by Janet Dailey
She refused to let the tears scorching the back of her eyes reveal themselves, knowing he would never believe they were there because of his arrogant accusation. Momentarily she had forgotten that he was used to a woman falling victim to his expertise in the art of love and his ability to shrug off the embrace that had brought such a shattering of her opinion that making love would be a warm and tender experience. For Laurie, it had been a volcanic eruption, tumultuous searing heat, that left her tossed about in the upheaval.
“You forced me to kiss you! I never asked for it nor invited it,” she declared in a choked voice. “How dare you condemn me!"
“You'll find I'll dare a lot,” he mocked, her indignant outburst amusing him. “But we did settle one question. You do belong to me."
“Never!” Laurie denied vigorously before her traitorous heart could declare otherwise.
Rian ignored her fervent avowal and placed a hand on her rigidly erect back to guide her towards his car parked at the curb. His sureness that she was his to command made it clear how completely she had responded to his caress. But it was worse for Laurie to know that she wasn't as indifferent to him as she had thought. Like a magnet he attracted her, compelled her senses to acknowledge his masculinity, forced her to admit the desires of her flesh while his arrogance lashed out at her for being so weak.
The plush interior of the car was an exotic prison. She trembled at Rian's nearness even as her mind railed against it. Before he started the car, he tossed a sparkling object in her lap.
“Add this to the baubles you collected tonight,” he ordered.
Despite the dim light, Laurie recognized the diamond and ruby-studded bracelet that had been Rian's first expensive gift to LaRaine. A stunned expression flashed across her face as she glanced at the chiselled profile behind the wheel.
“Where did you get this?” she whispered.
“LaRaine hurled it at me in a fit of pique."
“LaRaine?"
“I'm quite sure she regrets it now. It was an expensive bracelet."
“When did you see LaRaine?” unconsciously holding her breath as she waited for his answer.
“Today. She was nearly as stunned to see me as you were, but she recovered quicker than you did.” A laughingly cynical gleam was turned towards Laurie before Rian redirected his attention to the road.
“I thought you were away on a business trip."
“What business I conducted was secondary. The main purpose of the journey was to confront LaRaine."
“Was she very upset?” Laurie asked, picturing her cousin's reaction when she learned their masquerade had been uncovered.
“At first she was very contrite, almost convincingly humble, until she realized there would be no reconciliation—our relationship was truly finished. Her new acting career seems to have first place in her life now anyway, although she did become rather incensed when she learned that I was engaged to you."
“Why did you tell her that?” demanded Laurie.
“It's the truth. Why should I not tell her?” Rian mocked.
“It's a private arrangement for the benefit of your aunt, not an engagement in the true sense of the word."
“That's what you keep saying. Do you keep repeating yourself because you feel guilty that you've taken me away from LaRaine? As your cousin pointed out to me today, you're accustomed to picking up her leavings. Is a second-hand fiancé much different from a dress?” the cruel jibe biting into her pride.
“As far as I'm concerned I haven't got a fiancé, second-hand or otherwise,” Laurie retorted coldly.
“Don't dismiss me so easily. You belong to me for the time being.” Hauteur iced his cutting tone.
The hard stones of the bracelet in her hand felt as unyielding as Rian. “Why did you give me this bracelet?"
“Why should you care? Avarice is a part of every woman's nature,” he sneered cynically.
“No doubt that's the case with the women you've known,” not caring how caustic her voice sounded as long as she could strike back with equal sarcasm. “They probably knew expensive presents were all you could give. Because a man with no heart is incapable of love."
“Damn your insolence!” Rian ground out with an arrogant flare of his nostrils as his dark eyes pierced the shadowy veil of her armour. The traffic around them was heavy which prevented him from stopping the car and raining his retribution on her. “Nobody talks to me that way!"
“It's time somebody did, then.” It was her turn to settle complacently in her seat.
But his hand seized her wrist, still bearing the marks from the last time. He drew her closer to him, his gaze not leaving the highway. “Why do you persist in riling my temper?” he demanded, uncaring of Laurie's gasps of pain. “Are you so uncertain of your ability to arouse a man's desire that you dare his wrath rather than his indifference?"
“No, that's not it at all.” Her soft voice was made harsh by the fingers biting into the small bones of her wrist.
Rian spared a raking glance. “You're afraid of me, aren't you? Hissing like a little kitten unable to defend herself."
“Yes, yes,” she whispered, willing to agree with anything that would prevent a further example of his leashed violence and knowing there was a grain of truth in his statement.
Her hand was released and Laurie sunk back in her seat massaging the soreness as Rian closed the conversation. The silence of night was better than the slinging barbs.
CHAPTER SEVEN
RIAN was not at the breakfast table the following morning, much to Laurie's relief. When she had passed the study, there had been voices and the sounds of shuffling papers. She had hoped that Rian was in there, but she didn't think her wish would be fulfilled until she had reached the dining area. The light repast of a grapefruit half, toast, and coffee was quickly tucked away so Laurie could make her escape to the stables without enduring Rian's unsettling presence.
The cook-housekeeper had already informed her that Vera was there and the horses were saddled and waiting when Laurie arrived. A bemused smile crossed her face as she saw the Judge hovering near the silver-haired woman. They looked so right together, he so tall and dignified and Vera so feminine and petite.
“Good morning, Laurie,” the Judge greeted her enthusiastically. “Did you enjoy the parade last night?"
“Yes, it was lovely. So colourful and unbelievably gay!” She flashed him a brilliant smile as she took the reins he handed her.
“Colin is on his way over. Here he comes now,” he declared as he gave Vera a boost into her saddle and turned to look at the roan cantering towards them.
After a brief greeting that was lost in the impatient shuffling of the horses eager to be off, the four riders set out towards the beckoning countryside. As usual Colin and Laurie trailed the older couple, already engrossed in a private conversation.
“I never had an opportunity last night to tell you how much I enjoyed the parade,” Laurie said after they had travelled some distance and the horses had become less frisky.
“I'm glad you did,” Colin smiled, his warm gaze straying to the riders in front. “Last evening must have turned out well for the Judge, too. He was singing this morning at the breakfast table. I haven't seen him that happy for ages. I'd have liked to have been a little mouse in the corner after we left them alone."
“They do act as if they're sharing some happy secret, don't they? I hope so. It would make all this seem worthwhile,” Laurie mused wistfully.
“What do you mean—all this?” The blond Adonis immediately snapped up Laurie's slip of the tongue. “Don't tell me Rian was jealous about last night?"
There was a pause before Laurie answered as she felt her way for the words. “I hadn't told Rian of our plans for the evening, so he was a bit upset because he didn't expect me to be gone from the house when he returned."
“That explains it,” Colin nodded. “For a minute there last night I thought Rian was going to come on as the heavy-handed fiancé posting “No Trespassing�
�� signs on you. He can be very possessive towards anything he considers his."
Laurie blanched as she remembered the aggressive way Rian had said she belonged to him. She longed to deny her engagement with Rian, to prevent his brand from being stamped on her, while also remembering her own unqualified response to his embrace. She never dreamed it was possible to love and hate a man at the same time, flames of anger mixed with those of passion and desire.
“Not that I blame him,” Colin added with a flirtations twinkle in his gold-flecked eyes. “I wouldn't want anyone poaching on my preserves, if my preserves were you."
It was a statement made in jest, meant to lighten the dullness clouding her eyes. In answer, Laurie kicked her mount in the side, sending it off at a rapid canter while she tossed a laughing challenge at Colin. His roan bounded out immediately after her, its superior speed drawing it even in two strides. The pair swung out ahead of Vera and the Judge, racing down the road to turn off into a meadow common, then slow their pace to a brisk trot.
“Say, what about the Mardi Gras Ball? Have you mentioned to Rian that I have tickets? I can easily get an extra one for him.” Colin raised his voice slightly to carry over the blowing snorts of their horses.
“No, I haven't mentioned it. I'm not sure what Rian's plans are.” She didn't want to discuss Rian. Her feelings towards him were too complicated and there was too much simple beauty around them to ignore. Checking her mount down to a walk, Laurie breathed in deeply the fragrant country air. “I'm going to miss these early morning rides. They're such a perfect way to begin the day.” As her shoulders made a regretful shrug, she knew also her departure would mark the end of her fraudulent engagement to Rian. The association with him had to be terminated as soon as possible before she was completely captivated by his animal attraction. “Only three more days."
Colin raised his light brown eyebrows in surprise. “Vera indicated that Rian would be staying at least another week. You aren't leaving before he does, are you?"
Another week! Laurie successfully concealed her astonishment at that statement as she silently wondered whether Rian was going to force her to stay until he left. There was a sickening lurch of her heart because she knew he would.
“I haven't decided,” she replied, knowing the decision wasn't really hers to make now that Rian had installed himself as dictator. “Don't your think we should wait here for Vera and your father to, join us?” she asked brightly, hoping to change the subject.
Their ride had taken them almost full circle back to the house. The dark shingles of the Judge's roof could be seen through the tree-tops. Colin halted his horse and turned in the saddle.
“I thought Rian would be working this morning,” he remarked casually.
Laurie whirled around, her gaze instantly picking out the dappled grey Arabian and the erect masculine figure astride from the trio of riders approaching them. Her stomach contracted into a tight knot as she saw Rian separate himself from Vera and the Judge, the Arab swinging out in an extended trot that had them gliding effortlessly over the gently undulating meadow. A superb horse with a superb horseman on board, looking all the more imposing and ruggedly attractive in fawn-coloured breeches and a white shirt, the jet black hair rakishly tousled by the teasing breeze. Laurie didn't stop staring even when Rian halted his spirited horse beside them.
“Good morning.” Rian's greeting encompassed them both, but his sardonic gaze rested on Laurie's flushed face, colouring when she realized how rudely she had been staring.
“I didn't know you were going riding with us this morning,” she murmured, feeling the need to say something. “I heard you in the study working when I came downstairs."
“That must have been E. J.,” he shrugged, his hooded gaze leaving her at last to dwell on the tossing head of his horse. “Sitar and I were out watching the sunrise while you were still playing Sleeping Beauty. I considered going in and kissing you awake, but the temptation to join you under the bedcovers might have been too great."
“Rian!” Embarrassed anger tore his name from her throat as Laurie glanced at the disconcerted expression on Colin's face.
“I think this is a private conversation,” Colin remarked, touching a finger to his tanned forehead before reining his horse away to join the Judge and Vera.
“You said that deliberately so he would leave.” Laurie turned an accusing glance on Rian.
“Yes.” Arrogance and mockery shone out of his aquiline face. “Which doesn't mean that the thought didn't occur to me to do exactly what I said."
“I might have had something to say about it,” she retorted grimly.
“You might have ... for a while? His dark eyes boldly took in the quick rise and fall of her breasts that revealed her inner agitation. A scarlet stain crept into her cheeks.
“You're egotistical and crude!” she spat.
Her angry accusation drew a chuckle from Rian. “Go ahead and lash out at me,” he mocked. “But you know you always end up purring when I touch you."
The sensually intimate look in the burning black coals of his gaze momentarily robbed Laurie of her ability to breathe. Silently she acknowledged the physical attraction that drew her to him, likening herself to the moth drawn by the flame and hoping she escaped with no more than singed wings.
“That isn't enough,” she declared angrily.
“In this enlightened age of sex, don't tell me I've become engaged to a prim and proper Victorian miss,” Rian jeered with considerable amusement.
“Hardly Victorian.” Laurie didn't attempt to deny the rest of his description, knowing she was something of a prude when it came to the so-called ‘free love'. “I won't be told by anyone who I'm to marry."
“Ah, yes,” he nodded, stilling the prancing horse with the touch of his hand, “you're going to be in love with the man you marry, aren't you? What was it you said—he'll be tender and kind like Colin. Is that why the two of you had separated yourselves from the Judge and Vera, so you could compare mutual likes and dislikes and discover whether you were compatible?"
“No, that isn't why Colin and I were off by ourselves,” she declared, barely suppressing her rising temper. “If you must know, we were giving Vera and the Judge a chance to be alone. That's also the reason we went to the parade without them."
“A pair of innocent matchmakers,” Rian drawled sarcastically.
“Twist it any way you want to.” Flashing him an angry glance, she moved her mount towards the slow-walking horses and riders.
The pushing shoulder of Rian's grey forced her own horse to fall in behind the others instead of drawing level with them as Laurie had planned. There was a deep-seated desire to put a quirt to her horse's flank and race away, but she knew Rian's horse was faster than Briar and he would catch up with her in minutes.
Vera turned slightly in her saddle so she could see Rian and Laurie. “The Judge has suggested that we have a party this Saturday to celebrate your engagement, a small affair with only our closest friends invited. But Colin reminded us that Laurie is leaving on Wednesday."
“Those plans were made before she knew I would be coming to Mobile,” Rian replied, a bland expression on his lean features at the angry glance Laurie darted at him.
“You know I have other commitments in Los Angeles.” The saccharine smile on her lips belied the honey-coated tone.
“They can be postponed a few days,” he stated with his familiar autocratic manner, challenging her to disagree with his edict.
Laurie was so angry that he was deliberately prolonging her stay and thus prolonging their phony engagement that she would dare anything, especially when she knew his jeering tongue couldn't lash out at her in front of his aunt.
“You say that, darling,” Laurie murmured loud enough for the others to hear as she put extra emphasis on the endearment, “because you have no idea all the things a bride has to do to prepare for the wedding."
“Such as?” One corner of his mouth twitched in amusement, laughing at the kitten
trying to best the superior jungle cat.
“There are the bridesmaids to be chosen, the wedding colours, the dresses, the wedding gown, the place for the reception, the guest list, the printed invitations, bridal showers, all that sort of thing,” Laurie replied brightly.
“What will your colours be?” Womanly sharing the excitement of the wedding that Vera couldn't know would never take place.
“Blue and black,” Rian answered before Laurie could reply.
“What, black for her hair and blue for her eyes?” the Judge inserted with a low chuckle. “They're a startlingly beautiful combination on Laurie, but hardly suitable for a bridal party, Rian."
“No, those are the colours Laurie will be if she thinks she's going to drag me through that kind of a ritualistic ceremony.” The wicked gleam in his dark eyes was clearly visible to everyone.
“Have you set the wedding date?” Colin inquired.
“No—” Laurie began, only to have Rian interrupt her.
“Yes, in two weeks. We're going to elope.” The certainty in his voice caught her off guard.
“We are not!” Laurie exclaimed, the denial that she was ever going to marry him springing instantaneously to her lips. “I told you—"
Her words were broken off by the steel fingers biting into her arm and the hardness of his leg brushing against hers. “Watch it,” he hissed for her ears alone, the glittering fire in his eyes as effective as his grip on her arm. As his gaze locked on to hers, there was a traitorous weakness flowing through her body, sapping her anger while increasing the beat of her heart.
“We aren't going to elope,” Laurie finished in a quieter voice.
“You can't blame the girl, Rian, for wanting a big wedding with all the trimmings,” the Judge put in. “Every young girl pictures herself walking down the church aisle in a white satin gown."
