‘Perhaps I’m not what you think,’ murmured Annabel.
‘None of us are what we think, but there is a difference between being adventurous and being depraved. Remember that when you have to make your choice.’
‘I really don’t …’
‘Crispian and Tania are depraved. Believe me, I know this to be true. They enjoy destroying people; don’t let them destroy you. Now, was it dusky pink you suggested?’
Totally confused, Annabel nodded, hardly able to remember the original reason for her presence in the room.
Marina smiled. ‘I believe you’re right. A good choice, Annabel. You can run along now. I have a lot to do.’
‘I’ve finished the plans for the whole of the ground floor,’ Annabel said hesitantly. ‘Shall I leave them with you?’
‘If you wish.’
Disconcerted, Annabel placed her sheaf of notes and drawings on the small French table and left. She was still going over the extraordinary conversation in her head when she came face to face with Crispian at the entrance to his stepmother’s quarters.
‘Hard at work?’ he asked cheerfully.
‘In a way,’ muttered Annabel.
‘I’ve been on the phone to Sir Matthew. He sounded very keen to join our exclusive little party on Saturday night.’
She stared into his bright blue eyes and saw the almost feverish glitter of excitement in them. His stepmother’s warning came back to her, but she knew that she would still follow him. Not because she was in love with him but because he was showing her a new and exciting way of life, revealing an entirely unexpected side of her, a side that she’d never suspected existed. It was proving addictive.
‘Aren’t you pleased?’ he asked with a grin.
‘Of course I am. He seems very nice.’
Crispian laughed. ‘He’s a lot of things but very nice isn’t one of them! God, I can’t wait for the boring part of tomorrow evening to be over. Think what fun we’ll all have then.’
‘These games,’ said Annabel. ‘Are they part of the private party?’
‘Heavens, no! They’re traditional at Pa’s dinners. Most of the guests would be extremely disappointed if they weren’t allowed to take part.’
‘Surely not your stepmother?’
‘She’ll withdraw after the coffee’s served, unless Matthew’s wrought a drastic change in her outlook.’
‘He seemed to think he may no longer be quite so much in favour,’ Annabel said slowly.
Crispian looked pleased at the news. ‘All the better for us then! I’ve got some wonderful things lined up for you, Annabel. You’ll be out of your mind with pleasure before we’ve finished with you.’
Her whole body tightened and she trembled slightly at his words. They conjured up such glorious images, and already in her imagination her flesh was straining for the wonderful flooding sweetness that every sexual peak released in her.
‘Imagination’s a wonderful thing!’ said Crispian, watching her pupils dilate. ‘Anticipation should add an even keener edge to your appetite. I know it will to mine.’
‘And Amanda?’ asked Annabel.
The laughter faded from his face. ‘She’ll be gone as soon as I can decently take her home, although the party games might send her packing without my assistance!’
‘Poor Amanda,’ said Annabel.
‘Yes, but lucky us,’ he whispered, his mouth against her ear, and as his warm breath teased her flesh she shuddered with excitement.
Chapter Ten
AT SIX O’CLOCK on the evening of the dinner party, Annabel began her preparations. She wanted everything to be perfect; her clothes, her perfume, the way she wore her hair, every tiny detail, because knowing that she looked her best would help give her the confidence that she felt she’d need to cope with whatever Crispian and Tania had in store for her.
All day she’d felt on edge, her senses keenly alert as she thought about the evening and Matthew Stevens. She’d dreamt about him the previous night, and although the details had been blurred she’d awoken in a state of aching arousal, with a tell-tale dampness between her thighs and her nipples hard. She couldn’t remember ever having wanted a man so much.
At the same time as Annabel was taking a long, scented bath and washing her hair in banana shampoo, Crispian was perching on the edge of his stepsister’s bath and watching her lazy soaping of her full breasts and slender ribcage. ‘Want any help?’ he asked.
Tania shook her head. ‘If you start helping me I’ll never be ready on time. You’re sure you’ve made all the arrangements?’
‘Of course. Luke and Sheba will join us upstairs, and so will Sir Matthew, along with the delectable Annabel, naturally!’
Tania raised a tightly muscled leg and pointed her toes as she rubbed the suds over her calf. ‘You like Annabel, don’t you?’
‘She’s very sexy,’ agreed Crispian, letting one hand trail in the bath water, his fingers searching for and finally locating Tania’s triangle of curly auburn hair.
Tania lifted her hips slightly, sighing softly as the pleasurable sensations stirred within her. ‘If your father wanted you to marry Annabel, you would, wouldn’t you?’
He tugged at the curls, letting one finger slip into the cleft between her sex-lips and massaging in tiny circular movements as he went. ‘I might,’ he agreed cautiously.
Tania’s eyes glittered. ‘Lucky for me she isn’t rich, then.’
‘She isn’t like you!’ exclaimed Crispian. ‘I’d soon get tired of her. It’s only that she does have something about her, something more interesting than the Amandas of this world.’
Tania lowered her leg and crossed it over the other one, trapping Crispian’s hand. ‘I think you’d give me up for Annabel,’ she said slowly.
‘That’s nonsense,’ said Crispian, astonishment clear in his voice. But when Tania looked up at him his eyes held the innocent expression of a small boy trying to bluff his way out of an awkward situation.
‘She isn’t what you think, you know,’ continued Tania, moving herself against the trapped finger and letting the tendrils of arousal start to build. ‘Annabel has limits.’
Crispian knew that Tania was close to an orgasm. Her eyes were shining and her mouth had opened slightly as her breathing grew more rapid. With some difficulty he withdrew his hand and saw a flash of anger cross his stepsister’s face. ‘Naughty! You said you hadn’t got time for me, remember,’ he laughed.
‘Did you hear what I said?’ Tania asked tightly.
‘About Annabel having limits? Sure.’
‘Don’t you believe me?’
Crispian shrugged. ‘I don’t know; but after tonight we’ll find out, won’t we?’
At last Tania smiled again, and the slight tension in the air vanished. ‘Yes,’ she said softly, ‘I rather think we will.’
In blissful ignorance, Annabel continued her evening’s preparations. When it came to choosing a dress she hesitated for a long time. She wanted something sexy and yet glamorous and was about to put on the same gown she’d worn before when her eye was caught by a paprika-coloured silk dress. It had a sleeveless bodice that crossed over to one side and then dropped in a waterfall drape to the hem. She’d bought it the previous year and never worn it, but she could still remember the sensuous feel of it when she’d first tried it on. Somehow both the design and the colour fitted the image she wanted to project that night.
Once she’d put it on she knew that she was right. Worn with sheer black stockings and high-heeled, black Italian shoes the effect was dramatic and flattering. In the end the only jewellery she wore were tiny gold earrings and a slender gold bracelet on her right wrist.
Finally she brushed her hair behind her left ear, leaving it forward on the right side, and then, after spraying herself with Shalimar perfume, she looked in the mirror and knew that she was ready. Tonight was quite definitely going to be memorable, and she could scarcely wait for the dinner to begin.
At eight forty-five the guests started
arriving and five minutes later Annabel went down to join them. Tania, who had been listening for the sound of Annabel’s door opening, immediately slipped out into the corridor as well.
‘Shall we go down together?’ she called. Annabel turned to look at her. Suddenly her confidence drained away and she wondered if she’d made a terrible mistake. Tania was wearing a severely cut three-piece man’s suit with a white satin shirt and black bow tie. Her auburn hair had been streaked with plum-coloured highlights and then sleeked back like seal’s fur, emphasising the wonderful shape of her head and her high cheekbones. Because the suit was tight her voluptuous breasts seemed even more noticeable, and Annabel knew that by dressing like a man Tania had drawn attention to her almost overwhelming sexuality.
‘Like it?’ asked Tania.
‘You look incredible,’ Annabel responded truthfully. ‘You’ll drive the men mad.’
‘Good, that’s the whole idea! You look nice,’ she added. ‘The dress looks as though it comes off easily.’
‘Well, yes but …’
‘Very sensible of you. It’s just a pity we’ve got this boring dinner to sit through before the fun really begins. Never mind, hopefully I’ll be next to someone interesting. I’ve changed the place names around: you were next to some ghastly friend of my stepfather’s, but now you’re next to Matthew.’
Annabel’s stomach did a strange somersault and the palms of her hands went moist. ‘Won’t your mother mind?’
‘She won’t notice; her head’s full of Jerry at the moment.’
‘Jerry?’ Annabel was confused.
‘Sure, he’s her latest paramour. Quite funny, isn’t it? For years she wouldn’t even have sex with her husband and now she’s hopping from one bed to another like a sex-crazed teenager! At least it might stop her criticising me.’
‘I don’t think I know anyone called Jerry,’ said Annabel.
At the door to the music room Tania paused. ‘You probably don’t; he’s in charge of the stables,’ she said with a grin, and then she was opening the door and the pair of them walked into the room.
For a moment all conversation stopped. Annabel was acutely aware of numerous pairs of eyes turning towards them. Although some of them lingered on her, it was Tania who held everyone’s attention and eventually it was Lord Corbett-Wynne himself who broke the silence by crossing the room with two glasses of sherry in his hands.
‘Here you are, ladies, just as you both like it, I believe.’
Tania’s lips curled upwards. ‘I didn’t know you knew how I liked it,’ she murmured provocatively and he swallowed hard. Dressed like that he found his stepdaughter disturbingly appealing; she looked so aggressively sexual and dominant that he could clearly picture her standing in front of him, whip in hand as he waited for her commands.
‘Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend, Tania?’ asked a male voice, and Sir James turned away, grateful for the interruption.
Tania gave a smile of genuine warmth. ‘Luke! How nice to see you again. This is Annabel. She’s an interior designer down from London to help Mama redesign Leyton Hall.’
Luke’s light-brown eyes were merry as he smiled at Annabel. ‘I’ve heard about you from Crispian. He and I were at school together; now we only manage to meet up a few times a year, so we try and make the meetings memorable. I’m sure tonight will more than meet the required standard!’
‘Luke’s coming to our private party afterwards,’ Tania whispered in Annabel’s ear.
Annabel nodded, smiled back at Luke and then glanced around the room looking for Sir Matthew Stevens. At first she thought he hadn’t arrived, but then she realised that he was standing talking to his hostess. Dressed in an evening suit and with his dark curly hair more tidy than usual he looked even more attractive than at their last meeting, and once more Annabel’s body tightened with longing for him.
For a few seconds she studied him without his knowledge, and as she did so she realised that Tania had been right. Marina Corbett-Wynne was no longer captivated by her neighbour. As he talked her eyes were vague and although she smiled once or twice it was a social smile that failed to register anywhere apart from her mouth.
Dressed in a powder-blue dress with a pleated skirt of mid-calf length and a pleated bodice with wide shoulder straps, she looked once more remote and elegant. Her long gold chain had a huge pearl tear-drop at the end and there were matching earrings hanging from the lobes of her ears.
At that moment Sir Matthew looked around and caught Annabel staring at him. Before she had a chance to look away he was smiling warmly at her, and with a murmured excuse to Marina he moved to Annabel’s side.
‘You look fantastic!’ he said warmly. ‘Every woman in the room’s envious.’
‘Not of me!’ responded Annabel, taking a sip of her sherry. ‘I think it’s Tania who’s caught their attention, and I’m not surprised. Don’t you think she looks incredible?’
‘Dramatic certainly, but then that’s Tania’s forte, making outrageous statements, either verbally or by her behaviour.’
‘I still think she looks amazing,’ said Annabel.
‘She’s an amazing girl, or so I’ve been told. I haven’t heard very much about you, which suits me very well as I prefer to find out for myself.’
A shiver ran through Annabel as she looked directly into his eyes and saw tiny flecks of gold in their depths. ‘That should be exciting,’ she said softly.
At that moment they were joined by a coffee-skinned young woman who was nearly six feet tall and whose jet-black hair, piled on her head, only added to her height. ‘I’m Sheba, Luke’s girlfriend,’ she said with a smile. ‘He told me to come over and introduce myself since we’re all going to Crispian’s little private party later tonight.’
With both Tania and Sheba at the party Annabel was beginning to think she was going to look extremely conventional. She smiled at Sheba, and as the other woman talked she admired her burnt-orange crepe dress with its spaghetti straps and thigh-high slash on the left-hand side of the skirt. As a designer she could only admire the other woman’s fashion flair.
‘Who’s Luke?’ asked Matthew when Sheba finally moved on.
‘An old school friend of Crispian’s, I think.’
‘Should be fun then. Are you nervous?’ he added in an undertone.
Annabel glanced at him. ‘Should I be nervous?’
He smiled, his teeth very white against his tanned skin. ‘Definitely not; excited, yes, but nervous, no.’
‘That’s lucky, because I have to admit to being excited.’
He put a warm hand on her bare arm. ‘I’m sure you’re not as excited as I am,’ he murmured. ‘I think that was the gong I heard then; I hope you’ll allow me to take you in to dinner?’
Annabel nodded; even the touch of his fingers had set her skin on fire. When they entered the dining room and he pulled out her chair for her, his chin grazed the top of her hair as he bent over her to move the chair back in again. It felt as though an electric current had passed straight down her spine. When he took his seat next to her he gave her a quick smile and she knew that he was as aroused by her closeness as she was by his.
The food was excellent, although Annabel thought afterwards that it had all been wasted on her because the only thing she was thinking about was the moment when Matthew would finally start to make love to her. Just the same, she knew that the entrée of baked aubergines with goat’s cheese was superb, the rib of beef perfect and the dessert of chestnut purée and whipped cream on a meringue base something she’d never forget.
The wines were some of Lord Corbett-Wynne’s finest, ranging from the crisp Chardonnay served with the aubergines to the incredible Petrus 1990 which accompanied the beef.
At last the spectacular meal was over, coffee and mints were brought to the table and the servants withdrew. With a quick glance round the table Lady Corbett-Wynne rose to her feet. ‘For those of you who don’t care for party games, more coffee will be served in the
drawing room,’ she announced. She and one or two other ladies then withdrew, but most of the guests remained, including Amanda, who had been seated next to Crispian at dinner.
James Corbett-Wynne looked at the remaining guests and smiled expansively. ‘There, that’s cleared away the dead wood. Now we can really have some fun. I suggest we start with the cherry game. Have you got some, Tania?’
‘Of course!’ laughed his stepdaughter, leaving the room for a moment.
‘What’s the cherry game?’ Annabel asked Matthew, but he only smiled at her.
‘Wait and see,’ he replied.
When Tania returned she was carrying a large plate which she placed in the middle of the table. Annabel saw that the plate was covered in long-stemmed maraschino cherries and the guests quickly began to take one each, placing it on the small side plates that had been left behind when the table was cleared.
At the end of the table Lord Corbett-Wynne smiled at his guests. ‘Anyone not know the rules?’ he asked.
Several people raised their hands, including Annabel and Amanda. ‘Quite simple,’ their host assured them. ‘Each of you has to hold the cherry level with your mouth and then tie a knot in the stem using only your tongue. The ladies have a go first, then the gentlemen. The winners from each of the two groups are allowed to choose their own prize!’
Everyone laughed, and Annabel turned to look at Matthew. He looked quizzically at her. ‘Think you can do it?’
‘I doubt it, but I’ll enjoy trying! What about you?’
His eyes gleamed. ‘Let’s put it this way, I’ll be very disappointed if I can’t do it!’
‘That sounds promising,’ said Annabel.
‘I won’t be the only one,’ retorted Matthew. ‘Crispian’s said to be an expert at this.’
Remembering the way Crispian’s tongue had played over the aroused and taut tissue between her thighs as he traced the letters of the alphabet for her to guess, Annabel knew that Matthew was telling the truth and her pulse beat faster as she started to anticipate the games that would take place later, in the privacy of Crispian’s rooms.
Dark Obsession Page 19
