'And where did you think you were going?' he demanded harshly. 'Into the river again? There'll be no more blind running away, Ebony. And no more misunderstandings between us. We're going to talk this out, and, by God, you're going to really listen to me this time!'
And so saying, he carried her down the narrow walkway into the one place where talking was the last thing they'd ever done. The bedroom.
CHAPTER TWELVE
ALAN kicked the door shut behind him, more from lack of room than temper. Ebony was an armful. Angling himself down the side of the built-in bed, he would have lowered her gently on to the quilt if she hadn't chosen that moment to struggle.
'Let me go, you brute. I've had enough of your manhandling tactics, not to mention your hypocritical and typically male double standards!'
He dumped her on the bed. A silly thing to do. The towel that had already been slipping precariously down over her breasts burst asunder. Alan groaned silently and tried to put his mind on the problem at hand.
Which was what? Damn, but he could hardly remember.
'Cover yourself up,' he growled, and spun away to drag in a steadying breath before turning to face Ebony once more.
She lay there, the towel now draped across the middle of her body as if she were awaiting a massage, her chin tipped defiantly up at him. But her eyes... Dear God, her eyes revealed a despair he hated seeing.
I've done this to her, he agonised. I've misjudged her, tormented her, crucified her. I've taken her love, taken her body, taken her pride.
No, he amended. Never her pride. Never that...
'I'm waiting, Alan,' she snapped, her pride and spirit very much intact. 'Make it good, though.'
He frowned. 'Good?'
'The reason why I should believe there was nothing between you and Adrianna on Friday night, whereas I was condemned as a whore over my date with Gary. After all, you loved Adrianna once enough to ask her to marry you. Whereas .. .I turned down Gary's offer of marriage because I'd never loved him!'
He groaned and grimaced at the same time. Hoist with his own petard! He should never have given in to the temptation to keep fuelling Ebony's jealousy with his supposed love of Adrianna. It had been cruel and so unnecessary. He bitterly regretted it now, because it made convincing her of the truth all the more difficult. Yet he had to try, didn't he?
Alan came forward, Ebony flinching with fear when he sat down beside her on the bed. He'd always used sex to get his own way with her. And she'd always surrendered in the end. But dear God, not this time, please...
Everything inside her tightened when he picked up her hand. But he simply held it within both of his and started speaking in a low, measured tone.
'I realise this probably comes too late. But they say "better late than never" ...'
Ebony was astonished to see his mouth soften into a rueful yet touching smile. 'I did ask Adrianna to marry me, I admit. But it wasn't because I loved her. We were good friends and we drifted into an affair, but we were never in love. Neither of us. Just two lonely people reaching out to each other as you reached out to Stevenson.'
Ebony blinked her astonishment. 'But...but why did you ask her to marry you, if you didn't love her?'
'Why, indeed? Can't you think of a reason, my darling?'
She shook her head, her fluttering heart still not used to Alan calling her his darling. And to think he'd never loved Adrianna. But dared she believe him? What was this mysterious reason?
'I asked Adrianna to marry me to protect the sweet innocence of a girl I believed was too young for love, a girl who twisted my heart and body into knots every time I saw her.'
Ebony stared, her heart leaping. So she'd been right all along. He had wanted her back then.
'Yes, it was you I really wanted, Ebony, not Adrianna, you I loved, even though I could not accept that at the time. Maybe if you'd been anyone else other than my ward, I might have seen what a surprisingly mature young woman you were, and that you were as capable of giving true love as receiving it. As it was, I was consumed by guilt at desiring an innocent who'd been entrusted to my care. So I set about saving you from my carnal lust, protecting you from my dark desires...'
His low laugh carried a wealth of remembered pain. 'I imagined a wife would be the perfect antidote for my forbidden feelings. But the best-laid plans of mere mortal men come unstuck sometimes. When Adrianna married Bryce McLean instead, I had to resort to whatever tactics would keep you safe. I was rude and cruel and hurtful. Every time you came within a hundred feet of me I deliberately drove you away. I was almost insane with frustration, and eventually it began to come out in the worst possible way...'