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possible; we'll never know.'
Maybe it was pointless to speculate now, Nicole thought. Had
Melanie always been slightly jealous of Sam's devoted affection,
though? She had tried to coax Sam into being fond of her at an early
stage and failed. Had she tried to get Frazer away from Nicole
because Frazer was an authoritative figure; adult and mature and
tailor-made to be a godlike father figure?
'You were lucky,' Frazer said suddenly. 'You had a firm background;
Sam and your parents had taught you to be self-reliant and
self-confident. You had more going for you than Melanie ever did.'
'I used to envy her," Nicole said. 'She was so pretty and popular;
everyone loved her. I was always the odd one out; gawky and
self-conscious, I could never make friends quickly the way Melanie
did. I thought she was the lucky one, then.'
'You were wrong,' he said.
'Yes. But that's easy to say with hindsight.'
'Why did you come, Nicole?' he asked very quietly. 'What were you
trying to find out? Was this some sort of pilgrimage? On your own
behalf or Melanie's?'
'I lied to you. I did see Bevis, he did tell me Melanie was dead.'
Frazer sat upright, staring at her fixedly. She looked down at her
hands lying loosely in her lap and twined her fingers together as she
told him how she had come to meet Bevis again and what Bevis had
told her. This time she told him the exact truth; there was no point in
lying any more, she was certain she knew what had happened
between him and Melanie, between Melanie and Paul Vourlamis.
Frazer hadn't been lying to her just now when he said Melanie
destroyed herself but Bevis had been lying when he told her he
believed Frazer had killed his sister. Bevis had hated Frazer, he was a
drug addict, which was no doubt why he had been having hassle from
those thugs that night. He hadn't wanted the police called because he
couldn't afford to get involved with the police; Bevis lived outside the
law.
She told Frazer all about that, too, and Frazer said: 'He has: to get
money for drugs somehow; he's probably mixed up with criminals.'
'That was what I worked out at the time. He was getting a beating up
because he'd made someone angry, and he knew those boys. He was
more scared of the police than anything else.'
'Did he know you were coming here? Did you tell him you'd come?'
She shook her head.
'You're very discreet,' Frazer drawled, and she smiled up at him,
leaning back with her arms raised over her head, linking them above
her silvery hair.
'In my job I have to be.'
'I like you better when you're not so cool,' he said softly, and Nicole
felt a flicker of panic. She got up and Frazer rose at the same instant,
blocking her way as she moved towards the door.
'I'm going to have a shower before dinner,' she said huskily. A strange
trembling sensation had begun inside her as Frazer moved closer, his
eyes brooding on her face.
'But then that's half your fascination,' he went on, ignoring her
remark. 'On the-surface you're cool and very together, a tough lady to
tangle with but you said yourself, nobody changes that much;
underneath there must still be that girl I met in Mailaig.' He caught
her face between his hands before she could move back; his fingertips
pressed against her pale temples and he stared down into her eyes.
'Where is she? In here ..." His fingers were forced down against the
bones and she gave a little gasp of protest.
As her mouth parted, Frazer bent and kissed it, and at the first touch
of his mouth she felt flame shoot through her body, it arched towards
him in an involuntary movement, and his hand dropped to curve
round her waist and pull her closer. She weakly lifted her own arms
and slid them round his neck, her senses leaping with a powerful
desire which wiped out of her mind everything else but the
satisfaction her body was demanding. Eight years ago she had ached
to have Frazer make love to her; he had awakened her sensuality
without ever satisfying it, and she hadn't allowed anyone to get that
close again. She hadn't met anyone who matched up to the masculine
image Frazer had imprinted on her imagination all those years ago.
She kissed him passionately, trembling as his hands gently touched
her, but even now she couldn't silence her mind; it kept pushing
questions at her, tormenting her with uncertainties.
She pulled back her head, breathing thickly, and Frazer looked down
at her with eyes which leapt with feeling.
'Have you had an affair with Irena Vourlamis?' Nicole stammered
huskily.
He swore, closing his eyes briefly. They opened again and the blue [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]