Life Is A Beach (Mills & Boon Silhouette): Life Is A Beach / A Real-thing Fling (16 page)

When he reangled his body, she moved fluidly to meet him, her arms circling his neck, surrendering as he pressed her backward onto the lounge. She had tried to be sensible, and she had told herself that he wasn’t for her—but none of it had worked. Had she been too deep in denial to realize how incendiary their relationship could be if they both went with the flow? If they threw away all their preconceptions and took each other for who they were and what they were, good sense be damned?

She heard the peacocks, sounding as if they were far away. “Help, help!” they cried, and she thought it was too late now. She was beyond help, was set on this course that she had chosen, and she was glad.

Slade slid her sundress strap off her shoulder and kissed the place where it had been. Then he was peeling the dress away, murmuring in the hollow of her throat, and she was helping him remove his clothes too. It was cool in the pool house, and dark, and she felt hidden away from everyone
in the shadows, even from the moon and the starry sky above. Only the two of them, only their breathing, only the two of them exploring each other with a kind of edgy excitement.

He toyed with her nipple, angled his bare leg between hers. Somehow all that remained between them was a thin bit of fabric. Slade’s hand rested there, waiting, she knew, for her assent. Not that she wanted to speak. She was too caught up in sensation, in the drive to feel him, all of him.

She slid her hand over his and guided it inside her panties to the part of her that ached to receive him. The silky wetness there made him inhale sharply as she arched under his touch, and she drew him into a deep kiss as she lifted her hips so that he could strip away the last barrier.

His lips were moist against her neck, hot as they traced the hollow between her breasts, his beard rough against skin that was excruciatingly sensitive. Suddenly frantic with desire, she reached for him, but he said huskily, “No. Let me. I want you, Karma, all of you,” and he pressed her back onto the cushion as his mouth moved lower, dropping a kiss on her navel, brushing the soft hair between her legs, parting her thighs before moving higher. She gasped as his tongue traced her softness, as his lips found her most sensitive spot.

Never had
she been loved like this, never. The joy of it overwhelmed her, brought tears to her eyes, made her wonder if she had ever known what lovemaking was all about. Lost in sensation, in bliss, the world around her seemed to implode upon itself, drawing her into it, a place with no end and no beginning, just Slade’s mouth seeking her center as she rocked against him, his name on her lips. And then, when she thought the sensation could not become more intense, she felt a groundswell of heat surging from deep inside, or did that heat originate with Slade, his mouth, his lips, or—oh, could this be real? Could it be honest and true and right? She opened her eyes to the starry sky whirling above, and the starlight and moonlight swirled and converged with the heat to spin her away on a tide of pleasure unlike any she had ever known. Amazed that this feeling could have existed somewhere in the world without her ever knowing about it, she was filled with a delirious sense of wonder.

When she thought it couldn’t get any better, Slade feathered kisses across her belly, leaving a damp trail across her breast, and tenderly smoothed her hair back from her face. She began to spiral back into reality, but before she could speak, he pinned her arms above her head and drove into her with one long stroke, suddenly plunging hard and fast, slick and hot. His ragged breath was warm in her ear, and she found the rhythm and worked it with him. She wrapped her legs around his hips, holding him tight, their breath mingling as their bodies glistened slick with sweat. Now he gave her no quarter, demanding as well as taking, and she met him thrust for thrust.

She didn’t think she was capable of another climax, not now, but to her amazement, she felt herself losing control, felt her muscles clamping around him, wanting him so deep within her that it hurt. The pounding of their bodies became her heartbeat, and soon there was nothing but that beat, or maybe it was his heart that she heard, or were their hearts beating in synchrony, the two of them one? His mouth crushed hers, and she felt him let go, felt him soar along with her to the heights, to the place where two hearts and minds and bodies truly became one.

One. Not two. One.

Their climaxes came within moments of each other. She convulsed as his seed pulsed into her, and then, with a hoarse cry, he collapsed onto her, spent.

He clutched
her tightly to him, seemingly loath to let her go. It was delicious, this feeling of having her fill, of peace and optimism and another emotion that startled and surprised her.

“Dearest,” he said unevenly as she paused in her reflection to wonder at this new pleasure, and before she could decide what her feelings were telling her, his face was above her, his kisses on her lips, and she was clinging to him as if she would never let him go.

Their hearts subsided together, but he held her fast. She was glad for that. She could not imagine being parted from him ever again.

“Marry me, Karma,” he said unsteadily. “Say you will.”

How could she deny him anything now? How could she think this thing through, figure out what it meant, decide?

His eyes were fierce in the darkness. “Say you’ll be my wife,” he said, his voice urgent in her ear.

“Say you’ll be his wife,”
said another voice, which sounded remarkably like her aunt Sophie’s and seemed to originate inside her head.

And so help her
, Karma said, “Yes.”

A
T
K
ARMA’S INSISTENCE
, they slept apart that night, but Slade greeted her exuberantly in the kitchen the next morning, stealing a kiss in the pantry when no one was looking.

“My dearest love, at least you’ve made me an honest man.” His eyes were bright.

She twisted away. “What are you talking about?” But she wanted to kiss him again, and soon.

“You’re now my fiancée,” he murmured before slipping away to carry a tray into the dining room for Josefina.

“Sure you won’t tour the ranch on our motorcycles instead?” Norton boomed out during breakfast, which was a spread of eggs and sausage and pancakes and bacon unequaled in Karma’s experience.

Karma finished chewing her sixth link sausage and swallowed. “Maybe after I get the hang of riding a horse, I’ll take on a Hog,” she said, and everyone laughed.

After breakfast, Slade saddled Millie as well as Lightning, and he took Karma on an unforgettable tour of the Diamond B Ranch. They saw the cattle chutes and the barrels where Bambi practiced racing for amateur rodeos. They saw the pastures and the tractors and the equipment shed. They looked unsuccessfully for Abner the alligator in the pond, disturbed a couple of playful otters, watered their horses from drainage ditches and counted head of cattle.

Once they
stopped at the edge of a palmetto thicket for a breather. “You don’t mind that I raise beef cattle?” Slade asked, eyeing her keenly.

“Mind?”

“It’s what I do, Karma. I raise beef for people to eat. The cattle go to market and come out as food. As a vegetarian, I figured you might have moral objections to this business.”

“I don’t think I’m a vegetarian anymore,” Karma said, thinking of Josefina’s chicken and the sausage she had eaten for breakfast.

“You’re not giving in because you feel pressured?”

“Slade, my parents were the ones who taught me not to eat meat. I didn’t know that it was so good. Now that I do, I’ll set my own standards. Okay?”

“Okay.” He smiled at her.

“It’s a big job, taking care of this ranch,” Slade said later as they rode the fence line of the largest pasture.

“And as your wife, what would my job be?”

“To supervise Josefina, who doesn’t need much direction. To be my helpmate, my friend. And to do whatever it is that makes you happy.”

At the moment, it seemed as if loving Slade would be enough to keep her happy as long as she lived. But niggling at the back of her mind was the notion that she had to have her own life. And how could she transplant a Miami Beach dating service to this little town in the Everglades? It was something to consider, the difficulty involved. But in her happiness, she pushed it to the back of her mind.

That night they
went out, the two of them, to a catfish restaurant on the edge of the lake, a wide expanse of silvery water stretching clear to the horizon. The next morning they got up before dawn and pushed off into the slough in Slade’s dugout to observe birds. With the binoculars glued to her eyeballs, Karma learned the difference between a heron and an ibis; she watched a hawk swoop down upon his prey on a lonely hammock covered with scrub pine and edged with cypress. Later they returned to that hammock and made love lazily in a shady fern-filled glen with palmetto fronds rustling overhead in the cool, water-scented breeze.

Another day, when Slade and his father had business in town, she watched Bambi practice barrel racing on the course behind the barn. The next afternoon, Slade took her to a rodeo in Indiantown, and they cheered as Slade’s mother won the event. Toward the end of the week, Karma visited a sugar mill on the other side of the lake where the land was checkered with sugar cane fields and where she met some of Slade’s friends, who owned the operation. She attended a church circle meeting with Bambi and to her surprise, she relished the experience almost as much as she liked the people. Karma even offered to teach the members of the group a few yoga poses when they expressed interest.

Slade was in his element in his home town. He had been a standout in Miami Beach, but here he was in charge of a large cattle operation, commanding and well-respected. Karma, seeing him in this new way, felt only joy that he had chosen her to share his life.

And so one day slid into another. Karma kept in close touch with Paulette by phone, relaxing over Paulette’s handling of Rent-a-Yenta when she realized that her cousin was not only capable but as smart as a whip and not afraid to show it. They talked at least once a day and sometimes more.

“It sounds like you love it at the ranch,” Paulette said one day during a lull in the conversation.

“Oh, I do,” Karma said. “I have to admit that I’m enchanted by everything I see and everyone I’ve met.”

“Are there lots of cowboys galloping around? A corral? Desperadoes to be headed off at the pass?” Paulette seemed to have the idea that Okeechobee City was similar to a TV rerun of the
Bonanza
show.

“There are ranch hands who do all the hardest work. There’s more than one corral and not a desperado in sight, unless you could count Josefina, who is an angel. Why,
Paulette, with Josefina’s cleaning squad arriving at convenient intervals, I’ll never have to chase another dust bunny as long as I live!”

“As if you ever did,” said Paulette, but she spoke fondly and indulgently. “So what do you and Slade do all day?”

“We go bird-watching, or I ride out with him to the pastures, or we go somewhere special, like the rodeo. Oh, and Josefina taught me to make Slade’s favorite casserole yesterday. I’ve eaten beef bourguignon and developed a taste for calves’ liver simmered in wine. I’m going to learn how to run the barrels with Bambi, and—”

“Karma, slow down. Isn’t the pace a little too frantic? Don’t you think you might be trying too hard to fit in?”

Paulette, Karma was learning, could home in relentlessly on the key point of a conversation. “Oh, I don’t know. I admit I feel a little overwhelmed by the suddenness of getting engaged, but Slade is being so helpful. He suggested moving the honeymoon cruise up a few months so we can be married sooner, which made me stop and think for a minute, but I told him it would be okay. At least, I think it will be okay.” She’d been telling herself over and over that things were fine, that Slade was a good man, and that she truly loved him. So if he wanted to marry her sooner rather than later, how could there be anything wrong with that?

“Karma, I detect some doubt. Are you
sure
everything is all right?”

Karma peeked around the corner of the kitchen to see if Josefina was working there, and when she saw her putting the finishing touches on a pie crust, she quietly let herself out the front door and sat on one of the porch rockers, lowering her tone. “I think so, Paulette. I
think
so.”

Paulette’s reply was sharp and to the point. “What do you mean, you think so? Are things okay or not?”

Karma sighed, watching a kingfisher as it lit on a utility pole near the barn. A week ago, she hadn’t even known
there was such a bird. She had come a long way in a short time, that was for sure.

“All it is, Paulette, is that I find it hard to accept my good fortune in finding a wonderful guy. I’ve been single for so long, and now I’m going to be married, and I worry about Rent-a-Yenta and what will become of it, and I worry about getting to know the names of all the ranch hands, and I wonder if Josefina is going to want to help me as much as she helps Bambi, and—oh, Paulette, please tell me I’m out of line here.”

“Gosh, Karma, you’re not. These are normal apprehensions when you’re changing your whole life around to be married to a guy you’ve only known for a couple of weeks.”

“Maybe that’s it,” Karma said, feeling guilty for not putting a more positive spin on her situation.

“Have you talked to Slade about all this?”

“No, of course not. The honeymoon’s supposed to be in June. This is October. He thinks a December wedding would be perfect because all his relatives will be in town for Christmas. We can get married in his church, he says.”

“Well, what’s wrong with that?”

“I never wanted to be married in a church. If I were going to be married in a house of worship, it should be my sister’s synagogue. Besides, I’ve always wanted an outdoor wedding, but now it makes more sense to do what Slade says, I guess. Except if the wedding is in December, it will be too cold to go to Alaska on the honeymoon cruise like he planned. We’ll go to the Caribbean instead. I was kind of getting into the idea of Alaska myself.”

Paulette let out a sigh of exasperation. “It’s
your
wedding and
your
honeymoon. You should have some input.”

“I
don’t want to spoil Slade’s enthusiasm. He’s so excited about getting married. You wouldn’t believe how much he talks about it, how often he tells me he loves me.” She saw Slade’s Suburban bumping down the driveway toward the barn, and she stood up, wanting to wind this conversation up before he arrived.

“That’s all well and good, my dear cousin, but why don’t you talk things over with him before things are set in stone? Slade is a reasonable man, and if he loves you, he’ll understand and make allowances.”

“Do you think he’ll go for a longer engagement? So I can get used to the idea of getting married? So we can plan a wedding that we’re both happy about?”

“Karma, if he loves you he will.”

“He loves me. I know he does. I’d better run, Paulette. He’s coming in from the feed store, and I’d rather he didn’t know we’ve talked about this yet.”

“Any time you want to hash it over, give me a ring.”

“Right. And thanks. You’re a good counselor.”

“I know.”

Karma smiled to herself before running down the steps and over to the barn to greet Slade. It didn’t occur to her until she was halfway there that Paulette hadn’t mentioned Uncle Nate, and she made a mental note to ask how he was getting along next time they talked.

T
HE CONVERSATION SHE
intended to have with Slade weighed heavily on Karma’s mind, but because ranch life was busy and their days full, it was a couple of days before she was able to broach the subject of her misgivings.

They had just made love, long and languorously, beneath a spreading scrub oak tree not far from a creek in an isolated section of the ranch. Slade was lying with his head in her lap, and she was leaning back against the tree trunk, half drunk with love and happiness.

They watched a great blue heron take flight on the opposite shore of the creek. “I never knew two people could be so happy,” Slade said, taking her hand in his. “You
are
happy, aren’t you, Karma?”

She stroked his
hair and waited a moment before speaking. “Yes, Slade, I am,” she said softly. “But I do think I could be happier.”

She felt him tense, and he sat up. “What do you mean?” He stared at her across the space between them, his skin dappled by the sunlight streaming through the branches overhead.

“I’ve been wanting to talk with you, Slade. This is all so wonderful, and I am thrilled to be engaged. I want you to know that. But I think I need more time before we get married.”

“More time? Why?” A frown marred his features, and Karma’s heart lurched in dismay. She hadn’t expected him to look so upset.

“I have an idea about Rent-a-Yenta, about how I can stay active in the business after I move to the ranch. It will take time to implement the new plan.” He looked doubtful, but she plunged ahead. “And—and I had my heart set on a honeymoon in Alaska, not the Caribbean.”

Slade ran a hand through his hair. “Well, Karma, I reckon we can still go to Alaska. The honeymoon doesn’t have to follow the wedding. It can be a few months later.”

“Six months is how much later it would be if we get married in December. Slade, I don’t think I can be ready to get married in only two months.”

He seemed taken aback. “Why? What’s the problem? You buy a white dress, you line up Paulette to be your bridesmaid—”

“I have three sisters. I always planned for Isis to be my only attendant, like I was in her wedding last year. And during the Hanukkah and Christmas holidays, I doubt that anyone in my family will be able to travel to Florida. Azure lives in Boston, Isis is in California and will be entertaining her husband’s family, Mary Beth is always busy with something at the temple, and as for my father, who knows where he’ll be? Probably on a ship somewhere, and Mom needs
more than two months’ notice if she’s going to be at our wedding.”

Slade swallowed and seemed to think this over. “I thought you wanted to be married soon, like I do.”

She rested a placating hand on his shoulder. “A long engagement would help me make the transition from thinking like a single person to thinking like one half of a married couple.”

He attempted a laugh. “I’m already thinking like half of a married couple.”

“It’s different for you, Slade. You expected to find a wife. I’d given up on relationships long before I met you. I’m crazy about your parents, I look forward to my life with you on the ranch, but I have important things to do before I take the big step of getting married.” Her eyes pleaded for understanding.

“Karma, I thought you’d made the final commitment when you said yes to my marriage proposal.” He had retreated into stoniness, and she tried again to explain.

“I did make that commitment. When I said yes, I didn’t know you meant you wanted to be married so soon, that’s all.”

He stood up and walked over to the edge of the creek, his agitation evident in every step. She stood too, following after him, planting one foot in front of the other in grim determination.

“It doesn’t sound to me as if you feel the same way about me as I do about you,” he said under his breath when she was standing beside him.

“I love you. You should know that by now.”

“Should I? When you’re backing off like this?”

Karma fought the tears that stung the back of her eyelids. This was going wrong, all wrong. “I’m not backing off. All I’m saying is that I’m not comfortable with this whirlwind of a courtship.”

“I’m not comfortable with a woman who doubts her love
for me. Oh, God, Karma, don’t turn on the tears. I can’t stand it.”