Savage Awakening Page 19

  ‘Dammit!’ Matt shook his head. ‘I wonder why the hell not. He was supposed to give you the note, not tell you what was in it.’

  Fliss straightened her spine. ‘Perhaps you didn’t leave a note,’ she said quietly. ‘Perhaps you only thought you did. After all, you did leave rather unexpectedly, didn’t you?’ She paused, and then continued doggedly, ‘I expect Diane was pleased to see you.’ She swallowed. ‘How is she?’

  ‘Do you care?’ Matt’s expression had changed now, and, stepping over her gardening gloves and trowel, he came purposefully towards her. ‘And I did leave a note.’ His jaw compressed. ‘What the hell is going on, Fliss? Are you glad to see me or not?’

  Fliss backed up a little. ‘I—well, how am I supposed to answer that?’

  Matt scowled. ‘It’s not rocket science, Fliss. After the way you reacted the last time we were together, I think I have the right to ask the question.’

  Fliss swallowed. ‘Are you staying?’ she asked tightly, and his scowl deepened.

  ‘What kind of question is that?’

  ‘Like you said, it’s not rocket science,’ she countered tartly. ‘There’s a rumour going round that you might be selling the house.’

  ‘That’s rubbish!’

  Fliss’s heart lifted a little. ‘It’s not true?’

  ‘Of course it’s not true.’

  ‘But—Diane doesn’t want to live in Mallon’s End. You said so yourself.’

  Matt stepped a little nearer, his breath a delightful coolness against her forehead. ‘And that’s where the rumour came from? The fact that Diane doesn’t want to live in the country?’ He put out a hand and touched her hot cheek. ‘Are you sure you didn’t start this particular rumour yourself?’

  ‘No.’ She was indignant, scrubbing her hand over the spot where his fingers had touched as if to erase it. Nor was she prepared to tell him it might have been her father. ‘Does it matter who started it?’

  ‘Not so long as you know it’s not true,’ he essayed drily. He looked down at her from beneath lowered lids. ‘You know, I’ve tried to play this scene in my mind a dozen times on my way here, but it never turned out like this.’

  Fliss backed up again. ‘I’m sorry.’ She licked her dry lips. ‘But you went away without telling anyone what you were doing. In a village like this, people are always going to talk.’

  Matt considered. ‘And you didn’t think about squashing the rumours?’ he asked softly. ‘You could have done.’ He allowed his fingers to stroke a sensuous path from the frayed sleeve of her T-shirt to her wrist. ‘You knew I’d be coming back.’

  ‘Did I?’ Fliss wondered if he realised how unlikely that sounded to her. ‘You didn’t confide in me either.’

  ‘I wanted to.’

  ‘Right.’ She crossed her arms in an attempt at self-protection. ‘So what stopped you?’

  Matt sighed. ‘Can we go inside? I’d prefer not to broadcast my private affairs to all and sundry.’

  Fliss glanced about her. ‘I don’t see anyone, do you?’

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Matt looked towards the cottage. ‘Is your father at home? Has he warned you not to have anything more to do with me?’

  ‘I’m not a child, Matt.’

  ‘No, but I don’t understand why you’re so hostile. For pity’s sake, it was an emergency, right? My mother was taken ill in the night. I didn’t have a lot of time to do anything except write a couple of notes.’

  Fliss stared at him, absorbing what he’d said with a wary reluctance. ‘You—could have phoned,’ she said at last, and he swore.

  ‘I did phone,’ he said harshly. ‘Twice. Didn’t your father tell you?’

  ‘No. I—no.’ Fliss stared up at him with troubled eyes. ‘Are you sure? You actually spoke to Dad?’

  ‘Gruff, clipped voice—one might also say hostile in his case, too? Yeah, that sounds like George Taylor to me.’

  Fliss gasped. ‘He never said a word.’

  Matt nodded, gesturing towards the cottage again. ‘All the more reason for me to speak to him now.’

  ‘No—I—he’s not here,’ murmured Fliss unhappily, lifting her hands palms out in defence. ‘He’s taken Amy to the cineplex in Westerbury. There was a Disney film she wanted to see and he offered to take her.’

  Matt’s eyes darkened. ‘Couldn’t be better. We’ll have plenty of time to talk.’

  ‘Matt—’

  ‘What?’ His eyes dropped sensually to her mouth. ‘We have to talk. You know that. After the way you brushed me off, I’ve gone through hell these past few days. Surely you’re not going to deny me a few minutes of your time.’

  Fliss moved her head from side to side. ‘This—isn’t a good time. I’m hot. I need a shower—’

  ‘I’d say it was the perfect time,’ he contradicted her huskily. ‘Come on, Fliss, put me out of my misery. Tell me you’re glad to see me.’

  Fliss swallowed. ‘I—whether I’m glad to see you or not isn’t in question.’

  ‘I’d say it was the only question,’ he contradicted her swiftly. ‘Well, are you? Would it please you to know that no woman has ever hurt me as much as you did?’

  Fliss’s jaw dropped. ‘You don’t mean that,’ she protested, backing up the cottage steps behind her. ‘Please, Matt, find someone else to make a fool of.’

  Matt swore then, following her up the cottage steps. ‘If anyone’s the fool here, it’s me,’ he snapped, but, although his words were harsh, his eyes were dark with emotion. ‘For God’s sake, Fliss, I told you I loved you. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?’

  Fliss could hardly breathe. ‘You—love—me?’

  ‘That’s what I said.’ He glanced behind him and then stepped through the cottage door, swinging her round so that her back was to the wall behind her. ‘You’d better believe it,’ he added grimly and covered her mouth with his.

  The unreality of what was happening gave way to a liquid hunger. His mouth was so intent, so insistent, a subtle exploration that reduced her limbs to water. She knew she must be making it easy for him, letting him see how utterly she succumbed to his demands. But right then, she didn’t care. She’d missed him so much and she couldn’t hide the way she felt.

  ‘God, Fliss,’ he muttered at last, resting his forehead against hers, ‘you have no idea how you make me feel.’

  Fliss drew a shivery breath. ‘I think I do,’ she whispered, lifting her hand and cupping his cheek. He hadn’t shaved since that morning and already his dark stubble was rough against her fingers. ‘But can we close the door before someone does come along?’

  ‘Suits me,’ said Matt unevenly, feeling behind him and pushing the door into its slot. Then, he put a hand at either side of her head and lowered himself against her. ‘Now tell me why you didn’t believe me when I said I loved you before.’

  Fliss quivered. His lean body was hard against hers and she could feel his erection, hot and unmistakable, against her hip. ‘Wh-what would you have thought?’ she stammered, fighting the seductive pull of his mouth against her cheek. ‘You—you’d just had sex—’

  ‘Made love.’

  ‘—for the first time in—in—’

  ‘Almost two years,’ he supplied helpfully, and she gave a convulsive sob.

  ‘All right. In almost two years,’ she agreed unsteadily. ‘People say things in—in the throes of—of—’

  ‘Passion?’

  ‘All right. In the throes of passion,’ she murmured, her face burning. ‘They don’t always mean them in the cold light of day.’

  Matt’s sigh was tangible against her earlobe. ‘Fliss! Sweet, sweet Fliss! When I said I loved you I’d already recovered from any relief I’d experienced. I’d had a shower—a cold shower, as it happens. Coming downstairs and finding you waiting for me was—well, it was what I’d wanted all my life.’

  ‘Matt—’

  ‘No, I mean it.’

  ‘But—well, it could have been Diane.’

  For once he didn’t react v
iolently to her suggestion. ‘No, it couldn’t,’ he said firmly. He drew back to look at her. ‘Listen to me, sweetheart. To put it crudely, Diane tried to do what you did without any result. Any result whatsoever.’

  ‘You mean—’

  ‘She wanted us to have sex,’ he said flatly. ‘When I got back, naturally she expected us to carry on where we’d left off, but it wouldn’t work. Whatever I’d felt for Diane before I went away was gone, vanished. I felt nothing when she touched me. Just a faint revulsion that I assumed was the way things were going to be from then on.’

  ‘Then how—?’

  Matt brushed her lips with his. ‘Don’t ask me how. I don’t know. I just know that from the moment I met you, I started to come alive again. Not all at once, you understand, but slowly and surely. God, I couldn’t believe how good I felt when you were around. I suppose that was when I started wanting you. Only I didn’t believe that was going to happen either.’

  ‘But it did,’ she said, a dawning belief in what he was saying bringing a tender light to her eyes. ‘Oh, Matt, are you really sure about this? We—we hardly know one another.’

  ‘I know enough,’ said Matt at once. ‘I love you and I want to be with you. But if you need more time…’

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ she said huskily. ‘These past few days have been long enough for me, too.’

  He kissed her again then, pinning her against the wall with his body, his hands moving possessively to cup her bottom and bring her more fully against him. The need to be with him was all-consuming, but Fliss pressed him back when he tried to unfasten her shorts.

  ‘I—I do need a shower,’ she protested, smiling at his wounded expression. ‘Come upstairs with me. You can wait in my bedroom, if you like.’

  ‘And what if your father comes back?’ he asked, following her up the stairs, but she only dimpled.

  ‘He won’t,’ she said certainly. ‘They’ll be gone for ages yet.’

  She was rinsing the soap from her body when the shower door opened and Matt stepped in beside her. He was naked and her jaw dropped in astonishment when he bestowed a hot, wet kiss on her open mouth. ‘Let me,’ he said, taking the bar of soap from the dish beside her, and, although she was almost finished, Fliss experienced the sensual delight of Matt’s hands exploring every inch of her heated flesh.

  He was heavily aroused and his erection kept bumping against her bottom. She longed to turn towards him, but once again he seduced her with his hands before satisfying her other needs. Then, encouraging her to wrap her legs about his waist, he lifted her onto him, and she felt again the satisfying thickness of him deep inside her.

  ‘Now do you believe me?’ he asked her hours later, when they were lying relaxed and replete on her bed. They’d made love again since that passionate interlude in the shower and Fliss buried her face in his shoulder, her lips moving against his warm flesh.

  ‘I believe you,’ she whispered huskily. ‘I love you, too. So much. It frightens me.’

  ‘What frightens you?’ he asked, propping himself up on one elbow and looking down at her. ‘You know I love you. I want to marry you, too, but I guess you need a little more time to come to terms with that.’

  ‘Why?’ She was curious.

  ‘Well, you have Amy to think of,’ he said gently. ‘I wouldn’t want her to think that I’m taking her mother away.’

  ‘She wouldn’t think that,’ said Fliss surely. ‘She thinks you’re cool, you know that. My father, however, is another matter.’

  ‘You think he won’t approve?’

  ‘He might be a little jealous,’ she admitted ruefully. ‘He used to be jealous of Amy’s friendship with old Colonel Phillips, believe it or not. And he knows Amy likes you. She’s never made any secret of the fact.’

  Matt bent to caress one burgeoning nipple. ‘Does this mean you will marry me, then?’

  ‘Are you asking?’

  ‘I’m asking.’

  ‘Then I’ll marry you.’ She paused. ‘Except—’

  ‘Except what?’ Matt stared at her.

  ‘Why did you go to see Diane when you were in London?’ she asked unwillingly. ‘You never said.’

  ‘Ah…’ Matt gave her a wry smile. ‘Well, I didn’t go to see Diane. She came to see me. Well, ostensibly she came to see my mother, but that was just an excuse.’

  ‘Oh, gosh, yes, your mother!’ Fliss was horrified. ‘I forgot to ask how she was.’

  ‘Oh, she’s improving,’ said Matt easily. ‘She had a slight stroke—’

  ‘A stroke! So that was why—’

  ‘I went dashing off to London in the middle of the night. Yeah.’

  ‘And you told my father that?’ Fliss was dismayed.

  ‘No. I just told him to tell you I’d see you when I got back.’ He grimaced. ‘He didn’t exactly encourage any further confidences, and I preferred not to discuss my mother’s health with anyone else.’

  ‘Particularly a newspaper reporter,’ murmured Fliss drily, and he pulled a face.

  ‘Am I that transparent?’

  ‘Only to me,’ she assured him softly. ‘Oh, Matt, I do love you.’ She paused. ‘But is your mother all right? She’s not going to be very happy when she finds out about us.’

  ‘She already knows,’ said Matt, surprising her. ‘I told her how I felt about you. I took a chance that you felt the same.’

  ‘Some chance,’ said Fliss drily, and then heard the sound of a car pulling into the drive. ‘Oh, lord, Dad and Amy are back. Are you ready?’

  ‘As I’ll ever be,’ said Matt, bestowing one last, lingering kiss on her lips. ‘Well, let’s meet the in-laws, hmm?’

  By the time Fliss had got her clothes on, the doctor was back behind his desk, and she emerged from the cubicle feeling rather flushed.

  ‘Well, Fliss,’ he said, as he’d said nearly eleven years before, ‘my answer’s positive. You are pregnant.’

  Fliss caught her breath. ‘I am?’

  ‘I think you knew that,’ said Dr Wheeler drily. He went to the door into the waiting room and opened it. ‘You can come in now, Mr Quinn. Your wife’s almost ready.’

  Matt came into the room slowly with Amy dodging impatiently about behind him. His eyes went straight to Fliss’s hot face. ‘Hi,’ he said. ‘Are you—I mean—is everything OK?’

  ‘As OK as it can be in her condition,’ the doctor answered for her. He glanced at Amy. ‘Does this young lady know about this?’

  ‘Of course.’ Matt spoke almost absently, his eyes still on his wife’s face, and Fliss could tell that he badly wanted her reassurance.

  ‘I’m three months pregnant,’ she said, looking from him to Amy and back again. Then, turning to her daughter, ‘You’re going to have a baby brother or a baby sister.’

  ‘Wow!’ Amy was impressed. She had grown up a lot in the past year and having a father of her own had made all the difference to her. ‘Kelly Mason is going to be so jealous!’

  ‘Yes, well, we won’t be telling anyone else for the time being,’ said Fliss, linking her fingers with Matt’s. She grimaced. ‘At least until we tell your grandfather, anyway.’

  George Taylor had begrudgingly offered them his blessing at last, and he had been somewhat mollified by the fact that his daughter was to be the mistress of the big house. Just across the churchyard, too, if he needed her.

  ‘And your grandmother,’ agreed Matt, nodding at his stepdaughter. ‘You can tell her, if you like.’

  ‘Coward,’ said Fliss in an undertone, nudging his ribs, but she didn’t really mean it. In the three months since she and Matt had got married, Mrs Quinn had become a frequent visitor to the Old Coaching House. It was as if all she’d wanted was that her son should be happy, and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was. Plus, she and Amy had taken to one another from the start. The little girl had never known what it was like to have a grandmother. She’d been too young when Fliss’s own mother had died.

  Now the three of them left the doctor’s surgery
in Westerbury, and climbed into the Land Cruiser that was waiting outside. It was autumn, and the leaves on the trees were already turning to red and gold.

  But the spring would be here soon enough, thought Fliss, resting her head on Matt’s shoulder for a moment before he started the car. And with the spring would come new life, not just for the trees, but for her and Matt, too. And for Amy. She smiled up at her husband, thinking what a difference a year could make.

  ‘Love you,’ she said softly, and he squeezed her thigh.

  ‘Love you, too,’ he answered, and Amy poked her head between them.

  ‘And I love you two as well,’ she declared, and Fliss and Matt shared a smile of complete understanding as he reached to start the car.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-4577-2

  SAVAGE AWAKENING

  First North American Publication 2005.

  Copyright © 2005 by Anne Mather.

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