'It
would seem the honeymoon is over,' Rita Hammond drawled with satisfaction.
Alex's
hard gaze flickered briefly over Morgan. 'It would seem so,' he agreed tautly.
'The
newspapers got hold of the story of your wedding, by the way,' his mother told
him. 'The press have been most intrusive.'
'We
know,' Alex acknowledged abruptly.
It
had been the one upset to their honeymoon. They had left the villa to go into
the nearest small town to pick up fresh supplies, and Alex had been instantly
cornered by a member of the press -also on holiday there, wanting an exclusive
about their marriage. Alex's reply had been far from polite!
'Is
Courtney ready, Morgan?' he asked tersely now. 'I think we should be going.
'But your coffee
-
'
'I
don't want any,' Alex cut across his mother's objection. 'Morgan?'
The
query seemed to come as an afterthought, and Morgan felt the pain in her heart
deepen. How different this meal had been from the ones they had been preparing
for themselves at the villa; their happiness together then had been
unmistakable. Alex couldn't seem to wait to get rid of her for a few hours now!
'No, thank you,' she refused abruptly, standing up. 'I'll go and get Courtney—Mrs
Ford said she would have him ready to leave after lunch.
Courtney was indeed ready to leave, his clothes were in a
suitcase, his nursery things all packed into boxes, while the baby himself was
fast asleep.
'I
shall miss him,' Mrs Ford said ruefully as she handed the shawl-wrapped baby to
Morgan.
'Please
feel free to come and visit him any time you want to,' Morgan invited warmly.
'You'll always be welcome.'
'Thank
you, I'd like that,' the other woman accepted shyly.
Morgan
waited in the lounge with Rita Hammond while Alex and Symonds loaded the car up
with Courtney's things; the silence between the two women was filled with
tension—on Morgan's part at least, Rita Hammond looked as confident as
ever. And why shouldn't she when her son had just told her his honeymoon had
been
pleasantl
The description still rankled.
'So
you failed to keep my son's attention even for the honeymoon,' Rita scorned. 'I
knew it, of course. You're the same butterfly as Glcnna.'
'Leave
Glcnna out of this!' Morgan ground out,
'Gladly,'
the other woman dismissed haughtily. 'And I'll leave you out of it too once
Alex realises the full extent of his mistake in marrying you. It's obvious he's
already regretting his impetuosity!'
The
baby stirred restlessly in her arms, as if even in his sleep he could sense the
antagonism about him. Morgan gave up any idea of this conversation with Rita
Hammond turning out to be a pleasant one, and left the house with her head held
high. Alex and Symonds were just putting the last of the boxes in the car as
she came down the steps, and Alex came forward to help her, handing her into
the back of the car.
'Perhaps
you could go and thank your mother for lunch,' she told Alex stiffly. 'I'm
afraid I forgot.'
He gave her a probing glance before turning to go back
into the house. His mother was at his side when he returned.
'Could
I hold Courtney for a few minutes—please?' she added as an imperious
afterthought.
Morgan
handed him to the other woman, seeing how the harsh features relaxed into a smile
as she gazed down at her grandson. Maybe there was hope for the other woman
yet, if she could feel love for the baby! 'Come and see him any rime you would
like to, she said impulsively.
Cold
blue eyes raked over her disdainfully. 'I intended to,' Rita told Morgan
indignantly. 'He is my grandson.'
'And
it's Morgan's home, Alex put in softly, taking Courtney to put him back into
Morgan's arms. She gave him a grateful smile for his defence of her. 'And my
son's!'
He
shrugged. 'Morgan will spend more time there than I shall.'
'Thank
you,' Morgan told him quietly as they drove the ten miles to their own house.
'It's
the truth,' he dismissed tersely. 'And as the two of you don't get along . . .'
She
chewed on her bottom lip, braving the hardness of his profile. 'Alex, did you
really think our honeymoon was only pleasant?' Her mouth twisted as she asked.
He
didn't even glance at her. 'I believe I said Barbados was pleasant, I didn't
mention our honeymoon,' he bit out tautly. 'I would hardly tell my mother
we rarely left the bedroom!
He
made even that sound like an insult! 'Why not?' she snapped. 'It's what most
people do on their honeymoon!'
He
gave her a look of disgust. 'Maybe I just didn't want to boast,' he taunted.
Morgan gave a disappointed sigh. The indulgent
lover from Barbados was
sadly gone. The man in his place was even harder than the Alex Hammond she had
known before. 'Do you really have to go to the office today?' She looked at him
anxiously, sitting forward to touch his shoulder.
'I've
just spent three weeks alone with you, Morgan, wasn't that enough?' he rasped
scornfully.
She
moved back as if he had struck her. The honeymoon really was over!
She
made no demur as, once he had settled Courtney and herself into the house, Alex
left almost immediately for London. He had made it more than plain that he
needed to be away from her, to be with someone other than her after their
seclusion. And while she missed him unbearably she understood that there were
some men who needed more of a challenge in conversation and ideas than she, as
a woman, was able to give. She just hadn't thought Alex was one of those men .
. .
Courtney
kept the rest of her day occupied. He was taking an interest in things about
him now, able to concentrate for short periods of time as she played with a toy
with him, and he fell asleep as she softly sang to him.
'Mr
Hammond called about ten minutes ago, madam,' the middle-aged housekeeper Alex
had employed told her as she came downstairs. 'When I told him you were with
the baby he said not to disturb you.'
'Did
he leave a message?' she asked impatiently, wishing she could have talked to
Alex herself, wanting desperately to bridge the gulf that had yawned between
them.
'He
said he had been delayed in London, and—and for you not to wait dinner
for him,' Mrs Whitney smiled with relief as she finished reciting the message.
'Thank you,' Morgan said dully. Suddenly she had
lost
her own appetite. 'Don't bother with dinner then, Mrs Whitney. I'll have
something later if I get hungry. But she knew she wouldn't, the thought of
eating nauseated her.
She
was totally bewildered by Alex's coldness, this not wanting to be with her. An
afternoon at work she could perhaps accept, but an evening too! No, she didn't
believe for a moment that Alex was staying in London this evening on business.
He
hadn't returned at ten-thirty when she had given Courtney his late night feed
and settled him down until morning, having got to the stage, at six weeks,
where he slept through. She decided she might as well go to bed herself. Alex
might not come back at all tonight!
Their
bedroom had been decorated in a soft green and cream, very restful, and yet
Morgan didn't feci in the least sleepy. How could Alex do this to her on their
first evening in their new home! Anger took over from hurt, and by the time she
heard the Mercedes coming down the driveway and pull up outside the house she
was at boiling point. She would not be treated like this!
She
was standing in the middle of the room when she heard Alex's ascent up the
stairs, her black nightgown clinging seductively to her rose-tipped breasts,
the sheerness of the material clearly showing the rest of her body. If Alex
expected her to be the son of wife who cowed in bed pretending to be asleep
rather than risk confrontation then he was mistaken; she wasn't the one
arriving home at eleven o'clock at night after supposedly going to the officel
Alex
came to a halt in the doorway as he saw her standing proudly in front of him.
'Morgan,' he drawled, then recovered quickly, closing the door quietly and
coming in to remove his tie. ' thought you'd be asleep,' he raised dark brows
questioningly.
'Did
you?' she snapped. 'I wouldn't have thought you'd had the time to think of mc
at all—or that you would want to.'
His mouth tightened. 'Morgan
'
She
glared at him with sparkling green eyes. 'If you want to discontinue the
physical side of our marriage, Alex, then just say so,' she told him abruptly.
'If I failed to give you pleasure then tell me so. You don't have to stay out
of your own home just to avoid me. I—Oh!' she gasped as she was pulled
roughly into his arms.
'Discontinue
the physical side of our marriage!' he repeated fiercely, shaking her. 'You can
talk in such a businesslike way of the explosion of the senses we share?' he
grated.
'You
seem to want it businesslike,' she choked emotionally.
'I
want
you. God
. ..!' he groaned as he pulled her against his chest. 'You give me
pleasure unspeakable, unimaginable. And I wasn't avoiding you,' he spoke into
the softness of her hair. 'At least, not voluntarily. I was giving
you
the chance to end the
physical relationship, to end the honeymoon if you wanted to.' He pulled back
to look at her tear-wct face. 'You don't want to, do you?' he realised huskily.
'Never!'
She buried her face against his chest. 'I want you so much!'
'And
I want you,' he admitted savagely, stripping off their clothes without concern
for their welfare, tearing them if they wouldn't come off quickly enough,
taking her fiercely, possessively, but knowing she was with him every minute,
that she even revelled in his savagery.
CHAPTER
EIGHT
For
a woman who had been married a little over two months
Morgan had a glow about her that made her blush whenever she happened to catch
sight of her reflection in a mirror. Two months of being Alex's wife, of
spending every night in his arms, bathed in his never-ending lovemaking, had
given her a happiness she could hardly believe was possible.
There
had been no repeats of their first evening back, no more late nights in London
or anywhere else. She had never questioned Alex as to his whereabouts that
night, and he had never offered the information. It was enough for her that
there were no repeats of it.
And
Courtney, at three months old, seemed to react to the air of happiness that
surrounded the woman he considered his mother. He was the most placid of
babies, starting to smile now, loving it when his daddy played gently on the
bed with him.
They
were so much like any normal family, with none of the tragic circumstances that
had brought them all together overshadowing the relationship, that she felt no
qualms about inviting Rita Hammond over to tea one afternoon. Alex had taken
Courtney over to see his mother once a week for the last six weeks since their
return from Barbados, but never once had he invited her here, possibly sensing
Morgan's reluctance from their last meeting.
But
today she was feeling very happy with the world, andl had invited the other
woman over
this
afternoon for tea. Rita Hammond had seemed rather
stunned yesterday on the telephone by such a formal invitation to her son's
house, but she had accepted
anyway.
Alex had merely raised his brows when she told him of the invitation, a habit
she had learnt meant he was puzzled. She was a little puzzled by this herself,
had felt herself well rid of Rita Hammond the last few weeks, but she was after
all Alex's mother, and they couldn't keep up this vendetta of hatred for ever.
At least, she couldn't; she had a feeling Rita Hammond could, though!
Her
mother-in-law arrived promptly at four-thirty that afternoon, had driven
herself over in the Rolls. Morgan felt relieved when she saw the other woman's
appearance that she had changed for the occasion, putting on a royal blue pants
suit. Rita's pure silk dress was an attractive shade of silver-grey, very
attractive on the older woman, although Morgan eyed the expensive dress with a
sense of unease. She had learnt that although she liked to dress attractively
herself it wasn't always wise to dress expensively, not with a young baby
about. Obviously Rita Hammond had forgotten what it was like when her children
were babies!
The
other woman looked critically about the lounge, at the rust-coloured suite, the
mottled gold carpet, rust-coloured curtains, the beautifully ornate
coffee-table, several lamps placed about the room. Morgan tried to see the room
through the other woman's eyes; and could find no fault with it.
'You
have an attractive home, at least,' Rita said grudgingly after several awkward
minutes. 'You had professional help with the decor, no doubt.'
'No,'
Morgan smiled at the other woman's attempt to belittle what she had done with
the house. 'Before I became an actress I studied interior decorating.'