Desire's Captive

'Quite a change for you!' Olivia sneered when Saffron refused to retaliate—she had learned early that to do so merely provoked a blow of some kind from her tormentor and now avoided encouraging her whenever she could. 'Not quite the society lady now, are we? Not many of your fancy men would want you if they could see you now, if it ever was you they wanted and not simply Daddy's money.'

Her last words caught Saffron on a raw spot that had never quite healed. Always at the back of her mind had been the suspicion that some of her acquaintances cultivated her because of who she was rather than any feelings of genuine friendship and she retaliated without thinking, laughing mockingly at Olivia as she asked softly.

'What's the matter? Are you frightened that Nico might want it too and double-cross you?'

She knew the claim was an outrageous one, but it was worth making it to see the fury in Olivia's eyes just before she launched herself on to Saffron, nails raking her soft skin.

'He wouldn't dare,' she told Saffron. 'The organisation would kill him. He wouldn't want you anyway,' she added scornfully, giving Saffron's hair a vicious tug before thrusting her away so heavily that she half fell to the floor. 'He is just amusing himself with you. He told me about it. 'Just seeing if you are as good in bed as you're supposed to be.'

'And you don't mind? Or is it that you daren't mind?' Saffron suggested shrewdly as she got to her feet. She knew her arrow had found its mark when she saw Olivia's eyes darken, but before she could speak they heard Guido calling from downstairs.

'Be careful!' Olivia muttered as she pushed Saffron out of the room. 'And remember, Nico' is mine!'

And she was welcome to him, Saffron told herself fiercely as she walked between the dusty vines, always conscious of Guido behind her, watching her. His unrelenting scrutiny was beginning to unnerve her; he had never made any move to touch her, but she knew that he wanted her; knew and was frightened by the knowledge, sensing something dangerous in him; a similar danger to that of a rabid dog, and her skin crawled every time she felt his eyes on .her body, while he boasted of the power of their organisation.

At lunch time she was so hot and tired from bending over the vines that it was a relief when Guido told her to stop work. They were real professionals, she thought tiredly as they headed back to the house, even to the extent of actually working the vines and fields, even though they knew there would not be anyone there to harvest the crop they were raising.

'Perhaps when your papa pays us the money I will buy myself a farm like this,' Guido told her as they headed for the farmhouse, 'get myself some land and a plump wife.'

Saffron knew he was baiting her, bat still couldn't resist muttering cynically, 'I thought the money was for the cause, whatever that might be.'

She hadn't realised Olivia had caught up with them, her dark eyes flashing ominously as she interrupted furiously, 'Our cause is to cleanse the world of parasites like you; to share out equally its wealth and do away with the corruption of privilege!'

In the valley by the river a sudden movement caught Saffron's eye. She stopped listening to Olivia as she watched Nico emerging from the water, unashamedly naked, his skin gleaming; rivulets of moisture running off the smooth copper shoulders. He had his back to them and Saffron felt her breath catch in her throat as she watched him walk to where he had left his clothes, his body as sleek and fluid as a jungle cat's, oiled skin like satin over hard bones and sinewy muscle.

She must have made some tiny betraying sound, because suddenly Olivia stepped in front of her, raw hatred glittering in her eyes.

'You want him,' she breathed, 'I see it in your eyes, but Nico is mine! See,' she told Guido, 'she lusts after him like a bitch in heat!' Her sneering words were more than Saffron could bear, her emotional reaction to the site of Nico's naked body, something so far outside her normal experience, and so completely devastating that she reacted abnormally, stepping forward, her hand raised ...

Guido caught it, pulling her arm painfully behind her back, grinning the inane, lustful grin that always brought the tiny hairs on the back of her neck upright in atavistic fear.

'Let me go!' Somehow she managed to twist free, fear lending her the agility to wrest herself from his grasp, something in the way they were both watching her fuelling her earlier dread.

All through lunch she expected to hear Olivia making some contemptuous remark about the brief scene, but to her surprise nothing was said. Olivia spoke more to Piero than Nico, and Saffron wondered if she was trying to make him jealous. There was nothing in his demeanour towards her to suggest that they were lovers, but Saffron suspected that if they weren't they probably had been at one time, and Olivia was desperately hoping for a renewal of their earlier intimacy.

Following the visit by the police Saffron had been allowed a little more freedom; the police were hardly likely to return Nico had said, and there was always at least one person on guard with a gun. Saffron had been told that if she tried to escape she would be shot down, and even though she knew that her death was likely to be the only outcome to her kidnapping, she still couldn't force herself to make the break for it which she knew would put an end to her life.

After lunch Nico announced that he had to go into town. Saffron had noticed that he was always the one who made contact with Rome and through them presumably her father, and although she sensed the others resented it, none of them questioned his right to do so. He ruled them with the th

reat of fear, a despicable weapon, she had always thought, but obviously a powerful one.

He had been gone about fifteen minutes, and Saffron had just finished cleaning up after the meal when Olivia announced that Nico had left instructions that she was to guard Saffron while she bathed in the river.

'He said nothing to me,' was her initial reaction, but Olivia merely sneered, and told her, 'Why should he? It is not for you to question his orders, and besides, it will save Piero having to carry up extra water.'

Saffron admitted to herself that she would welcome the opportunity to immerse herself fully and wash away the grime from her skin. The sketchy washes she had managed with the small bowls of water she had been brought were better than nothing, but fell a long way short of bathing. A delicate flush coloured her skin as she remembered seeing Nico emerge from the river ... the tanned suppleness of his skin, the broad shoulders tapering to the narrow waist.

The water was every bit as refreshing as she had imagined. She had forgotten how delicious it felt to be really, really clean, she thought happily as she stood breast-high in the water. Olivia had supplied her with soap and even some shampoo so that she could wash her hair, still bedraggled from its enforced cut. Even the coldness of the water was an invigorating pleasure. A smile curved her mouth as she reflected how she would have scorned the very idea that she might find bathing in a country river a sybaritic luxury as little as a month ago.

When she stepped out on to the river bank Olivia was nowhere in sight. It was strange for the Italian girl to be less than excessively diligent in her guarding duties, but Saffron was too relieved to be free of her constricting presence to care very much.

She had just started to towel herself dry when a figure emerged from the shadows of the small olive grove. Clutching her towel protectively to her body, Saffron saw Guido moving slowly towards her.

Her first instinct was to run, but fear held her rooted to the spot as he smiled and reached out for her towel.

'Don't bother screaming,' he warned her. 'Olivia won't hear you, and neither will Piero. You shouldn't have made eyes at Nico—Olivia didn't like it.'

And so she had deliberately led her into this trap, Saffron thought numbly, deliberately got her down here, knowing that Guido would find her; knowing that Nico was away ...