by Tina Beckett
Another group of pushes as Darcie guided the baby’s shoulders. Then the baby was there, cradled in Darcie’s hands. She passed the baby to Lucas, and then worked on suctioning the newborn’s mouth and nose, the red scar from surgery still very evident on her tiny chest.
A sharp cry split the air, and Lucas smiled as bleary, irritated eyes blinked up at him. Laura cried again, waving clenched fists at him and probably everyone else in the room. “Welcome to the world, baby girl,” he murmured.
Tristan cut the cord, and then Alessandro took over, carrying the baby over to a nearby table and belting out orders as he listened to the baby’s heart and lungs for several long minutes. There was no time for Lucas to worry about that, because they still had the afterbirth to deliver.
A few minutes later baby Laura was placed on Flick’s chest with a clean bill of health.
“I don’t foresee any problems.” Alessandro smiled down at the new parents. “Her heart sounds strong so the surgery was obviously a success.”
Flick grabbed her husband’s hand, her eyes on his. “See? Don’t you start worrying, Tristan. She’s fine.”
Lucas knew the man had agonized over the baby’s health the entire time, but the problem had been caught and corrected early enough to prevent any major damage to her heart. She would need additional surgery as she grew and her veins and arteries matured but, other than that, she had a great prognosis.
Isla stuck her head into the room. “How are they?”
Flick heard her and motioned her in. “See for yourself.”
The head midwife crept closer to where Flick was rubbing her baby’s back in slow, soothing circles.
“Good on you. She’s beautiful, sweetheart. Congratulations.”
Alessandro put his arm around his wife’s waist, his hand resting on her pregnant belly. “And now we need to let them get to know one another.”
As soon as the room had cleared of most of the nurses, and the baby had successfully latched onto Flick’s breast, Tristan leaned down and whispered something in his wife’s ear that made her smile, although her face bore evidence of her exhaustion.
Lucas’s chest tightened. What if all hadn’t gone well in here today? What if something had happened to Flick? It was obvious Tristan was deeply in love with her.
His brother’s face swam before him. The times he’d drunk himself into a stupor or lain in bed, unwilling to get up and take care of himself or Cora. On days like that it had been left to Lucas to care for them both.
He glanced over at Darcie and found her looking back at him, although her eyes swung away almost immediately. What would it be like to love a woman and not fear she might one day disappear off the face of the planet?
It was better not to even entertain thoughts like that.
Haven’t you already?
No.
He and Darcie had been on a few outings. Spent one night together. That did not a relationship make. And if he kept telling himself that, he could make sure it stayed that way.
He glanced at his watch and realized the end of their shift had come and gone. They should have been off duty an hour ago. A deep tiredness lodged in his bones and suddenly all he wanted to do was sit on that pier with Darcie and stare out over the water.
Just for companionship. Just to have someone to share today’s victory with.
He walked over to the happy couple. “Do you need anything else? Something to help you sleep?”
“I don’t think any of us are going to have trouble in that area.” She kissed the top of her baby’s head. “Thank you so much for everything.”
Tristan echoed that. “I’m going to stay here with them tonight to make sure everything is okay.”
And that was their cue to leave. Darcie must have realized it too because she smiled then walked over and kissed Flick on the cheek. “Take care, young lady. Ring if you need anything. You have my mobile number?”
“Yes. Right now, though, all I want to do is watch her sleep.”
Lucas followed Darcie out the door and to the nurses’ station. “Are we still on for tonight?”
She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, glancing at the clock. “Do you still want to? It’s after nine.”
“If you’re not too tired. We can get something to eat on the way.”
“I’m fine.” She hesitated. “As long as you’re sure.”
Right now, Lucas had never been more sure of anything in his life.
* * *
The moon was huge.
Seated on the side of the pier with her legs dangling over the side, Darcie stared out at the light reflected over the water. “I’ve never seen anything quite like this.”
“I know. It’s why I enjoy coming out here from time to time.”
She cocked her head in his direction. “I should have made time to do things like this right after I came to Australia. But I wasn’t in the mood to do anything besides work.”
“Your ex?”
“Yes.” This was probably the last thing Lucas wanted to hear while he sat here: her tale of woe. But somehow she found the whole story pouring into the night air. And it felt good. Freeing to actually tell someone besides Isla.
Lucas was silent until she’d finished then said, “Your ex was a bastard. And your maid of honor…well, she wasn’t much of a friend, was she?”
She shrugged. Nine and half months had given her enough distance to see the situation more objectively. Yes, Tabitha and Robert could have handled things differently, but it had been better to learn the truth this side of the wedding vows than to have faced the possibility of cheating and a divorce further on down the line. “I think it was hard for both of them. And I don’t think they meant to hurt me. That’s probably why our engagement continued for as long as it did. But it would have been easier if they’d been honest with themselves…and with me.”
“Being honest with yourself doesn’t mean you have to act on your impulses.”
She frowned. “So you think it would have been better for Robert to go ahead and marry me?”
“No. Maybe it would have been better for him not to become engaged in the first place.”
Interesting. She was seeing a new side to Lucas. “Is that comment speaking to my situation? Or do you simply not believe in marriage?”
“It’s not so much that I don’t believe in it, I’m just apathetic about the whole institution.” He leaned back on his hands and stared at the night sky before looking her way again. “But I didn’t bring you here to talk about my philosophies on marriage or anything else. I came to enjoy the view.”
“I am enjoying it.” She took a deep breath, the salty tang that clung to the air filling her senses and rinsing away the stress of the last two days. “It’s lovely. You’re a very lucky man to be able to come down here whenever you want and take it all in.”
“I am a lucky man.”
When she turned to glance at him, he was watching her.
“What?” She pulled her cardigan around herself, unsure whether it was because of the slight chill in the air or because he was making her feel nervous.
His brows went up. “Nothing. I’m just taking it all in.”
Her? He was taking her in?
A shot of courage appeared from nowhere. “The view’s quite good from where I’m sitting as well.”
The breeze picked up a bit, and a gust of air flipped her hair across her cheek and into her eyes. She went to push it back, only to find he’d beaten her to it, his hand teasing the errant locks behind her ear. The light touch sent a shiver through her.
His fingers moved to her nape, threading through the strands there and lifting them so the air currents could pick them up.
Why did everything the man said or did make her insides coil in anticipation? And how could he go from cool and distant to so…here? Present. Insinuating himself into her life and heart in subtle ways that took down all her defenses.
Her mind swept through the events of the day and replayed them. How he’d deferred to her in th
e delivery room today, letting her take the lead in Flick’s delivery while not losing that raw, masculine edge that made him so attractive to her.
And to a thousand other women like her.
Just when she started to thump back to earth his fingers—which were still at the back of her neck—suddenly tangled in her hair, using his light grip to turn her head.
“Your fiancé missed out.”
His brown eyes roved over her face, touching on her lips then coming back up. “You’re the whole package, Darce. A beauty. Inside and out. And I…”
He let go of her so quickly she had to catch her balance even as he finished his thought, his tone darkening. “And I shouldn’t have brought you here.”
Where had that come from? One minute he was going on about her hair and how he found her beautiful. The next he was saying he regretted having brought her to the pier.
Hurt—a jagged spear of pain that slashed and tore at everything it came in contact with—caused her voice to wobble. “Then why did you?”
“Because I wanted you to see what I do when I come out to the bay. But all I see right now…is you. And I want to do more than just look.”
Everything inside her went numb for a second. Then a swish of realization blew through her, soothing the hurt.
He wanted her. Wanted to touch her. Just like the other night at her flat.
“You can. You can do more.”
Before she had time to think or breathe he moved. Fast. His mouth covered hers in a rush of need that was echoed in her. She wanted him. Now. Here. On this pier.
His hand went behind her head as his tongue sought entry. She gave it to him, opening her mouth and letting him sweep inside. He groaned, and the sound was like a balm and a stimulant all at once, although she didn’t know how that was possible. Maybe just because of who he was.
Darcie’s mouth wasn’t the only thing that opened. Her heart did as well, letting him in. Just a crack at first, but then growing wider and wider until he filled her. Surrounded her. Inside and out.
She allowed herself to revel in it, at least for now. Soon she’d have to come back to the real world, but for the moment she would inhabit the land of wish lists and wishful thinking—a place where anything was possible. Where anything could happen.
And, God, she hoped it happened. Soon. Because the need inside her was already too big to be contained.
She pulled back, even though everything was screaming at her to keep going. “Lucas.”
“I know.” Both hands sank into her hair and he held her still as he ran a line of kisses down her cheekbone, over her jaw, until he reached her ear. “If I don’t stop now, I won’t.”
What? Stop? That’s not what she’d meant at all.
“I don’t want you to.”
A flash of teeth came, followed by, “I don’t think you want me to rip your clothes off on a public pier, do you?” A brow lifted. “Unless you’re into exhibitionism. Although the thought of having you pressed naked against that bank of windows at your flat—with me inside you—is pretty damned tempting.”
Something in her belly went liquid with heat. Not at the thought of exposing herself to thousands of people but at Lucas—inside her.
“My flat is too far away.”
He paused for a moment and then stood and held out his hand. “I know the perfect place.”
CHAPTER NINE
“I DIDN’T KNOW you had a boat.”
No one did. This was the one place Lucas could come that was totally private. Totally his. Where he could get away from the stresses of the day or—when Felix had been in a particularly bad state—the horrors of his own thoughts. The small sailboat had cost him several months’ salary, but it had been money well spent. He would live on it were it not for the fact that he needed to be close to the hospital…and to Cora and Felix.
And he’d never brought anyone here…especially not a woman.
So why Darcie?
He stood with her on the deck as the boat swayed at its mooring. Why was this the first place that had come to mind when he’d realized what she wanted?
It was close. And they both wanted sex. It was the obvious choice. Even as he thought it, he knew that wasn’t the reason at all.
She was waiting for an answer, though, so he said, “I like the water, and it’s nice to have a place where I can enjoy it.”
She smiled, leaning against the railing on the far side of the vessel. “I thought that’s what the pier was for.”
“Sometimes I want a little more privacy.” His lips curled, and knowing she’d probably take the words the wrong way he went on, “For myself. Not for any love triangles.”
She eased over to him and ran her fingers from the waistband of his jeans up to his shoulders. “I thought we’d already established you don’t do any angles at all.”
He didn’t do a lot of things. But he liked the feel of her hands on him.
Gripping her waist, he dragged her to him, making the boat rock slightly. “So…do you want to stay topside? Or go down below?”
Her brows went up and a choked laugh sounded. “I assume you’re not referring to parts of the body.”
“No. Because in that I’m definitely an all-inclusive kind of guy.” He leaned down and brushed his cheek against hers. “I meant do you want to stay here on deck or go to the cabin?”
“Okay, that makes more sense.”
More than once he’d slept beneath the stars on the boat, letting the sounds and movements of the water lull him to sleep. As cool as it was right now, there was no need for air-conditioning.
Darcie glanced at the dock. “Does anyone ever come out here?”
Rows of other boats surrounded them. The small marina was the place of weekend sailors. But in the middle of a workweek? It was always deserted.
“Just me.” He smiled, playing on his earlier theme. “Sorry, no one to watch us but the seagulls.”
Even in the dark her face flamed. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Wasn’t it?” His hand slid up her side until it covered her breast. The nipple was already tight and ready. “How brave are you feeling, Darcie?”
He tweaked the bud, glorying in the gasp it drove from her throat.
“Right now? Braver than I was during that bungee jump.”
“Let’s stay out here, then, where we can see the moon.”
His hands went to the hem of her cardigan and shirt and swept them over her head, letting the garments drop onto the plank deck. When he touched her arms they were covered in goose bumps, although her skin felt warm. “Are you cold?”
“No.” As if in answer, she undid the buttons of his shirt and yanked it from his jeans, helping him tug free from the long sleeves. She tossed it on top of her clothes. The sight stopped him for a second. But just one. Then he was curving his hands behind her back and finding the clasp on her black silk bra. “Last chance to back out, Darcie.”
She leaned up and nipped his shoulder. “Just take it off, will you?”
“My pleasure.” He unsnapped the bra, and on impulse dangled it over the railing beside them.
Yes, he liked seeing it there, the inky color contrasting with the sleek chrome. It was his declaration to the universe that she was his for tonight. And he knew something else that would look perfect beside it.
He allowed his fingers to trail over the curves he’d exposed. Just for a second, then he released the snap on his jeans and pushed them down his legs, kicking them to the growing pile of clothes beside him. Then he did the same for her. Much slower, kneeling down, so he could savor every inch of her along the way.
Black silk met his eyes. The same color as her bra. He allowed his palms to trail over her hips as he stood, until the slick fabric met the perfect mounds of her ass. He squeezed, pulling her against him and allowing his stiff flesh to imagine that silk sliding over his bare skin.
He had to know. He pulled away, only to have her reach for him. “Just a second, gorgeous. I’m coming right back.�
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Reaching down to scoop up his jeans, he retrieved a packet from his wallet and set it on the rail next to her bra. Then off came his boxers. His flesh jerked as he drew her back to him.
He closed his eyes as his naked arousal met the silk of her undies. And it was everything he’d imagined. Slick. Arousing. His hands went to her behind and kneaded as he pumped himself against her, slowly, reveling at the contrast between the silky fabric and the warm skin of her belly.
When he felt hands on his own ass, his lids flew apart. “Hell.”
He pushed beneath the elastic, and then, unable to wait any longer, he slid her last remaining item of clothing down her hips, waiting until she stepped free before draping it next to her bra.
Mmm…yes. Just like he’d thought. He liked seeing her displayed there. Liked having her on his boat.
Grabbing the condom, he swept a hand beneath her thighs and her shoulders and hauled her into his arms, where he kissed her for what seemed like forever. This time she gave a little shiver, and he noticed the breeze was a bit cooler than it had been on the pier. Still kissing her, he eased to his knees and then lowered her to the deck, her pale skin looking glorious against the shiny teak planks. The raised edges around the deck provided a windscreen, and, balling up their clothing, he lifted her head so she’d have something to cushion it. “Better?”
“It’s all good, Lucas. Nothing could be better.”
He grinned down at her. “Wanna bet?”
Kneeling between her legs, he sheathed himself, then let his hands move in light, brushing strokes up her inner thighs, until he reached the heart of her. She was already moist and his fingers wanted to linger and explore, but he knew once he let them he was there to stay. And there were other places he needed to visit.
He lowered himself onto her, supporting his weight with his elbows, then murmured against her lips, “Too heavy?”
“Mmm…no. Too perfect.”
That made him smile. He didn’t think he’d ever heard a woman refer to him that way before. He liked it.
He’d told her the truth earlier. She was gorgeous, inside and out, sporting an inner glow of health and life that made him wonder how he could have ever thought of her as cold.
