Impulsive (35 page)

As Jess lay in his arms, her head thrown back, her breasts thrust
upward, her face flushed with passion, she reminded Ty of some pagan princess
offering herself to the gods. In turn, the sight of her like this struck a
primitive chord in him—the urge to claim, to bind, to merge with her so
thoroughly that she would remain a part of him forever, and he a part of her.
It was all he could do to remind himself to go slowly, tenderly, to possess her
with all the love in his heart.

Swaying with the gentle buoyancy of the water, he rocked his
pelvis against hers. On a needy moan, she answered by shifting her body,
lodging him even more firmly inside her, though that should have been
impossible. Then she wriggled, rubbing her swollen nubbin of desire against him
like a cat in heat, and Ty lost his fast-waning battle for patience. Clamping
his hands to her hips, his fingers clutching her buttocks, he set a driving
rhythm that soon had them both panting and grasping amid a froth of churning
water. Time and again, he surged into her, as far as he could reach. Time and
again, she welcomed him with savage eagerness, until at last the dam burst,
hurtling them both down the swirling river of rapture.

When at last they washed up on calmer shores, Ty, weak- kneed and
wobbly, couldn't believe he'd actually kept his footing throughout their wild
session of lovemaking. By all right and reason, they should both have drowned,
or at least taken a good dunking and swallowed a ton of water. To his additional
surprise and satisfaction, rather than being traumatized by all the splashing
and turbulence in the pool, Jess—the lady with the ingrained fear of
drowning—was wearing an expression of total contentment, reclining against him
in boneless bliss.

Pure male pride lent him the necessary energy to carry her out of
the pool and lay her on a padded recliner. He flopped down beside her on the
tile floor, not even bothering to cushion the hard surface with a towel.

It was several minutes before Jess ventured weakly, "Ty,
we're lying here as naked as Adam and Eve, surrounded by glass walls. We really
should go inside before someone happens along and catches us in our birthday
suits."

"I couldn't move right now if my life depended on it. If
somebody shoved a lit stick of dynamite between my toes, I'd just lie here and
wait for the bang."

She mustered a chuckle. "We already had the bang, and it was
a whopper." Listlessly, she managed to stretch far enough to snag the
towels he'd left on the deck and drag them nearer. Keeping one for herself, she
flopped another atop his belly. "Here. Cover the important parts, and
don't let me sleep past noon."

"Hah! Think again, sexy lady. You can have a short nap, just
long enough to recharge your battery."

"Then what?"

"Then I'm going to let you seduce me again." He heaved a
theatrical sigh. "Oh, woe is me. Worn to a thread. It's a tough job, but
somebody has to do it." Before she could reply to that, he said,
"Yeah, I know. I'll say it for you. Wagara."

"So you finally figured it out, huh?"

"No, but I thought it must fit the situation somehow."

"Not this time. Not accurately, at any rate."

"I know what it should mean," he offered. "Women
Assess Guys As Really Adorable."

"Ha!"

"Really Amorous?" he submitted.

Jess wagged her hand back and forth, in a maybe/maybenot gesture.
"You would certainly qualify on both counts, but I couldn't say the same
about other men, or other women's opinions of them."

"You're prejudiced in my favor," he allowed. "But
I'm not complaining." Then, "In honor of the season, does it stand
for Witches And Gnomes And Rascals Alert?"

"Cute, but wrong."

He tried again. "Whales' And Gorillas' Aptitude Range
Achievement?"

"Not even close, funny man," she drawled past a yawn.

"World Aggregate Guarding Against Running Amok?"

Her sole response was a delicate snore.

Ty's lips crooked in a droll grin. "I really ought to patent
this game as an alternative to over-the-counter sleeping aids— best when
applied after really great sex."

Forty-five minutes later, Ty woke her with a kiss. Before she
could rise from the lounger, he slipped a gorgeous silk caftan over her head.
It slid down her naked body in a sensual whisper.

"Ty, this isn't mine. Where did you get it?" she asked,
thinking he'd found it in a drawer or closet and mistaken it for hers.

"It's yours," he assured her. "I bought it
specifically for you. Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful. Thank you. But you're far too extravagant.
Just renting this house must have cost you a small fortune."

"You're worth it," he told her, adding with a wink,
"so far."

He carried the glasses and the wine, and she followed him
upstairs, thinking they were headed for the bedroom. Rather, he took the extra
flight of stairs to the observatory. In contrast to the rest of the house, this
room was strictly utilitarian. No fancy furniture or decorative knickknacks
cluttered it. Just a worktable, one straight-back chair, and a super-large
beanbag chair. Ty lit the fat candle on the table and dragged the bean bag to
the center of the room, pulling Jess down onto it with him. He poured both of
them some wine and placed the bottle aside, on the floor.

"Here's to us, Jess," he said, offering a toast.

They snuggled together in the semidark, quietly admiring the
display of bright stars and the luminous moon overhead. "It's
heavenly," Jess sighed in complete contentment. "It just doesn't get
any better than this."

"Don't bet on that," he debated. From the pocket of the
robe he was wearing, he withdrew a rolled piece of paper, tied up with a silver
ribbon, and handed it to her.

"What's this?"

"A star. Your very own star, named after you, and the
certificate to prove it. There's also a chart showing where it's located.
Later, if you want, we can take a peek through the telescope and try to locate
it."

"Oh, Ty!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his
neck. "How incredibly sweet of you!"

He indicated the paper again. "You want the stars? I'll get
them for you." He pointed toward the sky. "You want the moon? There
it is."

"You're spoiling me terribly," she warned him, lifting
her lips to his for a quick kiss. "Moreover, how can I ever reciprocate,
when you're offering such grand gifts?"

"There's only one thing I truly want," he said softly.
From the same pocket, he extracted a gleaming long-stemmed rose, fashioned of
silver. He held it out to her. "It's hinged. Open it."

She fumbled with the latch on the side seam until it gave and the
rose split in half to reveal a velvet-lined interior. Nestled within was the
same exquisite ring she had chosen at the Boston jewelers. Her heart skipped a
beat. Did this mean what she hoped it did?

She didn't have to wonder for long. Plucking the ring from its
nest, Ty reached for Jess's left hand. "Will you marry me, Jess? I love
you more than I've ever loved any other woman, or ever will again. You're that
other half of me that's been missing all these years, and now that I've found
you, I don't ever want to lose you. Please say you'll be my wife."

Jess's free hand flew to her chest, as if to keep her racing heart
from leaping free. "I must be dreaming," she murmured wistfully.
"That, or that knock to your head did more damage than the doctors
thought. Ty, you're the one who claimed you needed more time. Are you sure
about this?"

"As sure and serious as death and taxes," he assured
her. "I don't need time, Jess. All I need is you, and to know that you
feel the same."

"I do," she breathed. "You know I do. I love you
with all my heart and every fiber of my being."

"Then, you'll marry me?"

"Oh, yes!" she declared, her eyes glowing with joy. He'd
scarcely slipped the ring onto her finger when she launched herself at him,
nearly tipping both of them out of their slippery seat. She showered his face
with kisses, chattering excitedly between pecks. "Just tell me I'm not
going to wake up and find I've dreamed all this, or I'll be totally devastated.
Tell me you won't regret this tomorrow. I know there are thousands of women
prettier than I am... smarter... richer... with sweeter dispositions."

"But they're not you," he countered sincerely, holding
her at bay by securing her face between his palms as he gazed into her eyes.
"Not half as sassy, or feisty, or funny, or stubborn, or exasperating...
or downright provocative. Only you have that unique blend of qualities that
lures me like a siren's call. I couldn't stop loving you if I tried."

If anyone had previously predicted that they would celebrate their
engagement by making love in an observatory in a multimillion-dollar mansion—in
a twenty-dollar beanbag chair— they would never have believed it. But,
wallowing in spilled wine, with the heavens smiling down on them, that's
precisely what happened. Later, as playful as a pair of lovebirds, they found
Jess's star, labeling it their symbol of good fortune.

Then they trooped, hand in hand, down to the master suite, where
Jess found yet another delight awaiting them. At Ty's bequest, the housekeeper
had readied the bedroom. Again, candles provided a soft, flickering light. The
bed had been made up with satin sheets, now turned down invitingly to reveal a blanket
of rose petals scattered across their creamy surface. Music played faintly,
flowing throughout the room from concealed speakers.

The merry gurgle of water from the connecting bath told them that
the whirlpool was ready and running, should they care to avail themselves of
it. They did, submerging themselves in a flood of bubbles that soon rid them of
the last residue of wine their lapping tongues somehow failed to swab clean.
They toddled off to bed, much too satiated to make love again.

Jess woke the next morning to find her head pillowed on Ty's
shoulder, and her left hand splayed across his chest. The first thing to meet
her sleepy gaze was the wink of sunshine on the diamond ring gracing her
finger.

"It's real!" She all but sobbed the words.

"It had better be, for the price I paid." Ty's voice was
just-awake gruff, as his hand clamped over hers, bringing her palm to his lips.

"That's not what I meant. It's just that last night was so
marvelous, so absolutely storybook perfect, that I wasn't certain I hadn't fantasized
the whole thing—until I saw the ring."

"Having second thoughts?"

She raised her eyes to his. "No. What about you?"

"I've had third and fourth thoughts already," he
admitted, "and I still want to marry you."

She smiled. "My mother may nominate you for canonization for
falling in love with her homely daughter. Personally, if I wasn't so utterly
giddy over the concept, I'd say you should probably be committed,
instead."

"I am," he told her sincerely. "To you."

Jess's face glowed with happiness. "That's what I find so
remarkable. You... wanting me."

"There's nothing complicated about it, Jess." He turned
her hand to kiss her finger and the ring it bore. "I'm finally learning to
appreciate quality over quantity, thank heaven. And believe me, lady, you're the
genuine article. Nothing false or fake or feigned about you—except a little
stuffing in your bra, of course," he taunted with a smirk.

Lying on one arm, with him holding tight to her other hand, she
retaliated for that last remark by kicking him lightly on the shin. "Watch
it, buster. You're the one who suggested the falsies to start with, and don't
you forget it!"

He chuckled. "Hardly. Not with you around to remind me for
the next fifty years or so. Maybe you'll mellow with age."

She let loose an indelicate snort. "Don't plan on it. More
than likely, I'll be as cantankerous at eighty as I am now, or more."

"That's precisely what I love about you, darlin'," he
drawled. "Everything's right up front with you. No trickery. No flattery.
No pretense. Just pure, ornery, honest, wonderful Jess."

"That's just part of why I love you," she confessed.

He grinned. "Let me guess. You love my fabulous body."

To his surprise, she agreed with a vigorous nod. "Sure do.
You're the most gorgeous, sexy hunk I've ever seen. But I love you for your
quick intelligence, too, and your playful, wacky sense of humor, and the fact
that you're incredibly romantic— and the way you are with Josh, your loyalty to
your friends, your passion and compassion, and a million other reasons."