by Anne Hampson
Phil watched the colour ebb from her face, replaced by an unhealthy ashen tinge; he saw a terrified hand steal up to her cheek, her eyes dilating as they stared disbelievingly over his shoulder, as if at some ghostly apparition. Nerves prickling, he pushed her from him and swung around…
'Oh, my God!' he exclaimed. 'You! What a moment to arrive!' Phil cursed fate as he looked into a face like thunder. 'How much did you hear?' he was compelled to ask, even though he knew the answer, instinctively guessing that Paul had been standing there for several seconds.
'Enough!' snarled Paul, striding purposefully into the room.
Laura, backing away, strategically knew an hysterical inclination to laugh but instead she asked, in low disjointed accents, 'Paul… er… how d-did you get in… I m-must have left the d-door open after Phil— Oh, don't you dare touch me!' White as a sheet now, Laura cowered away as if menaced by something evil.
Paul, incensed by what he had heard as he stood there beyond the living-room door, shot out a hand and gripped his wife by the wrist, jerking her from the corner into which she had shrunk in an instinctive attempt to get out of his way. He glowered down at her, eyes blazing with the fury that consumed him.
Laura stared, terrified and yet fascinated, her thoughts winging to her early conviction that Paul could be ruthless to the point of cruelty. Her eyes naturally flew to Phil, a plea for protection in their depths. Nothing could have added more fuel to the fire of her husband's towering rage and for one terrified moment Laura steeled herself, sure he would lose control and inflict some injury upon her. However, he did manage to control himself, and Laura sagged with relief, though she did wonder if the respite was only temporary. And, as if she were obeying some instinct for protection, she sank into a chair.
As for Phil—he just stood watching with interest, making no attempt to say anything.
'So you're in love with this man, are you—' Sheer fury seemed to rob Paul of speech for a space, and a smile touched the outline of Phil's mouth. His eyes slanted to the girl he had once wished to marry but whom he had recently admitted was not the one for him. She was staring, frightened. He wondered if she realised that her husband's wrath was rooted in jealousy. 'Well, woman, you do happen to be my wife, and it stays that way! Divorce—!' His glittering eyes raked her cowering form before moving to the man who was now nonchalantly leaning against the mantelshelf. 'You can forget it, both of you! This woman is mine, and I'll kill the man who tries to take her from me!'
Laura found her tongue. She glared at her husband, all else forgotten except the manner in which he had referred to her. 'I'm not your woman!' she seethed. 'I'll not be called—'
'By God, you are my woman!' The vivid blue eyes fixed hers as a tiger fixes its unfortunate prey. 'In Greece a wife is her husband's woman—'
'Just a figure of speech,' interposed Phil, deciding it was time he took a hand, especially as Laura was becoming enraged, and anything she said could only worsen the situation. 'It doesn't mean anything degrading.'
Paul turned on him. 'Get out!' he gritted. 'Or do you want me to throw you out!'
As Paul made a move towards him, Laura screamed out, 'Don't hit him! Paul, listen to me—'
'Let him get it out of his system,' recommended Phil in a mild untroubled tone. 'I don't suppose I'll die.'
Paul's hand fell to his side. 'You're a cool customer,' he rasped. 'Anyone would think you wanted that face of yours disfigured!'
'It would relieve your feelings,' returned Phil cheerfully. 'And I do understand how you feel, believe me. However, I'm convinced you'd derive far more satisfaction by tossing your addle-brained wife over your knee and giving her what she deserves.'
'My…' Paul's brow furrowed in perplexity. 'Just what is going on here? I've overheard enough to know that you and she want to get married, yet you're advising me to chastise my wife.' The frown deepened. 'Perhaps you'll explain,' he encouraged, eyes narrowing at the calm untroubled manner being adopted by the man who had been holding Laura in his arms only minutes before.
'Don't explain!' cried Laura swiftly. 'Phil, I forbid it!'
'Be quiet,' ordered her husband. 'I want to hear what this man has to say.'
'No… I… Oh, Paul, don't ask for explanations! Just accept that I love Phil and want to marry him—!'
'You are married,' thundered her husband. 'Just wait till I have you home—!'
'For God's sake be quiet, both of you!' Phil drew in his breath as if his patience were almost in shreds. He saw the expression slowly change on Paul's face, heard Laura's frantic plea for him to remain silent because she was sure he meant to tell Paul everything. He looked directly at her. 'You asked for my help,' he reminded her. 'I'm now going to give it—'
'No!' she cried again. 'I don't want…' Her voice faltered beneath the glowering threat of her husband's eyes.
He stared her out, compelling her to lower her eyes, and only then did he speak, to say in a dangerously soft tone of voice, 'If you interrupt again, Laura, I shan't be responsible for my actions.'
Blushing furiously, she subsided deeper into the cushions and listened to Phil relating everything to her husband. She heard little grunts of disbelief from time to time, was aware of Paul's glances, but she had no inclination to meet them. When at last Phil had finished, there was a long silence in the room.
'It's not credible,' said Paul when at last he brought the silence to an end.
'That's what I thought,' agreed Phil. 'She used to be so practical, so overendowed with common sense…' He broke off and shrugged. 'Good luck, Laura,' he said and moved to the door where he turned, a smile on his face. 'Invite me over sometime. I'd enjoy a holiday in Greece.'
The door closed quietly; the two stared at each other for a long moment before Paul, hands outstretched, asked her to come to him.
She obeyed, but said in choked and husky tones, 'I can't come back, Paul, and put you in danger. You do understand, don't you?' He said nothing and after a while she said hopefully, 'Perhaps we could live in England…' She tailed off. 'No?' she queried.
'No, my ridiculous, idiotic little wife, we cannot live in England.' His hands closed about her arms; he looked down at her from his superior height and slowly moved his head from side to side. 'What shall I do with you? I'm sure your old flame had a point when he advised me to beat you.'
She swallowed because her throat felt blocked. 'I wish my brain would work,' she complained, speaking her thoughts aloud in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.
'Pity it didn't work a few hours ago,' he said drily.
'You're so calm,' she began. 'The danger's real,' she stressed.
'In your imagination very real, but in actual fact it doesn't exist. Phil was right when he told you that only Irene has merited punishment and that he couldn't see anyone deliberately harming an innocent little girl.' He paused to look at her with amusement not untinged with censure. 'What a lot of heartache you've caused, and none of it necessary.'
'You're just passing the danger off,' she insisted. 'I knew you would, and that's why I didn't come to you, why I chose to come away instead.'
'Haven't I just said the danger exists only in your imagination? Why you should have listened to Marilyn in the first place is something I shall never understand.
Surely, with your woman's intuition, you could see she was wildly jealous of you?' Laura said nothing; she had moved closer and her face was lifted, mouth parted and infinitely tempting. Paul gave a low laugh, then bent to kiss her. 'Everything she said to you was said in malice,' continued Paul, and now his eyes were glinting with anger. 'And most of it was lies. No one ever intended hurting anyone but Irene—and perhaps the man she went off with, but it would be Irene mainly. The Gavezas family are ruthless but only with those they either don't like or whom they employ. They're notorious for making their men earn their money. I have always got on very well with the father and, to a point, with the sons. They have absolutely nothing against me and as a result nothing against my family.'
'But you are Irene's brother-in-law,' began Laura, then stopped. 'You just said that doesn't matter, though.' She sighed. 'I can't think, Paul!'
'Then don't try, my darling. Just relax and let your husband think for you.' With a gentle hand he tilted her chin; his eyes were dark with tenderness as he touched her lips, caressing gently, teasing and possessing, moistly, demandingly, until she flung her arms around his neck and reciprocated with more than just her lips. It was some minutes later that he said, looking deeply into eyes dark and dreamy from his lovemaking, 'Why did you tell Phil you loved me and yet not tell me?'
'I found out only last night.'
'Last night.' He became thoughtful and, aware of what was running through his mind, Laura explained how she came to be so cold with him, both on the phone and afterwards. 'Yes, I understand,' he said, smiling to reassure her. 'I realise now that you were under a heavy strain, knowing you were leaving me within a few hours.' He paused, again thoughtful. 'Later, you didn't want me—'
'Not at first, darling,' she broke in to agree. 'But afterwards—oh, I wanted you so much.' She paused and coloured rosily. 'It came to me so suddenly the knowledge that I loved you, that is, but I think that, subconsciously, I must have known it before. When it did hit me, though, I felt so miserable.'
'You did?' with well-feigned surprise. 'The discovery made you miserable?'
'No, silly!' Laura gave a shaky laugh. 'The idea that I'd made the discovery only when I was leaving you forever.'
He held her away and looked down into her lovely face, an animated face now that came alive as a smile fluttered to her lips. 'And do you honestly believe I'd have let you leave me forever?' Paul's voice was noticeably dry.
She did not answer but asked instead, 'You're sure, Paul, dearest, that there really is no danger?'
'I am one hundred percent sure. Does that convince you?'
'Yes.' She nodded. 'Yes, Paul, I'm convinced now.' She sighed contentedly. 'Paul,' she murmured presently, 'did you believe what I put in the note?'
'As a matter of fact I just couldn't understand it at all. I sensed a mystery, and yet it was there in black and white. When I thought of the way you were when I arrived home, all that was contained in your note fitted. You didn't want me so had decided to leave and return to England and the man you'd been friendly with before. But when I recalled how you were later…' His voice faded and his eyes became tender. 'It seemed to me that you were in love with your husband after all, because, dearest, it was different from anything that had happened between us before. You gave so much last night and so nothing in the note made any sense. The only logical course was for me to come and find you, and here I am, only a few hours after your own arrival.'
'You guessed I'd be here?'
'It was the only place, wasn't it? I knew it wasn't yet sold—at least, you'd had no word that it was sold, but of course I now know it is, from what Phil said.'
She nodded her head. 'Supposing the people had taken over and I wasn't here?' She looked questioningly at him through her long, curling lashes.
'Darling.' He laughed. 'Does it matter?'
She had to laugh too, but although she agreed she did ask how he had proposed to go about finding her.
'I knew where you'd worked, and had I drawn a blank there I'd have contacted Phil, since I knew where he worked too. You mentioned it once to me.' He bent to take her lips in a long and passionate kiss, then held her from him. 'Do you know why I married you?' he said, and she remembered that on more than one occasion she had put this important question to him. She shook her head and received a playful slap on the behind. 'I think you do,' he said. 'I married you because I loved you.' He paused to give her the chance to say something but she remained silent. 'Almost from the moment you entered my house I was affected by you,' he went on to confess. 'You were different from any other woman I'd ever known. I just had to get to know you better, hence my invitation for you to stay at the villa.'
Laura still remained silent; she was thinking about her initial reception and now realised he was trying to appear indifferent, both to her personally and to her problem. But very soon he was becoming involved; Laura now knew that his love for her came swiftly, and being all Greek, he had to have her at once.
'You knew, didn't you, when I came home the first time, that we'd marry in the end?'
'I believed I'd found the woman who was to share my life and so could not believe she would escape me.'
Laura chuckled at his phrasing but in a moment became serious, her eyes clouding. 'If only Irene was all right, my cup of happiness would be full.' She sighed. 'But I shall always be scared for her safety.'
'I've been thinking about her,' he said, 'and as I have no intention of my wife carrying that kind of anxiety, I feel I must try to do something—'
'Something? You?' she had to interrupt. 'But what, Paul?'
'I am contemplating a rather big deal with Spiros which will be exceedingly profitable to him… and to his sons,' added Paul significantly. 'Now, if I make a certain condition, which is that they drop this stupid and criminal intention of harming your sister—should she be located, that is—or the deal is off…'
Laura looked up at him, her expression faintly dazed. 'You'd lose, though,' she told him unnecessarily, and before he could answer, 'You'd do this for my sister?'
He shook his head, mouth compressing. 'Not for her,' he returned emphatically. 'I'd let her take what's coming to her because she deserves it. I'm doing it for you, Laura, because, as I've said, I'm not having you worrying, either about that or anything else.' Tenderly he touched her lips with his. 'I want my wife to be happy, always.'
'Dear Paul…' Love welled up within her, and for a moment she could not speak. And when eventually she did manage it, her voice was husky with emotion. 'Thank you, darling. Thank you very much.'
'Don't thank me, sweet; it so happens that my happiness depends entirely on your happiness, which in effect makes my motives selfish.'
She let that pass, naturally, and asked instead if he felt optimistic about his condition being accepted.
Paul nodded his head. 'I feel that Spiros will successfully convince his sons that the financial gain would be far more satisfying than the vengeance. They're a young, hotheaded pair, but I feel their common sense will prevail, and if not, their greed certainly will, because whatever else they lack, they're both equipped with keen discernment where anything to do with money is concerned.' Paul spoke with such confidence that Laura's mind was set instantly at rest. Irene would be safe.
'Perhaps she will find happiness one day,' was all Laura said. And then, as the thought occurred to her, 'Paul, which one of your servants do you think is the eavesdropper?'
'Which one of our servants?' he corrected with a slanting look of censure. 'Well, I rather think it'll turn out to be Demetrius.'
'I half suspected him as well,' she mused.
'That can wait…' Paul drew her close against his breast, tilted her face and took her lips, locking them to his own in a kiss that was as rough as it was tender, as possessive as it was reverent. One hand stole over her curves and she thrilled to its warmth on her breast, the lingering, light caress deliberately teasing on the nipple to ignite the erotic nerves of her body into a state of clamouring desire.
She strained against him, her own hands finding pleasure in their exploration; she felt his body thrill to the sensations she was creating for him, and a flood of happiness surged over her at the knowledge of her easy ability to arouse him. It was for one brief moment as if she were the victor, the one in control. But soon she became the suppliant, lost in the throes of spasmodic rapture as his other hand, progressing slowly downwards, caressed each tender curve until it had reached its goal. Desire rose to agonising heights which brought a little moaning plea from her lips. With a swift and gentle gesture he swept her supple frame into his arms, then stood for a long moment looking down at her face, an expression of infinite tenderness in his eyes.
He carried
her to the bedroom, and because of their eagerness fulfilment came swiftly, their bodies uniting in wordless, sense-shattering rapture that left them breathless and spent and clinging so close that they were still as one.
'Darling…' Paul's voice was deep and throaty and very alien. 'Never leave me again—never as long as you live. Promise!'
'I promise,' she whispered close to his heart. And she added simply, because she suddenly wanted to hear herself say it, 'I love you, my dearest husband. I love you forever.'
