Dark Secret (9 page)

Looking into the bedroom again, Harriet realised that Rowena’s first priority didn’t seem to be freedom from her bonds so much as freedom from her frustration, for once she failed to loosen her wrists she got to her feet and stood in front of one of the bed-posts. She pressed herself against it, thrusting her pelvis forward so that her silk-encased vulva rubbed against the rounded, patterned wood and as she found her rhythm her head went back and her red-gold hair streamed down the gentle curve of her back.

Neither Harriet nor Lewis could hear anything, but they could both imagine the sounds she would be making as the tension mounted in her rounded body until with a long shudder she finally reached the summit of pleasure and her muscles went rigid before gradually dissolving into relaxed softness once her body was calm again.

For a few minutes Rowena stayed leaning against the bed-post, her eyes half-closed and her breathing ragged, but then, still totally unaware of the onlookers, she set her mind to the problem of her bound wrists. Glancing round the room she saw the sharp edges of her drinks cabinet. The silk cords were slim and it only took a few minutes of rubbing against one of the edges before they broke and she was finally free.

She massaged each of the red marks lightly, taking perverse pleasure from the stinging pain as the blood-flow was restored. She was annoyed with Chris, but not as annoyed as she was with Lewis. That afternoon, when he’d been making love to Harriet, he’d done it with a tenderness and enthusiasm she hadn’t expected and it had unsettled her.

Until now she’d taken Lewis for granted. She knew he wasn’t in love with her but he liked being married to her and she liked having him as a husband. His love-making was excellent, and his detached, calm temperament was the perfect foil for all her insecurities.

If only she’d been able to give up Chris then none of this would be happening, she mused as she slipped into a satin nightdress and began to brush her hair. She had been certain that after a
time Lewis would make Chris unnecessary to her, but it hadn’t happened. Chris knew her body better than any other man, and Lewis either couldn’t or wouldn’t do the things that Chris did for her.

As Lewis became more successful and his work took him away from her for weeks at a time she’d turned increasingly to Chris, and had felt her marriage slipping away. When Lewis had suggested the film, explaining that through it the two of them would resolve their situation, she’d been as enthusiastic as him. Certainly watching him with Harriet had aroused unexpected feelings of jealousy, but tonight when Chris had almost forced himself on her she’d known that her need for Chris had been increased by what they’d witnessed earlier that day. It should have had the opposite effect, she should have wanted Lewis more and Chris less, but Chris was her comfort. He was always there, always able to stimulate and ultimately soothe her. There was another reason as well; Chris liked Harriet.

Rowena knew that Lewis had chosen Harriet because he’d been attracted to her – the plot could scarcely work if the second woman wasn’t one that he fancied – but she hadn’t for a moment considered the possibility that Chris would like her too.

Tonight, as her half-brother had tantalised and tormented her to higher and higher peaks of delight, she’d had the terrible feeling that at the back of his mind he was picturing Harriet in her place. She didn’t know if it was just paranoia or her usually reliable sixth sense, but right now, at the very start of Lewis’s story when the plot was
only just starting to unfold, Rowena found herself horribly afraid.

Before she slid beneath the sheets she glanced at herself in the full-length mirror. She still looked stunning and sexy, she told herself, and it was true, in which case she shouldn’t be worrying. Harriet was there to push Rowena into making a choice between the men, not as a threat to her relationship with them both. The sooner she remembered that and used her considerable assets the more certain she could feel that the outcome would suit her and not Harriet.

After all, she told herself as she drifted off to sleep, Harriet was nothing special. Young and attractive, yes, but hardly in the same league as an international sex symbol. The thought comforted her, although not as much as she’d hoped.

Lewis and Harriet remained in their seats until Rowena’s head was on her pillow, her eyes closed in readiness for sleep, then Lewis rose to his feet. ‘There, perhaps now you won’t feel so guilty about our affair.’

‘How long has it been going on?’ asked a stunned Harriet.

‘The affair with Chris? Ever since they were teenagers. Their father was married to Chris’s mother when he got Rowena’s mother pregnant. There are only twelve months between them. When Chris was three their father left his family and went to live with Rowena and her mother. When Chris was ten his mother died and he joined his father’s second family. Obviously the two children became close. I don’t think either of the adults had much time for the pair of them and they relied on each other for everything. Once
their bodies started to mature the inevitable happened.’

‘But once they were old enough to know it was wrong, why didn’t they stop?’ asked Harriet.

Lewis smiled to himself in the darkness. ‘We all have special needs, Harriet. Dark, hidden desires that we don’t feel we can reveal to the world. Chris and Rowena have no fear of each other; their relationship is totally open. Family genes seem to have meant that their needs are remarkably similar, they complement each other perfectly. Why should they have stopped?’

By this time he and Harriet were standing on the landing and he put both his hands on her shoulders, feeling her quivering beneath his touch. She’d been aroused by what they’d seen, just as he had, but for tonight she would have to wait. Their love-making, when it happened, would be all the sweeter for the delay.

‘Because it’s wrong!’ exclaimed Harriet.

‘That isn’t a view that I subscribe to,’ said Lewis. ‘The only thing I insist on is that I take precedence. In sexual matters a husband should come before a half-brother, don’t you agree?’

Harriet moved away from him, suddenly-wanting nothing more to do with this dark, sexually magnetic man who seemed totally untroubled by moral scruples. ‘You must be very broad-minded indeed to be able to make jokes about it,’ she said shortly. ‘Either that or you don’t care about Rowena.’

‘Perhaps I don’t.’

Harriet hesitated at the top of the stairs. ‘Did you ever?’ she asked curiously.

‘I really can’t remember,’ said Lewis.

*

The next morning as Rowena dictated numerous letters to Harriet, Lewis was closeted in his study with Mark, his scriptwriter for
Dark Secret.

‘Okay,’ said Mark, lighting up one of his cigars. ‘So we’ve had the sex scene between the husband and the secretary. What happens next?’

‘Next I think the wife and her brother will make passionate love.’

Mark shook his head. ‘No, it doesn’t ring true. If the wife and the brother had been watching the husband and the secretary then the wife would be jealous. She’d start trying to think of ways to get the husband into her bed, not roll around with her brother.’

‘I think you’re wrong.’

‘Why?’ asked Mark.

Lewis thought for a moment. ‘Perhaps because she’s always turned to her brother when she’s been troubled. Or looking at it from another point of view, perhaps the brother’s turned on by what he’s been watching and he forces himself on his only slightly reluctant sister. Yes, that’s the way it should go.’

‘You mean the brother fancies the secretary too?’

‘Not necessarily, he might just have been aroused by the sex itself.’

‘So the brother doesn’t fancy the second woman?’

Lewis grinned. ‘He might in time, I’m not sure yet.’

Mark sighed. ‘It’s bloody difficult writing it this way. If I had more of an idea of how the whole thing was going to develop I could slant the
dialogue that way. You know, give subtle pointers to the audience.’

‘I don’t want the plot to be signposted. I want it to unfold slowly, giving its secrets a little at a time; rather like a Woman when you think about it.’

‘You’re the boss,’ muttered Mark, clearly unhappy with the way things were going. ‘So, what kind of a sex scene is this one?’

Lewis pretended to think about the question for a moment or two. ‘Mild bondage, pseudo-force, that kind of thing.’

‘Who gets tied up?’

‘The woman,’ said Lewis with a sigh. ‘Didn’t I say at the beginning that this was the way her brother kept her tied to him.’

Mark laughed. ‘You meant literally!’

Lewis’s face went cold. ‘If you don’t want the job, Mark, there are plenty of other equally good scriptwriters I could use.’

Mark quickly stopped laughing. ‘Hey, Lewis, it was a joke. You know I want the job. It’s weird, but it’s sure as hell different.’

‘Good. Bring it over to me when you’ve finished the scene. By then I should know what direction I want it to take after that.’

‘And Rowena’s really going to star in this?’ asked Mark.

‘She can’t wait,’ Lewis assured him. ‘Don’t forget the dinner party on Saturday, will you.’

In the front room Rowena heard the door slam and saw Mark walking towards his car. She bit on her lower lip, wondering what Lewis had said to him and how different the plot would have been if he’d seen her and Chris last night.

She felt guilty about that. Not about what they’d done together but about the fact that she hadn’t told Lewis. How could his film be truthful if he didn’t know everything? For a moment she thought about admitting it all, but changed her mind again. It wasn’t as though she’d wanted it to happen, it had been at Chris’s instigation and she’d just given in. Lewis was only interested in Rowena’s reactions.

‘Anything else?’ asked Harriet politely.

Rowena looked blankly at her.

‘You were in the middle of a letter. You’d just said …’

‘Leave that one. You’ve plenty of others to type,’ said Rowena, suddenly anxious to see her husband. ‘I’ll sign them after lunch.’

Harriet stood up, closing her notebook and giving her employer a quick smile. Rowena noticed that Harriet’s skirt was far shorter than the ones she’d been wearing, and that her silk top clung to her breasts in a distinctly provocative way.

‘You look different today,’ she said abruptly.

Harriet, who felt different, tried not to blush. ‘I thought this outfit would be more comfortable. It’s much warmer today.’

‘That explains why you’ve left your tights off,’ murmured Rowena. ‘If you want to top up your tan you can always use the sunbed. It’s in a cubicle off the swimming pool.’ Harriet thanked her and went away to start typing.

Rowena checked her appearance in the mirror above the fireplace, then went along to Lewis’s study. He was sitting at his desk writing in longhand, and when she came into the room he
pushed the papers into a folder. ‘I thought you were busy this morning, darling.’

Rowena perched on the edge of his desk and bent slightly forward, giving him an excellent view of her perfect cleavage. ‘I’ve finished dictating now. I thought perhaps we could talk about the film.’

‘There’s nothing to talk about. You saw what happened yesterday afternoon. That’s the only scene I’ve got so far.’

‘Did you enjoy making love to her?’ asked Rowena.

Lewis stared into her bright blue eyes. ‘Yes, very much. She was gratifyingly responsive.’

‘More responsive than I am?’

‘I didn’t say that.’

‘Make love to me now,’ said Rowena, sliding off the desk and moving round so that she could sit on his lap.

‘I have to spend my time with Harriet,’ Lewis reminded her. ‘If the next part of our plan is to succeed then it’s vital that for the next few days I concentrate on pleasuring her. Her body must get used to me. When I stop visiting her, her body has to be left screaming for satisfaction. It’s the only way we’ll get her to go along with us.’

Rowena had heard all this many months earlier, but it hadn’t mattered then because at that time the second woman hadn’t been chosen. It was different now that Harriet was in the house.

‘You’ve never been a once-a-day man,’ she whispered to Lewis, pulling his swivel chair round so that he was facing her and sitting on his thighs, her legs hanging down on either side of him. ‘Surely you’ve still got some energy left for me?’

Lewis eyed her curiously. Her black and red Lycra dress clung to every curve and the self-tie halter top was too tempting to be ignored. It was plain to him that she’d intended to have him from the moment she got up that morning, otherwise she would have been wearing her normal work-type clothes of designer jeans and cropped top.

Slowly his arms went round her and his hands slid up her back so that he could unfasten the dress. His fingers were quick and deft and within seconds he was peeling the top forward, revealing her rounded breasts, their nipples already partly erect.

Rowena gave a sigh of satisfaction and pulled his head down. She wanted to feel his long tongue against her, needed the gentle grazing of his teeth against her straining nipples. Lewis let her have her way. He moved his head from side to side so that his tongue could harden each of the rosy peaks in turn and then he drew her right nipple carefully into his mouth and sucked lightly until he felt her squirming against his thighs.

Her dress rode up her legs and he realised that she hadn’t bothered to put on any underwear except stockings. His excitement increased and he felt himself hardening. Suddenly he wanted to take her quickly and violently right now, without any further preliminaries, and his right hand went to his zip to free his imprisoned erection.

Rowena made a soft sound of pleasure and lifted her hips to accommodate him, at the same time pressing her breasts more firmly against his face. Lewis slid into her and his hands grasped her by the hips in order to move her at the pace he wanted.

Rowena’s eyes closed and she reached a hand down between their bodies to stimulate her clitoris as Lewis continued to move her up and down in an increasingly rapid rhythm.

At the touch of her own fingers on the slowly swelling bud, Rowena began to shiver and tiny tendrils of excitement started to snake their way up through her stomach. Lewis nibbled gently on the nipple in his mouth and this extra sensation gave Rowena the stimulation her climax seemed to need.