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One thing she was sure about was the necessity to avoid being alone with him at all costs. She stopped to stare into the mirror on the old wardrobe door blankly, her eyes skimming with perfunctory interest over the delicate beauty that had first attracted Blade. For most of her life her beauty had been a lead weight round her neck, alienating Sandra, destroying any closeness she might have had with her dour aunt and uncle, and now proving an ongoing temptation to Blade even when he despised her and a snare to herself because it kept him near.
But he had loved her. Not just her looks. She turned from the mirror with a little cry of despair. Hadn’t he?
By the time she was ready for work she was cool and composed, her hair secured in a tight knot on top of her head and her body clothed in a loose flowing skirt and baggy top that hid her figure almost completely. She examined her face devoid of even a trace of make-up anxiously. She looked quite ordinary like this, she did. No one would look at her twice. If she had voiced that thought to anyone else they would have stared at her as though she were mad, their eyes appreciating the silky honey-gold smoothness of her flawless skin, the wide, heavily lashed violet eyes and thick rich mass of golden hair whose beauty couldn’t be hidden even by the tight severe hairstyle, all the things Amy had ignored. Indeed, the strict lack of adornment and chaste hiding of her body under the somewhat voluminous clothes were a subtle temptation in themselves if only she had known, accentuating her natural attributes rather than concealing them.
She took a deep breath as she left the sanctuary of her room, vitally aware of Blade in the small front garden below. He had worked in the larger back garden for most of the morning and she had heard his voice laughing with Mrs Cox in the kitchen at lunchtime, although she had remained firmly and determinedly in her room. Now he had moved round to the front garden which meant she would have to see him again as she left. Had he done that on purpose? She gritted her teeth as she opened the creaking front door quickly. Probably …
‘I’m just going to pop into the next town for some grass seed,’ he said in reply to her hasty goodbye as she passed him almost at a run. ‘You’re obviously late; would you like a lift?’
‘I’m not late.’ She resigned herself to looking at him and turned round carefully, little tremors of sensation curling her nerves as she watched him reach out to a nearby branch and unhook his shirt from its natural wooden hanger. ‘I’m meeting John at the end of the lane, actually; he sometimes gives me a lift to work,’ she finished weakly as the dark eyebrows rose mockingly with scornful amusement. ‘It’s kind of him.’
‘Oh, definitely.’ He eased his body slowly into the shirt without taking his eyes off her. ‘Very kind.’ She felt her stomach constrict as his muscles rippled and relaxed. He had been waiting for her, quietly, like a big powerful animal that waited patiently for its prey and then pounced without a shred of pity or compassion to deflect its aim. This devious sexual baiting was deliberate; he knew exactly the effect his body was having on hers, and what was more was making the most of every minute.
She stared at him for a long moment without replying, but the hard sardonic face didn’t waver in its dark amusement at her discomfiture, the black eyes merciless. ‘I don’t like this side of you,’ she said slowly as she turned away from him, ‘it’s cheap and—’
‘Cheap!’ His eyes weren’t amused any longer; instead they were filled with a blazing anger that made her realise she had gone too far. ‘You talk to me about cheap!’ He had swung her round with such force as he spoke that she had landed with a hard jolt against the rigid wall of his chest, and now he held her forearms with both hands, his face as black as thunder. ‘You’re asking me for a lesson in manners, my girl, and this is one time—’
‘Amy!’ Mrs Cox’s voice from just inside the house caused him to stiffen momentarily, his hands as hard as iron, before the bruising grip loosened as he moved her away from him with a little exclamation of disgust.
‘What the hell am I bothering for?’ he said slowly, his eyes dark with contempt. ‘Go and keep your date.’
‘Amy?’ As Mrs Cox appeared in the doorway to the house the landlady’s round face broke into a pleased smile. ‘Oh, I’m glad I caught you before you left, lass. Arthur phoned. He’s had to go out himself to pick up some meat that should have been delivered earlier and he said to be sure and take your keys so you can let yourself in. Have you got them?’
‘Yes, Mrs Cox.’ The normal tone of voice and small smile that she stitched on to her face took more effort than Mrs Cox would ever know. ‘Thanks. I’ll see you later.’
