Sensual Encounter

by Carole Mortimer

  ‘Was it because you didn’t think I knew who you were?’ she rasped.

  ‘Darling—’

  ‘It was,’ she realised flatly. She had woken with the knowledge that Jared had issued that last instruction for a reason, and as she lay beside him for the last hour waiting for him to wake up she had known what that reason was; he truly believed she hadn’t known the name of her lover! She could see the truth of that now in his face as consternation washed over him. ‘We’d just made beautiful love together and you didn’t think I knew who you were?’ Her anger was obvious, her eyes flashing like molten gold.

  ‘Darling, it wasn’t like that—’

  ‘Wasn’t it?’ she scorned. ‘I happen to think it was! God, I offered then to tell you about Brian, but you didn’t want to listen. Now I don’t know if I should tell you anything! You didn’t say my name either at the end, you know,’ she snapped. ‘I could have been any one of those women you—’ Jared’s hand gently but forcibly over her mouth silenced her.

  ‘I love you, Katharine Mary Collier,’ he told her throatily. ‘And I’m sorry if anything I said last night hurt you. I didn’t mean it to.’

  ‘No?’ She wasn’t mollified.

  ‘Darling, please let’s not argue,’ he cajoled as she still burned with anger. ‘We’re together now, isn’t that all that’s important?’

  ‘Why did you came back last night?’

  ‘I couldn’t stay away,’ he told her simply.

  ‘And just how did you get in here?’ she frowned.

  He grinned. ‘The same way as last time—Ben. I told him I’d been telephoning you for hours but could get no answer, that I was worried about you. He let me in, I checked that you were safely asleep in your bed, assured him you wouldn’t mind my staying the night in your spare room, and then—’

  ‘Proceeded to wake me up,’ she put in dryly. ‘I really must have a serious talk with Ben, he can’t keep letting strange men into my flat!’

  Jared moved with a swiftness that left her breathless, above her before she knew what he was doing, pinning her beneath him. ‘Strange man,’ he corrected fiercely.

  ‘I’m glad you can admit it,’ she mocked, her eyes full of mischief.

  ‘Tormenting woman!’ he grimaced. ‘But I’m sure Ben wouldn’t have let me in if he weren’t still convinced I’m your brother.’

  ‘Gill thinks the same thing too now. Well, I could hardly tell her you’re my lover after the cold way you left earlier,’ Kate told him irritably as he frowned, pushing him away from her, swinging her legs out of bed to stand up, pulling on her robe and securing it tightly. ‘I think we should talk now, Jared,’ she avoided his troubled gaze. ‘And I can’t even think straight when you’re near me like that.’

  ‘Do you have to?’ he groaned, falling back against the pillows, his arm thrown back over his head.

  ‘Yes, I have to.’ She moved forward to callously pull back the bedclothes, forcing herself not to be affected by the smooth, lean beauty of him. ‘I’ll go and make some coffee.’ She walked calmly to the door. ‘Join me in the lounge when you’re dressed.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am,’ he drawled, looking at her with mocking eyes.

  She gave a mocking laugh, although her laughter faded as she made her way to the kitchen. The way they had made love might have solved a lot of the problems between them, but they still had a lot to sort out, not least of all Jared’s distrust of her. She might have accepted his excuses a few minutes ago, but his lack of faith in her still rankled. They had a lot of talking to do today, a lot of decisions to be made on her part.

  She was sitting on the sofa when Jared came out of the bathroom to join her, his hair still damp from his shower, his black shirt and trousers moulded to the muscular contours of his body.

  He rubbed his jaw ruefully as he sat opposite her, the growth of beard there rasping against his hand. ‘You don’t appear to have a razor I could use,’ he grimaced.

  ‘In the bedroom.’ She sipped her coffee, pushing the other mug across the tray towards him. ‘It’s electric,’ she explained.

  ‘With your permission I’ll use it later,’ he nodded.

  Kate eyed him curiously. ‘Where are your own things?’

  ‘At—at a friend’s.’ He seemed to amend his first frank reply. ‘Shall I collect them later?’

  Her head went back at his evasion. ‘We’ll have to see, won’t we?’ She sighed, putting down her half empty mug of coffee. ‘First I think I should tell you why Brian was here last night.’

  ‘I told you, that isn’t necessary,’ Jared said tightly, suddenly giving her a sharp look. ‘Unless you intend to go on seeing him?’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Then you don’t owe me any explanations. I don’t have the right to ask for them.’

  ‘I gave you that right last night!’ Kate chewed on her bottom lip. ‘Brian’s visit here was—unexpected.’ She sought about in her mind for the right words, an explanation that would satisfy both Jared and herself; there were five years of loyalty to Brian to dispel even now. ‘His marriage to Coral is in difficulty, and he—he—’

  ‘Wants to come back here,’ Jared finished tautly.

  ‘Yes.’ She flushed her anger. ‘But until he turned up here yesterday I hadn’t seen him for three months. There’s been no affair between him and me behind Coral’s and Richard’s backs.’

  ‘And now?’

  She could sense he believed her, but that her next answer mattered more to him that anything else. And she wanted to be totally honest with him, with herself too. ‘At first,’ she breathed deeply, ‘I felt—pleased that he wasn’t happy with Coral, that it was what he deserved, then I felt—I felt saddened that he’d made such a mess of his life.’

  ‘And when he told you he wanted you back?’ Jared watched her with hardened eyes, making no effort to drink his cooling coffee.

  ‘Again I felt pleased.’ She stared sightlessly across the room at the far wall. ‘I—It felt good to know he wanted me again, that he couldn’t do without me.’

  ‘I see,’ Jared rasped, his voice like gravel.

  ‘No, you don’t,’ she turned fiery eyes on him. ‘As he kissed me—’

  ‘God!’ Jared stood up forcefully, moving to stand in front of the window, his back rigid as he looked out but didn’t see.

  Kate didn’t move, not even looking at him, but staring down at her bare feet. ‘He didn’t make love to me as you accused last night, but he did kiss me—and all I could think of was that he had no right to do so, that he had made his decision and chosen Coral, and that I didn’t want any other man but you to touch me ever again.’ Now she did look at him, her love shining in her eyes as he slowly turned to look at her in return. ‘It’s true, Jared—as he kissed me I knew I couldn’t go through with marrying Richard, that it was you I wanted. I finally convinced Brian that I was no longer interested in him, and when he’d gone I realised it was you I was in love with.’

  ‘And then I stormed in ranting and raving like a lunatic,’ he groaned, very pale beneath his tan. ‘God, what must you have thought of me?’

  ‘I thought that all I wanted was for you to come back to me,’ Kate admitted with frank honesty.

  ‘Even after I—after I—’

  A wan smile curved her lips. ‘I thought we’d settled that last night. We might have been a little rough with each other, but the result was still the same, beautiful pleasure. Besides,’ her smile deepened, ‘I may have a few bruises to show for last night, but I seem to remember seeing some nasty scratch marks down your back this morning.’

  ‘War wounds,’ Jared shrugged. ‘Are you really going to break your engagement to Richard?’ He sounded anxious.

  She nodded. ‘As soon as he gets back from France.’

  ‘What I said last night about him and Madeleine Duval didn’t influence your decision at all, did it?’

  ‘No,’ she lightly dismissed his anxiety. ‘Although if it is true it could make things easier when I tell him I can�
��t marry him. Is it?’

  Jared looked uncomfortable, moving restlessly back across the room with long strides. ‘I don’t know,’ he admitted. ‘It could be, he usually spends time with her when he’s in Paris.’

  ‘According to rumour,’ she mocked dryly.

  ‘Yes,’ he grimaced. ‘Although he could just as easily be spending all his time working.’

  ‘You bastard!’ she said with cheerful indulgence.

  He smiled. ‘I’ve had that said to me before.’

  ‘Probably because it’s true.’ She met his smile with one of her own. ‘But I love you, anyway.’

  ‘Thank God for that.’ He pulled her into his arms. ‘Now can I bring my things over here?’ He buried his face in her throat.

  ‘I’ll come with you to get them if you like.’

  ‘No! Er—no,’ he repeated in a calmer voice. ‘I’ll go over later, when you’re at work.’

  ‘A woman, Jared?’

  His mouth tightened. ‘I told you, no. It’s just—you may not approve of my friends.’

  ‘I’m sure I won’t,’ she agreed lightly. ‘And you’re right, I do have to get to work now.’

  ‘Right now?’ he groaned, his body already aroused as he moulded her curves to his own, his lips caressing her throat.

  ‘Right now,’ she nodded, although she was aware her words lacked conviction. ‘I’m seeing Colin Harkness later today.’

  ‘How much later?’ he growled.

  ‘This afternoon, actually,’ she revealed slowly, knowing by the wolfish grin he gave her that he had the perfect way for her to pass the morning. She couldn’t imagine anything more perfect herself. ‘Aren’t you pleased?’ Her arms went up about his neck, her fingers lacing in the thick darkness of his hair.

  ‘Aren’t you?’ he taunted as she arched against him.

  Kate laughed huskily. ‘You have a grey hair,’ she told him impishly, singling out the grey hair at his temple.

  ‘What do you expect?’ he said with amusement. ‘It’s aged me ten years chasing after you!’

  She moved out of his arms, her hips swaying with a natural grace as she went to the bedroom. ‘You shouldn’t have let me escape in the first place,’ she turned to tell him impudently, her eyes glowing with mischief.

  Jared quickly followed her, closing the door firmly behind them. ‘I didn’t let you do anything.’ He deftly unbuttoned his shirt, throwing it uncaringly to the floor. ‘You ran out on me,’ he remembered grimly, the rest of his clothes quickly followed his shirt.

  Kate’s breath caught in her throat at the male beauty of him, her hands shaking slightly as she removed her robe to slide beneath the tousled bedclothes, her arms opening in welcome to him as he quickly joined her. ‘You could have come after me then,’ she murmured, playfully biting his earlobe.

  ‘It would have been better if I had.’ His hand sought out her left one, pulling it out into the light of day, his angry gaze fixed on the diamond ring she still wore. ‘Then you would never have worn this damned thing. Ever.’

  Kate could tell by the vehemence of his tone that he was still deeply angry about her engagement to Richard. ‘I’ll take it off—’

  ‘No,’ he bit out harshly. ‘Wear it until you give it back to him. That way I’ll know—’ he broke off with a groan, kissing her fiercely.

  ‘You still don’t trust me, do you, Jared,’ she realised as his mouth left hers to rain searing kisses down her throat. ‘I will finish with Richard, I promise you that. It’s you I love.’

  ‘Show me,’ he groaned shakily. ‘Show me how much you love me, my Katharine Mary.’

  She could easily hear the uncertainty in his voice and knew that it was going to take a long time to convince him of her love. And after all the things she had said to him in the past that wasn’t surprising! She began to kiss him as if she never wanted to stop.

  * * *

  ‘I gather he called some time last night,’ Beryl remarked early that afternoon, bringing in the mail for Kate to read.

  Kate knew that she glowed with an inner happiness, that her eyes shone like the brightest gold, that her mouth had a perpetual curve. But she felt so happy, so much in love that she couldn’t seem to stop smiling. When she had left the flat half an hour ago, reluctantly, Jared had still been in bed, declaring he was too exhausted to get up!

  ‘And I didn’t mean Richard,’ Beryl drawled as she received only a starry-eyed look in reply to her statement.

  Some of Kate’s exhilaration faded. ‘Has he telephoned at all this morning?’ A worried frown marred her brow.

  ‘No.’

  Relief shuddered through her; she wasn’t looking forward to her confrontation with Richard at all.

  ‘I’ll be old and grey by the time you put me out of my suspense,’ Beryl groaned.

  ‘Sorry.’ Kate gave the other woman a bright smile, deciding there would be plenty of time to worry about Richard once he was back from France.

  ‘Well, did he call or didn’t he?’ Beryl demanded in exasperation.

  ‘Not exactly. He—he came to see me instead,’ Kate explained hastily at the other woman’s frustrated sigh.

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Just—oh?’ Kate quirked mocking brows.

  ‘Oh,’ Beryl nodded. ‘And I’m relieved I didn’t telephone your flat this morning to see if you were ill,’ she grimaced, preparing to leave the office.

  ‘So am I,’ Kate grinned. ‘A very disgruntled male might have answered!’

  ‘That’s what I thought,’ her secretary said dryly. ‘Don’t forget your appointment with Mr Harkness at two o’clock,’ she warned on her way out.

  As if she could forget it! Kate had been battling with herself for the last hour over whether or not she should inform the dour Mr Harkness that Richard was no longer going to become her husband. The fact that she knew he had helped her to get the contract meant that she should really tell the other man, although she hadn’t spoken to Richard yet, and he ought to be told. first. She also knew that she was capable of doing the job without the backing of Richard’s influence. Nevertheless, she felt professionally torn.

  In the end the decision was taken out of her hands.

  ‘It’s Mr Harkness on the telephone, Kate,’ Beryl buzzed through to her office about fifteen minutes later just as Kate was preparing to leave for her appointment with him.

  She frowned. ‘Put him on,’ she replied in a distracted voice. She was supposed to be seeing him in his office across town in twenty minutes, so why bother to call her now? There seemed to be only one answer to that. ‘Good afternoon, Mr Harkness,’ she greeted him coolly.

  ‘Miss Collier,’ he sounded as abrupt as usual, ‘I’m afraid I have to cancel our appointment for this afternoon.’

  That was what she had been afraid of. ‘I see,’ she replied guardedly.

  ‘Something has come up that requires my urgent attention, so I’m afraid we’ll have to make our appointment for some time next week now.’

  Was it her imagination or was that triumph she heard in his voice? ‘Monday?’ she prompted stiltedly.

  ‘Just a moment.’ He seemed to be taking time to consult his diary. ‘Not Monday, I’m afraid. Perhaps one day later in the week?’

  ‘When?’ she persisted, having been fobbed off enough in the past by this man.

  ‘Let me see,’ he murmured thoughtfully. ‘Wednesday, four o’clock?’

  That was five days away, but it didn’t sound as if she had any choice in the matter! ‘Wednesday will be fine,’ she accepted distantly, and rang off with a rueful sigh. What was that saying, ‘Bad news travels fast’? It certainly seemed to have done so this time. She had only known herself last night that she would have to break her engagement to Richard, she would be interested to know who Colin Harkness’s informant was. Because there could be no other explanation for this sudden cancellation of their appointment. Colin Harkness had heard of the precariousness of her engagement and was waiting to see which way things went. She was well
aware that was the ‘something’ that had come up so urgently to prevent Colin Harkness seeing her this afternoon; she just wished she had been able to sign the contract first. Whether Richard was to be her husband or not couldn’t detract from her capabilities.

  As she wasn’t to go out after all she did her best to catch up on the work she had neglected this morning, tidying away promptly at five despite her late start to the day, needing to pick up a few groceries now that she had a permanent house-guest.

  Jared wasn’t at the flat when she arrived home, although when she went into her bedroom she saw his case and rucksack on the floor in there, and there was a smile on her face as she went back to the kitchen to unpack her shopping.

  She had showered and changed into denims and a loose linen blouse, her hair loose down her back the way Jared liked it, the chicken in the oven cooking in a delicious mushroom sauce, when she heard the flat door close, Jared using the key to get into the flat that she had given him only that morning.

  She ran excitedly out of the kitchen to go and greet him, stopping in her tracks as she looked at him, at a Jared she had never seen before. Used to seeing him in faded denims and equally casual shirts and tee-shirts, she had some difficulty in assimilating this new Jared with the old one. A navy blue pin-striped suit, the waistcoat taut against his flat stomach, a silk shirt beneath this, a navy blue tie knotted meticulously at his throat, the black shoes on his feet looking handmade, were all a little hard to take in, the contrast too much.

  ‘Jared …’ She stood dazedly in the kitchen doorway, a drainer spoon held uselessly in her hand, forgotten as she had run to meet him.

  He seemed to notice her for the first time, for a moment looking as startled as she did. Then he put down the black leather briefcase he had been carrying to come towards her, kissing her warmly on the lips. ‘I wasn’t expecting you to be home yet,’ he murmured against her throat. ‘Dinner smells good,’ he sniffed appreciatively.

  Kate still gaped at him. He was almost a stranger to her dressed like this, his appearance coming as a complete shock to her.

  Jared laughed down at her softly as he saw her stunned expression. ‘Surprised?’ he drawled.