Runaway Sister (17 page)

Adam suddenly laughed. “What are you looking so conscience-stricken about?” he asked. “Nothing did go wrong, it's been a perfect delivery, and you're to be congratulated.” He gave her shoulders a friendly squeeze. “Now I suggest that we do a routine check of mother and baby together and then we go and open a bottle of Dennis's best champagne.”

When they had finished checking Valerie and baby Dmitri, Adam left and Samantha helped Valerie with a blanket bath, then Samantha tenderly washed the baby a little, but not too much.

“Aren't you going to bathe him properly?” asked Valerie, propped up on one elbow watching Samantha.

“No, it's better to leave this waxy layer, the vernix as it's called,” said Samantha. “I'm only washing his face a little for the moment.” Soon mother and baby were comfortably settled. Valerie had tried him at the breast and already he appeared to have the ability to suck well, even though he was only a few hours old.

Samantha left them and went downstairs to tell Dennis and Adam that mother and baby were ready to receive visitors in style now.

Dennis mounted the stairs carrying a magnum of champagne in a silver bucket filled with ice cubes. Adam and Maria followed behind with a tray of delicacies including caviar. Maria also had a small blue packet of her own, a present from her for the newborn baby.

The tray was set down in the room and Dennis opened the bottle with ceremony. Happily they all raised their glasses, first to Valerie and the baby, then to Valerie and Dennis, then Dennis said, “And now, to Samantha.”

“To Samantha,” echoed Adam and Valerie, with Maria joining in shyly.

Samantha blushed She had never been toasted before, and certainly not for delivering a baby. She took a sip of her champagne too quickly and the bubbles prickled her nose, making her sneeze. Everybody laughed, and she felt it was one of the happiest births she had been present at. Quite different from having a baby in hospital, where everything was clinically organized.

However, she didn't let them forget she was a midwife first and foremost, and she firmly ushered everyone from the room after about twenty minutes. Valerie was looking tired and Samantha knew she needed a good long sleep, which she was not likely to get with her husband talking excitedly, and making the most extravagant plans for the baby's future.

As they passed out of the room Adam was the last to go. “You're being very strict, Sister,” he said, but his eyes were laughing, inviting her to return his smile.

Samantha firmly squashed the inclination to echo his smile and maintained a friendly but distinctly distant stance. “Valerie is still my patient,” she replied, keeping her voice impersonal.

When Valerie had settled down and had drifted off into a well-earned sleep, Samantha went along to her room. She looked at herself in the mirror. What a sight she looked! Her hair was lank, from being cramped under the cap for so long while she had been delivering the baby, and she had dark circles of tiredness around her eyes. It was only then that she realized that she had missed a whole night's sleep, and now it was late afternoon.
Oh well,
she thought as she showered and washed her hair,
no point in going to bed now, I'll just turn in early tonight.

Adam and Dennis were sitting on the terrace talking when Samantha came down. Maria had brought out some iced coffee and small sweet Greek pastries. Dennis pulled the sunlounger over into the shade for Samantha and she sank down onto it gratefully.

“You look all in,” remarked Adam.

“I am,” she admitted. “I missed a night's sleep.” She laughed. “I'm out of practice at doing night duty.”

“Where will you go when you've finished here?” asked Dennis suddenly. Samantha was conscious of Adam's eyes upon her, waiting for her reply.

“I don't know yet,” she said slowly. “It's something I have to think about.”

“There'll always be a place for you at Princess Mary's,” said Adam quickly. His voice held a strange note, almost of urgency—but no, that couldn't be. Samantha looked at him and shook her head.

“Why not?” he persisted. “You always liked it there.”

“I don't know, it's difficult to…” Her voice was interrupted by the sound of a very noisy scooter coming down the rocky track leading to the villa. Whoever was riding it obviously imagined he was participating in a motorcycle scrambling circuit.

Dennis tutted in annoyance at the loud noise and went quickly through the villa to investigate. Moments later he came running back waving a telegram in his hand.

“Everything is happening today,” he announced, still waving the telegram excitedly. “It's from Sophie—she and Tex are to be married in London, the day after tomorrow!” He sat down and poured himself another iced coffee and mopped his brow. “My God, I think I've had enough excitement for one day!”

Samantha looked at Adam with consternation. Suddenly she felt fervently sorry for him. Whatever her feelings about him, he didn't deserve to be ditched in such a manner. However, Adam didn't look in the least bit like a man who had been dealt a mortal blow, instead he was grinning from ear to ear.

“Didn't I say Tex and Sophie made a good pair?” he said, no trace of malice in his voice. “I have a feeling, too, that Tex will be quite a match for her, he'll give her all she wants, but I don't think he'll give in to her.”

Dennis laughed. “I agree,” he said. “This really calls for opening another bottle—what do you say, Samantha?”

Samantha had been regarding Adam with something akin to amazement, hardly able to believe her ears. Had she been wrong all along? Were her wildest dreams possible? Quickly she collected her straying errant thoughts as Dennis called her name again.

“If I drink any more champagne, Dennis,” she said truthfully, “without having anything to eat, I can promise you I shall be most unsociable and fall asleep right where I am.”

Adam laughed. “Poor Samantha, but don't worry, we shan't mind having a Sleeping Beauty in our midst.” His eyes held hers, a cryptic expression lurking in their depths.

Samantha looked away quickly, unable to trust herself. She felt that everything she was thinking must be written plainly across her face.

Dennis got up. “I'm going to organize something special for dinner tonight,” he said. “We've got a double celebration.” He laughed. “I wonder what the third thing will be—they say everything happens in threes.”

Samantha felt Adam watching her, and restlessly pushed back some strands of hair from her face. The atmosphere between them was crackling again with that familiar current. Was she going to run away again? Or would she have the courage this time to find out what he really felt about her? She was uncertain, half of her wanting to know, the other half afraid of what the answer might be.

“Shall we take a stroll down to the sea?” Adam's voice was low, almost inaudible, but it throbbed with an urgency that she couldn't deny.

“Yes,” she whispered, and rose meekly from the sunlounger where she had been lying. Silently they made their way down the rocky path that led to the cove. The sun was setting now, long fingers of shadow darkening their figures as they walked.

The cooler air of the evening fanned against Samantha's burning cheeks. Suddenly she was struck dumb, she couldn't think of a thing to say—at least not anything that would sound in the least bit sensible.

It was Adam who broke the silence. “Well…” he drawled when they reached the jetty. As he spoke he put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him.

“Well what?” stammered Samantha.

“If I remember correctly, we'd reached a very interesting point in the conversation at the casino, when we were interrupted.”

“Oh, had we?” said Samantha, trying to keep her voice as noncommittal as possible, afraid of giving all her feelings away, only to be rebuffed.

“Yes, you were going to tell me what you liked.” He pulled her closer almost roughly and she noticed a smoldering passion in his eyes illuminated by the reflection of the setting sun.

“Was I?” she whispered back, mesmerized by the look in his eyes. “I don't remember.”

“Perhaps this will jog your memory,” said Adam as with ruthless determination he took her lips. His arms folded around her masterfully, pinioning her arms against her sides. “I'm not taking any chances of being pushed into the water this time!” he murmured into a warm corner of her mouth before he started kissing her again, this time with a passion that could not be denied.

Not that Samantha wanted to, he ignited an exquisite incandescent glow inside her, tingling every nerve end of her being. She began to kiss him back with an ardor that surprised her.

Slowly he slackened his tight hold on her arms, and she slid them slowly, languorously up around his neck, running her fingers luxuriously through his thick hair, pulling his face closer to hers.

Adam broke away from the kiss and held her from him. “What shall we do now?” he asked hoarsely. “This is usually the point where you have second thoughts and we end up quarreling. If you're going to do that, let me know, and we'll stop right now.”

Samantha snuggled her head into the hollow of his shoulder and slid her fingers sensuously up and down his neck. “I don't want to stop,” she whispered. “I've never really wanted to stop.”

“Then why the hell have you?” demanded Adam roughly, standing back and holding her at arm's length from him.

“Because of Sophie,” she said simply.

“What the hell has Sophie got to do with it?” Adam's voice was tinged with irritability. Then grasping her arm in a viselike grip he led the way off the jetty and plonked her down on some rocks near the sea, then seated himself beside her.

“We're not going up for dinner until you and I understand each other,” he said firmly. “Even if it means sitting here talking all night.”

“Yes, Adam,” said Samantha demurely, a sudden mischievous smile crinkling the corners of her mouth.

“Now let's start at the beginning,” began Adam, but she reached up and drawing his head down to hers searched for his mouth. He needed no second bidding, he responded with a passion that shook her, his hand gently cupping her breast, stroking the nipple through the thin material of her dress with his thumb. Samantha felt her nipples rise and harden as an intense longing started like a fire in the pit of her stomach. Adam's mouth left hers, and blazed a burning hot trail down her throat, finally resting in the secret hollow of her throat. “You do want me, don't you?” It was a statement rather than a question.

“Oh yes, I do,” she breathed, “I always have. I lied to you about Steve, I've never even thought about him since the first time you kissed me.”

He raised his head and looked down at her, his eyes dark pools of desire. “Why the hell did you keep pushing me away every time, and tell me that cock-and-bull story about loving Steve? Not that I believed that,” he added with conviction, kissing her again.

Much later when she had surfaced again Samantha gently traced the outline of Adam's jaw. Dusk had fallen now, everything was peaceful and tranquil. The water gently lapped the rocks around their feet and the cicadas kept up their constant whirring in the still night air.

“I love you,” said Adam. “You know that, don't you?”

Samantha raised her head to look at him. Compassion, tenderness and, yes, love were shining from his eyes. “Why didn't you tell me before?” she whispered.

“I thought it was too soon after your breakup with Steve, I didn't want you on the rebound,” he answered, covering her face with a thousand tiny kisses, the kisses of a lover.

“I do love you,” whispered Samantha, “but I couldn't tell you because of Sophie.”

Adam sighed. “We'd better start from the beginning,” he said, “so that I, being only a poor male, ignorant of the complexities of the female mind, can understand.”

She kissed his chin. “It all started after the Ball, when…”

“Ah yes,” interrupted Adam a trifle grimly, “after the Ball. You really led me on then.”

“I didn't lead you on,” she retorted indignantly. “It was you, and when I glanced round and saw Sophie's negligee where she'd flung it across the chair in your bedroom, I just sort of froze up inside.”

“So that's what it was!” Adam laughed. “Surely you didn't think that Sophie and I were involved in that way? She's not my type at all. She only stayed in my flat because it was a convenient base for her, and I was more or less forced to put up with her as she was Dennis's sister. In fact, if you really want the truth I wasn't at all pleased when she turned up at Princess Mary's. Being Sophie, she expected me to drop everything and dance attendance on her.”

“Which you did,” interrupted Samantha.

“Which I did,” agreed Adam. “But I didn't want to upset Valerie at that point in her pregnancy, she especially asked me to look after Sophie for Dennis's sake. So as you can see, I was stuck with her. I let her sleep in my bedroom, but I didn't sleep with her. Surely you didn't think that I…”

“Yes, I did,” admitted Samantha, “and I couldn't bear the thought of being second best to some other woman. I couldn't bear the thought of you making love to somebody else.”

He took her face between his hands and cupped it so that she was forced to look at him as he said very seriously, “Samantha, I promise you that since I met you there's been no other woman in my life. Give me credit for some constancy!” He smiled. “I can't pretend, of course, that there haven't been other women, I haven't got to my ripe old age and remained a virgin!” He kissed the tip of her nose. “But since that day I first met you when I returned to Princess Mary's from America, and I found that you hadn't married, I determined I would marry you.”