For aeons they seemed to float, suspended in a drowsy sea of satiated desire. But eventually they returned to reality, and he lifted himself slightly away from her, the better to look into her eyes.
'When will you marry me?' he demanded. 'I won't know any peace till you're mine.'
Mine. The word jolted her sanguinity, and the rosy future took on a bleaker hue.
'I'm mine, Kane,' she said flatly. 'I'm a person with her own thoughts, her own wishes and needs. Don't regard me as a possession.'
'I'm sorry,' he said swiftly. 'I didn't mean it the way it sounded. I just want to tell the world we belong to each other. That I'm as much yours as I want you to be mine. But you can still lead your own life.'
'I can?' She half-sat up and felt his eyes rivet themselves on the swollen roundness of her breasts.
'You can,' he agreed thickly. 'I know what your career means to you, and I don't expect you to give it up. All I ask is that you let me share your life.'
'Even if I'm given a hotel in Devon or Skye to manage, or one abroad perhaps?'
'Wherever,' he said. 'From now on I'm letting Mark and a few others of my men do most of our overseas work. Any future travelling I do, will be only to spend time with you'
She could not believe he meant it, but the gravity of his expression told her he did, and she marvelled that love could have such an effect on him. Yet why not? Look at the effect it was having on her! The realisation of exactly how much, was only slowly being borne in on her, and she lay silent, absorbing and understanding what it was doing to her entire outlook.
'You'll hate my career, Kane. You say you won't, but I honestly can't see you enjoying sharing me with my job. It's a full-time one, you know.'
'Only too well! But I've given it a lot of thought, Sharon, and I find that sharing you is a darn sight better than not having you. I'll do anything to stay in your life.'
'Even coming second to my career?'
'Even that,' he said ruefully. 'You see, I have no choice.'
'But I have. Loving each other won't be enough. Oh we'll work things out in the beginning—for the first year perhaps—but after that? Well, I'm not so sure. My having a career wouldn't fit in with your life.'
'I'll change my life to suit yours,' he assured her swiftly. 'I'm not making idle promises, Sharon. I mean them.'
'I know you do. But I tell you it wouldn't work. You'd start out with all sorts of good intentions, but eventually some crisis would blow up somewhere in the world where your company's working, and you'd have to fly there and stay there for weeks on end; maybe months.'
'No,' he affirmed. 'I'd send Mark or someone else. And even if I did have to go, it would only be for a fleeting visit.'
'Oh darling,' she laughed. 'You mean what you're saying now, but you'd change your mind if you really had a major crisis on your hands. And if it was major, then I'd want to be with you, sharing your worries.'
He pulled back, the better to look into her face. 'What exactly are you trying to tell me, Sharon?'
'Don't you know?'
'I'm not sure.'
'You mean you think you know but you're scared of saying it out loud in case you're wrong! And of course you're also worried in case I think you're trying to pressurise me.'
His rueful expression told her she was right, and she smiled. Seeing the corners of her mouth turn up, Kane lowered his head and touched his lips to hers.
'The one problem in falling in love with a clever woman,' he opined, 'is that she can sometimes be too clever! All right, so the occasional crisis will blow up, but being with you—our marriage—will always take priority. You've got to believe that, Sharon.'
'I do. Because our marriage will take priority with me too. That's why I know I have to give up the Avonmore.'
'But——- '
'No buts, Kane. You know what you're capable of, and I know what I can do. And the one thing I can't, is cope with you and a hotel and six children.'
'What?'
'Well, maybe five. But definitely four! You've so much to give a family, darling.' Her voice shook and she pressed her cheek to his. 'You're not only a brilliant engineer and marvellous businessman, but a generous human being who has the courage to admit when he's wrong.'
'Hey,' he protested huskily. 'Don't make me out to be better than I am.'
'Better or best?' she teased. 'I don't know you well enough yet to be sure!'
'You asking for more?'
'Certainly not.'
'Pity,' he whispered upon her mouth. 'I was hoping you would say yes.'
'Maybe I will, with a bit of encouragement.'
Promptly he began kissing her, his lips gentle, his hands tender in their exploration as he roused her to trembling passion.
Her hands reached for him, caressing his hair and the firm back, sliding her fingers along his spine and down his thighs.
'You know what this will lead to, don't you?' he growled.
'Yes. Does that make me insatiable?'
'No!' His teeth nipped her tongue lightly. 'It makes you wonderful, adorable.'
His voice deepened, grew more urgent, and fiercely he parted her legs and thrust into her again. Though she had not anticipated his swift arousal, she was ready for him, and this second time she was not inhibited by shyness. After all, this was Kane, the man she loved with all her being, the man soon to be her husband. With a glad cry she responded, moving her body in time with his until they were both soaring high, unconscious of time or place, knowing only each other's needs and intent on fulfilling them.
'I want you!' he cried. 'Oh Sharon, I can't hold back.'
'Don't,' she breathed into his mouth. 'I want you too. So much, Kane, so much!'
In a soaring climax he flooded her with his love. She screamed in ecstasy and her fingers raked across his back as she shuddered to her own climax, knowing that her awakened womanhood would only bring her joy as long as this man was in her life.
He gently lifted himself away from her and lay beside her, and only then did she notice they were no longer on the settee, but lying upon the rug in front of the terrace window.
As if aware she had just realised it, he grinned.
'I kept you on the floor on purpose,' he admitted, 'because I didn't want you telling your parents I'd taken you to bed before marrying you!'
She burst out laughing, and as he saw the creamy swell of her throat, he pressed his lips to it.
'The British Consul here is a friend of mine,' he went on, 'and I'm sure he can expedite a licence. Will the end of the week suit you?'
'So soon?' she gasped. 'My parents——— '
'I'll fly them over. No problem. But if you'd rather wait to marry in England, we'll fly back as soon as I've negotiated my contract with Bonlam. But that won't be for about three weeks.'
'By which time my back will be stuck to this rug!' she giggled. 'No way, Kane. I'll talk to Mum and Dad and insist they fly out. I'm sure they'll be delighted. You're a great catch for a working girl!'
He growled in mock anger and pulled her over until she was on top of him.
'Kane, don't,' she protested. 'What about the champagne you promised me?' 'It will be great after.'
She felt his body stir again, the movement exciting her to her own arousal. 'After what?' she asked huskily.
'I'll give you three guesses,' he said. 'I only need one.'
'And I only need you,' he murmured into her mouth. 'Only you.'
Roberta Leigh - No Time For Marriage Page 16
