Solitaire (25 page)

Had Slade’s love given her that support? Cat hesitated over the blueprint as she centered on that question. He had never said he loved her, nor had she told him. Nevertheless, she felt whole as never before, regardless of the fear that stalked her about mine entry. With a soft laugh, Cat shook her head. So, was this real love, this feeling of completeness that Slade automatically gave to her? Cat couldn’t imagine life without Slade’s presence. He made each minute, each hour important. And they were, with him.

Eventually, Cat returned to the demanding work in front of her. But numbers, formulas and figures couldn’t compete with the powerful sensations in her heart. Cat allowed the full gamut of her emotions to surface and be felt. She could barely breathe for the sheer joy of being alive in every sense of the word.

Near four o’clock, Slade knocked on the door and entered. He saw Cat bent over her drafting board, hard at work. A swell of pride and love overwhelmed him as he stood in the open doorway, watching her. As she turned, he saw the sudden happiness in her green eyes because he was there. Slade was deeply moved. With a smile, he held his hand out toward her.

“Come on, I’m taking you someplace special.”

Cat stared at his large, powerful fingers; they were dirt-stained and his nails worn to nothing from prying calcite apart, looking for green fire. Without a word, she slipped her hand into his.

“Where?” Her voice was breathless with anticipation.

“While El Tigre is busy watching Alvin and his men digging for green fire, you and I are going to slip off to share some well-deserved time together. What do you think? Are you ready to be carried off by your knight on his white charger?”

Gladly, Cat put down her hard hat and followed Slade out the door. “More than ready, my lord. Lead the way.”

Slade gave the Jeep an apologetic look as they climbed in. “Not exactly a white charger, but it’ll have to do. Still game?”

“You bet. Is this a surprise or can you tell me where we’re going?”

He wanted to ruffle her hair, run his fingers through it and feel the silk of her skin beneath his hands. His voice husky, he traded a tender look with Cat. “I want it to be a surprise. I’ve been planning this a long time before we came down here. Just sit back and enjoy the ride, my lady.”

With a sigh, Cat nodded and leaned back. The movement of the Jeep as it took them up and out of the mining area cooled her sweaty skin. She felt Slade’s hand cover her own and she squeezed it. “I love you,” she almost whispered. Cat had trouble not saying it out loud to Slade. The adoration in his dark sapphire eyes made her tremble with need.

As they crossed the only road up and out of the valley, Slade turned off, heading down a little-used path. The foliage and low-hanging vines swatted at them and the Jeep cautiously crept forward. Brightly colored macaws ranging from blue and yellow to a garish crimson and purple cawed raucously, their late-afternoon siesta disturbed by the noise of the vehicle. Cat filled her senses with the heavy, intoxicating smell of orchids hanging in patches of brilliant color against the jade jungle.

“If I didn’t know better,” she confided to Slade, “I’d say this was a slice of heaven tucked away by Mother Earth.”

“It is. All right, close your eyes before we go around this bend in the path. I’ll tell you when to open them.”

Heartbeat escalating, Cat heard a distinctly different sound ahead and to the right of them as they rounded the corner. The Jeep came to a halt and she felt Slade’s arm around her shoulder, drawing her close. His voice was low and dark next to her ear.

“Now you can open them. Welcome to our heaven, Cat.”

A gasp of pleasure escaped from her as she stared at a small waterfall sitting thirty feet above them. Slade had brought the Jeep to a halt at its base in a small grassy clearing, complete with brilliantly colored flowers of all varieties. A circular pool of an inviting aquamarine color held tiny white suds floating at the foot of the waterfall. Deep green moss hugged small gray boulders along the bank. At the quietest point were several pink-and-white water lilies floating like crown jewels on the surface.

“Slade…this is incredible!” Cat whispered, struck by the beauty surrounding them.

He got out, pleased. “It’s all ours. And,” he emphasized, helping Cat from the Jeep, “private.” He halted near the lip of the bank and turned, placing his hands on her shoulders. As she lifted her chin, her emerald eyes lustrous, Slade groaned softly, capturing her. He claimed her pliant, welcoming lips beneath his, reveling in the scent of her hair and damp skin. Fire tore wildly through him as she melted willingly against him, her arms coming around his shoulders. Slade couldn’t get enough of her, ever.

Tearing his mouth from her lips, he rasped, “Today…out there at the mine, Cat…”

Dizzy with the scent of his virility, Cat forced her eyes open. “Yes?” She clung to him, wanting nothing more.

Slade framed her darkly tanned face between his hands, absorbing Cat’s sultry look. “I wanted to kiss you, to tell you how damned courageous you were. It’s one thing to live through a cave-in. It’s another to walk back inside again. You did it, and I’m so damned proud of you.”

She managed a tremulous smile, sliding her fingertips across his shoulders. “Be proud of us. I was glad you were there, believe me.”

“You were going in whether I was there or not. That’s what counted.” He leaned down, capturing her mouth again, drowning in the only taste and texture that could satisfy his yearning.

Gradually, Cat broke away, heart racing wildly, her breasts swollen and nipples taut. She wanted Slade’s touch so badly, it had become a craving. Barely able to think after his exquisite assault upon her senses, Cat whispered, “I’m discovering I can’t live without you, Slade.”

He grinned, kissing her lashes, nose and mouth. “Nothing wrong with that, my proud beauty.”

She smiled as his tongue lazily traced her lips, sweetly sipping from each corner until crazy tingling sensations shot through her, intensifying her ache for him. “I didn’t realize how lonely I was until you came into my life,” she admitted softly.

Raising his head, Slade melted beneath the tender flame deep within her eyes. His fingers trembled as he sifted strands of her hair through his hands. “I’ve been looking for you a whole lifetime, Cat. Come on, let’s take a well-earned bath. I want to love you afterward…”

Everything else ceased to exist as Cat allowed Slade to unbutton and peel off her damp cotton shirt. Drowning in the love she saw in his blue gaze, she then helped Slade undress. No longer was she aware of the grit or dirt as he led her into the cool embrace of the waist-deep water. She watched as Slade took a handful of moss from the bank. It had a soft, slightly abrasive texture as he sluiced water over her shoulders and across her breasts and gently began to wash her. For the next ten minutes, he did not speak. Instead, each touch became his focus. Then Cat took the damp moss and washed him.

“I found this place a week after we came up here to the Verde the first time,” Slade explained as he took the moss and allowed it to float away from them. His hands stilled on her glistening shoulders as he looked around them. “This is a place out of time, Cat. It’s special. You can feel it.”

Placing her palm against the matted hair on his broad chest, she murmured, “There are some places on the earth that have their own unique vibration.” She leaned forward, slowly placing kiss after kiss along the hard, uncompromising line of his jaw. “Just like the vibration beneath my hand is special.” She ran her tongue across his mouth, tasting the salt of his sweat and his male earthiness. “You are one of a kind, Slade,” she whispered, claiming his mouth with all the fire she possessed.

A tremor shook him as her slick, warm breasts pressed against his chest. The sweet demand of her hips against his own powerful hardness sent a tumult of raw desire coursing through him. Cat was willing, pliant and so much woman that it brought tears to his eyes as he swept her against him, holding her forever. Hungrily, he claimed her mouth, lost in the primal senses that she stirred within him. As her thighs joined his beneath the water, his control was shattered.

Cat swam in the molten heat of their desire, barely aware that Slade had slipped his arm beneath her. Then he lifted her, carrying her from the pool to a carpet of grass. Cat relaxed into the verdant expanse and welcomed him back into her arms. Never had she wanted a man more. Never had Cat wanted to share the unleashed love that throbbed through her. She felt Slade’s hand slide across her hip, gently parting her thighs. The mere touch of him against her damp, waiting core brought a gasp from her. Arching, she pulled Slade down upon her, welcoming him.

Patches of sunlight laced and danced through the heavy jungle canopy overhead. The ripeness of the grass aroused her, as did Slade’s masculine scent. Nostrils flared, she met each of his powerful thrusts, responding wildly to his primal demands. Sunlight and darkness, day and night, loneliness and love. All those feelings, words and sensations spun through the hallways of Cat’s emotions as Slade carried her beyond any pleasure she had ever experienced. White-hot fusion exploded violently within her and she cried out, sinking her fingers deeply into his taut shoulder muscles.

“Yes…” Slade cried hoarsely, gripping her tightly, twisting his hips to give her every bit of pleasure. “Feel me, Cat. Feel how much you mean to me…” Unable to stop his own need to claim her, he gripped her hard and buried his head next to hers. Explosion after explosion tore through him, ripping him apart and putting him back together again. The French called it
la petite mort
, “the little death.” He called it love. With Cat, the meeting of their bodies was an overwhelming symbol of the love he felt for her. He didn’t die that small death the French referred to. No, he never felt more alive, more joyous or more sure of his destiny as when he was buried within the yielding core of Cat’s body.

With a sigh, Cat sank back into Slade’s embrace, floating on a wave of sensations within her. A slight, tremulous smile pulled at her well-kissed lips. She ran her fingers through his dark hair, reveling in the cobalt fire banked in his eyes.

“You take my breath away…” she murmured.

Slade laid his head on her breast, holding her, listening to the ragged pound of her loving heart. “You make me feel so deeply that I can barely breathe…or think…” He laughed softly. “You make me feel whole, Cat.”

She continued to smolder beneath his husky compliments, content to lie there with him forever. “I’ve never flown like this,” she admitted, her voice throaty. “You free me, Slade. I didn’t know how chained I was until you came and unlocked so many secret places within me…” Gently, Cat ran her hand across his drying flesh, reveling in both his power and his tenderness for her.

Barely opening his eyes, Slade moved his hand down her hip and across her finely curved thigh. “Love has a way of releasing the best in all of us,” he murmured.

Cat turned, meeting his eyes as he raised his head to look down at her. “You’ve taught me so much in such a short amount of time, Slade. You made me aware of how alone I’ve been. You’ve made me hungry for you in a way I’ve never experienced.” She cupped his sandpapery cheek. “You’ve got the keys to my heart. You know that, don’t you?”

Gravely, he turned, kissing her palm as if she were fragile glass. “No one’s more aware of that than me, sweetheart.” He watched as a cloud marred the joy in her eyes. “What is it?” he coaxed. “Are you frightened?”

“Y-yes.”

“Me, too. Let’s be scared together, okay? Misery loves company and no one cares for you more than I do…”

With a muffled laugh, Cat embraced him. “You crazy Texan! What did I ever do before you crashed into my life?”

Matching her effusive laughter, Slade rolled over on his back, bringing Cat on top of him. She fitted against him perfectly and he absorbed the happiness that had returned to her face. God, how fiercely he loved her.
Soon,
he promised Cat silently,
you and I are going to show our hands; we’re going to admit that we love one another.

“I can say one thing,” he stated out loud.

Cat leaned down, kissing the tip of his nose, euphoria making her feel giddy with joy. “What?”

“Life hasn’t been dull since we met.”

“That’s an understatement, Slade Donovan!”

“Well,” he said in a pleased tone, “when you consider we met at a cave-in, that’s pretty symbolic.”

She nipped playfully at the cords of his neck, inhaling his wonderful scent. “In what way?”

“I’ve always believed life speaks to us in symbolic terms. For instance, a bird can mean news.”

“How do you interpret a cave-in?” Cat wondered, planting her hands on his chest and smiling into his warm blue eyes.

“What’s a cave-in do?”

She wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Changed my life, that’s for sure.”

Slade grinned. “Exactly. It symbolized that each of us would have a devastating effect on each other. It was also an opportunity for a new beginning, together.”

Cat grew thoughtful, then met his warming smile. “I like the way you see life, Slade. I’ve never thought of it in those terms, but it’s provocative.”

Running his hands suggestively up across her hips and back, he murmured, “And so are you.”

Chapter Twelve

C
at walked down into the Verde mine. After three weeks of blasting and setting up posts and stulls, the tunnel now stretched almost a third of a mile into Caballo mountain. Rock bolts screwed into the limestone ceiling hung like silent baubles above her head every few feet. The chut-chut-chut of several portable generators hammered through the tunnel, providing electric light for the miners removing rubble and those shoring up the beams. The fear was still with her, but less a monster than before. The first week, Slade had miraculously appeared at her side every time she had to go in. Cat didn’t know how he knew when she would go into the mine, but she was grateful for his unexplained presence.

As she walked along the adit, a coolness enveloped her. Her main concern was installing proper ventilation through the roof of the mine to the air outside. Exhaust from the generators fouled the air with colorless and odorless carbon monoxide. If it wasn’t properly managed, it could eventually kill an unsuspecting miner. The footwall beneath her feet was swept free of all debris, something she had demanded. Dust in any form in a mine ate away at everyone’s delicate lung tissue. At first, the workers begrudged the amount of cleanliness she wanted in the adit. Cat stood her ground with them and they finally did as they were ordered.