Speak to the Wind (16 page)

She smiled and agreed softly.

"I just want to know on
e thing from you, Maria. Any re
grets?"

"No." She spoke with conviction. "No regrets."

"Isn't that enough for now?" he implored her. "I can show you happiness if you'll let me."

"I agree with your logic. I just wish it were that easy."

Joe took a deep breath. "I may regret this, but I think we'd better get it out in the open. Hiding and pretending doesn't work. Let's talk about him.
Tell me everything about him.
"

"
Thomas
Wayne
Eden
."

"I really don't know anything about him. Was Wayne killed in an accident?"

"No. His death was the result of a rare virus that attacks the heart muscle. He became violently ill and died w
ithin two weeks. He was on life
support for—" She paused and blinked her eyes rapidly.

"This is too much for you." Joe felt his stomach knot as he listened to her pain. "You don't have to tell me."

"I want to. You're right. You should know. I should say it." She took
a deep breath. "He was on life
support for the last few days and we finally realized... It became obvious that he wouldn't last."

Joe pressed her hand to his pounding heart. He wanted to take her in his arms, to hush her message with his lips, yet he couldn't. He could only listen to her tortured story. When she finished, his arm went around her shoulder and he pulled her to him.

She laid her head against the security of Joe's chest and lis
tened to the rhythmic beating of his heart. It seemed to relate
more than he'd been able to say. And wo
rds weren't re
quired. His strength, his presence, his sincerity all combined to let her know his sentiment. Finally he spoke in a low voice. "I want you to know that I care about your feelings. And about you, Maria. But I won't intrude."

"You haven't, Joe."

He struggled to say the next words and even doubted for a moment that he could. "I'll walk away if that's what you really want. Until you're ready."

She sat up and looked at him in alarm. "Don't do that. Please don't leave me now, Joe." She leaned forward and kissed him. "I need you."

"I won't leave. I need you, too. Oh, Maria..." He groaned as their lips met again, and he hauled her closer. Whenever they touched, the magnetic powers between them were spontaneous. After only one night he couldn't imagine ever being without her again.

Finally he lifted her chin. "
Maria, it’s okay to have a life. To live. To be happy.
To love
."

She nodded and clutched his hand as they made their way down from the lava boulders.

"Here it is!
" He pointed at a sandy slope between two rocks. "It's your perfect whelk!"

Putting their heads tog
ether, they examined an orange-
toned shell
on the sand
. Suddenly it started to move.

"It has an occupant," she said, laughing. "A hermit crab is using it as his home."

"It's a beautiful shell. Looks perfect. Do you want it? We can get rid of that crab."

"No, he found it first. He—or she—deserves it." She slipped her hand into Joe's and smiled. "There'll be others. Anyway, I have about all the perfection I can handle right now."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close to his warm body. "Oh, I don't know. I figure you're just about perfect, and I can't seem to get enough of you."

"See, it's not impossible to find perfection, if you look long enough. And you don't lose hope." She pressed herself against him, loving the way their bodies molded together. "Did I tell you last night was terrific, Joe
?
"

"About a dozen times." He chuckled. "I don't know if we're really perfect together, but damned close."

"Damned close," she repeated as his lips closed over hers.

Chapter Seven

"
My goal for today is
to beat you at tennis," Joe announced later after a meager breakfast of coffee and fruit with Maria.
“
Then chase you around the pool and—"

"Whoa!
Don't I have anything to say about this?" Maria smiled at his enthusiasm. She knew he was trying to make her feel better
– happier -
after their
talk
on the beach earlier.

"
U
nless you want to concede defeat now. With a breakfast like this, it's a wonder you don't collapse for lack of nourishment."

"It's plenty for me. You could have ordered more."

"No, I'm watching m
y waistline. Goes along with im
proving my image. Didn't you say cameras add ten pounds?"

"Sad fact," she said with a nod. "If we play tennis every day, I'm afraid we'll lose too much time, Joe. You realize, of course, that we have a lot of ground to cover.
We’ve barely started.
"

He drew an imaginary line down her nose with his finger. "Wrong
. We only just begun.  Us. We. You and I. Maria and Joe. We won't lose anything
. We
’
ll gain
everything
by being together. And we won't
play tennis every day.
Just today.
" His fin
ger traced her mouth, then he kissed her lips. "And  work later. Promise."

She settled into the comfortable circle of his arms. "You're very persuasive, you know."

"Smart girl. I knew you'd see it my way."

Maria was able to relax and enjoy playing with Joe. Playing, for the first time in years.
Years
.
She beat him soundly at tennis
, which did nothing for his game
. But he ou
tswam her by ten laps, at least, which she blamed on the weather.
They ate a hearty lunch and raced back to the room. He won, being the runner, and teased her unmercifully when she stumbled into the room, gasping for air.

But when she caught her
breath, Maria tantalized him un
til he soon became breathless, too. She fussed that he gave up too easily, but quickly forgot her objections when she ended up in his arms.

During the late afternoo
n they spent a few hours on com
munication preliminaries, suc
h as listening to others and re
vealing oneself.

That night Joe lured her to his casita. Like new lovers who can't get enough of each other, they made love until they were exhausted and fell asleep nestled together like two spoons.

Breakfast the next day was a
carnal affair, held in the mid
dle of his king-size bed. She snuggled in her fluffy yellow robe. He wore only a towel around his waist.

Maria fed him guava-
marmalade
muffins, daintily dab
bing the corners of his mouth af
ter each bite. Joe fed her hue
vos rancheros, eggs served on corn tortillas and topped with
salsa fresco.

He
dribbl
ed
salsa
on her chin and
right down the middle of her
chest.

"
Joe!"
she shrieked.

He pressed her backward on the bed until she was lying on her back.
"Sorry,
let me
get that." He leaned
over her
and lapped up every bit with his tongue. "Hmm, this is the part I like best
.
"

"You did that on purpose!" She giggled and grabbed a napkin.

He seized her wrist and
pushed her back against the pil
lows. "Is there any other way
?
Hold still and I'll get it all." His kiss left no doubt about his interest in all of her.

"
Hmm, nice, but your b
reakfast is getting cold."

"But we're getting hot. Now which is more important?"
He planted kisses all over her face. 

"Well, when you put it that way..." Her fingers traced the strong lines of his face.

"We only need to eat enough to keep up our strength," he murmured. "I can't get enough of you, pretty lady."

Slowly he stretched alongside her, not losing eye contact during the process. He moved closer until their lips touched and his tongue reached inside to the sweet moisture of her mouth. Her tongue met his, sparring playfully. With a low groan of pleasure he raised his head to gaze at her.

"When you look at me like that, I get butterflies inside, Joe."

"You with butterflies?
You teach people how to chase them away.
Sorry, but I can't keep my eyes off you, Maria. You're a beautiful, sensuous woman. I still can't believe I'm really holding you and this isn't all a big dream."

"It's no dream, Joe. Touch me and see."

He swallowed hard and desire lit up his ebony eyes. Both hands stroked her tousled hair and framed her face, then moved down to the lapels of
her robe. Slowly he pushed back
both panels to find her alluringly nude. Releasing a pent-up breath, he voiced a guttural, "Beautiful... so sexy.
This – you – are all I want for breakfast.
"

She smiled sensually at his obvious approval. "
Good thing I’m hungry
." She took his hand and kissed the palm and ran her tongue down its middle, then placed it over one breast.

He pressed both copper-brown hands against the soft pliancy of her creamy white breasts, the center of his palms against the prominent pink nipples and his fingers splayed against her bosom. Ever so
gently he began to massage, gen
erating a quickly mounting passion within her.

She writhed beneath his hot hands, then gasped for joy as he sprinkled kisses liberally over her breasts. Her skin tingled with delight, and she felt his breath in hot little spurts as his lips moved erotically over her. She couldn't get enough of his passionate display of affection.

"Oh, Joe, touch me everywhe
re." She wriggled in antici
pation of his response to her command.

As his tongue created moist trails down her belly and to the sensitive area on her inner thighs, Maria felt aflame all over. She'd never known such strong passion, had never felt so alive when making love. She made soft purring noises as his hands teased her body, and gasped
aloud when he pressed the center
of her womanhood. Long, firm strokes stimulated her to the brink of ecstasy, and her whispers urged him to finish what he'd started.
Quickly.

When he straddled her writhing body, the towel around his waist came off, revealing his full aroused glory. He paused long enough to make their lovemaking safe and she watched him, arching her back, encouraging him to hurry. Her hands were everywhere,
assisting, tempting, begging.
When he was ready, she murmured, "Don't
make me
wait, Joe.
I want you
..."

He slid his large hands beneath her hips and lifted her to meet him, his desire hard and vigorous as he drove into her softness. There was no holding back for either of them. He
fill
ed her
complete
ly
with
slow
,
deliberate
moves
, then with a growing force beyond his control.

Joe knew that as a man, his first attraction to her had been her beauty. But now his feelings—not just his lust—for the lovely woman he was beginning to know were expressed in his physical lovemaking. He wanted her, wanted to satisfy his own sexual urges. But he also wanted to satisfy hers. And his need for her was rapidly going beyond sexual.

Maria vibrated with the impact of his body on hers, in hers. Looping her legs around his hips, she
clutched
him, riding with e
ach plunge to new peaks of plea
sure.
Amazingly h
er sexual needs seemed to
mirror
his, and she was consumed with only one thou
ght, one frenzied act to be ful
filled.
Again and again.
Going from nothing for so long to everything all at once put her on overload.
Her physical need
for him
was acute, her undulating motion tireless
ly matching his
, as she moaned in ecstasy
and begged for more
.

But in her heart Maria knew she couldn't be this free with any man, even one as sexy as Joe, unless her feelings went beyond the physical. He was
becoming
a part of her heart as well as her body.