"To be quite honest, Steven, I am," Toni confessed as she reached out and pulled forward Mrs. D's stool and sat down. "Has something happened to Connie or your parents?"
"Everyone's fine, except me. I miss you, sweetheart and I want to see you."
"See me?" she said incredulously. "What on earth for?" Even before the question was out of her mouth she felt, rather than saw, Christian behind her. At Steven's next question, her voice took on a raspy edge.
"Steven, I'm not sure I'll be returning to Richmond "
"Then may I come to Natchez?" he further shocked her by asking. "I've been a damn fool, Toni, and I want you back." "Really, Steven—"
"Don't say no," he interrupted. "I know now how much I hurt you. Nothing has gone right for me since you left. No matter what you say, I'm coming to see you."
"I'm afraid it will be a wasted—" "Let me be the judge of that, sweetheart. See you soon," he said before she could finish, then hung up. Toni sat for several seconds with the receiver pressed against her ear before hanging it up. She turmed and faced Christian, her own thoughts keeping her from picking up on his annoyance.
"Something wrong?" he asked in a cold voice that startled Toni.
"Not wrong exactly." She shrugged. "As I'm sure you heard, that was Steven. He insists on coming down here."
'If you didn't want to see him, why didn't you just say so?" Christian asked with his usual bluntness.
Toni stood, still wary of the sudden iciness of his mood. "I tried, but he wouldn't listen. He can be very stubborn at times."
Christian crossed his strong arms over his chest and carefully regarded her for several moments, then asked, "Are you certain you really tried to discourage : ^n? Maybe you're having second thoughts about breaking your engagement and leaving Richmond so abruptly."
"Are you suggesting that I'm still in love with Steven?" Toni asked, resenting his cross-examining. "It's been known to happen." "Well, not this time, I assure you," she said firmly.
"What Steven and I had is finished. I'd be a lot hap= pier if he would accept that and stay in Richmond
"If that's really the case, then he should be well on his way back to Richmond within an hour of gettting here, shouldn't he?" Christian asked smoothly.
"I suppose so, but then I'm not his travel agent," she remarked darkly. "He might be interested in see ing some of the old homes while he's here."
Damn it! She didn't care at all for the way Christian was acting. Any love she'd had for Steven was dead She knew that. But, Toni reasoned, if the man insisted on rehashing a dead issue, then so be it. It was cer-tainly no concern of Christian's if her ex-fiance stayed for one hour or one week.
But Christian was concerned. And as he led Toni to the car, he realized that the prospect of Steven Crowell turning up next door disturbed him greatly.
He tried not to think about it, but even the quiet elegance of dinner at the historic Eola Hotel and the soft glow of candlelight failed to wipe from his mind the thought of Toni in Steven's arms.
All through dinner there was a part of him that held back, that remained aloof from the seemingly easy conversation he was having with Toni. And it wasn't until they were leaving that it hit him. I'm afraid of losing her, Christian thought dazedly, then just as quickly tried to deny the idea.
But no amount of mental gyrations on his part could dislodge the mind-numbing blow: After all these years of casual relationships he had finally fallen for a woman—the one woman capable of telling him to take a hike over the edge of a mountain! What had started out as his usual dedicated but uninvolved pursuit of an attractive woman had backfired completely. Now he found himself unsure of himself and afraid of another man's influence over Antonia.
If Toni was aware of an added glow in Christian's gaze as it swept over her, or the extra warmth of his touch as he held her hand, she ignored it. It was far easier to chalk it up to the wine they'd had at dinner than to think that Christian might actually love her.
She'd misread one man's intentions before and had found out the hard way that things rarely appeared as they really were. Besides, she told herself, I already know that Christian is only interested in an affair.
Reading anything more into his actions would make me a fool twice over.
When they reached Cartlaigne and Christian helped her from the car, Toni automatically turned toward the cottage. But Christian was quicker and stronger.
He slipped an arm around her waist and turned her toward the big house.
"This evening isn't over yet, Miss Grant," he murrured against her ear as he ushered her toward the porch.
"My, my, aren't we masterful tonight." Toni chuckled as she allowed him to hustle her up the steps across the porch, and into the warm, cozy sitting
room.
Once inside, Christian closed the door, then leaned back against it, pulling Toni close to him. "You . . ." he whispered as his lips teased hers, "are to go over to
that sofa, sit down, and wait for me while I get us a brandy."
Toni reached up and grasped the lapels of his jacket for leverage, then nipped at the fullness of his bottom lip. The wine at dinner and the warmth of his touch
had removed all inhibitions as neatly as a giant eraser making a clean sweep across a blackboard.
"Are you asking me or telling me?" she whispered, pulling back at the precise moment he was going to kiss her. There was a brilliant, glowing fire in her teasing dark eyes as she looked up at him.
Christian sucked in a huge breath of air, his large hands running over her slimness as though fearful of losing her. "If I say I'm telling, I'm afraid you'll clobber me." He grinned. "So I'll be extremely polite and ask you to kindly wait for me on the sofa."
Toni's head tilted to one side as she continued to smile mischievously. "How nicely put, Mr. Barr. I will be happy to do as you ask. Only please make my brandy a small one. You were more than generous with the wine at dinner." She turned out of his arms, walked over to the sofa, and sat down, her eyes never leaving him while he removed his jacket and tie, poured the drinks, and then walked toward her.
She took the snifter and leaned back against the plush softness of the cushions.
"When is your friend supposed to arrive?" he asked as he came down close beside her. She could feel the heat of his body radiating through the thin material of her dress like a blast of hot steel along one entire side of her.
"If you're referring to Steven," she replied from her relaxed position, "then your guess is as good as mine. He didn't give me a definite time of arrival."
"Then that doesn't leave me much time, does it?"
"For what?"
"To make certain dear ol' Steven goes back to Richmond empty-handed," Christian said with a deliber-ateness that brought a puzzled frown to her face.
"Would you mind explaining?"
"It's simple, Antonia," he continued. He leaned forward and set his glass on the coffee table, then turned and reached for her. Suddenly Toni found herself sitting in his lap, with his arms securely locked around her.
"I've spent considerable time and effort getting to know you. I'll be damned if I'll sit calmly by and let another man whisk you from beneath my nose."
Toni felt his hand cup the nape of her neck and saw his head closing the short distance between them. when his lips took command of hers, there wasn't the slightest hesitation in her response. Thoughts of Ste-ven's impending visit, of her own reluctance to fully trust Christian, of everything else, vanished as a hard mouth took possession of her softer yielding one.
Christian had barreled his way into her life, and though she'd tried to convince herself that he was eveverything she detested in a man, it simply hadn't turned out that way. The touch of his hands, the feel of his lips against hers, had become an unwitting addiction for her.
As he gently began to stroke her body, Toni knew a
moment of the most intense need she had ever experienced. She pressed closer to Christian's massive chest, urgently seeking, a release that only he could give her.
A gasp of pleasure burst from her lips as Christian slowly eased her dress from her shoulders. His rough palm caressed first one sensitive breast and then the other, sending little spasms of pleasure coursing through her body. Her desire was intensified as his lips closed about one taut, aroused peak, his tongue cir-cling and teasing the nipple till Toni was certain she could no longer stand the exquisite torture.
Overcome by a rush of uncontrollable desire, Toni began to pull at the buttons of his shirt till, open at last, she ran her hands over his tanned shoulders and
back. She wanted desperately to touch, to feel, to commit to memory every inch of his body. She reveled in the smell of his skin and delighted in his taste.
Suddenly there was a smothered groan from Christian. The sound barely penetrated Toni's heady world of desire and passion; neither did the feeling of being lifted by strong arms. Time held no meaning for her.
All her senses were taken over with one thought—she wanted Christian Barr.
When the softness of a bed touched her bare back,Toni opened her eyes. In the dimness she recognise the large bedroom, but it wasn't the room or its beau-
tiful antique furnishings that interested her. She could only see the man leaning over her.
"Stay with me, Antonia," he whispered.
Toni smiled, oblivious to the fact that her breasts were bare to his gaze, uncaring that a month ago he 'd been nothing but a name to her. She only knew that
Christian had awakened feelings and needs in her that could no longer be calmed by a few kisses or brief moments of stolen caresses.
"I'll stay ... for a while," she whispered.
Christian's hands slowly stole to her waist, his fingers disappearing beneath the dress as he removed it.
"For a while," he mused huskily as he finished undressing her. "That phrase, my dear Antonia, carries with it varied connotations."
"Tell me," Toni said softly, watching him straighten and begin to remove his own clothes. She felt no embarrassment as each piece of clothing fell to the floor,
revealing the naked strength and magnificence of this man. She wanted him so urgently that her breath was coming in short painful gulps.
Rid of his last bit of clothing, Christian eased his large frame down beside her, resting his upper body on one elbow while his other hand smoothed its way back and forth across the silken skin of her stomach.
"I've been in a number of places in my travels where time isn't as important as it is in this country. So," he said with a smile, dipping bis dark head to taste the fiery tip of one small nipple, "I prefer to think that 'for a while' means days, weeks, or even months."
Toni didn't bother arguing the point, but gave herself over to the almost agonizing pleasure of Christian's touch. His hands and lips seemed capable of bringing her to peaks of erotic pleasure she had never known existed.
It was as though each place he touched her, each lingering caress of his lips, was anticipated by Toni.
Each gesture, each whispered endearment, whisked them closer to the final moment when he would take total possession of her body. For it seemed to Toni that he was already in possession of her soul. He eased his weight into place over her, and Toni quivered in anticipation as she arched her body against him, her slim legs becoming entangled with his tanned, hair-roughened ones.
The instant before he entered her Toni thought she would burst from desire, and when he had at last claimed her, she responded with an urgency she had never felt before. Their lovemaking was frantic, passionate, uninhibited. She felt as if she had been flung into a universe spinning out of control.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Toni juggled the packages she was carrying for what seemed like the umpteenth time. There was a frown on her face that reflected more accurately than words her
impatience with her cousin, who didn't seem capabable of leaving a store before she had examined each and every item it contained.
She'd been talked into coming to New Orleans to go shopping only after Brent had said Susie couldn't make the trip alone. "She has a bothersome habit of
forgetting the time when she's spending money, and I don't want her driving back alone after dark."
"Do you honestly want that thing?" she finally asked Susie, who was holding and staring at an ugly mask, cast in some unknown metal. It was black and
orange and hideous—or so Toni thought.
"Heavens no." Susie chuckled, then became interested in an unusual pair of candle holders.
"Are you going to buy those?" Toni nodded to the candle holders, at the same time putting up a Herculean effort not to explode.
"'No." Her cousin shrugged.
"Then what in hell are you doing?" Toni stormed.
" My head is aching, my arms feel like they're about to drop off, and my feet are killing me. I've watched you pick up and examine everything from baby clothes to a damm screwdriver." She glared at her cousin, her dark eyes sending out sparks of anger. "I sincerely hope someone will commit me to an institution for the mentally incompetent if I ever, ever agree to come shopping with you again!"
"Well, my goodness, Antonia Elizabeth," Susie replied in an injured tone. "There's no need to act like such a bully. I was very patient, and helpful while you were doing your shopping."
"Which I completed in less than an hour and a half.
That was also before noon, Susan Louise." She maneuvered her packages in order to catch a glimpse of her watch. "It's now twenty minutes after five. Does that tell you anything?"
"You're kidding!" Susie exclaimed, checking her own watch to be sure. "Oh, my. Brent will be furious with me. We're supposed to be at the Nesbitts' by
seven o'clock."
"Your husband has my heartfelt sympathy," Toni said, scowling unrepentantly.