‘Give me one good reason why I should?’ he demanded loudly.
‘Because I’m not leaving!’ she shouted back equally loudly, and watched him falter to a halt.
‘You’re not leaving?’ He asked for confirmation much more quietly.
Reba had to bring her hand up to cover her twitching lips. ‘We’re going to another location, not leaving the island. At least, not yet,’ she explained, and watched in fascination as a tide of colour rose up his neck. Then, of course, she did laugh. She simply couldn’t help it.
Something primeval burst into life at the back of his eyes, and he advanced on her. ‘So you think it’s funny, do you? Let’s see how you like this!’ With a squeal she tried to avoid him, but he was too quick for her. Tossing her over his shoulder, he carried her struggling body along to the master cabin. Shutting the door with his foot, he tossed her down on the bed and came down after her, pinning her to the covers with the weight of his body.
In a flash everything changed. Reba’s eyes grew huge as she stared up at him, seeing the softening of his face, the sensuous curve of his lips. ‘Is this the punishment?’ she whispered thickly, feeling her blood begin to pump heavily through her veins.
Hunter’s eyes dropped to her lips, and they parted in anticipation of his kiss. ‘Hell, no. This is the prize. Somewhere along the line I must have done something good, and you’re my reward. I’m never going to let you go.’
With that he lowered his mouth to hers and, as she welcomed him, she knew that this time there was to be no turning back. Passion rose swiftly. She couldn’t recall who undressed whom. Perhaps they undressed each other. All she knew was that at last they were free of all restrictions, because flesh burned flesh as they moved together. Love taught her what to do as she travelled this new path. It gave her pleasure to run her hands over the sweat-slicked planes of his shoulders and back, feeling the heat of him, glorying in the way he moaned and arched into her. It was wondrous to find that he experienced the same pleasures at her touch as she did at his caresses, and her hands flitted upwards, finding the flat male nipples and teasing them until she heard him catch his breath.
He fell back against the pillow, his magnificent body open to her hot gaze. She didn’t see the way his eyes glittered through the slits of his lashes as she embarked on a voyage of discovery. Where her hand roamed, her lips followed, tasting him, knowing him. She heard him sigh and move, felt his hand come down to tangle in her hair, but when she would have made her final conquest his fingers tightened and pulled her upwards until he rolled over, pinioning her again.
‘God, you’re a witch. You take me to the limits of my control.’
‘I want you to lose it,’ Reba gasped, as his mouth trailed a fiery path down her throat.
‘Not yet, tiger-eyes, not yet,’ he growled, and set about making her lose hers instead.
It didn’t take long, with his hands and lips exploring every inch of her. Soon she was writhing against him as his mouth teased her breasts. His tongue laved her nipples even as his teeth nipped, and as her hands rose to hold him to her he drew her aching flesh into the warm cavern of his mouth and suckled until she cried out her pleasure.
He taught her body to sing, playing it like a finely tuned instrument, bringing her from one peak to the next, yet always leaving her aching for the summit which seemed beyond her reach. But then, magically, it wasn’t. His seeking hands found the warm, moist centre of her, stroking her until she arched and froze as a myriad stars exploded behind her closed eyes. And as she floated somewhere beyond herself he moved over her, parting her thighs with his, entering her slowly, breaking the last tie to her former self. He transported her upwards on a coil of tension which grew and grew with every thrust of the powerful body which had finally lost control, until there was nowhere else to go and the world exploded in unimaginable pleasure.
The universe righted itself very slowly as Reba raised eyelids which seemed to be weighted. She was curled into the warmth of Hunter’s side, and with a sigh she realised that they were lying on the bed in the master cabin of the yacht, in the aftermath of the most exquisite loving. She couldn’t remember ever being so happy. Her head rested on Hunter’s chest while his fingers idly combed their way through her damp hair. She loved the sound of his heart beating; it was so solid and reassuring.
‘How do you feel?’ There was concern in his voice. Even in his passion, he had recognised that it was her first time.
‘Wonderful,’ she breathed, knowing she might ache tomorrow, but not caring.
‘I didn’t hurt you?’
She lifted her head then, lips twisting in a wry grin. ‘I can’t remember.’
Hunter grinned back. ‘I was that good, hmm?’
She dug her chin into his shoulder, making him wince. ‘Don’t get big-headed. I have nothing to compare it with, remember?’
He tweaked her nose. ‘Never mind, I have. On a scale of one to ten, I’d say you were——’ He broke off as her fingers threatened a tender spot, laughing as he rolled her over. ‘Jealous?’
Her confidence was high. ‘Should I be?’
‘No,’ Hunter confessed at once, propping himself on one elbow and smoothing her damp hair away from her face. ‘We’ve got to make some plans, tiger-eyes,’ he declared softly, and her heart galloped on apace as she anticipated what plans he meant. A tiny smile hugged the curve of her lips as her finger found the dimple in his chin.
‘What plans are those?’
He caught her hand, kissing the tip of each finger in turn. ‘You said you’d have to leave eventually.’
‘I can stay a little longer, if you’ll let me stay on the yacht.’ She put forward her plans hopefully.
‘But you’ll still have to leave, right?’ he added, his face losing some of its softness.
Reba licked her lips. ‘I have to work, Hunter. What else can I do?’
Blue eyes bored into hers. ‘You could marry me,’ he suggested, and they were the most wonderful words she had ever heard, bar three yet unspoken.
‘Oh, Hunter, I’d love to marry you. Whenever you say!’ she cried, flinging herself against him as tears moistened her eyes. Yet even in the midst of her happiness, reality intruded. ‘But I’ll still have to work.’
He smiled into her wet eyes. ‘No, you won’t. Let me do the worrying about money. I might mess about with boats for a living, but it is a living. I can support my own wife.’
Of course he could, but he didn’t understand the situation. She knew he would when she explained to him, and she would do that as soon as she had her mother’s permission. It was important to Harriet Wyeth to feel she was in control of some of her life, and although Reba knew she could tell him now, she felt she couldn’t betray a trust. Besides, it would only be for one day. As long as it took to make a phone call. Then they would work something out. Two people who loved each other as much as they did would always be able to work out their problems together.
‘All right, Hunter, whatever you say.’
Hunter groaned, his smile rueful. ‘Lord, if only I could be as certain you’d always be this docile, tiger-eyes.’
‘Never mind. It doesn’t matter how uppity I might get, you’ll always be able to make me purr,’ she tantalised, and pulled his head down to hers.
Not surprisingly, it was late when Hunter dropped Reba off at her hotel. He had wanted her to stay over but, with the shoot moving on, she knew she would have to be up early. So they parted reluctantly at the entrance, where she kissed him goodnight and hurried inside. When she went to collect her key from the night clerk, he handed it to her, together with a folded piece of