An Affair to Forget Read Free Page A

“Well,” he murmured, “you’ve had your chance,” and bent to claim her lips again, before travelling with tantalising slowness down her throat to rest on the soft skin at the neck of her blue sweater. As she arched her head back to expose her throat to his kisses part of Morrin’s mind, the practical part, was shocked by her behaviour, but it was only a token protest, quickly smothered, as his mouth warmed her breasts through the thin woollen sweater and she buried her face in his hair, inhaling its outdoor fragrance, by the pleasure of being with him at last.
    Freeing one arm, Gareth pulled a cushion from the chair where she had been sitting and tossed it to the rug before easing her down to lie with her head pillowed. As he leaned over her firelight danced over the planes and angles of his face. She reached up to touch him, but he took her hands in one of his, kissing the fingertips. Morrin sighed again, closing her eyes, smiling as she felt one finger gently tracing the outline of her face, stroking a curl back from her forehead. He touched the upturned corners of her mouth and said, “Why have you kept it a secret for so long?”
    “ Kept what a secret?”
    “ All this passion. I like it,” he murmured, then suddenly the room beyond his head flared into harsh, revealing light.
    Morrin ’s hands flew instinctively to cover her eyes, then she took them away as she heard Gareth say, “And then there was light… just at the wrong time, too. Well, we can fix that.”
    “ No…” She sat up as he scrambled to his feet. Shame swept over her as she looked round the bright room, seeing the empty dishes and glasses on the table, the cushion on the floor, her own dishevelled appearance. “Leave it on!”
    Her hair was a mess, her skirt tangled round her thighs, her sweater rumpled up. She got up, frantically trying to tidy herself. “We mustn’t – I mean, I’m sorry… I should never have…”
    Her voice was panicky, and so were her movements as she smoothed her hair with shaking hands and replaced the cushion on the chair, averting her face from him.
    “ What’s all the panic about?” His voice took on an edge. “We’re adults, both free to follow our inclinations. And I must say, I like your inclinations. So what’s wrong? Relax, Morrin, enjoy life.”
    “ It was a… a mistake, that’s all. We shouldn’t have – ” She was babbling like an idiot but she couldn’t stop her tongue from running on. She scurried about the room, blowing out the candles and gathering the dishes together. “Where’s the tray?”
    “ It’s a bit late to say that we shouldn’t have.” Gareth came back to her, catching her by the shoulders and turning her about to face him. “Because we did, didn’t we? And I for one enjoyed it.”
    Unable to meet his gaze she concentrated instead on staring at his chin. But that meant that she could also see the warm, passionate mouth that had so easily aroused her answering desire. Far too easily. She closed her eyes.
    “ Don’t tell me you weren’t having a good time as well. I had no idea that a quiet little scrap of a thing like you could be so…”
    “ Stop it!” She tried to twist away, but he refused to break his grip.
    “ Morrin, let your hair down… let yourself go for once. What just happened between us was – ” He broke off, then said, “It was good. It takes two to start a fire like – ”
    The phone’s sudden ringing made her jump. Gareth frowned, his fingers tightening on her shoulders. “Leave it.”
    But the phone had saved her, just when she was in danger of slipping once more under his spell. She squirmed out from under his grasp and picked up the receiver, silently uttering a prayer of thanksgiving to whoever was calling. She had to take a deep breath before she could trust her voice to recite the phone number steadily.
    “ Is Gareth there?” It was a woman’s voice; low and husky, not a voice that Morrin knew.
    “ Yes, he’s here.” He