Sometimes, Things Just Happen Ch. 01

"I suppose so."

They walked in silence for a few moments, then Marcus spoke again. "Jake tells me you've recently lost your job," he said abruptly.

Kate was startled, and not a little angry. "He had no right to tell you that. Its my business."

"But its true?" Marcus pressed.

"Yes," Kate affirmed curtly. "Not that its any of your business."

"No," he agreed. "I suppose your financial state is rather unsteady at the moment?"

Kate's eyes widened. "What are you suggesting?"

"I suggest nothing," Marcus said calmly. "What you happen to read into it is, as you say, your own business."

"What are you implying then?"

"I do not imply," Marcus said insultingly. "Never would I do something so vague as that. No, my dear, you understand precisely what I say, but if you find yourself unable to comprehend I can always attempt a greater level of coherence. Is that your desire, perhaps?"

"No," Kate said furiously. "It is not - "

"Strange," Marcus interrupted her. "I had not thought you a coward."

"Why you ill mannered, beastly -"

He fixed a level gaze at her. "Call me any more names," he said very softly, "And you may find yourself punished for it."

"Brute!" she hissed.

They had reached the dining room, however, and so she was forced to put on a civil face.

Casey Laurens, was a "family friend" and had been invited up, had arrived. She had never really understood just what her relationship to the brothers was, but had gleaned something from Jake's ramblings about his obsession with her, and her obsession with his brother. Kate said her greetings, took her place beside Jake and noticed with mild irritation that Casey had been placed between Marcus and Jake. It was odd, she thought to herself, that she didn't feel more jealous. Casey was doing her best to attract the attention of both men.

"So, Kate," Casey remarked, startling Kate out of a deep reverie. "When is the date to be?" There was an edge to her voice, Kate noticed. Interesting.

"We haven't set one yet," Kate said easily. "We have time, after all."

Casey eyed Kate's figure, advising, "Better not leave it too late...before you know it you'll have lost ALL of your figure..."

Kate's brows raised. "I can always get the dress adjusted," she murmured self deprecatingly.

"I hardly think that will be necessary," Marcus remarked. "Besides, I'm certain Kate will look stunning."

Kate's brows almost disappeared entirely. She turned wide eyes on him.

"The designers can make anything look good these days," Casey said cattily.

"And Jake can afford the best of them," Marcus said, looking directly at her. "Convenient, isn't it, Kate?"

She should have known it was too good to be true, Kate thought ruefully. No way was a man who thought her a mercenary bitch about to change his opinion over dinner...

* * *

She couldn't sleep. The night was warm, and filled with the subtle noisiness of the night creatures crying out in the depths of the forest behind the house. She finally gave up the attempt at around two in the morning, putting on a robe, her shoes, and quietly leaving her room.

The house was quiet. Something creaked. With a small shiver she crept outside, breathing in the warm air with a sigh of pleasure. The moon was out, lighting up a faint path lined with moonstones. Curiously, and rather foolhardily, Kate followed it, taking the time to enjoy the peacefulness and the fascinating scenery it led her to. Before she knew it, she found herself at the beach.

She stood for a moment, staring in fascination at the waves gently lapping at the pure white shores of sand. The water seemed dark, mysterious, its glittering depths beckoning to her. As if mesmerised, she slid the robe off her shoulders, shedding the nightdress and shoes. She hesitated momentarily over her underwear, then almost defiantly, tossed those into the pile too.

The water was cool...a startling contrast against her bare skin. Determinedly, she plowed on, until the waves were lapping at her thighs. She looked down at herself, and for once, did not blush. Slowly, she sank down to her knees, the water licking at her skin like the icy caress of an uncaring lover.

She swam for a while, heedless of all the warnings she'd ever heard of the sea, lost in the sheer pleasure and freedom from the worries that plagued her by day. Here there was no one, only herself, and the sea. Her naked self. She giggled suddenly. Who would ever have thought that Kate Jones would ever go skinny dipping in the early hours of the morning? There was something about the sea tonight that had beckoned to her, lured her into its depth, unheedful of the dangers. Rather like love, Kate thought fancifully. Love held a lure that few could resist, even with full knowledge of the dangers it held.

Something prickled at the back of her neck. She had the uncanny suspicion, quite suddenly, that she was being watched, and froze. The prickling stopped, but, unnerved now, Kate started her trek back to shore, the water sluicing from her body. She revelled in the sensation, defiantly. Here, under the cover of darkness, she could fantasise, pretend that she was beautiful, that the sea was her godlike lover, and the skies their bed.

Her clothes were sandy and stuck to her wet body, but she could not bring herself to care. She slept that night, peacefully.

* * *

"We're going to the beach, Kate. Want to come?"

Kate shook her head absently at Jake and concentrated on her breakfast, aware that her face was bright red. She looked up to find Marcus's eyes on her. "Can't you swim?" he asked, mockingly.

"Of course I can."

"An aversion to sand then, perhaps?"

"No," Kate said shortly. She pressed the thoughts of last night's insanity to the back of her mind, aware that Jake was watching the exchange with interest. "I have a...headache. That's all."

"Ah," said Marcus. Jake shrugged and left.

After a moment, he spoke again. "It is rather odd that you do not try to spend more time with Jake. Is this how the two of you have always dealt together?"

"Yes," Kate warily. "Why?"

Marcus shrugged nonchalantly. "I was simply wondering. It occurred to me that a woman such as you, with your requirements for a mate, would not want to let one slip through her fingers." His lip curled. "Not afraid his attention might wander?"

"Jake," Kate said coldly, "Is my fiance. He is, moreover, loyal. You would never be able to accuse him of being two-faced."

"Of course," Marcus said easily, "I don't suppose you'd care if his attention did wander? As long as you were financially secure..."

"Shut up," Kate said, her voice shaking with anger. "You know nothing about me. You have no right to judge."

"I have a right," he retorted, his calm slipping a little now, "As long as Jake is my brother, and you are a gold-digger. I will not have him hurt, is that clear?"

"As crystal," Kate replied, her voice cold. Carefully, she put down her coffee, and left, letting herself have only the brief satisfaction of slamming the door.

* * *

The property had stables. Kate had always loved horses, always loved the calm serenity of them. Still shaking with anger at Marcus's temerity, she went to see them.

It was there that she fell in love.

"Oh my," she breathed, at her first sight of him. "Oh, my."

"He's glorious, isn't he?" Marcus's voice came from behind her. "He is a brute, though." He stood unnervingly close to her.

Kate stepped towards the horse, partly to distance herself from the man behind her, but aware that the horse was watching her rather malevolently. "Surely not," she cooed at him. "You're too magnifient to be a brute, aren't you? Oh, yes you are..." She held her hand out for the horse to sniff, only to find her wrist encircled by a rather large male hand. His body was pressed up against her from behind. One hand rested seemingly casually on her hip. She stiffened.

"He bites," Marcus murmured against her ear.

She suppressed a shiver and thought wildly of something to say. "Can I ride him?" she blurted out. Come to think of it, she did actually want to.

Marcus froze. She got the impression that he was staring incredulously at her. "Did I mention he bites?"

Kate suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes. I don't see how that's relevant, though."

"Lucifer," said Marcus mockingly, "Would eat a little thing like you for breakfast."

She made a clucking sound with her tongue. "You just want him all to yourself," she accused. He released her at last and she stepped away from the heat of his body with relief, turning to face him.

He inclined his head. "As you say. But you still may not ride him." He must have seen the calculating look in her eyes, for he added, "And if I catch you trying..."

Kate's expression turned mutinous. She felt, ridiculously, like a child being scolded.

"By the way," Marcus added as he turned to leave, "You have sand in your hair." Kate swore to herself. Never, she decided as she raced for the shower, was she ever going to do that again.

Somehow, though, that night she found herself creeping down to the sea, once again.

* * *

"Kate," said Anna. "Will you play dolls with me?" Charmed, Kate could not resist, merely smiled and nodded, following the little girl to her room.

"This is Emily," said Anna. "And this is Polly and Crystal. Shall we have a tea party?"

"Why not?" said Kate. "That sounds lovely."

Kate perched on Anna's small pink bed and watched while the child went to rummage in her toy trunk for the tea set. Something green and moving caught her eye and she frowned... Her eyes widened and she leapt to her feet, scooping Anna up and ignoring the child's shriek as she leapt onto the bed. "Shh, sweety," said Kate as soothingly as she could manage, considering she herself was terrified and shaking. "Its okay...the bad snakey won't hurt us...HELP!!!"

Anna blinked.

Marcus came running into the room. "What the –?" he began as he saw Kate standing on the far end of Anna's bed, holding Anna in her arms. His eyes lit on the snake and a look of understanding came into his eyes, and then, incredibly, he began to laugh.

Kate was not at all pleased. She watched as Marcus caught his daughter's eye, and she too, began to laugh.

"What," Kate demanded furiously, "Is so funny? There's a dangerous snake on the floor! Anna or I could have been bitten and DIED!"

"Actually, Kate," said Marcus wryly as he stooped to pick up the snake from the ground, "Perdita's harmless. She's a python...and they don't bite."

Kate's shoulders slumped with relief.

"They just strangle."

"Oh," said Kate without a twitch. "What a relief. Death by strangling is far preferable to death by poison or fang-induced mutilation..."

"Fang-induced mutilation?" said Marcus with raised brows.

"Never mind," said Kate. She set Anna down on the bed. "Who let her out anyway?"

"She must have escaped,'' said Marcus. "She does that sometimes."

"Regular Houdini you've got there, I see," Kate muttered unappreciatively. "Aren't you worried about a child in the house?"

"Anna knows to get me if Perdita gets out," Marcus said off-handedly. "And Perdita wouldn't hurt her anyway."

"Ha," Kate said derisively, and stalked out.

Father and daughter exchanged a look...and burst into laughter again.

* * *

Despite Marcus's warnings, Kate could not resist, of course. The day after he'd warned her, she came down to the stables at dawn, armed with a carrot she'd filched from the kitchens. It took some persuading, for, as Kate found out, Lucifer was a very bad tempered horse, but in the end she managed to coax him out of his stall. It was then with the greatest joy that Kate found herself riding the most magnificent horse she'd ever seen.

It was addictive, so the day after that she found herself sneaking down again. She'd barely mounted Lucifer, however, before a pair of hard hands clamped around her waist, lifting her down. She gave a little shriek, struggling, and found herself being deposited unceremoniously on the dewy ground.

"What," said Marcus furiously, "Do you think you're doing?"

Kate could only blink up at him, perplexed.

"Get up," Marcus snarled.

She got up.

"Come here."

She came, hesitatingly, towards him. "Closer," he ordered. She took another step. His hand clamped around her arm, turned her around so her back faced him.

He slapped her buttocks.

Kate gave a cry of outrage, spinning around to face him, her mouth open to give him a piece of her mind. She found her words, muffled, however, quite suddenly, with his mouth. His tongue slid with insulting arrogance into her mouth, licking under lips and stroking tantalisingly against her tongue briefly before withdrawing into his own mouth, her own tongue lured after it. He captured and sucked it. He bit at her mouth cruelly, soft, nipping bites that hurt and excited all at the same time, burying his mouth into hers, whilst his hands cupped and kneaded her bottom, fingers digging into the soft skin to bring her groin up against his. The sensation of her body against his erection dragged a groan from his throat.

He ripped his mouth away from hers, gasping in a breath. "Oh, god, yes," he groaned, as Kate arching, trying to free herself, in the process rubbing herself against his swollen hardness. "Do it again, honey." When she froze, he clenched his fingers around her bottom and brought her hard up against him, rubbing himself against her, his eyes closed, his jaw clenched in unbearable pleasure.

To her shame Kate found herself growing aroused by his evident excitement. Hot liquid seemed to pool between her thighs. He must have sensed this for she felt his hands parting her thighs, then sliding up to her waistband. Her eyes widened when she felt his hands slide inside her pants, over the naked skin of her bottom. His eyes locked with hers as, slowly, he slid them down past the curve of her bottom, between her thighs. He felt the wetness, and his eyes clouded, darkened with lust. He ground his groin against her harder.

She found herself being borne to the ground, his body on top of her as his mouth found hers again. Common sense was crying out for her to struggle, to scream, to do anything to stop this madness, but her mouth was full of his tongue and some small, rebellious part of her was telling her to enjoy it while it lasted.It would not last. Nothing ever did.

His tongue was plunging in and out of her mouth, his groin was grinding against hers, his hands stroking her breasts, and Kate was going mad. When he took her mouth away, she protested, reaching for him. "What about Jake?" Marcus murmured, his eyes scanning her face.

"Who?" Kate mumbled, dazed.

With a disgusted curl of his lip Marcus hauled himself off her, stood and looked down at her prone body contemptuously. "Get up," he said softly.

Kate experienced an intense feeling of deja vu. The man did like to order people around, didn't he? "What is it?" she asked, warily.

"My god," Marcus remarked musingly, "You're a hot little piece, aren't you?"

Kate's eyes widened and she took a step back, involuntarily recoiling from his unconcealed contempt. "I - I don't understand."

"Went up in flames the moment I touched you..." His voice was sneering.

She understood at last. "Are you - are you calling me a whore?"

He said nothing, merely looked at her with disgust in his face once more, and left.

That night, when she went down to the bay again, she took her clothes off with admitted defiance, stepping with relief into the sea. A whore...the words screamed through her mind. She paused when the water reached her knees and stood for some time, simply staring out into the darkness beyond. She stayed like that for a long time, before she at last began to let the sea lull her into making love to it once more.

* * *

"Kate," said Jake at breakfast, "No more excuses. You are coming swimming with us today."

"Er -" said Kate, absorbed in the newspaper.

"What, after all," Jake continued blithely, "Was the point of buying a swimsuit if you aren't going to use it? No excuses. You are coming."

"Er - " said Kate.

"Please come, Kate," Anna pleaded.

"Er -" said Kate, feeling her resolve weaken. There was only, after all, so much of a fight one could put up.

"Yes, Katie," Casey chimed in. "Do come. I should love to see your swimsuit..."

That did it. With a rebellious set to her face, Kate nodded, putting down the newspaper. "Just let me get my swimsuit."

When it got down to it however, Kate found herself somewhat still too cowardly to do more than strip down to her t-shirt, and so her upper body remained covered. One look at Casey's glorious, tall, slender body and there was no way she was going to reveal her own. She chose, also, to stay on the beach and read rather go and frolick in the waves as Jake, Casey and Anna were doing. Thus she spent a peaceful hour, lying on her stomach, her head in a book.

"You will burn," said Marcus, startling her. Kate blinked, looking up at him.

"What are you doing here?"

"It is my beach," he pointed out rather acidly. "And why else would one go to a beach?"

"Oh, I don't know," Kate said sarcastically. "I thought perhaps you were coming to revel in my glorious company." She paused. "But I must be wrong, since you do not seem to be revelling at all."

Marcus didn't answer. He was, Kate saw apprehensively, eyeing a bottle of sun-oil thoughtfully. Her eyes widened when he reached out and picked it up.

"Shall I oil your back for you?" Before she could protest, he was astride her legs, and had flipped her t-shirt up. "Why are you not swimming?"

"Didn't want to," Kate mumbled, momentarily distracted. "What are you doing? Get off me!"

"Oiling your back," he replied, matter of factly. "Now be quiet." He warmed the oil in his hands, then set them to her back and Kate could barely restrain a moan. Whore, she reminded herself. He called you a whore, remember? No moaning!

Slowly, sensuously, his hands slid from her shoulders to the middle of her back, smoothing the warm oil into her skin. He slid down to her sides, accidentally brushing the sides of her breasts. Kate gasped, and immediately went red, hoping against hope that he hadn't noticed. Her nipples were hardening, even while she crushed them against the ground. She resisted the urge to shift restlessly, ease the painful sensation in her breasts.

His hands slid down to her legs. Warm oil slid through his fingers like honey as he moved from the bottom of her legs up to her thighs. Involuntarily, she tensed, then gasped as she felt him lift the material of her bikini bottoms away from the skin, his hand sliding inside. Her mouth opened, then closed again as his fingers found the centre of her. Stroked.

She whimpered.

His finger slid inside her.

"Mmm," Marcus murmured. "Certainly no need for oil, here...you're dripping...Want me that bad, do you?"

"Bastard," Kate hissed on a sob, as his fingers began to move, sliding in and out of her. "Get off me!"

"Hush now, Katie," Marcus said softly, tauntingly. "Wouldn't want your fiance to come running up and find me with my hand between your legs now, would you? No...he'd break it off and then what would you do? You would have lost your goldmine..."

"I shall scream," Kate said furiously. "I will scream rape."

"Hardly that," his murmured, his voice soft, insinuous. "And you're so clearly enjoying it, my dear..."

She could not deny that the insinuous thrusting of his finger was driving her mad. His thumb stroked teasingly at her clitoris, and to her horror she felt herself tensing, felt the hot honey flood between her legs. He slid his finger into her harder, rougher now. She bit back a moan. Two fingers...now three...stretching her unbearably. He groaned as she tightened around him...jabbed into her faster...and exulted as rippling around his hand, she came.