'Mm, she confirmed lightly.
'God, I'm an animal!' he said in disgust. 'I must have hurt you.'
'No. And look,' Morgan touched his shoulder with soft fingertips.
He looked down at the ragged flesh her nails had raked during a moment of exquisite ecstasy, grinning widely. 'I wonder if we'll both survive the honeymoon!'
Survive it they did! It was a time of lazing on the beach, of preparing and eating leisurely meals together, but most of all a time of discovering each other, of a single caress igniting a flame that often took hours to quench.
Alex had hired a villa, and apart from the girl who came in to clean every morning they saw no one. Their beach was a private one, and on the last day Morgan finally persuaded her husband to bathe naked, something he had been reluctant to do.
'We could get arrested for this,' he told her as they walked hand in hand into the blue water.
She gave him a teasing look. 'This is nothing to what we'll be doing on the beach later!'
Alex laughed throatily. He had laughed a lot during their three weeks alone together, and was nothing like the cold austere man who had gone to Los Angeles to see her that first time. She hoped he would never return.
But the closer they got to England the next day the more withdrawn and terse Alex became, despite her efforts to tease him out of it. By the time they began the drive back from Heathrow to pick up Courtney it was almost impossible to believe the man at her side had made love to her on the beach in broad daylight the day before, that he had chased her back across the golden sand to the villa wearing nothing but his wedding ring.
Barbados seemed a lifetime away, not a day, and Morgan was feeling thoroughly miserable about the change in her husband by the time they reached the Hammond house.
"We won't be staying, will we, Alex?' she prompted anxiously. Her mother-in-law's probing taunts weren't something she welcomed right now. She was having a hard enough time reconciling herself to the fact that Alex had returned to his unapproachable self without that!
He glanced at his watch as they walked towards the house. 'It's twelve-thirty, almost time for lunch,' he told her pointedly.
'But--- '
'We can hardly grab Courtney and run, he derided. 'Don't be such a child, Morgan!'
Dull colour flooded her cheeks. She had completely lost her own protective shield during their honeymoon, had become used to Alex's words of admiration and encouragement rather than his aloofness. Her mask of sophistication slipped easily back into place as she watched Rita Hammond greet her son warmly before giving a cool nod in her direction.
'Did you have a nice holiday in Barbados, darling?' Rita Hammond asked Alex as they went through to the lounge, Morgan trailing along behind them.
'Barbados is always—pleasant,' he drawled in reply,
stretching his long length in one of the comfortable armchairs.
Morgan gave him a sharp look. Pleasant? Their honeymoon had been pleasant! Her expression was cool as she sensed Rita Hammond's triumphant gaze on her, meeting the blue-eyed gaze challengingly. 'If you'll both excuse me I think I'll go and see Courtney,' she said stiltedly, not waiting for either of them to answer her but sweeping out of the room.
She didn't stop until she stood outside Courtney's room, taking time to steady her breathing, feeling the familiar tension at being anywhere near Rita Hammond.
Alex's sudden coldness after the warmth of the last three weeks cut into her like a knife. She hadn't believed it was possible after the degree of intimacy they had attained, when only a look or a smile was needed to tell them what the other desired. A shield had fallen over Alex's inner emotions now, leaving only the cynical stranger she had known before.
And she wouldn't let him do that to them! Soon they would be at their own home, alone together again except for the baby. Whatever was bothering Alex she meant to find out as soon as possible; there would be no festering misunderstandings in this marriage if she could help it; they had too much to lose now.
But it seemed Alex had other ideas than their going home to be alone!
'I'll drop you and Courtney off at the house,' he told her over lunch. I have to go into the office for a couple of hours this afternoon.'
Morgan blinked her surprise; he hadn't mentioned anything about this on the drive here. 'Do you have to?' she asked stiffly, very conscious of his mother's avid attention on their conversation.
His mouth tightened. 'I would hardly be going if I didn't have to, he snapped. 'I've been away for overthree weeks already—Hammond Industries doesn't run itself, you know.
She flinched at the way he made it seem as if he wished he hadn't spent the three weeks honeymooning with her, as if it had been time he had wasted. 'I do know,' she replied coldly, holding back the tremor from her voice. How could he talk to her like this in front of his mother?
'It would seem the honeymoon is over,' Rita Hammond drawled with satisfaction.
Alex's hard gaze flickered briefly over Morgan. 'It would seem so,' he agreed tautly.
'The newspapers got hold of the story of your wedding, by the way,' his mother told him. 'The press have been most intrusive.'
'We know,' Alex acknowledged abruptly.
It had been the one upset to their honeymoon. They had left the villa to go into the nearest small town to pick up fresh supplies, and Alex had been instantly cornered by a member of the press -also on holiday there, wanting an exclusive about their marriage. Alex's reply had been far from polite!
'Is Courtney ready, Morgan?' he asked tersely now. 'I think we should be going.
'But your coffee- '
'I don't want any,' Alex cut across his mother's objection. 'Morgan?'
The query seemed to come as an afterthought, and Morgan felt the pain in her heart deepen. How different this meal had been from the ones they had been preparing for themselves at the villa; their happiness together then had been unmistakable. Alex couldn't seem to wait to get rid of her for a few hours now! 'No, thank you,' she refused abruptly, standing up. 'I'll go and get Courtney—Mrs Ford said she would have him ready to leave after lunch.
Courtney was indeed ready to leave, his clothes were in a suitcase, his nursery things all packed into boxes, while the baby himself was fast asleep.
'I shall miss him,' Mrs Ford said ruefully as she handed the shawl-wrapped baby to Morgan.
'Please feel free to come and visit him any time you want to,' Morgan invited warmly. 'You'll always be welcome.'
'Thank you, I'd like that,' the other woman accepted shyly.
Morgan waited in the lounge with Rita Hammond while Alex and Symonds loaded the car up with Courtney's things; the silence between the two women was filled with tension—on Morgan's part at least, Rita Hammond looked as confident as ever. And why shouldn't she when her son had just told her his honeymoon had been pleasantl The description still rankled.
'So you failed to keep my son's attention even for the honeymoon,' Rita scorned. 'I knew it, of course. You're the same butterfly as Glcnna.'
'Leave Glcnna out of this!' Morgan ground out,
'Gladly,' the other woman dismissed haughtily. 'And I'll leave you out of it too once Alex realises the full extent of his mistake in marrying you. It's obvious he's already regretting his impetuosity!'
The baby stirred restlessly in her arms, as if even in his sleep he could sense the antagonism about him. Morgan gave up any idea of this conversation with Rita Hammond turning out to be a pleasant one, and left the house with her head held high. Alex and Symonds were just putting the last of the boxes in the car as she came down the steps, and Alex came forward to help her, handing her into the back of the car.
'Perhaps you could go and thank your mother for lunch,' she told Alex stiffly. 'I'm afraid I forgot.'
He gave her a probing glance before turning to go back into the house. His mother was at his side when he returned.
'Could I hold Courtney for a few minutes—please?' she added as an imperious afterthought.
Morgan handed him to the other woman, seeing how the harsh features relaxed into a smile as she gazed down at her grandson. Maybe there was hope for the other woman yet, if she could feel love for the baby! 'Come and see him any rime you would like to, she said impulsively.
Cold blue eyes raked over her disdainfully. 'I intended to,' Rita told Morgan indignantly. 'He is my grandson.'
'And it's Morgan's home, Alex put in softly, taking Courtney to put him back into Morgan's arms. She gave him a grateful smile for his defence of her. 'And my son's!'
He shrugged. 'Morgan will spend more time there than I shall.'
'Thank you,' Morgan told him quietly as they drove the ten miles to their own house.
'It's the truth,' he dismissed tersely. 'And as the two of you don't get along . . .'
She chewed on her bottom lip, braving the hardness of his profile. 'Alex, did you really think our honeymoon was only pleasant?' Her mouth twisted as she asked.
He didn't even glance at her. 'I believe I said Barbados was pleasant, I didn't mention our honeymoon,' he bit out tautly. 'I would hardly tell my mother we rarely left the bedroom!
He made even that sound like an insult! 'Why not?' she snapped. 'It's what most people do on their honeymoon!'
He gave her a look of disgust. 'Maybe I just didn't want to boast,' he taunted. Morgan gave a disappointed sigh. The indulgentlover from Barbados was sadly gone. The man in his place was even harder than the Alex Hammond she had known before. 'Do you really have to go to the office today?' She looked at him anxiously, sitting forward to touch his shoulder.
'I've just spent three weeks alone with you, Morgan, wasn't that enough?' he rasped scornfully.
She moved back as if he had struck her. The honeymoon really was over!