“Now, if you’re quite through trying to turn me into a human bonfire, I suggest we repair to the bedroom before I take you here in this chair. I don’t think I can…” He broke off as a sharp rap sounded at the door.
Kendra lifted her head. “What’s that?” she asked, startled.
Joel closed his eyes in frustration. “I believe that’s the Marasef equivalent of Providence saving you from a fate worse than death.” He sighed and his lids flew open. “That’s got to be the dinner I ordered in a moment of sheer insanity.” The knock was repeated.
“But I don’t want to be saved,” she protested with an impish grin. “Maybe if we don’t answer, they’ll go away.”
Swiftly he lifted her off his lap. “No, it’s just as well,” he said gloomily as he stood up and buttoned his shirt. “I wanted this to be something more than a roll in the hay.” He smoothed his tousled dark hair, his eyes never leaving hers, then repeated as if in incantation: “Dinner, conversation, romance. I’ve got to remember that. Lord, I don’t know if I’m going to make it, sweetheart.”
Well, who was asking him to? she thought in exasperation as she watched him cross quickly to the door and open it for the waiter. She was in just as much a fever as he, but she had none of the maddening apprehension he evidently felt about satisfying that hunger. How could either of them concentrate on food after what had almost happened such a short time ago? The man was totally unreasonable. Yet there was something very endearing about his very irrationality, Kendra thought with a poignant little tug at her heart. Somehow she doubted that Joel had ever before in his life restrained himself from taking what he wanted at a moment like that. His gift of restraint might have been terribly frustrating, but it was a lovely and touching gift all the same. She would just have to exert all her energies to show him how unnecessary that restraint was.
An enigmatic smile touched her lips as she watched the waiter deck the little table on the balcony with a white damask cloth and a crystal candleholder garlanded with white camellias. All the delicious little touches of romance, she noticed with amusement. Had Joel made a special point of ordering those as well as dinner? She felt a sudden surge of love for him so strong that it overshadowed even the desire she was experiencing. It had hurt him to let her go, yet he would suppress that aching to give her this gallant and quixotic present. With tender ruefulness she noticed the lines of strain about Joel’s lips as he watched the boy transfer a large covered bowl from the serving cart to the table. Yes, she definitely had to do something to make Joel see the light.
There was still a slight smile on her face when she sat down opposite Joel and served herself some of the exotic stew from the large crockery bowl in the center of the table.
“You seem to be very well pleased with yourself,” Joel said with a scowl as he lifted his glass of wine. “You evidently have a talent for reversing gears that I don’t possess.”
“Nope. I’m in exactly the same shape you’re in,” Kendra said cheerfully, picking up her fork. “I’m just hoping to convince you how idiotic this is, so we can get on to more important things.” She took a bite of the stew. “You know, this is very good, but I can’t quite place the sauce. It tastes rather sweet.”
“They make it with dates,” he said absently, his eyes narrowed on her face. “I hope you’re not going to try a Tom Jones style seduction.” His voice was dry. “Contrary to popular myth, I understand it’s extremely bad for the digestion.”
“Heavens no,” she denied sweetly. “It’s been done far too many times before to make such tactics anything but ludicrous.” She gazed dreamily over the graceful minarets and flat-roofed houses now touched with the violet shadows of early evening. “No, I had something more in line with your ideas of keeping our relationship honest and basic.”
“Indeed?” Joel’s voice was cautious. “Would you mind elaborating?”
“Certainly.” Kendra’s gaze returned to his face and her voice was silky soft running over him, as fluidly sensual as her fingers had been such a short time before. “I just want to tell you very honestly how much I want you to do all those things to me that you did in your House of Rainbows. How I want your hands all over me as if you loved every inch of my body. How empty and aching I feel and how much I want you to fill that emptiness and soothe that ache.” Her velvet-brown eyes were glowing. “And I want to tell you very basically what I’d like to do to you. How I’d like to rub my hands over your chest, then run them across your back and down…”
“Stop.” His voice was strangled and there was a feverish flush on his cheekbones. “I think that’s more basic honesty than I’m capable of hearing at the moment.”
“Well, you did specify conversation.”
“I didn’t have such erotic subject matter in mind,” he said wryly. “I was thinking more along the lines of a question and answer session. We haven’t had much time this week to learn very much about each other.”
She didn’t agree. She felt she had learned a great deal about the complex man who was Joel Damon by watching him work. His humor was as much a part of him as the hard incisiveness, as was the vision and excitement that seemed to electrify him when a scene was coming together just the way he wanted.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Joel said thickly. “That’s even more erotic than your idea of basic conversation.” He took a quick sip of his wine. “If we’re to get through this dinner, I think I’d better take the initiative.”
“Oh, I’m all for initiative,” she said lightly. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Would you like me to go into detail about what I’d like you to initiate?”
“No!” he said quickly. “Your family. Tell me about your family. The personnel record said your parents were deceased but that you have a brother. What’s his name? Are you close?”
Suddenly she felt as if she had been doused with ice water, and her smile faded. She didn’t want to think about Casey right now. To think about Casey and her responsibilities would bring an end to the happiness that suffused her. She had known this was too ephemeral to last, but she wanted to seize as much happiness as she could tonight.
“His name is Casey. And yes, we’re very close.”
His eyes narrowed speculatively. “You’re not very outspoken on the subject, are you? Is he older or younger than you?”
“Casey’s twenty-six,” she answered flatly. “You’re not eating,” she went on, making an effort to smile. “So much for your three-part plan. We have romance and conversation, but you’ve taken only a few sips of that wine.”
“What does he do for a living?”
Heavens, but the man was stubborn. “It’s my turn to play twenty questions,” she said hurriedly. “Are your parents still living?” When she saw the sudden tightening of his face, she could have bitten her tongue. “Never mind. Maybe twenty questions isn’t such a great game after all.”
“You needn’t be so concerned,” Joel said, his mouth tight. “I gather Billie’s filled you in on my charming parents.” He looked down at the ruby liquid in his glass. “My dear mother is still alive and well and living in Nice. As for my father…” He shrugged. “At last report I believe I heard he was in Argentina. He always did find Latin señoras more generous than most.”
“You speak as if you know him very well,” Kendra said slowly. “I thought he had faded out of the picture before you were born.”
“Oh, he did,” Joel said. “He knew he couldn’t get anymore out of a tough old bird like my grandfather, so there wasn’t any use in his sticking around.” His eyes were still fixed unseeingly on his glass. “But I’ve always been a skeptical bastard and had to be shown. I looked him up one summer when I was a junior in college. He was living in Barcelona with the wealthy widow of a vintner. I spent almost a month with them.” He smiled bitterly. “My father is a very charming man and completely plausible. For that month he had me convinced that he was a victim who had been exploited by cold-hearted, manipulative capitalists.” His laugh was self-
mocking. “I actually thought he cared about me. God, I was young.”
“Perhaps he did care,” she said gently. “Most men have some paternal feelings.”
“Do they?” His lips curved cynically. “I wouldn’t know about that. Most women I know use pregnancy as a weapon or some kind of blackmail, and most men look upon it as the final lock on the door of the cage. Only my father managed to avoid that particular bondage. A very clever man, my father, but a little impatient. When he found out my money was tied up in trusts until I was twenty-five, he gave me my walking papers. He wasn’t prepared to invest that many years of charm and charisma on the marginal chance he might squeeze something more out of the Damons.” Joel lifted his glass in a little toast. “But I learned a great deal in that month, even so. He gave me my final diploma in human relations.”
She couldn’t stand it. The emptiness in his eyes was worse than pain. No, it was pain and she felt it too, not in sympathy, but as an actual physical ache. The need to comfort him and soothe his pain had an almost primitive urgency.
Her voice was husky despite its deliberate lightness. “I think I’ve reached the end of my patience.” Kendra put down her fork very carefully. “I believe I’ve indulged you enough. Any more would just encourage that element of arrogance I’ve noticed in your makeup.” She pushed back her chair and stood up. “Conversation, dinner, and romance are definitely at an end.” As she walked briskly to the French doors, she winked at him over her shoulder. “I’m going to be in that bed in two minutes. I’ll expect you there in three.”
There was a hint of tenderness in his smile. “You’re a bold wanton, Kendra.”
“It goes with the territory. Stuntwomen are supposed to be bold and daring. It says so in the contract I signed with you.” The door closed behind her.
She wasn’t feeling at all daring a few minutes later, sitting, waiting, in the double bed with only a sheet covering her nakedness. Why was she suddenly so shy? She was trembling like a virgin on her wedding night. It was as if the night at the Rainbow Keep had never happened.
“Three minutes, just as you decreed,” Joel said, standing in the doorway. She noticed that he had used those minutes to remove his sport coat and unbutton his shirt. In the somber twilight of the room, his lean muscular form had a pantherlike beauty that took her breath away.
He came toward her, his green eyes as jewel-bright as a panther’s too. “I wouldn’t dare to be even a minute late, considering what an aggressive wench you are,” he drawled. “So I just covered the dinner you scorned so rudely, corked the wine, and…” He suddenly broke off when he was close enough to see that her velvet-brown eyes were wide with uncertainty. His lips pursed in a soundless whistle as he sat down beside her on the bed. His hand reached out gently to push a silky tress behind her ear. “Why do I suspect that the stuntwoman isn’t living up to her contract?” His brow lifted inquiringly. “No brashness, no daring, sweetheart?”
She shook her head. “Stupid, isn’t it?” She moistened her lips nervously. “It isn’t even my first time. I’m sorry, Joel.”
“Don’t be.” He leaned forward to kiss her so sweetly that her breath caught in her throat. “I think I like it.” His hand was tracing the line of her cheekbone with a touch that was featherlight, and his look was tender. “It pleases that streak of arrogance in my makeup to know I can intimidate a tiger lady like you.”
“Oh, Joel.” Suddenly she flung herself into his arms and clung to him with a strength that had a touch of desperation. Oh God, she loved him so much it was exploding inside her like a volcano in full eruption. “I don’t feel like a tiger lady, a rainbow lady, or any kind of lady at all. I feel like a woman who wants to be loved. Please make love to me, Joel.”
“I intend to.” He drew back, his breathing harsh, his face flushed with desire. “I’m holding on to my control by the skin of my teeth, but I want to tell you something first, love.” His head lowered, and each word was a soft kiss against the hollow of her throat. “You’ve always hated my calling you rainbow lady. I guess you had a right to, considering what it meant to both of us in the beginning.” He looked up and his eyes were grave. “I just wanted you to know that it doesn’t mean the same thing to me now. You’re still my rainbow lady, because I’ll always see in you all the beauty and radiance I want in my life, but it’s a radiance that’s not going to fade away. Not ever, Kendra.”
How could a silence say so much, mean so many shining things? Her heart was so full, it felt as if it must burst. Oh dear Lord, if only this moment could last forever, she thought.
Then Joel’s eyes were no longer serious, but twinkled. “Now, like the genius I’m reputed to be, I have no intention of letting you respond to that without consolidating my position.” His hands gently pushed the sheet down to her waist, baring her breasts. “Let’s see how long it takes to find the pot of gold, rainbow lady.”
His breath was warm, but not warm enough to ignite the streak of flame that shot through her as his lips tugged at one rosy peak. “Incredible,” he murmured, his eyes dark and glazed with need. “You’re so incredibly lovely you take my breath away.” He blew gently on her breast, then laughed huskily as she gave him the response he wanted. “You swell like fruit ripening in the sun.” He took her hand and brought it to the urgency of his arousal. “Touch me, hold me, love. I want you to know how you’re making me ripen, too.”
Then his lips closed tenderly on her nipple, sucking gently, then using his teeth to nibble in a caress that made her arch up to him with a little gasp. It was as if he were controlling a hot wire connected to the center of her being, and each gentle tug brought a flash of electricity that burned through her, robbing her of breath and increasing the aching emptiness between her thighs.
Joel lifted his head, his face flushed and his cheeks hollowed and taut. “God, you’re driving me crazy. I want to feel you around me. I want your hands loving me, and your long lovely legs pulling me closer—”
“Be still,” she gasped. She was trembling so badly that she could hardly get her breath. “Please, don’t talk anymore. Make love to me!”
“Very soon.” His breath was as labored as her own and she could see the pulse jumping wildly in his temple. “I want us to take it slowly if we can. That night at Rainbow Keep I wanted you so much I couldn’t wait. I couldn’t get enough of you fast enough to satisfy me.”
He stood up and slipped off his shirt. He reached up and suddenly the hammered copper hanging lamp beside the bed cast a golden pool of light. “That’s better. In the lamplight your hair shines as if it’s on fire.”
His hands worked swiftly at his belt. His supple shoulders were glowing like the copper of the lamp, and his hair was the color of midnight in the cozy circle of light that surrounded them.
“Now I’m ready to resume that little conversation we were having at dinner.” He was stripping swiftly, his eyes on her face, his voice a silken murmur. “Listen carefully, sweetheart, while I tell you all the things I’m going to do to you tonight. I learned a few other things from my father, things that I enjoyed far more than that final lesson I mentioned. He knew a great deal about how to give pleasure to a woman, and it amused him to have such an eager pupil in me. I’m going to use every bit of that knowledge on you tonight.” His gaze moved lingeringly down her body to the indentation of her navel, and she felt her flesh tauten and burn wherever his olive eyes touched her. “What a lovely secret place on your body. I’m going to explore that pretty hollow with my finger and then I’m going to lay my head on that soft firm belly and stroke it very slowly with my tongue. I’m going to spend a long time there tasting you, breathing in the scent of you.”
Kendra moved restlessly under his gaze. It was crazy, but she could actually feel the weight of his head, the slight scratchiness of his cheek, the moist warmth of his tongue. The muscles of her stomach contracted in a yearning so intense it was almost painful. “Joel, I’m definitely not shy anymore. Come to bed, dammit.”
“Not
much longer.” He smiled ruefully at her. “I’m hurting, too, love, but the pleasure will be all the keener for anticipation.” He was totally nude when he sat down beside her, still not touching her with anything but his eyes and words that burned into her like a sword.
He folded back the sheet with a deliberation that caused her to tense with impatience. “You have gorgeous thighs, do you know that? Sleek and strong, yet the inner flesh is so soft and warm. I remember the feel of every muscle and tendon as they parted and then wrapped around me. But I was too impatient to just sit and look at how beautiful you are down here. I’m not impatient now, Kendra. I’m going to spread those silky thighs and just gaze at you for a long, long time. I’m going to memorize every curve and hollow.”
Her face grew flushed and languorous as his words inflamed her desire. Some were as beautiful and poetic as a Kahlil Gibran verse, others as graphic and bawdy as a medieval soldier’s song to his lady love. It made no difference, for it was all so arousing Kendra thought she would go insane if he didn’t touch her soon.
Just when she thought she could stand no more, the words suddenly ceased. Joel drew a deep, shuddering breath and smiled at her with loving sweetness. “I hope you’ve been paying attention, my love, because I think it’s time we translated words into action.” And he slowly lowered his lips to the softness of her belly.
In the hours that followed they did everything that he’d promised, and more. They were both so aroused that every touch, every kiss, every movement was both pain and bliss. When the warm velvet length of him reached into her welcoming depths, she thought she’d go berserk. She could feel herself tightening around him as if to hold him in that most intimate of all embraces. He gave a low guttural cry and then plunged into the heart of her with stunning force.
Their search for their pot of gold took them through valleys of intimacy shadowed wine-dark with passion, to mountains that rose with endless delight. They sailed seas whose tides and currents lifted and cradled them before spinning them in a whirlpool of fiery need. It was a journey like no other she had ever taken, and when they did reach the treasure Joel had spoken of, it was no more golden than the odyssey itself.