'Oh, please, I… I can't take much more of this,' she heard herself muttering in a voice quite unlike her own, and his mouth abruptly ceased its intoxicating exploration of her breast.
'Are you begging me to make love to you, Kate?'
A part of her drugged mind registered the significance of his harshly murmured query, but she was beyond caring and, discarding the final fragment of her pride, she cried brokenly, 'Oh, God… yes . . . take me, please!'
His hand tightened momentarily on her hip, then he broke her restraining clasp about his neck and rolled away from her. He got up out of bed, and put on his robe, then he turned and said abruptly, 'Not this time.'
Bewildered and confused, Kate sat up in bed with a jerky movement, uncaring that the sheets had slid to her waist to reveal taut, pointed breasts which were pale and smooth where the strip of her bikini had prevented the sun from caressing her skin to a golden tan. 'Where are you—you going?' she questioned him in a husky, broken voice.
'I'm going to sleep in the dressing-room.'
Kate's bewilderment increased. 'But—but you can't— you can't just leave me like this!'
'Can't I?'
His mouth was twisted in a ruthless smile which should have told her that he intended doing exactly as he had said, but her aroused body, with every nerve and pulse throbbing with an aching need, refused to accept what he was saying, and she cried frantically, 'Rhyno, for the love of heaven!'
'Heaven has nothing to do with it, Kate. Only hell,' he said, leaning over her suddenly and raking her with eyes filled with such contempt that she instantly dragged the sheets up about her naked, shivering body. 'Even if I have to drive you to hell and back, you will eventually learn to think twice before you dish out those insults you're so fond of.'
A sob rose in her throat, but she choked it back as anger came to her rescue, and with her hands clenched tightly on the sheets in an effort not to strike him, she hissed, 'You're a fiend, and a—'
'Careful, Kate,' he warned her mockingly, and when the dressing-room door closed behind him, she threw herself face down on to the pillows.
'Oh, God!' she groaned, trying to control the tremors that shook through her. Her heated body craved fulfilment, but there was none forthcoming, and she became acquainted with a private hell which she would not have wished on her worst enemy.
'Why?' she asked herself repeatedly. Why did he do this to her? What satisfaction was there in it for him to punish her in this manner? Was he asleep, or was he, too, lying awake? she wondered, staring hard at the dressing-room door in the darkness. He had a slab of concrete where his heart ought to be, she told herself eventually, and a wave of chilled anger finally washed over her, drowning out her emotions.
She lay awake for several hours before she fell asleep, and she awoke the following morning to find a note propped up against a jar of face cream on the dressing table. Her heart knocked against her ribs, and regardless of the fact that she was wearing nothing at all, she leapt out of bed and snatched up the note, to see Rhyno's bold handwriting leaping out at her. Typically, it did not start in the conventional manner, but simply said:
I have to go to Cape Town on business, and I won't be back until late this evening. I hope you slept well. Rhyno.
Kate's hands shook when she read the message. The first part was acceptable, but the last sentence was like a physical blow where it hurt most. I hope you slept well. He could not have been crueller had he tried, and helpless anger was her only antidote against the humiliation, shame, and utter despair that gripped her.
'Damn you!' she cried hotly, crushing the note in her hands and flinging it viciously into the basket beside the dressing-table. 'I wish you in hell, Rhyno van der Bijl!'
Rage and pain mingled to bring tears to her eyes, but she dashed them away with the back of her hand, and stormed into the bathroom to shower and dress herself in comfortable slacks and a warm sweater.
She tried to forget about the note she had received while she worked in the study, but half way through the morning she knew that it was impossible to forget, or to delude herself. There was more to Rhyno's note than she cared to dwell on, but her thoughts could not be stunted. What was the nature of his business in Cape Town?. And where was Barbara? Did she go with him?
Kate tried to tell herself that she was torturing herself needlessly, but a few minutes later her hand strayed towards the telephone on the desk, and before she could prevent herself from doing so she was dialling the number of the boutique.
The voice that answered was feminine, but it was not Barbara's, and Kate's suspicions were once again aroused, but she nevertheless asked, 'May I speak to Miss Owen, please?'
'I'm afraid she isn't in today,' the girl replied with a brightness that made Kate want to scream. 'She left early this morning for Cape Town, but she should be back tomorrow.'
'I see,' Kate said dully.
'Is there a message, perhaps?' the girl at the other end asked eagerly after a strained little silence had elapsed. 'Could I ask her to call you back?'
'That won't be necessary, thank you.'
'But—'
'I'll call again some other time,' Kate ended the conversation abruptly, and her palm was damp when she replaced the receiver on its cradle.
She was never quite sure afterwards how she managed to get through the rest of the morning, but somehow she did, and after lunch that day she instructed the faithful Lenny to take over her duties in the cellars. She drove in to town with only one purpose in mind; to speak to Naomi van der Bijl, and to find out exactly what there was between Rhyno and Barbara.
It was an exceptionally warm day, considering that it was midwinter, and when she arrived at Naomi's cottage she found her pottering about in the colourful garden with a wide-brimmed straw hat on her head.
'Kate!' Naomi exclaimed when she turned at the sound of the garden gate squeaking and, taking off her gardening gloves, she walked towards the tall, slender girl coming up the path. 'How lovely to see you, my dear,' she smiled, taking Kate's arm and ushering her into the cottage.
'I hope you don't mind my coming here uninvited?' Kate asked tentatively when they stood facing each other in the small but neatly furnished lounge.
'Don't be silly, child,' Naomi laughed lightly, taking off her straw hat and flinging it into a chair. 'Please don't ever feel you need an invitation to come here to my home.'
Kate glanced appreciatively about the room. 'Is this where you've lived all these years since…'
'Since I sold La Reine to your late father?' Naomi finished for her when Kate paused uncomfortably. 'Yes, this has been my home ever since.'
'You've created a very homely atmosphere.'
'Why, thank you, Kate.' Dark brown eyes, very much like Rhyno's, smiled warmly at Kate. 'Shall I make us a pot of tea?'
'That would be nice, thank you,' Kate replied sighing inwardly with relief at the thought that she would have time to gather her wits about her.
'Make yourself comfortable, my dear,' Naomi suggested. 'I shan't be long.'
Left alone, Kate glanced about her with detached interest until she saw the photograph on the low, old-fashioned cabinet against the north-facing wall, and she crossed the room to study it more closely. The aristocratic features were less severe, the chiselled mouth was curved in a faint smile, and those dark eyes gazed directly into hers without contempt, but it was unmistakably Rhyno, a much younger Rhyno, with his serious face devoid of those stern, often harsh lines. Kate's throat tightened with emotion, and she wished she could have known him then before life, and circumstances, had twisted him into the harsh man she knew.
A light step behind her finally made her turn, and she seated herself opposite Naomi while she poured their tea, but her eyes strayed back to the photograph on the cabinet and lingered there almost hungrily.
'That photograph was taken during Rhyno's second year at university,' Naomi said quietly, following the direction of Kate's glance as she handed her her tea, and Kate lowered her
eyes guiltily.
'Was he always so serious?'
'He was always a very determined and dedicated boy,' Naomi explained. 'He still is,' she added after a pause, her eyes seeking Kate's. 'He is also very loyal to the people he cares for.'
Kate swallowed down a mouthful of tea to steady herself, but she could not quite suppress that hint of cynicism in her voice when she asked, 'Was it always his ambition to regain possession of La Reine?'
'No,' Naomi shook her head. 'For many years he swore never to set foot on La Reine again. What we've lost must remain lost for ever, he used to say. One can never go back.'
'How fortuitous for him that he changed his mind,' Kate replied, and again there was that hint of cynicism in her voice.
Naomi frowned as she studied Kate's slender figure in the chair opposite hers. She saw the slight tremor in the hand that held the tea-cup, and the faint shadows beneath eyes that gazed directly into hers, but it was the tightness about that usually soft mouth that made her ask with noticeable concern, 'What's troubling you, Kate?'
The tremor in the hand that held the tea-cup increased, but Kate's gaze did not falter as she said abruptly, 'Barbara Owen.'
'They've known each other for many years,' Naomi informed her after a noticeable hesitation. 'They were at university together.'
Kate's eyes widened with a measure of surprise. 'I didn't know Barbara had been to university.'
'She discontinued her studies after her second year.'
'Why?'
Naomi looked away. 'I'm afraid I can't answer that.'
'Can't, or won't?' Kate persisted curiously.
'I can't tell you, Kate,' Naomi replied, and looked decidedly uncomfortable as she explained, 'Rhyno and Barbara took me into their confidence some years ago, and I'm not in a position to tell you what you want to know.'
'I see,' Kate murmured thoughtfully, a plan of action forming in her mind with the swiftness of a veld fire as she drained her cup and placed it on the tray. 'Well, thanks for the tea, but I have several things to do before I return home.'
'Kate…' Naomi's hand touched Kate's as they rose to their feet, and the eyes that met Kate's contained a troubled apology, 'I'm sorry.'
'So am I,' Kate replied seriously, and her chin was set with determination when she drove away from Naomi van der Bijl's cottage a few minutes later. She had hoped to find an answer to her problem, but, like her son, Naomi had shut that particular door in Kate's face, leaving Kate no alternative but to seek help elsewhere in her effort to find out what she wanted to know.
'This is a pleasant surprise, Kate,' Hubert Walton smiled at her from across the room half an hour later when she was ushered into his office. 'Do you realise that it's months since I last had the pleasure of your company?'
'Since when have you needed an invitation to come out to Solitaire?' Kate counter-questioned as she seated herself in front of his desk.
'I plead guilty, but I've been rather busy lately,' Hubert told her ruefully as he leaned back in his chair and studied her thoughtfully. 'What can I do for you?'
'Do you know of someone in Cape Town who could dig up some information for you?' Kate asked without hesitation, her hands tightening on the clasp of her handbag.
'What kind of information?'
For a moment only the sound of the traffic in the street below filled the room, then Kate said: 'Barbara Owen went to university more or less at the same time as Rhyno. There must be someone, one or two of her acquaintances, perhaps, who could give us more detailed information about her.'
'I repeat, Kate, what kind of information?'
'I believe she dropped out of university after her second year, and I want to know why.'
'Why don't you ask Rhyno, he should know.'
'He refuses to discuss Barbara with me.'
Hubert observed her for a moment in speculative silence, then he pressed the tips of his fingers neatly together, and demanded quietly, 'Why is this of such importance to you?'
'I don't know yet,' Kate shrugged slightly. 'I'll know when I get the information I'm looking for.'
Hubert studied her with a look of deep concentration on his lined face, and Kate was beginning to think that he would refuse when he finally sighed and said: 'I'll do my best for you, Kate, but I can't promise you anything.'
'That's fine… but there's one other thing,' Kate said when he followed her example and rose to his feet. 'I don't want Rhyno to know about this.'
His glance sharpened beneath those grey, bushy eyebrows, then he nodded abruptly. 'If that's what you want.'
'Thanks, Uncle Hubert,' she smiled, inwardly relieved, then she kissed him impulsively on the cheek and walked out of his office.
She drove back to Solitaire that afternoon feeling intensely satisfied, but as the hours passed her satisfaction turned to apprehension. What would she discover that she did not know already? What was there between Rhyno and Barbara that was so confidential that Naomi felt herself sworn to silence? Frightening thoughts darted back and forth through her mind, but she was determined not to leap to conclusions until she was totally aware of the facts.
She had dinner alone that evening and went to bed early, but found that she could not sleep. Her ears were straining for the sound of Rhyno's car and, regardless of her efforts, she was awake several hours later when she heard his Citroen approaching the house. She waited, following his movements in her mind, and her body tensed when she eventually heard his footsteps in the passage outside her door. Her heart leapt uncomfortably when she heard him pause, then his footsteps continued on into the dressing-room. She eventually heard him whistling softly and tunelessly in the shower across the passage, and the whistling continued until she heard him re-enter the dressing-room.
She rolled over on to her left side, lying with her back towards the door to give the impression that she was asleep if he should enter her room, but her body was tense and, no matter how much she tried, every nerve seemed to be quivering expectantly. The memory of the previous night was still too fresh and raw in her memory, and although she dreaded the thought, a part of her willed him to come to her. She despised herself for it, but when at last the dressing-room door opened and closed quietly, she could not deny that she was aware of his presence in the room with every fibre of her being. She tried desperately to control her breathing, to give the impression that she was asleep, but her heart was pounding so hard and fast in her breast that she was almost convinced that he could hear it. She felt the springs sag beneath his weight when he got into bed beside her, then his hand was beneath her nightdress, and sliding up her warm, silken thigh until his fingers tightened on her hip.
'Kate…'
She ignored him mentally, but physically she responded to that fiery touch, and she trembled despite herself, giving him a clear indication that she was awake and acutely conscious of his lean, muscular frame beside her in that enormous bed. In one swift movement she was turned over on to her back and trapped against him.
'For pity's sake, Rhyno, leave me in peace,' she groaned, realising the futility of pretence as she tried to avoid his seeking lips, but they trailed a fiery path of destruction across her shoulder, and shivers of delight rippled through her when she felt his teeth nipping softly at her ear.
'You don't really want me to leave you alone, do you?'
'Yes, I do,' she insisted, her hands against his shoulders, and the muscles in her arms aching as she vainly tried to thrust him from her.
'Why?'
'Do I have to spell it out for you?' she demanded angrily, her senses responding to the scent of his masculine cologne, and the tantalising caress of his lips against her exposed throat, but before he could reply she said accusingly, 'You were with Barbara today.'
'So what?' he demanded in a voice ringing with hateful arrogance.
'Haven't you had enough sex for one day?'
'So you imagine I'm some sort of sex maniac?'
He was laughing at her, she could sense it, and added to that there
was the memory of how he had abandoned her the previous night. Everything within her suddenly leapt into revolt, and her voice shook with fury as she snapped, 'Oh, for heaven's sake, Rhyno, I couldn't care less about your sexual appetite, but I'm not in the mood to be used as the object of your sadistic pleasure, so just leave me alone!'
'Kate the shrew,' he muttered harshly, his arms tightening about her slim body. 'I shall enjoy taming you, and when I've succeeded you'll find I shall be the one to call the tune.'
'I'll see you in hell first!' she cried furiously, fighting off his hands when he began to strip off her nightdress, but her efforts were futile.
She fought like a wildcat, determined not to give in for fear of a repetition of the night before, but she had no defence against the waves of sensual pleasure that swept through her, and she despised herself as she found herself yielding to the urgent intimacy of his caresses until there was no room for thought in her mind.
Rhyno did not leave her this time, and her need rose to meet his until their bodies became fused together in the throes of a fierce passion. Caught in the grip of the most intense, soul-shattering pleasure, everything else was forgotten, and she clung to him in helpless surrender, not caring what he might think of her, but knowing that she would be ashamed of herself later for her lack of control.
Kate did not realise it at first, but that night was the start of a changing pattern in their lives. Instead of attacking, she was on the defensive, instead of dishing out insults she was the one who was being insulted and humiliated, and knowing the reason for it did not help her to accept it. She loved Rhyno with every breath she took, but she would rather have died than place this final weapon of destruction in his hands.
CHAPTER NINE
Three weeks alter paying a visit to Hubert Walton's offices, Kate received a message that he would like her to come and see him as soon as possible, and she wasted no time in making an appointment for that same day.
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