When Strangers Meet

by Kemp, Shirley

  As his arms reclaimed her, Hayley surrendered her lips to his, her own demands matching his, her sighs and moans a symphony with his deeper tones.

  Sucked down into the vortex of pure feeling Hayley wanted nothing more than for this ecstasy to go on and on.

  With his lips and hands exploring every silky inch of her, she moved restlessly, a mounting tide of sensation demanding more, and still more, arching her towards the hardness of him, beseeching the fulfilment of union.

  Slowly, relentlessly, he drove her on as wave after wave of inexplicable pleasure washed over her, until at the peak of her frustration she cried out and he moved to enter her, bringing them both to the thrusting rhythmic climax her body craved.

  * * *

  She slept in his arms, and when she awoke he was out of bed, standing in the window, gazing out at the moonlit night, the lithe muscularity of his body forming a silhouette that had her heart jumping once more to an erratic beat.

  She must have made a sound, because he turned and came towards her, powerful and mysterious in the dim light of the moon.

  Without a word, he got into bed and put his arms about her, drawing her into the hollow of his shoulder and pressing his lips against her smooth forehead.

  ‘Marcus,’ she murmured softly, ‘why did we let this happen?’

  He made a low sound of exasperation. ‘Because it was pointless to go on pretending it wasn’t inevitable.’ He smoothed her cheek with a gentle hand. ‘I’ve wanted you right from the first. It just wasn’t...convenient...to admit it.’

  Hayley frowned and moved back from him a little. ‘That’s a funny word to use. “Convenient”.’

  He grimaced. ‘It’s exactly the right word. Do you think I was pleased to have my whole tidy world turned upside-down by a chit of a girl who had no respect for my years or my consequence?’

  She giggled and touched his cheek, tracing the lines beside his mouth with a soft finger. ‘You make yourself sound like a pompous old man. Which is nonsense.’

  ‘It’s what I might have become, given time and enough vacuous women.’

  ‘You’ve certainly had plenty of those,’ Hayley said with a sharp, unexpected surge of annoyance. ‘And the choice was yours, wasn’t it?’

  He sighed. ‘Yes and no. Sometimes choices are made as a result of the past. But, like you, I don’t want to think of the past right now. The present is all I need...all I want.’

  He nibbled at her ear, creating the most exquisite sensations in places of which she had been only dimly aware, but Hayley clung grimly to her sense of grievance. He hadn’t mentioned the future.

  ‘The past can’t be held responsible forever,’ she argued hotly. ‘In my opinion, a man gets the woman he deserves.’

  He met her anger with a soft laugh and, in the dimness, lights danced in the muted blue of his eyes.

  His long, lean fingers gently cupped her cheek.

  ‘I hope you’re right. Though I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you.’

  Hayley narrowed her eyes on his handsome face, finding there an unexpected intensity.

  She said, with elation, ‘Not much...until now.’ And watched his eyes turn smoky.

  ‘Of what are you complaining?’

  His grammar was perfect, she thought inconsequentially. As was everything else about him.

  In a gesture that surprised them both by its daring, she trailed a hand across his tautly muscled stomach, letting her fingers linger in the dark curling hairs. She was surprised and excited by his jerk of response.

  He grasped her wrist as she was about to repeat the movement.

  ‘Behave!’ He kissed her nose.

  She challenged him with a grin. ‘Why should I? It’s time I had my way for a change.’

  He took her chin in his strong, lean hand, looking her steadily in the eyes, and in a silver shaft of moonlight the depths of his seemed fathomless. ‘Do you imagine it hasn’t been your way all along the line?’

  Her mouth dropped in real astonishment. ‘What do you mean by that?’

  He groaned in exasperation. ‘I mean that if I’d had my way I would have had you in my arms long before now.’

  Her body tensed and grew cool. She said tightly, ‘I bet. If it had been convenient.’

  He tutted. ‘Hear me out before you get touchy.’ His mouth brushed hers sweetly, coaxing it back to softness.

  ‘In a way you’re right. My future was clear ahead of me and you were an unlooked-for complication.’ He sighed deeply. ‘But we both know the magic was there, practically from the start.’ His certainty brooked no argument. ‘Being a fatalist, I accepted it was the way it was. I wanted you and was almost certain you wanted me, but I felt I had to go slow, take my time, hope that, if I was patient enough, that prickly barrier you’d erected between us would eventually fall.’

  Hayley was silent, stunned by the knowledge that he’d been aware all the time of what she’d been trying to hide from him.

  He brushed the hair tenderly away from her face, a gesture that had her insides somersaulting wildly.

  ‘I didn’t know why you kept shutting yourself off from me, but I was content to wait for you to come to me.’ His face darkened, and Hayley felt the slight stiffening of his body. ‘That is, until young Lukes turned up on the scene. Then I knew I had to make a move.’

  Hayley’s heart was as light as air. ‘You didn’t have to. Not on Martin’s account, anyway.’ She snuggled close to him. ‘But I’m glad you did.’

  The strange inner flame was kindling again, and she didn’t really care about the whys and wherefores any more. Only this moment seemed of any real importance. Wrapping her arms about him, she reached for his lips, and heard him gasp as she moulded her soft body enticingly against him.

  ‘My God; Hayley! You learn fast.’

  ‘I have a good tutor,’ she murmured huskily. ‘Teach me some more.’

  CHAPTER NINE

  THE meeting the following morning was taking place in a small conference centre on the edge of a small town, the small town where Hayley had grown up, but that all seemed a long time ago, part of another life almost.

  Seated at the long, shining table with Marcus and the merger management team, waiting for the directors of the last merging company to arrive. Hayley’s insides burned with impatience. And, from the surreptitious glances she kept shooting at Marcus, she could see he too was feeling the strain. The realisation brought her a powerful thrill, and when he unexpectedly squeezed her hand beneath the table it was as much as she could do to keep from trembling.

  Was it her imagination, she wondered, or were people looking meaningfully in their direction? There were times when every eye seemed to be focused upon them, but it was probably all in her head. Still reeling from Marcus’s early morning lovemaking, Hayley felt sure her inner glow must be obvious to everyone.

  The Press were at this final meeting and a tall, tough-looking reporter elbowed his way towards Marcus with a notebook in his hand and a determined gleam in his light grey eyes.

  Hayley moved away as he engaged Marcus in conversation about his plans for the future of the various companies Maury’s was acquiring, trying to hide her impatience as the interview became prolonged.

  The door at the far end of the room opened and two men entered. Marcus acknowledged their presence with a nod and turned to dismiss the reporter with a brief handshake.

  ‘If you’ll excuse me, I think the meeting can now begin.’ He cast a glance across at Hayley. ‘Miss Morgan, if you wouldn’t mind...’

  He turned and walked away, leaving her to follow.

  She watched the lithe movements of his body and thought achingly of the time they’d spent alone, wondering if was all the time there would ever be. After today, would their relationship be back to ‘business as usual’?

  But in the next moment even that painful thought was swiftly erased from her mind. As she took her place beside Marcus, she had a shock that drove the air from her lungs and paralysed her body. Se
ated at the far end of the table was Mr Heaton Senior, with a widely grinning Frank alongside him.

  How she managed to go on sitting there, she would never know. Her every instinct was to flee and hide, as she had that fateful day on the train. Only now there was nowhere to run.

  Forcing herself to look straight ahead, she met Frank’s gloating gaze, and shook with revulsion. Automatically her hand reached beneath the table for Marcus, her fingers gripping him just above the knee.

  He gave a faint start and looked in her direction, meeting her hunted expression with a frown. His hand covered hers reassuringly and he leaned towards her.

  He said in a low voice, ‘What is it? You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.’

  ‘I...I have,’ Hayley whispered, her grip tightening on the firm muscles of his thigh, feeling his strength flowing into her. ‘But I’ll be all right in a moment.’

  He followed her gaze, and Hayley saw Frank’s eyes flicker and shift away. She gave a deep sigh of relief and turned her attention to the paperwork in front of her. How on earth had she missed the fact that Heaton’s was one of the potential mergers? Then she saw the date at the head of the report, and realised this was the one that had been so long delayed.

  It was typical of the way things had been with Heaton’s under Frank’s management, and the meeting too held the same hint of chaos. By the time they broke for coffee, Marcus looked thunderous.

  Hayley escaped to the ladies’ room for a breather and to survey the result of her shock. The face that stared out at her from the mirror looked pale and hunted. The bruise on her chin still showed faintly blue and yellow, more noticeable against her pallor, and she retouched it with a little make-up, then brushed and re-coiled her hair.

  Feeling a little better, she stepped out into the corridor and then halted in dismay.

  ‘Well, well! If it isn’t Hayley Morgan!’

  Hayley’s heart lurched painfully as Frank’s oily voice spoke in her ear. There was no men’s room on this corridor, so it was obvious that he’d deliberately followed her.

  ‘By all that’s wonderful.’

  Hayley faced the one man in all the world she hated, wondering what malicious kind of fate, piling agony on agony, had brought her old tormentor out from under his stone.

  He grinned at her, and his breath, unpleasantly aromatic, wafted against her cheek. ‘I was hoping we’d meet up again sooner or later.’

  Hayley glared. ‘And here have I been praying we never would.’

  He grinned with taunting delight. ‘But what an honour! To be mentioned in your prayers!’

  He gripped her arm painfully tight.

  ‘You would think so,’ she said scorchingly, trying to pull free, but the more she pulled, the tighter he held her.

  Looking into the leering black eyes, Hayley felt the old revulsion and, for a moment, the old helplessness. But swiftly on its heels came the realisation that she had no longer to suffer the insufferable.

  ‘Take your hands off me, Frank Heaton,’ she hissed through furiously clenched teeth. ‘Now! This instant!’

  ‘Or else what? Will you scream? I don’t think so. Not here.’ He laughed chillingly. ‘And you should know I’m not the type to be put off by a little show of temper. In fact it excites me.’ He moved closer. ‘Kiss me or hit me, Hayley. You always did like to play the tease.’

  There were voices, people talking and laughing. If only Marcus would come, she thought desperately, but no one appeared in the corridor.

  But now fury overrode her fear. It had mounted to white heat, enough to disregard everything but her most pressing need for escape from Frank’s despised attentions. As his head lowered towards her, his moist lips pursed to kiss her, restraint snapped.

  She kicked him, her foot drawing back and then moving forcefully forward to connect the sharp, slim heel of her shoe with his bony shin.

  With a yell of agonised surprise Frank released his hold on her and staggered back.

  After a moment’s stunned hesitation Hayley began to run. A quick glance over her shoulder showed Frank still clutching his injured shin, his round, florid face contorted with agony. A shaky little giggle burst from her lips.

  Marcus was just coming out of the conference room as she rushed around the corner.

  ‘I’ve been looking for you.’

  Hayley came to a halt and clutched at his arm, panting and visibly shaken.

  He stared at her, a dark frown lowering his handsome face. ‘What on earth’s the matter? Are you ill?’

  Hayley shook her head and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. The last thing she wanted now was for Marcus to know what had happened. It could only add to the chaos of the morning.

  ‘I was hurrying,’ she said. ‘I thought you might be wondering where I was.’

  ‘You were right.’ He took her elbow. ‘Come on! Let’s get away from here and have some lunch.’

  At that moment Frank came hobbling around the corner, his florid face livid, and Marcus shot him a curious look.

  To Hayley’s relief, he limped by without so much as a glance in her direction, and she tugged at Marcus’s arm to claim his attention.

  ‘I think that’s a marvellous idea. I’m starving. Let’s go.’

  Later, seated at a table for two in a country pub, Marcus sat back and looked at her, his gaze searching and intent.

  ‘Are you going to tell me what really happened earlier, or is it another of your undiscussible topics?’

  Hayley sat opposite him, feeling the colour recede, while she struggled with the formation of her reply.

  ‘Was Heaton a former boyfriend?’ he insisted impatiently. ‘Have you had a lovers’ quarrel?’

  ‘Ugh! Certainly not! The very idea is revolting!’

  Seeing his startled expression, she laughed. ‘Sorry. Heaton Junior always has that effect on me.’

  He sighed a little irritably. ‘Do you want to tell me about it?’

  ‘Not really.’ Resignedly she said, ‘But I suppose I should, since you saved me from his clutches once before. I used to work for his father, Heaton Senior, until his son Frank came on the scene and began his sexual harassment. I liked my job and Mr Heaton, so I did my best to ignore it, but in the end it got too much, so I left.’ She grimaced. ‘It was my bad luck to find he was on the train that day I met you. It was Frank I was trying to evade when I...when I...’

  She felt the colour surging back into her cheeks. Only now could she feel the full embarrassment of what she’d done.

  ‘When you kissed me,’ he said, adding teasingly, ‘Miss Pushy wouldn’t have hesitated to say it.’

  Hayley smiled faintly. ‘I suppose not. But then I’ve never really been Miss Pushy. She was just me in an emergency.’

  He leaned across the table and kissed her mouth lightly.

  ‘Then your emergency was my good luck.’

  She looked into his strong, clever face and thought how much she loved him, wishing that...

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me this before, you foolish girl?’

  She shrugged, taking her gaze from his. ‘I suppose I was ashamed. That kind of dirt has a tendency to stick. Frank’s father didn’t believe me. In fact he practically accused me of leading Junior on.’

  He made a grim sound, and she rushed on.

  ‘I couldn’t be sure you’d believe me either, especially after that silly incident on the train. Let’s face it, you didn’t seem to have the highest opinion of me at the time.’

  She looked up at him then, and he nodded.

  ‘Point taken. But I still think you might have had more faith in me.’

  Hayley said indignantly, ‘After your behaviour on the train I didn’t exactly have the highest opinion of you either.’

  He shot her a frowning sideways glance, but there was a hint of laughter in the vivid blue eyes.

  ‘Young lady, reasons apart, you got everything you deserved.’

  ‘That’s only your opinion,’ she argued, hiding a grin. ‘And
it’s just about what I’d expect from a male chauvinist like you.’

  But his expression was serious again, and he reached across the table for her hand, squeezing it almost absently.

  ‘I wondered why you jumped like a scalded cat every time I came near you.’ He shook his head reprovingly. ‘Friend Frank is unpleasant, but I wouldn’t have thought his attentions would make you that wary of all men.’

  ‘It went on for a long time. Almost a year. And it had a profound effect on me.’

  He grunted disbelievingly. ‘Why did you put up with it for so long before leaving?’

  She shrugged. ‘Misguided notions of loyalty to my old boss, I suppose. Before Junior came along we had a very happy working relationship.’

  He looked grim. ‘Loyalty stretched to ridiculous lengths, don’t you think?’

  She nodded. ‘Yes. I know that now. And after today...’ She recalled unwillingly the moist red lips which had been about to fasten on hers, and a shudder travelled the length of her slim body.

  He frowned darkly. ‘What happened? Did he...?’

  ‘No. He didn’t get a chance. I kicked him. Very hard.’ She smiled ruefully. ‘With a bit of luck he’ll need hospital treatment.’

  ‘He’ll definitely need hospital treatment if he comes near you again.’ Hayley had never seen Marcus look so belligerent. His expression both excited and frightened her.

  ‘He won’t,’ she said hurriedly. ‘I have a feeling this time he’s learned his lesson.’

  Marcus gave a short hard laugh. ‘Let’s hope so, for his sake.’

  Hayley shuddered. ‘Do you mind if we don’t talk about it any more?’

  ‘OK. We’ll leave it for now,’ he agreed, although the frown hadn’t entirely disappeared. ‘Let’s see if we can get something to eat.’

  The waitress came and they ordered the lemon sole, which was fresh and delicious, and gradually they both relaxed.

  As coffee was served, he sat back and rubbed his forehead with lean fingers.