Spitfire (Puffin Cove) (17 page)

He slid into her then, filling her slowly, completely, until her eyes widened
and he saw beautiful pleasure and a little panic. "Easy, love. Just easy." He held stock still above her, letting her body become accustomed to his, feeling his own body tremble with the effort. He felt her exquisite tightness give a little, then grow hot and lissom.

"
Oh, Kane" she sighed. "You feel so good inside me. So good."

"
Aye, love. Where I've wanted t' be fer a very long time. Hold on t' me, darlin'. Hold on."

He began the dance, infinitesimal movements of his hips that grew achingly in depth and intensity
. She wrapped her legs around his body, rocking with him, her hands caressing over his back and his ass, and he felt her fingers flex on his bunching muscles as he glided in and out of her. Her breathing grew ragged, her hips straining to meet his, and he couldn't stop himself as his thrusts became urgent, then frantic. He sifted his fingers into her hair, and anchored himself, locking his eyes to hers as fiercely as his body was.

"
Laura, Laura, Laura love." He was
consumed
. Jaysus. She was so gloriously responsive, her body so soft and sweet and warm and
welcoming.
"Darlin'…it's comin' babe, can't hold back. Laura, baby. Give it to me." He panted. "Come with me, baby. Let go. Just go."

As he groaned,
spilling his seed into her, her body went wild and bucked under him, her muscles clenched, then shattered, contracting in waves around him as she gasped his name over and over. She clung to him as his tortured breathing slowed, as he lowered himself to her, as he kissed her face, her eyelids, her lips.

He rolled them
so she was laying across him and he slung an arm over his eyes, waiting for the guilt to wash over him. When it didn't come, he knew. Fiona and Claire were gone. Gone from his life, never gone from his heart, but gone from his present, his future. Their ghosts were exorcized, and he had a future to look forward to now. With Laura.

Chapter Thirteen

Kane
was propped up on an elbow, gazing down at her, their limbs warm and tangled. His finger drew a lazy trail, connecting freckles to nipples, navel to…

"
Laura, what's this?"

"
Hmm? Oh." Laura was having great difficulty forcing her neurons to synapse, to collect a thought among the swirling fragments of shock and pleasure and emotion. He padded his fingers over the thin scar transecting low through her pubic hair.

"
My first delivery was an emergency c-section. That's my scar."

"
Why's it so low and small? Fiona's scar stretched almost from one hip t' the other." A look of horror crossed his features. "Ah Jaysus, baby. I'm sorry. I should never have -"

She touched her fingers to his lips
. Fiona was his wife, and he had loved her. Laura somehow knew that he wasn't comparing women, just wondering about differences that they had experienced.

"It's okay, Kane
. She was a part of you, of your life. I don't want you to ever hold back what you're thinking from me. Just don't
ever
call out her name when you're...well, you know." She grinned. And he chuckled and kissed that grin.

"
Claire was full term, no?" At his nod, she continued. "My first pregnancy ended prematurely. Only six months. There were complications. My obstetrician gave me the choice, but there really wasn't one. Deliver immediately, by c-section, or run a higher risk of complications for the babies. Small babies. Small incision."

"
Babies. More than one?"

She nodded
. "Kyle was a twin. His sister, my daughter, died the day after she was born. Her light burned bright and quick. But I learned so much from the gift that was her."

She waited for the pity, the discomfort of one not knowing what to say
.

Her daughter had had very little chance of intact survival
. Her lungs were grossly underdeveloped. If she had lived, she would have had monumental medical problems, and most probably would have had a very difficult life. Laura knew what children like that, and their families, had to go through day after day, and she thanked God that if He'd had to take her, He at least did it quickly and compassionately. They got very lucky with Kyle. He had thrived quickly, and intact.

"
Ah, Laura." He kissed her forehead tenderly. "What was her name?'

Laura
smiled then, soft and loving. Life had an amazing way of coming full circle sometimes.

"
Her name was Jillian."

"
Course it was. How could it not be?" He smiled, thinking of his guardian angel, while she smiled, thinking of hers.

"
And yer Kyle, he's well?"

"
Oh, yes. He's wonderful and healthy and beautiful."

"
And ye had another after."

"
Kevin. Another wonderful gift. Full term and an easy vaginal delivery. I was so blessed. Am."

"
Laura, love. I know 'tis shuttin' the barn door after the horse has run off, but the protection I brought is still on the nightstand. I'm sorry, love. I had every intention…"

She giggled, charmed, because it was kind of sweet
that he'd lost his train of thought in the moment. "It's okay, Kane. They tied my tubes after Kevin. Joel insisted. I wanted more children, but he…didn't. And back then I was pretty mousy."

"
You! Mousy! I can't imagine." He kissed the tip of her nose.

"
I suppose we should talk about the disease part of it though. I want you to know that you don't have to worry about contracting anything from me. After Joel…when we separated I had every test run to make sure I didn't have anything. And there…hasn't been anyone since."

"
Since yer divorce? How many…Jaysus, Laura. It's not been...how many years?"

"
I guess if we're counting…sixteenish?"

"
Jaysus Christ, woman. I know after the last couple of hours that there's not one thing wrong with this body, but what in the name of all that's holy is swimmin' in that head o' yers? How can someone as responsive as you have lived without sex fer sixteen bloody years?"

She chuckled, and ran a hand across his precious face
. "Baby. Raising two kids on your own with a full time job and constant house renovations? Not much time in there for cultivating relationships, you know?"

"Jaysus
. Sixteen years. God dammit, woman. Ye're gonna wear me out catchin' up, aren't ye?"

She giggled
. "Probably."

He chuckled, then sobered
. "Ye're not t' worry about me history either. Me randy ways were long behind me when Fiona and I married. And there's been no-one since fer me, either."

"
Baby," she whispered, and leaned up to press her lips to his. "No wonder my thighs are stuck to the bed."

He threw his head back and laughed
. God, she loved his laugh.

"
Stuck, are ye? Well let's peel ye into the tub then, Spitfire."

They frolicked like children in mountains of bubbles. He piled dollops of foam on her breasts, blowing the fluff away with great gusts and tender wisps of breath, revealing her puckered nipples to his gaze. He took a long sip of cool wine and sucked a nipple into his mouth, swirling the cold liquid around with a hot, flicking tongue. She moaned and arched, the sensations he elicited with his mouth sending jolts of electricity zinging from breast to belly.

She pleasured herself with his body, running her hands all
over him, cupping and stroking, squeezing then soothing. Her mercurial mood went from deep sexual need to light, delighted teasing. She built a beard of suds on his face, patting and shaping, turning him into a happy, naked Santa. She shrieked as he hauled her to him, ho-ho-ho-ing and telling her to "sit on me lap, little girl." He planted her on his erection, the thick fullness tearing a groan from her throat.

She rode him languidly, running her hands slowly over his belly, his chest, rolling his nipples between her fingers
. His head tipped back, his eyes darkening with each caress as his hips gently thrust up to her. She suckled his neck, an earlobe, and cupped his face, bringing his passion-drugged eyes back to hers.

She kissed him deeply as she buoyed up an
d sunk down on him, the warm water swirling and eddying around them. His hands splayed on her hips, guiding her undulations, slowing then increasing her pace, until she took over the lead again and ground deeply, circling hot, tight muscles around him.

Her breath deepened and hitched
. Oh, God. It was building. She could feel the tingles behind her knees, skittering up her thighs, centering, peaking. Her swollen sex tightened on his cock, and he grunted and thrust up, digging his hands into her ass and bobbing her up and down, his breathing harsh and hot on her neck. "God, baby. Yeah, ride me," he growled in her ear, and it shattered her. They crested together, grinding out their mutual release in wave after wave of moans and sighs.

As their breathing slowed, and the water
that hadn't sloshed over onto the floor cooled, Kane stood up and reached for a fluffy towel. She watched the sudsy water sluice from his body, the image of him looming over her in all his splendour forever etched in her mind.

He took her hand and raised her up,
and she thought that it was a crazily noble and achingly sweet gesture.

God, she was so dorky.

He wrapped her in the towel and patted her dry, her heart so full she could barely breathe. She had to blink back the blasted tears that threatened again. How could she have fallen more deeply in love with him? And how was she going to survive when he was gone from her life?

Ah, girl
. Just enjoy. Enjoy every moment you have with him. Don't borrow the heartache that is sure to come.

They snuggled under the covers, the scent of wildflowers and crackling logs accompanying them as they drifted into sleep, his arms around her, her head resting on his chest, counting th
e deep, even beats of his heart.

She awakened to the unfamiliar feeling of something nuzzling at her crotch.

He sensed the moment she came aware, the instant startle quickly replaced with the widening of her thighs and the thrust of her hips
.

She was insatiable
.

And he was absolutely
thrilled.

They spent a sleepy, pre-dawn hour pleasuring each other, learning new needs and wants and rewards.

"Kane?"

"
Aye, love."

"
If we don't eat soon we'll die of starvation."

He chuckled between her breasts
. "Alright, Spitfire. I'll feed ye. But only so ye'll have enough energy fer me later."

She do
ve under the covers and slid him, at half mast, deep into her mouth in one, long stroke, slowly, torturously drawing away from him, then scrambled out of bed.

"
Oy! Ye little tease! Ye'll pay fer that!" he laughed as she scampered into the bathroom.

"
Promise?" she giggled through the door.

They ate a huge breakfast in town, then hiked the trail off Long Point. The terrain was scrabbly and rocky, and Laura had to constantly remind herself to watch the trail and not the sexy ass of the man in front of her. Every time Kane turned to make sure she was still behind him that blue gaze blasted her with a wave of knee-weakening desire. She wasn't hard pressed to decide which spectacle of nature was more alluring, her lover,
squee! her lover!,
or the vast expanses of cliff and sea. Kane won, hands down.

They wound along the coastal trail, sometimes climbing steep wooden stairs, at others picking their way gingerly down to secluded coves of pebbled beach
. Rock formations jutted everywhere, and Kane's artist eye picked out images for her of Indians and turtle heads, and one that he laughingly said looked just like his grandmother.

Laura
wanted to feel the sea water on her feet, so she sat on a rock in the shallow cove, and Kane knelt before her, bending down to unlace her boots. She chuckled, enchanted, protesting that she could do it herself. But he kept on going, exposing first one foot, then the other. He ran his hands up her legs, hugged his arms around her hips, and laid his head in her lap. She was helpless not to lace her hands through his silky black hair. Anyone coming upon the scene would take him for a supplicant, begging for absolution. It was a moment of supreme peace and aching sweetness for Laura as she listened to the roar of the surf fight to be heard over the pounding of her heart. He raised his face and she softly kissed his sweet lips, another moment of memory to cherish forever.

They stood and she gingerly picked her way to the water
's edge, her feet finding purchase in the rocky surf. She shrieked as her toes registered the frigid temperature, and hopped back onto the rocky shore.

"
Well, what did ye expect, Spitfire? The Caribbean? 'Tis the bleedin' Atlantic." Holding her boots and socks in his hands and shaking his head, his laugh rumbled through the sea breeze to her. "Feel yer feet in the sea. Daft woman. Come on. Let's see what's over the next hill."

It
was a steep climb, and Laura led, swaying her tush inches from Kane's face the whole way. She looked back with a wicked gleam in her eye and he leaned forward and
bit her!
Jesus. She wanted to roll him into the brush beside the trail and bang his brains out. Sixteen years of nothing, and now she's a sex-crazed lunatic. She rolled her eyes at herself.

They crested the hill and walked across a wild green meadow, colouring with purple wildflowers and waxy-leaved blueberry bushes
. Berry picking time wouldn't be until September. Maybe, if dreams came true, they would end up back here for that. She could imagine laying here among the berries, making love with him in the fragrant bed and the warmth of the sun. Just a fantasy. She was pretty sure they'd get arrested.

The roller coaster trail dipped down again, and they rounded a bend and might have tipped over the edge of the cliff
. Ahead, in the ocean, an iceberg rose higher than the cliff upon which they stood. Its peaks dipped and rose like mountains of fluffy meringue, a hole in the center of it the size of a small apartment building, the sea through the opening glinting and waving in the sun.

She stopped dead
and reached out a hand. It was so close she thought she could almost touch it.

"
Cold. Kane. It's cold. Can you feel it?"

The temperature in the air was at least twenty degrees colder there, standing in front of the behemoth
. It was like opening the door of a meat locker. He folded in behind her with his arms wrapped around her middle, legs braced in sailor's posture, chin resting on the top of her head. She snuggled in, reeling from the wonders of man and nature, and leaned forward to look down into the sea at the base of the berg. It was a spectacular shade of teal.