His One-Night Mistress(18)

He could have been killed, she thought. If the bullet had gone a mere  two inches to the left, she would never have seen him again. Did  anything matter beside the immensity of that fact? Calmly, as though it  was what she'd intended all along, Lia walked to meet him.

To Seth, she looked like a goddess from the sea in her wet turquoise  suit, the sunlight glinting on the droplets of water on her skin. Her  level gaze was confident of its power, her gait so graceful it hurt him  somewhere deep inside, a place he only rarely allowed to be touched. He  swallowed hard, knowing he should run in the opposite direction, knowing  equally strongly he was going to do nothing of the sort.

She was his fate.

He didn't believe in fate.

Then she reached him. With that same confidence she looped her arms  around his neck, stood on tiptoes and kissed him full on the mouth.

Desire slammed through him, hot and powerful. The kiss deepened, until  Seth was aware of nothing but a fury of need. Her breasts, pressed to  his bare chest, were hard-tipped, her nipples like tiny shells; grasping  her by the hips, he ground her body to his, swamped by wave after wave  of desire.

Not here, he thought, desperately reaching for some restraint, you can't  make love to Lia on the beach. He took her by the hand, rubbing his  cheek against the silky fragrance of her hair, and tried to slow his  breathing. "Let's go to my cottage," he said huskily, and watched her  smile her assent.

Hand in hand, they walked the length of the boardwalk toward his  cottage. Ushering her in, Seth kicked the door shut behind him and led  her to his bedroom. He hadn't made the bed, Lia noticed; the tumbled  sheets where he'd spent the night seemed incredibly intimate to her.  Turning to face him, she said urgently, "I want to make love to you  again, Seth. I want to stand naked in front of you."

As she strained upward, his head dropped to find her mouth; her lips  were salty, soft and warm and passionately hungry. She drew his hips to  hers, her fingers probing his taut buttocks. He said hoarsely, "You  drive me crazy, Lia. But this time we mustn't forget-"

Quickly he opened the drawer on the bedside table, and took out a small  foil envelope. She said in an odd voice, "Would I have thought of that?"

"Just as long as one of us remembers." His voice deepened. "I want you so much … "

"You can have me. All of me. Now."

Reaching up, he dragged the turquoise straps off her shoulders. Her  breasts were fuller than he remembered, their tips a rosy-pink in the  dawn light. He slid the wet fabric down her hips, kneeling to pull the  suit all the way to her slender, high-arched feet. Then he buried his  face in her belly, moving lower, his hands clasping her thighs.

She opened to him, burying her fingers in his thick blond hair, throwing  back her head in ecstasy as he parted the petals of her flesh and  unerringly found her center. Like wild-fire, the climax ripped through  her, so powerful that she cried out in mingled shock and satiation.

Slowly Seth rose to his feet, his mouth traveling all the curves of her  body until he was standing upright. She said, trying to catch her  breath, "Do you know what? I want more-how can I? It's disgraceful!"

"We've scarcely begun," he said, his eyes trained on her face as she  pulled back from him, her smile infinitely seductive. She was tugging at  his chest hair, sliding her fingers over the rippled muscles of his  belly, then edging his swimsuit free of his erection. The brush of her  fingers against his taut flesh nearly drove him over the brink. As he  kicked the suit to the floor, she said, "Your body's so beautiful … kiss  me, Seth-now. Drive me out of my mind."

It was all he needed to hear. Devouring the delectable softness of her  lips, his teeth grazing her tongue, he drank deep of all the sweetness  that was Lia. She was so willing, so eager, so incredibly generous that  within moments he lost the last shred of his control. Flinging her back  on the bed, he cupped her breast and took her nipple into his mouth,  suckling her as she whimpered his name. Briefly he raised his head,  drinking in the stunned pleasure on her face; her rib cage was a long  arch, her eyes dark pools in which he could lose himself. You're mine,  he thought. All mine.                       
       
           



       

Her hands were everywhere, teasing and enticing until they encircled him  in a paradoxical mixture of passion and gentleness. Wasn't that the  essence of Lia, Seth thought in sudden insight; and then stopped  thinking altogether. "I can't wait," he gasped, shoving himself up on  his elbows and reaching for the envelope. He dealt with it swiftly, even  as her legs widened to gather him in.

As he plunged deep, her face convulsed, her breath rasping in her  throat. Like a great surge of the sea, he was lifted until he could no  longer withstand her fierce inner throbbing; they fused and fell  together in a tumble of dazzling whiteness.

Joined, Seth rolled on his side, pulling her with him. He dropped his  face to her shoulder, dimly aware that his forehead was filmed with  sweat. Salty, he thought. Like the sea.

Her heart was thrumming, her body limp. He muttered, "Lia, are you okay?"

His voice seemed to come from miles away. Slowly Lia came back to  herself, to the weight of Seth's arm over her ribcage and the hammerbeat  of his heart so close it echoed in her ears. So close it could have  been her own.

But it wasn't her own. It was Seth's. Seth, with whom she'd just made love.

It had happened again. Just like in Paris.

What had she said to him yesterday? I won't have an affair with you.

This high-minded stance had lasted less than twenty-four hours. The  basic truth was that she couldn't keep her hands off him. Not here on a  tropical island. Not, in all likelihood, at Meadowland, were he to go  there. Meadowland, where Marise lived.

"Are you all right, Lia?" Seth repeated patiently.

"No."

She'd burrowed her head deeper into the pillow, hiding from him. Seth  pulled free of her, went to the bathroom, then marched back into the  bedroom; she was lying in exactly the same pose.

His heart now felt cold in his chest. Making love to Lia definitely  hadn't been in his plans. Or in hers, he'd be willing to bet. In spite  of himself, he glanced over at the clock. His plane was due to take off  in less than two hours.

He knelt on the bed and tugged on the silken fall of her hair. "Look at me."

She reared up, her dark eyes hostile. "We're like a couple of alley cats-we can't keep doing this!"

"It's only the second time in eight years."

"We've only seen each other twice in eight years," she flashed with  impeccable logic. "You can't meet Marise-I won't allow it. I won't have  her hurt because you and I behave like sex maniacs."

"Listen to me, Lia," Seth said forcefully, and wondered who he was  trying to convince, himself or her. "All the trappings of romance were  in place this morning-tropical beach at dawn, you in that goddamned  swimsuit, wet from the sea-what did you expect? Your farm won't be like  that-it's domesticated, a family setting, you even have a nanny, for  Pete's sake. I've steered clear of stuff like that for years. A total  turnoff."

"If you're going to have anything to do with Marise, you're going to  tell me why the mere thought of a nanny makes you go into orbit."

"I'll tell you what I choose to tell you, and no more."

She hated it when his eyes went as hard and sharp-edged as emeralds. "I  call the shots as far as Marise is concerned," she announced with  matching adamancy, and in a flurry of bare limbs rolled off the bed and  grabbed for her swimsuit. It was cold and damp, gritty with sand. She  yanked it up her body, wishing with all her heart she'd gone to any  other island than this one for her yearly vacation.

Seth stood up, seizing her by the elbow. "I'll be in touch after your concerts and we'll make the arrangements then."

"No, Seth," she said softly, "first you'll find out what happened to my  letters and you'll tell me about it. The how and the why."

"Twenty minutes of scorching sex sure hasn't affected your brain."

"I'm fighting for two-not just for myself."

With no idea where the words came from, Seth said, "What if I'm fighting for three?"

"You're not. So don't kid yourself."

She was right. He wasn't. "I've always dated malleable women who never  raise their voices," he said caustically. "No danger of that with you."

"None whatsoever."

"Say it, Lia. Before you're the one who goes into orbit."

"A nice faraway orbit sounds like a fabulous idea. You can get in touch  with me once I'm home from my concerts and I wish to heaven you'd put  some clothes on."