A Daughter’s Courage: A powerful, gritty new saga from the Sunday Times bestseller. Kitty Neale

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СКАЧАТЬ her face in his large hands. ‘Don’t be daft, woman. You’re the only girl for me.’

      He kissed her in the way that always made her tingle and slowly slipped his hand up inside her sweater to gently cup one of her small breasts.

      ‘Robbie, stop,’ Dorothy forced herself to say. ‘You know I’m saving myself.’

      ‘Marry me then, Dottie. Be my wife,’ Robbie said breathlessly.

      Dorothy was astounded and could feel Robbie’s excitement rising in his tight drainpipe trousers.

      ‘What?’ she asked. ‘Did you just ask me to marry you?’

      Robbie kissed her harder. ‘Yes, marry me,’ he said, between necking her and rubbing her erect nipple.

      Dorothy tried to answer, but Robbie’s mouth was firmly on hers and his other hand was yanking her skirt up to her hips. Her head was giddy but eventually she managed to whisper, ‘Yes, yes, I’ll marry you, but, Robbie … stop, we’re not married yet.’

      ‘Oh, Dottie, please, why wait? I love you and I’m going to be your husband. Let me get inside you.’ Robbie had his hand at the top of her thigh and was sliding it inside her knickers.

      ‘No, Robbie, we can’t. I don’t want to get pregnant.’

      ‘You can’t get pregnant the first time,’ he husked, while doing things to her that made her gasp.

      She had been dating him for five months and had held out against his advances until now, but he had never mentioned marriage before. Now, Dorothy couldn’t believe she was going to be his wife. It wasn’t the most romantic of venues for a proposal, but she found her body responding to Robbie’s caresses and, with her head spinning, she wrapped her legs around his waist.

      As he pounded her against the wall, she buried her head in his neck, enjoying the pleasure of feeling him pushing into her. He began to move faster, harder, and then threw his head back, letting out a long groan.

      ‘Dottie, yes, yes,’ he quietly moaned and then with a final thrust he finished, leaving her feeling thrilled yet strangely dissatisfied. It hadn’t been like she thought it would, but who cares, she thought, as her head filled with images of herself in a wedding dress.

      He pulled away from her, took a roll-up from his pocket and drew a long breath as Dorothy adjusted her clothing. ‘I can’t wait to get back inside and tell everyone about us getting married,’ she said enthusiastically.

      ‘Whoa, hold up,’ Robbie answered quickly as he blew smoke up into the air.

      Alarm bells rang in Dorothy’s head and she suddenly feared she might have been duped into losing her virginity. ‘What do you mean? You are still going to marry me, aren’t you?’

      ‘Yes, yes, of course. But before you go announcing it to the world, don’t you think I should get you a ring first?’

      Dorothy felt her panic subside and was relieved to hear that Robbie’s reluctance to announce their engagement was only because he wanted to ensure it was done correctly. ‘OK, but you had better get me one soon ’cos I can hardly contain myself. I’m going to be Mrs Ferguson. Mrs Dorothy Ferguson.’ Yet, as she spoke, Dorothy noticed that Robbie’s expression didn’t seem to be as blissful as hers.

      Robbie threw his roll-up to the floor before slinking back inside the hall with Dorothy. He couldn’t believe he’d asked her to marry him, but in the heat of the moment he knew it would persuade her to give in to his lust.

      He liked her, quite a lot in fact, but she was so prim and proper, unlike the other women he visited around here who were only too happy to open their legs to him. Robbie knew he was good-looking, and he easily charmed women, but usually if they weren’t forthcoming he’d just drop them and move on. It was easy, too easy, and maybe that’s what attracted him to Dottie. She was a stunner, and the fact that he had to try harder made her more of a challenge.

      Then a thought struck him. Dorothy wanted a ring and he was totally broke. He’d only been paid yesterday, but already most of his week’s wages had been blown in a card game. He was in debt to a couple of loan sharks, and he also owed money to his brother Adrian. If he was going to buy Dorothy any sort of ring, he would have to come up with a plan to get his hands on some cash, or be forced to go cap in hand to his brother yet again.

      Dorothy had made a run for the ladies’ toilets when Kimberley sauntered up to him with a knowing look on her face. He glanced around to make sure that Jimmy hadn’t noticed.

      ‘Keep your mouth shut, Kim, and make sure you stick to our story. I don’t want Jimmy or Dottie finding out about us. What happened earlier was a bit too close for comfort.’

      ‘Don’t worry. I don’t want Jimmy to know about us any more than you do, but someone up our street saw you leaving our house and had a word in his ear. He’ll be going out on Tuesday night to darts, but best you come round to the back door. If it’s all clear I’ll leave my bedroom curtains closed, but if they ain’t drawn, you’ll have to scarper.’

      Robbie wasn’t sure if he still wanted to risk it with Kimberley, but then again she did things for him that very few of the others would. She liked to take control and would lead the way in the bedroom, which Robbie found was a real turn-on for him.

      ‘OK, I’ll see you then, and make sure you’ve got that little black lacy number on, the one you told me you wore on honeymoon with Jimmy.’

      When Dorothy quietly closed her front door that night, Alice was waiting in the kitchen for her. She never went to bed before she was sure her daughter was home safely.

      ‘Did you have a nice time? Judging by that big grin on your face, I’m guessing you did,’ Alice asked, pleased to see Dorothy looking so happy.

      ‘Oh, Mum, you won’t believe it. I’m not meant to say anything until it’s official but I’ll burst if I don’t tell you. Robbie asked me to marry him and I said yes!’

      Alice was genuinely pleased for her daughter, but had been secretly fearing that this day would come. Her heart sank. She could help to make Dorothy’s wedding dress, but, suffering from agoraphobia, she doubted she’d be able to get to the church to see her walking down the aisle. These damn stupid fears, she thought, cursing the affliction that would cause her to miss her only child’s wedding day.

      Not only that, but Alice didn’t know how she’d cope without Dorothy. She hadn’t left the house since before the Blitz, not even to take shelter as bombs had dropped around her, razing houses to the ground. Thankfully Dorothy had been evacuated to Devon and Alice’s neighbours had rallied round, getting her shopping and anything else she needed. She had missed her daughter so much, but when the war ended and Dorothy was old enough, the young girl had taken over any outside tasks that Alice had been unable to do.

      She had tried to step over the threshold of her front door on many occasions, but her phobia had always beaten her and she had retreated back into the safety of her home. Though she knew it was selfish, Alice worried how she would manage without Dorothy’s wage. She felt sure that Robbie wouldn’t want to live with his in-laws, especially in this part of Battersea. Their house didn’t have any of the modern conveniences like an inside toilet, and, from what Dorothy had told her, Robbie lived in the posh part of the borough. Apart from anything else Alice knew that they would want to start a family soon, and then Dorothy wouldn’t be able to work.

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