Come Lie With Me - Linda Howard [80]
“How is it your fault?” he growled.
“For not growing up and getting my priorities straight until it was almost too late,” she replied, a hint of the same steel lacing her sweeter voice. “I’m not giving up on him, not without a fight. Don’t ask me any more questions, because I won’t answer them. He’s my husband, and this is a private matter.”
He regarded her silently for a moment, then gave a brief nod. “All right. But you know that I’ll do whatever I can, whenever you ask.”
“Of course I do,” she said, her face relaxing. “It’s just that I have to do this on my own. I have to learn how to fight my own battles.” As she spoke she flashed Dione a look that said, “See, I’m trying.” Dione nodded in acknowledgement, then looked up to find that Blake had witnessed the little exchange and was also staring at her, a steel determination in his expression. Dione met his stare blandly; he could ask, but she didn’t have to answer. If Serena wanted her brother to know that she was deliberately trying to put a distance between them, then she would tell him. If not, then he’d have to figure it out for himself. Richard and Serena didn’t need any more interference in their marriage, and if Blake discovered that he was the basic cause of their separation, he was fully capable of taking it up with Richard.
Later that night, after he had made love to her with an intensity that left her dazed and sleepy, he said lazily, “What’s going on between you and Serena? All those significant glances have to mean something.”
It was a sneak attack, she realized, struggling to gather her wits. He’d made love to her as usual, waited until she was almost asleep, and caught her unaware. To make the situation more even, she cuddled against him and slid her hand down his side in a long, slow caress. When she reached his thighs she was rewarded by the clenching of his entire body.
“It was nothing,” she murmured, pressing soft, hot kisses on his chest. “Just a conversation we had the day she took me shopping for all those sexy clothes that you liked so much. She must have a secret fetish for indecent underwear. She picked out most of those barely there nightgowns, and then she gave me that teddy for Christmas.”
Hard fingers wrapped around her wrist, and he removed her hand from his body. Leaning over, he switched on the lamp and washed them with light. Dione watched him, knowing that he wanted to be able to read the nuances of expression that crossed her face. She tried to shield her thoughts, but an uneasy coldness began to creep over her skin as she stared into his piercing blue eyes.
“Stop trying to change the subject,” he ordered sharply. “Was Serena warning you away from Richard?”
That again! She stiffened, both angered and hurt by the way he had continually accused her of seeing Richard on the sly. How could he possibly think that of her? She had agreed to marry him only two days before, but for some reason she couldn’t get it out of his mind that she might be involved with another man. She sat up, the sheet falling to her waist, but she was too angry to care if she were nude.
“What’s with you?” she demanded furiously. “You sound like a broken record. What is it that makes you so suspicious of me? Why am I always the cause of any trouble between Serena and Richard?”
“Because Richard can never take his eyes off you when you’re together,” he replied, his mouth a hard line.
“I’m not responsible for Richard’s eyes!” The injustice of it made her want to scream.
“Aren’t you?” he snapped. “Whenever you look at him, it’s as if you’re passing secret messages.”
“You just accused me of doing the same thing with Serena. Am I having an affair with her, too?” Dione exploded. She clenched her fists in an effort to control the burgeoning fury in her. It would be stupid to lose her temper, so she forcibly sucked in a deep, calming breath and made her muscles relax.
Blake eyed her narrowly. “If you don’t have anything to hide, then why won’t you tell me what Serena meant by what she said?” he questioned.
Another sneak attack.