Vacation with a Commanding Stranger

He was quick, she had to give him that, Livvy admitted, as she caught her breath. ‘No reason,’ she lied.

The look he was giving her made a mockery of her pretended insouciance.

‘All right, I admit it. I don’t like being judged—wrongly—as…as someone who’s so sexually dependent that…’ She was getting into deep water, she warned herself, and if she wasn’t careful he was going to start asking her some very awkward questions, such as why it should matter to her what he thought of her or how he misjudged her. It didn’t, of course, not one tiny little bit. It was just that…

‘You mean you don’t like the fact that I know exactly what you really are…’

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, I’ve had enough of this. What you saw at the auberge wasn’t what you thought at all… I know you won’t accept this…I know you have some kind of…of problem which seems to make it impossible for you to view my sex other than with some ridiculously distorted bias, but that man you saw me with was not there with my consent, my desire, my agreement, or anything else. Far from it.

‘He had followed me up from downstairs, using the fire exit. He caught hold of me before I could stop him, and what you seem determined to believe was a mutual desire for sex was in fact attempted rape. It was no thanks to you that he didn’t succeed,’ she added angrily. ‘I really don’t care what you think of me or even whether you believe me or not, but for the sake of the rest of my sex I would strongly counsel you to learn the distinguishing signs that say a woman is welcoming a man’s advances or rejecting them.

‘If I had wanted that…that oaf as my lover, do you honestly believe I’d have allowed him to maul me like that in the corridor, in public?’ Her eyes flashed angrily, heightened colour burning her face. ‘I suppose you’re the kind of man who believes that no woman is ever raped against her will, that—’

‘No…that’s not true.’

The harshness of his denial shocked Livvy into silence, her anger suddenly spent, leaving her feeling oddly weak and close to tears.

She hadn’t meant to say anything to him, to let him see how much his attitude towards her irked and distressed her, and now, in the silence filling the kitchen, she wished that she had remained silent.

He probably didn’t believe her anyway, she reflected tiredly. He was probably far too used to holding on to the comfort of his antagonism to let go of it and admit that he had made a mistake.

She turned away from him, heading for the door.

‘Why didn’t you say something at the time?’

She stopped. Without turning round, she asked him huskily, ‘Like what…please help me?’ She looked at him over her shoulder and gave him a bitter smile.

She had just reached the door when she felt his hands on her arms. Her whole body tensed as he swung her round to face him. She could see the angry pulse beating in his jaw, smell the heat coming off his skin.

‘You’re enjoying doing this to me, aren’t you?’ he demanded through gritted teeth. ‘You’re loving every minute of it… You…’

He stopped as she made a tiny, choked sound of protest in her throat.

‘My arms…you’re hurting me,’ Livvy protested fiercely, even though she knew it was more shock than pain that was making her tremble, and the fact was that the sensation of his skin against hers, of its warmth and strength, was producing tiny quivers of physical reaction inside her body which were a world away from what she was claiming to feel.

‘I’m sorry.’ He looked confused…bitter…anguished almost, she might have said, but then her gaze focused on his mouth, and the most extraordinary surge of emotion rose up inside her.

It took every ounce of will-power she possessed not to close her eyes and let her body sway softly into his, not to lift her head and offer him her mouth.

Quickly she pulled away from him, praying that he couldn’t guess what she was feeling.

Perhaps he was right after all…perhaps secretly she was some kind of wanton… Perhaps he possessed some kind of magical power that totally transformed her personality, made it impossible for her to resist him.

Yes, and it’s called sexual chemistry, she told herself grimly, as he stepped back from her, setting her free to open the door and make her escape.

What on earth had possessed her to over-react like that? It was obvious that he hadn’t believed a word she had said.

Which was perhaps just as well.

CHAPTER NINE

‘SO YOU still haven’t been able to talk to George?’ Livvy asked Gale anxiously.

As the kitchen door opened and Richard Field walked into the room, she pressed the receiver closer to her ear.

It was almost a week now since they had both arrived at the farmhouse, and she was growing increasingly anxious for the situation to be resolved. Not because Richard Field disturbed her personally; not because she found that she was disconcertingly aware of him as a man, and not even because of the unfamiliar feelings and emotions she was experiencing. No, it was none of those things; it was for Gale’s sake that she wanted things sorted out, she assured herself firmly.

/> Even so, she found that she was turning round slightly, watching as Richard crossed over to the other side of the kitchen and proceeded to start making some coffee.