Season of Shadows by Yvonne Whittal

eyes regarded Laura intently. 'Will you really talk
to him about it?'
    'Yes, but—' Laura hesitated, not wanting to push
her hopes up too high. 'If he really can't make it, Sally, will you
promise to accept his decision?'
    Sally considered this for a moment, and then nodded. 'I'll
be disappointed, but I'll accept it.'
    'Good girl,' Laura smiled, pinching the soft cheek
affectionately between her fingers. 'Now, stop looking so unhappy, or
you'll have me believing my company isn't good enough for you.'
    'That's not true, Aunty Laura. I just love you to bits,'
Sally exclaimed, and demonstrated this by flinging her arms about
Laura's neck and hugging her effusively.
    'And I feel the same about you, darling,' Laura assured
her sincerely as she hugged the child against her and smoothed the dark
head with a gentle hand. 'I think it's time you had your bath and went
to bed, don't you?'
    'Yes, Aunty Laura.'
    Laura kissed her goodnight and prepared to leave, but
Sally's voice halted her when she had opened the door, and Laura turned
to face her unsuspectingly. 'Yes, darling?'
    Brown eyes surveyed her intently across the room. 'You do
love Uncle Anton, don't you?'
    Momentarily taken aback, Laura stared at her, then she
pulled herself together with an effort and, as convincingly as
possible, she said: 'Of course I do.'
    Sally frowned and fingered one of her long plaits. 'You
never show it.'
    'Your aunt and I aren't demonstrative by nature,' a voice
said behind Laura, and her cheeks flared hotly as she swung round to
see Anton standing there, but he barely glanced at her as he added, 'If
you want a demonstration, however, I'm sure we could oblige you.'
    Before Laura could utter a syllable in protest, she found
herself draped across a muscled arm, and a hard mouth was pressed
against hers in an impersonal, yet shattering kiss that left her
clinging to him in a dazed fashion when he finally raised his head and
glanced at Sally who had been observing them closely. 'Satisfied?'
    'Yes,' the child nodded happily. 'Goodnight.'
    Moments later, in the privacy of their bedroom, Laura
turned on Anton angrily. 'That display was unnecessary.'
    'On the contrary, I thought it extremely necessary for
Sally's peace of mind. Besides…' a humourless smile curved
his mouth, 'you enjoyed it.'
    A wave of hot colour surged into her cheeks and, swinging
away from him, she said furiously, 'I loathed it, and you damn well
know it!'
    He followed her into the bathroom with long, angry
strides, and she shrank against the rose-coloured tiles as he towered
over her menacingly before her shoulders were taken in a bone-crushing
grip. Her cry of pain was stifled when he pulled her up against him
with a force which temporarily robbed her of breath, then feather-light
kisses tantalised her lips until, with a shuddering moan, they parted
to offer him the sweetness within. His hands left her shoulders to move
down the length of her back to her hips in a possessively sweeping
caress, and her treacherous body went limp against him as a sensual
fire was lit within her. Her hands crept up his broad chest to become
locked behind his strong neck, but at this point he drew back, and his
taunting laughter penetrated her drugged senses to fill her with such
intense shame and self-disgust that she cringed from him as well as her
inner self.
    'If that was a demonstration of your loathing, then loathe
me all you want,' he continued to taunt her, his eyes like lasers
burning into hers until it felt as though her very soul was being
scorched.
    She fell away from him to lean against the tiled wall, the
quick rise and fall of her breasts beneath the silk of her blouse
indicating her distress, and then the colour drained slowly from her
face to leave her paper-white. The room swayed about her momentarily,
but just as quickly it righted itself, and, closing her eyes tightly to
shut out his twisted, cynical features, she whispered brokenly, 'Leave
me alone, please.'
    She would not have been