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against the hollow of her back, and she stirred against him even though her

  capricious body was beginning to yearn for something more.

  'I'm finding it extremely difficult being on my best behaviour with you,' he

  smiled down at her twistedly, and his voice deepened on a note of passion

  which was beginning to find an echo within her.

  'Perhaps it's time you took me home,' she managed huskily, drawing a little

  away from him as she felt him tense.

  'You're not serious.'

  'I'm afraid I am,' she smiled a little shakily, not trusting herself .to say more

  at that moment.

  'Well,' he sighed resignedly, releasing her with the light of mockery back

  in his eyes, 'I did say that I would take you home at any time during the

  course of the evening, didn't I?'

  An impregnable silence seemed to settle between them during the drive back

  to her cottage. Was he angry? she wondered. Or couldn't he care less? There

  were, she supposed miserably, plenty of women only too willing to k give him

  what she had refused.

  'I'm not going to invite you in, Dane,' she said, unlocking the door of the

  cottage, but his hand reached over her shoulder and pushed the door open

  further.

  'I'm coming in all the same,' he announced, following her inside and,

  taking the keys from the lock, he closed the door behind him.

  'This has gone far enough!' Jessica exclaimed, nervous and seeking

  refuge in anger as she flicked on the lights in the lounge.

  'I agree with you,' Dane said tersely, dropping her keys on to the low table,

  and grasping her firmly by the shoul-

  ders. 'Dammit, Jessica, you're the most frustrating woman I've ever met!'

  The look in his eyes sparked off a danger signal in her mind, but she chose to

  ignore it as she shrugged herself free, and marched away from him towards the

  kitchen. 'I'll make you a cup of coffee, and then you're going home.'

  The coffee was never made. When she switched on the kettle he reached from

  behind her to switch it off again and, pivoting to face him, the angry burst of

  words died instantly on her lips. She was wedged between Dane and the steel

  cupboard, and danger lurked in those narrowed, glittering eyes. She was short,

  and he was tall. Too damned tall, she decided as he towered above her

  menacingly with his wide shoulders blotting out the light which hung from the

  kitchen ceiling, and she knew suddenly that indescribable fear of an animal

  trapped with no escape hatch in sight.

  His hands were spanning her slim waist, his fingers biting through the silk of

  her dress into the flesh below her ribcage and, before she could begin to suspect

  what he had in mind, she found herself lifted off the floor until her wide,

  startled eyes were on a level with his.

  'Put me down at once!' she ordered sharply, her hands clutching instinctively

  at his shoulders where the bulging muscles rippled beneath her touch, but the

  look in those eyes so close to her own told her that he had no intention of doing

  as she had requested.

  'Put your arms around my neck and kiss me.'

  His words fell like pebbles on the already disturbed surface of her mind, and

  her eyes darkened with anger and alarm. She felt like kicking his shins, but she

  knew without being told that she would regret such an action.

  'I'll do nothing of the kind!' she exclaimed at last in a choked voice, and her

  futile efforts to escape merely evoked his mocking laughter.

  'You weigh hardly anything at all, Jessica, and I'm quite prepared to stand here

  like this until you do as I say.'

  And he would too, she realised frantically, loving yet hating the feel of his hard

  body against her own at that moment.

  'You're detestable, Dane Trafford!' she hissed fiercely.

  'And you're adorable when you're angry,' he grinned. 'Kiss me.'

  He was immovable on this subject and, putting her arms hesitantly around his

  neck as he had instructed, she brushed her lips briefly against his.

  'Do you call that a kiss?' he laughed harshly.

  'Yes,' she snapped, her face suffused with abominable colour. 'Now let me go at

  once!'

  'Not until you've kissed me properly,' he instructed in an undaunted manner.

  'Put your lips against mine, and this time count to ten before you take them away.'

  Jessica was becoming desperate, and if this was the only way she was going to

  get rid of him, then she would simply have to indulge him in his foolishness. She

  lowered her lids over eyes that sparkled with fury, and pressed her lips against

  his.

  One .. . two . . . three . . . four .. .! It was not fair, but something was happening

  which she had not bargained for. His mouth had opened over hers, and her own

  lips had parted, allowing him to invade her mouth with a sensual iritimacy that

  sent exciting little tremors cavorting across receptive nerves. She could have

  drawn her lips from his at any time, but she didn't, and the kiss went on . . . and

  on . . . until every scrap of resistance died within her to leave her pliant and

  responsive.

  It was Dane who drew back a fraction to murmur against her lips, 'That was

  quite something, wasn't it?'

  The hint of mockery in his voice should have angered her, but instead her

  fingers tightened in his dark hair, and this was enough encouragement for him to

  seek her lips again. She had kissed before, but never like this, and never before

  had a man's kisses awakened such a tumult of emotions within her.

  Dane released her unexpectedly, setting her on her feet with a muttered curse

  on his lips. She blinked up into those pale, glittering eyes in a dazed, bewildered

  fashion, but before she could come to her senses she found herself draped across

  one hard arm, and her head was being forced back by the pressure of his mouth

  against her own. His passion, unleashed, was like the eruption of a violent storm

  and, caught in the midst of it, she could only cling to him while the devastation

  swept over her. Impatient fingers tugged at the zip of her dress, and the catch of

  her bra was no obstacle in his path. Somewhere from the drugged recesses of her

  mind came the warning to resist, but the sensual pressure of those clever fingers

  against her taut breast was igniting delicious little fires in her body which were

  spreading and gathering momentum until she knew the sweet agony of desire.

  She would despise herself later, but not now; not this minute.

  'I want you, Jessica,' Dane groaned against her quivering mouth, and his words

  acted like a douche of iced water on her fiery emotions, making her draw away

  from him to hold him at arm's length.

  Just like that?' she asked, lowering her dark lashes to hide the shame and the

  pain that mingled in her eyes.

  Just like that,' he confirmed abruptly, and a little callously, she thought.

  'I'm sorry, Dane,' she said, escaping from his arms and pushing past him on legs

  that felt peculiarly like jelly. 'I'm not in the market for that kind of relationship.'

  'I'd make sure you don't regret it.'

  'I don't doubt that your experience as a lover would see to that,' she laughed

  bitterly, her body still tingling with the expertise of his caresses as she turned to

  f
ace him

  from a safe distance. Tm still a bit old-fashioned about v such things, I'm afraid. I

  don't believe in .sleeping around.'

  'I detest that phrase "sleeping around",' he told her with a look of distaste

  flashing across his lean face. 'I'm not asking you to sleep around, but merely to

  let me make love to you.'

  'That's just it, Dane,' she remarked coldly after having won her battle to

  regain at least part of her composure. 'Love wouldn't enter into it at all; only

  lust, and I would end up feeling disgusted with myself.'

  His eyes mirrored mocking disbelief as they played over her small, slim

  figure standing so erect in the middle of the neat kitchen. 'How can you be

  sure?'

  'I know myself, Dane, and it wouldn't work.'

  Her hands fumbled awkwardly with the zip of her dress, and he came

  towards her, reaching behind her to pull it up deftly. Embarrassment stained

  her cheeks pink, but when she would have stepped away from him, his hand

  moved with swift precision to clasp a handful of hair at the back of her head,

  forcing her to meet the derisive mockery in his eyes.

  'What am I going to do about you, Jessica?'

  'Strike me off your list of possible conquests, and stick to women like Sylvia

  Summers,' she said with her heart beating in her mouth, and a terrible

  emptiness settling in her breast.

  'Perhaps that's exactly what I shall do,' he announced, wounding her more

  than he would ever know, and then his mouth clamped down on hers with a

  bruising intensity that left her pale and shaken when he finally released her.

  'Goodnight, Jessica.'

  CHAPTER SIX

  JESSICA arrived home on the Friday afternoon to find Vivien entertaining her

  parents, and the invitation had been issued for the three of them to dine with the

  O'Briens that evening. Jonathan and Amelia were both enchanted with Vivien,

  whose charm and sophistication was undeniable, and when Peter finally arrived

  home Jessica barely managed to get a word in edgeways to her father.

  As the evening progressed she realised that her parents were no longer in doubt

  about her decision to come to Louisville. Her father was enjoying a discussion

  with Peter on the latest medical data, and her mother was too busy admiring

  Vivien's delightful home.

  When they finally retired to Jessica's cottage, both Jonathan and Amelia agreed

  that Louisville was not such a bad town after, all, and they went to bed tired but

  contented after their long journey that day.

  Peter very kindly took Jonathan on a tour of the hospital the following

  morning, leaving Jessica alone with her mother, who wanted to know more about

  whether her daughter was not working too hard, and whether she was having the

  proper meals.

  ‘ I'm fine, Mother. Don't worry about me,'Jessica laughed reassuringly and, to

  set her mother's mind at rest, she told her of the many times she had arrived home

  a little late to find that Vivien had left her a cooked meal in the oven.

  'She's a wonderful woman,' Amelia admitted with a grateful smile.

  'Everyone here has been very kind to me, and I enjoy my work very much.'

  It was not until after lunch that afternoon that Jessica had the opportunity to

  speak to her father alone. Her mother was resting in the guest room, and when

  Jessica had tidied the kitchen she joined her father in the lounge. Jonathan was

  full of praise for the new, modern hospital he had visited that morning, and they

  discussed his tour in detail.

  'I must say, Jessica, that Peter O'Brien has impressed me a great deal,' Jonathan

  changed the subject eventually, stretching out his legs before him, and lying back

  in his chair with his pipe clenched between his teeth. 'What's his partner like?'

  'Dane Trafford?' Jessica hoped that she did not look as startled as she felt at that

  moment. 'Oh, he's . .. he's a very good doctor, and an excellent surgeon. He also

  happens to be very interested in neuro-surgery.'

  'Is that so?' Jonathan's dark eyes lit up with interest. 'Am I going to meet him?'

  'I don't imagine so. I

  ' The look of disappointment

  which flashed across her father's face made her change her mind reluctantly.

  'Shall I give him a ring and ask him to join us for tea this afternoon?'

  'Why not?' her father smiled, sending a cloud of smoke up towards the ceiling,

  and filling the room with the aromatic odour of his tobacco.

  The telephone was not in its usual place in the lounge. Jessica had left it

  plugged in beside her bed, but it was just as well that her father could not see her,

  for her fingers trembled as she looked up Dane's number and dialled it. It rang

  only briefly at the other end before it was answered, but the voice that came over

  the line was definitely not Dane's. It was a feminine, feline purr, and Jessica felt a

  cold, sick feeling lodge itself at the pit of her stomach.

  'Is that Dr Trafford's home?' she heard herself ask unnecessarily.

  'Yes, it is, but Dr Trafford is off duty this weekend, so may I suggest that you

  call his partner, Dr O'Brien.'

  The line went dead abruptly, cutting across Jessica's murmured 'Thank you',

  and her eyes were dark pools of pain as she slowly returned the receiver to its

  cradle.

  'Will he come?' Jonathan asked eagerly when Jessica • returned to the

  lounge.

  'I'm afraid not.' She sat down heavily on the arm of the chair which she had

  vacated prior to making that call to Dane's home. 'He ... he has another

  engagement.'

  'Pity,' Jonathan frowned with disappointment, then his dark glance

  sharpened. 'You've gone rather pale, Jessica. Is something wrong?'

  'Mild indigestion,' she prevaricated with a forced smile. 'I'll switch on the

  kettle and make us a pot of tea. Mother should be awake soon.'

  'You fool!' she cursed herself silently when she was alone in the kitchen.

  'You knew from the start what kind of man Dane Trafford was, and yet you

  allowed yourself to --------------------------- '

  She jerked her thoughts to an abrupt halt. She had allowed herself to what?

  Fall in love with him? Impossible! He was not at all the kind of man she could

  fall in love with, and yet. . . why did it hurt so much to think of him with

  another woman in his arms?

  'It's not hurt you're feeling, Jessica Neal,' she told herself fiercely, 'it's

  disgust!'

  Disgust! She clung to the word with a desperate urgency, but the pain did not

  ease, and neither did she dare allow herself further time to analyse what she

  was feeling.

  The weekend was over much too soon, and it was perhaps a blessing that

  Jessica did not see Dane until late on Monday afternoon. She had called Peter

  in to discuss one of her patients with him, and the conversation had inevitably

  turned to her parents when Dane walked in, looking immaculate as always in

  white pants and matching safari jacket, the colour accentuating his tanned

  fitness.

  'What a pity you didn't meet Jessica's parents over the weekend, Dane,' Peter

  remarked pleasantly, preparing to

  leave. 'Jessica's father, Jonathan Neal, is really one of the most interesting

  medical men I've spoken to yet, and you would
have found his knowledge on

  neuro-surgery most enlightening.'

  Dane did not reply, but his mouth tightened and, when the door closed behind

  Peter's lean frame, he asked coldly, 'Why didn't you let me know that your

  parents were spending the weekend with you?'

  Jessica slid off the corner of her desk and, afraid that he would see the

  ridiculous trembling of her hands, she thrust them into the pockets of her white

  jacket, and crossed the room to stand staring out of the window with unseeing

  eyes.

  'I did telephone your home Saturday afternoon with an invitation for you to join

  us for tea, but I discovered that you were fully occupied.'

  'Ah, yes .. . Sylvia.' His voice sounded grim, but not at all apologetic as he

  joined her beside the window. 'I suppose she took the call?'

  Jessica shrugged with a casualness she was far from experiencing. 'I presume it

  was her, unless you had more than one woman spending the weekend with you.'

  The atmosphere was heavily charged, then a heavy hand came down on to her

  shoulder and she was turned round to face him. 'One word from you, Jessica, and

  Sylvia Summers will become part of my past.'

  'And how long, I wonder, before you say the same about me to someone else?'

  she demanded cynically.

  'Dammit, Jessica!' His hand left her shoulder as if she had stung him, and his

  narrowed eyes were like twin fires licking her upturned face. 'I've never wanted

  another woman as much as I want you.'

  'I should feel flattered, I suppose, but I don't,' she heard herself projecting her

  voice beyond the tightness in her aching throat. 'If you want the truth, then I feel

  only degradation.'

  'My God!' His face went strangely white beneath his

  tan, and the hands that gripped her shoulders bit into them as if he wanted to

  crush the fragile bones beneath her jacket, but it was the cold fury in his eyes

  that frightened her most of all as he lashed her with his tongue. 'I'm willing to

  bet that degradation had nothing to do with what you felt the other night when I

  kissed you. What you felt was plain old-fashioned desire, so don't look down

  your pretty little nose at me, Jessica Neal, or I might decide to prove to you here

  and now what a damned liar you are!'

  Stabs of numbing pain shot into her shoulders and down the length of her

  arms, but it was nothing compared to the renewed bout of pain she was