"I wanted her back the moment the ship sailed away from the island. My foolish pride disrupted my senses, blinded me to the obvious."
"And what was the obvious?" Santos asked, leaning back in his chair, waiting to hear what most on the island knew.
"That I love her beyond reason." He stared with concern as she stirred restlessly, seeming to suddenly find herself uncomfortable.
"Well?" Santos waited for him to continue.
"Well what?" Lucian asked, watching her shut her book and lean her head back against the tree. Something was disturbing her.
"Well, what do you plan to do about it?"
His eyes still on Catherine, he answered Santos. "I plan on marrying the stubborn woman one way or another."
Santos grinned widely. "I take it you've proposed to her and she rejected you."
"She has rejected every attempt I've made to solidify our relationship. She insists that until I speak with her father, our relationship will remain in limbo."
And it had. She had managed to avoid him day and night, feigning fatigue more often than not. They hadn't been intimate since her return and the tension their celibacy had caused crackled like thick ice suddenly beginning to crack.
"Odd, don't you think?" Santos remarked. "She knows your dislike for her father and yet she insists that you speak with him. Why would she do that?"
"Probably some wild notion that if we talk I may find it within me to forgive the man. An impossibility that she obviously refuses to accept."
"What will you do?"
Lucian moved toward the veranda steps when he noticed her hand stroke her belly slowly and her eyes flutter shut as though warding off a discomfort. "I intend to propose to her again, and this time I refuse to take no for an answer. Heaven will celebrate a wedding soon."
He almost vaulted off the steps, but controlled his haste and concern, walking over to her casually. He leaned down in front of her, his hand reaching out to cover hers as she stroked her well-rounded stomach. "Does the baby cause you discomfort?"
She smiled, taking his hand to rest it along the lower right side of her tummy. "He's a little devil. He's curled himself up into a tight little ball right there and refused to move. I've massaged him and explained politely that it is most uncomfortable for me, but still he persists in having his own way. He is much like his father."
Lucian smiled proudly. "I will teach him there is a time and place to demonstrate his willfulness. And inside his mother's womb is not one of those times."
Unhurriedly he eased her into his arms, adjusting her to fit snugly in his lap. With one supportive arm around her, his hand sought her discomfort. His finger dug gently into her belly, tenderly massaging the small ball that had tightened stubbornly. Skillfully and with quiet strength he eased his child to stretch and rest comfortably in his warm nest.
Catherine rested her head in the crook of his neck, her lips a mere breathe away from the pulsing vein that raced with his life's blood. She hungered to place her lips against it, to taste the familiar flavor of him, to surrender to her outrageous need to feel him part of her once again.
But she successfully restrained herself. She had staunchly refused to continue their relationship as it had been before he had sent her away. She stubbornly maintained her position that he must speak with her father. This matter required an immediate settlement. Lucian not only needed, but was entitled to learn the truth.
"Does that feel better, Catherine?" he asked, his hand resting lightly just beneath her breast.
"Much," she sighed.
"Good. I want you content and happy here." His hand drifted up, cupping her milk-filled breast in his hand, his finger deliberately skimming her nipple.
"Why?" she asked, the heat of his touch, too long absent, raced to fire tingling warmth between her legs.
"This is your home. Here we will live out our lives as husband and wife, raise our children, grow old and die together, being buried on the small rise beyond the garden, joined together for eternity."
Catherine almost cried for she felt as he did, that death could not separate them. She loved him well beyond this earthly plane.
His hand wandered up to lift her face to his. He kissed her as though it were their first joining. Tenderness and warmth embraced her lips and tears blurred her eyes as his gentle kiss turned persuasive. "Marry me, Catherine. I love you."
His declaration so simple, yet so fiercely issued, rushed the tears from her eyes.
"No, angel, don't," he whispered, kissing away her tears. "My heart breaks when you cry. And surely you don't wish me to suffer a broken heart."
She shook her head, not trusting her voice. She couldn't bear having him suffer the heartache she had suffered when he had sent her away and yet she could not surrender yet, not when there were things he must learn.