“Only the best is good enough for you,” he whispered as they lay on the rug in front of the fire in her cottage. “Ah, Suzy. We are going to be so happy together.”
Suzy sighed happily. The firelight playing on the handsome planes of his face above her moved her to whisper that they didn’t have to wait…
“I want you so much,” she said.
“And I you.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her passionately.
“Ah,” Suzy breathed as he raised his head. She stroked his face tenderly. “And you know of course that India wants me to stay with her on Monday evening? I thinks she thinks the night before the wedding is going to be the testing time for our emotions, when in fact it’s right now!”
“Was that one of your parents moving about upstairs?” Jake’s head jerked up.
Suzy giggled. “Mum’s very old-fashioned. I’ve noticed footsteps across the bedroom floor every ten minutes.”
They both sat up and moved to the sofa as the sound of creaking stairs reached them. Jake rose and threw a log on the fire. “I think, my love,” he said as the door to the kitchen opened, “that I shall have to take myself off home. This is killing me!”
“Only me,” her mum called out. “Just getting a glass of water.”
Suzy grabbed Jake to her, laughing. “The wait will make everything all the more worthwhile,” she said.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Suzy wore ivory satin and carried pink roses. Her dad cried because she was so beautiful and her mum cried just because she always cried at weddings, and this was a very special one.
Jake could not take his eyes off her and Suzy glowed in the warmth of his sensuous glances, her eyes continually on the clock. The ceremony and wedding breakfast were over by twelve-thirty and at two o’clock the happy couple, driven by Brian, were on their way to Heathrow for the night flight to Barbados.
In the relative privacy of their first-class seats Jake filled their glasses with champagne and they raised them.
“To us,” they said together.
As the cabin lights were switched off, Jake took her hand and kissed it, holding it to his mouth.
“I love you,” he said.
In the dim light Suzy leaned close to his beloved face. “And I you. Goodnight, my love. Roll on tomorrow!”
»»•««
The rising sun peeping under the window blind woke Suzy and she turned to look at her husband. Their hands were still clasped and Jake slept on.
How I adore him, she thought, studying his face. And how wonderful that we now have each other for the rest of our lives.
“You’re watching me,” Jake said lazily. “I can feel your eyes, sense your thoughts.”
“Go on, then, tell me what I’m thinking.”
Jake struggled upright. “That you can’t wait for us to be alone?”
Suzy nodded. “And?”
“That I shall make sure my intentions remain perfectly dishonorable, which means I can devour you.”
“All good so far,” Suzy said through laughter, “but heck, I wish we’d hurry up and get there!”
Jake checked his watch. “We’ll be landing soon.” He kissed her gently and Suzy, unable to stop herself, responded with her usual eagerness. The steward walked past checking seat belts were fastened and smiled.
»»•««
Grantley Adams International airport was busy, noisy and colorful, and as Jake and Suzy walked into the arrivals hall, a tall slender young man with long Rastafarian hair approached them.
“You be me man, Jake?” he said.
Jake grinned. “That’s me. And this is my wife Suzy. I take it you’re our lift to Malinda?” Jake shook his hand.
The handsome young man smiled widely, showing the most perfect set of straight white teeth Suzy had ever seen. “I be Noel, man, born on Christmas Day and me taking you to across the water. Come, follow me.”
After a short bumpy ride listening to Noel’s endless stream of tunefully sung Christmas carols, his open-topped jeep took a side turn down an even bumpier track to a small landing stage where a boat waited. Noel quickly loaded their bags on and Jake and Suzy clambered in. There was no waiting. The engine started and they were off.
“I could,” Jake said close to Suzy’s ear, “have organized a plane ride instead, but they don’t start flying until this afternoon and I couldn’t wait that long.” He ran his lips down the side of her neck and Suzy shivered with suppressed desire.
They skimmed across the clear blue water and Jake suddenly pointed. “Malinda,” he said.
Noel ran the boat expertly onto the white sand, unloaded the bags, and waited while his passengers alighted.
“See ya in five days, man,” he said. “Give me a push.”
Jake slid the boat back into the shallows and with a cheery wave, Noel turned it around and sped away.
Suzy looked along the stretch of beach to the far end where fishing boats could be seen, and the distant laughter of children reached them on the warm breeze.
“Paradise,” she said. The wooden bungalow sat comfortably on a slight rise backed by lush tropical greenery, the door was slightly ajar, and a large bunch of flowers sat in a bucket on the porch.
“Mabel,” Jake explained. “She’s the owner of the village store. I sent her a fax and she’s provided some provisions.” He looked at Suzy. “And made the bed up. Come here, Mrs. Mason.”
Suzy stepped forward and wound her arms around his neck. They kissed hungrily and Jake broke away to swing her up into his arms. He began walking toward the bungalow.
“Our bags.” Suzy looked over his shoulder to where they were still sitting on the sand.
But Jake didn’t stop. He carried her onto the porch and into the dim cool interior.
“Later,” he murmured. “Much later.”
About the Author
I am retired, living on the Gold Coast in Australia, where luckily, the weather allows me to write outside most days. I love creating characters, plots and sub plots in my romance novels, which I hope bring pleasure to readers.
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