Aboard the Wishing Star (16 page)

They headed to the main stage show. Nate slid into the seat next to her and closed his hand over hers, turning it over. His finger caressed her palm in slow circles and she remained motionless, a warming shiver moving through her.

Breathe. Remember to breathe.

Her skin tingled as he touched her, and the urgent hum built. She glanced at his profile as he watched the show. The beginning of a smile tipped the corners of his mouth. He turned toward her and amusement flickered in his eyes.

"You're going to miss the show," he said in a light, teasing way as his finger continued making a circular pattern.

Kara blushed at her own excitement, glad the semidarkness hid the flush in her cheeks. She turned back to watch the show and tried to ignore the strange ache in her heart. The ache made her want to capture each moment and hold it, along with the knowledge they had so little time. Every moment was precious.

Through the entire show, she half-watched half-dreamed of what his touch could do, was doing. The anticipation of what would happen later hovered in her mind.

The show ended, Nate released her hand, and she tried to get her breath under control.

What is it about him that sends my senses spinning?
The slightest touch and she wanted to fall into his arms.

They moved through the crowd and toward the exit, Nate placing his fingertips against the small of her back. Warmth spread through her body like an explosive current.

"I've got you, yellow bird." His breath ruffled her hair. The crowd pushed closer. His hands settled around her waist, guiding her in front of him, pulling her back out of the way of a large, drunk man who stumbled in front of her.

Kara felt treasured. If only she'd relax and stop thinking, but they only had two more days together.

When they reached the poolside deck again, waiters handed out brightly colored leis. Nate draped a red lei over her head before slipping on his own. Couples danced on the deck in front of the band, and Nate pulled her to the front of the stage.

"Wait here, sweetheart," he said.

"All right," she replied, puzzled he'd lead her to the dance floor and expect her to stand waiting. He stepped close to the drummer to speak to him. The man nodded, and Nate returned to gather her in his arms.

They swayed together until the song ended. Nate grinned as the bandleader dedicated the next song to Kara and the band played "Yellow Bird."

Nate sang softly, "Yellow bird, up high in banana tree. Yellow bird, you sit all alone like me."

His husky voice sent tingles down her spine. She'd never had a man sing to her until tonight. Neil couldn't carry a tune.

His eyes looked down into hers with intensity.

"Wish that I were a yellow bird, I'd fly away with you," he sang and pulled her closer.

I wish we could fly away, too.

She closed her eyes, and then the song ended. The band switched to another melody.

"Your skin almost matches this red lei," he said. Lifting one hand, he slipped his fingers under the strap of her yellow dress and lightly grazed her shoulder with a whisper of a touch.

"Does it hurt?"

"Only a little."

His fingers slid slowly down her bare arm, a brief caress.

"You're warm."

That was an understatement.

Nate eased his arm around her back and they moved across the floor in a waltz. It was too easy to get lost in the way he looked at her. She closed her eyes. Ocean breezes blew across her heated skin.

He whispered in her ear, "You look beautiful tonight, yellow bird."

She giggled.

Warmth spread through her body at his words and the way his hand moved up and down the small of her back pulling her closer. He smelled so good, like spices and salty seas. She put her arms around his neck. The longing to be held nearly overwhelmed her.

He danced her away from the other couples. He kissed her earlobe and tingles spread down her spine all the way to her toes.

He released her to look into her eyes then leaned forward and kissed her lips, gentle at first until she parted them.

They stood swaying to the music, locked in a lovers embrace. His tongue slipped inside her mouth, exploring. Her breath quickened as the tip of his tongue met hers in another kind of dance. His heart thudded beneath her palm. She no longer knew if the music had changed and was aware of nothing beyond the two of them.

He cupped her face in his hands and deepened the kiss.

*****

Nate couldn't get enough of Kara. He loved the way she tasted, her scent, the softness of her skin and hair. He loved the sound of her laugh, her giggle.

He didn't want to let her go and wished the cruise lasted longer, that they had more time together.

But more than the physical attraction, more than that pull, he cared about her, wanted to see her happy and wanted to remain in her life, whatever it took.

He wanted to take it slow, though the heat building between them made it harder and harder. Had she been a different women he'd have taken her off to bed already. But spending time with Kara, the woman who made his heart soar, brought him happiness beyond the strong physical attraction that pulled him to her .

Kara was so swept away by the way Nate kissed her that when he stopped it took her a moment to realize where they were and that there were other people around.

Gazing into his eyes, the realization dawned that he pulled back from taking things further. Her heart sank.

She turned and walked over to the side of the ship and stood gazing out at the water.

"Kara, what's wrong?" He'd followed her and now reached for her hand. "Tell me, sweetheart."

She turned to face him, not shielding or wiping away the tears that gathered in her eyes. "We have so little time." One tear escaped and rolled down her cheek as her voice dropped to a whisper. "And I don't want to go back to my cabin and sleep alone again tonight."

Surprise came across his face. He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. "Sweetheart, are you ready for that? You're sure?"

"Yes, yes," she said impatiently. "Please carry me off to your cabin as soon as possible."

He threw his head back and laughed. "You want me to carry you?"

She smiled. "Well it's just an expression..." Her words trailed off as he lifted her up into his arms. "Oh! Oh my."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he carried her down below decks, through hallways with her giggling, giddy as a schoolgirl.

When they reached his stateroom he put her down and opened the door for her. "After you."

She stepped inside and looked around.

The cabin was larger than the one she and Viv shared and had sliding glass doors and a balcony. "Oh, this is nice."

"Yes, it is. Perks of my travel agent cousin." He walked over to the doors and slid them open.

A breeze stirred the white curtains as she walked nearer.

"Come out with me." He stepped out onto the balcony.

Kara joined him. It was windy but he pulled her close to keep her warm.

They stood silently watching the sea and then he moved behind her, lifted her hair, and kissed the back of her neck. As he landed kiss after kiss upon her skin, tiny goose bumps rose from the way his lips felt against her heated skin. He moved in front of her and kissed her lips, his hands sliding across her body, from her hips up her rib cage to cup her breasts as he deepened the kiss.

She longed to be free of her clothing, of anything between them and impatience caused her to break off from the kiss.

He watched her, reading her expression, so she gave him what she thought was a sultry smile and slid one strap of her dress off one shoulder and then the other.

His eyes darkened with desire as he watched her.

She let the dress fall to the floor and stood only in white lace panties as the moon came out from behind the clouds bathing her in its light.

His gaze took her in. "Beautiful."

Beneath his gaze and the light of the moon, she felt beautiful.

Her took her hand, lifted it to his lips, turning it to kiss the inside of her wrist, moving closer with each kiss he rained from her wrist to her elbow. Threading his fingers through hers he led her toward the door. She followed wearing nothing but her panties and heels, the dress forgotten on the floor.

Inside the door, he scooped her up in his arms again and laid her on the bed. Giving her a soft kiss on the lips, he stood. "Stay," he said. "I'll be right back."

He strode into the bathroom and returned wearing nothing but boxer shorts and carrying a bottle of lotion. He placed it on the table and reached to lift her heel.

His warm hand wrapped around her ankle. He slipped the heel strap of her sandal off slowly. Then he tossed it over his shoulder.

She giggled.

He bent and kissed the sole of her foot, still holding her ankle, before kissing from the sole of her foot all along the inside of her leg to her knee, watching her all the while, reading the way she reacted to his touch and his kiss, every breath, the way her body warmed, as she felt herself melting into the bed. He did the same with the other foot until he reached her other knee.

He stopped only to breathe one word across her skin. "Beautiful."

She had never felt so adored, so treasured in her life.

Expecting him to continue on to remove her panties or to move up to her breasts, he surprised her when he said, "Roll over."

She did, but a sense of disappointment came over her.

Would their first time not be face to face?

She missed the intimacy of looking into his eyes and wondered what he was thinking, what he would do next. When she turned to look at him, he said, "Lie still. I'll put some aloe vera lotion on that sunburn."

He moved her hair to one side over her shoulder and she expected him to kiss her neck or shoulder.

Instead she felt cool lotion between his warm hand and her overheated skin, where the sun had kissed her a bit too much. He smoothed cooling aloe vera lotion into her back and it soothed her skin, her mind and her soul. Her eyes drifted closed.

A few moments later, he shifted then rolled her over to look at him. "Better?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"My pleasure."

There was a pause as they looked into each other's eyes, both smiling. Then he began to trace his finger across her collarbone, before bending to kiss her there, the kisses again showering down her body, slow and steady.

She floated in a sea of bliss as the movements of the ship sailing at night and Nate's caresses and kisses swept her away. She lost track of what he did when, closed her eyes and gave herself over to him, her fingers clutching the sheets, her body arching, until wave after wave came over her and she cried out.

Like the sea their night together was one wave after another crashing upon the beach they shared. She lost track of how many waves there were, how many small ones lead up to the largest one. How many small broken pieces of herself were swept away beneath his loving touch, his whispered words.

And when the sun rose and they gazed into each other's eyes, she knew she'd received so much more than her wish for one night with him, for there would never be another night in all her life like this one.

*****

Kara let herself into her cabin and undressed before climbing into bed, careful not to wake Viv, who kept up a steady snore. It had been so hard to leave Nate. He asked her to stay. But it was easier like this, with nothing to mar the memories of the night they'd spent and no tears to stain his sheets or chest. She left amid a haze of happiness. The tears would come later, but in this happy state she could keep them at bay for a little while.

It seemed she'd just gone to sleep when Viv woke her with a shake of her shoulder.

"You awake, Kara?"

Kara moaned. "I am now." She opened one bleary eye. "What do you want?"

"I've got to tell you about the guy walking in on Adam and me last night."

"What guy?"

"Oh, you know. The room steward, what's his name?"

Kara couldn't think of it either. At the moment she didn't care.

"Anyway, our room steward must have thought the room was empty. We'd been in and out of it. We can't keep our hands off each other. That man is so fine. Okay, so we'd gone up to have a drink at the bar and ended up back here fifteen minutes later and the guy must have thought we'd be out longer. Adam and I had stripped and were starting to have it away when he walked in."

She woke me up for this?

Kara groaned and pulled the covers up over her head.

Viv pulled them back and peered at her. "What's the matter? Do you have a hangover? Need aspirin?"

"No, I don't have a hangover. What I need is sleep. And it serves you right for forgetting the 'do not disturb' sign."

"Oh, I'm not upset about that! It was actually funny. It's what happened after."

Kara sighed. "What happened?"

"I joked that the guy could join us, but Adam got mad and said he wasn't into that."

"Gee, I can't imagine why."

"No, seriously. The man must be half in love with me already and that's why he got mad. So we've had our first fight. Can you believe he told me I was too hot for him?" She sank onto the bed with a look of amazement.

"You know, Viv, you may have finally found a guy who actually cares about you more than getting into your pants. There are good guys out there."

"I've never had a man tell me 'no' before. It's quite novel. Should I be insulted or flattered? He's so good looking and sexy as hell when he's in the mood."

"Viv, you're like an alley cat. If you were a man, women would run from you."

"Hey now."

"I mean it. Look, you've met a nice guy for once. Maybe one who has some morals and might treat you right? And you think there's something wrong with him. Have you ever thought he might respect you?"

"No." Viv frowned. "What do you know about men anyhow?"

I know I have more respect for myself than you do. I know I deserve to be treated right.