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long chain, in and out between the tables, pulling reluctant members
of the audience to their feet to join them.
Raphael came into the room and stood watching them. Annis gave
him one quick glance, then looked away, her nerve-endings
prickling. She wished she knew what he was thinking, but his
shuttered face told her nothing except that she could expect trouble.
Loveday had seen him, too; as they all swept past him she let go of
Annis, put out a hand and caught hold of Raphael, pulling him along
with them. He smiled at her, then turned his head and looked at
Annis through lowered lids, his hand extended to her. She had no
option but to take it or break the chain. His cool fingers tightened on
hers and she felt a shiver run down her back at the contact. His
curling mouth held satisfaction; he had felt her tremble and was
pleased by the reaction.
He watched for every tiny sign of awareness, she thought bleakly,
and fed on it. The more she tried to evade, the more she betrayed
weakness, the more he pursued. If she could only convince him she
was indifferent, he would probably leave her alone. He didn't love
her; he hated her. The hunger in his eyes was to see her get hurt, the
way she had hurt him, and how could she blame him for that? It was
a human instinct, to desire revenge, one which civilised societies
outlawed but could never quite tame.
Raphael was of Latin descent; he had an English mother, but his
father was Spanish and he had grown up in Spain, been educated
there, although he had learnt fluent English from his mother, and
indeed had done a postgraduate course at Oxford after taking a
degree in languages and music in Madrid. He came from a very
different culture, one with a wilder side to it than one found in
colder climes. His instincts were more extreme, more explosive, and
that had fascinated Annis when they first met. She had been
endlessly curious about the strangeness in him, the passion, the
darkness and emotional power; one heard it in his music, one saw it
in his eyes.
Now, it disturbed her, frightened her, because it made him
impossible to fathom, dangerously unpredictable. She kept
remembering the way he had looked at her, the tone of his voice
when he'd said, 'Either do as I tell you or...' Or what? She wished
she knew, but she wouldn't, couldn't ask him, because she was afraid
of the answer.
The Greek dancing ended a moment later, and they all broke up,
clapping and laughing. The Greek waiters took their bow again, then
ran off, smiling, and the band began to play a modern waltz. Most of
the guests drifted off the floor, a few danced.
Raphael caught Annis's hand as she hurriedly turned away. She
looked up in shock when she felt his arm go round her waist.
For a second she really thought he meant to make love to her here,
on the dance-floor, in front of everyone, and her mind went haywire.
She blushed hotly, trembling, insisting him, the pupils of her blue
eyes dilating with* fear, and Raphael stared down at her, his eyes
mocking.
'Careful, Annis!' he whispered. 'Your boyfriend is going to notice
the effect I have on you soon, and start wondering what it means.'
She stiffened, looking down, even more alarmed by the implication
of what he'd said, and without waiting for her to answer he swept
her in among the other dancing couples. Annis was so disturbed that
she couldn't remember how to dance a waltz; she stumbled as he
swung her round, and had to cling to him to keep her balance. His
arm tightened on her waist, his fingers tightened on her captive
hand, he drew her closer, their bodies touching from the shoulder
downwards, so that she felt every movement he made.
'You aren't leaving with them tomorrow, you know,' he murmured,
his mouth moving against her ear, and she couldn't stop the
involuntary quiver of arousal that contact caused. Her whole body
was aroused: her breasts ached with heated blood; her heart beat
much too fast; her legs were trembling as he moved against her in
that intimate embrace.
She had to stop thinking about the way he was holding her, touching
her; she had to break out of the trance she was sinking into. She
muttered, 'I am going!' and felt the angry tension in the body so
close to her own.
'You're coming with me!'
'I won't be bullied into it, so stop threatening me!' she muttered,
aware of the people all around them, of ears intent on picking up
their whispers.
He swung her in a full circle, her feet leaving the ground and her full
skirt flaring out around her legs. The other dancers watched,
smiling, quite unaware of Raphael's rage, the violence expressed in
lifting her up and swinging her round until she was almost dizzy.
Raphael put her on her feet again, and she swayed against him, her
head still going round. He bent his head and his mouth savagely
fastened on her lips; it was a brief kiss, but it was like being branded
with a hot iron, and Annis was shaking when it was over.
She heard people laughing around them a few people even
clapped, as though they thought the kiss and the way Raphael had
whirled her off her feet had all been part of the entertainment, a joke
for public consumption. Annis was too dazed and angry to think
about other people; she had enough problems thinking about herself
and wondering what she was going to do about Raphael.
A moment later, the music stopped with a drum roll and she pulled
away from Raphael, evaded his hand as he tried to catch hold of her
again, and hurried off the dance-floor. She couldn't go back to the
table; she couldn't face her friends just yet. She could imagine how
Loveday was going to look at her, eyes accusing. She went, instead,
to the ladies' powder-room, found it, to her great relief, empty, and
sank on to a pink velvet chair in front of one of the mirrors, staring
at her own reflection, biting her lower lip to stop herself bursting
into tears. At any minute, someone might come in and if she was
crying it would cause a lot of talk.
Raphael was driving her crazy. What on earth was she to do about
it? If she went on with the coach party and he followed them, it
would be impossible to hide the fact that he was pursuing her.
Loveday was going to be very jealous and suspicious, she was going
to think Annis had deliberately tried to steal him from her, and the
only way to explain why Raphael was following her was to tell
Loveday about the past, and she could not bear to talk about all that.
If she didn't, though, sooner or later Raphael would probably tell
them the whole story, and they would realise how she had lied to
them. It would wreck their friendship, and make her job with the
advertising agency impossible. She would have to move on again,
start building up another life, somewhere else, and she felt weary at
the very thought of that. She hated change. She had taken a long
time to get used to living in London, and her new job. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]