CHAPTER EIGHT
BUT Leila didn’t sleep for very long. The knock that awoke her after about an hour was Jason’s.
‘I just wanted a little chat,’ he told her as she opened the door. ‘I’m driving to the airport straight after dinner and it’s a little difficult to talk, with Blaize in his present mood.’
‘Is he still hostile towards you?’
‘Only when you’re around,’ Jason said drily. ‘It seems you and he have pulled off some fantastic coup this afternoon. But he’s like a bear with a sore head whenever you and I are in the same room.’
‘Come in,’ she invited with a sigh. There were two armchairs in her room, and they sat down in them. The evening sky was violet-blue outside the windows, a cool breeze starting to lift the oppressive summer heat of the day.
‘This hasn’t been a very pleasant break for you,’ she said guiltily, ‘and it’s all been my fault.’
‘Nonsense. Anyway, there’ll be other weekends.’ His shrewd brown eyes assessed her pale face. ‘You don’t look too happy yourself, Leila. Are you allright?’
'Just a little tired.’
‘Blaize is obviously overworking you,’ he said disapprovingly. ‘That’s a symptom of his high regard, by the way. He only slave-drives the people he really respects.’
‘I doubt whether Blaize respects me,’ Leila rejoined, shaking her head.
‘Oh, you’re the best thing since sliced bread.’ Jason smiled. ‘I’ve never heard him so enthusiastic about anyone. He’s just been telling me how bright and perceptive you are. He thinks all the world of you. The best secretary he’s ever had, in fact.’ He looked at her downturned face. ‘You don’t look very pleased to hear that.’
‘Oh, I am,’ she said, rousing herself with an effort. ‘I like to think I’m doing my job well.’
An efficient secretary. That was all she was to him.
‘I can see the feelings are reciprocal,’ Jason said in a softer voice. ‘Though, in your case perhaps they go a little deeper. Am I right?’
‘Oh, he’s a super boss,’ she said with a bright smile.
But her false cheerfulness didn’t fool Jason.
‘Leila, Leila,’ he sighed. ‘You haven’t fallen in love with him, have you?’
‘Of course not!’
But he hadn’t missed the way her eyes were suddenly wet, either. ‘Damn,’ he said softly. ‘I’d give anything to stop you from being hurt, Leila. But I’m afraid you’re going to be.’ He leaned forward to lay his hand over hers. ‘Blaize is going to marry Katherine Henessey,’ he told her gently but firmly. ‘I’ve been speaking to Katherine today. They’ve already set the date, in fact she’s downstairs with Blaize now, discussing it. No matter how much he respects you as an employee, it doesn’t go deeper than that. It never could.’
‘I know,’ she said tightly.
He was silent for a long time, giving her space in which to wrest back control of her emotions. ‘Blaize Oliver isn’t the only man in the world,’ he said at last, looking out of the window. ‘There are other people, maybe not too far away from here, who feel very strongly about you…’
She shook her head in mute answer to his words. She could never love Jason. She could never love any other man, Not after Blaize. ‘I’m sorry, Jason,’ she whispered. ‘Truly, I am.’
‘So am I,’ he said heavily. ‘It seems both of us are in the same sort of fix.’ He heaved himself upright, as though his big frame were suddenly too heavy. ‘Are you coming down to dinner?’
‘I don’t think so.’ The thought of being with Blaize and Katherine and the children at the same table was unbearable. ‘I’m―I’m not too hungry, I think I’ll skip dinner.’
He looked down at her. ‘Well, so long, Leila. I hope I’ll see you again, soon. Do I get a goodbye kiss?’
She gave him one, on the cheek, and he grimaced wryly at the cool salutation.
‘Take care.’
‘You too.’
He walked out, leaving her to her solitude and grief.
There was another knock at her door, hours later. She emerged from her book to call, ‘Come in!’
It was Tracey, looking very timid, and carrying a tray.
‘I thought you might be hungry,’ she said, putting the food down. ‘You weren’t at dinner…’
‘Oh, Tracey!’ She couldn’t stop herself from hugging the girl. ‘That was a very sweet thought.’
Tracey clung to her as though she were a rock in a stormy sea, and Leila realised she was crying. Poor child, she thought with a lump in her throat. How we adults make you suffer …
‘I can’t stay long,’ Tracey sniffled. ‘If Katherine knows I’m up here, she’ll throw a fit. She thinks I’m taking this food to Terry.’
‘And what will Terry do for his dinner?’ Leila asked with a smile.
‘I’ll take him something else, later, when the coast’s clear. He knows what I’m doing, and he doesn’t mind waiting a bit for his dinner.’
Leila touched the girl’s cheek. ‘I’m sorry things have turned out so miserably, Tracey.’
‘It’s not your fault. It’s Katherine.’ Tracey’s pretty mouth quivered as she said the name. ‘She’s the one who made Dad tell you to keep away from us.’
‘Did she? That doesn’t surprise me,’ Leila said quietly.
‘I used to think she was so wonderful. But she’s not. She’s evil.’
‘Don’t say that!’
‘She is! And now Dad’s going to marry her.’ A distant door opened, and Tracey jumped to her feet in alarm.
‘I wish he was going to marry you,’ she said, in a broken voice. ‘I thought you were going to make us unhappy, but you’re the only one who really loves us-all of us!’
Before Leila could answer, Tracey had hurried out of the room.
The doctor pronounced Terry finally over his measles after his visit on Thursday. That evening, Blaize announced that he was taking Terry and Tracey on a trip up to the mountains on the weekend.
Katherine, to Leila’s rather bitter amusement, angled in vain for an invitation to accompany them on the trip.
Blaize was determined that this should be an outing just for the three of them, and he gently but firmly turned down Katherine’s heavy hints.
That, in turn, made Katherine all the more spiteful towards Leila.
For the past week, Leila had been as quiet and humble as she knew how to be. She’d immersed herself in her work, had kept clear of the children, despite her aching heart, and had behaved towards Blaize with all the respect and distance due to an employer from his secretary.
She had also done her best to keep out of Katherine Henessey’s way. Not satisfied with her victory over the weekend, Katherine liked to rub Leila’s nose in her humiliation, never missing a chance to drop some cutting remark, never missing an opportunity to give Leila some unpleasant little task that emphasised her lowly position and confirmed Katherine’s own place as mistress of Blaize’s household.
‘You don’t mind checking all the linen for me?’ she’d suggested. ‘With all those guests, everything’s in such a muddle. Mrs Saunders is so old that I’m thinking of retiring her, and one can’t trust the housemaids, and you have such an orderly mind…’
Leila knew that if she’d complained to Blaize about the jobs Katherine gave her, she could have got out of doing them. But she preferred to spend two hours checking the linen, or whatever else Katherine commanded, and keeping Katherine happy, rather than risk another row, with its inevitable effect on the children.
Katherine, she had long since realised, was an expert at using the children as a lever to get what she wanted.
That was why she was always so attentive towards them, because she knew that they were the key to Blaize’s trust.
She had obviously made an especial attempt to get close to Tracey, but Leila had noticed that Tracey’s slavish adoration of the older woman seemed to have faded over the past week. There was no answering warmth in her towards Kather
ine any more, and, though the teenager hardly spoke to Leila-at least when there was anyone to overhear-she was even cooler towards Katherine, to the point that Katherine grew snappy with her.
The atmosphere was growing heavier and more ominous by the day. It was almost a relief when Blaize and the children left for the mountains on Friday morning, and Katherine went back to her villa, leaving Leila with the rest of the staff to spend the weekend in peace.
She’d finished all the typing on their schedule by Saturday lunchtime. In the afternoon, she plugged the extension phones in by the poolside, and spent a deliciously lazy afternoon with Lucy, the governess, just sunbathing, swimming and dozing.
Sunday went much the same way. They had the great house all to themselves, and it was pleasant to feel her taut nerves unwind, free of both Katherine’s nagging malice and Blaize’s potent effect on her.
Except that she was already missing him. Wondering what he was doing. Wondering whether he was thinking of her, as she was thinking of him …
They weren’t back by dinnertime, and had obviously decided to spend another night in the mountains. It would be bliss, Leila knew, for the children to be alone with just their father for a change. A real family outing, for once in their lives.
But she couldn’t help the pain of missing him from swelling inside her, and she longed for his return. Was everything really all right? Perhaps there had been an accident, perhaps …
She dismissed her stupid fantasies impatiently.
She and Lucy watched television after dinner. They couldn’t make much of the Spanish film that was on, nor of the sport on the other channels, and Leila ended up going to bed early.
Her sleep was restless and uneasy, filled with the sound of Blaize’s voice and the image of his face.
Some hours later, she surfaced again, as if sensing a presence beside her bed.
It was long after midnight. She rolled over drowsily.
‘Hmm?’
‘I didn’t mean to wake you,’ a deep voice said softly.
‘Blaize?’ she questioned, sitting up in bed to face him.
‘Don’t shout,’ he hushed her, reaching out to touch her lips with his fingers. ‘You’ll wake the whole house up.’
‘What time is it?’
‘One-thirty a.m.’
‘Is everything all right?’ she asked anxiously, straining to see his shape in the darkness. ‘You’re very late. I was getting worried.’
‘The damned car broke down on the way back.’
‘Oh, no!’ She fumbled for the bedside light, and switched it on. In the golden light, she blinked at him anxiously. ‘I knew something had gone wrong!’
He was wearing jeans and a sweater, and he looked ravishingly handsome. He smiled. ‘Well, I’m enjoying the concern, but luckily it wasn’t too far from civilisation. We were able to walk to ‘an inn, and ring for a replacement car from Lerida. It took ages to arrive. That’s why we’re so late. But there was no real problem. We had dinner and sat by a log fire while we waited.’
Leila pushed the blonde hair away from her eyes.
‘Trust you to land on your feet. It sounds rather a nice sort of adventure for the children.’
‘It could have been much worse.’ His hand had reached out, stroking her face, and she snuggled her cheek into his palm, revelling in his touch.
‘I’m so glad you’re back,’ she murmured.
‘Are you?’ he replied, sitting on her bed beside her, and caressing her tumbled hair.
‘Hmm.’ It was so good to feel him close, to feel the loving touch of his hands, to see those beautiful tiger’s eyes watching her so intently.
‘I would have rung you, but there was no phone at the inn. So I thought I’d see if you were still awake.’
‘I’m glad you came. I wasn’t sleeping very well at all.’
‘Well, I didn’t mean to wake you. I just wanted to tell you we were back.’
‘Don’t go,’ she said in a low, urgent voice as he prepared to rise. His eyes met hers, so smokily knowing that she flushed, and struggled for something sensible to say. ‘Did you―did you have a nice trip?’
‘Awful,’ he said succinctly.
‘Awful?’ She looked at him. ‘Why?’
‘Three reasons. The first was that Terry missed you, and the second was that Tracey missed you.’
She looked at him from under her lashes. ‘You said there were three reasons why your trip was awful, but you’ve only told me two. What was the third reason?’ she asked.
‘The third reason…’ His voice was husky, his eyes watching her mouth. ‘The third reason was me. I’ve missed you so much, Leila. Missed you until it was an ache. I had to come and see you tonight, I couldn’t wait until tomorrow.’
‘Oh, Blaize…’ She reached for him.
He moved over to take her in his arms, and buried his face against the warm, scented skin of her throat.
‘What have you done to me?’ he said, his voice slurred against her skin. ‘You’ve enchanted me, you little witch!’
He kissed her, his tongue teasing her lips apart to explore the moist inner secrets of her mouth. She clung to him tightly, feeling the ecstasy of his embrace flood her soul.
She was wearing only a flimsy silk nightie, and, as his caressing hands pushed aside the bedclothes and moved across her body, it was almost as though she were naked to his touch. Their kiss deepened into passion, Leila’s fingers plucking at the rough wool jersey he wore, until he broke away from her and stripped it off impatiently.
His naked skin was like hot velvet under her palms, and she claimed his lean, muscular torso with aching hunger.
‘I’ve missed you, too,’ she whimpered. ‘You’ve hardly said a word to me all week, hardly looked at me, even. You’re so cruel to me!’
‘Cruel to myself. I want you.’ She barely recognised the strained, rough voice as Blaize’s. ‘Things have gone so wrong between us, and I want to make them right. I want to make love to you, Leila…’
‘Yes,’ she whispered, arching to him. Nothing mattered any more, not even that he was committed to marry Katherine Henessey. She wanted his love tonight, wanted something to keep, for the rest of her life, even if she lost him for ever. ‘Yes,’ she whispered again. ‘Love me, Blaize, love me…’
He was kissing her hands, kissing her fingers, her palms, the fluttering pulses that betrayed her wildly beating heart. ‘Every inch of you is so beautiful,’ he marvelled softly. ‘Every detail so perfect … the most perfectly lovely woman I’ve ever known.’
Leila watched him in melting desire as his slow adoration moved up her arms, across her shoulders, finding the tender places in her neck where the nerves tingled at his touch, whispering the secrets of his need into the sensitive hollows of her ears.
His mouth roamed down her throat and collarbone, seeking her breasts as his fingers fumbled with the buttons of her nightie. She stopped him long enough to strip the garment off, wanting to be naked for him.
A fiery intensity possessed her as he took her in his arms, his kisses moving with consuming hunger across her breasts, teasing her nipples into peaks of desire, tracking down across the plane of her stomach, as though he were intent on fulfilling that promise he had made her long ago-that he would kiss every inch of her body, taste every inch of her skin.
He whispered her name as he trailed kisses along her slender thighs, tasting the silky skin with a tongue that drew erotic patterns on her flesh. Her initial shyness was consumed in the devouring heat of Blaize’s hunger for her. Leila arched with the electric pleasure he gave her, her fingers knotting in his thick, crisp hair.
‘Touch me,’ he commanded unsteadily, his voice rough in his throat. ‘Don’t you know how I’ve longed for your touch, my darling?’
Shivering, Leila obeyed, her unskilled fingers tracing the lean, hard contours of his back and flanks. He was so beautiful, like a poured-bronze god come to life. It was marvellous to touch him like this, the pent-up desire of weeks seemin
g to concentrate itself in her fingertips.
Yet she was so ignorant, so unskilled. Her body would not obey the unbounded reach of her imagination.
Terrified that he would think her clumsy and inept, she leaned forward to press her lips to his skin, touching tiny little kisses to his stomach, his lean ribs, the small, hard man’s nipples that studded his muscular chest.
His breath was coming faster and shallower, his response to her untaught touch unmistakable. She felt his fingers lacing through the golden hair at her nape, felt his lean body twist in her arms as his nerve-endings responded to her butterfly-light caresses.
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