“Better do as she says, Bruddah. She da boss now.”
“Oh, he will,” Samantha answered tartly, shooting Alex a mischievous grin.
Albert, laughing, dropped them at the door. The pair of them went up the wooden steps together, but Samantha stopped him on the porch to have a good look around. She realized then just how much she’d missed the ranch, especially during the brief time when she thought she’d never see it again.
“I love this place,” she told him. “I never want you to sell it.”
His fingers brushed her cheek and Samantha felt her eyes well with tears of joy. She turned to Alex and gazed up into those gorgeous brown eyes of his.
“Let’s go in,” she said.
Alex whisked her off her feet and carried her into the house without even removing his shoes first.
Ignoring Mrs. Kujiroaka’s stare of patent disapproval, he brought her into his room and carefully set her on the suede-covered bed.
Locking the door with a smile on his face, his glance sought hers. He looked at her for a long, lingering moment, and then he spoke.
“You’re the only woman I’ve loved in almost twenty years, Samantha.”
She tugged at his sleeve and he sank down beside her on the bed.
“Don’t be afraid of me, Alex. I swear, I’d never knowingly hurt you.”
He leaned his head against her breast.
“I’ve wasted so much of my life, Samantha. Will you please promise two things?”
“Okay, what?”
“First of all, I’d like to build another cottage for my mother to retire in.”
“Fair enough. What’s next?”
“Secondly, I want you to promise you’ll have my children.”
Samantha raised herself up onto one elbow in delighted surprise.
“You mean it, Alex? We can have babies?”
He covered her mouth with his in response, but she put him off for a second.
“First you need to fix that road,” she told him. “I’m not going into labor just to be jolted over that mess.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll fix it. Now you’d better hurry up and kiss me before I take it all back.”
She happily obeyed him and they kissed for a long time. At last, Samantha broke free and sat up.
“Alex, what the hell is your middle name?”
“Parnell,” he chuckled. “My father was Irish. But forget all that for now and get back down here, will you?”
He reached up and hauled her back down for another kiss.
“Promise you won’t refuse me again, Alex?”
“Never,” he answered in a hoarse whisper.
As if to demonstrate his sincerity, he started working at the buttons of her blouse. She tossed her head back as he bared her breasts. His lips brushed her smooth skin as he slipped the blouse down over her shoulders and discarded it on the floor. Next, he pulled her skirt down over her hips, and Samantha’s nerves came alive once again under the expert pressure of his touch.
She shuddered and sank to her back, a slight moan escaping her lips. Alex ran his fingers under the elastic of her panties, and just as she knew he would, he ripped them off her and flung them aside.
Samantha’s own hands finally went into action then, and she tugged his jacket and shirt off. She allowed him to remove her lacy bra, and his lips grazed her breasts, sending chills through her entire body.
Tension welled up inside her and she strained toward him, praying he’d hurry up and fill her flesh with his, fill the empty place in her soul with his love.
“Alex,” she whispered, her voice becoming urgent, knowing she had to have him soon or go mad.
Her hands flew into action once more, eager for his nakedness. Samantha peeled away the rest of his clothes, leaving only bare flesh behind. With no more barriers to stand in their way, Alex moved over her and poised himself above her.
At last, she thought. At last.
A second later, he became an instrument for her pleasure. Samantha arched her back to receive him, pressing ever nearer, taking his love without hesitation. He breathed her name into her ear, then into her mouth as his velvety lips claimed her.
He drove into her faster now, steadily, as Samantha’s release came to her, giving her the satisfaction she’d craved for so long. Seconds later, she felt him tense, crying out her name in the still air of the bedroom. She clung to him, never wanting to let go.
In time, he lay still, dropping his forehead onto her shoulder. They lay together in the darkening bedroom, neither of them speaking at first.
Later, when they regained their strength, Alex got up and put on his robe.
“Where do you want to spend your honeymoon, sweetheart?”
Sitting up, she rewarded him with a shy smile.
“Right here in your arms would be fine, my love.”
He approached her again and drew from her a long kiss.
“Too bad. I was hoping we could make a baby in Europe.”
“Europe?” she asked, sitting up all of a sudden, her mind working quickly. “Hey, that’s a good idea. We can get the road fixed while we’re gone.”
“Enough with that road,” he told her, leaning toward her and pretending to be exasperated. “Jeez, Samantha. Get over here and kiss me or the deal’s off.”
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Tropical Temptation Page 19
