Darkest Longings (74 page)

begged him to take her now.

‘I can feel you,’ she moaned. ‘I can feel you filling me and

filling me and oh … Oh!’ Her scream was drowned by his

kiss, and as her legs gripped his waist he pushed his hands

beneath her and lifted her to meet his thrusts. And then he

was so deep inside her that waves of ecstasy broke through

her body and she began to sob and whimper and cry into his

open mouth.

‘Hold back,’ he groaned. ‘Hold back …’

‘I can’t. Oh, Francois!’

‘Tell me you love me,’ he panted, throwing his full weight

behind the pounding of his hips.

‘je t ‘aime!’ she cried. But the words were strangled in her

throat as she started to shudder and convulse. He pushed

her legs up to his shoulders and drove even deeper inside

her, and then he was there with her, releasing his seed into

the demanding pressure of her climax.

He fell over her, letting her legs go and feeling them slide

down his back and over his thighs. Her arms lay limply

across the sheets and her heart thudded loudly against his.

‘I love you, Claudine,’ he murmured, a long time later. ‘I

love you, but if you make me do that again tonight…’

She giggled, and turned her face to kiss him.

Gently he eased himself out of her and rolled onto his

back, lifting his arm for her to rest on his shoulder. ‘I had

envisaged a more tender reunion,’ he whispered. ‘I knew it

would be madness to think we might talk before we made

love, but… Jesus Christ, Claudine what got into you?’

‘I was afraid,’ she laughed. ‘Afraid that you were only a

dream and I had to have you then before you disappeared.

You’re not going to, are you?’

Putting his fingers under her chin, he lifted her mouth

and kissed her. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I’m here to stay. At least, for a

while. But I won’t make my return for a few days yet.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean that the need to see you was so great that I

managed to shake off the man who was following me when

we reached the outskirts of Paris, and then I drove straight

here. I’m not scheduled to arrive until the weekend. The

Abwehr are expecting me to report to their headquarters in

Paris first thing tomorrow.’

‘Are you going to?’

‘No. I’m staying here to have a brief honeymoon with my

wife.’

‘Is that wise?’ she said, pushing her body closer to his.

‘Probably not. But I’ll think up some reason for my

mysterious three-day absence, and in the meantime I can

make love to you and you can tell me everything that’s been

happening while I’ve been away. Incidentally, have you seen Erich?’

‘Not for months. When he came he said he didn’t know

where you were …’

‘That’s strange,’ Francois interrupted. ‘I was expecting

him to meet me at the border, but he wasn’t there. Does

Corinne know where he is?’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘I’ll talk to her in the morning. Now, how are we going to

find a way to be together for three days without raising

anyone’s suspicions?’

‘You can stay right here,’ Claudine answered. ‘The only

person who goes into your room is me, to clean it, and Louis

for a shave …’

‘A what!’

‘I’ll explain later. But you can stay in the warmth and

comfort of your own room, and I shall feed you your meals

and we can talk and … Francois, what’s this on your arm?’

She moved her fingers. ‘And here, and here.’

‘That’s something I’ll explain later,’ he said, wrapping

her in his arms and yawning.

‘No! What is it?’ she said, sitting up and reaching out for

the lamp.

‘Please, cherie,’ he said, trying to pull her back. ‘Not now.’

She already had her finger on the switch, but as she pressed!

it, to his eternal relief, it was only to find that the power was off.

There was a long silence, then quietly she said, ‘They tortured you, didn’t they?’

He put his hands into the darkness to find her, but as he

tried to pull her back into his arms, she resisted. ‘What did

they do to you?’ she said.

He sat up too, and this time as he pulled her head onto his

shoulder, she let him.

‘It doesn’t matter now,’ he whispered. ‘The wounds are

healing.’

‘Do you know why they were torturing you?’ she asked,

dreading that Blomberg had betrayed her, so that all she had

submitted herself to was for nothing.

‘Yes.’ And in his deep, beloved voice he told her.

She couldn’t feel relieved. The thought that he had

undergone such pain was terrible.

‘You’re still weak,’ she said. ‘I can tell.’

‘Yes, a little.’

‘Then let me hold you while you sleep.’

They lay down again, and it wasn’t long before she heard

the steady rhythm of his breathing.

‘Are you asleep?’ she whispered, and when there was no

answer she pressed herself closer against him and kissed his

cheek. ‘I love you, my darling,’ she murmured, and closed

her eyes.

‘I love you too,’ he said.

The next morning started with a heated argument. One look

at Francois’ scars was enough to convince Claudine that he

must see a doctor, but he was adamant that he wouldn’t. He

had spent the last three months with doctors, he said, and

that was quite enough; and though she shouted, wheedled,

cried and even slapped him, he still wouldn’t give in. In the

end she told him she hoped he was suffering as he deserved

to after all he had put her through. He roared with laughter

at that, and it was just as well they were in the shower at the

time or Magaly, who was just letting herself into the

sitting-room, might have heard.

Half an hour later, Francois was in his own room talking

to Corinne while Claudine went down to prepare their

breakfast. Fortunately Arlette was too busy to notice how

much bread she was taking, but later poor Jean-Paul was

accused of stealing other people’s rations.

‘I was wondering,’ Claudine said, as she fed Francois

with her fingers, then kissed him before he had a chance to

swallow, ‘how you managed to drive through the night

without being stopped.’

‘I was stopped,’ he told her, grimacing as she slid her

hand inside his dressing-gown and started to caress his

thighs. ‘Several times, in fact. But as you haven’t yet seen

the clothes I arrived in… If you keep that up, woman, you’ll

end up flat on your back.’

‘What were you wearing?’ she said, grinning.

‘A uniform. A German uniform. I am, remember, an

officer of the Abwehr.’

She pulled a face, then laughed as he turned in his chair,

picked her up and sat her astride him. He ran his hands

under her skirt and up over her thighs, then raised his brows

as he discovered she wasn’t wearing any underwear.

‘Was Corinne able to tell you anything about Erich?’ she

said, taking his penis and beginning to stroke herself with it.

‘No,’ he answered, picking up his coffee and taking a sip.

‘I’m afraid we won’t be able to have that honeymoon after

all. I shall have to go to Paris and find out where he is.’

‘When?’

‘Today,’ he said, smiling as her breathing started to quicken.

‘But not yet.’

‘Not quite yet,’ he answered, lifting her skirt to watch

what she was doing. But as she wriggled forward to take him

into her, he pushed her back, lifted her from his lap and

walked to the door.

‘Francois!’ she declared, then relaxed as she saw him lock

it.

‘Do you realize,’ he said, taking off his dressing-gown,

‘that I am a forty-year-old man?’

‘What’s that got to do with anything?’

‘Only that I’m wondering if I have the stamina to satisfy

an insatiable wife.’

‘Then why don’t you lie down and let your insatiable wife

satisfy you?’

As it turned out he stayed all day, and Claudine, pleading

a headache, pulled the curtains and locked all the doors.

She bathed and kissed the angry scars on his body, and told

him all she had been doing while he was away, right up to the

meeting she had had with Lucien and the other Resistants the night before. His relief at hearing that Lucien was still alive was evident, but when she offered to try and get word

to him to tell him to come to the chateau, Francois said no.

‘I’ll be back on Saturday,’ he said, ‘and as far as I know I

shall be staying for some time. I’ll see him then. Has there

been any sign of Halunke?’

‘Not since Erich was last here.’ She turned to look at him,

suddenly alarmed. It had never occurred to her until that

moment that Erich’s absence might have something to do

with Halunke. It was clear from the look on Francois’ face

that the same thought was going through his mind.

‘Do you think Erich has found him?’ she said, getting up

from the bed.

Francois got up too, and she saw the harsh look that had

come into his eyes. ‘I’m going to get dressed,’ he said,

starting towards her bedroom. ‘If I leave now I should be in

Paris before midnight. In the meantime, you can stop this

going out alone after curfew.’

‘But…’

‘I said it must stop!’ he barked.

‘I’ve got a gun,’ she reminded him, walking into her room

after him.

‘I don’t care.’ He pulled open the door to her dressing

room and took down his uniform. ‘I know how headstrong,

determined and downright stubborn you can be, but in this

instance, Claudine, you will do as I say. It may well have

seemed that Halunke had disappeared while I was away, but

I’m back now, and you can be damned sure he is too. Or

soon will be.’ Then he saw the look on her face, and

laughed. ‘Don’t you like my uniform?’

‘It’s horrifying,’ she answered, going to put her arms

around him. ‘But I am not one of your junior officers, so stop

ordering me about. When will you be back?’

‘On Saturday. And you’d better prepare yourself,

because I shall drive up to the front of the house in the jeep

the Abwehr have so obligingly given me, and I shall be

wearing this uniform. You will of course be horrified and disgusted’ He unwound her arms and stooped to pull his boots from under the bed. ‘Incidentally,’ he said, ‘do you

have a Colonel Blomberg staying here?’

‘Yes.’ Claudine shivered, but as she started to turn away

he pulled her back.

His black eyes were gleaming horribly as he stared down

into hers. ‘He made certain threats before he left Germany,’

he said carefully, ‘I trust he hasn’t carried them out.’

‘What threats?’ Claudine asked innocently.

‘Concerning you.’

She shrugged. ‘Well, as you can see I’m all in one piece.’

‘I can see that very clearly,’ he remarked, not without

irony as he ran his eyes over her nudity. ‘But if he

approaches you, if he as much as …’

‘Francois, why don’t you let me help you on with your

boots?’ she said, and pushing him onto the bed she knelt at his

feet in much the same way as she had knelt at Blomberg’s. It

had a different feeling altogether when it was her husband

watching her, and as she looked up at his sinister face she ran

her hands over his legs. The corner of his mouth dropped as

his eyes narrowed - but then she remembered that it was

already dark outside, he had a long drive ahead of him, and he

still wasn’t fully recovered from the injuries inflicted by the

Abwehr. So letting him go, she stood up, gave him a lingering

kiss on the mouth and walked with him to the door.

‘Bonne chance,’ she said, as he let himself out onto the

bridge. Then she heard Corinne coming up the stairs with

Louis, and ran back into her room to weep with joy - and

frustration that he had gone again so soon.

As he had promised, Francois was back again by the

weekend. He came to the front of the chateau in a jeep

plastered with swastikas and wearing his commandant’s

uniform. It was the middle of the afternoon and Claudine

was dusting the books in the library with Magaly. Hearing

the commotion in the hall, they both went to see what was

happening, and found Solange so beside herself with joy

that she had rubbed black lead polish all over her face and

hair. Monique was racing down the stairs, and as Claudine

watched Francois embrace her she made a mental note to

tell him about the business with Lucien. Tante Celine came

out of the kitchens then, her hands covered in flour, and

Claudine had to turn away when she saw the look of horror

on her face as she took in Francois’ uniform. But she

greeted him politely enough, and Claudine was perfectly

composed by the time he turned to her. At least, she thought

she was, but he looked so fierce, so horribly sinister yet

somehow so devastatingly attractive in his uniform, that she

found her knees were trembling.

He saw her reaction, and a flash of humour sparked in his

eyes. Then suddenly she was so close to laughing herself

that they had to turn abruptly away from one another.

Francois started speaking to Blomberg, who had come in