‘No. I—’ she shook her head. ‘I don’t need time.’ She began to button her blouse with shaking fingers. ‘Why can’t you—why can’t you stay away from me?’ She felt so ashamed of what she had just let happen between them when she knew that was all he wanted from her. ‘Why won’t you accept no for an answer?’
‘Because your body isn’t saying no. You’re a complete contradiction. Your eyes and mouth say no, but your body tells a different story.’
‘That’s because you’re using all your experience on me. And you have plenty of that, don’t you?’ She stood up, brushing the grass from her skirt.
‘Don’t resort to insults, Kate. They aren’t helping the situation.’
‘Is it insulting to tell the truth?’ She smoothed back her hair. God, she must look a mess!
There was no other way round this problem, she would have to stay away from Damien. Both of them had decided at different times that they weren’t going to see each other again, that they wanted different things out of life, but neither of them seemed to have any control over the situation when they met. They just seemed to gravitate together and the only way to stop it was to stay away from each other.
Damien sighed, standing beside her now. There was still a glazed look in his eyes and his hands shook as he smoothed back his hair, the hair she had lovingly ruffled only seconds earlier.
‘Don’t kid yourself this is going to stop,’ he warned her gruffly. ‘It’ll get worse before it gets better,’ he assured her. ‘Don’t you think I haven’t tried to get rid of this insatiable desire for you? Believe me, I’ve tried. I’ve taken out a dozen or more women in the last few weeks, they don’t do a thing for me—except remind me of what I really want.’
Kate began walking back to the house. ‘Then make love to one of them. But leave me alone!’
Damien swung her round to face him, his face ravaged, his eyes tortured. ‘I’m trying to tell you—I can’t take them! Nothing happens. Can you believe that?’ He shook his head.
‘With your reputation—no,’ she said firmly.
‘It’s never happened to me before. I don’t understand it myself.’
She resumed making her way to the house, the music and chatter becoming louder all the time. Whatever must Alan be thinking of her? She would find him and then they could leave. It must be getting quite late anyway.
‘I don’t want to understand it,’ she dismissed. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to find the man I came here with.’
Damien brought her up short with a grip on her arm. ‘You mean you can just walk away from me, after what just happened?’
‘Nothing happened,’ she avoided his eyes.
He flung her away from him. ‘Nothing happened!’ he repeated violently. ‘I nearly made love to you just now and you say nothing happened! What a cold little bitch you are!’
Cold! That was the last thing she was. She had felt aflame since the first time she had met him, and each time it grew worse. ‘If you like to think so,’ she agreed distantly.
‘Kate,’ he groaned her name. ‘You can’t go!’
Well, she certainly couldn’t stay! He was tearing her apart. She wanted to get back to Alan, where she felt safe. She gave Damien one last look before walking off to find Alan.
She hurried into what had once been her bedroom, blushing anew at the sight that met her in the mirror. Her hair was in complete disorder and she had a wild untamed look about her eyes. Her cheeks were flaming and her mouth had a kissed, bruised look. She looked exactly what she was, a girl who had been kissed until she was almost senseless.
Oh, Damien … She sat down on the bed, her shoulders slumped, her look one of utter defeat. If Damien were to come in here now she would surrender herself to him without a word—anything to stop this gnawing ache inside of her.
Her head shot up as the door opened softly, the gladness leaving her face as she saw who it was. ‘Matt Strange!’ she breathed his name with disbelief, feeling as if she had played this scene once before.
He walked arrogantly into the room, completely sure of himself. ‘The one and only,’ he slurred the words. The drink in his hand was evidence of his inebriated state. And he was one man who didn’t need alcohol to give him confidence, he had enough of that already.
Kate just wasn’t in the mood for him. To be perfectly truthful she had really become fed up with him in the last few weeks. He seemed to turn up at every party she went to, always making his interest in her plain. Well, she didn’t like him and she just couldn’t hide these feelings.
She repressed a shiver of revulsion towards him, not liking the look in his eyes at all. ‘Shall we rejoin the party?’ she asked him as politely as she was able.
‘Not so fast.’ His hand shot out and he pinned her against the wall with his body. ‘Been out for a little tussle on the grass with Damien?’ he taunted, breathing whisky fumes all over her.
It was so near the truth and so crudely put that the hot colour quickly flooded her cheeks. ‘Don’t be so disgusting!’ she snapped, finding it impossible to escape from the circle of his arms.
He gave a lopsided grin. ‘You like calling me disgusting, don’t you? That’s the second time you’ve done it.’
‘Possibly because you are,’ Kate said coolly.
‘But I’m right, aren’t I?’ he taunted. ‘I’ve been watching you all evening. That poor sap you came here with has no idea what you’re like, has he? He’s been looking for you for the past hour. But don’t worry, I didn’t
