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‘Don’t use all the hot water!’ Ian called after her with a brotherly grin, reminiscent of their adolescence. ‘And put on your best gear, I’m taking you out for lunch.’
It was a grey, miserable day, in keeping with her mood, and Storm lingered under the stinging spray of the shower, hoping that somehow the pain would drive out the agony inflicted by Jago.
‘Bathroom’s free, Ian,’ she called downstairs as she padded into her bedroom. She didn’t really feel like going out, but Ian would be disappointed if she refused.
As she walked into the kitchen the back door opened and Jago’s broad shoulders were framed in the doorway.
‘Storm, I’ve come to…’ He broke off, staring at Ian who, dressed only in pyjama trousers, was reading the paper.
‘Bathroom’s free,’ Storm reminded her brother. He glanced from her to Jago and whistled tunelessly between his teeth, smacking Storm lightly on the rump with the folded paper as he shuffled past her.
‘Don’t forget our lunch date,’ he told her lightly, and Storm’s heart sank as she read the questions in his eyes. No doubt once Jago had gone and they were alone he would drag the truth out of her.
Jago’s face was bone-white, temper blazing out of his eyes as he advanced on her.
‘My God, you little bitch!’ he said softly when Ian had gone. ‘You damned near sent me crazy last night with that pitiful little tale about being a virgin, and I fell for it!’ His hands bruised her shoulders as his fingers bit into the tender flesh. ‘I spent the rest of the night telling myself I was a heel for doing what I did to you, and I came round this morning to make sure you were all right. All right! God, I don’t need to use much imagination to know what you were doing! No wonder you were so anxious to come home. Do your parents know about their lodger?’ The violence of his accusations caught Storm off guard.
‘You don’t understand,’ she began, gasping when he shook her roughly.
‘God, what do you take me for? Of course I understand. I’ll bet he’s something Winters didn’t know about. Who is he? Some local Romeo who flits from bed to bed as the fancy takes him?’
A slow burning anger rose inside her like a floodtide, drowning out everything but its bitter strength.
‘Yes, he spent the night here,’ she cried defiantly. ‘I’m sorry if it offends your pride to think I’ve given someone else what I wouldn’t give you, but he gives me something you never could. He loves me,’ she said fiercely, watching his eyes darken ominously, his anger only urging her recklessly on. ‘You wanted to use me, Jago,’ she accused, ‘so you can hardly complain if I used you. Now will you please leave?’ She turned her back on him, but he grabbed hold of her, swinging her back against him, crushing her mouth with the angry pressure of his kiss, forcing the soft tender flesh back against her lips until it felt swollen and bruised. His hands hurt as he forced her against him, grasping her neck and holding it bruisingly while his mouth continued its bitter punishment. When he released her his eyes glittered like jet, his breathing harsh as his eyes swept her contemptuously.
‘You really had me fooled, but you’re just like all the rest, aren’t you?’
When the door finally slammed behind him Storm stumbled to a chair, her mind and body blessedly numb.
It was better like this, she told herself over and over again; this way at least she retained a little of her pride, and he would never know that while he tore her to shreds with his angry words, inside she was slowly dying for love of him.
She heard Ian whistling as he came downstairs and quickly tried to force a smile. But when he looked at her she knew she hadn’t deceived him.
‘Storm! My God, what’s he done to you?’ His eyes went to the door. Storm restrained him instinctively, flushing at the blaze of anger in his face as he looked at her swollen mouth.
‘He thought that you… he thought we were lovers,’ she said helplessly. ‘Last night…’
‘He made love to you and thought you’d gone straight from his eyes to mine, is that it?’ Ian asked incredulously.
Storm shook her head, moistening her lips. ‘He didn’t make love to me in
the sense that you mean, Ian. That’s just it. But he thought that you and I…’
‘Poor sod,’ Ian said softly, his expression lightening as he looked into her shocked face. ‘You really are an innocent, aren’t you? By some miracle he manages to keep his hands off you, and what does he find when he turns up on your doorstep full of apologies and remorse? A strange male obviously very much at home and in a state of partial nudity.’ Ian started to laugh, sobering abruptly when he saw Storm’s face. ‘I’m sorry. He’s important to you, isn’t he? Let me tell him…’
‘No!’ Storm clutched at his sleeve, her face paper-white. ‘It wouldn’t do any good, Ian, and besides, it’s better like this.’
‘I’m not having him think what he does about my sister,’ Ian retorted stubbornly. ‘And besides, he has a right to know the truth, Storm. What he thinks he saw will be eating into his guts like acid. Let me…’
‘It’s too late. He’s just driven past,’ Storm told him as she saw the familiar green car sweep past the end of the drive. ‘Just leave it, Ian. It’s over.’
She didn’t really feel like going out for lunch, but she went for her brother’s sake. He took her to a small country pub where they ate their meal in relaxed surroundings, and afterwards Ian went up to the bar to get them both a drink.
‘Hello there!’
Storm turned at the familiar voice, smiling at Greg Harmer. When Ian returned she introduced them as Greg explained that he was with his father, who as a widower preferred to lunch out.
‘He still misses my mother very badly,’ Greg told them, ‘and I’ve often wished he would remarry. If you’ve finished eating why don’t you join us for a drink? I know he’d like to see you again, Storm.’
