The perfume of love (rain-bi)

chapter 27

"have you changed your mind about refusing my offer to help Mrs lee?"

"No, that problem is solved... or it will be as soon as we reach Fiji. she can manage until then."

he swirled the ice in his glass, making her notice, not for the first time, the length of his lean, square-tipped fingers and the strength of his wrist. she remembered how it had felt when those fingers had brushed her neck and cradled her head, holding it in place for his kiss. she remembered the hardness of his arm enclosing her and the softness of his mouth moving on hers. she felt a sharp longing to repeat the experience. but she knew it would never happen again. even if he hadn't been involved with joanne now, she had done an unforgivable thing... repulsed him. from what she had read, there wasn't a male ego in the world which could forgive or forget that.

she said, "why then? i mean, why did you want to see me?"

he said, with an edge of sarcasm, "you'd prefer to be on deck, i take it?" with a single lithe movement, he rose. "don't worry, i shan't keep you long. you can finish your drink with the others. i asked you to come here to advise you to spend less time with lee yong."

her eyes widened in astonishment. "Why?" she asked blankly.

jihoon thrust his hands into the pockets of his shorts. she could see the outlines of his clenched knuckles through the white cotton.

he said, " lee yong was devoted to his wife. although they were separated for long periods, he never looked at another woman. it was a tremendous blow to learn recently that she had found someone else. he's lonely and vulnerable. i don't want to see him hurt again... which could happen if you continue to spend most of your time with him"

it was such an unfair indictment that jenna was outraged. she said angrily, "you can hardly blame me for the fact that nobody else was interested in seeing the road to Hana today. was i supposed to miss an interesting experience because the others preferred to spend the day lazing on deck?"

"No, but it might be prudent to avoid any more excursions a deux"

"that suggestion is demeaning to both of us... to yong and to me" she retorted. "I'm sure it's never entered his head to regard me as anything but... but a young girl who's rather out of her element in this sort of milieu. from my point of view he's a kind, sympathetic older friend. he's the only person on board who I'm really comfortable with. i have no intention of suddenly starting to avoid him."

"i didn't suggest that you should; merely that it would be better to spend more time with other people, including the members of your own sex" he added dryly.

the implication in this remark made jenna even more furious. she said hotly, "just because you......."

as she bit off the end of the statement she was thinking of him and joanne falling into bed togother within a few days of meeting.

his face was as hard as it had been the first time they met.

"go on: don't be afraid to speak your mind. because I.... what?"

she took a deep breath.

"just because you can't control your sexual urges, it doesn't mean everybody can't"

as she said it, a wave of hot colour swept over her face. she wasn't used to talking about sex to a man.

her father had never mentioned the subject. when she was nine or ten her Aunt had explained her reproductive system to her. and she and her three closest school friends had theorised a good deal. none of them had had much practical experience before leaving school. they had all been bright girls, potential achievers, members of generation who were starting to re-think and amend the permissive code which had been in force for some time.