The Rebel's Return

by Beverly Barton

  Enough of this self-pity, Maddie told herself. You’ve recovered from a broken heart before; you can do it again. It’ll just take a little longer this time because this time you really are in love. This wasn’t a teenage infatuation with a football hero or a whirlwind royal romance. Dylan is your soul mate. You’ve known that, in your heart, since you were sixteen.

  Too bad he doesn’t know it!

  Dylan leaned over and whispered, “Susan Wainwright is brilliant as Cio-Cio-San, isn’t she?”

  “Yes, she is. Absolutely brilliant.” Thank God, she’d seen Susan perform on other occasions and could truthfully testify that she was a gifted ballerina.

  Suddenly, right in the middle of the enthralling wedding night pas de deux, Susan Wainwright collapsed on stage. The entire audience gasped in unison. The curtain closed and loud murmurs rose throughout the theater.

  “Oh, mercy.” Maddie clutched Dylan’s hand. “I know there’s no way to get backstage, but I wish that somehow we could find out what happened and how Susan is.”

  Several minutes ticked by before the announcement was made that Ms. Wainwright was resting comfortably in her dressing room and would be taken to the hospital shortly, but that she was conscious and alert. A substitute performer would temporarily replace Ms. Wainwright.

  “I’d like to leave,” Maddie said.

  “Would you like to see if we can find out more about Susan?”

  Maddie shook her head. “I’m sure they’ve called her family. And if they’re taking her to the hospital, we might just get in the way. I’m so relieved that she’s at least conscious. I’d heard that she had health problems—just Mission Creek rumors, of course.”

  Dylan led Maddie out of the theater to their waiting limousine. Once inside, he pulled a shivering Maddie into his arms. She clung to him.

  “Oh, Dylan, when she collapsed that way, I thought she was dead. I don’t know why, but I sensed that she’d had a heart attack. People can die instantly, you know. They’re here with us one minute and the next they’re gone.” Maddie eased away just enough to look into his eyes. “Just like your father…and my father.”

  “And my mother,” Dylan said. Dear God, Maddie was right. Life was all too brief and therefore precious. Not to be wasted.

  “Susan is younger than I am. What if she…Oh, Dylan.” Maddie wept on his shoulder.

  Dylan held her, caressing her back, pressing his cheek against hers. Younger than I am. Younger than I am. Maddie’s words echoed inside his mind. What if it had been Maddie who had collapsed, struck down in her prime? What if instead of a lovely and talented woman he barely knew, Maddie was the one being rushed to the hospital right now?

  The thought of losing Maddie was unbearable. Why the hell hadn’t he realized the fact that he loved Maddie Delarue as deeply and completely as it was humanly possible to love? Why had he fooled himself into thinking that they were friends and lovers and nothing more? Maddie was his other half, the one woman on earth meant for him. They fit together perfectly—in and out of bed.

  But what if she doesn’t love you? he asked himself. What if she doesn’t trust you enough to marry you? Then you’ll have to find a way to earn her trust. Do whatever the hell you have to do. And what about all those people who’ll say you married Maddie to get your hands on Delarue, Inc.? To hell with them! What did he care what people thought?

  You’ve gotten Maddie in trouble more than once. How can you be so sure you won’t do it again? He couldn’t be sure. After all, he was only human. He’d made his share of mistakes and he’d probably make a few more in the future. And what about trusting Maddie? Dammit, man, the woman possesses a talent for unswerving loyalty. She’d never desert you, never turn her back on you.

  Dylan kissed Maddie until neither of them could breathe, and after they came up for air, he kissed her again. When they arrived at the airport, he was still kissing her.

  He wanted to take this woman home—home to bed. And he intended to make love to her for the rest of the night. Tomorrow, when she woke in his arms, he would thank God again for Maddie’s life.

  By the way Dylan had been acting, Maddie suspected that he had been as shaken by Susan Wainwright’s collapse on stage as she had been. He seemed to need to reaffirm the fact that they were both alive and well. Maddie understood; she felt the same.

  The minute they arrived at her condo, they began stripping off their clothes in a frenzied rush to the bedroom. Somehow, right now, it didn’t seem to matter that this would be their last night together, that tomorrow Dylan was going back to Dallas. He was with her now, here, this moment. And he was kissing her and touching her and wanting her as desperately as she wanted him. Life was fleeting. An ephemeral dance that ended all too soon. Reach out and grab happiness while you can, she told herself.

  They landed together in the middle of her bed. Naked and panting, hungry for life and love and carnal pleasure, Maddie and Dylan mated with pure, primitive passion. Sweet preliminaries didn’t matter. Protection wasn’t even considered. Promises of commitment never came to mind. And foreplay became the act itself, the desire to physically bond greater than all other needs. Lifting her hips to meet him, Dylan entered her body with a powerful thrust, embedding himself inside her, becoming one being with her. Maddie moaned with the absolute rightness of their joining. The feel of him inside her was an indescribable pleasure. The intensity of their lovemaking brought them to strong, quick, simultaneous climaxes.

  They lay together, embracing and kissing, as the aftershocks rippled through their bodies. Neither said a word. Words were unnecessary at that moment.

  They slept awhile, then woke to make love again. Slower, more tenderly, but no less passionate. They turned and tumbled, panted and sighed. He took the dominant position at first, only to surrender to her command later. They gave and took, thinking of themselves and thinking of each other, until Maddie didn’t know where she left off and where Dylan began. There was no I; there was no he. Only we. Nonexistent alone; everything together.

  Maddie woke around nine o’clock and found herself all alone in her big bed. The rumpled covers, half on the floor, the other half hanging to the side of the bed, and the strong smell of sex and Dylan’s unique scent were the only evidence that he had spent the night with her. Her body ached as she got out of bed and retrieved a silk robe from her closet. Sweet aches, the results of torrid lovemaking. She moved from room to room, searching for her lover. The condo was empty.

  Where was Thelma? Maddie wondered, then remembered it was Saturday morning. Thelma didn’t work on weekends.

  Had Dylan slipped away while she slept, leaving her without saying goodbye, making sure she didn’t plead with him to stay? Would he call her later? Would he drop by on his way out of town? Or was it over; was this the end of their love affair?

  She would cry if she weren’t suddenly so numb. Blessedly numb, as if she’d received a shot of Novocain strong enough to deaden her inside and out. She moved as if in a trance, returning to her bedroom and entering her private bath. She showered, washed and dried her hair, then dressed in casual khaki slacks and a coral knit top. Later in the kitchen, she prepared coffee and toast before reading the morning paper and telephoning Archy Wainwright to ask about Susan. Maddie was told that Susan was in the hospital for observation and tests. Either that was all the Wainwright patriarch knew or all he wanted to tell anyone outside the family.

  By eleven o’clock she decided that if she didn’t get out of her condo, she would go mad. Maybe she should drive by 1010 Royal Avenue and see if Dylan’s rental car was still there. His plane wasn’t supposed to leave until nearly four this afternoon, so he had to be somewhere. She could stop by in town and pick up some sort of farewell gift, she told herself. Any excuse to see him one more time.

  You’re pitiful! Listen to yourself. Why are you so desperate to hang on to a man who doesn’t want you? Because I love him! That’s why.

  Just as Maddie picked up her purse and car keys and headed out, someone
rang the doorbell. Maddie dumped her keys and purse in the velvet Louis XIV chair in the foyer, then glanced through the peephole. There stood Dylan. With her heart beating wildly, she slung open the door.

  “Hey, Red, you’re going to have to give me a key to this place,” he said as he walked in, grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off her feet. “If I’m going to live here, I need access to the place so I won’t have to keep ringing the doorbell to get in.”

  “Dylan? What are you—Where did you go? I thought you’d—Did you say you’re going to live here?”

  He planted a kiss on her nose, then set her back on her feet. “Yeah, I guess so. Unless you want to move into my dad’s house. It’s a little cramped and old-fashioned for your style, but—”

  Maddie reached up and grabbed his face between her hands. “What are you talking about? You’re not making any sense.”

  “I’m not?” He laughed. “I guess I am sort of putting the cart before the horse. I haven’t even asked you, have I? You might say no.” He grinned. “Nah, you won’t say no, will you? You do love me, don’t you, Maddie? I mean really, honest-to-goodness love me?”

  She released her hold on him and stepped back, putting several feet between them. “Dylan, you’re confusing me.”

  “Yeah, I know the feeling. I’ve been confused about us, too. But last night everything became crystal clear. Nothing matters, not your money, not my past history, nothing. All that matters is you and me and our being together. Right?”

  Maddie stared at him in total shock.

  “Look, Red, I think the first thing we need to do is get your lawyers to draw up an ironclad prenuptial agreement. That way there’ll be no question of me marrying you for your money or taking charge of Delarue, Inc.”

  “Prenuptial agreement?”

  “Yeah, honey, aren’t you listening to me?”

  “Dylan, are you asking me to marry you?”

  He burst into laughter, then pulled her into his arms. “God, I knew I’d screw this up. Do you want me to get down on one knee?”

  “No, I want you to explain where you’ve been, what’s happened to you and—”

  He kissed her. Quick and hard. “I’ve been to the bank. If they weren’t open till noon on Saturday, I’d have had to wait until Monday to get this.” He stuck his hand in his pants pocket and pulled out a small velvet pouch, opened it and dumped the contents into his hand. Leda Bridges’ one-carat solitaire engagement ring and gold wedding band lay in the center of Dylan’s palm. He stuck the solitaire on the tip of his pinkie, then put the band back in the pouch. “We’ll save that until later.”

  Maddie stared at the shimmering diamond ring as Dylan removed it from his pinkie and held it out to her. “Maddie, I love you. You have no idea how much I love you. Hell, I had no idea how much I loved you until last night.”

  While she gazed at the ring, her eyes misting with tears as she absorbed his declaration of love, Dylan grabbed her hand, lifted it and slipped the ring on the third finger of her left hand. A perfect fit. This ring was meant to be hers. “Will you marry me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  He followed her line of vision straight to the ring. “I know it’s only a one-carat diamond. I could afford something bigger, more expensive, but this was my mother’s and—”

  “I love this ring,” she told him. “Almost as much as I love you.”

  “It’s about time you got around to telling me you love me.”

  She gazed up at him, but could barely see him through the shower of tears. “I think I’ve loved you forever. Well, at least since I was sixteen.”

  “Yeah, I guess I’ve loved you ever since way back then, too. I don’t know why it’s taken me so damn long to figure it out. I knew I wanted you. I knew you were the best thing that ever happened to me. And I knew sex between us was great.” He kissed her again. “You know, Red, you’re marrying a real dope.”

  “We’re getting married. You and me. A wedding. A honeymoon. A life together.”

  “Yeah, and we’re going to make it a happily-ever-after life. I’m making you that promise and it’s one I intend to keep.”

  Happiness burst inside Maddie, filling her completely. She closed her eyes and sighed. “I want babies. Your babies.”

  “Hey, you could be pregnant now, you know. We did kind of get a head start on the honeymoon.”

  “Would you mind if I am pregnant?”

  “I’d kind of like to have you all to myself for a while, but if you are, I won’t mind too much.”

  Maddie giggled as she snuggled closer, stood on tiptoe and spoke with her lips lightly brushing his, “Tell me again.”

  “Tell you what?”

  “That you love me.”

  “Oh, sweet Maddie, I’m going to be telling you I love you every day for at least the next fifty years.”

  “Only once a day?”

  “Twice a day. Ten times a day. As many times as you want to hear it.”

  “Say it.”

  “I love you, Maddie Delarue. I love you, I love you, I love you.”

  Dylan swept her off her feet and up into his arms. Just as he headed for the bedroom, the doorbell chimed. “Damn. Let’s ignore it.”

  The doorbell rang again and again.

  “Whoever it is seems persistent. They probably won’t go away.”

  A familiar voice called, “Maddie, I know you’re home, so you might as well open the door and let me in. I am not leaving until I speak to you.”

  Maddie groaned. “It’s my mother.”

  With Maddie still in his arms, Dylan waltzed back into the foyer, reached out and opened the front door.

  “Come right in, Nadine,” Dylan said. “Or would you rather I call you Mother Delarue?”

  “Just what’s going on here?” Nadine asked. “Have the two of you been drinking? You act as if you’re drunk.”

  “We’re drunk on love,” Dylan told her.

  Nadine gasped. “You were carrying my daughter off to the bedroom, weren’t you? And it’s not even noon yet.”

  “Mother, Dylan and I have something to tell you.”

  “There’s nothing I want to hear about you and Mr. Bridges,” Nadine said.

  Dylan readjusted Maddie in his arms; she tightened her hold around his neck. “You really should start calling me Dylan. After all, it’s going to look odd to your friends if you refer to your son-in-law as Mr. Bridges.”

  “My son-in—My God, Maddie, are you planning to marry this man?”

  “Yes, Mother, I am. And as soon as possible. I might already be pregnant, so you’d better start planning the wedding today. Feel free to make it as extravagant as you’d like and spend a million dollars if you want to. I don’t care. All I want is to become Dylan’s wife.”

  “Pregnant?” Nadine’s mouth fell open and her eyes rounded in surprise. “You’re…you’re pregnant?”

  “If she isn’t, she will be soon,” Dylan said. “Now, Mother Delarue, if you don’t mind, Maddie and I have some pre-wedding plans of our own to make.”

  “You’re asking me to leave?” Nadine glared at Dylan.

  “Only for now. You’ll always be welcome in our home,” he told her. “After all, we’re counting on you to be our number-one baby-sitter.”

  “I—I don’t know what to say.” Nadine looked directly at Maddie.

  “Say that you’re happy for me,” Maddie suggested.

  Nadine glanced back at Dylan. “I’ll expect to play a major role in my grandchildren’s lives.”

  “Of course,” Dylan said. “All children need a special grandmother to spoil them rotten.”

  Nadine smiled. “Congratulations, young man. She’s much too good for you, you know.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I know.”

  “Maddie, if you love him, then I’m happy for you. He’s not quite what I wanted, but I suppose he’ll do. He does seem to genuinely care about you and…he certainly knows how to wi
n over his mother-in-law.” Nadine pointed her finger at Dylan. “If you ever hurt her or disappoint her or cause her one moment of unhappiness, you’ll have to answer to me.”

  “Oh, Mother, how sweet of you to—”

  “I’m leaving now.” Nadine crossed the threshold, then glanced back over her shoulder. “I expect y’all at my house for dinner tonight. Seven sharp. We have a wedding to plan.”

  “We’ll be there,” Maddie said.

  Nadine waved a dismissal gesture. “Go on with what you were doing before I interrupted you.”

  The minute his future mother-in-law left, Dylan laughed. “That’s the first time a girl’s mother ever gave me permission to make love to her.”

  “That’s the first time a girl’s mother wanted you to get her pregnant.”

  “Well, let’s not disappoint Grandma.”

  Dylan carried Maddie to bed and with every touch, every kiss, every whispered endearment, he pledged his love and devotion. And two lonely souls united, having finally found not only true love, but complete trust.

  Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Beverly Barton for her contribution to the LONE STAR COUNTRY CLUB series.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-7202-0

  THE REBEL’S RETURN

  Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 U.S.A.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.