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  ‘Tell me,’ he said, without looking at her, ‘are you really going to marry Travis? I mean—is that really what you want, or do I have any chance of dissuading you?’

  ‘You?’ Rhia’s eyes widened as she gazed at him, but still he didn’t look directly at her.

  ‘Yes, me,’ he agreed, lifting a cluster of bubbles on his fingers, and then blowing them lightly back into the bath. ‘Last night—well, last night I was prepared to give you more time. Today I find I can’t.’

  Rhia captured his fingers and carried them to her lips, kissing each one in turn before turning his palm against her cheek. ‘Oh, Jared,’ she breathed, ‘I thought—I thought you wanted to marry Lisa. It—it’s what I’ve heard—ever since I came to Moose Falls—’

  ‘Not from me,’ he interrupted her harshly, ‘never from me!’ and with a groan of impatience, he slipped his hands beneath her arms and lifted her bodily out of the bath, uncaring that her hair was soaking or that he was soon as wet as she was. ‘I love you,’ he said allowing her lissom form to slide down against him, moulding her yielding limbs to his powerful frame. ‘I love you,’ he said again, probing the parted provocation of her lips, and then he covered her mouth with his, and hungrily took his fill from the moist sweetness within.

  ‘You’re wet,’ she breathed, when he allowed her to take a breath, and he shook his head indifferently.

  ‘So what?’ he demanded. ‘I can soon get changed. Just tell me that you want me, as much as I want you.’

  ‘You know I do,’ she whispered adoringly, cupping his face in her hands, standing on tiptoe so that she could touch his mouth with hers. ‘I think I fell in love with you the first time you kissed me. From then on, my relationship with Simon never stood a chance.’

  ‘Excuse me!’

  Maria cleared her throat behind them, and Rhia spun round in alarm, which quickly turned to hot embarrassment when she realised she was naked. ‘Oh!’ she exclaimed, almost inaudibly, pressing her hand to her lips, but Jared merely reached for the towel, and wrapped it lovingly about her.

  ‘Maria’s not the type to be shocked by two people making love to one another,’ he told her huskily. ‘And I think she’s guessed how I feel about you.’

  ‘He’s right,’ agreed Maria dryly. ‘Been like an old bear, he has, ever since he found you were missing. Even Horse got out of patience with him, and they’re the best of friends.’

  ‘Maria’s right,’ murmured Jared softly, securing the towel closely about her, but evidently loath to let go of her. ‘It’s just as well you’re going to marry me, or Maria might—she just might—consider handing in her notice.’

  Rhia’s breath escaped on a little gasp. ‘Did—did I agree to do that?’ she breathed, and for a moment Jared’s eyes darkened.

  ‘Is it in doubt?’ he demanded, his hands stilled for a moment, and Rhia found she couldn’t bear to tease him about something so important to both of them.

  ‘No—no doubt,’ she whispered, tilting her face up to his, and Jared’s hands pulled her to him, uncaring of Maria’s indulgent eye.

  But presently she spoke again, and with reluctance he let Rhia go. ‘I suggest you go and change,’ she declared, indicating his wet clothes. ‘I’ll dry the girl’s hair, and settle her with this hot soup. You can come back when you’ve had some supper.’

  But, in fact, Jared was back much sooner than that, his brown corded outfit replaced by cream suede pants and a cream silk shirt. ‘I’m not hungry,’ he said, seating himself on the side of the bed, to watch Rhia spoon her soup into her mouth. ‘How do you feel now? Are you fully recovered?’

  ‘Hmm, much better,’ Rhia agreed, finishing the soup, and putting the tray aside. Then she reached for his hands. ‘How about you? Are you sure you meant what you said earlier? I mean, in the heat of the moment, the mind can—can play tricks.’

  ‘It’s no trick,’ Jared told her warmly, raising her palms to his lips. ‘There have been times when I’ve wished it were. Particularly when you told me you couldn’t possibly accompany us to Canada.’

  Rhia smiled. ‘I thought you were only thinking of Glyn.’

  ‘I told myself I was, too, but it wasn’t true. I knew if you didn’t come with us, I would have to come back and see you, on some pretext or another. But I thought you and Travis—well, let’s just say I was as jealous as hell.’

  Rhia shook her head. ‘But Lisa—’

  ‘Forget Lisa,’ he advised her roughly. ‘I’m trying to. At least, I’m trying to stop myself from hating her for what she did to you.’

  ‘She was jealous, too, I suppose—’

  ‘Like hell she was.’ Jared nodded. ‘But that didn’t give her the right to—well, she must have been out of her mind!’

  Rhia sighed. ‘She must have known you’d come looking for me.’

  Jared’s jaw hardened. ‘What she knew—or thought she knew—was that I was supposed to have gone to Calgary today.’

  ‘To Calgary?’

  ‘Yes.’ Jared’s nostrils flared. ‘God, when I think what might have happened if Horse hadn’t injured his shoulder!’

  Rhia frowned. ‘Horse?’

  ‘I went to see him, before leaving for Calgary. When I got back to the house, you and Lisa had already left, and as nobody seemed to know where you had gone, I went to see Glyn. That was when I found out about his recovering his sight.’

  Rhia stared at him. ‘You didn’t know?’

  ‘How could I?’

  ‘Oh, but—’ Rhia was caught in a trap of her own making, and was reluctant to go on. ‘I mean—I thought you did.’

  ‘Why did you think that?’ Jared watched her intently. ‘Is that what Lisa told you? Did she pretend I wanted you to leave Moose Falls?’

  ‘Something like that,’ mumbled Rhia unhappily, remembering exactly what Lisa had said, and Jared frowned.

  ‘Come on,’ he said, ‘tell me exactly what she said. Did she imply we had some kind of relationship?’

  Rhia moistened her lips. ‘Didn’t you?’

  ‘No!’ Jared was grim. ‘Believe me, Rhia, no matter what you might think, what Lisa might have said, my relationship with my sister-in-law never progressed beyond—well, beyond that. Beyond a family association. Oh—’ he sighed, ‘I suppose once I was infatuated by her. But that was years ago, just after she married Angus. I was eighteen, and impressionable, and she let me know she wouldn’t be averse to—well, you know what I mean.’

  ‘And—and did you?’

  ‘Would you hate me if I had?’

  ‘Oh, no.’ Rhia’s lips were tremulous. ‘Darling, I don’t care what kind of relationship you and Lisa had in the past. So long as it’s me you want now.’

  Jared’s tongue stroked her palm. ‘Well, I didn’t,’ he said huskily. ‘I had too much respect for Angus to cuckold my own brother. Besides, it was only a passing fancy. It didn’t last. But after Angus was killed I did feel—well, I suppose, a sense of responsibility for her. And it was this Lisa played on.’

  ‘I think she loves you,’ murmured Rhia softly, but Jared shook his head.

  ‘She wanted the ranch for Glyn,’ he said gently. ‘That was all. It was a source of great annoyance to her that I should have inherited Moose Falls. She always thought Angus should. And she knew, so long as I didn’t marry anyone else, Glyn was most likely to get it.’

  ‘But Glyn doesn’t—’

  ‘I know. Glyn doesn’t want the ranch—he never did. He’s like his father, I guess. He wants to leave Canada, get a job in England. That was why he went to London.’

  ‘Poor Lisa!’ Rhia could afford to be generous.

  ‘Poor Lisa be damned,’ he muttered harshly. ‘She could have killed you. And no one might ever have known what happened.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  Jared hesitated. ‘Love, there are predators in those mountains, bears and mountain lions. Do you honestly think your body would have lain there untouched if we hadn’t found you?’

  ‘Oh, Jared!�
� Rhia shivered, and with a sound of impatience Jared bent over her, opening her mouth with his.

  ‘It’s over now,’ he said, his breath warm and intoxicating in her throat. ‘Lisa realises she’s lost. I’ve suggested she takes a prolonged trip away from Moose Falls, and if she hasn’t found someone else to take her on by the time she comes back, I’ll buy her a house in Calgary. That way, she’ll have too many preoccupations to bother us.’

  ‘Jared…’ Rhia slipped her bare arms around his neck. ‘What about—Ben? You—you won’t send him away, will you? I know he annoys you sometimes, but I think he’s always felt—I don’t know—less of a man, somehow. Your grandfather started the process, and—and—’

  ‘—Lisa finished it,’ Jared completed the sentence for her. ‘I know. He told me what she had said. I think the reason he’s been so much worse lately is Lisa. I guess he thought if she ever became mistress here, I’d be forced to throw him out.’

  ‘But you won’t?’ Rhia was anxious.

  ‘He’s my father,’ said Jared gently. ‘No matter what Lisa may have said, I’d never do that.’

  ‘Oh, good.’ Rhia relaxed, and Jared chuckled softly in his throat.

  ‘Hey, you’re making me jealous,’ he murmured. ‘Just because you’re going to have two adoring males around you…’

  Rhia smiled, pulling him down to her. ‘I only need one,’ she breathed. ‘Surely you know that.’

  Jared propped himself on one elbow beside her. ‘Last night I wondered.’ His eyes darkened. ‘I frightened you, didn’t I? I don’t know. I guess I thought you and Travis must have—’ He broke off. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘I wasn’t frightened,’ Rhia protested, her fingers probing the fastening of his shirt, parting the pearl buttons. ‘Jared, I did hear someone last night. It—it was Lisa.’

  Jared stared at her for fully thirty seconds, then he rolled incredulously on to his back. ‘So that was why—’

  ‘Yes.’ Rhia watched him uncertainly. ‘I—I know you thought I was making it up—’

  ‘I didn’t know what to think,’ he muttered, rolling on to his side again, his expression melting her bones. ‘Oh, Rhia, I thought I was going too fast for you. I thought you needed more time to get used to the idea. And when you froze up on me—’

  ‘I wanted you,’ said Rhia huskily. ‘I want you now. Is that awfully forward?’

  ‘Awfully,’ agreed Jared thickly, but his mouth moving over hers showed no disapproval.

  Do you think this bed is big enough for two?’ she whispered, when he released her mouth to probe the warm hollow between her breasts.

  ‘If not, mine is,’ he answered her huskily, and feeling the hard weight of his body crushing hers, Rhia knew there was no more drawing back.

  * * *

  It was early the next morning when she awakened to find Jared’s lips teasing her shoulder. She had fallen asleep after midnight, satiated by Jared’s lovemaking, and content just to curl her body close to his. But now she awakened sleepily to meet his lazy eyes, and shyness brought a wave of colour sweeping up her cheeks.

  ‘Love me?’ he asked, his hand sliding possessively over her thigh, and she gazed at him with adoring eyes.

  ‘You know I do,’ she said, and forgetting her embarrassment, she nestled closer to him. ‘Was—was it all right?’

  ‘Oh, God!’ Jared’s words were choked in the back of his throat, and tender amusement entered his eyes now. ‘Honey, you know how it was.’ He sobered. ‘I’ve never felt like this before.’

  ‘Oh, good.’ Rhia stretched with cat-like grace.

  ‘So—when are you going to marry me?’ Jared demanded, the sinuous curves of her warm body stirring his to irresistible desire. He leant over her, imprisoning her with one hand on either side. ‘I want to make sure you don’t disappear like your sister.’

  Rhia sighed contentedly. ‘I won’t. But that reminds me, I suppose I should write to Daddy and Val. They’re going to be so surprised.’

  Jared grimaced. ‘I could say it’s an ill wind, but I won’t.’

  ‘Hmm.’ Rhia touched his cheek. ‘Just think, if Val hadn’t driven Glyn’s car, if Glyn hadn’t had his accident—’

  ‘—we might never have met,’ Jared agreed. ‘Only I can’t believe that. I’m sure that sooner or later, our paths were bound to have crossed. I’ve been waiting all my life for you.’

  ‘Oh, Jared!’ Rhia’s fingers curled into the hair at his nape, pulling him down to her. ‘I want to believe that, too, because I can’t imagine life now without you!’

  ISBN-13: 9781460347867

  IMPETUOUS MASQUERADE

  © 1982 Anne Mather

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