Torn Asunder (18 page)

Supper
came and Cle giggled when she attempted to let Dev have a sampling of her
fettuccine and he insisted that she feed him. He had never been so carefree, so
boyish, she thought as she aimed the macaroni, curled around her fork at Dev's
open mouth. She had to get very close to him. He steadied her with one arm
around her shoulder and one hand at her waist. When his mouth closed on her
fork, he made a muted ahhhhhing sound and winked at her. Then he took the fork,
put it back into the pasta and began feeding her. Dev wasn't as neat as she had
been, Cle was sure as she weaved this way and that to make sure he didn't drip
any of the white sauce down the front of her dress.

"Dev,
old chum, I haven't seen you this relaxed since we put Snedley's pet snake in
the headmaster's study."

Cle
laughed, pointing to Dev, saying, "He didn't, he didn't." Dev's eyes
glimmered with amusement as he nodded. She laughed as Cubby described the old
gentleman's hasty retreat through the window and how it had taken days to coax
the terrified snake out of the chimney. In the meantime the headmaster posted a
reward for information on the culprit. No one came forward.

"I
wanted to." Cubby grimaced. "Because I was going out with a frizzy
blonde, who..."

"Cubby!"
Lucille hissed, pinching his arm.

"Ouch."
Cubby rubbed his arm and kissed his wife. "She wasn't half the woman you
are, my treasure!" He ducked his wife again then grinned at Cle.
"Besides no one would have told on Dev. He has a crippling right. Took all
the ribbons in boxing."

"And
here, all this time I just thought you could wrestle." Cle chuckled,
making Cubby roar and Dev pull her close to him.

"I've
never seen you like this." Cle looked up at him surprised to find that she
had spoken out loud.

"I
have come to the realization that there is much about me that you don't know
and that there is much that you think you know about me that is false. It's
time you knew the real me... and all about me." Dev's face was serious,
his eyes intent on her.

Cle
couldn't read that unfathomable look but she reveled in the warmth. She wished
this evening would never end. To hell with work tomorrow. The totally
uncharacteristic thought from "dedicated Cle Orwell" made her giggle.

"Share
the joke," Dev muttered as he wiped her chin, his eyes only inches from
hers. He didn't even look away from her when the waiter came to clear the
table.

"I
was just thinking that I'll be too tired to move tomorrow... and I don't
care."

"Good.
Neither do I. We'll take the day off and go to the beach tomorrow, shall
we?" Dev's voice was like melting butter, his eyes a liquid green and hot.

"Can't
do that." Her voice quavered and she couldn't resist the urge to touch his
face with her finger.

Dev
took the finger into the side of his mouth. "I'm telling Cubby that we're
leaving." He gently bit her finger sending needle sharp rays up her arm.

Cle
made her goodnights and was sincere when she said that she would like to see
the Willsons again.

The
ride home was in silence, a warm, sharing quiet that cocooned them from the
outside world. When Dev wasn't shifting the powerful Porsche, his one hand
would thread through hers in a remembered gesture.

In
the elevator, he caught her close to him, the throbbing pressure of him,
evident in his mouth, in the hands that clasped her tight to him. He unlocked
the door with one hand, his other arm still around her.

In
the hallway he dropped the key on the table and turned her to face him.
"Don't say no to me tonight Cle. I have to have you. It's been so long...
too long."

Cle
looked at him, then let her arms slide around his neck. She felt his heart kick
into warp speed as he bent to lift her high into his arms. Long strides carried
him to the door of her bedroom while Cle indulged herself by trying to kiss
each pore on the face that needed shaving twice each day.

He
lowered her onto the bed, his breath ragged as he unbuttoned the dress, the
tremor in his hands obviously annoying him.

Cle
laughed and pushed him away as she rose to a sitting position. "There. All
the buttons are undone." She swung her feet to the floor and stood in
front of him, feeling the adrenaline pumping under Dev's fixed stare.
"Will you take off my dress?" she whispered, feeling provocative and
desperate all at once. Dev was hers, if only for tonight.

He
eased the dress from her body, then flung the garment behind him. He wouldn't
allow her to unfasten her bra or remove her pantyhose. This he did himself with
a glittering absorption that had Cle reeling. He'd always been a gentle,
considerate lover. Tonight was no exception, though tonight he seemed to
struggle for control.

When
Cle almost finished undressing Dev, he finished himself with two violent tugs,
then he lifted Cle high in his arms, letting them sink together on the bed.

"You're
beautiful and you're mine." His urgent words were guttural as he pressed
his face into her neck.

His
mouth was everywhere on her body, his hands clenching on her in elemental need.

Cle
felt her breasts fill his hands as her whole body reacted to his touch. She
ached for him. He was her world. As she felt Dev hang back, she knew a sudden
impatience that he didn't realize she was more than ready for him then. Her
caresses had a fever in them that ignited him until he gasped.

He
lifted himself over her. Their eagerness for each other was unparalleled.

Cle
heard her own voice cry out to him and then she was swirled away.

CHAPTER
EIGHT

Cle woke feeling refreshed
,
the familiar ache in her relaxed body made her sure that she had been dreaming
of Dev again. Strange, she didn't recall the dream, she yawned. It was only
when she stirred that she felt the weight on her body. Realization was
immediate.

She turned her head to look at Dev and the night they had
just spent together flooded her mind. Dev. He was really here in her bed! He
held her last night and taught her new meanings of love. It had been a domino
syndrome of explosions. Time after time had had woken her, his words and hands
caressing, bringing her out of sleep and alert with a passion that blew away
all control. They had been nitroglycerine together. Just a tremor, a feather
touch, a look set them off.

She
felt happy and sad. She knew she loved him more now than she ever had when they
were together in New

York
.
It had taken the separation, her enforced denial of him to clarify what she
felt for him. This was no sophisticated liaison that she could walk away from
with a tear and a chin up good-bye. This was no "it was good while it
lasted but" affair. This was a basic, gut-wrenching love,  that was
as integral to her as the left ventricle of her heart. She would die without
Dev. Oh, she wouldn't end her life, she would survive, but it would be a one
dimensional world, a colorless struggle. Cle could feel her throat close. She
would be childless. All at once that was important to her. Before now, children
had been an unimportant "maybe," something to consider, perhaps in
the future...

She turned her head fully on the pillow, watching Dev, his
face losing none of its character in the softness of sleep, his lips parted.
All at once there was a flickering frown that ran across his face. He grunted,
then the arm around Cle flexed hard until she was tighter to his form. He
muttered something, seeming satisfied. She smiled and put a hand up to his
unruly hair, its springiness delighting her.

She shook her head once as she lay there. No. No one else
could give her a child. She wanted one that looked like Dev. If she conceived
he would marry her. She knew that with a strong certainty. She closed her eyes
on a spasm of pain as she recalled the words spoken by the woman at Clive's
house months ago: "If he was ever forced to marry her, he would end up
being very bitter." The agony brought by that memory drove her closer to
Dev.

He opened his eyes, the blankness fading as he focused on
her. "I thought for a moment I was dreaming. Lovely dream.. .but I'm
addicted to the reality." His mouth feathered her cheek.

Cle knew she should stop him. After all she had to go to
work. They had made love many times in the night. But she lifted her leg and
let it slide down his, her eyes only inches away from his.

"Darling, you may be a little late this morning,"
Dev crooned, his hand coming down to pat her hip and bring her body even closer
to him. "Did I tell you that I love making love to you?"

"I think you may have mentioned it last night.
Once...or twice...or three times." Cle gasped, her fingernails digging
into his shoulders as his mouth homed in on her breast.

"Cle, I would want you if you didn't have a perfect
body, but I'm glad you do." Dev had lifted his head looking at her with a
glazed smile.

"You told me I'm too skinny again," she pouted,
loving the play, welcoming the heat in her body.

He frowned for a moment. "You didn't look as good as
you should, but little by little I'll have you back to perfect health
again."

"I'm never sick," she muttered, not caring what
words she used as Dev's mouth loved her body.

Again the crest was reached as they both strived to please
each other, reinforcing what Cle already knew. There could never be anyone for
her but Dev. The thought made her clutch him convulsively as they lay there in
moist languor, reluctant to rise.

"Hey, what is it, angel?" Dev smiled at her, a
puzzled light in his eyes.

"Nothing." Cle knew her smile was weak but she
couldn't tell him her thoughts. She tried to edge away from him. "It's
time I showered or I'll be late."

Dev laughed and scooped her back toward him. Then he lifted
her out of the bed and strode toward the bathroom. "We'll shower
together. I have missed scrubbing your back, woman."

Cle chuckled, her hands threading through that black crisp
hair. "I knew you were good for something. How could I have forgotten it
was scrubbing my back." She clung to him and to the moment, storing her
mind with Dev.

"So I'm your slave, am I?" He laughed down at her
as he let her slide down his body. "All right, your slave decrees that you
have a cold shower for being so impertinent."

"Noooo, Dev," Cle squealed, trying to duck away from
him. "I hate cold showers. Beast!" she squawked, trying to use him as
shield in the spray.

Still laughing, he adjusted the faucet so that a warm spray
ran over their skin. Dev lifted the loofah sponge and washed her in soft
whirling motions which cleaned her and also excited her.

It took ages to dress because Dev kept stopping her to kiss
her every other moment.

"I'd forgotten how much fun it was to dress with
you." His eyes had a sensual softness that liquefied Cle's legs. His smile
widened as he noted her reaction to his stare. "Your legs look so sexy in
those slings... with just your panties and bra. My very own centerfold
...
but of course I would never let anyone
photograph you like that."

"Dev, stop it," Cle wailed. "I'll never get
to work."

"It's time you stopped working." He leaned down to
give her a kiss, patting her derriere at the same time. "Now get dressed.
I'll put out some juice."

She was so busy hurrying that she forgot to ask him what he
meant when he said that about stopping work. By the time he insisted on a last
kiss before they left— he to his car, she to try and catch Max who would be
waiting for her in front of the building—nothing was in her mind but rushing.

Work went smoothly. She and Max huddled over some sketches
she had done for the show he was having. Even though it was months away, he had
wanted to see what Cle's ideas were.

"These are good Cle. I like the idea of using
Alice

Springs as a background. The coolness of design in the
driest spot in
Australia
.
Nice touch." Max had patted her on the back, literally and figuratively
and Cle was pleased.

They worked through the day without stopping and when
Alistair Nivens came to tell her that Dev was there to pick her up, she could
only stare at him. Feeling giddy with happiness because Dev was waiting for
her, she tried to hurry and succeeded in only smearing her makeup. Finally she
was ready.