Cord had never chased her, never fed her any lines of undying love. He’d never lied or led her on. So if she had anyone to blame for her unhappiness, it wasn’t Cord Redigo.
She supposed he had taken advantage of her willingness, but if that was a crime, then every adult male on earth who’d ever made love to a dewy-eyed female would be in prison!
Maybe the fact that she would never see Cord again would teach her a lesson—a lesson about rashness—and make her more circumspect in future relationships with men. But even as she was rationalizing a possible value of The Cord Redigo Lesson, she knew it was a fool’s errand. She was, had always been and would always be, just short of prudish in her dealings with men … with the singular exception of Cord Redigo.
She knew in her heart that this was a tragic loss to her life, a loss no wisdom could be gleaned from. She could only attempt to go on, hope for the best and try never to look back.
With tears blurring her vision, she searched the secretive fog for answers she knew were not there. Needing to talk to someone, to at least voice her unhappiness, she threw out a question to the mythical monster she chose to believe in. “Is the kind of love I want as elusive as you are, Champ?” she cried softly, her voice a hushed plea.
The silence that followed hung about her as heavily as the fog, and she shivered both with cold and desolation. Her turtleneck sweater didn’t seem to be keeping out the damp any better than her heart was fighting off her despair.
“Maybe what you’re looking for isn’t so elusive,” a disembodied voice suggested, making her twist back suddenly, her eyes widening with shock.
“Could you feel secure and free on the island of Grande Comore?”
Though the initial shock was wearing off, her heart still hammered with disbelief as she squinted vainly to see through the curtain of mist.
With a hand at her throat, she began to discern a ghostly vision through the undulating fingers of haze, a lean specter sauntering in her direction. Though the voice was familiar and the elegant gait made her thrill with recollection, she didn’t dare believe it could really be Cord. She told herself it was an hallucination, brought on because her need for him was so great, her mind so clouded by lack of sleep … that was all it was. She closed her eyes to blink away the apparition. When she opened them again, he was very near.
“Tessa Jane?” he asked gravely. “Did you hear me?”
She clutched her hands together, her voice a thin thread as she breathed, “Is it really you?”
“Me and about twenty-four hours of flying.”
When she’d collected herself enough to notice how rumpled and tired he looked, she frowned with worry. His eyes were rimmed with blue shadows. His crooked mouth, darkened with a day’s growth of beard, was lifted only slightly in a smile, as though he was uncertain of his welcome. His platinum-streaked hair was mussed, crying out to be smoothed by loving hands.
She swallowed, her eyes roaming desperately over him. His silver-blue silk slacks were badly wrinkled. The white button-down shirt was equally disheveled and open at the collar. A striped tie was loosened and askew; the matching suitcoat sported several rust-colored splotches.
“You don’t look so good,” she observed gently.
He chuckled and then grew serious. “You do. You’re the best damned sight I’ve seen in two weeks.”
She stared. Unable to accept the truth of his words, she asked, “What happened to you?”
He shrugged. “Skipping the gory details, I’ll put it this way. Have you ever made a decision and then run from one end of Sydney’s international airport to another?”
She shook her head, befuddled.
“Well, don’t. It can’t be done, unless you’re a crazy man.”
He chuckled ruefully. “That was just the beginning. There weren’t any seats on the Denver-to-Chicago leg, so I paid a woman a hundred bucks to let me hold her two-year-old on my lap so I could get on the flight. Somewhere over the Rockies little Jennifer Armstrong upchucked chocolate pudding all over my coat. But it was worth it, because now I’m here.”
“What are you saying?” Tess asked, not even hoping that he’d come back because of her. She was so numb and confused.
He reached out, his hard, tanned fingers lacing through her trembling ones. “I’m saying I love you, Tessa Jane. I’m saying that since I left you, I’ve realized there’s more to life than work. I’m saying that I’ve been looking for something more….”
Concern shadowed his features and then he smiled at her. “That something was you.”
His revelation left her speechless and weak.
“I want you to marry me,” he said, stroking her hair back from her face. “I don’t want to go back to Grande Comore without you.” His glance held quick concern. “Could you be secure roaming the face of the earth with me?”
A wave of pure happiness rushed over her. “Oh, Cord—” She choked back a sob. A hut on a remote island sounded like a wonderful place to be … or a hotel in Paris … or even an inflatable rubber dinghy during a rainstorm, as long as Cord was beside her. “Are you sure?” she asked, her lips trembling.
“I’ve never been so sure about anything, darling.” He dipped his head, blotting out a brief shaft of moonlight that had penetrated their delicious privacy. His mouth caught hers with a longing she had never known. “Never been so sure…” he repeated hoarsely against her lips.
She caught her breath as his arms bound her to him. Their kiss was deep and lingering, and when Cord finally drew away, she could hear his rasping breath in her ear. “You haven’t answered me, you know.”
Feeling light-headed, she pressed him ever so slightly away and looked into his face. His eyes blazed with unbridled desire.
“Do you really think I haven’t answered you?”
“I want to hear it,” he confessed softly.
She could only stare at the raw vulnerability etched over his lean features.
“I missed you while I was gone.” He took a deep breath. “Could hardly think about my work.” He kissed her again, full on the mouth, searing her to her core. “I was desperate to make you disappear from my thoughts, but nothing worked.”
She smiled up at him with unrestrained joy. “So you think marriage might cure you?”
His smile was tentative, his eyes heated, yet soft. “Is that a yes or a no?”
After a pause during which she tried to form the words to tell him that she had always loved him, he asked, “What if I promise I’ll try not to need you, except to love me back?”
She swallowed, working to dislodge her heart, which had just flown to her throat.
“Tessa Jane,” he pleaded through a groan. “Say something.”
At long last, after all the years and all the tears, Cord Redigo actually loved her. “Do I have to quit smoking?” she said, not believing her own ears—what a dumb thing to say! But, Cord was grinning at her and that was all that mattered.
He shook his head. “Don’t change a thing for me. I’m crazy about hacking coughs.”
The love in his eyes took her breath away. The time for teasing was over. “Oh, Cord…” she sighed. “Do you know how long I’ve loved you?”
His expression grew somber and he hugged her to him. “About as long as I’ve loved you,” he murmured, his voice rough with emotion. “I realize now why I’ve avoided virgins all these years. You never get over them.”
An odd sound from the direction of the cove drew their attention and they turned toward it, though they remained entwined in an embrace.
“What was that?” Tess whispered, looking up at Cord.
He shook his head, listening. “I don’t know. Sounded like something came up out of the water. Something big.”
Tess squinted into the mist. “Can you see anything?”
“Nothing.”
“Cord…” She chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment before she ventured, “Do you have the feeling we’re being watched?”
“Yeah.” He no
dded and turned to face her. When their eyes met, they both had the same crazy thought and shared a smile.
“No…” Cord denied with a shake of his tawny head. “It can’t be.”
She raised a brow.
“Okay…” He hugged her to him. “With you in my arms, I can believe anything. Even that our marriage is being blessed by a shy monster.” With that, he swept her up in his arms, chuckling. “Baby, you’ve affected my mind.”
Light laughter gurgled in her throat. Nuzzling his neck she promised, “If you can admit to maybe believing in Champ, I guess I can quit smoking. Do you think you could develop an affection for me without the hacking cough?”
“I could try,” he teased, “and I plan to, just as soon as I get cleaned up.”
“Maybe I could help.” She unbuttoned the top button on his shirt and boldly ran her hand over his furred chest. “I’m very good with soap.”
“Oh, lady, you’re on.” He hiked her up to a better position in his arms. “But first, I want to know if you’re going to marry me or if you’re just toying with my affections.”
“Okay, okay.” She draped an arm across his shoulders, pretending nonchalance. “I’ll marry you.”
“That wasn’t very romantic.” There was a charming pout in his voice.
“It wasn’t? Oh. Sorry.” With impish delight she dipped her tongue in his ear.
“That’s better…” He groaned. “Whoa, Tessa Jane, I won’t be able to walk if you—Tess—I’m going to pay you back for this.”
“Please do…” she urged, and with a melodic sigh, settled her head on his shoulder.
They grew quiet, content with the aura of their love. Cord carried her toward the dock where the cabin cruiser was tied up.
“Did I tell you that Quillan and Jewel are getting married?” she asked after a minute.
“No.” Cord chuckled. “Maybe we can make it a double ceremony.”
“And did I tell you that Nolan invited Quillan’s daughter, Myra, to the annual CPA Man of the Year Dinner? I think Nolan’s going to win it. Myra’s a nice woman….”
“Witty and spontaneous, I hope.”
Tess looked up at him, puzzled. Then she smiled, understanding his point. “Yes—witty and spontaneous enough for Nolan’s needs, anyway. She’s been frantically searching for a job since the restaurant she managed got bought out.”
“There’s going to be a ‘frantic’ job opening at a certain inn very soon,” he reminded her.
“You know?” Tess kissed his throat. “I think she’d be perfect.”
“I’d hire her, fast, if I were you.” He mounted the dock and with broad strides headed toward the cruiser. “On second thought, tomorrow morning will do.”
“My thinking exactly.” Tess smiled up at him, a sensuous promise in her eyes.
Suddenly, they both tensed, growing alert. They sensed that something hiding in the fog had just slipped beneath the surface of Lake Champlain.
“So long, Champ,” Tess murmured as Cord helped her aboard the cruiser.
“What?” he asked.
Feeling silly and worrying that Cord would think her hopelessly sentimental, she told him something that was true, even though she hadn’t just voiced it. “I said, ‘I love you.’”
As he draped a protective arm about her, the devoted gleam in his eyes took her breath away, and she stood motionless, lost in the beauty of those clear blue eyes.
“That’s what I thought you said.” He bent to brush the top of her head with a kiss, murmuring against her hair, “You might tell him we’ll see him next summer.”
She laughed and hugged his middle. “I think he knows.”
“What else do you think?” he asked, leading her toward the cabin door.
“I think I’m going to like Grande Comore.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I read somewhere that the equatorial night skies are sequined with shooting stars so clear that they trail comets’ tails behind them. Is that true?”
“Uh-huh.” His chuckle was rich and sexy. “And Grande Comore also has the world’s largest active volcanic crater. That’s why I live offshore on my cruiser.”
“Sounds divine,” she sighed dreamily.
“You’d be living on a boat, on water, beneath a volcano. Not very secure.”
“I’ll love it,” she assured him.
“Over your fear of water completely?”
“What fear of water?” She sighed. “I love water. Water brought you back to me—at least something in water.”
“Champ, or my coelacanths?”
“Does it matter?”
“You’re right.” He touched her chin, drawing her gaze. His smile was the sweetest, gentlest sight she’d ever seen. He whispered, “Well, Miss-Unafraid-Bathing-Beauty, did I tell you that Grande Comore has some nice beaches?”
“Good.” Feeling absolutely wonderful, she inhaled the damp crispness of the night air mingled with Cord’s warm, sultry scent. “I’d hate to be stuck on some remote island paradise with you without nice beaches.”
“You’re a sassy woman.”
“You don’t like sassy women?” She peered up at him from beneath her lashes.
“You know exactly what I like,” he growled, nipping the lobe of her ear.
She struggled for breath as his teeth worked their erotic magic. “I’ve heard you’re crazy about fish.”
With a hearty laugh, he led her through the cabin door. His hungry mouth found her throat as he unzipped the back of her sweater then trailed hot kisses down her newly exposed flesh, nipping and licking as he vowed lustily, “I’ve never done this to a fish….” His hands roamed, enticing and titillating. “Or this…”
“Oh … Cord … oh …” she whimpered, quivering with delight. He loved her, and as sure as there was breath in her body, he would prove that to her again and again tonight. And for all their nights to come.
The door to the companionway closed at their backs, and a gentle breeze began to blow away the shroud of fog. It promised to be a bright, beautiful morning. But before that new day dawned, the night on Lake Champlain would be as white-hot and incendiary as any volcanic eruption Grande Comore could boast. For on this night, Tessa Jane Mankiller would know a wild, sweet rebirth.
She would begin to spread her wings, to fly free at last, like one of her silken kites. With Cord’s devotion as her only anchor, she would come to know that “security” and “freedom” are myths, but for the sanctuary of true, unselfish love.
About the Author
Renee Roszel has been writing professionally since 1983, with over forty novels published to date. In addition to being named Oklahoma Writer of the Year by the University of Oklahoma Short Course for Professional Writers, she has multiple National RITA finalist honors and several nominations for Best Short Contemporary Novel by Romantic Times magazine. Renee’s books have been published in foreign languages in far-flung countries ranging from Poland to New Zealand, Germany to Turkey, Japan to Brazil, France, Australia and the Netherlands.
Renee has fans around the world, and she loves to hear from them. To contact Renee, visit her website at: www.ReneeRoszel.com
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