Torn Asunder Page 15

  Dev didn't listen. His total absorption in removing all her clothes with loving caresses and punctuated by long hypnotic kisses soon infected her. "Just think< love, we are going to have a lifetime to do this." He scooped her up into his arms, his eyes a lazy heat on her. "I've been thinking about doing this all day." He strode into their room and set her on the bed, then sank down beside her, his hands stroking down her body as he removed the last of her clothes. He leaned back to look at her body as he often did, his hands making circles on her abdomen. "Do you suppose you're pregnant? I've checked your calendar. Your period is overdue."

  It always flabbergasted Cle how interested Dev was in her personally, how he had always been very caring if she had a rough menstrual period. "I'm always erratic." She shrugged, feeling odd. "Would you mind if I was?" She had a moment's indecision. Had she skipped some of her pills? Lord, yes! What if she was pregnant? A

  rash of happy feeling coursed through her body. Dev's baby! She would have something of Dev.

  "Mind?" He kissed her navel. "I'd love it! A little girl just like you with Yankee courage and sapphire eyes." Dev's words slurred as he moved his mouth over her body, his hands urgent but gentle on her form. "Kiss me, Cle. I need you so. I want you so... and that's what I wanted to tell you. I need every pore of you, every fiber." Dev groaned.

  Crying, not able to stem the flood, Cle kissed him.

  The quiet explosion of their love deepened the aura around them, separating them from all others, lifting them away and beyond to their own plane, answering an elemental need that burned away anyone else, and other thought. For one fleeting moment, Cle was sure that she saw a sturdy little boy with Dev's eyes smiling at her and her glow intensified.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Devs sisters were dynamos, Cle thought after the second day of being whirled by them through Sydney. When she appealed to Dev, he just told her that was one of the disadvantages of being married to him, but she would learn to cope. Roddy was a slighter edition of Dev with chestnut hair. He was enthralled by the bare breasted women who inhabited Sydney's beaches.

  One day when the sisters had gone to explore Argyle Arts Center, Dev suggested to Roddy that they surf at the beach where he had taken Cle.

  "I would rather go to Bondi Beach and look at all the beautiful Australian breasts," Roddy answered, grinning

  at Cle. "Do you go topless, sister-in-law to be?" Roddy's question was asked of Cle, but he threw quick glances at his brother as well.

  "No, she doesn't," Dev answered for her, the look he gave Roddy holding hard amusement.

  "You were always possessive, big brother." Roddy didn't look one bit abashed.

  "I'm worse now." Dev had held Cle close to him, the smile he gave her intimate, telling her he recalled every intimate moment they had ever shared. "Would you like to go to Bondi Beach, love? After all, these are your days off. You should have some say in what we do."

  "Bondi is fine," Cle answered. Anything is fine as. long as you hold me, she thought, her own hand gripping his waist.

  Bondi Beach was crowded even though it was a week day. Cle assumed that many people took their vacations at this time of year. It was so beautiful. The sky was vivid blue, the sands hot white, the water, blue to azure to turquoise to green. The sun was an amiable ball of fire overseeing all.

  Cle was openmouthed at the bare breasts. Dev and Roddy were appreciative.

  One curvy young lady was stepping backward her head in the air watching a beach ball come down toward her. Roddy didn't bother to dodge her. "Ooops! Pardon me." She grinned toothily.

  Roddy's face was wreathed in smiles. "Will you marry me?"

  "Oh, you English!" The girl giggled, grabbing the beach ball and running back down the beach.

  "I'm emigrating," Roddy announced, looking at Dev and rolling his eyes.

  Dev laughed, inclining his head and smiling when a lovely young thing spoke to him. When he bent down to spread the blanket, Cle pushed him hard enough to

  tumble him face down in the sand.

  Stripping off her jeans, she streaked for the water, her desire to drown the blonde who had spoken to Dev prickling her mind. For two cents I'd take my own top off, she thought surface diving into a roller and doing a strong crawl through the roar of the surf. In her peripheral vision she saw a dark head next to her. Roddy. She exhaled a relieved breath and smiled at him.

  "Don't get too comfortable," Roddy shouted to her and gestured with his head over his shoulder.

  Cle knew what that meant. She stroked harder. Something grabbed her calf and she knew she was caught.

  Dev came up underneath her, his face shiny wet under hers. "Pushing me into the sand, huh, lady? Before I get even as you Yankees say, tell me why."

  "You know why!" Cle tried darting to one side, but he was there. Staring at that girl's breasts," she sputtered, a wave splashing into her mouth.

  "Darling, I'm an art lover." Dev laughed.

  "Ohhhh." Cle put both hands on his head and pushed with all her might. Down went Dev, but she could feel his hands on her waist, taking her with him. They wrestled underwater until he finally pulled her close, his mouth fastening to hers. They surfaced just that way.

  "Could you clean it up, please." Roddy was beside them looking at them in a disgusted way. "Have you no control?"

  Cle tried to pull free of Dev but he wouldn't release her.

  "Wait until it happens to you, brother. Then you'll understand." Dev grinned, his eyes full of that lazy heat that made her feel as though she were running a fever. He held her in the water with a minimum of effort.

  When the three of them returned to the beach, Roddy and Dev began throwing a ball. Cle felt too restless to sunbathe so she began ambling along the shore, grinning

  to herself as she realized that she was in a very small minority wearing a bikini top. Somehow it seemed natural to watch the other women topless but she didn't feel that she would try it. Her hand went to the knot at her neck, tightening it. If the tie didn't stop loosening, she realized she might be topless, too. She had picked up a few pieces of dried wood when she stopped to watch a young blond giant sail surfing. He came right into shore in front of her, grinning at her. "Would you like to try?"

  Cle had every intention of saying no, but all at once she found herself out on the board, flying it seemed to her. She screamed at first when it looked as though they would turn over, but then the man named Torin righted them and they veered at a right angle to the beach, went down a ways then returned to the beach at a forty five degree angle all the way. Cle could hear her own shrieks of laughter as they cannoned toward the beach.

  Her laughter died in her throat as she saw Dev there, arms akimbo, his facial muscles working hard.

  He waded out and lifted her from the surfer. Holding her in his arms, he looked at Torin, then swung away.

  "You might have given me a chance to thank him." Cle pushed away as Dev set her on her feet. The slippery tie released and Cle's bra top fell at her feet.

  "Cle," Dev roared, diving for the top. "Cover yourself." He grated this as he pushed the thin top at her, then turned her around to tie it himself.

  "Will you quiet down," Cle hissed at him. "People are looking. No one would have even noticed that my top had fallen if you hadn't roared like Leo the Lion."

  "Damn you, Cle, that panting Viking you were sailing with couldn't take his eyes off you. Do you think I'd stand here and let him ogle your breasts?" Dev's teeth snapped together on the words.

  Cle wanted to laugh at his glowering face, but she smothered it, realizing Dev was not in a funning mood.

  When Roddy urged Dev to play ball again, he said that he wanted to sunbathe with Cle for a while. Roddy shrugged and ambled away. In minutes he was playing a version of volleyball with some topless girls down the beach.

  Dev lay on his stomach next to Cle. "Open your eyes, love, I know you're not sleeping."

  "You'll bark at me." Cle could feel the giggle deep inside herself. She was going
to milk every minute she had with him, enjoy his every breath, every word.

  "You look sexy enough with your top on," Dev muttered, his mouth at her throat. "I saw the way he looked at you. I wanted to tear his head off!"

  The rest of the day, she "was never more than inches apart from Dev.

  On the ride home Roddy said that he had never had such a great day. His brother laughed. Cle pinched Dev.

  That evening, Cubby and Lucille Willson came to dinner along with Max and the Nivenses. Cle had prepared truite en colere with the help of the caterers. When Dev winked at her during dinner Cle heaved a sigh of relief. The dinner was going well. They had opened up the dining room table, adding all its leaves and the ten people were seated comfortably.

  "Dev is telling you that the food is good," Cubby leaned over and whispered to her. "You can tell that by the frown on Sybil's face. She is fully convinced that no one can cook except the chefs at Larren and her own home. It upsets her when she has a good meal any place else."

  Cle laughed, then coughed to cover it up when both Dev's sisters looked at her, brows raised.

  "We went to the museum today after the Argyll Arts Center," said Sybil. "I saw a diverting display of aborigine art. I was able to get in touch with someone who owned some. I intend to buy a piece."

  "You want to buy one?" Diana Nivens asked, her voice faint. "It will cost the earth."

  "Yes. Forty thousand pounds." Sybil smiled round the table. Cle choked. Max and Alistair gasped.

  Roddy and Dev looked at one another in irritation.

  "Sister never buys shoddy, you know." Tessa picked daintily at her trout.

  "If her taste were as good as her pocket book is big, her home wouldn't look like a flea market," Cubby muttered from the side of his mouth. "Both his sisters are crackers."

  When Cle tried to smother her laughter behind her napkin, Lucille glared at her husband.

  Sybil looked down the table at Cle, a tiny frown on her forehead. "I suppose this isn't the time to mention it, but I feel I must. Duty to the name, you understand."

  "Oh, we understand." Cubby and Roddy chorused, getting a big grin from Dev and a glare from Lucille.

  Sybil cleared her throat. "All children must be born at Larren." She exhaled and took a miniscule sip of Chablis, then nodded at her sister who nodded in return.

  "I didn't know you were pregnanat, Cle. Nice work." Roddy beamed at a startled Cle, watching her eyes round and her cheeks redden.

  "Children are nice." Cubby smiled at Cle.

  "I meant, of course, after the marriage," Sybil said, her tones frosty. "We Carstairs do not recognize ah ... er... the wrong side of the blanket." She inclined her head at Cle who nodded back then took a gulp of wine.

  "What's the wrong side of the blanket, Cubby?" Roddy asked.

  "Rough side." Cubby looked wise.

  "What if your blanket is smooth on both sides?" Roddy asked, ignoring Cle's helpless glare. When she looked at Dev, he gave her a blank stare.

  "Throw it away, same as you do the baby born on the wrong side..."

  "Let's have coffee in the lounge." Cle surged to her feet.

  For the rest of the evening, Cubby behaved. Lucille stayed within pinching distance to see that he did. She had no compunction in doing the same to Roddy when it looked as though he might get out of hand as well.

  Dev persuaded Cle to play the piano for them, but when he saw her nervousness in front of his sisters, he convinced Cubby that it would be a good idea for them to sing along with her. She played all the songs that she remembered from her college days, then Roddy pushed her over on the stool and began to play the school songs that had been popular in Britain.

  Dev winked at her when she looked at him, mouth agape, as he sang the bawdy songs.

  As soon as Sybil and Tessa stood at the piano the songs changed and Roddy grimaced at singing "Drink To Me Only."

  They sang for a long time and while Cle and Diana made coffee Lucille refereed the singing so that Dev's sisters wouldn't be too put out by Cubby's and Roddy's choices.

  The next day she and Dev went to the airport to meet his aunt and uncle. Cle could see the resemblance between Roddy and Aunt Margaret. She was immediately drawn to the "crusty curmudgeon" who enveloped her in a bear hug and told her that she was probably too good for his nephew.

  During the ride to the hotel, Aunt Margaret sniffed into her hankie and told Cle innumerable stories about her Dev vie when he was a boy.

  "He was a devil in many ways," the admiral said, sitting next to Dev in the car. "But I'm glad he won't be lonely any more. Beautiful city, what Mag?" Sir Reginald asked looking around him at Sydney bathed in glorious sunlight.

  "Oh, yes, quite beautiful," Aunt Margaret said tearfully, reaching forward to touch the nape of Dev's neck. "Without my mother Dev's life would have been so lonely," she mused turning her regal head to smile at Cle seemingly unaware of the red stain running up her nephew's neck. "My brother and sister-in-law were such.. .such social people, and of course, Roddy was so much younger than Dev and the two girls so much older." She sighed. "And, of course, Reggie and I were so often posted out of the country." Her smile was tremulous. "He was such a dear."

  "He was a devil. Rode my best hunter when he was only a stripling. Damned creature could have killed him." Sir Reginald glowered at his nephew. "You always had good bottom Devon. Liked that."

  "Thank you, sir."

  Cle could hear the affection running through Dev's words.

  That evening was much of the same since just the four of them dined together.

  There were long moments when Cle didn't even think about her departure for the States the next day. There were even some moments when she didn't think of her marriage that was supposed to take place on the following day... the marriage that would never take place.

  That night when she held Dev there was desperation in her.

  She had almost not gotten away for the evening flight out of Sydney. Diana and Lucille had decided to have an impromptu shower and brunch. A party spirit prevailed at the Nivenses' beach house and even Sybil and Tessa had swum in the ocean. They had shown a surprising power in the water. Roddy had explained with a grimace that they had both been on swim teams when they were younger.

  "Which was, of course, before my time, dear sister-in-law. They both set great store by physical prowess." Roddy's voice took on the strident tremolo of his sister Tessa. "To have good blood lines is one thing but one must always strive for excellence in other things... strong of limb, bright of eye." His voice came down to normal as she laughed. He grinned at Cle. "Dev has already told them that you competed as a swimmer. They liked that. They've checked you out as though you were in the buyer's ring at horse sale." Roddy leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I told them that I thought you'd take your fences well. Gad, Cle, I hope you don't like oats."

  Cle's laugh was shaky and she turned away when Roddy's gaze narrowed on her.

  There were gag gifts and though Sybil's eyebrow arched over the box of disposable diapers Roddy gave Cle, most everyone else laughed.

  It was while Alistair and Dev were surfing again that Cle saw her chance. Roddy was off with the admiral and the other women were resting. She called a cab and left. Her bags were packed so all she did was pick up the two suitcases and have the cabbie wait while she changed into traveling gear.

  What caprice made her dress as a boy, with a cap on her head in blue denim with matching Jordache jeans and vest, she would never know! In bustling Sydney International she watched the clock as it ticked closer to departure time and thought about the people who would gather to see her marry tomorrow morning. They would be hurt... angry... puzzled and Dev would be too furious to explain.

  She sighed. Here she was leaving Australia, a country that she had come to love, that she wanted to explore and rushing back to America and Jaime and she wasn't sure why... except she loved Dev with an all encompassing love that couldn't accept less than the same from him. She needed that love
and needed it for all time and half a love would just not do.

  "Hi. My name's Janie. I'm sixteen. How old are you?" The gum-chewing teen-ager had a gauche come hither look that puzzled Cle until she remembered she was dressed as a boy.

  "Huh? Oh... ah... eighteen." Cle smiled, then looked away.

  "Gee, that's great. I'm going back to the States. My mother lives there. My father lives here in Sydney. I don't know which I like best." She sat down next to Cle, horrifying her when she edged her very round and full bottom close.

  "I'm waiting for someone... for my... uh..."

  "For your uncle, Clem, my boy," said a richly timbered voice, then a strong hand clapped her on the back almost knocking her from the seat.

  Dev!

  "Glad to see me?" Dev inquired silkily straightening her askew cap and lifting her to her feet by one elbow. "Now say good-bye to your friend."

  "I won't," Cle managed, trying to pry his fingers from her arm.

  "Gee, I thought you were traveling back to the States." The mousy brown frizz top quivered with disappointment. She even forgot to pop her gum.

  "I am..." Cle began.

  The fingers on her arm tightened to bone-cracking level. "You can walk out of here," Dev hissed into her ear. "Or I can throw you over my shoulder and carry you that way."

  "Good-bye," Cle said to frizz top, her voice weak.

  No words were exchanged even after the luggage was stowed into the car and Dev wove in and out of the traffic leaving Sydney International. "How did you find me? What are you? A bloodhound?" she snapped, hating the quaver in her voice. "You can't kidnap me," she said, her voice rasping. "Jaime expects me. I'm going to marry him."

  The car slewed right then left as the muscles in Dev's arms contracted spasmodically, his face having a contorted look. "You must have a great desire to be a widow." Dev's words were pushed through rock hard lips.

  "Don't say such a stupid thing." Cle's voice rose half an octave. "I'm not going to marry a man who will be sorry he married me in a few years, then divorce me and leave me alone." Her voice skated higher as the old fears crystallized and came out as words. "You'll cast me off like old clothes. You'll want to marry a blueblood, someone from your own class. I know..." She fell silent when he threw her a murderous look.