page25 (1/2)

‘Slade…’

His finger touched her lips and she was surprised to feel how much it trembled

‘Don’t say anything,’ he urged her ‘I know you’re sexually attracted to row to match mine for you, but even if it doesn’t I believe we have a chance together, a… What’s the matter?’ he demanded, as she suddenly stiffened and stared at him

‘You love me?’

He frowned ‘Oh, coames, haven’t I just spent the last fifteen minutes…’ He broke off and stared at her ‘What the hell did you think I meant?’

‘I thought you were talking about h for both of us,’ she said softly ‘I thought you’d guessed… that you knew’

‘You love me?’

She could feel hie of power

‘Very much,’ she admitted simply ‘So much! Slade…’

She reached blindly for hirily, possessing it with an urgency that sent her blood singing wildly through her veins

‘Thank God for Kirsty,’ he said unevenly when he at last released her ‘If it hadn’t been for her we could have gone on for ever, neither of us realising… I nearly went ht you were lost in the snow,’ he said abruptly ‘A saint couldn’t have resisted,’ he added huskily I knew half of what you were doing was only induced by the brandy, and that’s what stopped me in the end I wanted you to love me, not just desire me, which infuriated me even further Afterwards, I told myself that if I could turn the clock back to e first met… but even that didn’t work, and exorcise you as I’d hoped All it did was make me want you more than ever Chelsea…’

At the end of January Slade and Chelsea returned from their honeymoon in the Caribbean Typically, Slade had been in no mind to wait once he knew she loved him They had been married very quietly in Melchester, a mere ten days after Kirsty’s visit Ann had been at first embarrassed and then enchanted when she discovered who her new brother-in-laas to be

Chelsea had stayed with her sister and Ralph until her rined and hurt, but on the first ether, Chelsea held possessively within Slade’s ar on the beach just outside theof their villa, Slade had explained that he had deliberately kept some distance between them until they were married

‘Knowing it would be the first time for you, I wanted to ainst her throat, ‘and if you’d continued to live at Darkwater, I couldn’t have trusted myself to wait’

There had been a lump in Chelsea’s throat He had made it perfect for her; by his patience and skill as s he had chosen, tenderly fuelling her desire until the brief pain his possession brought was soon forgotten in the ecstasy that followed

Now they were back at Darkwater and the old house was ale had been dise came in to help with the housework Chelsea preferred it that way because it s completely alone

‘Looks good, doesn’t it?’ Slade commented, as they both studied the tapestry, which was now allery

‘Fantastic,’ Chelsea agreed, her, eyes drawn to the golden-haired girl she had so carefully worked on, a s at the corners of her mouth

‘All right,’ Slade grinned, reading herabout her’

‘I knew all along that she really loved hily ‘Feminine intuition!’

She had been thrilled and delighted the day Slade came home to tell her that from some documents the Trust had discovered in the house it was apparent Damask had loved her Crusader and that apparently he had been deceived by his brother, just as Chelsea had i his crime to his priest on his deathbed

With Slade’s arainst him She could still hardly believe that they were ed at her lips and Slade smiled down at her,

‘How’s your intuition working now, Mrs Ashford?’ he murmured softly ‘If it doesn’t tell you that your husband is extremely anxious to make love to you then it’s badly at fault’