Black Ice (8 page)

 

Kirri threw down her paintbrush and wiped her hands on an old towel. Concentrating on her work usually allowed her a respite from the problems in life which sometimes threatened to overwhelm her, but not this time. This problem was far too big to be pushed from her mind by the driving need to create, create, create.

Her reaction to Daniel's kiss had shocked her to the core. And his revelation that she had told him about her vow to marry a man who tasted like rainbows had caused her such consternation she had snatched up her bag and run from the house. Instead of going back to the gallery, she had driven to her flat and tried to distract herself with work.

She had learned more patience and self-discipline in the past two years than she'd thought herself capable of attaining. But now it had failed her. Her emotions were a jumbled mess, her thoughts a whirlwind, going fast but going nowhere. She brushed impatiently at a wayward lock that had escaped from the elastic capturing her hair at the nape of her neck.

A knock sounded on the door, and she frowned in annoyance. The last thing she felt like coping with at the moment was the elderly couple in the next flat. Immediately she felt ashamed of herself; she really did like the old couple. Friendly but not pushy, they had kept a neighbourly eye on her since her arrival, occasionally popping in with home-made biscuits or excess vegetables from their farmer son. Kirri was beginning to wonder if she wore a sign proclaiming she needed grandmotherly feeding up.

She walked out of the spare room and pulled open the front door.

Daniel's tall frame seemed to fill up the doorway. Her mind flashed back to this morning when he'd opened his door to her. A drop of water from his hair had fallen onto his shoulder, trickled down through the curls on his hard chest, and into the towel wrapped around his waist. He was a big man, but not a skerrick of fat marred his well-defined muscles, and her breath had caught at her body's involuntary reaction. Sheer physical desire had welled up so fast that even now the memory was swelling her breasts and pulsing through her.

'May I come in?'

'How did you know where I live?'

He nodded towards the lounge-room and she stepped aside. As he passed she caught again the wonderful scent that was his and his alone and colours flowed through her mind. She tried to stop them but it was as though she could no longer control them, as though Daniel were stronger than the self-control she had worked so hard to achieve.

His gaze swept the battered vinyl lounge suite and scuffed coffee table. 'Jenny told me.'

'Jenny would never tell anyone my address.' Daniel's presence had disconcerted her, and Kirri spoke so sharply his eyebrows drew together.

'I told her I was Catelyn's father.'

'What did you do that for? Jenny is my cousin. As soon as she gets home and tells her mother it will be only minutes before Aunt Deila is on the phone to my grandmother, and she'll tell J.D. Then he'll try to contact my mother, and … '

'Why don't you want your family to know that I'm Catelyn's father, Kirri?'

She saw the hurt in his eyes, and her anger subsided. 'I just needed some more time to come to terms with it myself, before I have to deal with my family putting me through the third degree.'

Daniel nodded in understanding.

'Kirri, you ran off so quickly … I was worried. We should talk.'

'What about?' Kirri ran her hands down the sides of her paint-spattered jeans.

'Us.'

'There is no "us", Daniel.'

'There was once. There could be again.'

'Why? So you can give up on me if I don't follow you to the ends of the earth?' No sooner were the bitter words uttered than Kirri recognised the feeling that had plagued her since she'd run from Daniel's devastating kiss.

Resentment. Resentment against Daniel not being there for her when she was injured, for not making contact with her when he'd finally found her. Resentment that he wasn't there to share Catelyn's birth. And resentment for the memories he had that she couldn't share.

'I've let you down, Kirri, and I'll never forgive myself for that. I just hope that one day you can forgive me.'

Kirri could see how wretched he felt. His misery touched her heart, but she refused to allow herself to offer him comfort.

'Why, Daniel? Why didn't you come out to Australia and talk to me when your private investigator found me? Why did you just assume I'd walked out on you? Did you think I was that shallow?'

'I thought you were the most genuine person I'd ever met.'

'Then why …'

Daniel reached up and ran strong fingers through his thick brown hair. Something tweaked quickly in Kirri's mind, then was gone. She fought desperately to get it back, but couldn't.

'Kirri, the only female contact I had when I was growing up, apart from the girls at school, was a housekeeper who believed in the adage that children should be seen and not heard, and my mother's mother who I only saw on school holidays. My father's sister lived in New York, and my father's parents had retired before I was born and gone to live in Florida. I don't know if I was different before my mother died, but I've been shy for as long as I can remember.'

'You don't seem very shy now.'

'Taking over my father's business cured that. But when I met you -'

'Where
did
we meet? Heavens, Daniel, it's so frustrating.' Kirri could hear the catch in her voice, knew she was in danger of bursting into tears. She began to pace the short distance between Daniel and the front door. 'You know so much about me, and I know
nothing
about you.'

'We met on the "Natchez" riverboat. It was tied up at the wharf, and the calliope on the top viewing deck was playing "When the Saints Go Marching In". Corny, I guess, but the tourists loved it. It was a perfect Fall day, not cool enough to need a jacket. You were watching the river, your hair was long and blowing back off your face.'

Her pacing slowed. His deep, quiet voice washed images over her.

'Your jeans and shirt were light denim, and you wore a vest that you'd painted. On the back was a bush scene, with kangaroos and koalas and all kinds of Australian native animals. And the front panels were like a section of the Great Barrier Reef. You told me it was your way of advertising the "best country in the world".'

By now she had stopped in front of him, soothed by the low, seductive timbre of his voice, by the scene he was describing. 'So you asked me about it?'

'Only after you'd spoken to me. I was so fascinated by you that I doubt I could have found the courage to talk to you.'

'So I …'

'It was the best pick-up line I'd ever heard. You turned around and caught me staring. For a whole minute you just looked back at me. Then you walked up to me and asked me if I carried a step-ladder for girls who wanted to kiss me.'

'I didn't!'

'You did.' That slow smile lit up his face, and Kirri had an almost uncontrollable urge to do exactly that - kiss him. 'What did you say?' she breathed.

'Nothing,' he said, leaning closer. 'I just bent down and looked you straight in the eye.'

'And did I … did I …'

'Kiss me? No. You just smiled and said my eyes reminded you of a golden retriever you'd had as a little kid. So I figured that even a sassy-mouthed redhead had to be all right if she loved dogs.'

Kirri opened her mouth to protest, but Daniel continued. 'After that, we went everywhere together. It was my third day in New Orleans and my first vacation in years that I hadn't spent learning Dad's business.'

Gently, he placed his large hands on her upper arms. His touch did strange things to her, heating her blood, disturbing her breathing.

'Kirri, I loved you from the first moment I saw you. And I learned the most terrible thing about love is that it makes you vulnerable. I found it hard to believe that this beautiful, talented woman would fall in love with me. When I received the phone call about Dad and had to fly back to Seattle, I knew I couldn't leave you behind. So I asked you to marry me. When you said yes I could hardly believe it. I'd never wanted to spend the rest of my life with anyone before I met you. I was content with my work, and I guess I never really thought a woman would be happy to share my fairly isolated existence.

'So when you didn't show up at the airport I began to doubt what you'd said. As the weeks went by I began to suspect that you'd agreed to marry me out of kindness, so I would be happy when I went to see my father. Or that you'd changed your mind and didn't know how to tell me. When I found out you'd returned to Australia it seemed to confirm this. And I guess I was beginning to doubt that someone as vibrant and beautiful as you could really love me.'

'You're kidding! You're attractive, sexy …' her voice trailed off as she realised how enthusiastic she sounded. 'and you seem to be a very nice person as well,' she finished lamely. 'It's hard to believe you were shy.' Especially the way his hands gently moved over her arms now, causing little tremors to pass through her body.

'It took me three days to work up the courage to kiss you.' Daniel wondered if he should do so now, but he was afraid Kirri would run from him as she had just a few short hours ago.

'And how long before we …' Kirri's voice shook as full realisation hit her. He could remember everything, what she looked like naked, what she felt like beneath him, how she moaned under his lovemaking … She had no doubts that she would have moaned, she was almost doing that now with only the feel of his hands caressing her skin. And she remembered nothing!

She could have screamed with the unfairness of it all. Instead she pulled away from him, stepped back two paces, and folded her arms. 'Strip!' she commanded.

'What?'

The look on his face was comical, but she wasn't in a laughing mood.

'It's not fair that you've seen me … naked, and I've only seen you half naked. If we're going to talk about … our relationship - the one we had,' she hastened to add, 'then I think it's only fair that I have some knowledge of what I … experienced.'

She watched his face as he thought about what she'd said, and decided that he should never play poker. Every thought was mirrored in his eyes, and she could see why she would have been attracted to him. If ever a man had an honest face, it was Daniel Brand. No wonder he had such a hard time in big business. The jackals of the corporate world would have tried to devour him. But as she observed his slow acceptance of what she had demanded, she realised that his honesty and determination would have earned him respect.

He began to unbutton his shirt, strong fingers working steadily while he looked straight at her. Not pausing to pull the shirt from his jeans, he undid his belt buckle, then the jeans stud. He didn't hurry, but his fingers didn't hesitate as he pulled down his zip.

Kirri tried to stay in control of her seesawing emotions. As Daniel slipped the shirt from his shoulders and the jeans from his hips, she cursed the impetuous nature and quick tongue she had inherited from her father. It had landed her in quite a few predicaments over the years, and as Daniel hooked his thumbs in his black briefs she suspected this might be the biggest one of all.

'So you think this is just a co-incidence? This Kirrily Smith brings Brand home from the hospital, turns up again this morning, drives him to the police station, the shopping centre, then takes him home and stays with him for a couple of hours. All because she saw him get knocked down yesterday?'

'Perhaps she's one of those Good Samaritan types,' Brett sneered.

'Or perhaps she found out how wealthy he is and thinks she's on to a good thing,' came the derisive reply.

'Maybe she's discovered his
thing
is pretty good anyway.'

The silence at the other end of the mobile told him his humour was unappreciated, but that gave him a perverse sense of satisfaction. 'At least
I
enjoy sex for its own sake.'

'Only because I hauled Harry off you. If he'd been allowed to finish what he'd started -'

'All right. I know.' Brett shuddered at the memory of meaty hands roughly grabbing his narrow, adolescent hips, forcing him to bend over … Those same hands groping between his thighs … Sweat began to pour down his face.

'What are they doing now?'

Brett sighed, and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. 'Brand's still at her place. It was easy following him, he's obviously got a lot on his
mind
.'

His inference was ignored, and the response was, as usual, back to business. 'Obviously the peanut oil hasn't worked yet. You did remove the syringe?'

'Yes.'

'Good. Well, there's still a chance. Give it a day or two, but if you see an opportunity -'

'I know. Phone you before I put any plan into action.'

This time the silence was different, and Brett could imagine the smile of approval and satisfaction.

 

Kirri's instincts warned her she should tell Daniel to stop. Already her body was reacting to the revelations of his leisurely strip-tease. She hadn't known she could be turned on by the sight of a man's body to the extent her mouth actually watered.

The words that formed in her mind were lost as he pushed his briefs down, one agonisingly slow second after another. Her knees locked with the effort of supporting her suddenly boneless legs as he straightened up, his gaze never leaving her face.

She searched for something to say that might convey the confident, controlled attitude she was far from feeling, and tried not to stare at the thick length outlined by dark curls. Determinedly, she focussed on the bruising on his thigh, then her gaze dragged up to meet his, and the passion she saw there finally loosened her tongue.

'No wonder the condom broke,' she whispered. Then her words registered in her mind and she knew the blush that swept her neck and face must be the same shade as her hair.

In a valiant attempt to regain control of the situation she said 'I see you have an all-over tan. Do you go to a solarium?'

His lips twitched a little, as though he was trying not to smile. 'Nope. I'm always this colour. That's one thing I inherited from my mom.' The smile broke out as though he couldn't help it. 'We don't get a lot of sunshine in Seattle. There's too much rain. It gets so bad we wear t-shirts that say "We don't tan - We rust".'