Beware of the Beast (29 page)

"Charlotte!" Alex rose abruptly to his feet, his hands falling to his sides. "You were sleeping when I arrived. I asked Maria
not to wake you."

The ache in Charlotte's back seemed to be getting worse,
but she managed to ignore it. "I - I didn't hear you." She
shrugged. "Did you come in the helicopter?"

"No, I came with
Vittorio
in the launch." Alex shifted his
weight from one foot to the other, and she saw that George
had not been exaggerating when he said that Alex looked weary. "I'm sorry if my visit causes you any annoyance, but
I felt I should come and see my grandmother. I believe she
worries about me."

“She does. Charlotte glanced behind her. "Actually, I saw her this afternoon. I went
over there."
 

Alex frowned.
“On foot?”

"As a matter of fact yes.”
Charlotte sighed, unable to
prevent from seeking the small of her back and
massaging it vigorously. “H
ave you had anything to eat?
 
Does Maria know you’re here?"

“Naturally she knows I’m
here. And I had a sandwich. But you must be
,
 
Maria
tells me you haven't had a thing since lunchtime.”

“I could use a cup of tea,”
" Charlotte admitted, feeling
a little impatient with her own weakness. "But I'll see to it"

Alex had been watching her
actions closely, and now he
he
came over to her, moving her fingers out of the small of her back and putting his own there instead
. "What is it?" he asked, his breath mingling with hers. “
Are you in pain?"

Charlotte shook her head. The feel of those hard fingers
over the thin material of her dress aroused tantalizing memories, and her breathing quickened
of its own volition.
“It aches, that’s all,” she admitted jerkily. "I've probably walked too far today.”

Alex began to massage her spine, a
rotary motion
which
 
temporarily
eased the ache. She found herself moving sensuously against his fingers, absorbed
in the sensations he was unknowingly arousing, and he
muttered
;
 
"
Don't,
 
Charlotte!” in a curiously hoarse
voice.

His words brought
her to her
senses, and her cheeks flamed in embarrassment. “Thank you
,"
she said, "It - it's stopped aching.”

Alex’s fingers stopped moving, but they remained where they were, his eyes
imprisioning
hers by the passion in their
depths. Still looking at her, she felt his hand on her stomach, tracing the swelling mound beneath
her skirt
,
 
his
eyes narrowing as a small limb projected
a tremor beneath his exploring fingers. Hardly aware
of what she was doing,
Charlotte put her hands over his, holding them against her,
making him as aware as she was of the child between them.

Alex's eyes dropped to her mouth, and her lips parted
invitingly. With a groan, he caught her face between his hands,
and put his mouth against hers, gently at first, and then with increasing passion as he felt her instinctive response.

"Dear God, Charlotte," he breathed against her lips, "don't send me away. Please, don't send me away! Let me stay I"

Charlotte's involuntary cry brought them apart, and he
stared at her with tortured eyes. "What is it? Did I hurt
you?"

She shook her head mutely, putting a probing hand to the
lower part of her abdomen. The pain had subsided now, but
it had been a definite
pain.
Licking her lips, she looked help
lessly at Alex.

"I - I think - I don't know, because I don't have any
experience in these matters - but I think I might be going to have the baby," she told him steadily.

"Of course you're going to have the baby
— "

"No, I mean - now."

Alex's expression was ludicrous, and Charlotte almost felt
like giggling. "But you
can't !
" he exclaimed. "I mean, it's
not due for another six weeks yet!"

“I know." Charlotte moved her head up and down. "But
I think I might be."

"God!"
Alex flung off the jacket of his suit, running
careless hands through his hair. "Where's Maria?"

He stalked out of the room and Charlotte moved to support
herself against the back of the couch. Was it possible?
Could the baby be coming early? Had her walk across the
island been too much for her?
 
.

She chewed anxiously at her lower lip, surprised to dis
cover that she was not at all frightened now. Her main concern
was Alex — his reactions. She didn't want him to worry about
her.

Alex came back with Maria bustling behind him. "Now,
kyria
"
exclaimed the old servant gently, "don't you think you
are imagining it?"

Charlotte shrugged. "I don't know. I had a pain a few
minutes ago, and my back has been aching since I got back
from
Kyria
Eleni's
."

Maria
tut-tutted
impatiently; "I knew you should not have
gone so far," she exclaimed.

"So why didn't you stop her?" demanded Alex irritably.
He turned to Charlotte. "Oughtn't you to sit down?" he
suggested, with exquisite tenderness, but she shook her
head.
   

"I'm all right, really. I'd like a cup of tea, though."
Alex and Maria exchanged glances, and then, muttering to
herself, the old servant went away. Alex stared at his wife for
a long, disturbing minute, and then he shook his head.

"Why did you do it, Charlotte? Walking all that way? You
must have known it was a foolish thing to do!"

Charlotte turned away from him, resenting the reasons for
his concern. "You don't have to worry," she retorted hotly.
"Even if the baby is coming, it will be all right. Lots of
women have seven-month
babies !"

"Do you think I care
- "
He broke off abruptly, and took
her arm. "Charlotte, please,
sit
down. I want to talk to you."
Charlotte allowed him to seat her on the couch he had been
occupying earlier, conscious of his nearness when he sat down
beside her. But before he could speak, she found herself gripped in another spasm of pain. The doctor had told her that during
labour
she should take several short breaths to
ease the pain, and this she did, gripping the edge of the couch
until the spasm passed. By then Alex's face was paler than hers, and she found herself grasping his hands and saying
reassuringly: "It's all
right !
Oh, Alex, don't
worry !"

"How the hell can I do anything else?" he demanded
savagely. "I should never have considered you having the
baby here. I should have made sure you were in some nursing
home on the mainland well in advance."

"Well, I shouldn't have been there yet," remarked Char
lotte, with wry logic. "Alex, Maria has everything ready.
And I'm sure she's brought as many babies into the world as
this nurse you've employed."

Alex got to his feet to pace restlessly about the room.
"You can't seriously think that I would allow Maria ..."

"What else can you do?"-she asked gently. "Alex, I'm not
frightened, honestly. I'm young - and healthy. And you can
hold my hand."

"Oh,
Charlotte !"
He squatted down beside her, taking her
hands and raising them to his lips. "You know I'd do any
thing for you, don't you?" His eyes lifted to hers. "Will you
let me be there - when our child is born?"

Charlotte nodded her head. "If that's what you want."

"It is," he said huskily. "If I had my way, I'd never leave
you again."

Maria came in then with the tea, and Charlotte had no time
to ponder that remark. Besides, she had another spasm, and
Maria gave a resigned sigh.

"Should I fetch
Eleni
?" Alex asked
,
looking from his wife to the servant, and then back to his wife again, but Charlotte
shook her head.

"Why worry her?" she asked, quivering a little because
Alex was still holding her hand. "We can manage, can't we?"

Alex sprawled on the couch beside her, his expression vaguely self-derisory. "I hope so," he murmured ironically.
"I really hope so."

Charlotte's son was born at seven o'clock the next morning.
He was a healthy six and three-quarter pounds, and lost no
time in letting everyone know that he had a strong pair of
lungs. Alex himself was there at the delivery, and it was he
who laid their son in Charlotte's arms.

Charlotte stared down at the baby, feeling an over
whelming sense of pride and achievement, touching his rosy
cheeks and stroking the silky dark hair which lay close
against his head.

“Why, he looks like you," she murmured, raising her eyes
to Alex's face, and he grinned whimsically.

"Who did you expect?" he asked, gently teasing, coming
down beside her on the bed and looking critically at his son.
"Do you really think he does?" He wrinkled his nose. "Do I
screw my face up like that, and don't I have any lashes?"

"That is only because the baby is a few weeks premature," Maria exclaimed, pausing in the process of tidying the bed.
"You know very well he is exactly like you."

Charlotte looked up into Alex's eyes with their thick fringe
of black lashes, and her lips parted to allow the tip of her tongue to appear. "You know, you looked
tireder
last night
than you do this morning," she said wonderingly. "And you
haven't had a wink of sleep."

"Nor have you," Alex reminded her softly, but she shook her head.

"I slept yesterday evening. I must have been unconsciously
preparing myself for the ordeal."

"Was it? Such an ordeal, I mean?" Alex regarded her
doubtfully, but she shook her head, poking her little finger
into the baby's fist, and smiling as she felt his tiny fingers
closing round hers.

"It wasn't an ordeal at all," she admitted with a sigh.
"Oh, I feel tired now, but it was a tremendous experience. I
wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"Do you mean that?" Alex continued to look at her, and
she nodded her head.

"Of course."
Then she looked up at him again. "You were
marvellous
, too. Thank you. I don't know how you could stand it."

Alex made a teasing face at her. "I must admit, there was a moment when I felt like keeling over," he admitted. "But it was worth it
And
when I saw him coming ..." He shrug
ged expressively.
"My son!
Oh, yes, it was worth it."

Charlotte sighed again, and Maria came bustling up. "It is
time you were settling down for a sleep,
kyria
"
she said
firmly, glancing reprovingly at her master. "And you need
some sleep too, I think," she added.

She bent down and lifted the baby from Charlotte's arms,
and with a regretful smile, Charlotte let him go. Then, as
Maria carried him across to the hastily contrived cot, made out of one of the dressing table drawers, Alex bent his head and found Charlotte's parted lips with his mouth. He caught
her unawares, and almost without thinking, she lifted her hands and put them behind his neck, holding him closely.

"Charlotte!" he muttered thickly, having to raise his arms
to free himself.
"Please!"

Charlotte sank back among the pillows, momentarily con
tent, but a trace of
anixiety
darkened her eyes when, after
another brief look at his son, he left the room. He could
afford to be generous, she thought uneasily. He had every
reason to be delighted with her. At the first attempt, she had
produced the son he so desperately wanted. He must know that her part of the contract had been fulfilled to his satis
faction