"I like this," Rafe said, picking out a nest of mockingbirds, the three little ones being fed by the mother. One of the three babies wasn't paying attention to the worm in the mother's mouth; a minute ladybug on a nearby leaf appealed to him more.
Lacey browsed awhile longer while Rafe paid for his purchase and waited for it to be gift-wrapped. Then they got back into the car and continued on their drive to the Florida beach.
"We're staying at a relatively new resort," Rafe explained as they passed the "Welcome to Florida" highway sign. "I imagine we'll have some nice accommodations, since I'm going to be doing some promotion for the place. I've dealt with this group of investors before and they all travel first-class."
"Uhm," Lacey answered, feeling drowsy from the monotonous motion of the car on the highway. "What's the name of this place?"
"Valhalla."
"I've heard of it," Lacey said, fully awake now as she sat straighter in her seat.
"How?" Rafe asked, turning to look at Lacey and smile at her as he drove.
"A friend used to take fishing trips into the Gulf, using that as a base. May still do it for all I know." And just my luck, she added to herself, I'll find Dominick sitting on the front steps of wherever it is we're staying. That would be too much of a coincidence, wouldn't it?
Not necessarily, she answered herself. It was a weekend, and still June, and that was one of the months when Dominick always seemed to be especially restless and feeling in need of his fishing escapades.
She would just forget she had ever known Dominick and think instead of the wonderful weekend ahead that she would spend with Rafe. They could go for long barefoot walks along the shore, maybe even a midnight swim—without suits. They'd certainly be able to get some good fresh seafood. Maybe she could talk him into cooking crab or shrimp over an open fire on the sands, New England clambake-style.
"Do you know anything about windsurfing?" she asked.
"No."
"How about sailing a catamaran?"
"Does it come with a saddle?"
"No. How about an inflatable raft?"
"Is it Army-issue?"
Lacey giggled. "No."
"Then maybe not," he answered. "Why?"
"I just always wanted to learn how to windsurf, sail a cat and spend my working days floating on a raft. You're so good at everything else, I thought you might be the man to teach me."
He glanced over at her, raising his eyebrows. "I'm a better teacher in other areas."
"I can't wait," Lacey said, her voice low and suggestive, not ruling out the nights she'd spend in his arms again. "It seems like months since I last saw you."
"It can't be," he answered. "We haven't known each other that long."
Lacey laughed. "That's true, isn't it?"
"But it also seems like I've known you for years."
"I hope in the nicest possible way," Lacey answered.
"The best," Rafe replied, and reached out and patted her knee.
Lacey slid lower in her seat, forgetting Dominick. She was going to concentrate on Rafe this weekend, all of him, from the ticklish place behind his ears to the bottoms of his feet. They could lie out in the sun all day and bake, then splash in the water when it got too hot. She'd let him spread suntan oil over every inch of her skin.
Lacey scratched his arm, imagining his hands on her bare skin, spreading slowly, sensuously in circles. He knew so well how to make her quiver. All it took was his touch.
The drive seemed endless, especially as they passed through Ft. Walton and the afternoon grew later. The traffic picked up as everyone headed out of town for the weekend. Lacey wondered where people who lived at the beach went to escape at Friday's end. One could get too much of a good thing. She looked across at Rafe and wondered if she would ever feel she had had enough of him.
He kept her guessing, changing directions in midstream. But when he said "follow", she had confidence in him. Even if he were leading her into the unknown, she had no doubt he'd somehow manage to cope with whatever situation might arise. She sat up straighter as she realized that was a confidence she had never felt with Dominick. Even with Dominick's expertise, she had always tried to check up on him to see if he needed her help. Dominick was the kind of man who needed a keeper. For a while she had been that keeper, but it was a role she no longer missed.
Lacey glanced across at Rafe, who was concentrating on the car slowing down and speeding up with the traffic flow ahead of them. Rafe didn't need a keeper. He knew who he was and what he wanted out of life; and he had enough confidence in himself to know he could get it. He also knew he wouldn't have to rely on anyone's crutch to help him get where he wanted to be. Lacey admired that, even if it meant he didn't need anyone—her— to be by his side along the way.
"I'm glad you brought me along," she said to him.
"I'm glad you came with me," he answered.
Lacey bit her cheek. That was an okay answer, coming from Rafe. She would have preferred to hear something more like "There isn't anyone else I'd rather be with" or "I wouldn't have wanted to go if you couldn't come with me". She had to learn to settle for what she got when it came to Rafe Chancellor. He could probably outsilence the sphinx.
The condominium assigned to Rafe was located within surf-sound of the shore. A full wall of windows and sliding glass doors looked out on the horizon, catching the shore in a curve from the angled position of the dwelling. Deep pile carpet in a sandy-cream color felt softer than summer grass to Lacey as she kicked off her sandals at the door and crossed the living room.
Comfortable sectional couches interspersed with tables and treelike plants complemented the room. Lacey took time to study the framed original works of art hanging on the cream-colored walls. "I could live here," she announced, turning to check out the dining L off the full kitchen.
She pulled open drawers and opened cabinets. The apartment was fully stocked, from a can opener to plastic liners for the trashcan. An oversized ice bucket with a bottle of champagne sat in the middle of the kitchen table. Glasses were within reach. "Do you always get the special treatment, like this champagne?" Lacey asked when Rafe entered the kitchen after carrying all the luggage into the bedroom.
"Of course," he said, and smiled, because he was as surprised and pleased by the champagne as she obviously was.
"Oh," Lacey said, and turning, put her arms around his neck and hugged him. "I should have guessed. You are the type deserving of special attention." She pressed her body against his and let him kiss her.
"Would you like to see what the bedrooms look like?"
"Bedrooms?" she asked, putting extra emphasis on the plural.
He nodded. "This is a three-bedroom unit, one and a half baths."
"Does that mean we're going to be using more than one bedroom?" she asked.
"We probably don't want to put too many wear spots in any one place," Rafe said. "You see, if we get tired of the lumps in the first bed, or if it's too hard, we can check out the second room. But I don't think you'll like it. I don't. It has twin beds. But if we shoved them together, kind of up against the wall, and rearranged the furniture in there, it might not be too bad. But the crack between the two beds might not be too comfortable for one of us—and it won't be me. Besides, who wants to move furniture around when you're having a romantic weekend?"
"Rafe," Lacey said, laughing, convinced now that what he had in mind for a romantic weekend, especially after an unromantic week apart, was close enough to what she wanted.
He ignored her attempt to interrupt him and continued speaking. "That still leaves the third room, and it's okay. I've looked inside. It's a double bed, but obviously not like the master bedroom. The furniture's nicer in there. But even if we don't like that, we can always ask for our money back."
"Or try the floor, or the couch or that interesting-looking chair in the corner," Lacey said, making certain she managed to interrupt him this time. "Rafe," she added gently, remembering how he enjoyed going into detail about th
ings sometimes, "don't tell me how the watch is put together, just give me the time, okay?"
His own phrase caught his attention. He noticed her lips begging to be kissed and satisfied them. Rafe sighed and pulled Lacey closer against him, running his hands over her back, remembering by touch how she felt. "Would you like to see the bedrooms for yourself and pick one out?" he invited.
"I thought you'd never ask," Lacey whispered, running her tongue around his lips, rubbing up against him, inching her fingers up his neck and into his hair. "But if this weekend is supposed to be an escape for me, I don't think I need to be making any heavy decisions. Why don't you choose one for us?"
"Now?"
"Uhm," Lacey answered. "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do again tomorrow."
Rafe turned her around, crossing her chest with his arm to grasp her shoulder and guide her forward as he walked closely behind her.
It was still daylight as Rafe stepped through the bedroom door with Lacey. Soft afternoon light filtered through the gauzy drapes. Heavier moss-green curtains matched the carpet of green taken from the jungle pattern of the bedspread. Lacey spared half a thought to the decor, thinking it would have been more fitting to have beach colors instead of Amazon accents in this room. The view deserved it, but at the moment she didn't care to discuss decorating with Rafe when she had lain awake at night imagining this reunion.
She let him guide her into the bedroom, loving it when he took the initiative and let her follow his example. There would be other times when she would be the aggressor, taking him off guard and surprising him with her lovemaking. She wanted him to be a little bit unsure of her, but just enough to keep him from taking her for granted, just enough to keep him intriguing her with variety. She wanted to keep exciting him with unexpected caresses and loving so that he wouldn't get bored with her or think he had fallen into a rut the day he knocked at her door.
Rafe's mouth was on Lacey's, his tongue telling her without a sound how tenderly he had missed her. His hands traveled over her back, across her shoulders in a gentle motion that explored her spine, pulling her hips in closer to his and traveled around her waist to flatten across her stomach. He moved his hands up the sides of her body, beneath her arms and around to her back again before he pushed her a little away from him and looked at her, frowning.
"How does this thing work?" he asked, looking at her short jumpsuit. "How do I get you out of it?"
Lacey smiled, realizing his groping had been for buttons, snaps or zippers. "It just slips down and off," she said, showing him how to bare one shoulder, and then the other, waiting for him to do the rest when he was ready.
He pushed the material off her shoulders, to her waist. With a wiggle, Lacey left it in a rumpled pile at her toes. She didn't have to give him instructions with the bra. He remembered the combination of the fastener from last time and tossed it aside. His hands came down over her hips and she stepped naked next to him, impeding his own efforts to undress, but making him that much more anxious to be naked with her.
"Your body feels silky," he said, hugging her against his chest, running his hands from shoulder blades to hips.
"I was just thinking the same thing about you," she whispered, marveling at the smooth ripple of his muscles. He fit so nicely against her. She rubbed her nose against the soft gathering of hair on his upper chest. Next, she placed her mouth on his shoulder, tasting the saltiness of his skin.
Rafe pulled her down with him on the bed and took his hands off her long enough to pull his boots off. Lacey moved behind him, hugging him, spreading her fingers across his chest while her breasts warmed his back. Rafe kissed her hands and then pushed them away so that he could take time to get out of his pants.
He stood up and walked around the bed, pulling back the covers of the king-size bed. Holding out his hand to Lacey, he invited her to join him between the sheets.
Rafe slid into bed next to Lacey, holding her against him. His arms gathered her close and for a long while they simply lay together, holding one another, content to kiss and snuggle in each other's arms.
Lacey's lips curved into a smile somewhere near Rafe's right shoulder. Rafe could tantalize her all evening with his tenderness, or he could fall asleep in her arms. She didn't care as long as they were together. But the longer she lay so temptingly close beside him and felt his loving nibbles at her neck and shoulder, she hoped he wouldn't decide to fall asleep, not for a while anyway.
She let her hands explore his body, tracing the muscled curves of his chest, moving lower, dipping into his navel, and then grinning wider as she next discovered he was just as aroused as she was. She shifted in his arms so that she could invite him closer, and didn't have long to wait for him to accept her unspoken suggestion.
Lacey melted against the pillows, wishing she knew how to keep Rafe locked inside her forever. He filled her with gentleness and at the same time a breathless excitement. He knew just how to touch her and when to encourage her body to pulse helplessly around him on slow waves of anticipation.
"Tell me," Rafe whispered, "how I can give you as much pleasure as you give me."
"You're doing it," Lacey answered, smiling wider, imitating the movement of his hips, trying to pull him closer inside. As his mouth began a tender trail of kisses around her ear and down her neck and across her shoulder, she sighed, her skin glowing from the touch of his mouth.
Rafe moved away from her to gently assault her left breast with his tongue and lips, teasing the hardened nipple to flush peach before moving his mouth to her right breast without missing much in between. His hands roamed across her stomach and along her thighs, molding her flesh the way a sculptor would intimately know his creation.
Lacey felt warm and moist, on the brink of a new sensation with Rafe. As if he sensed her need or glimpsed the new flush on her face, he came back to her, imprisoning her body beneath his until both of them were thrusting and pulsing and shaking with emotion—first Rafe, and then Lacey as he carried her with him.
"That was it!" Lacey whispered, grinning wider than he had ever seen her smile. "Oh, Rafe, that was it," she said again, and hugged him tightly. Lovemaking with him didn't need words, she thought, wanting to keep him as close to her as she could for as long as possible. Why should she insist the rest of their relationship had to have a script?
Each time with him was different. Their lovemaking never followed a pattern as they continued to discover each other, gently teaching by touch what pleasure each could convey.
She wanted to tell him: I love you. Instead, she held him tighter, and felt his answering response in a grip that made her feel as if he might slip over the edge of a cliff if she were not there to hold him.
Chapter Eleven
"Get up," Rafe said, punching Lacey gently in the back.
"Why?" she mumbled, taking his arm and hugging it tighter around her midriff, snuggling the curve of her back more comfortably against his chest. "It's Saturday. And neither one of us has an office in this town."
"We have a lot to do today," Rafe persisted. "We need to get up."
She turned her head on the pillow to look at him. "You're one to talk," she accused. "Have you even opened your eyes yet?"
He opened his eyes then and raised his eyebrows in a teasing, leering gesture. Lacey laughed. She turned around to face him, putting her arms around his neck so that she could hug him. "Good morning." She grinned, kissing his eyelids and cheeks.
"You started saying that right after midnight," he reminded her.
She kissed his shoulder, "Mmmmmm, and it was." She smiled, remembering the times they had made love during the night and how each time had been different, sometimes gentle, almost in slow motion, once ticklish and playful, and another time with a frantic kind of passion. But just lying in his arms again after the days apart made the evening, night and morning a good one.
"You're a character," he said. Lacey looked at his face. It showed he was pleased.
She ran her hand along the
smooth lines of his body from thigh to chest and back down again. His skin was smooth and firm, cool to her touch. "Can I interest you in a seduction?" she asked.
"I never turn down a bed-to-bed traveling saleswoman," he answered.
She drew back. "You don't? But are you sure you have enough time for this… demonstration? I mean, with all this stuff you have to do on a Saturday, I wouldn't want to keep you tied up unnecessarily."
He pulled her back to him and began kissing her. "All that needs doing today, I've been talking about in the future tense. I allowed time for unexpected developments." His tongue started a hot trail along her neck and collarbone to her breasts. "Why do you think I woke you up?"
Lacey laughed and hugged him tighter and then lay back, captive to his caresses.
She let him direct the morning after that, content in knowing she was well loved, even if neither of them had admitted it. She sat in the restaurant with him over lunch with the secret of having shared the night and most of the morning in bed with him. When she closed her eyes, she could still recall the sensations of having been with him. Lacey smiled and put a potato chip in her mouth. If she didn't stop thinking about Rafe this way, she'd attack him again, and they might want to return to this restaurant again one day.
Rafe had a meeting with the investors of the complex after lunch. He took Lacey with him because it was an informal discussion. They'd covered the major business points with Rafe on the phone weeks earlier. Now all they wanted was Rafe's personal opinion of the complex and his innovative ideas for further development.
Lacey thought she would feel out of place in this shop talk, but she quickly discovered it was a true Saturday for everyone. One of the men turned up in tennis shorts, another was heading for the golf course after the meeting, and a third was at the end of his wife's leash running errands around town for her.
Male Order Bride Page 16
