Kissed by Moonlight (21 page)

“Of course not. It was nothing. I'm not letting you go back to the hotel on your own now. I'm coming with you,” she said fiercely.

“The situation's changed. We're not going, not yet anyway. It will be back to the grindstone soon enough.” His eyes searched her face as if for confirmation. “No problem there – now that you're with me.” The fact that he was still not one hundred percent certain of her twisted her heart. All the time she had been accusing him of treating her so badly, what had she been doing to him?

“Oh, David, I love you so. I'm with you all the way.”

“That will make all the difference. I'll be able to work twice as hard now that I know it's for both of us.” His hands went to her waist; hers lifted and wound around his neck where finger linked with finger to form a ring.

The sparkle came back to his eye to delight and torment her. “That little piece of seduction is what started it all. You did that, and I wanted to make love to you. Nothing's changed in that respect, except that perhaps the urge is even greater now. Ten days wasted out of fourteen.” His groan turned into a growl of pleasure that flicked her senses into urgent response. “That's fourteen days of loving to cram into the four days we've got left.”

His mouth lowered to hers. Without breaking the kiss – a kiss so deep and draining it was almost a fulfillment in itself – he lifted her up against his chest and carried her into the bedroom. He set her on the big bed where, together at last, they gave themselves over to the loving enjoyment of each other that they had so long been denied. He took his time, divesting her of each article of clothing with maddening slowness, refusing to let her respond in kind as his eyes and hands and lips took their fill of her. When she could wait no longer she wove her hands into the crisp thickness of his hair and pulled his mouth to hers. Her hands roved over his muscular body, seeking to give him the same pleasure he had brought her and removing all barriers to her full enjoyment of him.

With a groan of pleasure he gathered her tightly into his arms and, as the shadows lengthened in the room, told her without words what it meant to him to have her as his wife.

It was evening, Petrina's favorite time of day because David would soon be with her. The installation of a telephone might have stolen that feeling of total isolation they had once known, but this vital link had enabled them to make their home in her beloved Serpent's Tail Bay.

At first, David had often worked late into the evening, too, but the pressure had eased considerably since beating the time clause and she could count on his returning home at a reasonable time. The day he bought Geoffrey Hyland out of the contract had been memorable. She had let him wallow in his well-earned moment of triumph and then she had smugly informed him that they had a little something else to celebrate as well.

She hadn't thought it possible for anyone to know this much happiness. She would never take it for granted. Each day she took pride and joy in counting her blessings. Top of her list was having David for a husband; second, that their first child was on the way; and third came Chimera's continued prosperity, secure in David's capable and caring hands. When she looked around and saw all the good he was doing, she wondered how she could have been against him for so long.

Her attitude toward the future was realistic. She knew that when David had done all he could here, his brilliant brain would want to sharpen itself on a new challenge, which might take them away from Chimera. She would be sorry because she loved this sun-kissed island. But she loved David more. She could never envisage a time when they would stay away for good. Chimera had too strong a hold on their emotions not to bring them back, no matter how far or how many times David's work took them away. Chimera would always be here; built on a rock, it would remain forever as something solid in their lives to come back to.

Her ears alerted her to the sound of David's car. She was on her feet and running to meet him. Moments later she was where she most wanted to be – in his arms.