Authors: Kay Hooper
But now he was saying...
Shane framed her face with his warm hands. "Oh, witch-lady," he murmured, "don't you know even yet how much I love you? I lost my soul in your eyes the first night we met.
The night I couldn't believe my luck, because I was dancing with the woman who had haunted my dreams for years-for always.
"And she looked up at me as though the spell had caught her, too; as if she knew, without words or stupid
games, that
we belonged together. She left that boring party with me, putting her hand in mine with such complete trust that it made my heart ache."
He laughed softly as he gazed with darkened eyes at her dazed expression. "My feet never touched the ground that night. I had found a treasure, and I would have fought demons from hell to keep her. She showed me an enchanted place I had never believed possible, a land of lovers and dreamers."
Bending his head, he rubbed his forehead against hers gently. "And then she was gone the next morning." His breath was soft as a whisper on her face. "Like a dream. And I think I went a little crazy. I had to find her... because she was the other half of
myself
, the part that made me real."
Robyn swallowed hard, and managed to whisper, "And then you heard I was married."
Shane nodded slowly, the green eyes darkening and darkening until they were very nearly black. "I wanted to take you away from your husband," he confessed thickly, a muscle tightening suddenly in his jaw. "And at the same time, I felt betrayed, wounded, because I thought you belonged to him.
"When you told me you were a widow, the relief was staggering. I almost told you then that I loved you, but I could see that you were wary of me. I had to find out why. I thought that you were still in love with your husband, and that made it all the more bewildering."
Robyn was
suddenly,
crushingly aware of how much she must have hurt him. "And when I lied to you- Oh, darling, I'm so sorry!"
"I frightened you." His voice was low, far away, as though he were reliving that terrible
moment,
and his eyes were as opaque as those of a blind man. "I never wanted to frighten you, honey. But I wasn't... quite sane. The thought that you had pretended I was your husband..."
"I love you, Shane," she whispered fiercely, putting her heart and soul into the words, trying to make up for the other words that should never have been uttered. Trying to erase a lie told to
herself
and to him.
"I knew that night that I had sent you away hating me because I was too scared to think about a future with you racing. I was so afraid of loving you. And it all happened so quickly! It almost didn't seem real." She looked up at him with pain and regret in her eyes. "How could you go on loving me after that night?"
"What choice did I have?" he asked simply, a faint smile lifting the corners of his mouth. "I could no more stop loving you than I could stop breathing."
"Oh, Shane."
She stood on tiptoe to reach his mouth, wanting to reassure him, wanting to belong to him now, with everything cleared up between them.
His kiss was filled with half savage tenderness, with love and possession and need. He kissed her as though the world would end at any moment and he wanted the touch and taste of her to be the memory he carried with him into eternity.
Robyn lost herself in a surge of sensations and emotions. She felt a wild, primitive craving to merge with him and become one being. His kiss seemed to draw her very soul from her body to join his in some heaven only they knew.
She felt him lift her into his arms and carry her toward the bedroom with easy strength. Her arms locked around his neck, Robyn clung to him, dazed, needing him as she had never needed him before. She was in a dream once again-the dream, the reality, of Shane's love.
He set her gently on her feet by the huge,
lamplit
bed, gazing down on her with emerald fires burning in his eyes. "No more questions?" he whispered. "No more fears?"
"No questions, no fears," she answered huskily. "I love you, Shane.
With everything inside me."
Shane bent his head to kiss her gently, his lips moving from her mouth to caress her throat and the hollows beneath her ears. Nimble fingers slowly began to unfasten her blouse, one button at a time, with infinite care. His hands softly touched bared golden flesh as a caressing tongue circled the tiny heartbeat pounding away at the base of her neck.
And Robyn's hands were far from still. She eagerly parted the buttons on his shirt, touching his firm chest as if hungry for the sensation. She pressed her lips briefly to him, tasting his clean skin as he pushed her blouse off her shoulders. Immediately, her hands returned to tug his shirt from the waistband of his slacks and help him shrug it off.
He unclasped her bra and smoothed it away, shaping her breasts almost wonderingly,
thumbs
teasing the rosy peaks to vibrant awareness. "You were made for me," he told her hoarsely, his opened mouth drifting over her closed eyelids. "Beautiful witch, you fit me so well..."
Robyn traced the rippling muscles of his back. She felt a tremor shake his strong frame, and an aching trembling began in the center of her being. With a catch of her breath, she reached for the waistband of his slacks, desperate to touch him totally.
She unfastened the snap and tugged the zipper down, her mouth moving in a rhythmical back-and-forth motion across his broad chest as she slowly slid the pants down over lean hips, strong thighs.
He kicked the jumble of clothing away, reaching for the snap of her jeans and groaning softly as her fingers teased and caressed with the certain knowledge of him that the last week had given her.
Her jeans fell away from her and she was lifted and placed tenderly on the bed. Strong hands brushed away the final barrier of her thin nylon panties, and then he was lying beside her on the wide bed.
"God, I need you," he rasped softly. "I'll always need you." He touched her face as though reading Braille, tracing the curve of her brows, her nose,
her
slightly parted lips. Sensitive fingers moved in a butterfly caress over her skin.
Robyn caught his finger as it passed gently over her lips, letting him feel the sharp edge of her teeth, staring up at him with eyes full of need. Her hands came up to clasp his wrists, feeling a pulse hammering beneath the skin. "Shane," she breathed, more emotion than she would have believed possible contained in the single word.
He lifted her hands to his mouth, pressing soft, tender kisses along each finger, touching his tongue lightly to her palms. He gazed down at her, his hunger written vividly on his face. "I love you, witch," he murmured deeply before his mouth lowered, hotly capturing a throbbing nipple.
She moaned softly, feeling the wet warmth of his lips, the tongue swirling avidly. She tangled her fingers in his dark hair, her legs moving restlessly until they were trapped by one of his. Rough hands explored her body in long strokes and then settled to tease, to incite.
Robyn explored his body fervently, breathing shallowly, feeling the splintering tension building within her. "Shane!" She heard herself pleading with him in a drugged voice. "Love me, darling, please love me!"
Shane needed no further urging. He rose above her, settling himself between her thighs like a man coming home. For a long moment, he was still, with her, holding her, kissing her with burning tenderness. Then he lifted his head to gaze into her rapt eyes as he slowly began to move.
Robyn moved with him eagerly, gasping out her love for him, the desire that never seemed to diminish transporting her higher than ever before. She held him with muscles she hadn't realized she possessed, and she saw the surprise and excitement flicker in his eyes and grip his taut features.
Their movements became faster, heated, the primitive drive for release overpowering rational thought. Instinct took over, and both gave selflessly of themselves. Muffled words of love filled the
lamplit
room, and then the world disappeared. They were, for the brief, timeless moment allowed to mortals, one being.
They lay together at last, limp, exhausted. But not quite sated.
Never quite sated.
As though they feared that they were about to be parted, they kissed tenderly, lovingly.
Robyn could feel his hands unsteadily stroking her back, her hair, as if he couldn't stop touching her. She found her own hands smoothing tanned flesh, tugging gently at the crisp dark hair covering his chest.
"I love you, skipper," she murmured in a contented voice.
"I love you, too, witch-lady," he vowed softly, his hands still shaping her slender body.
"Always and forever."
She cuddled even closer, murmuring a sleepy protest when he disengaged them enough to reach down and pull the covers up over their bodies.
"Get the light, witch," he murmured, drawing her close again.
Robyn waved a vague hand in the direction of the lamp.
"Light.
Abracadabra."
"It didn't work," he told her. "Try another charm."
"Shall I twitch my nose?"
"Whatever."
Robyn reached up to rub her nose-mainly because the hair on his chest was tickling it.
"Didn't work."
"Try something else."
"Open sesame."
"That's for doors."
"Who's the witch here?"
"I'm beginning to wonder."
"I got you, didn't I?"
"There is that."
"Then don't question my spells."
"I beg your pardon." His voice held a laugh. "But the light's still on."
"How do you expect me to cast spells when I've barely got the energy to breathe?" Robyn sighed languidly. "Which reminds me-for a man who drove an exhausting race today, your energy level is amazing. What's your secret?
Vitamin E?
Wheaties
?"
"Neither.
A demanding witch in my bed."
"I am not demanding." She couldn't even summon the energy to be decently indignant.
"Of course you are." He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "That's all right, though. I like being demanded."
"Actually, I just have this thing for
dragonslayers
."
"With mountain aeries?"
"With mountain aeries.
Dragonslayers
who go out at night to dig up litter boxes for stray cats, and buy stuffed dolphins, and lead helpless women around by their braids.
It's a quirk in my nature."
"I have a quirk, too."
"You have several."
"Funny."
Robyn squeaked as a gently punishing hand smacked her bottom. "Sorry. What's your quirk?"
"Yellow-eyed witches. Shall we fly to California on your broomstick, or will you condescend to use a plane?"
"What are we going to do with my store, my house, Marty, and King George?" she asked pointedly.
"Sell the house and the store and ship the rest to Napa Valley.
Unless you'd like to keep the house."
"What woman needs a Spanish style house in Florida when she's got a mountain aerie in California? We'll sell the house. Do you really not mind Marty coming with us? She's been with me for so long now..."
"Of course not."
He erased doubts with a swift hug. "The aerie has plenty of room. And people read
in
Napa Valley when they're not stamping grapes, so-"
"I'd like to watch you stamp grapes," she interrupted wistfully. "With your pants legs rolled up and your feet turning purple."
He chuckled softly. "We don't do it that way anymore. But if you like, we'll order a bushel of grapes in the morning, pour them into the bathtub, and stamp away."
"Will we make wine?"
"We'll make a mess; I don't know about wine."
"Never mind.
I'll wait until we get to California, and you can show me how it's really done. Will George like your aerie?"
"Our aerie.
There are plenty of trees to climb."
"He'll love it." Robyn sighed and absently traced a finger along his firm jaw. A sudden thought occurred to her, and she murmured uneasily, "Your family. Won't they be upset that you've suddenly decided to marry a woman they haven't even met?"
"They've had a week to get used to the idea," he told her with utter calm. "I called them from Miami."
"You what?"
Robyn finally managed to lift her head, staring down at him in surprise.
"When?"
"Before I came back to your place last Monday night.
I called Mother, and I'm sure she's told everyone else."
"What
did you tell her?" Robyn demanded suspiciously.
"The truth, of course."
He finally opened his eyes to return her uneasy look with one brimming with laughter. "That I'd fallen under the spell of a beautiful witch, and that I planned to marry her just as soon as I could drag her to the altar."
"Oh, Lord," Robyn muttered.
"Don't look so nervous. You'll love Mother. She told me not to lose you between Florida and California, and started planning the wedding. Huge, she decided."
"Shane, I can't let her do that! It's supposed to be the bride's family that throws the wedding, and besides, you don't want all that fuss and bother-"
"Are you kidding?" He pulled her over fully on top of him. "I intend to marry you with as much pomp and ceremony as I can manage."
"But, Shane-"
"Mother still has a bottle of wine she got the year she and Dad were married. She's been saving it all these years for my wedding. You wouldn't deprive her of that pleasure, would you?"
"Of course not!
But-"
"And my
sisters'll
want to be bridesmaids. And I have a niece just the right age for a flower girl.
And a nephew to carry the ring.
Speaking of which..." He reached to fumble at the drawer of the night table and produced a small velvet box. "Mother sent this by special messenger yesterday; it's been in the family for years. If you don't like the setting, we'll change it."