He was sweeping out the sand and the glass from the rooms. The sea had done a lot of damage, furniture sodden and chairs broken. But a sturdy cane fire was flickering and burning in the open fireplace to dry out the rooms.
"I’ve never used that grate before," Giles grinned. "It was purely for decoration."
"A fireside in Barbados," said Kira. "Whatever next? You’ll be filling hot water bottles for the bed."
"Talking about beds," he said huskily. "It’s a little damp but still intact. Would you care to try it for size?" His voice hovered on uncertainty.
"It doesn’t have to be for size," said Kira, not knowing how she was going to tell him. "I’ve been talking to Jessy."
"And can that lady talk."
"But not always the right things or to the right person. I have to tell you something about your father’s death, which only Jessy knew. However Reuben died, it was nothing to do with Benjamin. He’s innocent of any criminal intention. Benjamin couldn’t walk at the time; a leg injury. He couldn’t have climbed those steps."
"I never thought. It was a rumour. All those tongues wagging. But no-one ever knew the truth."
"Forget it, my darling. The truth is in the past and not for us, you and me, to carry as a burden. And again, for us, about Dolly’s wedding; Tamara was Benjamin’s true daughter and there can be no doubt about it. There’s physical proof. No doubt at all."
She heard his sharp intake of breath. Giles put his arms around her and she lay with her face against his chest, not moving. "Do you mean that? There’s no doubt? What do you know?”
"Absolutely, one hundred per cent. We are not related in any way at all, except by bonds of love. Truly Dolly loved Reuben and they made love that night, but he did not give her a child. Never, ever. On the morning of her wedding, she began a period and Jessy found her, crying, not knowing what it meant. She knew nothing about periods, poor girl."
“Are you sure?”
Kira nodded. “Jessy would not make it up. She’s an honest woman.”
“So Tamara was not my step-sister?”
“Never. She was Benjamin’s child.”
"Those sad lovers, Dolly and Reuben," said Giles, lifting her up in his arms and carrying her through to the bedroom. There was another fire burning in the grate, a gaping hole in one wall and through it she could see and hear the murmuring sea. "Their happiness was so short-lived. Ours will be different, Kira darling. Ours will go on forever."
His lips touched her soft skin and she felt her senses being aroused. Her hands betrayed the passion which had been dormant for so long. She felt the warmth of his body through the material of his shirt, breathing in the musky scent of his skin.
He drew her so gently to him, his arm supporting her, slow and silent. She seemed to be carried along in some delicious and heady emotion, his kisses touching her cheek, his warm breath on her face.
"I love you, my darling. Yes, I love you so much." His voice wrapped her in lightness and she ached for more.
She moved closer to him, asking him without words to take off her clothes. He drew the T-shirt over her head and unfastened her bra. With a small cry, she let his mouth touch her breasts, the surging so soft like a wild bird fluttering. She drew him nearer, moving together, loving him, amazed at their perfect harmony. She let him take what he wanted, to bear over her, hard and fierce.
But he was still careful, so tender, caressing her bare flesh, mindful of her tiny cuts and bruises. Her breath caught on a sob as his thumb brushed her nipples and there was no mistaking their growing, frenzied desire. His fingers went to the soft moistness between her thighs.
Kira could not deny this love. It came to her with a clarity that was electrifying. What was happening to her? This maddening, transcendent desire was beyond any coherent thought and she did not care. Winning and caressing, they were together. He was her destiny.
She could hear the sea washing the whiteness of the beach, see flakes of sunlight lanced across the ceiling. This was her island and she would never leave it.
She came to him with an eagerness as strong as his own. She glowed with her overpowering love for him and had a vision of a love that would last forever. It would take them together anywhere, like untouched souls. This would be a paradise indeed.
Hurricane Erica veered towards the sea, as capricious as ever. Her power was waning and she needed to feed on the energy from the temperature of the underlying ocean. The island had survived her battering. Erica took her savage winds into the vast Atlantic, eventually to blow herself into oblivion and be lost among the wind pattern of the upper hemisphere.
ABOUT STELLA WHITELAW
Stella Whitelaw began writing seriously at the age of nine. She was ill with measles when her father gave her an Imperial Portable typewriter. Covered in spots, she sat up in bed and taught herself to type.
At sixteen, she became a cub reporter and worked her way up to Chief Reporter. She was the first woman Chief Reporter, the youngest, and the only one who was pregnant.
After producing a family, she became Secretary of the Parliamentary Press Gallery at the House of Commons. Secretary then meant the original meaning, Secretariat, the keeper of secrets. She was awarded an MBE in 2001 but is not sure why.
Like Trollope, she wrote books on the train and in the recesses. The Jordan Lacey PI series is her favourite and the cruise crime books. Her big romances, No Darker Heaven and Sweet Seduction, were a marathon adventure.
Stella has won a woman’s magazine national short story competition and the London Magazine’s Art of Writing competition judged by Sheridan Morley. The Elizabeth Goudge Cup was presented to her at Guildford University.
Homeless cats find their way to Stella’s lifelong hospitality and she has written eight books of cat stories for those 7 – 70 plus.
• • • • •
Get in touch with Stella
Stella Whitelaw (http://www.stellawhitelaw.co.uk)
Tirgearr Publishing (http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Whitelaw_Stella)
• • • • •
Thank you for reading Sweet Seduction.
If you liked this story, please log into Tirgearr Publishing (http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com) and Stella’s website for upcoming releases.
OTHER BOOKS BY STELLA WHITELAW AT TIRGEARR PUBLISHING
LUCIFER’S BRIDE
ISBN: 9781301573219
ASIN: B00BTN9NJ6
Available: March 2013
A Cornish summer wedding with a deadly twist.
Fiona Kimberley was a spoilt, self-centred young woman, hungry for money and social status. So when she is found murdered on her wedding day - mere minutes after declaring her vows - it comes as no surprise to anyone in the small Cornish town of Porthcudden that there is a lengthy list of suspects. Fiona had alienated many people in her short life, all of whom were present at the wedding, and all of whom had the means, and the motive, to exact revenge on the beautiful bride. From an aged aunt to the best man, the family gardener to the groom's father - all had reason to want the young Fiona dead. The question is, who had the nerve to see it through?
NO DARKER HEAVEN
ISBN: 9781301737192
ASIN: B009AE7KS2
Available: September 2012
Lyssa Pasten is torn between loving two men -- Matthew Arnold, her new fiancé, and Jethro, Matthews often-absent father.
Lyssa and Jeth fight against their mutual attraction for Matthew's sake and the sake of her small daughter, Bethany, who has a very rare disorder called RAS (renal artery stenosis).
Hollow House, the Sussex family home, becomes the backdrop for drama and pain, passion and delight.
When Jeth suddenly goes missing, Lyssa knows she has to follow her heart and find him.
is book with friends
Sweet Seduction Page 23
