A lot of the talk of course was about the wedding and where they would live. ‘You must buy a house near here,’ both mothers insisted.
‘There’s plenty of time,’ Rhys said in casual protest. ‘We’re not even officially engaged yet.’
‘So when is the announcement to be made?’ her father asked.
Rhys looked amused. ‘Loading up your shotgun, John?’
He had never called her parents aunt and uncle, he had always seemed too old for that; to him they were John and Valerie, and he spoke to them as equals. Alix thought about calling his parents by their Christian names only but knew that she never would; they were a different generation and that relationship was firmly fixed with the titles she had used for as long as she could remember.
‘I’ll phone the announcement through to the newspapers tomorrow,’ Rhys was saying. ‘Have it come out on Monday. Then you’ll be able to tell everyone,’ he said to the two mothers in amusement.
‘My God, just think of the telephone bills,’ his father sighed.
It was like that all through dinner and the evening that followed—light, happy. Alix helped to clear the table and when they went back into the sitting-room found that the others had tactfully left her a space beside Rhys on one of the settees. She would probably have sat next to him if their relationship was as it used to be, would probably have frowned mightily if anyone else had taken the place. But, now that she had the right to be beside him, Alix again felt shy and blushed rosily when Rhys put a casual but possessive arm across her shoulders. Tentatively she reached her hand up to hold his, found it held in a strong grip. Alix glanced at her mother and Aunt Jo and found that both women were looking at them with moist, sentimental smiles on their faces, making Alix quickly look away in case she got maudlin, too.
When they left to go home, Rhys again took control, saying as he helped her on with her coat,’ ‘Alix and I are going to take a walk.’
The street was dark and empty. Rhys put his arm round her and walked her down through the village to an open meadow that they had often gone to when they were young: to lie in the long grass and read, to practice tennis shots, for Rhys to teach her about natural history. A place that had long and good memories for them both. He lifted her over the fence, then leaned against it and pulled her to him. This time his kiss wasn’t just adult, it was sensuously intimate. He arched her body against his, letting her feel its hardness against her length and his shoulders hunched as his kiss deepened with passion.
Alix returned his kiss ardently, then gave a gasping moan against his mouth as a fierce fire of need grew deep inside her. ‘Rhys.’ She said his name on a shuddering sigh as he took her mouth by storm, sending her senses whirling. She clung to him, lost, drowning, crying out in delight and yearning as he put a hand low on her hips and held her tight against him. She moved in sensual arousal, her head tilting backwards as he kissed the long length of her throat. She wanted him. Oh, God, she wanted him so much!
But Rhys loosened his hold, raised his head.
Slowly Alix opened her eyes and stared at him. Her breath was panting, unsteady, and her whole body, every nerve, every pore, seemed to be an aching need for love. ‘Oh, Rhys, I love you so much,’ she said fervently.
He kissed her lightly, then said, ‘I have a present for you.’
‘A—a present?’ she said dazedly.
‘Yes. Look.’
He took a small box from his pocket and clicked it open. Inside was a ring. A large stone surrounded by diamonds that seemed to be on fire in the moonlight. A ring of fire, Alix thought fancifully, her mind still stunned and whirling.
‘Here let me put it on for you. I hope it fits. I had your mother find out the size.’ He took her shaking left hand in his and slipped the ring on to her engagement finger. ‘It’s an opal,’ he told her. ‘There was a mine near where I was working and they let me go down and hack this out for you.’
‘You found it yourself?’ She turned eyes that were as bright as the ring up to him. ‘Oh, Rhys!’
‘You keep saying that,’ he admonished.
She laughed. ‘I know. I’m sorry. It’s just—just all so overwhelming.’
‘I know, kitten.’ He gave her a hug. ‘So now it’s official. You can go ahead and tell your friends. And at work.’
‘Oh, wow, I can’t wait! Kathy will just die with jealousy. She thinks you’re gorgeous, you know.’ Rhys laughed but she turned and put her arms round his neck. ‘And so do I. Rhys, I’m so happy. Thank you for my lovely ring and for wanting to marry me. Why did you?’ she asked in a sudden burst of vulnerability. ‘You could have had any girl you wanted.’
‘But you’re the one I want.’ He raised a finger to trace the outline of her lips. ‘My sweet, innocent urchin. Always here. So pretty, so untouched.’
She raised a questioning face at that, but he kissed her again and she forgot everything else for several long, wonderful minutes.
When he let her go, Alix gave a shaky laugh. Her hands were gripping the lapels of his jacket to steady herself, although his arm was strong around her.
‘What is it?’
She shook her head a little. ‘I—I didn’t know it would be as—as devastating as this.’
‘Good. I’m glad.’
‘Glad that it’s devastating?’
‘Yes, but mostly glad that you didn’t know before.’
‘There never was and never will be anyone but you,’ she said simply.
Putting his hands on her shoulders, Rhys looked deep into her eyes, then said the words her heart had always longed for. ‘That’s what I love about you, urchin. My sweet little Alix.’
They kissed again, but then it began to rain and they had to turn and hurry back.
‘I’ll call for you around eleven tomorrow,’ Rhys told her. ‘We’ll go out somewhere, get away from the parents. Goodnight, little one.’
‘Goodnight, my love,’ she answered, then quickly slipped indoors so that he could go home and not get wet.
Next day they drove down to the coast, found a deserted stretch of beach and walked along at the edge of the sea, both of them with their shoes off and trousers rolled up to their knees.
‘I wouldn’t mind living by the sea,’ Alix remarked as the wind lifted her hair. She laughed. ‘My mother keeps on about buying a house in the village.’
‘So does mine,’ Rhys said with a mock groan.
She put her arm through his. ‘Where will we live?’
‘Oh, I expect we’ll look for a house round here some time. In the meantime you can continue to stay in the flat whenever I’m away and go back to your parents’ when I’m in England.’
She lifted a puzzled face to look at him. ‘You want me to move out while you’re home?’ He nodded. ‘But——’ she flushed a little ‘—but I thought we could live at the flat together.’
‘When we’re married we can, sure.’
Alix stood still and put her hands on his arms, looking up at him earnestly but shyly. ‘Rhys, I don’t mind—that is, I’d like to live with you there now. Not—not wait.’
He kissed her lightly, but to her disappointment shook his head. ‘The parents would never wear it. And, besides, I want to do it right. Don’t you?’
‘Yes, I suppose so,’ she agreed.
Hearing the reluctance