“That’s fine.” she said.
Pulling away too sharply, Anna shook her head slightly, his bland, utterly unmoved expression only serving to exacerbate her palpable tension. “Can I go home now?”
“Of course, we can.” Cedric replied.
Anna shot him an angry look, knowing he’d said ‘we’ to piss her off, and it was working. Her lips were set in a taut line, her breasts rising and falling as if they had a life of their own as the unleashed fury that held her together ripped out of control. “You know, maybe you think I should be grateful that you are here. That I should thank you for showing up, but I don’t. In fact you should know that acting like this just makes me wish more than ever that I’d never signed that contract. I would love to turn back the clock and wipe out every last piece of memory of the time we shared.”
She wanted to annoy him. To make him as furious as he made her, and she knew she was using that anger to hide her body’s reaction to him when he touched her, but she didn’t mind, as long as it worked. Unfortunately it didn’t.
“Liar.” He said. One finger slowly razored her cheek, working its way past her ear, down the hollows of her neck till it met the flickering pulse in her neck. Transfixed, filled with loathing and lust, she stared back at him, stared back at the man who seemed to read her innermost thoughts, the man whom she had physically pushed aside in every waking moment but who slipped into her dreams every long, lonely night. She wished she could lie better.
Relentlessly he continued. “You live to remember it, Anna. I know you hate me now, but I was there, remember; I felt you writhing in my arms, heard you calling out my name, so don’t stand there and tell me you wish it had never happened. Don’t try and pretend that even if we eventually get a divorce, I’m going to be the best damn lover you will ever have…”
“Is everything okay?” The doctor was back, staring nervously at the two of them, and Anna wrestled to stay calm, certain that if they took her blood pressure now there was no way on earth they’d let her out.
“‘Everything’s fine,” Cedric said coolly, picking up her frozen hand and wrapping it possessively in his. “In fact, I’m just about to take Mrs Blackwood home.”
________
Silently, Anna followed him outside. The cool night air on her flaming cheeks was bliss, a gentle breeze around her bare legs as she clipped along beside him, feeling the sizzling anger emanating from her. Even though she was confused, and though the day had spun irretrievably out of control, there was some solace to be had from being with Cedric now.
Despite the burning anger and her fury at his appalling arrogance, as she clipped on her seat belt, and though she’d never in a million years admit it, somewhere deep down inside Anna was relieved. A one-hour drive, even if it was in a luxury sports car, wasn’t exactly at the top of her list. The day seemed to have caught up with her all of a sudden. Exhaustion saturated every pore, overriding even the need to argue with Cedric, quelling slightly the utter force of his presence as he drove. But when they pulled up outside Haerton, as her feet crunched on the smooth white stones beneath her feet the wealth and power that were Cedric Blackwood were rammed home yet again.
The fire seemed to die in her as they got inside. The defiance left her eyes as her shoulders slipped. She let out a long, weary sigh, fatigue literally overwhelming her, each word a feat in itself, weariness seeping into her bones, her eyes so heavy she just wanted to close them on this exhausting day, to start afresh tomorrow, to face Cedric with a clear mind and hopefully a less emotional heart. “I don’t want to talk anymore, Cedric,” she told him when she saw he was about to speak.
“Fair enough.” His voice was the softest she’d heard it that day. “But before you go to bed you should at least have something to eat.”
“I just want to sleep…”
“What have you eaten today?” he asked, watching as her forehead puckered into a tiny frown and, as much as it galled Anna to admit it, even to herself, Cedric had a point. The toast she’d made this morning had been thrown into the bin uneaten and she hadn’t even thought about lunch as she’d driven to Collins place.
“They gave me some sandwiches at the hospital.”
“Which were still sitting in their Cellophane when we left,” Cedric pointed out. “If your priority really is the baby, then the very least you can do is go and sit down for half an hour and have something to eat and drink.”
She gave a small reluctant nod as Cedric slid open a massive glass door and walked out onto the balcony. After a moment’s hesitation she followed him, chewing on her bottom lip as she stepped into the kitchen. He led her to the table, pulled out a chair and waited while she sat.
“Try and relax. I won’t be long.”
Which was surely a joke! How the hell was she supposed to relax even in this gorgeous setting while Cedric was in the kitchen, when the man she both loved and loathed was not far away from her. She took the chance to watch him, to watch in breathless silence as he peeled off his black jacket, impatiently pulled off his tie, then rolled up the sleeves of his crisp white shirt, dark muscular forearms pulling open cupboards and working the massive stainless steel hob that would be any budding chef’s dream. But from the occasional bang and cuss that broke the air, this kitchen clearly wasn’t where Cedric spent much of his time and cooking clearly wasn’t his forte.
Placing a plate of scrambled eggs and a massive glass of juice in front of her, he sat on the other side of the table, the silence deafening as he gazed broodily out the window, before finally turning his headlights to her, her two minutes of down time clearly over as the interrogation recommenced.
“You’re too thin,” he said for starters, as if his opinion mattered, as if he had every right to make such a personal observation. “What are you? A vegetarian now?”
“Pardon?”
“Or a vegan perhaps,” Cedric sneered.