Island of Darkness (14 page)

“Thanks!”

The wide straight mouth looked hard and almost cruel and she realised too late that she had conveyed sympathy, whether she had meant to or not. Comforting she might have intended to be, but he had sensed only pity and he was angry, as she should have known he would be.

“Jason, I—”

“The little angel of mercy!” He laughed harshly and reached out for her again, his hands closing with bruising strength round her upper arms. “I’ve told you before, Leonora, I don’t need a nurse!”

“Jason, please!” She was close to tears and did not quite know why, when she should have been angry with him instead.

“I talked about wine, women and song,” he went on in that same harsh voice, “and you give me a chaste little kiss as a consolation! Is that the best you can do, Leonora?”

“Please, Jason, I don’t—” The rest of the sentence was lost in a small but audible gasp of surprise as his mouth sought hers, hard enough to force her lips apart and relentless in its demand.

His hands were hard and crushingly strong on her soft shoulders and he slid them downwards, pressing her closer to his own lean hardness until she made a soft little moaning sound as she spread her hands over the strong, steady beat of his heart. Her fingertips found the hard golden disc of the medallion under the softness of his shirt and clutched at it with shivering strength.

Her senses swam dizzily into the realms of ecstasy and she made no sound of protest even when he left her mouth and pressed his lips warmly and fiercely against the soft skin of her throat and the smoothness of her shoulders. Her hands moved up to hold the bowed head in her clasped fingers and her eyes closed to shut out everything but the knowledge that she had wanted this to happen more than anything in the world.

It seemed like hours and yet it could have been only minutes before she was vaguely aware of sounds in the room other than Jason’s soft murmurings as he kissed her over and over again, and her own unsteady breathing. Then she opened her eyes suddenly and pushed at the enveloping arms that held her so tightly she could scarcely move, her heart thudding relentlessly at her ribs.

Scottie stood in the doorway, his brown eyes looking almost black as they glittered angrily, his square, thick hands curled tightly into fists as if he resisted the temptation to use them only with difficulty. His first words were ones Leonora had never heard him use before, and they were directed unmistakably at his employer.

Jason turned, his arms dropping only slowly from around her, and his mouth crooked into a wry smile when he realized who has come in. “Damn you, Scottie,” he said softly, “did you have to come back so soon?”

“You - selfish devil!” Scottie whispered harshly. “For

God’s sake, don’t you ever think of anybody but yourself and your own - wants?”

Jason turned right round and faced him, his mouth still wearing that mockery of a smile. He was so cool and unconcerned that Leonora felt her skin crawl with embarrassment for her own obvious state of confusion. Her head was still swimming with the sense of chaos his kisses had aroused in her and she instinctively touched a finger to her lips as she kept her eyes lowered against Scottie’s accusing gaze.

“Why the fuss?” Jason asked coolly. “You don’t see Leonora objecting, do you?”

Leonora bit her lip and met Scottie’s eyes squarely at last, anxious not to be thought a too willing partner, nor yet a complete innocent. Scottie knew Jason’s reputation, none better, but she would hate for him to think she was merely one of his usual conquests, yet nor had she been completely averse to being kissed as Scottie seemed to think.

“It wasn’t as bad as you seem to think, Scottie,” she told him in a voice that sounded dismayingly shaky and uncertain. “It was - Jason only - kissed me, that’s all.”

“That’s all!” Scottie echoed harshly. “It’s all because I came back when I did, Leonora, or you wouldn’t be taking it all so calmly! Don’t you realise that?”

Jason sighed deeply, not giving her time to answer, and apparently showing great patience in the face of provocation, brushing one hand over the thick blond hair at the back of his head where Leonora’s fingers had disarranged it. “Why don’t you stop playing nursemaid,

Scottie?” he asked wearily. “Both to me and to Leonora

- I don’t want it, and she doesn’t need it!”

“You can say that?” Scottie demanded. “When I came in and found you—”

“Kissing Leonora, as she said,” Jason interrupted quietly.

“I know you,” Scottie murmured darkly, glancing at Leonora, as if he was slightly less sure of himself.

“So I should hope,” Jason retorted. “Good grief, man, I was kissing her! You claim to know me so well, do you think I’d do anything more with a baby like Leonora?”

This time it was Leonora herself who flushed angrily, and she stuck out her chin, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks bright pink with humiliation when she met Scottie’s look of pity. “I’m flattered!” she retorted in a husky, unsteady voice. “Only I’m not a baby, Jason, I’m old enough to take your - your condescending patronage as an insult!”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Jason exclaimed in exasperation, his hands in the air. “Don’t
you
start going temperamental on me!”

Leonora was trembling like a leaf as she stood beside him, wishing she could forget the way his hands had held her, the way his mouth had kissed her and the sensation of being held so close to that lean, hard body. She wished, too, that she could forget the warm, masculine excitement of him and her own willing surrender to it.

“I’m not being temperamental about anything,” she said in a slightly more controlled voice as she fought to

contain her churning emotions, and thankful that he could not see her at this moment. “Since you both seem determined to make me a gullible innocent, however,” she added in a voice growing huskier with the threat of tears, “I won’t give either of you cause for concern again - I’ll
stay
away this time!”

“Quite a little speech!” Jason said softly, and his smile had that bitter twist to it again. “Do you mean you don’t intend coming over again?”

She nodded her head, then realised, as she always did, that he could not see her. “I - I think in the circumstances it might be better if I didn’t,” she said, as quietly calm as she could manage.

She turned and walked to the arched doorway where Scottie stood and her legs felt as if they had turned to water, her eyes bright and misty with tears. When she got close to him, Scottie put a hand on her arm, his eyes darkly troubled, seeing himself as much to blame for her decision as Jason, but more ready to plead.

“Leonora,” he begged in a whisper, but she shook her head and went on through to the kitchen the way she had come, giving Lucia only a brief nod as she hurried out into the sunshine. Never again would she set foot on Isola de Marta, no matter who asked her to, of that she was quite sure.

CHAPTER SEVEN

It was not really such a surprise when Scottie called one day to see her, and if she was honest about it, Leonora had never been so glad to see anyone in her life before. Carrying out her threat to boycott Isola de Marta was proving much more difficult than she had expected. She had been tempted so many times to break her word and take her boat across there, but the thought of having Jason taunt her for being weak enough to change her mind made her dig in her heels, and instead she made herself busy about the studio and the shop.

Maria had plunged them into yet another domestic crisis and Leonora was busy peeling vegetables for lunch when Scottie arrived. Being rather preoccupied, she heard nothing until Clive’s voice said quietly behind her, “Someone to see you, Leo.” Her heart leapt wildly in her breast and she turned swiftly, her lips parted in a smile, her eyes wide with a hope that common sense would have told her could not possibly materialise.

“Hello, Leonora.”

She made an effort with the smile so

that he would not guess what lay behind it and waved her wet hands, making a grimace of apology. “Scottie! I’m sorry about the mess I’m in!”

“Maria’s deserted you again, I hear,” he said, and she laughed ruefully.

“I’m afraid so, that’s why I’m busy with the paring knife.”

He had not moved from the doorway and she stood with her wet hands in front of her for a moment before she thought of drying them on a doth. “I’m sorry to disturb you when you’re busy,” he said, and sounded so apologetic that she shook her head hastily.

“Oh, don’t talk nonsense, Scottie! You know you’re always welcome!”

He stood there for a moment longer, with Clive sliding discreetly out of sight behind him, then he came across and slipped a hand round her waist and kissed her lightly on her cheek. “I’m glad you’re not throwing me out,” he said with a wry smile.

Leonora laughed, a nervous uncertain sound that she deplored. “How’s - how are you?” she asked, and knew he had spotted the slip by the small frown that drew briefly at his dark brows.

“We’re fine,” he told her quietly. “Jason’s leaving for England in about ten days’ time and he’s - jittery, of course, but otherwise—”

She forgot about the vegetables behind her in the bowl and stood facing him, her eyes asking far more questions than she could ever put into words. “So soon?” she said. “I didn’t realise it would be so soon.”

“The sooner the better,” Scottie said with a hint of firmness that made her glance at him curiously, and not a little anxiously.

“You
are
leaving him, then?” she asked, and he avoided her gaze, looking down at the knife she held in her right hand.

“I wish you wouldn’t make it sound quite so much like an act of desertion, Leonora,” he objected quietly. “I don’t have to feel guilty about it, you know.”

“Oh, but of course you don’t!” She put down the knife at last and rubbed her hands together slowly. She wanted to ask so many more questions, but she was afraid of creating the wrong impression in Scottie’s mind. Glancing behind him, she made sure that Clive had gone back to the studio and was out of earshot. “I’m - I’m sorry things didn’t work out the way you wanted them to, Scottie,” she told him, trying to find words that did not sound too formal, yet not too emotional either. “I wish - I wish it could have been different.”

“Aye, so do I, lass,” Scottie said softly, and reached out for her hand, his own strong, blunt fingers surprisingly gentle. “I never thought I’d feel about any woman the way I feel about you, but—” He shrugged resignedly and pulled a wry face, a hint of smile softening the firm mouth. “As Jason says, I’m old enough to know better, and you’re far too young and lovely for a man like me.”

“Oh no, that’s simply not true!” She looked at him anxiously and felt a lump in her throat when she thought of his going away and never seeing him again. It was such a difficult situation, and one she had never been in before. “I - I really am sorry about it,” she told him, “and I shall miss you a lot, Scottie.”

“Will you?” He looked at her hopefully for a moment, then shrugged and laughed without sounding in the least amused. “Well, I dare say somebody else will too,” he said with a faint smile. “Only he’s not so honest about it!”

Leonora felt her heart give a sudden lurch and she looked at him, only half believing. He would surely not have broken the news to Jason yet. “You haven’t told Jason you’re going, have you, Scottie? Not already?”

“Aye, I’ve told him I won’t be around when he comes out of the hospital this time.”

He sounded as if he expected criticism from her and she was very tempted to say something of the sort to him. But, with her own encouragement of his scheme in mind, she resisted it and merely shook her head, biting on her lip and able to imagine all too easily what Jason’s reaction had been.

“What did he say?” she asked huskily, and he hesitated, gently stroking the fingers he held and looking down at them rather than directly at her.

“It’s not fit language to repeat to a lady,” he told her. “But he’ll have got used to the idea by the time it happens.” “You haven’t had second thoughts?”

He shook his head firmly. “No, Leonora, I haven’t!” He looked at her at last, his eyes anxious and asking for her understanding. “He’s already told me he doesn’t need me around,” he said quietly. “And quite frankly I believe him. He’s a very self-sufficient man, you know, he always has been.”

“Yes, yes, of course he is.”

She stood for a moment trying to imagine how Jason really was going to cope without Scottie, if that all- important operation went against him and he still couldn’t see when it was all over. It was something that no one could even hazard a guess at, and she was determined not to blame Scottie for his decision. She looked round at the half-finished vegetables in the bowl behind her. “I suppose it’s no use asking you to stay to lunch with us?” she asked. “You have to get back?”

“I wish I could stay,” he said, and for a moment she thought he would, but eventually he shook his head and she breathed more easily. It was too soon yet for him to leave Jason to his own devices for too long, and he probably realised it. He was neither callous nor insensible to Jason’s present need of him, no matter how adamant he was about leaving him. His hand holding hers was gentle and he looked at her curled fingers for a moment before he spoke. “I came to ask if you - if you’d consider coming to see us again,” he said.