AllFreeNovel
Share Us
'You looking for the piano, Mr Deverenko?'
An elderly man, wearing an impressively hand-knitted cardigan, was shuffling down the hall towards them.
David raised a wordless eyebrow while Clare tried to hide her still manacled wrist in the side-folds of her slinky silk dress.
'That's the piano-room,' said the old man, tipping them both a grin. 'Where we store the Steinway. But we haven't brought it down yet. It's still on the platform.'
'You mean the room is empty?'
'Yep.'
'But it's locked.'
'Rules. I gotta key here.' He produced it and they all looked at it in silence. The old man's rheumy eyes twinkled when they met David's covetous look. 'Won't be bringing down the piano till after your last concert tomorrow, but I guess there isn't any sense in locking an empty room.'
'I guess there isn't,' said David, and watched him unlock it and re-pocket the key.
'Thanks. We'll be sure to leave everything the way we find it,' David told him, and the old man chuckled.
'Ain't anything there to muss up. Have a nice evening, sir, miss…'
Clare's cheeks were hot as David slid back the wide door and pulled her into the darkness of a windowless room. He felt along the wall and switched on the light. The room was bare, save for a heap of dustsheets untidily folded on the bare polished floor.
'You know what he thought…'
'He thought that we were sneaking away to make mad, passionate love on the sly.' David let her go at last and she rubbed her lightly throbbing wrist. 'Was he so far wrong?'
'I…yes!' Clare put an uneasy few steps between them, eyeing him warily. She didn't know him in this reckless mood.
'You mean, if I slid that tiny strap off your shoulder and put my mouth against that luscious cream-and-freckle breast of yours, you won't sigh and press against me and shiver with sinful delight?'
'D-David!' As if the words were the deed, Clare shielded herself from his hot gaze, feeling her nipples bud betrayingly against her palms. The dress was a simple slip of silk, flaring from the low waist, requiring a bare minimum of underwear.
'Are you denying it?' His voice thickened and hardened. 'You want me, Clare. I only have to touch you and I feel the heat under your skin, the passion, the need. You were jealous out there. You couldn't bear the idea of my touching another woman the way I touched you. Doesn't that tell you something? Haven't you learned anything this last six months? You know, you never told me that you loved me, you never had the courage. But you didn't have to say the words then and you don't have to say them now. I know… I can taste it, feel it, scent it…' Her hands clutched to her breasts, Clare was rooted to the spot as he prowled closer, his silky truths binding her to him, his dark eyes penetrating to her soul, baring its secrets. 'Six months ago, you made a choice. Are you regretting it? Are you, Clare?' Plea, threat, promise—the question held them all.
'No.' The fire in his eyes died, to be instantly revived. 'It was right for me… then. I'm a naturally cautious person and nothing can change that, David. I like to be sure about things. I needed this time to come to terms with what loving you meant.' He touched her, very lightly, and she trembled with the knowledge of love.
'I… I've loved working at the school… the girls are darlings,' wryly, 'even Tamara. But, after the responsibilities of running Moonlight more or less on my own, it's really not stretching me as I thought it would. I mean, it's not something I want to make a career out of. What was right for me six months ago isn't right for me now.'
'And what is right for you now?'
'You.'
'You're sure?' He was taking it step by step. This time there were to be no mistakes.
Clare nodded, her grey eyes clear. 'Very sure. I love you. I… I want to marry you.' She blushed, and he laughed and swept her into his arms at last.
'Is this a proposal?'
'Very definitely a proposal!'
'I accept!' And he did so, with enthusiasm.
When she could breathe again, Clare said, 'I missed you. You were so polite. So horribly nice.'
'It was either that or beat you, and you had proved rather immune to the macho approach.' His grin faded as he stilled her against him. 'But underneath my anger, I think I knew that you were right not to let me sweep you off your feet, as if we were teenagers responsible only for ourselves. I'm too used to getting my own way; I took it for granted that I would continue to do so. I had no right to do that. As penance I made myself stand back, and let you say your farewells to the past. That's what the waiting was all about wasn't it? Farewell, and hail the new beginning?' With a shock of insight she realised he was right. 'You got that job at the school so easily, Clare, because I recommended you for it,' he said quietly. 'Oh, not just because you wanted it, or because I wanted to keep tabs on you and Tim,' he added quickly when she flinched, 'but because I knew that you would do the job well, regardless of any personal motives you might have. I'd seen you with Tamara. Although she wasn't your child, and she behaved abominably towards you much of the time, you still treated her with respect, and were thoughtful of her needs. You're a gentle person, Clare, but you stand by the things you believe in and that makes you strong. I couldn't imagine anyone better to look after my child when she is away from me. From re
ports, I gather there are other parents who feel the same. I'll be resented for taking away one of the best House Mothers we've had.'
