Ultimatum

by Sally Wentworth

  Casey turned to him quite naturally, her arms going round his neck as she tilted her head so that he could kiss her mouth. He kissed her gently at first, savouring the sweet taste of her lips, the soft moistness of her mouth as his tongue explored it. Casey opened her mouth for him, then tentatively, deliciously, probed his in turn. His breathing quickening, Reid drew back his head, his eyes dark and intent. 'You look sensational in that bikini,' he murmured.

  She smiled up at him. 'You chose well.'

  'I could picture you in it the moment I saw it.'

  But the next minute his hand was at the strings, undoing them and pulling off the top, for all that he had said he had wanted to see her in it. He fondled her hot skin, awakening an immediate response, but teased her for several minutes before he did what her thrusting body wanted and bent to kiss her breasts. Casey gave a long, shuddering sigh of satisfaction as she felt his lips close over her nipple, but soon it roused ever-increasing desire and wasn't enough. Her hips moved in voluptuous need as Reid lowered his hand to caress her there, her breath coming in little gasping moans. He moved to lie on top of her, only the thin material of their costumes between them, the hardness of his body a pleasure and a torment, too, as it pressed against her. Perspiration glowed on Casey's face and body and her breath became short gasps of moaning delight and discovery as Reid lifted himself on his elbows and pressed his entire weight against her, his body moving rhythmically. Every sensation, every nerve-end seemed to be concentrated in that one part of her. Growing waves of delight filled her senses, only to fade a little and then return with greater force until they suddenly engulfed her entirely in spasm after spasm of ecstasy. Casey cried out, her fingers clawing into Reid's back, her body jerking in a paroxysm of pleasure.

  And then it was over. Casey gulped for breath as she lay trembling in Reid's arms, her body as wet as when she had been swimming. He stroked her gently until her thumping heart and ragged breath was nearer normal, giving her time to recover before he said softly, 'It can always be as good as that, sweetheart. Every time. When two people love each other as we do.'

  Her hair still clung to her damp forehead as Casey moved her head to look at him. Hesitantly she said, 'Do you want me to……'

  'No,' Reid put a finger over her lips. 'No. Not that way.' He gave a sudden grin. 'But I think I'd better go and have another swim right this minute.'

  He plunged into the water and after a moment Casey found her bikini top and went in after him, but she felt weak, her strength drained away, and only splashed around in the shallows to cool off. Reid came to hug her in the water, but she splashed him until he retaliated and chased her, and they were easy and laughing together again.

  They packed away their picnic and went aboard the boat to dry themselves, but Reid's eye-patch had got wet during their game so he took it off and put on dark glasses instead. He looked so different that for a moment Casey was shy, until Reid gave a mocking laugh and pulled her into his arms to kiss her. Then it was definitely the same man!

  They took their time going home, stopping at a small village to go to the local pub for a drink and a meal, not arriving back at the mooring below the house until the sun was beginning to set after one of the most perfect days Casey had ever known. After they had cleaned the boat, they carried the things up to the house, and Casey would have tidied up, but Reid firmly took the things from her and put his hands on her shoulders. 'Let's go to bed,' he suggested softly.

  Instantly tension came flooding back and Casey's heart began to thump. It had been such a wonderful day that for most of it she had managed to put the difficulties between them out of her mind. But now it was obvious what Reid wanted and that he had been trying to seduce her into a frame of mind in which she would yield to him all day long. 'Reid, I ..’

  But before she could go on Reid put his mouth against hers and picked her up in his strong arms to carry her swiftly up to the bedroom. But when they reached the landing she said, 'Please, Reid, I have to go to the bathroom,' and he reluctantly set her down.

  Hastily Casey ran into the main bathroom and locked the door behind her, her fingers trembling. She turned on the shower and began to take off her clothes, intending to stay in there as long as she possibly could, but she had only been in the bathroom for a few minutes when Reid came and banged loudly on the door. 'W-what is it?' she quavered.

  'Come on out of there! I want to talk to you.'

  Even through the thickness of the door his voice sounded menacingly angry. Playing for time, Casey called back. 'I'm just going to take a shower. I won't be long.'

  'You heard what I said, Casey. I want to talk to you— now.'

  'What about?'

  'Damn it, Casey, I'm not going to go on shouting through this damned door. Either come out here or I'll break it down!'

  Hastily she grabbed up a bath-sheet and wrapped it round herself, but even as she did so Reid lost patience and put his shoulder to the door, making it strain against the lock.

  'W-wait,' she called out. 'I'm coming.' And with her hands shaking with fright, Casey unbolted the door and stepped out on to the landing.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  'What is it ? What's the matter ?' Casey asked, trying not to let fear show in her voice.

  Reid glared at her, his earlier gentleness completely gone. He was wearing only his jeans, his chest and feet bare. 'Just what the hell is the idea of moving all your things into the spare room?' he demanded fiercely.

  'Oh, that.' Casey gripped the bath-towel tightly around her. 'I just thought it would—would be best.'

  'Did you indeed? Best for whom? For you? So that you didn't have the bother of fighting me off every night, is that it?'

  'No, it isn't like that. I…'

  'No?' Reid's voice was scathing. 'So you did it for me then, did you? Out of the kindness of your heart, of course. So that I wouldn't have the added hell of seeing you with hardly any clothes on, of lying in bed beside you and not being able to touch you and love you. Knowing that you'll fight me off as if I'm some kind of monster when all I want is to be like any other man and love my wife!'

  He paused for a moment, too angry to go on, and Casey said quickly, 'But you're not like other men, Reid. Other men don't go out and risk their lives just for—for passing glory like you do. Other men don't ..

  Stepping quickly forward, Reid caught hold of her gesticulating arm and it was evident that he had hardly heard her. 'So I'm supposed to thank you, then, am I? Thank you for putting an even bigger barrier between us? A physical barrier this time. At least when we shared the same room and the same bed there was always a chance that you might come to your senses and see that what we feel for each other must come first. But now____ '

  He stopped in disgust, too overcome by angry emotion to speak.

  'I didn't mean it like that,' Casey said helplessly. 'I just wanted it to be easier for us.'

  'Easier? I see,' Reid said jeeringly. 'And just how long do you intend to stay in there?'

  'Well. Until—until you agree to give up racing, I suppose,' Casey admitted, her voice fading to a whisper.

  'So it's just another form of blackmail, then. Your first ploy didn't work as you'd hoped, so you decided to put on the pressure. Put me through even more torment.'

  'No!' Casey exclaimed wildly. 'I didn't mean it like that. I tell you, I did it for both of us. To make things easier. To-—to…'

  'Well, go on,' Reid said forcefully, taking hold of her other wrist. 'What were you going to say? To make it easier for yourself? Because it's just as hard for you, isn't it? You want sex as badly as I do. You loved what I did to you this afternoon, didn't you? Didn't you?' he repeated roughly, his voice rising.

  'Yes! Oh God, yes,' Casey admitted with a groan.

  'Then for God's sake why…' Reid bit off what he was going to say. 'No,' he said fiercely, 'I'm not going to beg and plead for what should rightfully be mine.'

  'But I'm not too proud to beg,' Casey burst out and fell forward on to her knees. 'Pl
ease, please, Reid, give it up.

  Don't kill yourself, please. You only have to promise and we can make love right now. We can go to bed and I'll do whatever you want, anything, if only you'll promise.'

  'Why, you little bitch!' Reid pulled her roughly to her feet. 'What the hell are you trying to do—emasculate me before we even start on our married life?' His hands were trembling with anger, his breathing ragged as he glared at her, his eye-patch back in place now. 'Well, I'm not going to let you. And I'm not going to let you force me into taking you, either. But I've had enough of this, Casey. If you can't behave like an adult and sort this thing out rationally between us, then I'll just have to treat you like a spoilt, disobedient brat. And for a start I'm not going to stand for you sleeping in another room. We're going to sleep together as man and wife even if it is in the literal sense of the word and all we do is sleep. And you'll dress and undress in the bedroom, too, instead of sneaking off to the bathroom every time. What do you think I'm going to do, Casey? Go berserk at the sight of you in your underclothes? Or without any clothes on at all? Like this!' And he let go her wrist to grab the top of the towel and pull it off her, flinging it out of the way as his eyes went over her.

  Casey gasped in horror and automatically tried to cover herself with her hand, but Reid grabbed it again quickly. 'Don't do that,' he ordered thickly. 'Don't ever cover yourself in front of me. After all, I am your husband,' he pointed out in bitter sarcasm. 'I do have some rights. And surely you wouldn't begrudge me the small sop of being able to look at you, even if you refuse everything else.'

  'Let me go! Damn you, let me go!' Casey shouted, struggling to break free of his hold, angry and humiliated.

  'No, never!' Reid said savagely. 'I'm not going to let you shut yourself away in another room. You're my wife.' With a jerk Reid pulled her into his arms, then picked her up and carried her into the main bedroom. Pulling back the covers he dropped her none too gently on to the bed and held her down until she stopped struggling.

  'That's better.' His free hand went to his belt and undid it, then to the zip of his trousers. He wasn't wearing anything underneath. Casey turned her eyes away and he laughed scornfully. 'What is it, Casey, are you embarrassed to look at me? Or is it that the sight of me makes you realise just what you're missing?'

  Casey didn't answer and he got into bed beside her. He looked at her for a moment then put his hand in her hair and pulled her to him so that he could kiss her hard on the mouth. 'Goodnight, wife,' he said grimly. Again Casey didn't answer, and Reid laughed harshly and reached to turn off the light.

  The blessed darkness at least cut his anger off from her sight, but she was acutely aware of the tense atmosphere it engendered around them. She was painfully aware, too, of their nakedness, and lay very still, afraid of arousing him again. She could hear Reid's harsh breathing, and almost feel the tautness in his body as he strove to control his emotions. How many nights had they lain together like this? Casey tried to think but couldn't. But it was too many. It would have been better if he had let her sleep alone, she was sure of that. But apparently that had been a slur against his masculinity, although Casey couldn't think why.

  She lay stiff and still for a long time, her mind swinging from anger to despair. One of them would have to give in soon; they just couldn't go on like this indefinitely. Casey thought how it would be if she gave in now, this minute, if she reached out and touched him. That was all she would have to do, she knew. Just reach out and put her hand on him and Reid would turn and take her in his arms, give her the love that her body craved. She grew hot at the thought, her body trembling, her fingernails digging into the palms of her hands. But if she did that it would be a defeat. And how could she live with herself afterwards if she gave in so easily, so weakly succumbed to physical concupiscence? She had to be strong. If they were to have any kind of future then she just had to be strong now, much as she hated it.

  But Reid was so stubborn. He said they could discuss it, but she had little doubt that he just meant that he would try to talk her round. He would make it all sound so reasonable, so safe; just as if taking part in a Grand Prix race was no more dangerous than having a Sunday afternoon round of golf. And once she had accepted his arguments and given in, he would carry on just as before. And somehow that would be an even worse defeat. It would mean that her love and worry for him were secondary to racing. That he wanted just a wife who would always fall in with his wishes, who would be willing to play second fiddle to him and have no mind of her own. And there was no way she was going to do that, Casey thought with gritted-teeth determination. She just had to win this battle for both their sakes.

  She didn't know how long she lay so still, her body tense, aware of every sound and movement that Reid made, but at last she fell asleep, only to have a dream in which she was walking naked down a busy street. She woke with a start, hot and flushed, and for a second was frightened to find that she actually was naked. But then she remembered and turned to look at Reid in the moonlight that filtered through the curtains. He wasn't there. The bedclothes were quite flat. To make sure, Casey tentatively stretched out her hand, but his side of the bed wasn't even warm. She thought that he might have gone to the bathroom, might be ill, but there was no light under the door. Getting out of bed, Casey went softly over to the door and looked out on to the landing, but that, too, was all in darkness. Perplexed, she stood for a few minutes, listening, but could hear no sound. For a ghastly moment she thought that he might have left her, have packed his things and gone, but then common sense reasserted itself; there was no way he could have packed without waking her, especially when she had been sleeping so nervously.

  Casey bit her fingertip, wondering what to do. She would have felt better if she could have put something on; it felt so unnatural to walk about like this, but Reid might get angry again if he came back and found her with a nightdress on. The night was as hot and sticky as the day had been, so she walked over to the windows and pulled them open. They were full-length windows, giving on to a small, half-circular balcony. The faint lowering of temperature felt good. Knowing that the house wasn't overlooked, Casey stepped on to the balcony, its stone surface rough on her bare feet, and took a deep breath of cooler night air. There was a movement in the garden below and she drew back in alarm, but then saw that it was Reid.

  He was standing about ten yards below the terrace, wearing only the bottom half of a pair of pyjamas, leaning one hand against the back of an ornamental garden seat. He didn't smoke and there was no glass in his hand. He was simply standing there looking up at the moon with a grim, hopeless kind of look on his face. As she watched, he lifted a hand to push his eye-patch aside and tiredly rub his bad eye. Love and pity filled Casey's heart and she wanted to cry out to him, to tell him to come and let her comfort him. But even as she opened her mouth Reid straightened up, squaring his shoulders, and she realised that he wasn't the kind of man who would accept pity from anyone, even his wife. So she stepped silently back into the bedroom and was lying in bed, apparently asleep, when he eventually came back.

  They were both up early the next morning, the air between them brittle with tension as they ate breakfast.

  'I'm going down to the boatyard today,' Reid informed her curtly. 'I expect I'll be there all day.'

  'All right. I shall be down at the warehouse, of course.'

  'Of course,' Reid agreed sardonically. He drained his coffee-cup, stood up and picked up his briefcase. 'See you tonight,' he said off-handedly as he left.

  Casey didn't answer, just sat with both hands round her coffee-cup, staring after him and feeling completely wretched at the thought of another night like last night. She got up, suddenly wanting to be out of the house and away from this tense atmosphere. Quickly she locked up and ran to her car, not feeling at ease until she had reached the warehouse and was sitting at one of her machines. It felt good to be working again, to concentrate completely on what she was doing, and watch the sweater quickly grow under her expert h
ands. She worked solidly all morning, the windows wide open to let in the hot summer air, but at lunch time Johnny Johnson came and banged on her door, insisting she come and join him and most of the other people who had units there for a lunch-break. They all sat together on a stretch of grass at the front of the building, eating sandwiches bought from a nearby snack-bar, washed down with cans of beer and Coke. Johnny introduced her to everyone and she was soon deep in conversation with two girls who made kits for patchwork cushions.

  Casey found that lunch-break wonderfully relaxing and pleasant after all the traumas with Reid, and she went back to work with renewed energy and enthusiasm, but when she reached her unit the phone was ringing. It was Reid. He said shortly, 'I've been trying to reach you for some time.'

  'I—I'm sorry, I had a break for lunch. Did you—want me for something?'

  Reid gave a short, derisive, laugh and she bit her lip as she realised what she had said. But Reid answered, 'I rang Elaine to tell her I was home, and she's invited us to dinner tonight. I said I'd phone you and let her know.'

  'Oh, I see. Do you want to go?' Casey temporised.

  Reid's reply was devastating. 'Anything would be better than just sitting at home acting like polite strangers to each other all night."

  It was a moment before Casey could speak, then, 'All right, tell Elaine we'll go,' she said shortly and put the receiver down, her hand shaking and all the torment flooding back, her temporary peace shattered.

  She found it again for a short while when they went out that evening. Elaine and Richard welcomed them warmly, obviously quite unaware that there was anything wrong. The children were ready for bed, but had been allowed to stay up and see the uncle they adored and their new aunt, and for twenty minutes they all had a hilarious romp until Reid allowed the children to catch him and pull him down to the ground. Casey stood by, laughing, until the thought hit her of what a wonderful father Reid would make. Her face grew wistful and it was just at that moment that Reid stood up and looked at her, at once reading her thoughts. His mouth twisted and he gave her such a cold, cynical look that Casey hastily went down to the kitchen where Elaine was putting vegetables into tureens. She looked up with a smile. 'Has Richard put them to bed?' Then she saw Casey's face. 'Are you all right? Is anything the matter?'