Shannon's Daughter (37 page)

Chapter
Thirty-six

“Where
do you stay when you’re at Glyndebourne?” Peg called over the sound of running
water.

“They
put us up in a hotel in Lewes, modest of course, but not too bad.”

“Could
I stay with you some night?”

“Not
unless you want to sleep with another violinist.
 
Two fellows to a room and a
hall bath shared by eight of us.”

“Ooh,
how cozy!”
 
Coming from the bathroom in
nothing but bra and tap pants, Peg shot him a suggestive smirk.
 
“I think I’ll have to pass on that.”

“You’re
right you will!
 
Now put on some
clothes.
 
I thought you said Agnes was
joining us for breakfast.
 
And I’m still
of the opinion that three’s a crowd.”
 
With a final swipe of the comb, he dropped it in his shaving kit and
closed the bag.

“I
couldn’t tell her not to come because you’re here.
 
I’m sure she’s figured out by now that you’ve
been here quite a lot the past few days.”

“Figuring
and seeing first hand
are
not the same thing.
 
That said, I trust Agnes.
 
I’m just not sure how comfortable I
am knowing
she knows what we do here.”

Turning
from the wardrobe, Peg tossed a dress on the bed.
 
“We haven’t done anything here, unless you
feel guilty about snoring.
 
We’ve only
slept
together in case you hadn’t
noticed.”
 
Sliding her arms around his
waist, she stood on tiptoe to nuzzle his collar.

“Guilty
as charged.
 
We’ll remedy that tonight, I
promise.”
 

The
nuzzle
became
a kiss, which developed rapidly into bold caresses on his part and a frustrated
struggle with his shirttail on hers.
 
“Why did you have to get completely dressed so early?”

“I
could hardly face Agnes in my boxers, love.
 
Now step away with your hands in plain sight and get dressed!
 
I’m starving, and I don’t mean for eggs and
sausages.”

“Two
weeks on and five days off.
 
Of course, once in a while I might make the
last train back to London and pop in for a good night kiss.
 
Come on, love, it won’t be so bad.
 
I did warn you the summer would be busy.”

Peg’s
lower lip refused to give up its pout.
 
In spite of Agnes across the table, she’d chosen this moment to prod him
about his schedule and he was feeling every bit the brute beneath two pairs of
disapproving blue eyes.
 

“I
guess I hadn’t put together just how much time you
wouldn’t
be in London.
 
And
those five days, you’re probably booked up with other things, aren’t you?”

“A
good part of them.
 
But not every waking minute.
 
I’ll make as much time as I can for
you.
 
Besides, you’ll have Agnes to run
about with.
 
It’s not as if you’ll be all
alone in London.”

Agnes
snorted derisively.
 
“Hardly
the same thing, Kendall.
 
Still,
look on the bright side, Peg.
 
You won’t
have a chance to get bored with one another.”
 

“We
won’t have a chance to say hello to one another!
 
I think the only solution is for me to find a
nice little inn in Lewes, wherever it is, and come to visit you on
weekends.
 
You at least have the mornings
free, don’t you?”

“Well,
yes, but
. . ..”
 
He cast a glance at the wall behind Agnes to avoid her owlishly amused
stare.

“Don’t
worry, kids, I won’t tell on you.
 
What
you do in that nice little inn is no one’s business, anyway.
 
Of course, if it’d make you feel any better,
I could always come along to chaperone.”

Turning
to Peg when she let out an unwilling giggle, he gave in to his own relieved
laughter.
 
“We’ll work something out.
 
For right now, I need to get home and finish
packing.”
 
On his feet, he leaned in to
kiss Peg’s slightly flushed cheek.
 
“Keep
her laughing, will you Aggie?
 
And I’ll
see
you
tonight at seven, brat.
 
Don’t forget your toothbrush.”
 
With a wink to Agnes, he made for the door as
both girls dissolved into stifled giggles.
 
“For two such worldly women, you certainly are silly this morning.
 
I only meant to point out the importance of
good dental hygiene, you know.”

He had
planned the evening down to the last detail, determined that their first time
in the context of this new relationship be memorable.
 
Denied a wedding night, he felt they still
deserved some semblance of ceremony to mark the commitment they were making.
 
With that in mind, he spent the afternoon preparing
the flat, the meal and himself for Peg’s arrival.
 

When she
appeared at his door with a large shopping bag in hand, he decided she must
have read his mind.
 
“I thought I might
need more than a toothbrush,” she explained almost shyly, “but I was afraid a
suitcase would arouse suspicion.”

“Right.”
 
He stared down at her, caught off guard by her simple white dress and her
hair, swept back at the crown and falling down her back.
 
“You look beautiful.”

“Aren’t
you going to let me come in?”
 
Blue eyes wide
and expectant, she still hadn’t smiled.
 
“I’m not too early, am I?”

“What?
 
No!
 
Come in!
 
I was just putting
dinner in the oven.”
 
Taking her bag, he
set it down abruptly and reached for her.
 
“I suppose it would be pointless to tell you how glad I am to see
you?”
 
Groaning, he held her close,
momentarily overwhelmed by the significance of this night.
 

“You
can tell me.
 
I won’t mind.”
 

“I
am
glad to see you, ecstatic, in
fact.”
 
Peg initiated the kiss, but he
sensed she was waiting for him to set the evening’s tone.
 

“Please,
have a seat over there while I get us something to drink.
 
I hope you like tomato juice?”
 
Bearing two chilled glasses, he joined her on
the couch.

“I like
to
ma
to juice.”
 
She wrinkled her nose, dragging out the long
a
.
 
“
Ooh,
and
you have lemons.”
 
She lifted the slice
from the rim of her glass and sucked delicately.

“I
remembered.
 
Not so sure about sour
kisses, though.”
 
Taking the glass, he
carefully set it aside and bent in to taste her lips.
 
“No, still sweet.
 
May I kiss you, Peg?”

“You
just did.”

“No, I
mean really kiss you, and see where it leads.”

It led
to dangerously near his losing control.
 
Not what he had planned, he forced himself to stop short of taking her
there on the couch.
 
As he refastened the
buttons on her bodice, he shook his head sadly.
 
“You’re doing it again, brat.”

“What?”
 
Flushed and disheveled, she seemed confused
and a trifle annoyed.

“Sweeping
me off my feet.
 
Here I’ve planned this lovely evening and
immediately I’m tempted to tear off your clothes.
 
I haven’t done this sort of thing in quite a
while, I’m afraid, but I don’t want to rush tonight.”

“You
didn’t notice me trying to stop you, did you?”

“That’s
the problem.
 
You could do with a lesson
or two in coy resistance, you know.
 
Holding a man off to spur on his lust.”

She
finally smiled.
 
“I didn’t think your lust
seemed in need of spurring.
 
It was doing
just fine on its own.”

“I
would prefer we get dinner eaten first.
 
I spent an obscene amount on that roast.
 
It would be tragic for it to go to waste.”

She sat
at the table watching as he finished preparing the meal.
 
When he lit the candles and joined her, she
reached over to take his hand.
 
“This is
lovely.
 
No one’s ever gone to so much
trouble for me.”

“Of
course they have.
 
They just happened to
get paid for it.
 
And you must know I’m
also providing this service with a very specific compensation in mind, one
which can’t be measured in pounds or dollars.”
 
Touching her cheek, he felt her shiver.
 
“Now eat, please.
 
If you’re not
careful, you’re going to end up as dessert.”

He
tried his best to take things slowly.
 
To
the accompaniment of soft strings from the phonograph, he led her to the center
of the floor where they swayed together for a few moments.
 
If Peg hadn’t been so yielding in his arms,
if he hadn’t allowed himself to picture doing what his long-repressed libido
was urging him to do, they might have enjoyed the slow, romantic reunion he’d hoped
to give her.
 
But that seemed very
unlikely.

“There’s
something I should tell you.”
 
He was
already breathless, practically panting into her ear.

“What’s
that?”

“It’s
been a very long time since I was with a woman.”

She
stiffened.
 
“Really?
 
Are you saying that’s unusual for you?”

“It
would have been highly unusual before my trip to New York.”
 
He swallowed past the dryness in his
mouth.
 
“What I’m trying to say is back
then,
I.
. . was intimate. . . on quite a regular
basis, not with same woman necessarily, but I rarely went longer than a week or
two between. .
liaisons
.
 
That’s not something I’m proud of, mind you,
it’s merely the truth.”

“I
see.
 
And why haven’t you had these
‘liaisons’ since you were in New York?”
 
If he didn’t know better, he’d suspect her of teasing him.

“Because
after making love to you, I couldn’t seem to enjoy that kind of thing anymore.”

She
stared up at him, clearly horrified.
 
“Kendall, are you saying I put you off women?”

“No!
 
I’m saying I was no longer satisfied with
just
any
woman!
 
I swore off it because it
was.
. .unfulfilling after being with you.”
 
He ground his teeth in frustration.
 
“You showed me the meaning of making love.
 
Before that, I knew everything about sex, but
nothing about love.”

She
sighed in obvious relief.
 
“That’s so
sweet.
 
But why are you telling me this
now?”

“Because
I’m afraid once we start, I won’t be able to take things as slowly as I’d
like.
 
Not the first
time, anyway.”

Rising
on tiptoe, she snaked her arms around his neck.
 
Her lips against his ear, she whispered, “Maybe by the second or third?”

The
candles had burned to guttering puddles, casting eerie shadows on the
ceiling.
 
Beneath his right thigh, the
dull point of his belt buckle prodded him awake.
 
“Peg, darling, roll over, please.”

Her
only response was a hoarsely whispered, “Why?”

“Because
you’re crushing me.
 
And my trousers.
 
We should at least straighten up a bit and
blow out the candles.”

“Why?”
 
She settled more solidly on top of him, an
arm and a leg dangling off the side of the bed.
 
With a groan, he lifted her gently, easing out from under her.
 
“Because I don’t want to
burn the house down.
 
There’s a
good girl, roll over there while I get things sorted.”
 
He chuckled softly, watching her hug the pillow
as though it were his replacement.