Island of Darkness (20 page)

gold medallion still swung from its chain.

Cream-coloured trousers seemed to make him look taller, especially in the low-ceilinged studio, and his jacket she saw was slung carelessly over a work bench. Every nerve in her body responded to him, every emotion possible churning away inside her until her senses cried out for him to be gentle with her.

“Leonora?” His eyes swept over her slowly from top to toe and then his nose wrinkled briefly and he smiled, holding out his hands to her. “Yes, it’s you,” he said softly as she gave him her hands. “You still smell of
Boheme
.”

“Jason.”

Her voice sounded barely above a whisper, and since that first moment she had kept her eyes lowered, afraid of what he would see if she looked at him directly. He stood for a moment looking down at her, his strong fingers curled over hers, that same irresistible aura making her tremble as he studied her.

“You’re lovely,” he said quietly, and put a hand under her chin, lifting her face, although she still did not raise her eyes. “Red hair — no, brown, like autumn leaves. I knew you had a lovely skin and a beautiful, soft mouth, that much I could tell.

Let me see your eyes,” he whispered, and bent his head over her so that the warmth of his breath caressed her cheek. “Leonora?”

“Jason—”

The hand under her chin was gentle but insistent and she raised her eyes at last and looked at him, meeting the unfamiliar blue eyes. “They’re hazel,” he said softly, and brushed his lips across her hastily lowered lids. “I’m so glad my taste is as good whether I can see or not!”

He laughed softly and Leonora caught her breath, suddenly afraid that she had been living in a fool’s paradise for the past few minutes and unable to bear the thought of it. “Oh, Jason, please don’t tease me!” She begged, and looked up at him appealingly.

For a moment he held her gaze with a look of infinite gentleness in his blue eyes, then he drew her against him his arms folding her closely against him so that she yielded to the hard, warm strength of his body. His hands had a gentleness she had never dreamed of and his face rested on the softness of her hair,

muffling his words when he spoke.

“There’s so much about you that surprises me,” he said softly. “You look far more like a little girl than I expected, and so much more vulnerable.”

Leonora pressed her face close to the broad tanned chest where the steady heart beat pounded reassuringly under her ear, her fingers finding the gold medallion and tracing its outline with one finger through the thin material of his shirt. “I’m twenty-three,” she murmured in a small and very contented-sounding voice. “And I’m quite tough really.”

“Oh no, you’re not!” He laughed softly, then held her away from him for a moment, looking down at her with such a look in his eyes that it shivered through her like fire and ice, while she gazed at the rugged brown face, faintly unfamiliar because of the blue eyes. “I’ve already asked your uncle for permission,” he told her in a deep soft voice. “He says I can marry you.”

“Marry me?” She stared up at him unbelievingly. “Jason, you—”

“You want convincing that I’m serious?” he asked softly. “Very well, my darling, but you’ve been warned!”

“Jason—”

Once again she tried to speak reason, but his arms tightened about her and she was pulled close to that hard, unyielding body and given no chance to say any thing. His mouth was hard and urgent, almost bruising in its urgency, as if he was possessed of an insatiable hunger, and she only briefly made little sounds of protest.

She lifted her arms and slid them round his neck, yielding to the pressure that moulded her softness to him and aroused wild and irresistible longings in her she had never known before. Strong, gentle fingers moved aside her long hair and his mouth pressed warmly, hungrily to the slenderness of her neck and the fluttering pulse in her soft throat. She clung to him, her eyes closed, her heart seeming to stop first and then race so wildly that she was left breathless.

He lifted his head at last and gently kissed her closed eyes. “Do you believe I love you and mean to marry you?” he asked softly, and she could only look at him with huge wide eyes and nod her head. “I never met a girl I wanted to marry before,” he confessed with a smile. “It’s a new experience for me.”

Leonora was sober again for a moment, tracing the firm line of his mouth with a fingertip. “Are you sure you - you won’t have second thoughts, Jason?” she asked softly. “You - you have before.”

“Not about this,” he assured her. “I only had them before because I wanted you to come back to me after I’ve thrown you out. This time I’ve had weeks and weeks in that blessed hospital—”

“Attended by pretty nurses,” she interrupted quietly, and he kissed her hard by way of a reprimand.

“Were you jealous?” he demanded softly, and she nodded. “You had no need, my darling. All I could think about was you. I simply couldn’t get you out of my mind.” He kissed her lingeringly on the side of her neck, whispering close to her ear. “You’re in my blood, my little Samaritan, and I just can’t do without you. Besides —” he raised his head and looked down at her again, “all those times I let you see my naked soul, my darling - I
can’t
let you go, you know too much about me.”

“Jason-”

“Ssh!” Jason ordered softly. “All you’re allowed to say is yes!”