sprawled on the expansive bed with a book—or a lover.
That didn’t bear thinking of. She stepped over to the abacus and touched one of the carved beads with a finger, willing her mind away from carnal speculations as Jase walked to the bed and touched a button on a pad over the plain wooden headboard.
With a faint whirr the skylight opened, sending fresh, warm air into the room. “I like to lie here looking at the sky on astarry night,” he said. “You don’t see that in the city. Sometimes I leave it open when I go to sleep.”
Samantha pushed aside the picture of Jase lying on the bed, maybe naked or nearly so. “And if it rains?”
He laughed. “The first sign of moisture, it closes automatically.”
There were lights of course, and music that wafted from some unseen source. He touched another control and the blind overhead began to unroll before he stopped it again. Another, and the head of the bed gently rose. “For reading. Or watching TV.”
A square of wall opposite the bed lifted out of the way to display a TV screen set into the cavity. “A Japanese guy has developed a wallpaper that doubles as a screen,” Jase said. “Not in time for me to use it here, and anyway mostly I have better things to do in bed than watch TV.”
Samantha’s eyes flickered away from the gleam in his, and he laughed softly. “Sleeping,” he said. “Reading, using my laptop. Not what you’re thinking, Samantha.”
“I wasn’t thinking anything,” she informed him, looking him in the eye, daring him to contradict her.
“Of course not,” he said, so soothingly she wanted to shake him. The gleam in his eyes intensified, and her body tautened as he approached her, but with his hand at her waist he walked her out of the bedroom and along the passageway towards the front of the building.
As if by some unseen hand, double doors ahead of them whispered open. Even as she passed through she had an impression of light and space, of entering into a non-earthly dimension.
A vista of green and blue, earth and sky drew her forward across a thick moss-coloured carpet to the huge triangle wall of glass that reached to the floor.
The road was hidden behind a screen of trees, and the countryside stretched for miles. Lush grass and dark, thick native trees were interspersed with splashes of colour in a few farm gardens—pink and purple, gold and red—all under the wide canopy of almost cloudless blue sky.
She caught a glimpse of water glittering in sunlight not too far away, and followed a line of trees that opened here and there to allow more tantalising peeks at a lazy, winding stream.
“Like it?” Jase asked at her side.
“How could your parents bear to leave it?”
“Gets windy up here,” he said. “And they didn’t want a two-storey house for their retirement years. It’s only up this high that the view is worth it.” He looked up, surveying the few ragged clouds scudding upward from the horizon. “If you stay until sunset, it could be a good one. Sometimes they’re pretty spectacular.”
“Sunset’s a long way off.” She looked at her watch, finding it already later than she’d thought. “What would we do in the meantime?”
Jase said, “I could think of a couple of things I’d like to do with you.”
Her eyes flew to his face. Despite the lightness in his voice he wasn’t smiling. And at the heat in his eyes her heart stuttered and her breath paused.
Involuntarily she took a step back—while she still could. Because every nerve she possessed was screaming at her to go forward into his arms, and fear of losing herself there kept her sane and cautious.
The air seemed full of electricity, crackling with it. She was conscious of the sunlight warming her face through the shimmering glass of the windows, the blinding blue of the skyoutside, the softness of the carpet under her feet. In her mind, as if she were an onlooker, she could see herself and Jase facing each other, an arm’s length apart,
That didn’t bear thinking of. She stepped over to the abacus and touched one of the carved beads with a finger, willing her mind away from carnal speculations as Jase walked to the bed and touched a button on a pad over the plain wooden headboard.
With a faint whirr the skylight opened, sending fresh, warm air into the room. “I like to lie here looking at the sky on astarry night,” he said. “You don’t see that in the city. Sometimes I leave it open when I go to sleep.”
Samantha pushed aside the picture of Jase lying on the bed, maybe naked or nearly so. “And if it rains?”
He laughed. “The first sign of moisture, it closes automatically.”
There were lights of course, and music that wafted from some unseen source. He touched another control and the blind overhead began to unroll before he stopped it again. Another, and the head of the bed gently rose. “For reading. Or watching TV.”
A square of wall opposite the bed lifted out of the way to display a TV screen set into the cavity. “A Japanese guy has developed a wallpaper that doubles as a screen,” Jase said. “Not in time for me to use it here, and anyway mostly I have better things to do in bed than watch TV.”
Samantha’s eyes flickered away from the gleam in his, and he laughed softly. “Sleeping,” he said. “Reading, using my laptop. Not what you’re thinking, Samantha.”
“I wasn’t thinking anything,” she informed him, looking him in the eye, daring him to contradict her.
“Of course not,” he said, so soothingly she wanted to shake him. The gleam in his eyes intensified, and her body tautened as he approached her, but with his hand at her waist he walked her out of the bedroom and along the passageway towards the front of the building.
As if by some unseen hand, double doors ahead of them whispered open. Even as she passed through she had an impression of light and space, of entering into a non-earthly dimension.
A vista of green and blue, earth and sky drew her forward across a thick moss-coloured carpet to the huge triangle wall of glass that reached to the floor.
The road was hidden behind a screen of trees, and the countryside stretched for miles. Lush grass and dark, thick native trees were interspersed with splashes of colour in a few farm gardens—pink and purple, gold and red—all under the wide canopy of almost cloudless blue sky.
She caught a glimpse of water glittering in sunlight not too far away, and followed a line of trees that opened here and there to allow more tantalising peeks at a lazy, winding stream.
“Like it?” Jase asked at her side.
“How could your parents bear to leave it?”
“Gets windy up here,” he said. “And they didn’t want a two-storey house for their retirement years. It’s only up this high that the view is worth it.” He looked up, surveying the few ragged clouds scudding upward from the horizon. “If you stay until sunset, it could be a good one. Sometimes they’re pretty spectacular.”
“Sunset’s a long way off.” She looked at her watch, finding it already later than she’d thought. “What would we do in the meantime?”
Jase said, “I could think of a couple of things I’d like to do with you.”
Her eyes flew to his face. Despite the lightness in his voice he wasn’t smiling. And at the heat in his eyes her heart stuttered and her breath paused.
Involuntarily she took a step back—while she still could. Because every nerve she possessed was screaming at her to go forward into his arms, and fear of losing herself there kept her sane and cautious.
The air seemed full of electricity, crackling with it. She was conscious of the sunlight warming her face through the shimmering glass of the windows, the blinding blue of the skyoutside, the softness of the carpet under her feet. In her mind, as if she were an onlooker, she could see herself and Jase facing each other, an arm’s length apart,
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