'You remember,' he said arrogantly. 'You pretend not to, but you do. You remember everything, how much I want you, how much you want me-'
'It's not true,' she gasped.
'I can make it true. I'm still there, aren't I, Faye? Deny it as much as you like, I'm still there.'
'Yes,' she said in a helpless whisper. 'But, Garth, please-this isn't the answer.'
'What is the answer?' he demanded between kisses. 'Cosy little chats to relive every detail of our mistakes? Who needs words when we can talk like this?'
He smothered her mouth with his own, silencing all further argument. Faye could feel the last of her reason slipping away in the tide of passion that flowed over her.
She felt the silk of the counterpane beneath her back, the slight sinking of the mattress as Garth lay down beside her. His eyes seemed to feast on her, like a starving man presented with a banquet, and he ran a hand appreciatively over her slim frame.
'You managed the other seven pounds, I see,' he murmured admiringly. 'I had a feeling you'd do what you set your mind to. Looks great.'
He didn't wait for her to speak, but kissed her again. Longing flooded her. It was useless to protest to herself. She wanted Garth as much as he wanted her, and now she could only yield with a deep sigh of fulfilment.
He groaned as he pulled her against him, enfolding her in his arms and running his hands over her beautiful form. Their hearts and minds might have parted, but on this level nothing had changed. Ten years ago their physical harmony had been immediate and ecstatic. It was the same now. He knew how to please her, and he used his knowledge to the full.
Although it was their physical need that drove them, he was still the considerate lover that she remembered. He knew how to wait, to give her time to feel easy with him again. Looking up, she met his eyes and found them brooding over her like a miser with recovered treasure.
'You're still mine,' he murmured. 'You always were mine, and you always will be.'
She knew she should dispute this, but the delight flooding through her left no room for argument. Whatever the future held, she was his at this moment and her heart knew it.
The time they'd spent apart had brought its changes and as lovers they were strangers again. But they'd been strangers the first time they made love and it had been wonderful. Now Faye felt almost as she had then, breathless with eagerness, not sure what to expect of him but hoping for everything.
She thought she surprised a moment of hesitancy in his face, as though he, too, were moving cautiously as he reclaimed unfamiliar ground. She knew that look. It meant he wanted to be reassured. So she did so, touching his face gently, one of their old signals, and the result was all she'd hoped. His embrace grew stronger, more confident and possessive. Just as it had been that first time.
And something else was the same, the beauty and wonder of becoming one with him. Once she'd been sure that life could hold no more happiness than this. Now she knew for certain that it was true. The years without him had been a lonely ache of desolation, and secretly she'd always been waiting to come home.
There was a new edge to their passion. Now she, too, had confidence. She knew herself as a woman who could drive this attractive man wild. What was happening had always been bound to happen.
She murmured his name and he looked at her quickly. 'Faye?' he said. 'Faye?' It was a question, as though he thought she might vanish from his arms.
She held him close, demanding more and more, and he gave freely and bountifully. Their climax was a burst of dazzling light, a flowering of the world that left her exhausted, trembling and utterly satiated.
She could see that it was the same with him. He was gasping slightly from the lengths to which she'd driven him and his face registered pure amazement. Faye wondered if her own face revealed her feeling of triumph.
She looked at him out of eyes that were hazy with fulfilment. Her whole body was relaxed as it hadn't been for two years. The world was a good place after all.
'I didn't mean that to happen,' he said slowly, watching her.
'Didn't you?' she asked softly. 'I thought you'd meant it to happen from the start.'
'I made you a promise-'
Oh, yes, she thought vaguely. The promise.
'It's too late to worry about that,' she murmured, wondering why he was making a fuss about it. Unconsciously, her lips curved into a blissful smile.
'Don't smile at me like that,' he said hoarsely. 'Not unless you want to drive me mad. Faye!'
He took hold of her shoulders to give her a little shake, but he didn't let go. He couldn't. The moment he touched her they both knew their desire was far from exhausted. And this time it was even more irresistible, because of what they'd both discovered.
He said her name once more, before his lips descended on her mouth. Faye gave a sigh of anticipation, and it all began again.
Garth was already downstairs when Faye descended next morning. She waited for him to look up, for the consciousness that would be between them. Perhaps he would smile.
But there was only trouble in his eyes when he raised his head. 'I owe you an apology,' he said in a low voice.
'An-?'
'Look, I know what you're going to say. I broke my word. You told me to stay away from you or the deal would be off. Please-' He raised his hand when she tried to speak.
Faye's voice faded at once. She couldn't have forced the words out through the stone that was encasing her heart.
'Just hear me out,' Garth insisted. 'I swear that nothing like it will ever happen again. I was in a bad state last night, business worries, nothing serious, but I wasn't myself. I'm sure you're angry, Faye, but there's no need to be. It's over, finished. I'll draw a line under it, if you will.'
'By all means, let's draw a line under it,' she said. 'Nothing could suit me better.'
CHAPTER NINE
At last it was time for the children to return from Cornwall. After that first delight, Faye was relieved to have their laughter filling the house. The cheerful sound covered the spaces between herself and Garth.
Their passionate lovemaking, so intense and shattering at the time, seemed to have slipped past without leaving any impression on him. Instead of growing closer to her, he'd seemed determined to keep his distance.
The morning afterwards he had been able to speak only of his broken promise. But he'd mentioned that while they had lain together and she'd put his mind at rest. She couldn't recall her own words exactly, but she knew she'd said that she wasn't angry about the promise. His obsession with it next day had made no sense, unless he had been using it as an excuse.
As the days went by she realized that this was the answer. There was a constraint in Garth's manner that hadn't been there before, and he was seldom at home. When they spoke it was usually to discuss the anniversary celebrations that were nearly on them.
One evening he said, 'I'm going to Newcastle tomorrow and I have to leave at seven in the morning. There's no need for you to get up then.'
'All right,' she said quietly. It was obvious that he didn't want her. 'How long will you be away?'
'I might stay overnight. Word's already getting around about the Diamond Range and I'm meeting a consortium that may put in a big order. It'll be a great coup if 1 bring it off before the range is even launched.'
'That's wonderful,' she said politely. 'Will you be going in the plane?'
'No, someone's driving me up. I can make calls in the back of the car without being disturbed.'
She was awake before Garth left next morning and lay listening to him moving about downstairs, until the front door closed and she heard him drive away.
Sunk in her own thoughts she barely heard the children chattering over breakfast, but at last the word 'zoo' reached her.
'What, darling?' she asked Cindy.
