"Claudia," he breathed, bending towards her, and she was drawn to him as if by a magnet, irresistibly. Their mouths met and she gave a wild moan and closed her eyes, putting her hands up to clasp his head, her fingers meeting in his thick black hair, her body bending, swaying, towards his.
Ellis put both his arms around her and held her tightly, possessively, their mouths merging, their bodies merging. They fell back on to the couch and lay there, entwined, kissing, but it wasn"t enough. Claudia felt her temperature rising. She was burning for him; her hands moved restlessly, touching him, pushing back his collar, opening his shirt and sliding inside to feel the warm flesh hidden there, exploring his body without inhibition because she almost felt she was dreaming this, it wasn"t really happening, it wasn"t her doing these things, it was not real, it was only one of those dreams she had been having night after night for weeks. She was overwhelmed by a sensuality she had never known; she was hot and languid and unable to think about anything but this aching pleasure.
"I love you," she groaned, her face buried in his body, and Ellis suddenly took hold of her arms and pushed her down on to her back.
Startled, she opened her green eyes. He lay beside her, propped on his elbow, gazing down at her flushed, aroused face. She couldn"t meet his stare, her mind filled with images of herself a few moments ago, going crazy in his arms. She had been so sure she was strong enough to keep 174 him at arm"s length, but the minute he touched her she had crumbled like sand, and she was afraid to look at him now, afraid of what she would seer the mockery and satisfaction he must be feeling. He had won. She was his, whenever he wanted to take her, and he knew it.
"Say it again," he whispered, and she closed her eyes again, tightly, to hide the tears threatening to fall, and shook her head. How much more did he want? Hadn"t he humiliated her enough?
"Claudia," he said husk fly his fingers tracing the hot curve of her cheek.
"Darling, look at me..."
He sounded differenttshe was pu~. led, hewildered, afraid to look and yet needing to, so she slowly opened her eyes and he looked deep into them with an expression on his face that made her heart knock wildly against her ribs.
"I"m in love with you," he said, and Claudia thought for a second she had imagined him saying it, because it couldn"t be true, could it?
Ellis Lefevre could not be in love with her. But she kept looking into his grey eyes and wondering how she could ever have thought that they were cold, and Ellis was smiling crookedly at her, pa.s.sion in his face, desire, need, but more than that, a warmth and love she had to believe in, and so Claudia burst into tears.
"Claudia! Whatever is it?" Ellis asked, horrified, and she sobbed aloud.
"I always cry when I"m happy."
He gave a choked crack of laughter, and asked, "What do you do when you"re sad? Laugh?"
"Quite often," she said, tears running down her face, and Ellis leaned down to taste a tear with his tongue 17. ~ tip, sending a shiver of sensuality down her spine and making her shake from head to foot.
He kissed her cheeks, her wet eyelids, her mouth again, and she kissed him back, her tears forgotten, her pa.s.sion rising again. Ellis broke off suddenly, breathing roughly, and held her down, shaking his head, smiling.
"No, we"re going too fast, and I don"t want to make love to you here and now, this isn"t the place."
She was struck dumb, staring back at him, and he laughed abruptly at her expression.
"Yes, I knowmyou thought that that was what I got you up here for?"
"Lured me, you mean!" she accused, and he nodded. "That"s right, I did. It was a well-laid plan, and it worked. I had to get you alone, where we wouldn"t be interrupted and you couldn"t run away. I had to make you see how it really is with us."
"Was Joe in on it? Or did you lie to him, too?" she asked and he looked blank.
"Joe?"
"My agent."
"Oh, him. No, one of our companies is an advertising agency. They own this building, in fact. This floor is usually in use as a studio, "but I"ve commandeered the whole floor for today. The company keep this little flat in case visiting foreign executives need a place in London to stay, or for private entertaining..."
Jealousy caught her on the raw, but she fought to hide it, lifting her brows in a pretence of cynicism. "Oh, yes? And how often have you used it for private entertaining?"
176 "I don"t need to," he said,. his gaze understanding and wry. "Claudia, I have my own flat here, remember?" "Yes," she said, pain eating at her. "That"s where you take your women, usually, of course. How long does it usually last with you? Days Weeks? Months?" She bit down on her lip to stop herself crying again, then burst out, "It won"t work out. You know it wouldn"t last, and I don"t want to get hurt, that isn"t the sort of love-affair I want for myself, Ellis. I"m not the sophisticated type, I can"t just go into an affair and shrug and walk away afterwards, as your other women do. I want a lover who will stay with me."
"Don"t we all?" he said, stroking her hair.
"What do you think I want? Someone who will leave me next week?
Darling, you haven"t listened... I love you."
She was afraid to believe him, even though it made her so happy she
felt she could walk on the ceiling, float like a balloon.
She frowned at nothing, and asked him, "What lies did you tell poorJoe?""Joe?" he asked again, just as blank, and she scolded him."Now who doesn"t listen? My agent--what fairy-stories did you spin for him?"
"I didn"t. The advertising agency got in touch and said they were
interested in hiring you for a TV commercial, told him to send you along this morning for an interview."
She felt her cheeks burning again.
"G.o.d knows what they thought you were up to!"
He grinned shamelessly.
"Oh, I know, too. They thought "
I I I.
"All right, it"s obvious," she crossly told him.
"My reputation will be zero by tomorrow. Everyone will think I"m your latest woman."
"Aren"t you?" he mocked and she bit her lip. "Not yet," she said.
"I.
still have time to get away? "No, you don"t," he a.s.sured her.
"You"re mine now, and for as long as we love each other, and don"t ask me how long that will be, because time is as long as it lasts, you can"t measure it or prophesy when it will end."
He got up suddenly, raking back his black hair, b.u.t.toning his shirt again.
"Now, tidy yourself and do something about your make-up, then we"ll go and have some lunch and talk."
Claudia scrambled up, taken aback by thia sudden change of mood. She wasn"t sure exactly what Ellis was up to, but she found her bag and ran a brush over her hair, renewed her make-up, straightened her clothes.
"We have plans to make," Ellis said, watching her, and she shot him a secret look in her compact mirror, her heart beating faster as she saw~ him. How long had she loved him like this? She was only just admitting it, but when had it begun? From the first instant she saw him?
"What plans?" she asked casually, smoothing glossy lipstick on to her mouth.
"For the future," he said, unlocking the door and standing back to let her walk past.
"Ours." He drew her hand through his arm in a possessive gesture, and Claudia was too happy to ask any more questions. She was moving in a dream and she didn"t want to wake up.
Ellis had a car parked at the back of the building; a streamlined, sleek blue spor~s car into which she slid with a little sigh of pleasure in the cool, eggsh.e.l.l-blue leather upholstery, deep and luxurious. Ellis started the ignition, there was an immediate surge of power, and they moved away.
Claudia watched his long, slim hands on the wheel, her throat beating with an excited pulse as she remembered how those hands had felt when they touched her. He was very close to her, in the interior of the car, his shoulder brushing hers, his thigh inches away from her own, and her whole body vibrated with awareness of him.
It didn"t even occur to her to ask him where they were going, and when he slowed down and began to back into a parking place she looked out of the win doff abstractedly. It was only then that she realised where they were, and her eyes opened wide. "Are we eating here?"
"Why not? The che pounds is good." He slid her a wicked look, grinning.
"I can specially recommend the cold cuc.u.mber soup."
She laughed.
"I"m sorry, but you deserved that? " You"re a violent woman," he said with apparent satisfaction, then he got out of the car and so did Claudia.
"But have you booked? They may not have a table free," she said, as they walked towards the restaurant.
"I booked," he said, opening the door only to find his way barred by Annette and Pierre in his white chef"s hat. Ellis repeated with a smile, "I have a booking, for a table for two "i"m sorry, but there has been some mistake--we are already fully booked," Annette said with icy hostility.
Pierre didn"t say anything but he loomed behind her in a threatening manner, his arms folded, ready to repel Ellis if he tried to force an entry.
Realising that neither of them had noticed her yet, Claudia moved up behind Ellis"s shoulder, and saw her sister"s jaw drop.
"Claudia?"
Annette gasped.
Pierre took off his white hat and fanned himself with it, making Gallic noises of fury and reproach.
"Can we come in?" Claudia asked Annette, who was looking from her to
Ellis in wild surmise.
"What"s going on?" Annette wanted to know first, not moving out of the way.
"We want to eat lunch," Ellis answered for Claudia, his mouth crooked with amus.e.m.e.nt.
Annette ignored him.
"Why are you with him?" she asked her sister.
"I.
thought you hated the sight of him. " "You know what they say," Ellis drawled.
"Hate and love are two sides of the same coin."Annette"s eyes rounded and her mouth opened in a gasp."Claudia?" she asked, staring at her sister fixedly."Are you. ~ .? You aren"t, are you?""Aren"t what?" Claudia said, very pink and not able to meet Annette"s eyes.
"Do we have to have this conversation on the doorstep? Can"t we come in?" Ellis asked, taking a step forward, and Annette fell back, letting them into the restaurant.
"If anyone is interested," said Pierre with awful dignity, putting his white hat back on his head," " I am going back to my kitchen. " With that he stalked away, but n.o.body watched him go, because his wife only had eyes for her sister, and Claudia was laughing shyly, pulling a face because she didn"t know what to say to Annette.
There were a few other customers sprinkled around the tables, all of them staring too, and Claudia was very aware of that audience. She muttered to Annette, "Look, we"ll talk later, OK?"
"But are you and he...?" Annette whispered with single-minded insistence, and Claudia sighed and at last gave a nod.
"I suppose so~ Ellis put an arm around her waist, drew her close, gave Annette a mocking little smile.
"I"m going to take your sister away to Switzerland," he said firmly.
"Now--which is our table?"
"In that corner, for two," Annette said absently, then repeated, "Switzerland? You"re going to Switzerland?"
"Take me to Switzerland?" Claudia thought aloud, looking at him sharply.
"Was that what you meant by having to make plans About our future?"
"Shall we sit down and have lunch before we discuss all that?" Ellis suggested, steering her towards the table in the corner, past a couple so interested in their conversation that the woman had a forkful of spaghetti in one hand and her mouth open ready to receive it, without the food ever arriving, while she stared at them. Ellis paused to smile down at her coldly.
"I should eat your lunch before it gets cold," he said. "You can always catch the next show."
The woman went red, her hand wavered and dropped her spaghetti, which spilled into her lap. She gave a Shriek of horror.