The Collector's Edition Volume 1 (44 page)

She stretched on tiptoe, as eager as he for the exquisite sensation of desire fulfilled. “Lift me, Keir,” she urged, parting her legs for him, winding them around his hips as he hoisted her higher, ready for the seeking, the finding, the thrust that took him inside her, deep as she settled
around him, her muscles convulsing with the pleasure of containing him.

The ecstasy of it, Rowena wanting him as he wanted her. He swung her around in sheer elation, carrying her with him to the bed, smoothly accommodating her position on top of him, inciting the rhythm with hands and thighs, moving to match her, to excite, to thrill to the beat, the slide and the plunge. And her lovely full breasts dangling above him, inviting capture, suction.

The fantastic freedom of drawing her flesh into his mouth, lashing the taut nipple with his tongue, pulling, tugging, the seductive music of her gasps and moans of pleasure as he moved from one breast to the other, taking them in tandem, greedy for the taste of her, for the feel of her response to him, the silky heat of her bathing his pulsing shaft until her shattered cry and the milky flood of her climax spurred him to take the control that had melted for her.

Gently he rolled her onto the pillows where she sank into languid abandonment of any further action. Her thighs were still aquiver. He cradled her hips and pushed to the place that he knew would increase her pleasure. She arched as he reached it, caressed it. An inarticulate cry broke from her throat. Her eyes flew open, and their wonderment filled him with joy as they mirrored the intense inner world he built for them, the soft undulations and the high peaks.

He sustained it as long as he could, but when she lifted her hands and ran her fingertips over his shoulders and chest, his entire body was ignited with excitement and the dance he had orchestrated fell apart to the drumbeat of uncontrollable need. He drove hard and fast, and she lifted herself to give him the fullness of his pleasure, welcoming the ultimate release of his love for her, her arms waiting to receive him as the final melding came.

It was good simply to hold her close in the blissful contentment of knowing all the barriers had been crossed.
Mine at last,
he thought, intensely happy, uncaring of any problems that might arise from what might be viewed as a premature coupling. It wasn’t to him. It wasn’t to Rowena, either. The wanting had been deep and mutual.

R
OWENA
lay in his arms, incredulity, awe, bliss, drifting across her mind, like shining clouds, pierced by a sun that dispelled all gloom.

Keir.

His name alone embodied a wealth of feeling for Rowena. She had forgotten or suppressed the magic of loving and being loved by him. And to think she had spent eleven years without this brilliant sense of being utterly, poignantly, beautifully alive.

She nestled closer to him, tucking her head under his chin, giving herself more reach to play her hand over Keir’s magnificently male body. He hadn’t changed at all, not in nature, not in heart, not in any way that counted. He was Keir, her first love, the love that would always endure. She knew that now.

How bravely and passionately he had ripped the scales from her eyes, torn aside the shadows in her mind and smashed the shackles of the eleven long years that had parted them.
My prince, slaying all my dragons,
she thought in smiling whimsy.

“Thank you for being you, Keir,” she said with a happy sigh.

“And you…you’re a miracle, Rowena,” he answered softly. “More than I dared dream of.”

“I lost faith in dreams,” she confessed. “I’m sorry, Keir. I should have trusted you. I should have known. Will you forgive me my blindness?”

He stroked her back, sending delicious little shivers over her skin. “There’s nothing to forgive. You had a lot of baggage to carry, Rowena,” he said, generously excusing her of any fault.

“I still have,” she said, thinking of the children. “You really don’t mind about getting a ready-made family?”

“What’s yours is mine,” he stated simply. “They’re great kids. All three of them.”

The warmth in his voice left her in no doubt that he accepted them without reservation. And he wouldn’t disown any of them. Not like Phil. It wasn’t in Keir to renege on commitment.

“Are you worried about them accepting us?” he asked.

Rowena considered the question seriously, then consciously dismissed every niggle of concern. Perhaps she had made the mistake of putting the children’s needs first in her marriage to Phil, although certainly not all the time, as Adriana had suggested. What she knew now, with utter conviction, was the love she and Keir shared would always come first. What they had was so special it would rub off on the children, anyway. They could only benefit by it, even if it took some time for it to permeate their lives.

“No, I’m not worried,” she replied with firm confidence.

“Good! Then how do you feel about moving in here with me tomorrow?”

She laughed and hitched herself up to see the expression in his eyes. The need and want so clearly emblazoned in their shining depths sobered her. So much time wasted. And who knew how long their lives would be?

“We’ll do it,” she said decisively.

“You don’t mind returning to the house to pack your things?”

She shook her head. Nothing in that house could touch her now. What had been there was gone, irrevocably. Keir was the future, every minute of it.

He grinned. “I’d better give Sarah swimming lessons, too. The sooner they learn, the better. Then you won’t have any cause to worry.”

He was so generous with everything. “What can I give you, Keir?”

His eyes sparkled with mischief and desire as he rolled her onto her back and leaned over her. “I could suggest many things—” he kissed her, and his voice dropped to a husky throb of contentment “—but the gift of yourself is enough for me, Rowena.” He kissed her again, more passionately, thrillingly.

She would think of something to give him, Rowena silently vowed. Something he wasn’t expecting. A gift of love that he would know was especially for him, for being the man he was.

T
HE
week leading up to Christmas sped by.

There was no protest from the children about moving in to the castle. To Sarah it was a natural progression of the fairy tale. Emily reasoned that Daddy had packed up and left what had been the family home, so it was only right to do the same. Jamie’s energy level hit a new high. He could barely contain his excitement at beginning a new life with his real father. Plus a computer to play with.

Keir was marvellous. Both Sarah and Emily learnt to swim very quickly under his patient tuition. He bought video games for the computer, some of which were simple enough for the girls to play, too, although Jamie was put in charge of them and had the responsibility of showing and helping.

The highlight of the week was the Christmas pantomime of
Cinderella,
which was showing in the city. Keir provided them with tickets to a matinee, and the performance was an absolute delight, much talked about afterwards, with the children giving Keir renditions of the parts they loved best. His enjoyment of their mimicking added enormously to their pleasure in the outing.

None of them questioned her sharing a bedroom with Keir. Maybe they accepted it as natural, Rowena thought, given the fact of living together as a family. Maybe they wanted everything to feel natural. She hoped that when Phil came to see the girls on Christmas morning, he wouldn’t stir up any uneasy feelings about it.

Keir had informed Phil they had left the house at Killarney Heights and were living with him at Lane Cove. Only personal belongings had been taken with them, so if Phil wished to dispose of the furniture he could do what he liked with it. Rowena and the children would not be returning to the house, which could be put on the market immediately if Phil and Adriana had no use for it.

Phil was also informed that the move in no way affected his right to see his daughters, and both Emily and Sarah had been told of his intention to visit them on Christmas morning. Keir assured Rowena that the conversation had been conducted in a civilised manner, but she could not help having some trepidation about Phil’s manner with the girls when he had them to himself.

Keir opened a bank account for her and urged her to spend freely. He wanted this Christmas to be the best ever for all of them. They decorated a marvellous tree in the living room. Rowena had already bought most of her gifts for the children, but she added a few more for extra surprises, and
indulged herself in finding some special gifts for Keir.

She laid the festively wrapped parcels out under the tree once she was sure the children were asleep on Christmas Eve. To her astonishment, Keir added a heap of his own, which he’d kept hidden in the boot of his car.

“It’s great having kids for Christmas,” he told her with a happy grin. “I can’t remember when I’ve had so much fun shopping.”

It slid into Rowena’s mind that Phil had always left gift shopping for the children to her. Too much hassle with the crowds and too little time to think about it, he had excused himself. She should have known Keir would be different. Thinking about what would give them pleasure was second nature to him. Doing it
was
his pleasure.

As expected, they were woken early on Christmas morning with cries of feverish excitement. Every gift was unwrapped with gleeful anticipation and greeted with delight. Keir had made some inspired choices. Best of all to the children was a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle of a fantasy castle. The picture of the completed construction showed it had turrets, balconies, open arches, drawbridges and a moat, as well as cobblestoned courtyard gardens with realistic grass, water and rocks. It was, in fact, a detailed model of a classic medieval castle.

One of Keir’s gifts to Rowena was the title deed of his house, transferred into her name, making
her the legal owner. On its accompanying Christmas card he had written, “The security I want you to have, with all my love, Keir.”

Impossible to protest. Rowena wished again there was something special she could give him, something of similar value in so far as it would answer a need he had. She was busy in the kitchen, preparing the traditional roast turkey, when Jamie, in response to some question from Keir, fetched the photograph album devoted to him. The answer Rowena had been looking for struck her forcefully as Keir leafed through the album.

Photos of Jamie as a baby, as a toddler, his first day at kindergarten. There was a sad, regretful look on Keir’s face—years forever lost to him, joys he hadn’t shared. She remembered his words—
the children I wanted with her.

A baby, Rowena thought.

She was only twenty-eight. She wouldn’t mind having another baby with Keir, and he would love it so, sharing intimately the experience of birth and a new life unfolding. She was privately revelling in the pleasure it would give him when the door chimes rang.

Phil!

She had been half hoping he wouldn’t come at all, not wanting the day to be soured in any way. But he was the girls’ father, and rights had to be observed. Emily and Sarah looked up from their new toys.

“Is that Daddy?” Emily asked.

It had just gone ten-thirty. “I think so,” Rowena answered, giving them an encouraging smile to put them at ease. “Shall we go and see?”

“Well, I’m going to play my new computer game,” Jamie announced, proudly independent of Phil. “Want to have a look with me, Keir?”

“Yes. It should be quite a challenge for you, Jamie,” he obliged, moving to give his son the reassurance he needed.

It felt wrong to have the family separated like this, but there was nothing that could be done about it. Rowena gathered up the girls, who had gone oddly quiet, looking after Jamie and Keir as they walked along the gallery to the study and not expressing any excitement whatsoever over the visit by their father. Nevertheless, they compliantly followed Rowena to the front door and didn’t hang back when she opened it.

One step onto the porch and all three of them came to a dead halt.

Phil was accompanied by Adriana Leigh.

Neither of them looked as though they had come to entertain two little girls. Phil was in a smart navy blue suit and Adriana was semiclothed in a red and gold sundress that showed plenty of cleavage and leg. Rowena and the girls were wearing jeans and T-shirts printed with bright Christmas motifs. The contrast in dress instantly created a distance between the two parties.

“Well, how are my girls?” Phil began with forced heartiness, not bothering with Christmas greetings to Rowena.

“Who is
she
?” Sarah demanded, eyeing Adriana up and down with hostile suspicion.

“Don’t be rude, Sarah,” Rowena softly reproved. “Your father will introduce you.”

“This is my friend Adriana. We’re going to take you and Emily to a big park where you can play on the swings and the slippery dip,” Phil said unctuously.

While they sat and twiddled their thumbs until time was up,
Rowena thought. Adriana’s high heels were definitely not park shoes. Which raised the question of how much supervision the children would get.

Sarah gave Adriana a baleful stare and bluntly stated her decision. “I’m not going anywhere with the wicked witch!”

“What?” Phil snapped.

Rowena barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes.

“She’ll put a spell on me,” Sarah explained. “I’m going back inside the castle. She can’t get me there because the prince won’t let her.”

Before anyone could stop her she turned tail and ran into the foyer, heading full pelt towards the gallery.

“What the hell is this, Rowena?” Phil demanded testily. “Have you been bad-mouthing Adriana to my daughters?”

“No, I haven’t. Sarah has her own way of working things out, Phil. You know she does,” she pleaded in mitigation.

“You could have corrected her,” he accused.

“I tried.” Though not very hard, she had to admit to herself. After all, she couldn’t see why she should defend Adriana in the circumstances. The woman was not interested in children, and that was as obvious as the dress she wore.

“I didn’t think you’d be spiteful,” Phil said, sniping.

Rowena held her tongue, wondering how he described his actions to himself.

He gave up badgering her and dropped to his haunches to court Emily. “How’s Daddy’s girl? Have you missed me?”

Emily shrank back against Rowena. “Why did you leave us, Daddy?” she bravely asked.

Phil sighed. “Well, it’s hard to explain. I wasn’t really happy with your mother, Emily.”

“Don’t you love Mummy any more?”

“I’m much happier with Adriana,” he stated firmly. “That’s why I’m with her. And you’ll like her very much once you get to know her.”

Emily looked at Adriana, who obliged with an indulgent smile, which was enough to turn Rowena’s stomach. Emily wasn’t much taken with it, either. She returned her gaze to her father and continued her childish inquisition.

“What about me, Daddy? Weren’t you happy with me?”

“Emily…” Phil flushed uncomfortably. “When you’re grown up, you need to be with another grown-up. That doesn’t mean I don’t love my little girl. I’ve got lots of Christmas presents in the car for you.”

“Have you got Mummy’s lamp for her? The one with the blue beads hanging down?”

“No, I haven’t,” he growled. “Now let’s get going. We haven’t got all day.” He straightened up and offered his hand to her.

Emily looked doubtfully at Adriana, then shook her head, her hand seeking Rowena’s, not Phil’s. “I want to stay with Mummy.”

“Emily, I’ve come out of my way to see you,” Phil said tersely. “Your mother said you wanted me to.”

“Yes.” She nodded gravely. “Thank you for seeing me, Daddy, but I don’t want to go with you,” she said in a very little voice.

“All right,” Phil snapped. “If that’s the way you want it, I’ll give all your presents to the Smith family.”

“Phil,” Rowena reproved quickly. “You can’t force things. It would have been wiser to come without Adriana this time.”

“You can say that when you’re living openly with Keir Delahunty?” he scoffed.

Keir appeared in the doorway, Sarah’s hand firmly clasped in his, Jamie on his other side. “Is there a problem?” he asked, politely nodding to Phil and Adriana.

“No. No problem,” Phil mocked. “I only came to do my duty, and that’s done. Have yourself a happy family Christmas.” He stepped smartly back to Adriana and took her arm. “Come on, darling. We’ve spent enough time here.”

“Happy Christmas!” Adriana trilled, delighted to have the duty disposed of.

Keir stepped out to stand at Rowena’s side. Jamie came forward to put his arm around Emily’s shoulders in big-brotherly support. They all watched Phil and Adriana get into what had to be Adriana’s car, since it wasn’t the red Mazda convertible.

“He said he’d give our presents away, Sarah,” Emily said mournfully.

“I don’t want them anyway,” Sarah declared unequivocally. “I bet the wicked witch touched them.”

She was undoubtedly right, Rowena thought. Phil would have got Adriana to buy them for him. She had the feeling it would be a long time before Phil came visiting again.

“He didn’t bring Mummy her lamp, either,” Emily added, clearly affected by the injustice of it all.

The car zoomed away from the kerb and disappeared down the street.

“We’ve got the prince, Emily,” Sarah said, her satisfaction in the choice abundantly clear.

“Yes. We’ve got the prince,” Emily agreed with fervour.

Jamie gave Keir a smug look. “And we’ve got lots of presents inside,” he reminded the girls.

“Yes!” they shouted in unison.

“Let’s play!” It was like a bugle call.

“Yes!”

Jamie led the charge into the house, the girls on his heels, the encounter with Phil shrugged off and left behind them with what seemed like extraordinary ease. Emily, at Jamie’s urging, ran with him to the study to see what was on the computer screen, and Sarah skipped down the gallery, as carefree as an impish little fairy.

Keir closed the front door and drew Rowena into a gentle embrace, his dark velvet eyes scanning hers for stress. “Are you all right?” he asked. “Phil didn’t upset you?”

“No.” She released her inner tension with a sigh, then smiled her relief at the unexpected outcome of Phil’s visit. “Children can be so amazing.”

“Their logic is very direct,” he said dryly.

“Keir…” She wound her arms around his neck and pressed closer. Her eyes projected all the desire in her heart, desire for him, desire to please, to give, to share all life had to offer. “Let’s have another baby. Together.”

Surprise and delight lit his eyes. “You mean it, Rowena? You really want another child?”

She laughed, her heart lifting exultantly at his response. “Well, we needn’t stop at one if you want more,” she teased. “I’m pretty good at being a mother, you know.”

“The best.” He grinned. “I’d love a big family, Rowena. Having been an only child…”

Of course! That was why he and Brett had been inseparable—the only child in each family until she had come along, the much-loved little sister.

“But what about you?” He quickly changed tack. “I thought you might like to pick up the arts course you’d wanted to do.”

“I can do that in my thirties. Or my forties. I’m planning on a long life.”

He laughed, his eyes shining with unadulterated happiness. “A very long and a very full life.”

“How could it be anything else with you?”

“And with you.”

Their lips met in a kiss that sealed so many things—the love and the giving and the open trust and the sense of completely bonded togetherness.

A new start.