Borrowed Wife (5 page)

He was
treating her carefully and she knew it. She was utterly enthralled by him but
he never let her get too close. Sometimes when she left him she felt
frustrated, longing for something she barely understood, longing for just one
moment of commitment, one kiss, but Logan him never did more than hold her hand
and smile into her eyes. She was completely safe with him and completed
bewildered by his actions.

He didn’t seem to be able
to keep away from her for more than a day and yet he never pressed any
advantage and Abigail wished he would. She longed to be swept off her feet, to
dive headlong into the swirling attraction she felt for him.

One
weekend they met at a restaurant and for the first few there was dancing. It
scared her a little to see the other people moving round the floor, and the
thought of being in Logan’s arms if he should ask her to dance made her
tremble. She had wanted to be in his arms since she had first seen him but
contrarily, now that the opportunity was near, she felt too shaken to condemn
it.

‘Come and
dance with me.’ Logan stood as they finished their meal and looked across at
her, his smiling eyes holding her fast.

Tingles
ran down her spine and her legs would scarcely hold her up as she rose. He came
to her, his arm coming round her waist as he led her to the floor, and as he
touched her awareness shot through her like a flame. She wasn’t even thinking
at all as he turned her in his arms and began to move with her to the slow,
sensuous rhythm of the dance.

Their
bodies touched for the first time and everything inside her flared more as she
felt the tightly leashed-in strength of him against ha softness. Beneath her
hand his shoulder tensed, his powerful muscles moving beneath the smooth cloth
of his jacket She looked up into his face but he was looking beyond her,
unsmiling, his face taut with something almost like anger, and saw again the
command he had, the control he had of his own mind and body. There was a
dominance and mastery about him that left her feeling awestricken.

He looked
down at her, his gaze moving slowly over her upturned face, searching every
feature, his strange silvery eyes glowing like the eyes of some beautiful
hunting creature, and then he smiled, his hand lifting caress her cheek in a
tender gesture that seemed to torn from him

‘Abigail,’
he said softly. ‘Beautiful Abigail with hair like a black-bird’s wing and eyes
like emeralds.’

She
didn’t blush at such softly spoken words although normally she would have been
utterly confused. Instead something sweet and exciting burst inside her, curling
around, flooding her whole body with delight. Her breath seemed to have left
her and she tried to regain it with a shaken sigh. His eyes narrowed on her and
he took one trembling hand in his, bringing it to his chest and holding it
there against the steady beat of his heart

Neither
of them was smiling now. They seemed to be incapable of looking away from each
other, until Logan brought her closer, his face against her hair.

‘Shall we
go?’ he asked quietly, and all Abigail could do was nod. Words were beyond her.
Something had happened to her that had never happened before. Every-ending was
tingling, her heartbeats threatened to choke her and as she walked from the
floor and left the restaurant with Logan’s arm around her waist she shivered
with reaction.

He took her hand, walking
beside her to his car with the same smooth animal grace she had been noticing
since she had first seen him. He was miles beyond her reach, light years above
her and tears came into her eyes, hot and burning. It wasn’t fair. There would
never be anyone like Logan again, ever. He would tire of seeing her.  What
could he possibly want with an immature nineteen-year-old? There must be women
lining up to go out with him-hundreds of women.

In the
car, Logan turned to look at her and she quickly looked away, hiding her face,
afraid that he would see the stupid tears that hadn’t left her shining eyes. He
tilted her small chin and turned her to face him and when she refused to look
at him his lips brushed hers softly as he lean across to her

It was
gentle, experimental, hardly a kiss at all, but she grasped with the shock of
it, trembling violently, and he brought her towards him, his lips teasing the
side of her mouth before he pulled her fully into his arms and kissed her
deeply. His lips were hard, warm, instantly insistent and his whole body tensed
with shock as he felt her response It was inevitable, unavoidable Pure sexual
pleasure raced through Abigail for the first time in her life and Logan
gathered her closer, his arms imprisoning her  as she tilted her face willingly
and innocently.

The kiss
seemed to go on for ages but actually it was no more than a few seconds and
then Logan drew away, releasing her and sitting back, his eyes closed as he
fought to control the breathing that was ragged in his throat.
Abigail
was shaking uncontrollably and he looked across at her, taking her
hand and squeezing it in his almost cruelly.

‘I’ll take you home,’ he
offered thickly, but she shook her head.

‘I—I have
my car.’

‘You’re
not fit to drive, Abigail. I’ll take you.’

‘It’s a
long way and—and, in any case, if my car is here then I’ll not be able...
Tomorrow is Sunday... if you want to see me—’

‘You know
I want to see you,’ he told her huskily.
‘You’ll come on the train.
I’ll be waiting for you at station. Ten o’clock. We’ll have the whole day.’

‘I’ll
tell you where I live,’ she began, delirious with joy that he still wanted to
see her even after he had kiss her, but Logan simply started the car and didn’t
look her.

‘I know
where you live.’ She didn’t question that Logan knew everything, he was
perfection. She worshipped him.

At her
door he didn’t kiss her again and Abigail was glad. If he had done she would
not have been able to make her legs walk inside.

‘Tomorrow,
early,’ he ordered as he lifted her hand to his lips. ‘I’ll be waiting,
Abigail.’

She
couldn’t sleep. It was all like a dream. Her father had still been in his study
and she had simply poppet her head round the door and said goodnight, thankful
that it had not dawned on him that a car had pulled away from the house, that
it had obviously not been hers. He hardly glanced at her but she didn’t care.
Her heart and mind were singing — Logan. Logan. Tomorrow she would see him
again and this time it would be different.

He was waiting as she got
off the train the next day and his face lit up at the sight of her. His glance
flared over her and she knew that she looked nice. Her summer skirt- was dark
green, the same colour as the sleeveless blouse. She wore, and her tiny waist
was encircled by a golden belt to make it more dressed up. She wore high-heeled
gold sandals and Logan laughed as his eyes moved over her slender legs and saw
her foot gear.

‘I see we’re not walking,’
he murmured in amusement, and Abigail found it possible to laugh too, for the
first feeling almost an equal.

She dived into her shoulder
bag and brought out flat sandals, dangling them in front of him.

‘I’m prepared for
anything,’ she pronounced gaily.

‘Are you?’ He looked at her
steadily for a second and her face flushed softly before he took pity on her
and held out his hand. ‘Let’s go,’ he ordered quietly. ‘I suppose I’ll have to
get you in early tonight. Tomorrow is a work day. We’ll start now so as not to
miss a minute.’

It was exhilarating and she
snuggled into his car, turning to him eagerly.

‘Where are we going?’ She
looked so bright-eyed, so beguiling that Logan stared at her for a second
before answering.

‘On the river, I’ve got a
boat moored by a small inn not too many miles away. We’ll go there and eat and
then we’ll sail away into the distance.’

Abigail could have hugged
herself with excitement and he glanced at her, his mouth twisting in amusement.

‘I don’t expert you’ve been
on a boat before.’

‘Not on the Thames,’ she agreed. She tossed her head proudly. ‘I’ve been on a cruise, though. I’ve been
to Jamaica and cruised round the Caribbean.’

‘Oh! Big stuff,’ he mocked
softly ‘There’s nothing so exciting to offer here. There may be the odd duck
but nothing to contend with such sophistication.’

‘You—’ Abigail pouted ‘—are
laughing at me.’

‘It seems
to be a good idea,’ he confessed quietly. You look like an enchanted princess.
Laughter is a very safe emotion. I think we’ll laugh all day.’

That
succeeded in wiping any amusement from Abigail’s face because she knew what he
meant. He devoured her with his eyes as she had stepped off the train and now
there was an atmosphere crackling between them, frightening and thrilling. She
wanted him to touch her again; she wanted it so badly that her heart began to
beat with a new cadence, and he knew. It was there in the stillness of his
face, in the tight grip head on the wheel.

‘I’m
sorry,’ she whispered.

‘Can you
help it?’ he asked darkly, not even pretending that he didn’t know what she
meant.

‘No.’ she
couldn’t help it. She wanted Logan to love her, to make love to her. She had
felt like that for days and it was hurting.

‘Neither
can I.’ he confessed quietly. ‘Maybe this should be our last outing.

His words
were so unexpected that Abigail caught her breath, her flushed cheeks going
white.

‘Don’t
leave me, Logan,’ she whispered despairingly. His head shot round and as he saw
the pallor of her face he pulled into the side of the busy road, reaching for
her and crushing her against him.

‘God! I
can’t!’ he muttered hoarsely. His head bent and his lips caught hers almost
violently, the intensity of the kiss sending liquid fire through her veins, and
instantly her lips parted beneath his, her innocent surrender making him
tighten his grip for a second.

‘Not
here,’ he said huskily, putting her away from him with thrilling reluctance.

It was only as she looked
up with bewildered eyes that she saw several astonished bystanders, and by that
time Logan’s Jaguar was smoothly moving, saving her embarrassment.

‘Oh
dear,’ she murmured, and Logan threw his head back, laughing delightedly, the
tension easing from his shoulders.

‘Well,
they didn’t bend down to look more closely,’ he pointed out with a grin. His
silver glance lanced though her. ‘Do you still want to go on that boat trip?’
he asked softly.

‘Yes.’ He
was asking her if he had frightened her and she knew she should be wary but she
loved him too much for that. She had never felt like this before and Logan felt like it too. Nothing else mattered.

CHAPTER THREE

It
was
a wonderful day. They went to look
at the boat that was moored by the old inn and Abigail look off her sandals and
climbed on board, eagerly inspecting everything. It was not a grand boat but it
was much bigger than she had expected. It was rocking slightly on the sunlit water
and she stood on the dock and breathed in the warm, honey-scented air.

‘It’s
marvellous!’ she proclaimed, and Logan look at her ruefully, his eyes making a
lightning foray over her entranced face.

‘You’re
the easiest girl in the world to please, Abigail,’ he assured her in amusement
as he leapt down to the river bank.

She lost
some of her animation then, thinking that she detected a note of cynicism. She
felt embarrassed, as if she was behaving like a child, and the smile died on
her face.

‘I
suppose you’re used to more sophisticated women,’ she managed sharply, stifling
the hurt that rose at once. It felt as if he had rejected her, been bored with
her enthusiasm, and for a minute she was close to tears.

‘Very
sophisticated women,’ he mocked, his grey eyes inspecting her flushed face as
he looked up at her ‘They never show enthusiasm. This little boat would bore
them senseless.’

Abigail’s
soft mouth drooped and she looked away from the taunting crystal eyes, the day
suddenly losing its glow.

‘I can’t
pretend,’ she confessed in a choked voice. ‘If I like something, I have to show
it. Perhaps, one day, I’ll be able to curb my childish excitement.’

‘Come
here, Abigail.’ The low, dark voice sent a shiver down her spine. It seemed to
teach right into the centre of her being and her wide green eyes met his
unhappily. ‘Collect your sandals and come here,’ he ordered softly, and she
picked up her sandals and stepped to the edge of the boat.

He
reached for her, his hands spanning her tiny waist as he lifted her down, and
it was done so gently that Abigail felt pleasure run all through her. When she
bent in fasten her sandals, Logan held her arm, and as she straightened up his
hands cupped her flushed face and held it up to his.