Touched by Angels Read online

  When Jack pushed back his chair and stood, she jumped, her heart rebounding wildly inside her when she saw the grim expression on his face. Was he angry with himself because he couldn’t detach himself from his emotions as he wanted to do? Was he angry with her because she was the reason for his lack of control? She had no idea but, as she rose to her feet, Meg knew that she had to make him see how wrong either of those reasons were!

  ‘Jack, I—’ she began, only to stop as he cut her off.

  ‘I’m tired. I’m sure you’ll understand if I have an early night.’ He turned to leave then paused. ‘Don’t worry about Bill and Katu. I’ll set my alarm and check on them in a couple of hours.’

  ‘I understand, Jack.’ She gave a small laugh, wincing when she heard the shrill edge it held, the hurt, the pain. ‘Don’t worry about having to get up to check on them. I don’t feel much like partying, to tell the truth, so I’ll be here if they need anything.’

  She gave him a tight little smile, her eyes skating over his face. She wasn’t strong enough to let herself look at him because she knew what she would see.

  Tears suddenly blurred her vision and she stumbled as her foot caught on the table leg when she hurried towards the door. Jack caught hold of her arm to steady her, but even then she wouldn’t look at him. Consequently, she wasn’t prepared when he hauled her towards him with a muttered curse.

  ‘You make me so mad, Meg! You make me feel things I swore I would never feel again!’ The words were bitten out, laced with anger and a whole lot of other things that brought her reluctant gaze straight to his face. She felt a quiver run through her, then another and another until she was trembling as she saw the desire which had darkened his eyes and set a rim of colour along his angular cheek-bones.

  ‘Jack?’ she whispered, dry-mouthed with shock.

  ‘Meg?’ he mimicked, smiling with a tenderness she would never have expected. Cupping her face between his big warm hands, he brushed away her tears with his thumbs then slowly and with exquisite gentleness kissed her.

  Meg felt an explosion of heat and light erupt inside her. It flowed through her veins, setting light to every cell in her body. She gasped in shock then gasped again in delight when Jack’s arms tightened while he drew her even closer and deepened the kiss. The hungry plundering of his tongue seemed to release her from the spell that had fallen over her.

  She twined her arms around his neck and returned the kiss with equal fervour, her tongue darting and dancing into his mouth, teasing, tormenting, seducing his. It was just a kiss and yet there seemed to be so much encompassed in it that she was afraid when he tried to end it.

  She held him tightly, not wanting to let him go, not wanting to be back at square one, wondering and waiting, confused by her own feelings as well as his. He suddenly stopped pulling away and pulled her closer instead, kissing her again and again, letting his mouth say everything he either couldn’t or wouldn’t say. It was telling her that he wanted her, desired her, and that was all she needed to hear. Rational words would come later!

  When Jack’s hands slid down her body in that first seeking caress, she felt her heart stop from sheer pleasure. Yet when his fingers moved slowly upwards and found her aching breasts, it started racing again. Meg could feel its heavy beat pulsing through her and knew that Jack had felt it, too, but they were both too caught up in the magic they were creating together to worry about it.

  His breath exhaled on a sigh when he felt her nipples pressing so eagerly into his palms but then Meg heard herself sigh as well. She closed her eyes, letting her mind spin and twist like a kaleidoscope in ever-changing patterns. There were simply too many sensations to absorb, to enjoy, to marvel at, to think clearly.

  ‘You know where this is leading, Meg, don’t you?’ Jack’s voice was barely above a whisper because it would have demanded too much effort for him to speak any louder.

  Meg knew how he felt because speaking seemed such a waste when there were other things to concentrate on. She simply smiled at him, her eyes heavy with passion and invitation.

  ‘Meg!’ Her name on his lips sounded so wonderful, so right. When he swept her up into his arms she felt no qualms. She knew what was happening and it was what she wanted.

  Jack carried her down the corridor and kicked open the door to his compartment then set her gently on her feet. There was no light in the small room apart from the glow from the moon as it filtered through the tiny porthole window, but it was bright enough to see by.

  Reaching out, Meg unbuttoned his shirt and her hands didn’t tremble at all. She had no doubts about what she was doing, which should have been surprising after all the heart-searching she’d done lately. She wanted Jack to make love to her. She wanted it more than anything she had ever wanted in her whole life.

  She slid the shirt partly off his shoulders then got distracted by the sight of his muscular chest. Leaning forward, she rained a shower of tiny, sipping kisses across his warm, sleek skin.

  ‘Meg!’

  His voice was raw with emotion but not with anything to indicate that he wanted her to stop so she carried on, letting her lips travel where they chose, kissing, sipping, drinking in his taste and his warmth until suddenly she was trembling as hard as he was.

  Jack caught hold of her shoulders and set her away from him. His eyes looked like jet in the moonlight. ‘My turn.’

  He took hold of the hem of her white cotton T-shirt and slowly drew it upwards, taking his time as he bared her body to his gaze. Meg shivered when she felt his eyes sweep over her. All she had on now was a lacy bra which did little to conceal the fullness of her breasts and that was soon dispensed with.

  ‘You are so beautiful, Meg. But, then, I knew that you would be…’

  His head dipped and a moan of pleasure escaped from her when his mouth found her breast. The gentle rasp of his tongue made her tremble so hard that she would have fallen if he hadn’t supported her. Her head fell back and her eyes closed as a wave of passion swept through her, so intense, so fierce that she could barely believe what she was feeling. But maybe this was how love always felt, hot and wild, hungry and urgent, yet tempered by a tenderness which was probably the most potent feeling of all.

  She loved Jack. Standing there in his arms at that moment, she finally acknowledged it. Suddenly she needed so much to tell him how she felt that any doubts about the wisdom of doing so disappeared.

  ‘Jack, I—’

  ‘Hello! Jack? Are you there?’

  The sound of Miriam’s voice was a cruel intrusion. Meg felt her heart stumble to a halt when she heard it. She wanted to tell Jack to ignore it, to pretend they weren’t there and not answer, but it was too late for that, she realised when she felt him stiffen.

  He drew back abruptly and looked at her. For a moment his eyes were full of everything she had felt, before he made an obvious effort to collect himself. And it was the fact that he could do so after the intensity of the passion they’d shared which hurt the most.

  ‘I’d better see what she wants,’ he said tersely.

  ‘Yes, of course.’ Meg turned away, afraid that he would see her despair. Picking up her T-shirt, she dragged it over her head before she turned round again.

  ‘Are you all right?’ he asked flatly.

  ‘Of course. Why shouldn’t I be?’ Her tone was diamond-bright, the smile she gave him matching it perfectly.

  He shrugged. ‘No reason.’ His tone was equally assured. He started to open the compartment door then paused. ‘About what happened just now, Meg…’

  ‘Oh, don’t worry about it!’ She gave a tinkly laugh. ‘I don’t intend to!’

  ‘Fine.’ One last quick smile and then he was gone. Meg took a deep breath before she went to her own compartment and closed the door. She went to the window and stared into the night while her heart seemed to crack wide open.

  How ironic to discover that she had fallen in love with Jack at that point. It would have been so much easier if it had struck her out of the blue on
e day while they were in the clinic, perhaps, rather than have it happen in the throes of passion. Maybe then she would have been able to rationalise it away, convince herself that she was mistaken, but she couldn’t do that now.

  No, she knew how she’d felt when he’d kissed her and almost made love to her. She wasn’t going to be able to convince herself that she’d made a mistake. She also knew that Jack didn’t feel the same way about her. He couldn’t possibly do so if he’d been able to switch off his feelings so easily!

  Oh, he might have wanted her, but that was all. He didn’t love her. He never would. He’d given his heart once to a woman and had had it broken so he wasn’t going to risk it happening again. It was better to accept that now than waste time wishing for the impossible…better, not easier, though!

  ‘Right, I’ll be back a.s.a.p., folks.’ Rory gave them a cheery wave before he jumped down from the train. He had volunteered to drive to the newly cleared airstrip and meet the air ambulance when it landed. He would bring back the nurse who would accompany Bill and Katu back to England as well as the replacement driver. The airfield was a good hour’s drive from where they were located but it could have been worse if Richard hadn’t intervened. He’d been responsible for clearing the runway so that the plane could land, and everyone was grateful to him for that.

  He’d arrived the previous evening with some of his men to tell them the good news and had ended up staying overnight. Now Meg smiled at him as Rory roared away.

  ‘Thank heavens Rory doesn’t have to go all the way back to where we landed. It would have been a mammoth operation if you hadn’t managed to get things organised.’

  Richard treated her to his wonderful smile. ‘I couldn’t put you poor people through all that a second time. You might not agree to come here again if we don’t treat you well!’

  ‘Method in your madness, eh?’

  Jack remarked with a laugh. However, Meg wasn’t deaf to the note of restraint in his voice. It had happened a lot lately. Ever since that night, two days earlier, when they’d almost made love, Jack had been noticeably reserved whenever she was around. Now she excused herself, not wanting to dwell on why he should be behaving this way. If he regretted what had happened and felt guilty about it then she didn’t want to know!

  She went to the hospital bay where Bill was playing noughts and crosses with Katu. The pair had struck up a friendship and it was obvious that the man was very fond of the little girl. Katu clapped her hands in glee as she won yet another game and Meg hid a smile when Bill winked at her. Bill, like everyone else, usually let Katu win.

  ‘So, how are you two doing?’ she asked, perching on the end of the child’s bed.

  ‘Fine. I feel a right fraud, flying back home when there’s nothing wrong with me,’ Bill answered glumly.

  ‘Don’t be silly. I know you feel a lot better but you’ve been very ill. Jack has arranged for you to go straight to hospital where you’ll have a thorough check-up and possibly more treatment. If it was Katayama fever then we have to be sure that it’s been cleared up.’

  ‘I expect you’re right, love. It’s just that I’ll miss you lot, especially this little one—even though she does beat me all the time!’

  Bill gave the little girl a hug. Katu responded with a happy smile. She had positively blossomed under all the attention, not to mention the intensive nursing care.

  She looked so much better, Meg decided as she looked at the child’s smiling face. If it weren’t for the ugly wound on her leg it would have been fair to say that Katu was probably healthier than she’d been for a long time. It was obvious that she’d had barely enough to eat for some while. However, she was starting to put on weight now and her skin no longer had that lacklustre look. Once she’d had surgery to repair the wound she would be well on the road to a full recovery. Nonetheless, Meg was still very concerned about what would happen to her in the future.

  The thought was very much on her mind all morning. Jack had decided that they would spend some time at the village, checking up on anyone who hadn’t felt confident enough to visit them on board the train. Quite a number of people turned up for the impromptu clinic, although there were few really serious problems to deal with. However, Meg knew that treating small problems before they got the chance to grow bigger was always worthwhile.

  She finished cleaning an ulcer on an old man’s leg then dusted it with antibiotic powder and covered it with a dressing. Many of the villagers had ulcers. A combination of poor diet and the rapid spread of infection meant that cuts and scrapes often led to them. Richard had accompanied them to the village and he shook his head as the old man left.

  ‘Conditions are even worse than I thought. It makes me feel guilty that I stayed away so long when I might have been able to do something sooner to help my people.’

  Meg washed her hands with Hibiscrub and dried them on a paper towel. Jack had gone to visit an old woman who was unable to walk the short distance to where they were seeing patients, and Lesley had gone with him. The fact that he hadn’t asked her to accompany him was a bit like having a wobbly tooth—she kept poking and prodding at the idea that he didn’t want her anywhere near him despite how painful it was! It was a relief to concentrate on something other than her own problems when she heard what Richard had said.

  ‘How long was the former ruler in power?’

  ‘Almost fifteen years.’ Richard grimaced as he went to the door and stared out. ‘He was my uncle, my father’s brother, but he wasn’t a good man. I didn’t want to come back here at first because I had a life in England and I was happy there.’

  ‘What made you change your mind?’ Meg asked quietly, taking a fresh pair of gloves from the box and slipping them on. There were another three people waiting patiently to be seen but she sensed that Richard wanted to talk so she didn’t rush him.

  ‘Oh, many things.’ His expression was distant all of a sudden. ‘I realised that there wasn’t anything to keep me in England at the end of the day. I also realised that I couldn’t stand back and watch my people suffering any longer if I could do something to help them. I came back to Oncamba and my uncle was deposed, although there are still a few of his supporters about who seem intent on making trouble.’

  He shrugged. ‘I have to be constantly on my guard because they would be only too happy to see me dead.’

  ‘Good heavens! I hadn’t realised that.’ Meg couldn’t hide her dismay and Richard grinned.

  ‘Don’t worry. I have no intention of letting them achieve their objective!’

  He left the hut soon afterwards but Meg couldn’t help wondering how he could be so calm about the situation. Funnily enough, she hadn’t given any thought to the fact that there might be an unfriendly faction working within Oncamba. Everyone she’d met so far had been welcoming and grateful for their help, but there were always some, she surmised, who didn’t like change even when it was for the better. Still, Richard didn’t appear overly concerned so there didn’t seem any point in her worrying about it.

  They returned to the train at lunchtime. Meg was very conscious that Jack avoided speaking to her as they all walked back together. He kept up an easy conversation with Kate and Lesley about some of the patients they’d seen that morning but ignored her.

  Meg was hurt by his attitude but she refused to let him see that so she kept up a lively conversation with Richard, laughing as he told her about some of the problems he’d encountered since his return to Oncamba. Meg enjoyed their conversation and thought nothing of it until Jack stopped her as she was about to board the Angel.

  ‘A word, please,’ he said tersely.

  ‘I’ll put the kettle on.’ Lesley moved on past them, chattering happily to Kate as they headed towards the kitchen. Alison and Guy were talking to Richard now and they disappeared along the corridor together.

  Meg was very aware that she and Jack were on their own and her heart began to race as she wondered what he wanted to speak to her about. She soon found out.


  ‘May I suggest that you concentrate on work instead of your social life,’ Jack said curtly. ‘I know it must be boring for a woman like you to have to think about your job virtually twenty-four hours a day, but you knew the odds before you came here.’

  Social life? A woman like her?

  Meg’s lips moved but for a moment nothing came out. Questions were fighting for precedence, falling over each other like shoppers after bargains at a sale. It took a full sixty seconds before she managed to sort them into order and by then Jack had turned away.

  ‘Hold it right there!’ she ordered, her blue eyes glittering angrily when he looked round. ‘You can’t say something like that without explaining what you meant.’

  ‘I should have thought it was obvious!’ he snapped back. ‘Oh, don’t give me that self-righteous indignation, Meg! You and I both know that you were making a play for Richard just now.’

  He laughed softly but the sound was devoid of amusement. Meg heard what it did hold, though, and her stomach lurched sickeningly as she recognised the contempt in his voice. ‘I’ve been on the receiving end of it, don’t forget. So I think I can claim to recognise the signs!’

  ‘How dare you? How dare you accuse me of that?’ Meg took a step towards him, uncaring what the others would think if they happened to see what was going on. All she could think about was the fact that Jack had dared to throw that back in her face as an insult.

  Hadn’t it meant anything to him the other night? Hadn’t he realised that she’d been so eager to make love with him because it had meant something to her? Obviously not!

  ‘Don’t judge me by your former wife’s actions, Jack Trent. I’m not Briony!’

  She knew she’d gone too far the minute she saw his expression but she knew that she’d been justified in saying that. Jack was judging her by the other woman’s actions…

  Her heart seemed to stop when it hit her like a blinding flash that maybe he’d used the comparison before. To whom had Jack wanted to make love the other night? Her or Briony? Hadn’t Alison remarked how like his ex-wife Meg was? She’d put that thought to the back of her mind but suddenly she realised how foolish she’d been to ignore it. If Alison had thought there was a physical resemblance between her and Briony, maybe Jack had noticed it, too?