Part 7 (1/2)

Now she pushed open the balcony doors and stood for a few minutes looking down on to the patio. Only the lights remained to be extinguished, and even as she watched the area was plunged into darkness. Now the servants could go to bed and the house could settle down for the night. She sighed, leaning her bare arms upon the balcony rail. It was so warm, and faintly on the breeze she could hear the murmur of the ocean. If only it was nearer she could have gone swimming. The only other occasion she had ever swum at night had been at a barbecue in Italy, and then there had been dozens of other people around, not the silent isolation she was presently seeking. But in any case, it was a useless longing. The beach was miles away. Even so.. .

Suddenly, in the darkness below her, the glow of a cigar burned brightly for a moment, and she realised that Jared was down there. She frowned, trying to distinguish his whereabouts, and felt a sense of shock when she discovered he was staring up towards her balcony. She drew back hastily into the shadows, but his voice came softly on the night air.

'It's too late. I know you're there.'

Catherine hesitated a moment and then stepped back to the rail.

'What are you doing?'

As her eyes accustomed themselves to the darkness she saw him shrug his shoulders. 'Just taking a stroll before-' He broke off, lifting his head, the planes of his face shadowed and enigmatic.

'Can't you sleep?'

She couldn't tell whether he really cared or otherwise, but she shook her head. 'No.'

'I don't suppose you're worrying about what Liz said to you, are you?'

Catherine scuffed her bare toes. 'Not a lot.'

'I thought not.' His tone was dry. 'Nevertheless, be a.s.sured, it won't happen again.'

'Won't it?' Catherine's voice was almost inaudible, but his retort was not: 'No!'

Catherine's palm caressed the stone bal.u.s.trade. 'Do you know what I was just thinking?' He made no reply and she went on softly: 'I was thinking how lovely it must be to go swimming at night.'

There was silence for so long that if she had not been able to see the shadowy figure there below her she might have thought he had gone indoors. But at last he said in a harsh voice: 'Have you any idea of the scandal there would be if we were discovered doing such a thing?'

Catherine's breath caught in her throat. 'Is that an invitation, Jared?'

He swore softly. 'No, d.a.m.n you, it's not'.'

'But if-if I asked you...'

His booted toe ground over the stub of his cheroot. 'No.

Catherine.'

It was the first time she had heard him use her name, and she liked it on his lips. She would like to hear him say it when he was making love to her. ..

'Jared?'

'You're crazy, do you know that?'

'Shall I get dressed?'

'Don't you mean undressed?' He s.h.i.+fted impatiently, rubbing the back of his neck with one ungentle hand. 'G.o.d, Catherine, I have work to do tomorrow! Do you have any idea what time it is?'

'Hmm-mmm. It's about three o'clock.'

'Three-twelve, to be precise,' he muttered, consulting the plain gold watch on his wrist.

'So?'

'Oh, come down,' he said savagely. 'I'l get the bike. I've no intention of getting the car out again tonight. Can you-I mean-will you be able to ride the bike?'

'Of course.' She smiled, excitement bubbling inside her. 'I won't be five minutes.'

He didn't answer, striding into the house and disappearing from her view.

Her fingers fumbled over the strap of her white bikini, but at last it was secured and she pulled on blue jeans and a soft blue wool sweater. She confined her hair with an elastic band, and carrying her sandals left the room.

The house was in darkness, but as she hesitated in the hall, Jared came through one of the arched ways. His expression was hidden in shadow, but he beckoned for her to follow him, and they went back the way he had come, and out through a side door Catherine had never used before.

Outside, they walked round to the front of the building and she saw the gleam of metal indicating that Jared had left the motor-cycle on the drive. They walked halfway to the gates before Jared swung his leg across the bike and gestured that she should join him. Holding on to his shoulders, she did so, and when she was comfortably settled he started the engine.

The night air was cool, but not cold, and Catherine slid her arms round his middle, resting her cheek against his back. He had put on his dinner jacket again, and she wondered what could be more incongruous than anyone riding a motorbike in evening dress.

They turned south on the coast road, instead of north towards Flintlock, but Catherine didn't risk shouting her obvious question. Jared knew where he was going, and quite honestly, she would have been content to ride with him all night.

He eventually stopped beside a gra.s.sy slope leading down to sand-dunes where the roar of the ocean was a much gentler sound than at Flintlock. He switched off the ignition, and Catherine climbed rather stiffly off her seat.

'Are you all right?' he asked, still astride the bike, and she nodded, smiling.

'Just stiff. It's years since I rode a motor-bike.'

Jared regarded her intently for several seconds, and then with a faint shrug, he dismounted, supporting the bike on its metal stand. He removed his jacket and laid it over the handlebars, and then indicated the dunes. 'Go ahead.'

A pale moon illuminated the beach, wild and lonely, and to Catherine, incredibly beautiful. Clumps of palms sc.r.a.ped a living amongst the dunes, and long-stemmed gra.s.ses were dark against the sand. She left her sandals beside the bike, loving the feeling of the tiny coral grains between her toes. Several yards away, the sea creamed in a white line along the sh.o.r.e, and she longed to feel its soft caress over her heated limbs.

She turned back and found Jared behind her, dark and thoughtful in the pale light. He was still fully dressed, and she plucked doubtfully at the wool of her sweater.

'Are you-coming in?' she asked.

Jared looked down at her. 'After you,' he said evenly.

' After me?'

'The last time I brought you to the beach, your bathing suit never got wet,' he reminded her.

Catherine sighed. 'That was-different.'

'How different?'

'You didn't want to bring me then,' she told him softly.

'And this time I did?'