by Joanna Scott
It was dark when she awoke and the only light in the room came from the turbulent flames in the fireplace as they licked through the air, casting eerie shadows in the silent room. Laura peered through the firelight to examine her surroundings. The dominant features of the room seemed to be the huge bed in which she was sleeping and the great stone fireplace across the room. Two overstuffed lounge chairs and a small table stood in front of the fireplace and completed the furnishings of the room. Such a sparsely furnished room would have looked barren and cold except for the thick rust carpeting and the warm redwood paneling. The steadily beating sound of the rain caught Laura's attention and she turned her eyes to the ceiling. A huge skylight filled the roof directly above the bed and gave a panoramic view of the evening's rainfilled sky. Laura huddled beneath the covers and shuddered at the chilling sound of the incessant rain as it fell against the glassy skylight.
Then she looked back toward the warmth of the fireplace and burrowed deeply into the bed, enjoying the luxurious feeling of the soft silk sheets against her skin. The coffee had warmed her body and the sleep had rested her limbs, making her feel strangely sensuous as she stretched beneath the scented silk sheets.
Laura stiffened when she heard David's footsteps on the stairway. He dominated the doorway as he walked into the room; his tautly rippling muscles strained against his beige worsted trousers and heavy wool sweater. Swiftly, he approached the bed and stared down at Laura. There was no love or concern in his eyes.
"You're up. Good… perhaps you'd care to tell me what you're doing here?" He sat down on the edge of the bed.
Laura sat up, pulling the comforter tightly over her creamy shoulders. David's nearness, the spicy odor of his cologne filling her nostrils, made her weak with desire. She forced herself to remain calm as she said icily, "I went to see the judge, as you requested. He's very angry and refuses to grant the annulment until we both appear before him. In fact, we'd better get back there right now. He's waiting for us. Are my clothes dry? I'll get dressed and we can go."
David got up and walked toward the sliding glass door that opened onto the redwood deck. "Stay in bed! You're not going anywhere! Your clothing won't be dry for another day. In fact, it's so muddy and torn, I don't even think you'll be able to wear it again. I'll probably have to send Dan to town for some new things for you. In the meantime, you'd better stay in bed."
"Do you have a bathrobe I could borrow? Or a pajama top?"
David kept looking at the dusky sky as the daytime darkness of the storm deepened to the ebony blackness of nightfall. "You don't need any clothes. Just stay in bed, you'll be warm there."
"I can't. The judge is waiting for us. He's really angry, David."
David pulled the drape and closed off the cold darkness that was seeping into the room. Then he walked toward the bed. "We can't go anywhere, I don't have a car. Dan drove me up here and he won't be back to pick me up until tomorrow. How did you get up here? I don't see a car. Don't tell me you walked!"
Laura explained. "I guess I was foolish not to check the gas gauge and get stranded like this, but we have to get back to the city because the judge wants to talk to both of us in his office before he grants the annulment. He said he did you a special favor when he married us. Why did you tell him that you had proposed to me?"
David walked to the fireplace and looked down at the crackling flames. He rested his elbow against the mantle and leaned his head on his arm. Strain and exhaustion were obvious in every line of his body and his tone was weary. "I loved you from the first time I saw you, that Saturday morning in the lobby. You were so different and unsophisticated. I was able to relax with you in a way I had never been able to relax with any other woman. Then when we kissed, I knew that I wanted you as my wife. But I also knew that you harbored some pretty strong ideas about Jonathan Lattimer. So I hid my identity. I put you in charge of the decoration of Lattimer Lodge because I wanted it to be your home. I was prepared to take things slowly and let you get used to me."
Laura sat up, the covers clutched around her. "David… please don't say any more. It's not important."
"It is important. Let me finish. I want you to hear everything before you leave me. When you started kissing me at the wine festival, I knew I had to have you. But I also knew that you would never forgive me if you woke up and found yourself in my bed without the benefit of a marriage license. I couldn't trust myself when you were suddenly so warm and willing. I thought I could make you love me, so I lied to the judge. He never would have married us if I had told him that you weren't responsible for your own actions. He married us with this ring, it's been on my finger ever since my father gave it to me on my twenty-first birthday. I never thought I would remove it until I gave it to our son on his twenty-first birthday. But I had no other ring and I didn't think my father would mind under the circumstances. We padded it with tissues to make it fit. I thought you would treasure the ring as much I did, and the fact that we had been married with it would enhance its sentimental value to our family. But you woke up alone the next morning, after I had been called away to that fire. When I returned to the apartment, I found the ring lying on the night table and the money gone. I guess that showed me what you thought of the ring. You were only interested in the money, the ring and our marriage meant nothing to you. My love meant nothing to you. That's why I'm offering you this annulment. You can't even stand my touch. You turn from me in disgust when I try to show my love for you. I'm only human, Laura, and I love you so much that I can't bear to see the look of revulsion on your face each time you reject my caresses."
Laura looked at David as he hung his head and gazed despondently into the fireplace. He seemed so different from the arrogant man she had always known. She couldn't believe what her ears had heard. David loved her as much as she loved him. She swung her bare feet onto the floor. "David… I…"
"Don't say anything!" He was staring at her with renewed animosity and arrogance. "I don't want your pity. There's no need to gloat over your victory. I'll give you your annulment and then you'll be free to marry Roger. Just don't keep coming around flaunting yourself before me and then rejecting my love." He turned to look into the fire once more.
Laura left the bed, wrapping the sheet around her, and walked slowly toward the fireplace. She put her hands on David's shoulders. As he turned, she placed her head against his chest and flung her arms about his neck, pulling his head down toward hers. "I love you, David. I've always loved you. I just never knew you loved me. I thought you loved Amanda and were just toying with me. You were always so casually arrogant about everything… The night of the barbecue, I was so giddy from the antihistamine and the wine that I didn't remember you had married me. I thought you had just used me that night and left me in the morning. The ring had fallen off, and I didn't know… I never would have taken the money and left the ring if I'd known. I just took the money so I could run away. I loved you so much, I couldn't stand to face you again."
Now David's face, which had hovered above Laura's while she expressed her love for him, dipped toward hers. His mouth met hers, parting her lips in passionate desire. Laura felt fire cascade through her body as she curled her fingers into the soft hair at the nape of his neck. Her lips returned his kiss with a fury she did not know she possessed. She stood on tiptoe as she arched her body toward his, responding sensuously to his steadily rising desire. Then, slowly, with a sigh, David released her and, placing his thumbs beneath her chin, raised her eyes to meet his own. Laura could see the restrained passion smoldering within the dark depths of his eyes.
"Do you mean what you're saying, Laura? You must be certain. I can't take another rejection. Do you really mean you love me and want to be my wife forever? There'll be no turning back after this." His burning eyes searched her face as he awaited her answer.
Laura stepped forward and stood on tiptoe as she reached her lips toward his, unleashing the whirlpool of love that was churning in her heart. She pressed her lips forward until he resp
onded with all the passion he had been keeping under control.
He kissed her until her head began to spin. Then she closed her eyes and leaned back, her fingers combing wildly through his hair, while he lowered his lips to kiss the softly pulsating vein at the side of her neck. His gently questing hand slipped the sheet from around her as he covered the creamy softness of her shoulders with a rain of tender kisses. His hands traveled down her back, caressing and molding her body to meet the surging demands of his own as he lowered his mouth to the tender hollow between her breasts and lifted her off the floor. Then, in the flickering glow of the fire, with the moon and the stars beaming softly through the skylight, he carried her to the bed.
