To Mend a Marriage

by Carole Mortimer

  Not if she had anything to do with it, Gemini decided firmly as she changed Jessica before putting her back in her cot, lingering for several minutes to gaze down at the sleeping baby. Jessica was so beautiful, her long lashes fanning across her cheeks, her skin so soft and delicate, her little rosebud of a mouth pouting as if she was still sucking on her bottle.

  It must be wonderful to be so new and untouched, Gemini decided enviously as she walked slowly down the hallway to her own bedroom, to know nothing of the pain of loving and not being loved in return.

  How could Nick believe she was involved with his brother? She bridled angrily a few minutes later as, having cleansed her face and changed into her silk pyjamas, she sat in front of her mirror brushing her hair.

  Okay, so Danny had telephoned here, had asked to speak to her, but that didn’t prove she was having an affair with him! What it did prove was that Danny was still as insensitive and selfish as he’d always been. He had to have known his call here would not be welcomed, by Nick as much as Gemini!

  The trouble with Danny, as with Jemima, was that as younger siblings—Jemima only by minutes, admittedly—they had been over-indulged, their every whim granted. Gemini knew she’d always given in to her twin, and Nick as the elder brother by ten years, had been responsible for Danny ever since Danny was only sixteen, when their parents had been killed in a car accident. How could she and Nick ever hope, after contributing to that indulgence, that their siblings would ever feel any responsibility to anyone but themselves? Wasn’t Jemima’s recent behaviour—leaving Jessica in the way that she had proof of that?

  She would just have to hope—

  Her hand was arrested in mid-brushstroke as a knock sounded on her bedroom door, and she gave a startled look in the mirror as she gazed at the door’s reflection there.

  Nick!

  It had to be. There was a communicating door between their two bedrooms, but it was a door that was never used, by either of them. For Gemini ever to have done so would have implied an intimacy between them that just didn’t exist!

  She stood up slowly, pulling on her robe as she walked to the door, her hesitation evidence of her reluctance to face yet another confrontation with Nick this evening. She already felt emotionally battered, and had been looking forward to a few minutes’ respite before falling asleep. She’d thought Nick felt the same way, but obviously he’d changed his mind about postponing the rest of their conversation until morning!

  Her heart was pounding erratically by the time she reached the door, and she slowly turned the handle to open it, her expression guarded.

  ‘Mrs James!’ she greeted in relief as she saw it was the other woman who stood outside in the hallway, even able to smile now that she knew her visitor wasn’t Nick, after all. ‘What can I do for you?’ she prompted lightly.

  ‘I just wanted to apologise in case I may have caused some—difficulty between you and Mr Drummond earlier.’ The housekeeper looked worried. She was still wearing the clothes she had had on earlier, obviously not having been to bed yet, despite having left them over half an hour earlier.

  ‘Difficulty?’ Gemini forced her own voice to sound light.

  Gemini didn’t think Nick would thank her for letting Mrs James become aware that there was any tension between the two of them. And, in truth, she was of the same opinion herself; she didn’t welcome any third party, no matter how well-meaning, knowing there was a rapidly widening rift between Nick and herself.

  ‘I know that Mr Drummond and his brother haven’t been on speaking terms since—well, that they haven’t communicated with each other for some time.’ Mrs James looked uncomfortable with the conversation herself, but had obviously felt the need to say something. ‘And the last thing I would want to do is cause any problems between Mr Drummond and yourself,’ she continued worriedly. ‘I just didn’t know what to do about Mr Daniel’s telephone call.’

  Gemini reached out and squeezed the other woman’s arm reassuringly. ‘You did exactly the right thing, Rachel.’ She smiled.

  Although she didn’t feel much like smiling! Obviously Rachel James was aware of Nick’s engagement to Jemima—and of Danny and Gemini’s affair. And her concern now, over Danny’s telephone call to Gemini, probably meant she was also aware that Gemini had been involved with Danny at the time, too. To the housekeeper’s credit, she had never, by so much as a word, revealed that she was aware of the complications that had preceded Gemini and Nick’s marriage…!

  ‘If you’re sure…?’ The housekeeper looked unconvinced. ‘I—’

  ‘She’s sure, Rachel,’ Nick cut in dryly, coming to stand behind Gemini. ‘In fact, we’re both sure!’

  Gemini gasped in surprise to find him there. He had to have used the connecting door to come into her bedroom! Not that she’d been aware of it, but there was no other way he could have entered the room without the two women having been aware of it. So much for thinking earlier that neither of them ever used that connecting door!

  How much of their conversation had he overheard? More to the point, what was he doing in her bedroom at all? The black robe he wore over his nakedness showed he’d probably already been to bed before coming in here.

  ‘I’m so sorry if I’ve disturbed you, Mr Drummond.’ The housekeeper looked completely flustered now, an embarrassed flush to her cheeks.

  ‘Not at all, Mrs James,’ he drawled dryly, moving to put one of his arms about Gemini’s waist. ‘Although with a baby in the house I think it’s time we all got to bed—don’t you…?’ he added pointedly.

  Gemini was very aware of the heat of that arm about her, of the curve of Nick’s hand on her waist. As far as she could remember he had never touched her so intimately before, and the fact that he did so now filled her with aching longing.

  ‘Of course,’ the housekeeper agreed rapidly, looking much relieved to see the two of them so at ease together. ‘I wish you both goodnight.’

  Nick was the one to move and close the door once the other woman had gone, his expression grim as he turned back to Gemini. ‘What the hell was all that about?’ he rasped impatiently, moving restlessly about the room.

  Gemini found it disturbing to see him in the femininity of her bedroom, although he didn’t look out of place in his black robe amongst the gold and cream decor. Just disturbing…

  But she mustn’t let the unaccustomed intimacy of this situation throw her; she knew she always needed to be one hundred per cent aware when dealing with Nick. ‘I thought that communicating door was locked.’ She frowned across to where the door stood slightly ajar.

  Nick gave a slight inclination of his head. ‘Like any sensible husband, I have the key,’ he drawled mockingly.

  She had wondered where it was! Well, now she knew. And Nick wasn’t averse to using it when he felt the need.

  ‘So it would appear,’ she returned coolly, moving away from him. ‘To what do I owe the honour of this—visit?’ She deliberately hesitated over the last word. Because his presence here was an intrusion—and she intended he should know what it was.

  Nick looked unperturbed by her coolness. ‘I heard voices.’ He shrugged. ‘I decided to investigate.’

  Gemini looked at him assessingly for several seconds, her smile, when it came, completely lacking in humour. ‘Did you think I had sneaked down after everyone else was in bed and brought a man up to my bedroom?’ she scorned hardily. She was furious to think that might be what he had imagined, what had compelled him to unlock that communicating door and come into her bedroom unannounced.

  Prior to Danny there had been several men in her life, but none of them had been serious, and even Danny hadn’t made her feel the way Nick did—the way she was feeling right now! She just wanted to forget the anger between them, to lose herself in the warmth of his arms, to revel in the pleasure they could give each other…

  He shrugged again. ‘It wouldn’t have done you much good if you had!’ he bit out harshly, eyes narrowed dangerously.

  Gemini stood he
r ground, tilting her head back in challenge. ‘Oh?’

  Nick took a step towards her. ‘I don’t share, Gemini,’ he grated roughly, his next step forward bringing him to within inches of touching her.

  He was so close to her now that Gemini could feel the heat emanating from his body, see the faint shadow of his stubble on the squareness of his chin, smell the masculine tang of his aftershave. In fact, she was aware of everything about him!

  She had to put some distance between them, if not physically, then emotionally! ‘You did once before,’ she reminded him pointedly, instantly regretting the defiance as Nick’s expression darkened coldly.

  ‘All the more reason why I never will again!’ he bit out, reaching out to pull her roughly into his arms.

  Not like this, she cried inwardly, even as Nick’s mouth came crushingly down on her own. But her body thought otherwise, her lips opening beneath his, her body melting into his hardness as he curved her ruthlessly against him.

  She felt like a woman who had been on the point of drowning and had been thrown a life-raft, her hands clinging about his waist, her lips moving provocatively against his, deepening the caress as his tongue tasted, and then plunged into the warm moisture of her mouth.

  He felt so good, his body firm beneath her touch, all hard muscle, the throbbing heat of his thighs telling her of his own arousal even as his lips left hers to burn a trail of fire down the column of her throat and into the hollows below.

  Gemini gasped as Nick gently moved aside the restriction of her top, that questing mouth seeking, and finding, the pertness of her breast, his tongue moving silkily over her nipple in rhythmic pleasure.

  Her back arched in surrender as she offered herself up to that pleasure. One of Nick’s hands was caressing her other breast, and her knees felt suddenly weak as burning heat coursed through her whole body. She offered no resistance as Nick swung her up in his arms and carried her towards the bed.

  She wanted this, wanted Nick. She’d wanted him for so long now she couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t been completely aware of him. Nick was everything she’d ever wanted in a man. Everything…! He was—

  Dropping her!

  She landed on the bed from a height of about three feet, bouncing back up only to fall back down again before settling in the middle of the gold-coloured duvet, looking up at Nick with disbelieving eyes.

  His expression was grim as he returned that look. The darkness of his hair was tousled from her caressing fingers, but otherwise he looked unmoved by the explosion of passion they had just shared.

  Shared…?

  Gemini winced at the look of cold deliberation on Nick’s face, knowing as she did so that she’d been the one to be aroused seconds ago, that Nick had known exactly what he was doing.

  But why?

  The answer to that was all too obvious: Nick didn’t share, and never, ever again with his brother. And now, after Danny’s telephone call this evening, Nick believed Gemini to be once more involved with Danny…!

  She drew in a deep, controlling breath, rolling over onto her side, forcing her expression to become bland as she leant on her elbow looking up at Nick. ‘You’re so right to be sensible, Nick,’ she drawled mockingly. ‘Our going to bed together at this late date in our marriage will only complicate things when it comes to the divorce!’

  There, she had said the hated word, the word she had dreaded hearing from Nick all evening! And it hurt just as badly that she was the one who had finally said it!

  Nick looked so angry Gemini had to force herself not to flinch from that cold fury, to maintain that nonchalant pose on the bed as she continued to look up at him dismissively.

  ‘Divorce?’ he finally echoed in that dangerously soft voice Gemini was quickly learning to be wary of. ‘Oh, no, Gemini.’ He shook his head, moving to kneel on the bed beside her. ‘There isn’t going to be any convenient divorce so that you can then marry my little brother!’ he grated, pulling her up so that their faces were only inches apart.

  Gemini hardly breathed as she looked at him, green eyes locked with blue in a battle of wills, a battle that seemed to go on for ever. Gemini wanted to turn away, but she didn’t dare; she knew that to do so would bring an inequality between Nick and herself that would be the end of whatever relationship they did have.

  Whatever that relationship was…

  Gemini wasn’t sure any more!

  She swallowed hard. ‘I don’t want to marry Danny, Nick—’

  He gave a harsh laugh. ‘That’s probably as well, because I doubt my little brother is the marrying kind.’

  ‘It isn’t that,’ she gasped. ‘I—’

  ‘If you have any sense, Gemini,’ he continued grimly, ‘you’ll hold out for the wedding ring from him this time. But in the meantime you still have to get past the problem of your marriage to me. And I can tell you now—there will be no divorce between us, Gemini,’ he repeated harshly, thrusting her away from him before standing up. ‘I’ve never given you grounds to divorce me, and I refuse ever to agree to divorce you,’ he told her coldly. ‘Maybe you’d better tell Danny that when he rings back!’ Nick bit out contemptuously, turning to stride over to the connecting door between their two bedrooms. ‘In the meantime—’ he turned briefly, his green eyes icy ‘—there will be no more locked doors between us!’ The slamming of the door behind him, unaccompanied by the turning of the key in the lock, told her exactly what he meant by that last remark.

  Gemini couldn’t have moved even if she’d needed to; she was totally stunned by this latest exchange between Nick and herself.

  And the most important thing to come out of the conversation was that Nick didn’t want to divorce her! Admittedly, it was because he believed she would go straight to his brother Danny’s arms if he did, but at the moment his reasoning wasn’t important, only the fact that he would never divorce her.

  And if Nick were to be believed then he hadn’t been involved with anyone else since their marriage, had never given her grounds to divorce him, either. It seemed incredible—wonderful!—to her, but if Nick claimed it to be the truth, then she believed him. Maybe because she wanted to believe him. But, whatever the reason, her marriage had been given a reprieve, and at the moment that was the most important thing to her.

  She looked across at the connecting door. If he meant what she thought he did where that unlocked door was concerned, then he was going to find he didn’t have a fight on his hands. She was more than willing to be his wife. Completely.

  The only uncertainty she had about it was when would it happen…?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  BREAKFAST the next morning, despite the presence of the gurgling Jessica, was a very quiet affair. Nick ate in stony silence, and Gemini was unwilling to break that silence.

  Because she didn’t know what to say! Everything, it seemed, had been said the previous evening. Now it was a question of waiting to see what happened next.

  But it certainly wasn’t the time for Mrs James to quietly enter the room and tell her that Danny was on the telephone again!

  Gemini looked uncertainly at Nick, not at all encouraged by his grim expression as he met her gaze over the rim of the coffee cup he held. But at least the coffee stayed in the cup and wasn’t thrown over her, she decided ruefully.

  He straightened, carefully replacing the cup on its saucer. ‘Tell him Mrs Drummond will take his call in a moment,’ he instructed the housekeeper tersely, waiting until she’d left the room before turning back to Gemini. ‘Remember what I said last night, Gemini,’ he bit out tautly. ‘I suggest you also remember what happened fifteen months ago,’ he added scornfully.

  She was hardly likely ever to forget that past humiliation. But, as Nick had said the previous evening, Danny’s affair with Jemima was also the reason she was now married to Nick, and in retrospect she knew that was the best thing that could ever have happened to her!

  ‘I haven’t forgotten, Nick,’ she assured him dryly.

  He nodded ab
ruptly. ‘Take the call in the sitting-room; I have no wish to overhear even your end of the conversation!’ he added disgustedly.

  Gemini stood up slowly, glancing uncertainly at the baby where she lay contentedly in her bouncy chair beside the table. Maybe she was getting used to it, Gemini decided, or she just hadn’t felt too much in need of sleep, but getting up to feed the baby in the early hours of this morning hadn’t seemed quite as bad as it had the night before.

  She knew she was also becoming attached to the tiny, defenceless baby, that it was impossible not to love such an endearing child. In fact, in spite of the inconvenience she’d initially found in Jessica’s arrival, she knew the house was going to seem very quiet and empty without her sunny presence.

  ‘Leave her with me,’ Nick barked dismissively as he saw her hesitation as she looked down at the baby. ‘At this moment, Jessica is the least complicated female I know!’ he added self-derisively.

  With a rueful grimace, Gemini went into the adjoining sitting-room to pick up the receiver. ‘Hello, Danny,’ she greeted him dryly, making herself comfortable on the sofa.

  ‘Gemini!’ He sounded pleased to hear her voice at least—the reason for that becoming obvious a few seconds later! ‘Where’s the Big Bad Wolf?’ he prompted conspiratorially, using the name he had always used when talking to her of his older brother.

  It wasn’t an intimacy Gemini felt in the least inclined to encourage! ‘If you’re referring to Nick, he’s still having his breakfast,’ she returned coolly.

  ‘Of course I’m referring to Nick,’ Danny came back unrepentantly. ‘How is he?’

  Gemini frowned. Not because of the question, but because she didn’t know how to answer it. If Danny had asked her two days ago how Nick was then she would have answered that he was fine, but after the weekend—she just didn’t know!

  ‘Nick is very well,’ she answered evasively; his health appeared to be good, but she couldn’t really vouch for his emotional state. And this call wasn’t helping! ‘Danny—’

  ‘And you, are you well too?’ Danny continued quickly.