Shannon's Daughter (38 page)

He
tugged the sheet from beneath her legs and spread it gently over her, winning a
sighing smile for his efforts.
 
Quietly,
he gathered their clothes and draped them over the back of a chair, taking a
moment to align the crease in his trousers.
 
Evidence of their earlier frenzy was everywhere, from one of Peg’s shoes
on the couch to the assortment of clothing, both hers and his, scattered over
the carpet.
 
He had not been mistaken
about his lack of staying-power.
 
And Peg
had done nothing to help matters.
 

He briefly
contemplated the dishes stacked in the sink, deciding they could wait.
 
It was only ten o’clock.
 
The night was still young, and he felt
surprisingly fresh.
 
Snuffing out the
candles, he switched on a lamp, unwilling to sacrifice the sight of Peg in his
bed.
 

“Can I
get you anything?”
 
Standing over her, he
studied her profile.
 
She was a lovely
young woman, whatever the setting.
 
But
nestled between
his
sheets, her hair
spread in a web of shining waves on
his
pillow, she had never been more beautiful.
 

“You.
 
Come back to bed.”
 
Rolling onto
her back, she held up her arms with no thought for modesty.

“You’re
sure?
 
I doubt you’ll get much sleep if I
do.”
 
Stretching beside her, he braced on
one elbow.
 
“I can’t resist you, brat.
 
And I don’t intend to try very hard.”

Closing
her eyes, she smiled.
 
“I wouldn’t want
you to.
 
You’ve earned a little fun,
after three years of celibacy.”

“Fun?
 
Is that what that was?
 
I was
terrified at one point I might fire off like a cannon and send both of us
through the roof.”
 
Tenderly, he tucked a
lock of hair behind her ear.
 
“Now that’s
out of the way, we can have some real fun.”

Opening
her eyes at that, she stared up thoughtfully.
 
“What kind of fun?
 
It’s too late
to go out dancing, and I’m not in the mood for cards.”

“No?
 
And here I had my heart set on a game of
canasta.”
 
Nuzzling her ear, he let his
hands rove tentatively over her body.
 
“I
suppose I’ll just have to be satisfied with something tamer.”

“Tamer?”
 
Flinging back the sheet, she rose to her
knees.
 
“Sorry, but I haven’t waited three
years for tame.”
 
Hair tumbling riotously
around her shoulders, eyes gleaming in the dim light, she seemed poised for
attack.
 

Folding
his arms behind his head, he assumed a pose of casual indifference.
 
“Oh, really?
 
And what precisely have you been waiting
for?”

Her
hands had begun their own hungry exploration, causing his breath to catch and
his body to respond with gratifying speed.
 
“I’ve been waiting to do this.
 
And I was right.
 
You’ve
definitely gone from yummy to magnificent.
 
Kendall, you’re beautiful.
 
Yours
is the kind of body sculptors envision in marble and artists create from their
imaginations.
 
You could make a lot of
money posing for art classes, you know?”
 

If he
hadn’t been so mesmerized by the trail of arousal she was creating, he would
have laughed more heartily.
 
As it was,
all he could manage was a groaning chuckle.
 
“Sorry, love.
 
I only disrobe for
you these days.”
 

“That’s
almost a pity.
 
But then again, I’m
selfish.
 
I don’t think I’d want to share
you with a room full of gawking art students.”
 
With one fingertip, she traced a pattern down his torso, warranting his
full attention.
 
“I like to sketch
though.
 
I probably couldn’t do you
justice, but it might be fun to try.
 
I’d
be willing to pay you, of course.”
 

Unable
to remain passive any longer, he dragged her across his chest.
 
“Pay me now.
 
And bear in mind, I don’t come cheap.”

“I’m an
heiress, remember?
 
That shouldn’t be a
problem.”

With his
train not scheduled to depart until noon, he was determined to make the most of
their last few hours together.
 
At dawn,
he edged from the tangle of Peg’s embrace and shrugged into his dressing gown.
 
As he began preparing breakfast, he deliberately
made more noise, but she continued to sleep soundly, one arm slung across his
pillow and a little smile on her lips.
 
Deciding his only choice was to physically drag her from her
dreams,
he dropped to the bed beside her and ran a finger,
chilled by a rinse under the cold tap, along her spine.
 

“Umm.
 
Are you up already?”

“I’ve
been up for hours.
 
I’m wondering if you
plan to sleep until noon, in which case you’ll find yourself here all alone.”

Rolling
onto her back, she blinked up at him.
 
“You really have to leave?”

“Of
course.
 
I can’t afford to lose my job, love.
 
Now get up.
 
I thought we’d have a proper English breakfast, and
then
I thought we might do that thing we do so well one more time
before I head off to the mines.”

“Oh,
really?
 
I’d have thought you had enough of that for
now.”
 
She pulled him down, ruffling her
fingers through his damp hair.
 
“I hope
we didn’t wake Mr. Kemper.
 
You were
incredible, by the way.
 
I should go away
for another three years.”
 

“Please
don’t.
 
By that time I’ll be past thirty
and you might be more than I can handle.”
 
The ready access was too much to resist.
 
Brushing a thumb across the budded peak of one breast, he watched her
eyelids flutter closed.
 
“Maybe you’re
not hungry yet?’

“Oh,
I’m hungry.
 
But not
for bacon and eggs.
 
Why did you
bother with this?”
 
She yanked at the
loosely knotted belt and swept open his dressing gown.
 
“I can eat anytime.
 
But you’ll be gone for days and days.
 
I’ll be starving to death by the time we can
be like this again.”

“You’re
such a demanding little thing.
 
I suppose
that’s what comes with wealth and privilege?”
 
Submitting to her hurried assault on the robe, he shed it and stretched
beside her.

“That’s
what comes with having the most spectacular lover in all of Great Britain at my
disposal.
 
Now shut up and make love to
me before I take matters into my own hands.”
 
Judging by the deliberate advance down his
body, it seemed she’d already done just that.

“I’ll
see you on Friday, won’t I?”
 
Turning
once again from the door, she gave him another of those little-girl-lost looks,
similar to the ones he’d squirmed beneath during breakfast.

“Of
course.
 
I should be able to get away and have a bite
of supper with you.”

“And
Uncle Patrick and your mother.
 
I suppose we’ll have to pretend we’re still
just friends, won’t we?”

No
resisting that sad face, he took the shopping bag from her hand and pulled her
into his arms, making sure his wristwatch was visible behind her back.
 
“I think that would be wise.
 
Perhaps we can be slightly better friends by
Friday.
 
I do plan to bring Mother slowly
to the realization that we’ve grown closer.
 
It’s only right.
 
She’ll be
impossible if she thinks I’m hiding something from her.”

“And
how are you planning to do that, bring her to the realization?”
 
Rising on tiptoe, she nibbled along his jaw.

“Oh,
maybe I’ll start by giving you a little kiss when I see you.
 
How would that be?”
 
Taking her mouth in something far from what
he’d described, he allowed a full sixty seconds before reluctantly pulling
away.
 
“But please don’t respond with
that sort of enthusiasm, brat, or we’ll be in for it right there.”

“I
can’t help it.
 
I love kissing you.
 
And other things, of
course.
 
Not anything we’d be
likely to do in front of your mother, though.”
 

He set
her away from him, reaching down for the bag.
 
“No.
 
Now be a good girl and run
back to your luxurious hotel suite while I finish up here.
 
I adore you, my darling, but duty
calls.”
 

“Miss
me?
 
At least a
little?”

“Miss
you quite a lot, I’m sure.
 
Now
scoot!”
 
He watched her until she
disappeared down the stairwell, her head held high and a look of resignation on
her face.
 
Turning back into the flat, he
was stunned by how empty it seemed.
 
This
space he’d believed filled with all he needed to keep him content now echoed with
Peg’s voice, her laughter and the murmurs of their shared passion.
 
Simply by walking out the door, she’d taken
any possibility of contentment with her.

Chapter
Thirty-Seven

By Sunday,
a late night train to London, a few hours with Peg and a return to Glyndebourne
by noon the following day seemed completely logical.
 
Better than lying awake for
hours longing for her, as he’d done the past few nights.
 
Her ecstatic response to his phone call had
done nothing to convince him otherwise.

“I’ve
been sitting here in my pajamas trying to force myself to get some work
done.
 
Now I have the perfect excuse to
let it slide!
 
Oh, please hurry!”

“I
can’t make the train go any faster than it normally does, love, but I’ll do my
best.”
 

At nearly
midnight, he let himself into the suite at Brown’s, surprised to find the
lights low and Peg nowhere in sight.
 
On
the desk were stacks of file folders and a note prominently displayed on
top.
 
“Come to bed!”
 
Curious, he glanced inside the first folder
at what appeared to be a grant application from a community orchestra somewhere
in Michigan.

Shaking
his head, he started for the bedroom.
 
A
single lamp burned, casting a halo of light over the bed.
 
Propped against several pillows, another
folder open on her lap, Peg was sound asleep, her head drooping toward one
shoulder.
 
He stood for a moment, taking
note of the nightgown of gossamer blue silk, its bodice sculpting the contours
of her breasts to perfection, realizing with a thrill of arousal that she must
have changed after his call.

Carefully,
he picked up the folder and closed it, setting it on the night table before
taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
 
“Burning the midnight oil, brat?” he whispered.
 

She
came to life, eyes flying open, arms reaching out to him.
 
“You’re here!”
 
Before he could answer, she threw herself
against him, kissing him with stunning alertness.
 

“Yes,
I’m here.
 
At least for
a few hours.
 
What are you working
on?”
 
He nodded toward the folder.

“Foundation
business.
 
The office sent me some applications to go
over.
 
At least it’s kept me from missing
you too terribly.
 
Are you hungry?
 
It’s not too late to order you something.”

“The
only thing I’m hungry for is you.”
 
He
hauled her across his lap, burying his face in her hair.
 
“What have you done to me, Peg?
 
All I could think about was getting back here
to do this.”
 
His kiss was long and deep,
allowing plenty of time to thoroughly explore the warm sweetness he’d missed
and enjoy her eager response.

“So you
did miss me?”

“Miss
you!
 
The only time I wasn’t thinking of
you was while I was actually playing, and even then, I had to force myself to
focus.
 
This is bad, Peg, potentially disastrous.”
 
He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it
to the foot of the bed, while Peg yanked impatiently at the tail of his shirt.
 

“Why?”
 

“Because
in a couple of months, you’ll go back to New York and I won’t be able to do
this any time I need to.”
 
Setting her
aside, he stood long enough to shed his shoes and trousers before joining her
on the bed.

“All
the more reason to make the best use of the time we have.
 
I found an inn in Lewes and booked a room for
next weekend.”
 
Stripping his shirt from
his shoulders, she ran greedy fingers across his chest, teasing at the black
fur and pushing him down on the pillow.

He sat
up abruptly.
 
“What?
 
Good heavens, how are you going to explain
where you are?
 
You can’t very well tell
everyone you’re coming out there to spend the weekend in bed with me!”
 

“Aggie
will cover for me.
 
We’re supposed to be
going to Bath together.”
 
Getting to her
knees beside him, she wound her arms around his neck.

“And
what is Aggie doing, coming to Lewes with you?” he asked against the curve of
her shoulder.

“No,
silly!
 
Aggie and her Gavin O’Rourke are going to
stay here, in my suite.
 
We’re just
trading guilty secrets, you see.”

He
couldn’t resist the assault of kisses and caresses much longer, but he had to
know.
 
“Aggie and this O’Rourke are
spending the weekend here, in your bed?”

“Something
like
that.
 
Now
will you please stop asking so many questions?
 
I need you, Kendall, now!”

“This
is what I thought most about, when I couldn’t sleep at night.
 
Holding you like this.”
 
Idly stroking her back, he settled deeper
into the pillows beside her.

“Really?
 
And I would have guessed you thought about those incredibly exciting
things we just did to each other, rather than something so tame.”
 

“Those
did cross my mind, I’ll admit.
 
But this
is something I’ve never done much of with anyone but you.
 
Frankly, sex is one thing, cuddling is
something else altogether.”

“I’m
going to say that’s very sweet and ignore the legion of former lovers you just
brought into the bed with us.”

“Not
legions, sweetheart.
 
And believe me,
they are nowhere near this bed just now.”
 
Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he closed his eyes and sighed.
 
“Not lovers, either.
 
You are my first and only lover.
 
Nothing I’ve done before, no one I’ve known
before,
has made me
feel
the things you do.”

Nestling
closer, Peg matched his sigh.
 
“I like
being the first, especially since you’re my first.
 
But I also like that you’re experienced, that
you’re so confident when it comes to lovemaking.
 
I can’t imagine two virgins trying to figure
out how it all works.”

He
snorted a drowsy laugh.
 
“Trust me, love,
it’s not that difficult.
 
But I suppose
it doesn’t hurt when one partner has a bit of experience.”

“Who
was your first?”

He
hesitated, calling up the long ago image.
 
“Miriam Hayward.
 
A friend of a friend of my mother’s.
 
She came to stay with us for a few weeks near
the end of the war.
 
I was seventeen and
she was twenty-eight.
 
Her husband had
been killed in 1940 and she’d been in mourning for years by then.
 
Her friends were pushing her to have a bit of
fun, get on with her life.
 
She was a
pretty enough woman, but somewhat shy.
 
Even I could see she wasn’t the type to enjoy the parties they were
dragging her to.
 
She asked me her to
escort her to the opera one night and when we got home, she took me to her
room.
 
Needless to say, I had no
difficulty figuring out what she wanted and how it all works.”

“You
made love right under your mother’s nose?”

“Very
quietly, I assure you.
 
It wasn’t the
first time one of Mother’s friends had shown an interest in me, but it was the
first time things went that far.
 
Women
in wartime tend to throw caution to the wind.”

“Still
that was a very daring thing to do at any time.
 
It doesn’t sound like she was as shy as you make out.”

He
yawned and rolled toward her.
 
“Can we
drop the subject now?
 
The way I see it,
we have two choices.”

“What
choices?”

“We can
go to sleep like sensible adults, or we can make love until dawn like
sex-starved teenagers.
 
You choose.”

“You
really have to ask?”

“That’s
what I was hoping you’d say.”
 

Over
breakfast, while Alice went about her business in the next room, Peg was
bubbling over with conversation.
 
“I
can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were concertmaster now!
 
I’m sure your mother must have thought I was
stupid when I asked where you were after the orchestra was in their seats.”

“Not
concertmaster, love,
leader
.
 
You’re in England now,
remember
.
 
And I’m not.
 
I’m only assistant leader.
 
And
that’s mainly so the actual leader can have some time off this summer.”

“Still,
I think it’s wonderful you’ve worked your way up so quickly.
 
And you looked so handsome when you stepped
out on stage, I was breathless.
 
You’d
have laughed.
 
I gasped so hard I actually
choked and there was your mother patting me on the back and looking oh, so
disapproving.”

“I
doubt I was breathtaking.
 
You’ve seen
one man in a dinner jacket, you’ve seen them all.
 
Now fill me in on your plan for the
weekend.
 
I hope you can keep yourself
entertained most of the time.
 
I still
have
work
to do, you know.”

“Oh,
yes.
 
I’m going to drag along a box of those
files to keep me occupied.”

“Won’t
that be awkward on the train?”

“I’m
not taking the train.
 
Hammonds is
driving me.”

He
dropped his fork with a clatter.
 
“Hammonds?
 
And how are you
explaining this little getaway to him?”

“I
don’t have to explain anything to him.
 
But I’ll just tell him I’m planning to attend the performance and see
some of the sites in the area.
 
And of
course I’ll mention that I’ll be meeting you at least once for lunch or
something, which he’ll think is fine.
 
You being my cousin and all.”
 
She grinned over her teacup.
 
“It’s awfully convenient having a lover who’s
also a member of the family.
 
No one
thinks anything of us meeting up like that.”

“Right.
 
I suppose it’s also convenient that your watchdog is gullible enough to
believe that’s all there is to it.
 
So
when will you be getting in?”

“Friday
noon.
 
I’ll go to the inn first and take a cab to
Glyndebourne, I guess.
 
Can you meet me
for supper?”
 

“I’ll
try.
 
And after, am I expected to escort
you back to the inn?”

“Of
course.
 
And don’t forget to pack some clothes for
Saturday morning.
 
You can’t have
breakfast downstairs in your dinner jacket without raising a few eyebrows.”

“I
can’t have breakfast downstairs without raising a few eyebrows, period.
 
I don’t know about this, Peg.
 
It seems awfully bold.”

“Don’t
be silly.
 
I booked you a room all your
own.
 
Not that I plan for you to sleep
there, but even I know we have to keep up appearances.
 
Give me a little credit, Kendall.”
 

He
stared at her for a moment.
 
“Well done,
brat.
 
But I hate for you to be spending
your money this way.
 
Let me at least
pick up the tab for my room.”

“You
will not.
 
I’m the one who booked the
room.
 
I’m the one who should pay for
it.
 
And our meals and
any other expenses.
 
I’m the one
who’s sneaking off to spend a clandestine weekend with my lover.”

Tossing
down his napkin, he got to his feet.
 
“It’s happened already.”

“What’s
happened?”

Two
paces to the window and he glared out at the low-hanging clouds.
 
“I’m a kept man.”

“Darned
right, you are, if that means I won’t let you spend your money.
 
This was all my idea.
 
Besides, we both know I have more money than
is good for me.
 
You’re doing me a favor,
giving me something worthwhile to spend it on.”
 
Peg joined him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head
against his shoulder.