagne he had brought, but teasingly drew a finger, wetted by the liquid, around her throbbing nipples. 'Can you die of pleasure?' she gasped as he played with her.

  'Not yet, please,' he laughed. 'We've hardly started! Your turn now.' He moved then, gently persuading her to make love to him.

  Hesitantly at first, she tried, and then with more confidence as she heard him groan at the touch of her tongue, wrapping lengths of her
hair around his hands as he encouraged her onto him. She could taste him still as he lifted her so that she was astride him, and he could reach up and touch her when she leant back, the length of him deep inside her as he thrust up into her. Quickly she learnt to lift away from him, drawing back only to bring herself down again, hard onto him, until he could bear it no longer and threw her onto her back, thrusting without any thought of anything but his own need and satisfaction. Her shuddering scream of climax triggered his own and they finally collapsed, breathless, in a tangle of limbs and Sarah's hair, unable to move from sheer exhaustion.

  Less than a week after screaming abuse at him and about him, Sarah lay in Nick's arms, her sweat mingling with his, unable to deny him anything he asked of her, scarcely able to believe such a complete capitulation was possible. Or that she could still want him again. But she knew then that she did, over and over again.

  'No regrets?' he asked her softly, when they were finally still and on the brink of sleep.

  'None at all.' Her voice was heavy with fatigue.

  He smiled in the darkness and hugged her tightly against him, and the disturbing thought of Diana came to him as he too drifted on the verge of sleep. An affair on location didn't count - they all told themselves that. He tried to convince himself that the last few hours had meant nothing to him, but they did and he knew it.

  * * *

  Sarah woke finally to find herself alone in the huge four-poster bed. Nick had first woken her with gentle kisses long before dawn, and they had delighted in the sleepy coupling that had come without any preliminaries - just an instinctive need for each other - before they had drifted back to sleep again, still wrapped together in the tangle of blankets.

  Stretching and yawning, she woke slowly in the luxurious knowledge that she had the day off and that she was sharing it with Nick. There was time now to appreciate the beauty of the room. The softly understated chintzes gave it the air of having been like that for centuries, yet with its thick carpets and generous draperies it had a feeling of modem luxury about it too. A wonderful room to be seduced in, she thought gleefully, by a man who was, indeed, even in her limited experience, sensational in bed.