“What’s your dream, Sean?” she finally dared to ask.
Sean had one hand on his knee, the other on the control lever. “I want to keep on flying,” he answered in a noncommittal tone without looking at Kate.
“There has to be more than that,” Kate ventured.
Sean sighed, and she knew by the angle of his head that his eyes, hidden behind a pair of mirrored sunglasses, were fixed on the horizon. “All right,” he said, “I’ll tell you. I’d like to have a wife who looked at me the way Ellen looks at Blue.”
Kate smiled. “That shouldn’t be hard to manage. I would imagine you have women falling at your feet, Captain Harris.”
At last Sean spared her a glance. “Most of them are only looking for a good time,” he said. “I want a woman who can say her wedding vows and mean them.”
Back to Abby again. Kate let out her breath. “How about you? Did you keep your vows, Sean?”
His jawline hardened visibly. “I’ve never gone back on my word in my life,” he replied, and Kate knew he was telling the truth. He had been faithful to Abby, even when he was desperately unhappy.
Kate reached out and rested a gentle hand on Sean’s leg. “We need to talk about my sister,” she said.
“Personally,” Sean responded, “I’d like to forget she ever existed.”
Kate was annoyed, sensing the depths of Sean’s stubbornness. “What about Gil? He’s a part of Abby. Do you want to forget about him, too?”
“Of course not,” Sean snapped. “If it hadn’t been for him, that part of my life would have been a total waste.”
Kate drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Was it really that bad?”
He turned his head in Kate’s direction, but she couldn’t see his eyes because of the sunglasses he wore. “It was that bad,” he answered.
“Then why didn’t you divorce her?” Kate asked, exasperated.
Sean’s answer stunned her. “I did,” he said. “Two days after I moved out of the house, she drove her car off a cliff.”
Several long moments passed before Kate could speak. Even now she was afraid to ask the question that had plagued her ever since Abby’s death, but she made herself do it. “Did you take Gil away from her? Is that why she did it?”
Sean shoved splayed fingers through his dark hair. “She didn’t want him,” he said in a voice so low that Kate could barely hear it. “She brought him to my office that afternoon and left him with my assistant—along with a note saying she was going to meet her lover in Brisbane. They were planning to be married once the divorce went through, according to her.”
Kate closed her eyes. As painful as any reminder of Abby was to her, it was a tremendous relief to know that her sister hadn’t died on purpose. “Why didn’t you tell us that before? My parents and I have always thought she killed herself.”
“No one seemed very interested in anything I had to say at the time,” Sean answered.
It was true. Everyone had been so caught up in their own feelings and conclusions about Abby’s death that very few questions were asked. “I’m sorry, Sean,” Kate said softly.
Sean had evidently spotted their destination. He began guiding the small plane downward, and the conversation was clearly over.
*
The campsite was in the shelter of a grassy canyon, where a small, spring-fed lake was hidden away. Since they had landed a mile off, by Kate’s calculations, she and Sean had to carry their supplies a considerable distance.
When several trips had been made, and Sean was satisfied that they had everything they needed, he set about putting up the tent. Kate, exhausted by the treks back and forth between the plane and camp, collapsed onto the ground.
“I wouldn’t do that again if I were you,” Sean commented without looking up from his task. “We get the occasional milk snake ’round here.”
Kate shot back to her feet and looked frantically around. When there was no sign of a snake, she sat down again. “Next you’re going to tell me there are crocodiles in the water,” she said, gesturing toward the lake.
Sean’s white teeth showed in a grin. “Just don’t expect me to wrestle one for you, love.”
Kate sniffed. “You mean, you wouldn’t even try to save me?” she asked, insulted.
“I’d say it would be the croc who needed saving,” he replied, going on with his work. He tossed his head, as if to shake away some dreadful image. “Poor devil,” he added.
“What kind of Australian are you?” Kate grinned, folding her arms across her chest.
“The kind who can manage the likes of you,” Sean responded, finishing with the tent and dusting his hands together at a job well done. “Come on,” he said, taking up a tackle box and two fishing poles. “Let’s go catch our supper.”
“Supper?” Kate echoed. “We haven’t even had lunch.”
Sean dropped the fishing poles and the tackle box and came toward her, grinning. “Lunch, is it?” he teased. “Now there’s an idea I can warm up to. Come here, Katie-did, and give me lunch.”
Kate’s cheeks were hot, and she retreated a step, unconsciously holding the buttoned front of her shirt together with one hand. She wanted Sean as much as he wanted her—but she wanted him later, in the privacy of the tent. “I think we should go fishing after all,” she said formally.
Sean was still advancing. Then, suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. A look of absolute horror contorted his features, and he yelled, “Look out!”
Kate sprang into his arms, her heart hammering against her breastbone, only to find that he was laughing. A wild turn of her head showed her that there was nothing behind her. “Bastard,” she said, doubling up her fists and slamming them against Sean’s chest.
He caught her by the waistband of her jeans, opening the snap with a motion of his thumb. A slight pull made the zipper come undone. “You were awake all night, wanting me,” he said in a low, hoarse voice.
It was true, and Kate couldn’t deny it, much as she wanted to. “How do you know?” she threw out lamely.
Sean’s hand slid up under her shirt, over her rib cage to the rounded underside of her breast. “It was a wild guess,” he replied, and a grin spread across his tanned face as Kate flinched at the passing of a fingertip over her nipple.
“S-someone might see us,” Kate managed. As much as she longed for and needed this man, something deep inside her always wanted to erect a barrier. She needed a place to hide.
“Only the ’roos and the snakes,” Sean answered with an easy shrug. He was unbuttoning Kate’s shirt now, and there was nothing she could do to stop him. Her hands hung uselessly at her sides.
“We c-could go inside the tent,” she suggested.
Sean shook his head. “I want to have you in the bright light of day, Katie-did,” he answered.
A tremor went through Kate as he slid her flannel shirt off over her shoulders and arms and tossed it onto the grass. Her full breasts swelled against the scanty cloth of her undershirt, straining to be free.
He squatted to untie and remove her boots, then peeled away her stockings. The feel of his hands on her bare feet was so unexpectedly erotic that she shivered. He claimed her jeans and panties next, leaving the undershirt for last. After he’d pulled it ever so slowly over her head, Kate stood naked before him.
She felt no more shame than Eve had before the fall from grace.
“My God, you’re beautiful,” Sean whispered, his hands resting lightly, almost reverently, on the curves of Kate’s hips.
Kate reached back to undo her French braid, delighted by the catch in Sean’s breathing as her bare breasts rose. Then she shook her head until her hair lay about her shoulders. In those moments it was easy to believe that she was the only woman on earth, and Sean the only man.
He took off his hat first, tossing it into the grass. Then he removed his shirt. Goose bumps appeared on his skin as the cool breeze touched him, but Kate doubted that he felt the cold any more than she did.
She steppe
d forward to unfasten his belt and open his jeans. Sean groaned and let his head fall back when she clasped him boldly in one hand, taking his measure with long, gliding strokes of her palm.
He dug his fingers into her bare shoulders as he dragged her close and propelled her into a hard, elemental kiss. When it was over, Kate ached to possess and be possessed. Her body had long since made itself ready for Sean.
“I need you so much,” she whispered. “Please don’t make me wait this time.”
Sean uttered a hoarse chuckle. “I don’t think I could manage that,” he admitted. Then, in a motion that dated back to Adam, he clasped Kate by the waist and lifted her to the top of his shaft.
She drew in her breath as she felt him nudging the portal of her womanhood, and it came out as a ragged rendering of his name.
He lowered her slowly, begrudging every fraction of an inch she gained, making her pay for it with pleas and promises. By the time she’d taken all of him, she was delirious with need.
Kate shivered as he unsheathed himself rapidly, then began the sweet process of entering her again. “Oh, Sean,” she whispered, “please.”
But he stopped and tilted her back, only partly joined with him, so that he could take one of her nipples into his mouth. A jolt of pleasure went through Kate at this new contact, and she thrust herself down upon him in response, taking matters into her own hands.
Sean groaned and lifted her again, slowly, slowly, all the while feeding greedily at her breast.
She wrapped one arm around his neck and entangled her free hand in his hair, whispering his name over and over again as a litany and a plea.
Finally Sean reached the limits of his control. He dropped to his knees in the grass without ever breaking contact with Kate, and allowed her her freedom. She began to rise and fall and writhe upon him, her body taking over her entire being while her mind spun in another universe.
When Kate cried out in unbearable pleasure, Sean thrust her bountiful breasts together with his hands and ran his tongue back and forth across the nipples. Kate gave cry after primitive cry while her body bucked spasmodically in release.
She was still in a daze when Sean’s moment came. He stiffened violently beneath her and then thrust his hips upward, spilling himself into her.
She prayed silently that he had given her a child, so that she would have something left of him when the inevitable happened and they parted. All her dreams and fears entangled with one another and Kate dropped her head to Sean’s bare shoulder and sobbed.
He was still breathing too hard to speak, but his hands roved soothingly over the naked skin of her back and buttocks, and his lips moved against her temple. “What is it, sheila?” he asked softly when he could speak. His hand was under Kate’s chin then, and he was looking deep into her eyes.
Kate couldn’t speak of parting, not when she and Sean were still joined together. She simply couldn’t. She shook her head wildly and pressed her wet cheek against his shoulder. The ghosts of people she’d trusted—Abby, Brad, her father—were all around, taunting her. “Hold me,” she said.
He reached out and found his shirt, which he draped gently over Kate’s trembling shoulders, and then he put his arms around her. “I love you,” he told her.
For a moment Kate couldn’t believe she’d heard the words. “What?” she sniffed.
He chuckled, holding her even more tightly. “I said I love you,” he answered.
Kate drew back far enough to search his face and the depths of his green, green eyes. “You do?” she marveled.
Sean sighed in a put-upon way. “That isn’t the customary response to such a declaration, Katie-did,” he pointed out. “Do you love me or not?”
Kate pretended to consider the question. “I love you,” she professed in the tone of one making a sudden decision. Then she couldn’t tease any longer. “I always have,” she added softly.
He kissed her, deeply and thoroughly, and she could feel him stirring inside her. He slipped his hands beneath the shirt and around her rib cage, rising unerringly to her breasts. “Marry me,” he said when the kiss ended.
Kate was dizzy, and she could barely see for the stars in her eyes. “Anytime,” she answered.
Sean opened the shirt and lifted her breasts in both his hands. “I’ll be a demanding husband,” he warned, chafing sensitive nipples with the pads of his thumbs. He was getting harder inside her.
“I’ll be a demanding wife,” Kate answered, giving a small sigh as she began to move upon Sean.
He stopped her movements to prolong the delicious friction. Nibbling at her ear, he said, “I’ll want you often.”
“Good,” Kate breathed, writhing slightly.
Sean groaned at the sensation this produced, then pressed Kate backward into the grass. The fabric of his shirt protected her from the chill of the ground as he withdrew and then drove into her, and she bent her knees in order to receive him.
Satisfaction came to Kate first, so she had the special pleasure of guiding Sean through his. She ran her hands up and down the smooth flesh of his back and whispered soft, soothing words as he fought against the inevitable and then succumbed.
He fell to Kate when it was over, gasping and exhausted, and still she held him. Presently he rolled onto his side, drawing Kate close as he moved. He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her tightly.
“I hope I’m pregnant,” she said dreamily.
Sean sat bolt upright and stared down at her. “What?” he rasped.
“I said—”
“I know what you said, damn it!” Sean growled. Then he swore roundly, got to his feet and fastened his jeans.
Kate stared up at him, startled and scared. “Sean—”
“I thought you were protected,” he said.
It was like being slapped. “You thought…” She snatched up her clothes and began scrambling back into them. “Damn you, Sean Harris!” she screamed.
He turned away, shoving one hand through his hair. “I won’t be able to bear it if you leave carrying a child,” he said in a voice so low that Kate barely heard him.
Her eyes were hot with tears—tears of relief and confusion and love. She went around to face him, snapping her jeans as she moved, then pulling her undershirt into place. “Sean, I don’t have any plans to leave.”
He looked at her with mingled hope and contempt. “You will, love,” he said. “As soon as your beloved daddy crooks his finger, you’ll be on a plane home.”
Kate had to vent her frustration somehow, so she stomped one foot. “I’ll give you a finger, you officious creep!” she yelled, holding up the pertinent digit.
Sean laughed in spite of himself. “God, but you do need taming, sheila,” he said.
Kate kicked dirt at him with her bare foot. “You go to hell!” she shouted, still furious over his remark about her allegiance to her father. Deep down inside, she was terribly afraid he might be right.
“Come here,” Sean ordered quietly.
“Drop dead,” Kate answered, storming off in the direction of the plane. In that moment she would have given her soul for a pilot’s license.
Not to mention her boots.
Chapter 9
Midway between the campsite and Sean’s plane, Kate stepped on a thistle and began hopping about awkwardly on one foot in a ceremony of pain.
Sean made an affectionately contemptuous sound as he lifted her into his arms to carry her back to the camp. “You’re lucky I don’t believe in spanking,” he said with a philosophical air about him. “If I did, I’d turn you over my knee right now and blister your delectable little rear end.”
Kate glared at him. “Put me down,” she said.
“It’ll hurt if I do,” Sean warned.
The thistle in Kate’s foot was already stinging. “Then don’t,” she conceded grudgingly.
Sean chuckled and set her carefully on a large stone near the tent. Then, squatting down in front of her, he lifted her wounded foot and examined it with a frown. �
�Nasty bit of business, that,” he commented. “Next time you stomp off in a rage, sheila, wear your boots.”
“Don’t patronize me,” Kate hissed, squeezing her eyes shut when she saw that Sean was about to remove the thistle. There was a biting sting and then relief.
Sean set her wounded foot on her knee. “There’s still the iodine,” he said, rummaging around in one of the packs they’d brought.
Kate figured the medicine would hurt worse than the injury, and she was right. Tears burned in her eyes when Sean applied the iodine, and her teeth sank into her lower lip.
Gripping her foot in a gentle grasp, Sean put a Band-Aid over the wound and followed that with a light kiss.
Kate braced herself. “Would it really be so terrible if I had your baby?” she asked.
Sean handed Kate her stockings, then her hiking boots. “It would if you got on a plane and went back to the States,” he answered, looking not at her but at the sparkling waters of the hidden lake. “I won’t have my children living on different continents.”
“You asked me to marry you a little while ago,” Kate reminded him. “Did you mean it?”
Sean got to his feet. The winter sun was at his back, casting a golden aura all around him. “I meant it,” he said. “But there won’t be any babies until we’re sure it’s going to work out.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Kate argued, lacing up one of her boots. “If you don’t think we can make it, why the hell did you bother to propose?”
Sean cupped his hand under her chin and made her look up at his face. “Because I love you, and I need you,” he said forthrightly.
“Well, then,” Kate pressed, standing.
“I felt the same way about Abby,” he answered tightly. Then he took up the fishing poles and the tackle box again, and he walked away.
Kate still didn’t know whether he’d really meant his marriage proposal. It had seemed so, but then he’d made that ominous remark about Abby. She followed him down to the rocky bank of the lake and took one of the fishing poles when he set them down. “I guess you don’t trust me much,” she observed.
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