Touched, she leaned her brow against his shoulder, her hand resting on his hairy forearm. “I’ve never been happier, Rafe. You know that. Even after the shock of finding out my father had hired you to protect me I forgave you and him. I understand why you did it.”
He slid his hand across her jaw and eased it up so that her gaze met his, then he smiled a little. “I’m glad I agreed to be your guard dog.” Then, becoming more serious, he whispered, “I don’t take what we share for granted, mi flor. Every day I wake up and you are here is a miracle come true for me.” Releasing her chin, he held up the velvet box.
“And because you are the miracle in my life, I’m asking for your hand in marriage.” He opened the box with some difficulty, his hand shaking slightly. As he opened it, he heard Ari gasp.
Her hand flew to her mouth. There on the green velvet sat a gold ring with seven small, faceted blue-green stones. “Oh, Rafe…” she cried softly.
“It’s aquamarine, from a mine north of here. The finest gemstone in the world.” He touched the stones carefully. “I wanted a wedding ring that reminded me of the beautiful color of your eyes, mi flor. In your eyes, I see hope. I see happiness with you.” Choking, he rasped, “And I hope you see the same when you look at me.” Picking up the delicate ring, he held it out to her and asked, “Ari, will you marry me? Will you be my wife? The mother of our children, who will be welcomed with love between us?” He anxiously searched her face, his heart pounding in his chest.
Tears stung her eyes. Her hands fell away from her mouth and her fingers closed around his and the ring he held out to her. There was such trepidation in Rafe’s moist eyes. Shaken, she touched the ring. “This is so wonderful, Rafe. Yes…a hundred times yes, I’ll marry you!” she sobbed.
Relief sheeted through him. He closed his eyes momentarily, his anxiety turning to an avalanche of joy. “Here, let me see if it fits correctly,” he said, taking her left hand and gently easing the aquamarine ring onto her finger.
Her flesh tingled wildly as he eased the ring into place. Ari couldn’t believe her ears. But her heart believed. She desperately loved Rafe. She knew the custom of his country was to be formal about engagements and marriage. And even more wonderful, Rafe would be able to announce the engagement to his family, as he and his father had found peace between them. When Sebastian Antonio had gotten word that his son lay dying in the ICU of a Manaus hospital, both he and his wife had rushed to his side. Ari had been there to see the tearful, happy reunion. By that time, Rafe had been healed and was recovering wonderfully. Ari had been privy to the moment when Rafe’s father apologized and told Rafe he was no longer disowned, that he wanted his son back as a member of the family. Everyone had cried that morning, even Ari.
Gazing up at Rafe now, her smile soft, she held her hand up with the ring glinting upon it. “It’s so beautiful, Rafe. I love it….” She reached out and slid her hands around his thick, powerful shoulders. “And I love you…with all my life, with every breath I take, my darling….
Her words were like sunlight enveloping him. Rafe allowed her wobbling words to sink into his consciousness. The tears in her eyes were real. With his thumbs, he eased the moisture away from her flushed cheeks. “I love you with my heart, my soul, my beautiful flower woman….” And he did. Still he was surprised when, moments later, Ari fluidly rose to her feet and gripped his hand.
“Come with me? To my bedroom? I want to love you, Rafe. I want to show you how much you mean to me.” Ari wasn’t sure he would say yes. Rafe had been so proper, so careful not to pressure her. Oh, they had shared warm, wonderful kisses and touching, but he never allowed his hands to stray to her breasts or anywhere else that was intimate or provocative. Ari knew that women saved themselves for marriage in South America. There was a wonderful anticipation in waiting, and now, as she stared down at him, smiling tenderly, she saw the shock of her words sink into him.
Feeling his fingers tighten momentarily around hers, she heard him ask, “Are you sure, Ari?”
Laughing softly, she answered, “I’ve never been more sure of anything, darling. I know you wait here in South America.” She held the ring up to him. “But we’re going to get married. And as scared as I am because I haven’t much experience in loving a man, I want you lying beside me. I want your arms around me. I want to follow our kisses and see where they lead us.”
Rising to his full height, Rafe caressed her flaming cheek. “There’s no need to be afraid or unsure, mi flor. Just let your heart guide you and everything else will unfold like a blossom on a newly born flower….”
Within moments they were in Ari’s large, spacious bedroom. The furniture was made of bamboo, the cushions brightly colored flower patterns. Ari especially loved the large, queen-size bed with the head and footboards made of gnarled liana vines that Rafe had cut and crafted. As they walked into her room, the mid-afternoon light making everything gauzy in appearance, Ari sat down on the thin quilt that covered the bed, running her hand lovingly over the fabric as she looked up at Rafe. He had told her that his grandmother had stitched this quilt fifty years before. He had grown up with it, and his grandmother used to bundle him up in it and rock him in her arms, when he was sick or just in need of comfort as a child. The quilt was composed of flowers that grew in Brazil. Some of them were orchids.
“I love this quilt,” she whispered as she watched him unbutton his dark green cotton shirt. As he divested himself of it, she stared up at his powerful, well-sprung chest, which was covered with thick, black hair. After laying the shirt across one of the chairs near the foot of the bed, he turned. She saw the vivid red scar where the surgeons had cut into his flesh to save his life. Now Rafe was as stalwart and strong as when she’d first met him.
“It is a quilt filled with ageless love,” he agreed in a deep voice. Unbuckling his belt and opening his trousers, he eased them off his legs. Ari’s expression told him what to do next. Placing the trousers on the back of the chair, he approached her and eased her on to her back. “And loving you here is something I’ve dreamed of for so long,” he whispered. How easy it was to slip each shell button through its buttonhole and open her pink cashmere sweater to reveal the white silk camisole beneath. Ari wore no bra. She never had, and Rafe applauded her stance. A woman’s breasts were naturally beautiful and needed no confining. That, in his mind, was taming the innate wildness of a woman. He wanted his woman natural and free. As he removed the sweater he trailed his fingers to the thin straps of her camisole. “Loving you,” he said darkly as he drew up the satiny garment and slipped it over her head, “is a miracle to me….”
Ari sighed as the silken edges of the camisole skimmed her breasts. Her nipples hardened in anticipation. She thought she’d feel embarrassed being undressed by Rafe, but just the opposite occurred. She slipped off her shoes and lay there as he eased her dark blue slacks away from her hips, down her knees and away from her feet. She closed her eyes, wanting only to feel his touch. It was butterfly light. The warmth and hardness of his thigh against hers as he leaned over her made her sigh with anticipation. Whatever fear and anxiousness she’d had before disappeared as she felt his roughened fingertips outline her collarbone.
“You are so beautiful,” Rafe whispered as he moved onto the bed with her and uncoiled his length against her. The golden color of his skin beside her pale, white flesh shouted of their differences. And yet, as he watched her lashes close and her lips softly part when he began to touch her, worship her, there really wasn’t any difference between them at all. Leaning over, he allowed his hand to trail languidly from her shapely collarbone and follow the curve of her flesh, the crescent of her small, upturned breast. As he closed his lips around the tight peak, he felt her arch and moan. Instantly, her hands slid up his arms, her fingers digging convulsively into his flesh. She tasted of life as he suckled her, first one nipple and then the other. Her moans of pleasure resonated through him and he smiled to himself. More than anything, Rafe wanted to please her, to initiate her and w
elcome her into the realm of his love for her. Never had he wanted a woman to be more satisfied than Ari.
The moments became molten for Ari. She was nearly helpless to do much of anything as Rafe performed his tender assault upon her senses. His fingers skimmed her tightening flesh, cupping her breasts and leisurely moving down her rib cage to flow across her slightly raised abdomen and then tantalizingly brush that most sacred, secret place between her taut thighs. As his mouth took hers, she leaned up, her fingers digging deeply into his shoulders. Her breathing was ragged. Her heart beat like a bird’s wings in a sudden flurry of flight. And when he slipped his hand between her thighs and asked her to part them, to trust him, the heat, the sliding friction, of his fingers finding the moistness of her womanhood, exploded within Ari.
All sounds ceased to exist except his roughened breathing, the thunderous pounding of his heart pressing against her tightened breast. As his fingers hotly teased her, she cried out beneath his mouth, a cry of absolute pleasure from the velvet explosions taking place without warning deep within her body. Her skin was damp. She was hungry for him in ways she had never experienced. As if sensing this, Rafe eased himself on top of her, and gently nudged her with his knee, asking her to open herself fully to him.
She absorbed the feeling of his muscular bulk across her. As she slid her arms around his powerful shoulders, she felt him asking entrance. Opening her eyes, she saw the agony in his narrowed gaze. His nostrils were flared. He was gritting his teeth and controlling himself for her. All those realizations struck her, and Ari smiled softly up at him and moved her hips upward to meet and pull him into her. The sensation of pressure, heat and pleasure combined, and her lashes closed. A gasp tore from her lips as he eased into her, taking her and making her his. His hands moved beneath her shoulder blades and he thrust deeply into her at the same moment she arched her hips to receive him joyfully within herself.
The greatest gift Ari could give him was all of herself. All the power of the sunset moments, the moonlit nights, the rolling thunderstorms that she had experienced here, at his home, occurred explosively within her as he began to rock her, thrust deeply into her and brand her with himself, his essence as a powerful masculine animal. As she clung to his mouth, which took hers with relentless enjoyment, as she rocked with him in the primal rhythm, Ari began to understand the richness of being more animal than thinking human being. The odor of his flesh made her lick the perspiration from his shoulder. And when she teethed his shoulder, he groaned. Little by little, she released her human side and became more the raw, unfettered animal in his arms. His male scent intoxicated her. He tasted strong, and she cherished his mouth with a wild abandon, giving and taking with the same primitive joy that fueled a wild new rhythm.
She was a part of nature—of the rain forest, the damp, decomposing earth, the life-giving rain that splattered across the triple canopy. Part of the howl of the monkeys, the call of the rainbow-colored toucans and the sunlight thrusting through the clouds. She was all of those things as she felt her body become a volcano of swelling, building lava. And when the explosion tunneled through her, she gave a breathless cry of surprise and clung to Rafe as he thrust harder and deeper into her, to give her the pleasure, the gift of his sensual, primal lovemaking.
The world, the scents and fragrances, the feel of his longer, powerful body protectively covering hers, all melted together in a collage of pleasure that Ari had never before experienced. If she’d ever doubted what desire was, she knew now. When she felt him tense, and heard a low, guttural growl thunder from his chest, from his drawn-back lips, she moved her hips intuitively and created an equal pleasure for him as he released his life deep within her.
The moments afterward left Ari feeling weak but satisfied. Rafe moved off her and bundled her into his arms, his hand sliding deliciously down the long curve of her back in a reverent gesture. He kissed her damp brow, her closed eyes and the corners of her smiling mouth. She lay in his arms feeling loved, protected and cherished. How wonderful it was to love and be loved by him. Her mind refused to think coherently. Ari didn’t care. When Rafe’s mouth lingered like honey on her lips, she tasted him with her tongue.
“My flower is really a jaguar in disguise,” he said with a chuckle near her ear. Indeed, Ari’s wildness had surprised him, but it was a gift to Rafe. As he lay on his side, with Ari in his arms, her body pressed languidly against his all the way to her delicate toes, he smiled. Her eyes were barely open, her cheeks a rosy hue. Her mouth, that delicious part of her, was wet and gleaming from his kisses, his adoration of her.
“Mmm, well, it takes one to know one,” she sighed. Running her hand across his chest, she let her fingers tangle in the damp strands of dark hair. “I love you, Rafe Antonio.” Ari met his dark, stormy gaze. “I love you with every breath I take or ever will take.” Sobering, Ari slid her hand across his damp jaw and felt the stubble of his beard. Her skin tingled wildly. “I’ve never felt like I do now….”
Rafe nodded. “My body sings with yours. We were meant for one another, my beautiful flower.” He eased several blond strands of hair away from her damp, flushed cheek. “The music we make is our own. The voice, the sound our bodies make with one another is simply a miracle, mi flor.”
With each tender stroke of his hand across her cheek, her brow and her hair, Ari absorbed him like he was the sun and she the orchid below, reaching for the life-giving energy. “You’re my sunlight. Did you know that?”
He chuckled again and his hand came to rest upon her hip. “No, but I like the idea of it.” Gazing deeply into her lustrous, pale blue eyes, he whispered, “You are my flower. I am your sun. Surely we will care well for one another, my woman.” He eased his hands down across her abdomen. “Perhaps we will have children who will be like small orchids, who will grow between us and with us. You are the life-giving water, I am their sun.”
Nodding, Ari snuggled her brow beneath the line of his jaw. “Life with you will never be dull, Rafe. And I’m sure that if we’re meant to have children, they will be raised in the wilds of Amazonia.” She curved her fingers against the hard muscles of his forearm. “I can’t think of a better place to raise children than here. They’ll discover life in all its fullness and beauty. We love Amazonia. We love the life in her.” With a contented sigh, Ari whispered, “Oh, Rafe, I’m so happy. I think I’m going to explode.”
His mouth pulled back in pleasure. “We’ll explode together, okay?” Moving his hand languidly across her damp flesh, he looked up and studied the gauzy ambiance of the sunlit room. He had in his arms the woman he’d loved since setting eyes upon her eleven months earlier. They had each gone through their own private challenges and hells. And they’d emerged victorious because of the love they held for one another.
Rafe didn’t fool himself; he knew there was danger in his work, and that Ari needed protection. As he closed his arms more surely around her, he sighed. Life was a cycle, he reminded himself. They had gone through hell for one another and this was the reward. There would be many other challenges, but together, they could surmount them. As long as they had love, nothing was impossible.
As he lay there with Ari in his arms, the sunlight now shooting through the feminine lace at the open window, Rafe smiled softly. Sleep was nearby. He was fully satiated and fulfilled. The woman he loved was here, at his side. How much Ari had grown and flourished as a woman since he’d met her. He liked her newfound boldness, her certainty in who and what she was becoming. Rafe was going to enjoy watching her continue to unfold like the mysterious orchid she was. What a miracle that was to him: to watch her gain confidence, to change, to reach out regardless of fear, and to keep moving forward.
All these things she was experiencing now would be passed on to their children. His smile deepened as sleep’s wings moved across him. Ari was his. He was hers. And he would love her—forever.
*
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Man of Passion Page 18
