Mistress of Deception

her.

It was impossible to last long, but she didn't need long, her own aroused flesh spasming around him with a fierceness he'd never felt before. He gasped aloud, then climaxed as well, spilling himself into her for what seemed like ages. Afterwards he clasped her to him, knowing that he had never ex- perienced the like before, and equally knowing he would never be able to give this woman up, no matter what.

Ebony sighed deeply and fell asleep in his arms, physically and emotionally sated, her confidence in Alan's love restored. When she eventually woke again, she was alone, and for a split second she felt bereft.

Sitting up,.she pushed her hair out of her eyes, but she could not push the niggling feeling of disquiet out of her heart. There was no reason to feel afraid, no reason to feel anything but happy. Alan loved her. They were going to be married soon. Then they would have babies and...

Her gasp of shock sent Alan's face popping round the door. He was smiling.

'So you're awake! Why don't you have a shower, pop a towel around yourself, and come and have some lunch? Watch that foot, though. Hop, if you have to.'

'Alan!' she called after him when he disappeared.

He reappeared in the doorway, all of him this time. He was now wearing his shirt as well as shorts. 'Yes?'

'I just realised. You... you didn't use anything. When we made love...'

His shrug was dismissive. 'I forgot to bring them with me. Does it really matter? We'll be married soon. Besides, you'd have to be unlucky to get pregnant straight away.'

'I... I don't know about that. It's a dangerous time for me...'

Alan came forward and sat down on the side of the bed, taking her hands in his. His eyes were intent as they raked hers. 'I thought you said you wanted children.'

'I do! But I . . . I '

'You what?' he said sharply.

Ebony stared into Alan's suddenly cold blue eyes and felt a resurgence of that earlier unease. It wasn't like Alan to forget anything. It wasn't like him at all.

But how could she accuse the man she loved of trying to trap her into a pregnancy? Why would he feel he had to trap her anyway? She did want children, but she'd hoped having a baby would be something they would plan together, a mutual decision made with thought and love. Still, it seemed silly to quibble at this stage. What was done was done.

'Oh, nothing.' She tried a smile, but it felt somewhat forced. 'I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we? I might have to buy a specially designed wedding-dress that hides tummies.'

'I doubt that. We'll be getting married within a couple of months.'

'So soon?' she gasped.

'Why should we wait? I'm not getting any younger and I've waited long enough for you, surely?'

'I...I guess so.'

He cupped her face and kissed her. Til take you somewhere deliciously private for our honeymoon.'

'Such as?'

'How about a dungeon?' he said with a dark chuckle.

Though startled, she laughed. 'What are you? The Marquis de Sade reincarnated?'

'Could be, Ebony. Could be.'

She smiled a loving amusement at that thought. 'Not you, Alan. You like to play the big, bad wolf, but underneath you're a sweet, cuddly bear.'

'Even bears can be dangerous, my darling.' He smiled back, and bent to kiss her once more. 'Always remember that,' he whispered, and patted her gently on the cheek. 'Now get up, woman. Bob's picnic lunch awaits.'

CHAPTER ELEVEN

'THIS is the life,' Alan sighed, leaning back against the booth-style seat and lifting the glass of wine to his lips. They'd already finished one bottle of Chardonnay between them and had moved on to the second. Bob's picnic lunch of crispy fried chicken plus his special pasta salad and herb bread had long been reduced to crumbs and bones.

Ebony was sitting opposite, wrapped in a towel, her face washed clean of make-up. She looked about sixteen, Alan conceded, his gut tightening at the thought that she'd probably already been pleasuring men's bodies back at sixteen, or even younger.

For a second he felt fiercely, insanely jealous, but then he took a sharp hold of himself. I'll have to control my jealousy if I'm going to marry her, he vowed. Either that or I'll go stark raving mad.

There again, it's only normal for a husband to want to know all there is to know about his wife. What do I know about Ebony before she came to live with Mother and myself? It's not as though Pierre and Judith lived just around the corner. I was lucky to see them once a year.