Renegade Man (26 page)

Before he could
say anything else, she pressed her fingers softly against his mouth. “Jonah, I
love you. I love you.”

“I’m not letting
you get rid of me again, Ritz.” He grinned. “I’m not going to go away.”

She kissed his
neck, inhaling his scent. “Who said anything about going away?”

“Then do you
think we could start talking about a future—say, nine-to-five jobs and a
two-story house with a fireplace?”

She lifted her
head to stare up at him. “No. That would destroy you, Jonah. And destroy our
love.”

She saw the pain
in the strong lines of his face. “Don’t you think I have the courage to risk
anything for your love? I’m tired of the shadows, Rita-lou.”

“Then how about
the sunlight? The Pacific sunlight.”

He blinked.
“What?”

She grinned
impishly. “I’d like to prove that early man sailed across the Pacific to South
America, then migrated north instead of the reverse—coming from Siberia via the
Bering Strait and migrating south. I propose, sailor boy, that we purchase a
sailboat, say a forty-five-foot yacht, and attempt the same crossing. There’s a
site in Chile, in Monte Verde, that I think may be as old as—”

He silenced her
with a quick kiss and said, “That’s a great idea, sweetheart. But where in
God’s name would we get the money to make an expedition of that kind? Just the
sails alone would cost a cool—”

“Oh? Didn’t I
tell you?” She stroked his hair. “You won the right to your claim.”

“Great,” he said
dryly. “A lot of good that will do now.”

“Oh, there’s
more.” She stepped back to better watch his expression. “In all that digging the
state boys are doing, they turned up a golf-ball-sized nugget of gold. Yours,
Jonah. But any further mining will have to wait until they’ve rescued all the
artifacts.” The pure joy in his eyes was worth all the waiting and all the
agony.

“I have this powerful
urge to see the open water,” he told her, sliding his hands up under her
T-shirt and around her waist so that he could draw her against him again. “This
time with you. How far away is it?”

She slipped her
arms up around his neck and brushed her lips against his in a soft and teasing
kiss. “Oh, fifty miles or so from here, mate.” She looked up at him and smiled.
“But I think that will have to wait. 1 have something much more interesting in
mind.”

The look in his
eyes told her that he didn’t mind at all.

###

Parris Afton
Bonds is the mother of five sons and the author of thirty-five published
novels.  She is the co-founder of and first vice president of Romance Writers
of America.  Declared by ABC’s Nightline as one of the three-best-selling
authors of romantic fiction, the award winning Parris Afton Bonds has been
interviewed by such luminaries as Charlie Rose and featured in major newspapers
and magazines as well as published in more than a dozen languages.  She donates
her time to teaching cretive writing to both grade school children and female
inmates.  The Parris Award was established in her name by the Southwest Writers
Workhop to honor a published writer who has given outstandingly of time and
talent to other writers.  Prestigious recipients of the Parris Award include
Tony Hillerman and the Pulitzer nominee Norman Zollinger.

Connect with
Parris at http://parrisaftonbonds.com