Sarah's Child (18 page)

Three days before Christmas she arrived home to find that Rome was already there; when she reached his bedroom door, she stopped, staring at the open suitcase on his bed.

He turned from the dresser where hed been taking out a selection of underwear and shirts. He looked at her wryly. Emergency. We have a hell of a mess in Chicago.

She wanted to protest, to make the traditional wifes lament of Why cant someone else go? but she bit the words back, knowing he wouldnt appreciate the hassle. When will you be back? she asked, going into the room and dropping down to sit on his bed, sighing in resignation.

Im not hanging around up there; Ive already booked the red-eye flight back. I should be getting in about four A.M. on the twenty-fourth.

Well, all right, she grumbled, and for the first time in their marriage she pouted. He dropped a stack of shirts into the suitcase and looked at her sulky face. Her pouting lower lip gave her face an unexpected sensuality, as if she were begging to be kissed, and more. He grinned suddenly, and shoved the suitcase to one side.

Sarah was unprepared, and she gasped in surprise when he tumbled her back across the bed. He gave her a slow wicked smile as he bent over her and pushed her skirt to her waist, then calmly stripped away her underwear. She gasped again, this time with the instantaneous excitement that rose in her whenever he touched her. Is this to tide you over? she murmured teasingly, her eyes bright.

Something like that. He unzipped his pants and shoved them down, then knelt on the bed, between her relaxed thighs. Youre my credit card; I dont leave home without this.

She laughed, twining her arms around his neck as he lowered his weight to her. The laughter caught in her throat at the slow delicious shock of his entry, and he heard the little intake of breath she always gave when he took her. It was music to him, and he buried his face against her neck in sudden need, pulling her legs up around his waist. I miss you like hell when Im gone, he said roughly, and with his confession he began thrusting deeply into her, reconfirming their partnership with the bond of their flesh.

Sarah didnt drive him to the airport; he preferred leaving his car there, so hed always have ready transportation home or to the office without taking a taxi. Despite herself, tears glittered in her eyes as she kissed him good-bye at the door, and he swore softly, dropping the suitcase to take her in his arms again.

Ill be back for Christmas, I promise, he said, giving her a hard kiss. You wont have to spend the holiday alone.

As if she cared about the holiday! She hated for him to leave regardless of the time of year, or what holiday was coming up. She blinked back the tears and managed a shaky smile for him. Its all right. Im just being silly.

It had to happen: he called at midnight on the twenty-third. Chicago is having a blizzard, he said with grim sarcasm. All flights are grounded until this mess clears.

Sarah sat up in bed, clutching the telephone so hard that her fingers were white. Any weather predictions? she made herself ask with a fair amount of calm, though shed been counting the hours until hed be home again.

Early afternoon. Ill call you when I have a definite flight.

She spent Christmas Eve moving restlessly around the apartment, adjusting ornaments on the small fragrant evergreen shed put up for a Christmas tree, fluffing pillows and moving articles of furniture that seemed a fraction of an inch out of place. Shed worried about how Rome might feel about celebrating Christmas, when the holiday must bring painful memories for him of his two small sons and their wide-eyed excitement, their toys underfoot, the complete chaos theyd created every Christmas Day in their ecstasy over the presents theyd received. So far, she hadnt detected any sign that he might be dreading the day, and she was keeping her fingers crossed that this would be a good holiday for him.

She couldnt wait for him to get home; she felt more on edge than shed ever been before while he was gone, and she knew it was because of what hed said while hed been making love to her that last time. I miss you like hell when Im gone It was the only indication hed ever given her that he might dislike leaving her while he went on a business trip. Shed always assumed that he even looked forward to the trips to give himself a break away from her. But if he missed her

She tried to caution herself against hoping too much. Rome was so virile, he could have meant merely that he missed making love to her. But what if he was missing her, her companionship, the things they shared? Her heart was thumping crazily in her chest at the thought. Christmas was the season of miracles, after all.

The waiting made her restless, and she thought of going down to visit Marcie, but she didnt want to intrude during the holiday, and she was afraid shed miss Romes call. She baked an apple pie for him and put clean sheets on their beds.

The phone rang, and she nearly broke her neck getting to it, tripping over her own feet. Snatching up the receiver, she said breathlessly, Hello.

My flight is supposed to be leaving within the hour, he said, his deep voice making her knees go weak even over the telephone lines. But everythings stacked up, so itll probably be later than that. I estimate Ill be home close to midnight. Dont wait up for me, baby. Go on to bed.

Imaybe, she stammered, knowing that shed still be awake even if he didnt get in until midnight the next night.

He laughed, a low promising sound that made her swallow. All right, then, stay awake. Ill be home as soon as I can.

It was just after eleven that night when she heard his key in the lock. She jumped up from the table, where shed been sitting nursing a cup of hot chocolate, and ran to meet him. He dropped his suitcase with a thud and caught her as she launched herself into his arms; then he kissed her, so long and hard and thoroughly that she shuddered and pressed herself against him.

His eyes glinting, he released her and rubbed his shadowed jaw with his hand. I need a shower and a shave, in that order. I spent the night at the airport, so Im pretty grimy. Go to bed; Ill be there in fifteen minutes, tops.

Sarah poured out the rest of the hot chocolate and turned out the lights, then went to her bedroom. She sat down on her bed and clasped her hands tightly together when she noticed how they were trembling. He was home. In only a few more minutes, hed be in here, in the bed with her, and hed make love to her as if hed like to devour her. Thenthen what? Would he make another tantalizing confession, another small indication that his feelings for her were deepening? Or would he silently hold her until she pretended to fall asleep, then go to his own solitary bed?

She sucked in a painful breath at the thought, and suddenly she knew that she couldnt bear for him to walk away from her again after making love to her. She was on her feet before she realized what she was doing; if anyone left afterward, it would be her. That way she wouldnt have to watch his back as he left. If, when the loving was finished, he didnt make any indication that he wanted more, then she could kiss him good night and calmly leave his bed without looking back. She couldnt lie there any longer, waiting for him to break her heart by leaving.

He came out of his bathroom just as she opened his door and walked in, and he lifted a black brow at her in astonishment. In a hurry? he drawled, dropping the towel that he held to the floor.

Sarah looked at him, at his tall hard body, and her mouth went dry. Yes, she whispered, pulling her nightgown over her head and dropping it to the floor also.

He walked past her and threw the covers to the foot of his bed, then extended his hand to her in silent invitation. She walked into his arms.

He told her a lot of things: he told her how much he wanted her, what he wanted to do to her, what he liked for her to do to him. His whispers were raw, elemental with need. He told her how sleek and pretty her body was, how he wanted to bury himself in her, how it felt when he took her. But he didnt tell her the one thing she needed most to hear.

When his tumultuous passion had been satisfied, he lay sprawled on the bed, stroking her back with lazy possessive-ness. Quivering inside, she knew that she had to leave now, while he was still content and drowsy, before the familiar impatience began eating at him. Lifting herself to her elbow, she kissed him quickly and whispered Good night, then left the bed before he could react.

Romes eyes snapped open, and he watched her scoop up her nightgown, then practically run out the door. Grim lines of tension settled around his mouth. As much as he wanted her, as crazy as he went when he was making love to her, he always dreaded when it was over because he knew she would withdraw from him, curling away from him and pretending to go to sleep so he would leave. But at least she usually wanted to cuddle, and he could hold her in his arms a little longer; tonight, despite the wild response of her slim body when hed made love to her, she hadnt even lingered for a moment of gentle caresses. Sometimes, when her eyes lit up at the sight of him, when she clung desperately to him in the heat of passion, hed think that he was making progress, slowly beating down her defenses and getting to the soft, warm woman behind them. But then shed withdraw from him again, as if she had to compensate for any gains he might have made.

Sex with her was fantasticmore than fantastic. The physical awareness, the passion between them, was so intense, it overshadowed every sensual experience hed had before her but it wasnt enough. It just wasnt enough. He wanted it all, everything she had to give, her body and mind and, yes, her heart.

For Christmas, she gave him a hideously expensive designer briefcase. Shed outraged the clerk at the hideously expensive department store by having the designers insignia removed and substituting Romes initials in its place. He laughed when she told him the tale, then casually gave her a tiny box wrapped in gold paper. Her mouth fell open when she saw the diamond stud earrings; she tried to thank him, but no words would come. Each brilliant diamond glittered with icy fire; those stones had to be a carat each, and she was stunned by the magnitude of the gift.

Smiling at her reaction, he pushed back her heavy veil of white-gold hair and removed the earrings she was wearing, then supped the studs into her ears himself. She lifted her hand to touch them. How do they look? she asked nervously, finding her voice at last.

You look fantastic, he said deeply. I want to see you naked, with your hair loose, and the diamonds in your ears.

She watched his face, watched his eyes grow heavy-lidded with desire, and her body began to warm. A delicate tint rose to her cheeks. She knew, even as he reached for her, that he was about to get what he wanted.

He surprised her by swinging her up in his arms. Where are we going? she asked breathlessly, having expected him to make love to her on the sofa, as hed done several times before.

To bed, he answered briefly, and her eyes widened.

In the quiet aftermath, he kept her beneath him in his bed, settling himself on her and keeping their bodies together. There was no way she could get up and leave. He turned his face into the warm fragrance of her neck, feeling the heavy satisfaction of his body. He dozed, then came awake sometime later when she wiggled beneath him, seeking a more comfortable position.

Am I too heavy for you? he murmured, pressing his lips into the warm hollow below her ear.

No. Deep pleasure was in her voice, and her arms tightened around his back. He was crushing her, and she could barely breathe, but that didnt matter. All that mattered was the warm, heavy feel of him against her, the almost tangible contentment that radiated from him. This was how shed always wanted it to be.

Outside, the short winter twilight was deepening into dusk, bringing a growing chill to the room because he kept the heat vents in his bedroom almost closed. He reached down for the sheet and pulled it over them, settling himself on top of her again, with his head on her breasts.

Lazily he kissed her nipples and the sensitive undersides of her breasts before finding a comfortable place for his head. He covered one breast with his hand, then sighed softly and went to sleep. Sarah put her hand on his dark hair, then moved it slowly down to his strong neck and wide, powerful shoulders, feeling the hard muscles beneath his smooth, warm skin. Feeling safe and protected, wrapped in the cocoon of his body warmth, she too slept.

He woke her for a late dinner, his eyes sleepy and satisfied as he watched her try to sort out the jumbled mess hed made of her clothes when hed taken them off. With her wild pale tangle of hair streaming down her back and the glitter of diamonds in her ears, she looked like some primitive queen in her glorious nudity. In more barbaric times, shed have been worshipped for the color of her hair, the incredible pale gold with streaks of almost pure white running through it. Hed often suspected her of bleaching her hair, until hed seen her naked for the first time. His wife. The thought filled him with possessiveness, and satisfaction.

In the middle of February she caught a cold that lingered for an unreasonable length of time, her stuffy nose robbing her of sleep and making her cranky. Rome tried to get her to stay home from work and give herself a chance to get over it, but Erica had both children at home with the flu and Sarah had no one to open the store, so she had to work, though she felt listless and achy. Rome had to take another trip, one that could stretch into two weeks, and he frowned at her pale face as he kissed her good-bye.

Take care of yourself, and stay warm. Ill call you tonight to see how youre feeling.