Authors: Ann Cristy
Cle
never felt so unfettered and the slight swing to her hips as she preceded Dev
into the elevator was provocative.
Dev watched her as they rose in the
elevator. "If I hadn't been watching what you drank, I'd swear you were
tipsy," he muttered, his eyes hot as they roved her body.
Cle
strode past him into the lounge when he unlocked the door, feeling him right
behind her.
"Now would you mind telling
me..." Dev began.
Cle
whirled, placing her hands on her hips, chin up. "You are in love with
me," she stated in solemn tones. "Really and deeply and truly in love
with me!"
Dev's
throat worked as red seeped into his face. "That's hardly a state
secret."
"How
dare you not tell me such a thing!" She leaned forward, her good humor
fading, anger in the thrust of her body. "I mean the love that's forever
and beyond. I did not know you loved me like that until today. How dare you not
tell me!"
Dev's
eyes widened as he loosened his tie. "I thought I showed you how much in a
hundred ways." His voice had a stilted sound as though he had just stepped
onto alien soil.
"Baloney."
Cle swallowed, torn between elation and fury as she thought of herself running
from him and the possibility of not having him come for her. "You have
your nerve, not telling me! Why didn't you just come out and say, 'Cle, I love
you.'"
"Cle,
I love you." Dev's voice was low but she was sure the words carried around
Australia. "May I ask how you came to realize this at last?" Dev's
voice was a rough velvet.
"While
we were being married it suddenly came to me. I should have known before. You
should have told me. You wasted all this time and I could punch you for
that."
Dev's
laugh made her shiver. "Could you, love? Do you love me?" His voice
had a hard richness to it, like satin pulled over iron ore.
Cle
clenched her fists and stamped her foot. "You know I do. You've known
forever how I feel about you."
"You
never told me," he pointed out, moving closer, his one hand lifted to her
cheek.
"How
could I tell you?" Cle wailed. "You would have laughed at me...
maybe."
"I've
loved you since you walked out on that runway, whirled in front of me, and I
could see that perfect body underneath. I nearly killed Cecil Torrance because
he was looking at you and making remarks. I wanted you so much. It took all my
self control not to leap up on that runway with you, pick you up and cart you
to my car and take you away." His grin was lopsided, the color in his face
deepening. "I wanted to ask you to marry me that night, when I took you
home from the club but we had talked and you told me how modern your outlook
was. I was afraid that you would laugh at me if I urged you to marry me. Then I
planned on convincing you to marry me after we slept together. I loved you so
much— and more every day. I hated to leave you and go to the office."
Cle
watched him, lips parted, eyes wide. "I loved you more," she
whispered.
"It's
not possible for a person to love anyone more than I love you." Dev's face
blurred in her vision as his mouth came down to hers. "You're my
life," he said against her lips. "I came to Australia with the express
idea of getting you pregnant and making you marry me." Dev nuzzled her
neck. "So many times in New York, I was going to throw your pills away and
tell you that I didn't want to live together anymore except as man and
wife." He lifted his head to look at her. "I was afraid you might
tell me to leave."
"How could I?" Cle said
dreamily. "It was your place."
"Was
it?" Dev mumbled, his hand pulling the zipper down the back of her dress.
"I felt so married to you that it was as though everything belonged to
both of us." Dev lifted his head, swallowing hard. "That's why I
hated and still hate Toner. I knew he loved you, that he wanted you. It was all
I could do not to kill him. When you left me, I went out of my mind. I told him
that I would kill him if he didn't tell me where you were." Dev's hands
clenched at her waist. "I had to find you. My life was over without you. I
had to make you see that you needed me as much as I needed you."
"More."
Cle leaned on him in lazy contentment as he helped her step out of her panties.
She placed her lips on his bare chest, the tickling sensation of the chest hair
an erotic delight. "I will never have to leave you, day or night,"
she bubbled as she pulled his belt from his pants and tossed it in careless
fashion.
Dev
carried her into the bedroom, their naked bodies overheating in their need for
each other. He placed her on the bed and followed her down. "Reach under
your pillow," Dev muttered, his hand having a faint tremor as it traced a
path from hip to breast to knee.
Cle
pouted at him, not wanting to interrupt their love play, as she pulled the
paper from under the pillow and raised an inquiring eyebrow.
"It's
the deed to this building. You now own this flat. Are you glad?"
Cle
nodded, her eyes filling. "I'll always think that Sydney, Australia, is
the most wonderful place in the world no matter where we live." Cle
reached for him, letting the paper slide to the floor. "If I am pregnant
now, I would be so happy. If it's a boy I want to call him Devon Sydney.. .and
all the rest of those names, of course." Cle giggled, wriggling closer to
him.
"Of
course," Dev answered, his hands urgent on her body, the power of their
need building fast. "If I have you for a thousand years, it would still be
two days short of my want," Dev muttered into her ear as he lifted himself
over her. The world melted away and they were alone with nothing but their love
to sustain them. Nothing and no one could put that asunder.