Gift of Fire

  “What time are you and Dad leaving in the morning?”

  “Five. I’ll get up around four-fifteen. All I have to do is throw a few things in my duffel bag. Won’t be needing much. We won’t be gone more than a few days.” He tried to subtly emphasize the last words.

  “I suppose one of the things you’ll be tossing into your bag is that damn knife you carry?” she asked with a hint of renewed aggression.

  “Honey, I’ve been traveling with that knife for so long I’d feel naked without it. Don’t worry. It’s just a precaution. I don’t plan on using it.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she said quietly. “You and Dad aren’t planning on just handling the ransom drop, are you? You’re going to try to rescue Samuel Lehigh.”

  Jonas’s mouth tightened. He slung the shirt over one shoulder and studied her for a moment. “It’s just a ransom swap, Verity. No reason to think the guys holding Lehigh want anything except the cash. It’s just a business deal.”

  “Sure.”

  Jonas shrugged impatiently. “Lehigh’s a good friend of your father’s. Do you really expect Emerson to do nothing?”

  “Nope.” Verity sipped her tea.

  “And do you expect me to stay here while Emerson goes down to Mexico alone to handle the payoff?”

  “Nope.” Verity put her mug of tea on the counter. She turned away from him for a moment as she did so. When she turned back, she was smiling.

  It wasn’t her brilliant, melt-’em-in-their-shoes smile, Jonas thought, but at least it was a smile. It was a small, oddly gentle smile, filled with far too much wise, superior feminine understanding for his taste.

  He’d caught traces of this particular smile on her soft mouth a couple of times during the past week, and it was beginning to make him uneasy. It was as if Verity knew something he didn’t know.

  He dropped his shirt across the back of a nearby chair and moved toward her. When he held out his arms, she walked into them and wrapped her arms around his waist. He buried his lips in her hair as she leaned her head against his bare chest.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can, little tyrant,” he vowed. Her sweet scent relaxed something inside him that had been wound too tightly for the past few hours. Everything was going to be all right, he told himself. Verity would be waiting when he returned. She was a home-loving woman.

  “You’d better get to bed early tonight,” she said softly, ignoring his last comment. “You’ll need the sleep.”

  “That’s the best idea you’ve had all day.” He picked her up and started down the short hall to the bedroom. Through the fabric of her nightgown and robe he could feel the sleek muscles of her thighs. His body stirred eagerly, the familiar, powerful hunger beginning to seize him.

  By the time he got her into the bedroom and slipped off her robe, Verity’s strange little smile had reached her eyes.

  She climbed into bed and leaned back against the pillows, watching as he unzipped his jeans.

  “You know something? This is beginning to have a familiar feel,” Jonas said suddenly as he finished undressing and crawled into bed beside her. He was aroused and ready.

  “What is?”

  “Going to bed with you every night. It’s getting to feel sort of comfortable and natural.” He reached for her and felt the slight stiffening of her body.

  “Maybe it feels a little too familiar,” she suggested, not meeting his eyes. Her fingertips toyed with the curly hair on his chest.

  Jonas tensed. “What the hell does that mean?”

  Verity shrugged. “Nothing. I just thought you might be getting a little bored with life in Sequence Springs. This isn’t exactly an exciting place.”

  He relaxed and began to nuzzle her throat. “It’s exciting enough for me.”

  When she moved against him he trapped one of her legs between his own, chaining her gently so that he could lift off her flannel nightgown. As she lay there naked he ran one hand down the length of her body, luxuriating in the feel of her gentle curves. She was so soft and sweet and warm. He palmed her breast and felt the instant tautening of her nipple. When he heard her faint intake of breath, he groaned and bent his head to capture her mouth.

  Her hand trailed down his hip to tease the inside of his thigh, then she took his hard manhood into her palm. She could drive him over the edge with just her touch. She knew exactly how to stroke him, sensed precisely how to cradle the throbbing fullness until he was on fire for her. When she squeezed gently, it was his turn to suck in his breath.

  “Jesus, honey, that feels so good,” he said huskily. “You’ve got the magic touch.”

  “Thanks to you,” she murmured demurely. “Everything I know I’ve learned from you.”

  “Remember that,” he retorted as a wave of possessiveness surged through him. “This won’t work with anybody else.

  “Is that right? I thought all men were pretty much the same in the dark.”

  “A vicious myth. Totally untrue!” Deliberately he parted her legs with his hands, seeking the hot, damp core of her body. “Verity, I’m not joking. What you and I have is special and you know it. Why else would you have avoided getting involved with any other man until I came along?”

  He sensed her smile in the darkness. “You’ve made it clear on many occasions that the only reason I was still single when you showed up was that no other man was willing to put up with my sharp tongue and my temper.”

  Jonas grinned. “Well, those were contributing factors, I’ll admit. But the main reason you were still alone was that you were waiting for me. You didn’t know it, but that’s what it was. Fortunately for you, I didn’t let the thorns get in my way when I decided to go after the rose.”

  “Jonas, your arrogance is showing.”

  “A man should take pride in his accomplishments. Taming a shrew is a hell of an achievement. Very few men around these days are even capable of it. It’s a lost art.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Uh-huh.” He prowled slowly down her body, inhaling her intoxicating scent as he drew closer and closer to his goal. He settled himself between her thighs, lifting her legs over his shoulders. He parted her gently with his fingers and lowered his head.

  “Jonas.”

  Her short, neat nails dug into his shoulders as he tasted her rich, hot flavor. He could hear her small gasps of pleasure and gloried in the way she responded to him.

  It always sent a primitive thrill through him to know that he could turn Verity from a prim, disapproving, aggressively independent little tyrant into a passionate, seductive sorceress who craved him and him alone. He would never get enough of this kind of reaction, Jonas thought as she shivered in his arms. Verity had a way of making him shatteringly aware of his manhood. He was addicted to the sensation.

  Deliberately he deepened the intimate kiss, reveling in her earthy, feminine taste and scent. Verity’s nails raked his skin. She would leave her mark on him tonight and he was determined to leave his on her.

  It was all he could do to hold himself in check as he listened to her husky cries of delight. He sent his tongue on passionate forays until she was a shuttering, writhing bundle of femininity.

  Then he could wait no longer. When he felt her body begin to tighten, he surged up along the length of her. She reached for him, pulling him close and wrapping her legs around his waist. He found her mouth and let her taste herself on his lips. The erotic kiss drove him wild.

  “Hold me.” His voice was hoarse with passion. “Hold on to me, Verity.” His demand was very much like the one he made on her when he unleashed the psychic power that allowed him dangerous glimpses into the past. He needed her when the past came up around him, and he needed her when he was in the grip of his own raging desire.

  “Yes, Jonas, oh yes.”

  He pushed slowly, heavily into her, needing to feel the silken walls of her so
ft passage close around him. As always he was aware of the slight resistance with which her body greeted him. She was small, and tight, and so warm. Then, under his insistent, filling pressure, the hot, moist sheath began to accommodate him. He buried himself deep inside until he lost himself in her clinging heat.

  Together they lost themselves in the rippling, clashing currents of desire. When Jonas felt Verity convulse around him and heard the tiny, unmistakable cries that signaled her release, he gave himself over completely to the surging sea.

  His own climax followed soon after hers. A hoarse shout of triumph and satisfaction shook him. Then he collapsed, his head on her breast. His chest was damp, as traces of his perspiration mixed with hers. He savored the last, fading tremors deep within her body. He was still inside her, and the effect was similar to an exquisitely gentle massage on the most sensitive part of his body.

  He knew from previous experience that if he stayed where he was, he would get hard again. If he wanted any sleep tonight, he’d better stop now.

  “I love you, Verity.” The words were raw.

  “I love you, too,” she whispered.

  He waited a long moment, enjoying the sweet, lingering aftermath of their lovemaking. Then he withdrew reluctantly and rolled to the side. He settled her within the curve of his arm and told himself that everything really was going to be all right now.

  Jonas was on the edge of sleep, his mind relaxed and his soul at peace, when Verity spoke again.

  “I think,” she said quite clearly in the darkness, “that I need a vacation. Maybe I’ll take one while you and Dad are in Mexico.”

  Jonas’s peace vanished in an instant. Rage roared through him. It was the kind of fury that had its roots in a very primitive fear, a fear that had been nibbling at him for the past couple of weeks, a fear he had refused to acknowledge.

  It was the fear that Verity might be growing dissatisfied with her live-in lover.

  Chapter Two

  “Vacation!” Jonas jackknifed upright in bed. “What the hell do you mean?”

  Verity lay back on the pillows, staring thoughtfully up into the darkness. Jonas’s violent reaction had startled her. “I think I need one. You’ve told me yourself that I’m working too hard,” she pointed out reasonably. “Well, now is a perfect time to slow down for a while. It’s the middle of winter. Business is slow. There’s just a handful of tourists and a few people from the spa at the cafe in the evenings. Nobody’s going to mind if I close up for a week. Hawaii would be perfect this time of year.”

  “You think nobody’s going to mind if you take off by yourself for a week of sun and fun in the islands?” Jonas was outraged. He loomed over Verity, caging her face between his hands. “I’ve got news for you. I’ll mind. A lot. If you think I’m going to let you go off by yourself to wiggle around in a bikini in front of a flock of beachboys for a week, you can think again.”

  Verity began to feel annoyed. “It’s okay for you to fly off to Mexico for a week of sun and fun, but I don’t have the same right, is that it?”

  “Christ almighty.” Jonas’s voice was raw with exasperation. “You know damn well I’m not going to Mexico for fun and games. Don’t you dare try to pretend it’s a vacation.”

  “I could fly down with you. Maybe wait for you and Dad in Acapulco,” she suggested, considering the possibilities.

  “Not a chance. I don’t want you anywhere near Mexico. How do you expect me to keep my mind on business if I’m wondering what you’re up to in Acapulco? Forget it, Verity. You’re going to stay right here, where I don’t have to worry about you. If you’re serious about a vacation, we’ll take one when I get back. You can spend this week thinking about a place for us to go. Make the plans.”

  “How can I make plans for a trip when I don’t know when you and Dad will return?”

  “We’ll probably be back within a week. How long can it take to arrange a ransom payoff? Ten days at the outside. Make the plans for two weeks from today. That should be safe enough. Or make them for next month. Hell, use some common sense.” Jonas spoke with clenched teeth, clearly working hard to hang on to his temper.

  Verity put her arms around his neck and felt the tension there and in the muscles of his broad shoulders. “You’ll be very careful in Mexico, won’t you?”

  “I’m always careful. Verity, about this stupid idea of a vacation. I don’t want you going anywhere until I get back. Do you hear me?”

  “I hear you.” She tugged gently at his neck, aware of his resistance. She tried a seductive smile. “I’m going to miss you, Jonas.”

  He hesitated a moment and then slowly relaxed, lowering himself alongside her. He gathered her into his arms. “I’m going to miss you, too, little tyrant. You behave yourself while I’m gone.”

  “Take care of yourself, Jonas. Take care of Dad, too. He’s not as young as he once was.”

  “Your old man can still whip most guys half his age. Whatever Emerson is losing to the years, he’s more than making up for with an increasingly devious mind.” He bent down and brushed her lips with his. “But don’t worry about him, honey. I’ll keep an eye on him for you.”

  “Keep an eye on yourself, too. Good dishwashers are hard to find.”

  “Always nice to be appreciated. Just don’t start interviewing any replacements for my job while I’m gone.”

  “Yes, Jonas.” She slid her hands down to his firm, muscular buttocks and squeezed.

  “You’re insatiable.” He kissed her breast, his tongue warm and damp.

  “Lucky for me you always rise to the occasion.”

  “Luck has nothing to do with it.” He slid one knee between her legs. “The hell with it,” he muttered against her throat. “I can sleep on the plane.”

  Emerson glanced out the window of the Jeep and waved at his daughter standing in the doorway of the No Bull Cafe. Verity waved back and blew a kiss.

  “Looks like you did a good job of sweet-talking her last night,” Emerson remarked. “Verity seemed downright cheerful this morning. I expected a lot of last-minute lectures on the subject of brainless male machismo.”

  Jonas turned the Jeep onto the road leading out of Sequence Springs. It was still dark, and the sleepy little town slumbered peacefully beside the lake. “Things weren’t so cheerful for a while there last night. You should have heard her, Emerson. She started talking about taking a vacation. A vacation all by herself. Can you beat that? Something about going to Hawaii while we’re in Mexico. If she hadn’t left claw marks in my leg the last time I tried it, I would have turned her over my knee and paddled some sense into her. She was planning to take off for the islands the minute my back was turned.”

  Emerson’s lips twitched briefly. He studied the road ahead with a thoughtful expression. “You talk her out of it?”

  “Damn right. Told her that if she really wanted to go on vacation, we’d go when I got back from Mexico. She can spend the next week planning the trip. It’ll give her something constructive to do.”

  “I think she needs a vacation,” Emerson remarked slowly. “There’s something different about Verity lately. You noticed?”

  Jonas was silent for a long moment. “I’ve noticed,” he said finally. He would have given a great deal to know exactly what was going on in her feminine brain. More than once he’d caught her in a strange mood of self-absorption, as if she was looking inward and thinking about making some changes in her life.

  The thought filled Jonas with a strong feeling of uneasiness, and an even stronger feeling of possessiveness. His hands tightened around the steering wheel. If Verity was thinking of changing lovers, she could damn well forget it. She had waited twenty-eight years for him—twenty-eight years for her first sexual experience. And she had taken to his lovemaking like a dolphin to water. Jonas didn’t like the thought that she might be wondering now if she’d waited for the wrong man.

&
nbsp; “You sure you talked her out of going off alone to Hawaii?” Emerson asked.

  Jonas set his jaw, remembering belatedly that Verity had changed the subject last night, without giving him any promises. “She wouldn’t dare. She knows there’d be hell to pay.”

  “Ah, the comforts of ‘brainless male machismo.’ No wonder we men cultivate it so carefully. Gives us a nice, pleasant, totally false sense of security when we need it most.” Emerson laughed wryly.

  Jonas took a hand off the wheel long enough to touch the golden earring he carried in his pocket. The earring belonged to Verity. He had carried it with him since the night he’d found it in a dirty Mexican alley. “Some of us get our sense of security from other things.” The gentle vibrations from the gold soothed some of the uneasiness in his mind.

  “Well, since there’s not much we can do about my daughter, I guess maybe we ought to talk about the plans for springing Lehigh.”

  “Plans?” Jonas shot his companion a quick, amused glance. “You mean you’ve actually got some?”

  “Hey, I make a living at writing fiction, don’t I? Of course I’ve got plans. Besides, you know damn well we can’t just drop off the cash and expect to see Lehigh again in one piece. We’ll have to go in and bring him out.”

  “Let’s have it, Emerson. What’s involved?”

  “You and your trusty knife are involved, among other things. Fortunately for us, my boy, you’re a man of many talents.”

  Four days later, Verity spent the morning at the office of the one and only travel agent in Sequence Springs. That evening, the crowd at the No Bull Cafe was so light she closed earlier than usual, and trekked up the path to the pool room of the Sequence Springs Spa Resort. A stack of travel brochures was tucked under her arm.

  The European-style spa room was almost empty. Gleaming white and blue tile shone under the bright lights, and the spa pools bubbled invitingly. Verity undressed and slid naked into her favorite pool, a hot bath that smelled strongly of therapeutic minerals. Stacking the brochures on the tile rim beside her, she leaned back in the soothing water and began to study pictures of sun-kissed shores and tropical seas.