The Guilty Wife

He let himself out and Lucie watched from the window as he left, lifting a hand to wave to her before he got in the car. She watched him go with mixed feelings. He was a very attractive man, not the kind she came across very often. A man it would be easy to fall for. There was something about him that had got to her, and from the way he’d looked at her once or twice she thought that he might feel the same about her.

The thought excited Lucie but made her nervous, too. She hadn’t much experience of men, and what she had was all bad. But probably she was wrong; Seton was most likely just being kind, and once his week’s holiday was over and her wrist improved she would never see him again.

It didn’t work out like that. Her heart gave a jolt the minute she opened the door to him that evening and saw his smile again. Immediately she felt happy, excited, as if something wonderful was about to happen.

They sat long over their meal, talking in a relaxed, comfortable way, not as virtual strangers but as if they’d known each other for ages. It was Seton’s ease of manner, his ability to start and hold so many topics, and the way he subtly drew her out to talk about herself that made it so comfortable.

Lucie responded with more enjoyment and animation than she’d known for years, perhaps had ever known. She told him a great deal about herself, of the Open University course she was taking and her hopes for the future. But she didn’t tell him everything, glossing over her past and quickly bringing the subject back to him. In turn Seton told her of his love of sport and travel, then totally disconcerted her by saying that he was a practising barrister.

Thankfully, Seton was refilling their glasses and didn’t notice the effect that piece of information had on her. Lucie was struck by how strange it was that she should be here with him. A barrister, of all things! And he was so much more polished than anyone she’d met before, so socially confident and assured. She couldn’t imagine him ever being unable to handle a situation. And it wasn’t an acquired confidence but something that had been bred into him, a kind of arrogance, if a profound belief in the principles and values handed down to one could be called arrogance. He was, to put it bluntly, in a class light years from her own.

That knowledge, and the fact that he was a barrister, ought to have put her off, or at least have acted as a warning, but his attraction was too great for her to heed it. Lucie liked the way he continued to look after her, and she liked the way the candlelight cast shadows on his face, accentuating the leanness of his high cheekbones, the fan of his eyelashes and the laughter lines around his mouth when he smiled. He had a good voice, deep, well modulated, educated but not over the top, and he knew how to tell an anecdote to get the best out of it, to make her laugh richly.

When the evening was over, when Seton could find no excuse to linger any longer, he moved reluctantly towards the door and said, ‘You’re quite sure there’s nothing else I can do?’

‘Quite sure. You’ve already been kind beyond the call of conscience.’

She was standing near the front door, waiting for him, her fair hair a silken sheen in the light of the lamps she’d lit. Coming close, Seton said softly, ‘If you think that’s the only reason I came, you couldn’t be more wrong.’

Lucie was aware of his closeness, of his masculinity, and for a moment became nervous again. Holding out her right hand, she said with formal politeness, ‘Goodnight, Seton. Thank you for the meal.’

He looked at her, then disconcerted her again by taking her hand and raising it fleetingly to his lips. ‘Goodnight, Lucie.’

Closing the door behind him, Lucie leaned against the wall, feeling enchanted by that unexpected gesture and yet strangely low now that he had gone. For a while she had felt feminine and pretty and—cherished: a sensation that had never come her way before. But she had liked it, oh, how she had liked it. And how she had liked him.

She went to move away, but there was a sharp double knock on the door panel, just near her head. Slowly Lucie reached out and turned the knob, let the door swing open. Seton was standing there., one arm up against the doorframe. He said, ‘I forgot to ask. Do you believe in kissing on a first date?’

‘No, definitely not.’

‘Nor do I.’ Coming inside, he shouldered the door closed. ‘In that case, we’d better call this our second date.’ And, taking her in his arms, he drew her to him and kissed her.

When Seton raised his head at last, Lucie kept her eyes tight closed, afraid of breaking the spell. Because it couldn’t be true, it couldn’t be real. No kiss, no simple coming together of a man’s and a woman’s mouth, could possibly be that wonderful. She lived it again: the sensual warmth of his lips, the dizzying effect on her senses, the discovery deep inside her of awakened need—a need that could so easily have flamed into fierce passion and desire.

‘Hey,’ he said softly against her mouth. ‘Have you gone to sleep?’

Still with her eyes closed, Lucie smiled. ‘No, but I think I’m dreaming.’

‘Is that good or bad?’

She looked at him, then said huskily, ‘Oh, it was very good. Do you always have that effect on the women you kiss?’

‘What effect?’

Slowly she reached up to touch his face, letting her fingers trace the line of his jaw. ‘Devastating,’ she admitted honestly.

He gave a sigh of satisfaction and pleasure. ‘Thank God for that! It would have been terrible if it had all been one-sided.’

Her eyes widened. ‘You—you mean it was like that for you too?’

‘Of course.’ Seton grinned. ‘But perhaps we should do it again and make sure.’

It was what Lucie wanted more than anything else in the world, but some note of caution made her say, ‘This—you... It’s all happening so fast. I don’t know you.’

Seton laughed. ‘Well, I don’t know you either, but I’m willing to take a chance.’ Her face changed, became stricken, and he said quickly, ‘Lucie! What is it? I was only joking.’

‘Yes—but you don’t know me.’

‘So we’ll get to know each other. We’ll do that old-fashioned thing they used to call courting. We will go out together, and we’ll take our time.’

‘And—and this?’

Realising what she meant, he held her closer and said softly, ‘I won’t rush you into anything. I’ll let you set the pace. But I would like to kiss you again. Now. May I?’

But he didn’t wait for her to agree; his hands were already cupping her face, tilting her head so that his lips could seek hers, so lightly at first, softly exploring, tracing with tiny kisses the length of her upper lip, gently biting at the fullness of the lower one. Then, using the tip of his tongue, he made her open her mouth and let him in, and suddenly his lips weren’t gentle any more, but hot and forceful and demanding.

Lucie gave a small moan and closed her eyes, letting him take her with him on a deep spiral of pleasure, where the world was lost and the only sensations were those of his closeness, of the flame of passion that erupted through her veins—the need, the desire, the knowledge that for her nothing in the world had ever been as wonderful as this, that nothing else mattered so much.

Seton’s shoulders hunched as he kissed her, his breathing quickened and he said her name over and over again, his voice thick, the murmured name mingling with her own gasping sighs. His kiss deepened with passion until he drew back suddenly, remembering his promise. Lifting his head, he held her against his chest and she could feel the beating of his heart.

‘I’m afraid,’ she said, with an honesty he couldn’t possibly understand.

‘I know, but there’s no need to be, my darling. I’ll take care of you.’

‘Please—I think you’d better go now.’

‘You don’t trust me, huh?’ He smiled tenderly down at her. ‘Well, maybe you’re right; I’ve never found myself in this kind of situation before.’

‘What kind?’

His eyes crinkled and he gave her lips the merest touch with his. ‘Wild about you, of course.’ And then he opened the door and was gone as Lucie still stood with eyes open wide in astonishment.

Seton came to collect her the next morning, buoyant, on a high, reaching out to kiss her as soon as he arrived. Lucie, too, was exhilarated by excitement, but was also full of nervous tension. She could see happiness opening before her but was afraid to grasp it, so she held him off.

‘No! Don’t touch me,’ she cried out, knowing that she would be lost if he held her.

But he put his hands on her shoulders and said, ‘Lucie? What is it?’

‘This—this attraction you feel. It could be just a chemical thing, something that’s hit us out of the blue.’

‘Ah, so you admit it hit you too,’ he said with satisfaction.

Ignoring that, Lucie said, ‘How do you know it won’t go away as suddenly as it came? You might wake up one morning and hate the sight of me.’

‘If I woke up with you beside me it couldn’t be anything but wonderful—perfect,’ Seton said simply.

She tried to argue with him, to point out that something that had happened so quickly couldn’t possibly last. But Seton merely laughed and pulled her into his arms.

Lucie gave a sigh of frustration. ‘Oh, you big fool! Why won’t you listen to me? Take me seriously?’