“We are all alone.”
He didn’t touch her but she could feel his intent gaze as he examined her in the moonlight. The simple yellow bikini she had put on was not especially daring as such garments went, but Hannah felt quite naked in it now. The sensation made her uneasy. It also caused a ripple of anticipation. She set her cane down on the sand beside his towel and turned to glance at Gideon over her shoulder.
“What are you waiting for?”
“I don’t know, but I sure as hell have waited a long time.” He took her arm as she limped into the water.
“It’s so warm,” Hannah breathed.
“Almost as warm as you.”
“Gideon…”
“Hush, Hannah. Let’s swim.” He tugged her gently down beside him on the far side of the lightly breaking waves.
The cove in which they swam was protected from the sea by a curving arm of tumbled rocks that reached almost half way around the sheltered water. The sea was gentle and silken and Hannah was weightless. For the first time since she had injured her leg, she felt graceful and mobile again. Here in the sea her weak knee was not the handicap it was on land. The pleasure of feeling strong once more made her laugh softly.
Beside her Gideon caught the laughter and smiled. He stroked slowly, luxuriously, leading the way. Hannah followed unquestioningly, feeling safe in this alien sea because of Gideon’s presence. She was a fair swimmer but Gideon moved beside her like a sleek dolphin, playing in the liquid medium, slowing his pace to hers.
“Feels good?” he asked.
“It feels fantastic.”
He touched her then, his big hand gliding across her slick shoulder. He wasn’t trying to stop her or guide her or slow her movement. He simply touched her.
Hannah trembled and covered her reaction with a small burst of speed that carried her just beyond his reach. But when she glanced to her side he was there. He moved without noise or commotion in the water. For some reason she veered away again, and again she lifted her head to find him at her side. Once more she darted off, acknowledging now the rising excitement that was beginning to build as she found herself playing the age-old game.
This time Gideon reappeared to her right, staying a little behind her. Hannah felt his hand on the calf of her leg, the lightest of caresses, as if he merely wanted to ensure that she knew he was there. She was aware of him, all right. She knew that regardless of how long she played the game, regardless of how often she slipped out of reach, whenever she turned around she would find him beside her. It was inevitable. The flickering excitement filled her with a curious tension.
Hannah came to a halt, finding her footing on the sandy bottom. The warm sea foamed around her breasts. Gideon sliced through the water until he was in front of her and then he, too, stood. His eyes were dark with unmistakable desire, and the too-brilliant moon etched the hard angles of his face, revealing the masculine power that animated him.
“I’ve wanted you since that first afternoon in Vegas.” The words were harsh, unvarnished truth.
She looked up at him, eyes wide in the silver light. “My brother said he was glad I’d had the sense not to go to bed with you.”
“I wouldn’t have taken you to bed as long as the business with your brother’s company was in the way.”
Hannah tilted her head to one side. “The Code of the West?”
“No. My code.”
“My brother’s business is no longer in the way?”
“It’s over and done.”
“For you,” she said. “Not for him.”
“If he’s got the guts and the motivation, he’ll survive. I taught him a lesson but I didn’t destroy him.”
“You could have destroyed him.”
“There was no need.”
She inhaled deeply. “You’re so accustomed to power, so used to wielding it. You’ve even set up your own ethical standards, haven’t you? You don’t operate according to the standards of others.”
“Is that so bad?”
“It makes you dangerous.”
“Not to you.” He lifted his hand and drew his forefinger along the line of her jaw. “Never to you.”
“Why should I be an exception?”
“Because you understand me.”
“Understanding doesn’t buy safety,” Hannah whispered. “Just a little advance warning of disaster.”
His mouth curved slightly. “Do you feel you’re standing in the path of disaster?”
“No,” she said honestly, “but that’s probably because I’m not thinking logically tonight. I haven’t been able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together yet.”
“Do you see me as a puzzle?”
“Yes.”
He let his hand slide down to the curve of her shoulder. “Come to bed with me, Hannah.”
“Because you want me?”
“Because I need you.” His other hand closed on her shoulder and he pulled her to him.
Hannah felt the strength in him, but her body responded to it positively, glorying in it. The anticipation she had been feeling flared into a blaze of longing. When his mouth came down on hers she parted her lips.
Gideon groaned, the sound emanating from deep in his chest. His kiss was aggressive, not tentative; hungry, not seductive. He made no attempt to camouflage his desire, but the truly fascinating thing was that he made no effort to hide his raw need, either.
Perhaps that was one of the advantages of understanding and wielding Gideon’s kind of personal power, Hannah thought fleetingly. Perhaps it gave him the freedom to exercise a kind of honesty other men wouldn’t be willing to risk. Still, it astonished her. She hadn’t expected him to make his need so clear. She had expected more finesse, more artful seduction, more deliberate sensuality.
His hands were gliding along her skin, down her back, compelling her closer to the fiercely masculine outline of his body. Through the thin fabric of his swimming briefs Hannah could feel the rigid length of him and the heavy weight there made her suck in her breath.
She tried to remind herself that there was another explanation for his bluntly honest approach tonight. Gideon could manipulate people so easily. It was very possible he had found the key to manipulating her without Hannah even realizing it. She would not have responded to a deliberate, teasing seduction. She would have been wary of any protestations of love at first sight. There were a hundred different approaches he could have used that would have set up her defenses.
But Gideon had claimed he needed her. He was making her believe that claim with every touch of his hand, every word he uttered. In her own mind she could find no explanation for his following her first to Seattle and now to Santa Inez. No explanation, that is, except the one he had given her. He needed her.
If Gideon were manipulating her with his need, he was too clever for her tonight, Hannah decided. Because she wanted, no needed him, too.
“Neutral territory,” she murmured against his mouth.
“Our territory.”
“Yes.” And this time she meant yes to everything.
He must have sensed the surrender in her. Hannah felt his body tighten with restrained desire, heard the deep in-take of his breath and then her bikini bra was free, dangling in his hand. Looping the strap over his wrist Gideon looked down at her breasts.
“You’re very soft, my sweet Hannah.” He flattened his hands on her shoulders and stroked slowly down her curves until her nipples were pressing into his palms. The sea frothed around his fingers, concealing and then revealing the shape of her breasts.
Hannah stretched her arms upward, circling his neck and lifted her face once more for his kiss. When his tongue surged eagerly into her mouth she felt him shifting position. The next thing she knew she was high in his arms, being carried back toward shore.
The night air was pleasantly cool on her wet body. Hannah clung to Gideon, the side of her breast teased and tantalized by the rough, curling hair of his chest.
He brought her through the surf
and up onto the moonlit beach. Then Hannah felt herself being lowered to the towel. Already her skin was drying. Her breasts were tight and full and the need to be touched more intimately made her restless. She shifted her legs as Gideon came down beside her on the towel, one knee lifting a little in response to the tingling heat between her thighs.
“Gideon, I want you.”
“I know,” he said gently, the satisfaction deep in his voice. “I can feel it.” He dropped the bikini bra and stroked his hand down her stomach to the edge of her suit. Then he inserted his fingers beneath the elastic and stripped the remainder of the bikini off her completely. When she curled toward him, he held her close for a long moment.
He rolled aside and pulled off his own swimming briefs. Hannah caught the gleam of pale light on his flanks, saw the tautness of his stomach. His arousal was blatant, fiercely demanding.
“I’ve wanted to touch you for days.” He pulled her close again, his fingers gliding along her thigh, kneading, squeezing, stroking.
She curved her nails into the smooth muscles of his chest. “Please touch me, Gideon. I need it tonight. I’ve never needed anything so much in my life.”
Hannah’s eyes closed as he obeyed. The trailing, blunt tips of his fingers moved to the inside of her thighs.
“Open for me, sweetheart.”
She did, a tiny moan accompanying the action. And then he was probing the hidden folds of sensitive skin, seeking the nubbin that was the center of feminine sensation. She gasped when he found it, clinging to him as her body flamed into full awareness.
“So hot, so wet and hot.” His touch increased the damp warmth until Hannah thought she would go out of her mind under the sensual stimulation.
He became more insistent as he sensed her response. Without any warning his fingers moved lower. Hannah’s own fingertips reacted to the intimate invasion. She clenched them, unconsciously letting her nails sink into Gideon’s chest. With a sensual aggression that surprised her more than it did Gideon, she crowded forward, urging him onto his back.
Hannah could see the devil looking out at her from behind his lashes, a devil who was thoroughly enjoying himself.
“Gideon, please, don’t laugh.”
“How can I help it? You make me very happy, sweet Hannah.” His hand continued to move intimately, teasing her into an exquisite sensitivity.
“And you’re driving me out of my mind,” she complained softly.
“I think I like you like this.”
She arched her lower body against him. Then she reached down to cup him between gentle fingers.
“Ah, Hannah. Now you’re going to push me over the edge.” The devil in his eyes was no longer laughing. His mood had gone suddenly, wholly intense.
“Yes.” Hannah pleaded with her body. “Yes, please, now, Gideon.”
He tautened beneath her. The night sky spun overhead as Hannah found herself flat on her back. Before her whirling senses could reorient themselves Gideon was sliding heavily between her thighs. He cradled her with one hand, using the other to guide himself.
Hannah parted her lips on a silent cry of acceptance, wonder, and welcome as Gideon surged into her. The shock of his possession went through her entire body. She felt drawn too tight, filled too full, overwhelmed. Gideon went still for a tense moment, his face a mask of violent, barely controlled desire. With trembling fingers he stroked her hair, giving her a chance to adjust to him. Slowly she relaxed around him.
“All right?” he asked.
“Perfect.”
He bent his head to kiss her shoulder. “This is what I’ve been needing. I’ve needed the feel of you in my arms, surrounding me, holding on to me. God, how I’ve needed it.”
She clutched him, wrapping her legs around his muscled thighs. Hannah closed her eyes against the power of the moment. And then she gave herself up to it and the man who held her.
“Gideon, it’s never been like this.”
“I know, sweetheart. I know.” Slowly he began to move again, thrusting deeply then withdrawing almost completely. Long, slow, heavy thrusts that stoked a new kind of fire.
The relentless momentum was forcing Hannah toward an unraveling infinity that promised a release she had never experienced. She followed the glittering promise of it, reaching for it with increasing eagerness until she was demanding it with all her strength.
“Take it, Hannah. Take it. It’s all yours.”
Hannah caught her breath as the spiraling tension broke without any warning, leaving her to toss about in a net of small shocks. Her soft cries echoed in Gideon’s ears as she clung to him and her nails left the evidence of her need on his broad shoulders. She felt him shudder and then he, too, was crying out, a hoarse, masculine shout of satisfaction that thrilled her.
A moment later Hannah went limp beneath Gideon’s weight. Remembered wonder and pleasure lingered in her eyes as she lifted her lashes. A small, private smile touched her mouth.
Gideon reluctantly rolled to one side, bracing himself on his elbow. He lifted a finger to touch the edge of her lips. “Now you’re the one who’s laughing.”
“I know. It was just that it was such a surprise. I mean, by the time a woman reaches my age, she’s aware she’s missed something along the line but it’s hard to know exactly what until it happens.”
Gideon’s shoulders blocked the moon as he loomed over her. “Are you trying to tell me in your own delicate fashion that you’ve never had an orgasm?”
“I wouldn’t dare say that. It’s unthinkable in this modern day and age for a woman to admit it. Furthermore, saying it would do unmentionable things to your ego.”
“It’s too late.” He kissed the tip of her breast. “You’ve already told me.”
“And your ego?”
“Is approximately twice the size it was half an hour ago,” he assured her.
“I was afraid of that.”
“If I play my cards right,” he said, “I can go on from here to convince you that I’m the best thing that ever happened to you.”
“It’s not your card playing ability that interests me.” Hannah drew a circle through the hair on his chest. She smiled.
Gideon groaned. “The trouble with aggressive women…”
“Yes?”
“Is that they’re very exciting.” He got to his feet and reached down to lift her up beside him. “But I think I’ve had enough of the great outdoors tonight. We’ll spend the rest of the evening in bed.”
They did. In Elizabeth Nord’s wide, elaborately worked rattan bed to be exact. Before the night was over Hannah had deepened her knowledge of her own unique, very feminine power. It seemed strange to her that it had required this particular man to teach her about this aspect of herself. She wondered if he had learned anything from her. Her last thought before finally slipping into sleep in Gideon’s arms was he had definitely been right.
Going to bed with Gideon Cage had been important.
Perhaps it was the most important thing she had ever done in her life. But her own words of warning, spoken while the sea cradled her during the first stages of desire, came back to haunt Hannah, too. Understanding a man didn’t buy safety for a woman.
GIDEON CAME AWAKE with the first light of the sun. He stretched fully, enjoying the feel of Hannah’s leg trapped under his. Experimentally he moved his foot. When she didn’t wake he decided to be noble. Carefully he slid out of bed and stood for a moment, looking down at her.
She was all soft, sleeping woman lying there in the shaft of yellow light. Her tawny hair was a riot of frothy little curls on the pillow, tousled from sleep and the uninhibited love-making. The sheet had slipped, revealing the rosy tip of one breast. Gideon remembered the feel of the nipple as it had tautened more than once under his tongue. The gentle curve of her back made him want to stroke her again, from the delicate nape of her neck to the lush roundness of her bottom.
She wasn’t just a soft, sleeping woman this morning, Gideon realized. She was his woman. He cou
ld feel the possessiveness flow with the blood in his veins. Half of him was almost amused at the intensity of the feeling. The other half, the primitive, not quite civilized half, took the sensation very seriously.
Gideon turned away as his body began stirring in response to his memories. If he didn’t find another way to work off this excessive morning energy he would find himself crawling back into bed with Hannah. And then he would most definitely wind up waking her. Which was hardly fair, he told himself. After all, he was the one who had exhausted her so thoroughly in the first place.
That thought converted itself into a small grin as he padded, naked, out onto the veranda. His mood called for a swim. The sea beckoned with a lure that was far more powerful than any swimming pool.
As soon as he was in the water Gideon realized just why the sea was so right. It reminded him of how Hannah had felt in his arms. Silken, liquid warmth that enveloped a man. But, unlike the sea, Hannah gave herself completely, honestly, delighting in the exchange of passion. Her pleasure in her discoveries about herself had fed his own joyous excitement. Knowing he had pleased Hannah was satisfaction enough for this first day in paradise. Hugh Ballantine and Cage & Associates seemed very far away. Nothing like being alone with his woman on a tropical isle to give a man a different perspective on life.
God, he felt great this morning. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this good. Hannah definitely was in the salvation business, even if she had been under the impression that her talent was limited to giving advice. Gideon laughed aloud and then arced deeply beneath the waves.
IN THE WIDE RATTAN BED Hannah came awake with a sense of anticipation somehow mixed with wariness. Eyes closed, she used her bare toe to investigate her immediate surroundings. When she realized that the bed was empty she sat up, blinking. Gideon was already up and gone. Swimming, no doubt. How could he resist the world’s largest swimming pool at his front door?