'But tameable,' he suggested, a glint coming into the dark eyes.
'Do you think so?'-She looked up at him impudently. 'I'm not so sure. I don't know if I have a cage big enough.'
'I shan't need a cage,' he promised. 'I'll never try to escape.'
She had been a child when he first seduced her and all their lovemaking had been silent, heated, secretive. Gideon had been unwilling to speak too much for fear of what he might let slip and Marina had been too uncertain, too shy, to say much. She realised that their marriage had never been real until now. They had never communicated beyond the fierce abandon of their lovemaking. They had a lot to learn about each other. She was a woman now. It had been a painful and difficult growing up but it was over now. She looked at Gideon and wondered if he knew how far they had both come in the past year when they were apart. They had each taken a silent, bitter journey into themselves, but they had returned, like characters in a fairy story, with miraculous discoveries.
Gideon knew from her face that dark thoughts were passing through her head. He held her tightly, his strong body sheltering her from the onslaught of the cruel wind.
'Don't shut me out,' he said huskily. 'What's wrong? Don't you believe me? You must believe me, Marina.'
'I do,' she said. 'I love you, Gideon.'
His mouth shook slightly. 'Darling,' he muttered, lowering his head to search for her mouth again.
All the cold chill, the pain and uncertainty, had fallen away. They had to learn to forget the past. An obsession with past pain could be as dangerous as any other.
They walked back to the cottage hand in hand. 'I've got a tour coming up, I'm afraid,' Gideon admitted. 'I don't want to go, but I've agreed to and I can't let people down. Will you come, Marina?' His hand held hers possessively. 'I don't want to leave you behind again.'
'Of course I'll come,' she said lightly. 'Try and leave me!'
He laughed, looking sideways with a glimmer of amusement.
'I shall haunt you like a ghost,' she teased.
'You have for months,' he muttered.
'We're not going to talk about what's over,' she said with a crisp command that made him smile again.
'No,' he accepted.
'This is a new beginning.'
'Yes,' said Gideon, and something in his tone made her look at him with quick comprehension.
'I wonder if Grandie is out,' he said softly, and laughed as her colour rose. He grinned at her. 'I saw him trotting off to the village as I arrived. He gave me a funny look.'
'The way you come and go I'm not surprised!'
'I'll never go again,' he whispered, kissing her cheek. 'You'll never get rid oL me, Marina. I mean to stick like glue.'
The cottage was silent and empty, the wind roaring round it in a constant howl which made the trees lash to and fro and the windows rattle.
He held her cradled against his heart, kissing her passionately. 'Tell me you love me.'
'I told you,' she said, opening drowsy eyes which held an inviting smile, watching the blaze of responsive hunger growing in his dark eyes.
'Tell me again,' he said huskily.
She said it in a soft sensual voice, watching his colour deepen and his eyes darken.
'Oh, God,' he groaned as he pulled her down on to the bed. 'I love you, darling.'
He lost control from that moment. All the cool, clever processes of his brain ceased to function. He touched her with hands that trembled, his heart so fast she could hear its pounding as he moved against her, and his face was taut with a hunger which was driving both of them. He made love to her as if all his life went into the satisfaction of that need. He had abandoned all his defences, eager to show her openly how much he cared. Her hands caressed the smooth cool back, meeting his demand with her own, the supple movements of her slender body, bringing gasps of agonised pleasure from him. They had never made love like this before. Gideon's hoarse cries Of love had an abandonment which gave him to her finally and for ever.
They slept afterwards for an hour, a sheet thrown
over their bodies, and when Marina yawned and opened her eyes she found Gideon still sleeping but with his arms clamped round her as though he were afraid to let her go even in sleep.