The Tempestuous Flame

by Carole Mortimer

  ‘That wasn’t what upset me, although I do find it rather hard to believe. It was merely the fact that you were trying to flatter me into falling for your charm.’

  ‘Flattering you? I most certainly was not. You are unusual in your beauty, the fact that you don’t think yourself attractive is unusual in itself. Your hair is like sunlight and silver moonlight entwined together, and you have the creamiest complexion I’ve seen on any woman. And as for your eyes! They’re huge blue lakes that a man could lose his soul in.’

  Caroline put her hands over her ears. ‘No! I won’t—I can’t listen to you.’

  ‘Why not?’ he asked softly.

  ‘Because you—you don’t really mean it.’

  André slowly put down his glass, his eyes holding her spellbound as he came down on the fluffy goatskin rug beside her. He put out one of his strong hands and gently touched her warm cheek. ‘But I do, Caro,’ he whispered softly. ‘I mean every word of it.’

  Suddenly his dark head bent and his lips claimed hers in a manner that could only be described as sensuous. His lips rubbed tantalisingly against her own until almost against her will her lips opened to receive the warmth of his kiss. For long seconds she resisted him, until the urgency of his lips and hands broke down her defences and she found herself returning his caresses with an abandon that surprised her.

  His mouth left her lips to travel seductively down her neck to her shoulder and on down to the deep shadow cast between her breasts. ‘Caro,’ he groaned, his hands travelling under the tightness of her velvet waistcoat to caress the firm pointed flesh beneath. ‘Stop me. For God’s sake, stop me!’

  Caroline was lost in the vortex of their passion and she realised that this was where all their verbal fencing had inevitably been leading to. ‘I don’t want to,’ she told him huskily, her hands unbuttoning the silk shirt that clung to him like a second skin, her fingers exploring the dampness of his skin.

  With a deep groan André reclaimed her lips and she felt his fingers move to the four pearl buttons that were the only fastening to her waistcoat. She knew herself lost, no sign of resistance coming from her. ‘Caro, Caro,’ he muttered her name endlessly even while his lips sought the firmness of her youthful body, taking the tip of one full breast between parted lips. Her groans of pleasure only incited him to more frenzied caresses and she gave herself up to the feelings of intense pleasure that were racking her body.

  It was the shrill insistent sound of the telephone ringing that finally invaded their clamouring senses, and with a groan André raised himself above her still lethargic body and snatched the offending instrument from its cradle. ‘Yes!’ he snapped into the receiver, his eyes still stormy and glazed from aroused passion. ‘Hang on a moment,’ he said, slamming the telephone down on the table. ‘It’s for you,’ he said coldly. ‘Your boy-friend.’

  Caroline was doing her best to refasten the small pearl buttons with hands that shook uncontrollably. ‘B—boy-friend?’ she asked dazedly.

  ‘Matt,’ André replied uncompromisingly, pushing her hands away and fastening the buttons himself. ‘Can’t have you talking to one man when you look as if you’ve just left the arms of another one, even if you have,’ he added cruelly.

  ‘Do you—do you have to mock just now?’ she asked shakily.

  ‘What else would you suggest I do?’ he demanded harshly. ‘Tell Matt to go to the devil as I’d like to do? What happens then? We resume where we left off? I think not!’

  She looked at him with hurt blue eyes, picking up the telephone with shaking hands. ‘Yes?’ she said softly, her senses still aflame with what had almost happened. If her father hadn’t—But he had! And only just in time.

  ‘Caroline?’ Her father sounded worried. ‘Did I interrupt anything just now?’

  She looked over to where André now stood completely composed, a fresh glass of wine in his hand, his expression shuttered. ‘No,’ she said shakily, ‘You didn’t interrupt anything.’ She saw André’s head snap back angrily. ‘Nothing of importance,’ she added hurtfully.

  ‘Oh, only André sounded rather put out.’

  Caroline avoided looking at the other occupant of the room. ‘André just lost something, but it wasn’t really that important. I’m sure he’ll soon find another one,’ she said chokingly.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ He sounded impatient.

  ‘It isn’t important,’ she replied evasively. ‘Did you want something?’

  ‘Only to know if my daughter still has her virginal innocence,’ he said dryly. ‘I trust you have?’ he asked worriedly.

  She managed a light laugh. ‘Which of us don’t you trust?’

  ‘Look, Caroline, I’m only concerned about you. Men of André’s calibre don’t usually enter your safe little world.’

  She was very conscious of André listening to her conversation, and although there was a lot she would have liked to say to reassure her father a lot of it simply wouldn’t be true. André was different from any other man she had ever met, something she had almost discovered to her cost this evening. And it wasn’t even his fault! He had almost begged her to stop him. She sighed deeply. ‘No, you’re right. And I promise that in future I’ll be more careful.’

  ‘In future?’ her father queried sharply. ‘Does that mean something has already happened?’

  ‘No,’ she denied quickly, perhaps too quickly. ‘Nothing that I can’t handle.’ She looked up to meet green taunting eyes and looked away again quickly. ‘It’s getting late now, I think I should ring off.’

  ‘All right. But I want you to call tomorrow.’

  ‘Okay, but I’m not sure at what time.’

  ‘As long as you do,’ he warned.

  There was a long silence after she had rung off, and she twisted her hands together nervously. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said finally, not looking up.

  ‘What did you say?’ André ground out angrily.

  ‘I—I can’t say it again.’

  ‘Then why say it at all? What the hell are you apologising for? The fact that you so nearly gave yourself to me, the fact that your boy-friend interrupted, or the fact that it happened at all?’

  ‘I—I don’t know!’ she cried in anguish. ‘It was so unlike anything that’s ever happened to me before.’

  ‘Oh yes? Then why was Matt giving you the third degree just now?’ he demanded bitterly. ‘It couldn’t possibly be because he was jealous as hell, now could it?’

  She shook her head. ‘No—no, of course it couldn’t. I told you that our relationship wasn’t—isn’t like that.’

  André slammed down his glass. ‘Then what was all that rubbish about my losing something? If you aren’t having an affair with Matt what’s to stop you—’

  ‘Sleeping with you?’ she finished for him. ‘I’ve already told you that I’m not like that. I don’t want that sort of relationship with anyone.’

  ‘And yet if the telephone hadn’t rung there’s no knowing what would have happened,’ he told her grimly.

  ‘I like to think I would have been able to stop in time.’ She blushed in her confusion.

  ‘You like to think be damned!’ He strode angrily to the door. ‘Don’t forget to feed the kitten and make sure she’s warm. I’m going to bed—the company down here is too pure for my tainted body.’

  ‘Oh, André, I didn’t—’

  ‘Go to bed, Caroline. And forget what happened.’

  Forget it—how could she forget it? She tidied away the dirty dishes, washing them and putting them away in the cupboards, all the time sobbing uncontrollably. She fed the tiny kitten and carried it up to the warmth of her bedroom, placing its box before the fire. It looked so warm and comfortable and innocent. Innocent! That was something she felt she would never be again. She fell asleep with the feel of passionate lips and hands on her body and the knowledge that André Gregory could arouse in her passions she hadn’t known she possessed.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  IT was already late in the morning
when Caroline began to rouse, and then it was only the forlorn wail of the kitten that finally broke through the fog of her brain. Her sleep hadn’t been restful and she had tossed and turned until the early hours of the morning when she had finally fallen into an exhausted slumber.

  She leant over the side of the bed to find huge blue eyes fixed mournfully on her face. ‘What’s the matter, my pet?’ she crooned. ‘Are you hungry?’ She threw back the bedclothes and getting out of bed padded over to the chair to pick up her wrap.

  Picking up the kitten, she carried her down the stairs. It wasn’t until Susi was tucking hungrily into a plateful of food that she noticed how quiet it was. The cottage was shrouded in silence. Where was André? She felt panic rise up inside her and rushing into the lounge she began a frantic search of the cottage. André was nowhere to be found.

  She ran to the door to reassure herself that his car was still in the driveway. It wasn’t! Oh God! He surely hadn’t left without seeing her first. The thought was curiously painful, and she found herself wondering just how much she had come to depend on his company during the last few days.

  He couldn’t have gone! He just couldn’t. Not after last night. But he had told her to forget what happened between them last night. Impossible. She would never forget those arousing kisses or the touch of his strong hands on her body. She blushed at the memory of her complete abandon, her surrender to her senses. If her father hadn’t telephoned where would she be now? More to the point, where would André be? She had no doubt that wherever they would have been it would have been together. But where was he now?

  She walked slowly back up the stairs, her thoughts racing wildly. If André had left surely he would have left a message for her. Of course he would. He must have just gone out for the day—after all, she didn’t have any right to know where he had gone. She didn’t own him.

  She dialled her father’s telephone number with shaking hands. ‘Daddy?’ she asked huskily.

  ‘Caroline! You know I don’t like you calling me at the office.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Daddy. I—I just wondered if you’d heard from André?’

  ‘Now why on earth should I hear from him? He’s a big boy now, he doesn’t ask for permission to move. What’s the matter? Aren’t the two of you talking to each other?’

  ‘I don’t know, Daddy. He’s disappeared.’

  ‘What do you mean, disappeared? Have the two of you had an argument?

  Caroline blushed. ‘Not—not exactly.’

  ‘What does that mean? Either you have or you haven’t. Did something happen last night that I should know about?’

  Hardly! What had happened between André and herself was completely private. ‘No—no, but I can’t seem to find him anywhere. I thought perhaps he might have contacted you.’ How weak that sounded! Why on earth should André contact her father, especially as he thought their relationship something it certainly wasn’t.

  ‘Well, surely the poor man doesn’t have to report back to you when he goes out? He’s there to rest, not humour a young girl. He’s probably gone out for the day.’

  ‘Without telling me?’ The words were out before she had time to think what interpretation her father might put on them.

  ‘Caroline, André is my guest, and he has a perfect right to go just wherever he pleases.’

  ‘I know, Daddy, but I—’

  ‘Caroline! Leave the man alone, for goodness’ sake. I’m sure nothing has happened to him. And if you wanted to go out for the day would you tell him?’

  ‘Well, no, but I—’

  ‘You see!’ he interrupted. ‘Now stop panicking. You were behaving strangely on the telephone last night. What was going on when I called you?’

  ‘Nothing,’ she lied. ‘We’d just finished dinner and—’ she broke off guiltily.

  ‘And?’ prompted her father.

  ‘And after you telephoned I went to bed.’

  ‘Alone?’

  ‘Of course alone! What do you take me for?’

  He sighed. ‘My daughter. And I know that if you decided André was the man for you a little thing like the lack of a wedding ring wouldn’t worry you.’

  ‘Daddy!’

  ‘Stop sounding so shocked, Caroline. You’re a big girl now and I’m quite expecting you to suddenly produce a lover. So why not André?’

  ‘Because I don’t like him!’ The words were spoken without thought, and her eyes widened with shock. It wasn’t true any more, she didn’t hate him at all. How could she when she had responded to him so ardently the evening before? ‘Well, not much,’ she amended huskily. ‘And I won’t be producing a lover, ever!’

  ‘I think I must know you better than you know yourself. You’re like your mother, loving and generous-natured.’

  Caroline hadn’t known her mother as she had died giving life to her, but she knew her father had loved her very much, that he still did, and that was why he had never remarried. ‘Thank you, Daddy.’ She knew his words were a compliment.

  ‘But you’re also stubborn and obstinate,’ he continued, ‘like me. And let me tell you that the combination is quite explosive in one woman. I pity poor André. Why don’t you come home and stop annoying the man? It can’t be much fun for him with you trying to be alluring all the time.’

  ‘I am not!’

  ‘Explosive, or trying to be alluring?’

  ‘Either. I’m not using those sort of tactics. I’m only trying to be nice to him.’

  ‘Caroline!’

  ‘But I am. I—’ she broke off as she heard the closing of the back door. ‘Look, Daddy, I think André just came home. I have to go now.’

  ‘But, Caroline—’

  She didn’t wait to hear any more but slammed down the telephone and ran down into the hallway. André had just entered the cottage and was brushing raindrops from his glistening dark hair. He stopped his movements as he saw her, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her. Caroline blushed under that unblinking stare, looking down awkwardly at her bare feet.

  ‘Good morning,’ he said coolly, removing his thick sheepskin jacket to throw it casually over the hall table. ‘It’s lousy out,’ he remarked with a grimace.

  She had been worrying herself silly about him and he came in and made comments about the weather! ‘Where have you been?’ she demanded angrily. ‘How dare you go out and leave me here without telling me where you’re going or when you’ll be back?’

  André’s eyes became like green pebbles and his mouth a thin straight line. ‘Forgive me if I’m wrong,’ he said, dangerously soft, ‘but I wasn’t aware that I’d given you the right to question my movements. Have I?’

  His voice gave the impression of icicles and Caroline shivered involuntarily. ‘Well, no, but I—’

  ‘Have I, Caroline?’ he repeated harshly.

  She shook her head miserably. ‘No.’

  ‘I thought not. Don’t ever speak to me like that again. I don’t know what sort of liberties you take with Matt, but I have no intention of allowing you to walk all over me. No doubt he enjoys it. I don’t.’

  ‘I wouldn’t put the two of you in the same category,’ she said sharply.

  ‘Thank God for that! Caroline, are you going to get yourself dressed or is this another invitation?’ he taunted.

  ‘Another one?’ Her cheeks were fiery red.

  ‘Mm, another one. That’s what last night was all about, wasn’t it? What’s the matter with you? Can’t you do without a man for a few days?’

  ‘W—what do you mean?’

  ‘Surely it’s obvious,’ he ran his hand through his damp hair. ‘Men play a very important part in your life, don’t they? And I mean that in the plural. Matt doesn’t strike me as the type of man capable of coping with someone of your appetites.’

  ‘You’re disgusting!’ she snapped.

  André smiled sneeringly. ‘Because I have you worked out? Don’t be stupid, Caroline. I’m to be used as a substitute, aren’t I? Or maybe even a replacement. After all, Matt
isn’t getting any younger, is he? Play your cards right with me and maybe I’ll take over your expensive upkeep, isn’t that your idea?’

  ‘No, it is not!’ She stared at him wide-eyed with shock. ‘I never thought of such a thing. All I was going to do was—’

  ‘Get me hooked,’ he finished dryly. ‘And believe me, that wouldn’t be too difficult. I find myself responding to you against my will.’

  ‘That’s some admission—from someone like you,’ she added nastily.

  ‘You’re damned right it is! But it isn’t going to work, not now, not ever. I’m too cynical about your sex to be taken in by your little game.’

  ‘So last night meant nothing to you? You were just playing me along, weren’t you?’

  ‘And if I were?’

  Caroline marched past him, intending to go up the stairs and get dressed. She only got as far as the second step when a firm grip on her arm brought her to an abrupt halt. ‘Take your hands off me,’ she said with remarkable calm.

  ‘Not until you’ve answered my question.’

  ‘All right!’ she turned on him. ‘If you were playing with me then you were very cruel.’

  ‘So I’m cruel,’ he dismissed with a shrug of his broad shoulders. ‘I suppose what I’m about to tell you will also seem cruel.’

  Her look sharpened. ‘What’s happened?’

  André gave a mocking smile, moving away from her to remove his damp sweater and reveal the brown shirt he wore beneath it. ‘Why do women always jump to the conclusion that something has “happened"?’

  ‘So what did happen?’

  ‘The kitten’s owner is what happened.’

  ‘Susi? You found her owner?’

  He nodded. ‘I enquired locally and found that six kittens had been born about four weeks ago at a farm down the road. One went missing early yesterday morning. They’ve been looking for it ever since.’

  ‘Oh,’ Caroline slumped down on the stairs. ‘So they want Susi back.’

  ‘Yes. The little girl has apparently been very upset. They have homes for the other five, but Susi was promised to the little girl who lives there.’