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And then they were being showered with confetti as they ran for the car, parked outside the huge glass doors of Reception, and the last goodbyes were said, her bouquet of fresh pink rosebuds and white freesias thrown over her shoulder into the waiting crowd, and the big car with Carlton's chauffeur at the wheel glided away as she waved frantically to her father, the tears that had been threatening to fall all day spilling over at the sight of him standing slightly to one side of the rest of the throng, hand raised in farewell, his eyes suspiciously bright.
'Here.' A large white handkerchief was thrust under her nose as Carlton pulled her into his side with his other arm. 'Just shut your eyes and relax for a while. It's a little way to the hotel where we're spending the night, but I thought it would be better to get right away somewhere where the practical jokers couldn't find us.'
'Yes.' What had he said to Maisie in those last few seconds? she asked herself bitterly as she wiped her eyes, trying not to smudge the delicate eye make-up that the beautician had been so painstaking over earlier in the day. What had he said!
It was a full twenty minutes later that the Mercedes glided into the small courtyard in front of a rambling country-style hotel with leaded windows and old, mellow stone.
The smell of wood-smoke was heavy in the dusk-laden air as Carlton helped her from the car.
'What a lovely place.' She forced herself to speak normally, conscious of the chauffeur extracting their cases from the back of the car, an
d Carlton nodded slowly. They hadn't spoken a word to each other on the drive from the reception, but he had seemed content to sit quietly with his arm around her and her body leaning against his as she had shut her eyes and let her thoughts torment her.
'I thought you'd like it. I've arranged a taxi to pick us up tomorrow morning and take us to the airport. Now…' He turned to the chauffeur and smiled. 'Not a word as to where you brought us, Bob. Joe still has enough of the boy about him to try some damn silly trick.'
'Mum's the word, sir.' The young man grinned at them both conspiratorially. 'I'll let 'em cut my tongue out first.'
'A somewhat extreme expedient but I appreciate the thought,' Carlton responded drily as the three of them walked up the steps and into the small foyer where he was greeted with the normal rapturous welcome that Katie was beginning to expect.
'Would you like dinner served in our room or in the restaurant?' he asked her quietly as Bob and the porter walked to the lift with their cases.
'The restaurant,' Katie said quickly—too quickly. The thought of being alone with him was doing strange things to her insides and the prospect of delaying it a little longer was welcome. She caught the narrowed glance he shot at her but he said nothing, indicating the lift, where Bob and the porter were waiting with the doors open, with a wave of his hand.
'But I thought… I mean—weren't we going to have dinner?' she stammered nervously. 'You said—'
'I thought you would like to freshen up a little before we come down,' Carlton said smoothly as he took her arm and began to lead her towards the waiting lift, but not before she had seen the flash of anger in the smoky grey eyes. The lift travelled upwards silently and once on their floor, which was thickly carpeted and discreetly elegant, the porter led the way to the first door and opened it before handing the key to Carlton and allowing them to walk through.
'Oh, it's beautiful…' They had entered a suite of rooms luxuriously furnished in cream and gold, the air redolent with the perfume from several bowls of fresh flowers, and the full-length windows in the small sitting-room open to the gentle evening breeze that drifted in from the gardens below. Aware that he had thought carefully about their first night together and had tried to please her, she turned impulsively to him as the chauffeur and porter left the room. 'Thank you; it's lovely here,' she said shyly as he looked down at her with unfathomable eyes.
She had expected him to kiss her as soon as they were alone but he merely smiled carefully before walking through to the small bedroom and indicating her overnight case on the huge double bed. 'Would you like me to wait downstairs while you freshen up?' he asked quietly, his back towards her and his voice strangely thick.
'No, no, it's all right,' she said hastily. 'I'll just fix my hair and then we can go down. I won't be a minute.' Nerves made her all fingers and thumbs but just as she finished combing out her hair from the intricate style that the hairdresser had laboured over that morning, and which had been making her head ache for the last few hours, a light touch on her shoulder made her nearly jump out of her skin.
'Dammit, Katie!' Carlton had jumped too at her reaction and now she saw, in the reflection in the dressing-table mirror, that his face was dark with rage. 'What the hell do you think I'm going to do to you? Leap on you at the first opportunity and rip off all your clothes? Credit me with a little finesse at least.'
'I'm sorry.' She rose and turned from the stool where she had been sitting as she spoke, her cheeks pink. 'I'm just tired, I think; it's been a hectic day. I didn't mean…' Her voice dwindled away as she strove to bite back the hot tears at the back of her eyes.
This was awful; everything was awful. Why couldn't he love her? Thousands and millions of really plain women were loved. Was she so unlovable? Couldn't he see the real person under the skin he seemed to desire so much? Why did there have to be a Maisie?
'Don't cry. I can just about stand this if you don't cry,' he said thickly as he reached out and pulled her roughly into his arms, holding her against his chest, for a long moment before pushing her away and placing a small box in her hand. 'I just wanted to give you this.' His face seemed to hold a wealth of pain. 'A wedding-gift.'
'But you've paid out so much for me already,' she murmured, meaning nothing beyond that she was grateful for all he'd done for her father, but even as she lifted the lid to the box her eyes still held his and she saw that he had misconstrued her words.
'You're never going to let me forget it, are you?' he ground out savagely through clenched teeth. 'Even though you know how I feel there's going to be no lowering of the drawbridge, dammit.'
How he felt? How did what he felt alter anything? she thought dazedly before she glanced down at the exquisite dark gold locket that the box held, a work of art in intricate, fine, worked gold and delicate engraving that was truly magnificent. 'It was my grandmother's,' Carlton said quietly, his voice smooth and controlled again. 'Open it.'
She flicked the tiny little catch and then froze, staring down at the tiny pictures either side of the hinge. Her mother's face smiled back at her, the minute photograph beautifully sharp and clear, and on the other side her father had his customary scowl which appeared whenever he looked into a camera. She continued staring down at her mother's face, at the photograph she had never seen before and hadn't known existed, as burning tears began to flood down her cheeks and shake her body.
'Katie, Katie, Katie… Don't. Don't feel so intensely; don't hurt so much…' And then she was in his arms again but this time she raised her head to his, searching for his lips, his gesture concerning her mother's picture cutting through all the hurt and pain he had inflicted, was still inflicting, and would continue to inflict. 'Your father loves you, you know that, don't you?' he murmured, still not taking her lips although she strained up to him, her eyes liquid.
'I know.' As she pulled his head down there was a brilliant heat in his eyes and then his lips met hers, his breath escaping in a deep groan of need. His arms tightened as he felt her response and then he was raining burning kisses over her face, her throat, her closed eyelids, his breathing harsh and ragged and his body taut and hard.
'Katie—' he raised his head, pushing her away slightly as he fought for control '—I can't—I've waited so long. You don't understand what you do to me. If we don't stop now I shall take you, and your chance for dinner will be gone.'
It was a poor attempt to lighten the situation but she had felt the trembling in his body, sensed the desperate waiting in him, and her love for him filled her with a crazy kind of exhilaration that she could affect him so badly. But his desire wasn't love. The thought didn't have the power to stop her lifting up her arms towards him. Her love would have to be enough for them both.
'Katie…' He breathed her name with a soft groan. 'Don't say I didn't warn you; I want to eat you alive…' She smiled, a wild excitement at the knowledge of her power over this hard, fierce man giving her face a primitive sensuality that made his breath catch in his throat.
