Read What the Waves Bring Online
Authors: Barbara Delinsky
What the Waves Bring (19 page)
“Oh, no! Not once she found out who you were!” He sobered. “A Wilde was not one to fool with. Even poor Jane knew that!” With a smile of skepticism, April waited quietly for him to continue. “Those phone calls? All day yesterday? She was quickly informed by whoever her superiors were that your family was quite powerful and that to fool with you would be to risk even greater trouble. It seems, darlin'”âhis voice lowered dramaticallyâ“that you were my lucky charm!”
“Butâthe coffee? Or whatever it was that hit me last night? They were still determined to get you ⦔
“Yes, they drugged the coffee.” He urged her to sip her warm drink. “By the way, her man was staying at another inn, but that
was
him we saw in the dining room. He managed to drug the coffee. The plan was to knock both of us out. Then, under the cover of night, they could squirrel me awayâthey had their own private plane waiting at the airportâand leave you in the hotel. You would wake up and, of course, assume that I'd had some part in tricking you and had run off with Janeâ”
was
him we saw in the dining room. He managed to drug the coffee. The plan was to knock both of us out. Then, under the cover of night, they could squirrel me awayâthey had their own private plane waiting at the airportâand leave you in the hotel. You would wake up and, of course, assume that I'd had some part in tricking you and had run off with Janeâ”
“Of course,” she added, licking her lips smartly.
“And,” he said, eyes gleaming, “of course, you would
have been so heartbroken and humiliated that you would not have said a word to anyoneâ”
have been so heartbroken and humiliated that you would not have said a word to anyoneâ”
“Of course,” she repeated again. “But, wait just a minute now.” Her tongue held its share of indignance.
“You
left me out there, all alone in the cold and darkness. I was sure you
had
chosen Jane!”
“You
left me out there, all alone in the cold and darkness. I was sure you
had
chosen Jane!”
“For a singularly bright lady,” he teased gallantly, “you are still missing something here. But then, you
were
drugged; I guess I'll have to give you the benefit of that doubt.”
were
drugged; I guess I'll have to give you the benefit of that doubt.”
“Heath!” Impatience broke through her flimsy composure. “Why
did
you leave me out there?”
did
you leave me out there?”
“I've already told you that, darlin'.” He had enough composure for two. “I didn't want you to be in the danger I suspected we could both be in. I had already guessed correctly about the coffee, and I knew that I had to get back to the house to call the authorities. I also suspected that I would be having visitorsâJane and friendâand that they might choose not to be particularly pleasant.”
“But you couldn't
remember
the strategies ⦠!”
remember
the strategies ⦠!”
“Ah, my amnesia. Jane played that around her little finger, with the story of our engagement. She needed to get me alone; that contrived story was her too!âonly it didn't work. After that, she simply wanted to get me into isolation.” A dark brow arched in soft reproach. “As for my memory, there are ways of making the mind remember. Very sophisticated ways. Sometimes very primitive ways.”
His words sent a chill down her spine. On impulse she set her cup down and rounded the table to where he sat. With her arms draped lightly over his shoulders as she stood between his thighs looking down at him, she felt a surge of gnawing fear at the thought of his being hurt. “I don't know what I'd do if ⦔ she whispered, moments before he pulled her closer.
“You'll never have to, darlin'. It's over. Those men out there”âhe cocked his head toward the living roomâ
“were waiting for me, here at the house, when I got back. They're with Intelligence, sent by the State Department. The Secretaryâwho happens to be a good friendâhad Miller checked out. When he became suspicious, he sent his men.” Pausing, he rested his head against the softness of her breasts; she stroked the rich thickness of his hair. “I wanted to go right out to get you. They convinced me that I had to wait until Jane and company arrived. They sent a man out to look for youâI think they're still looking for
him!”
Drawing away once more, he tipped his head back to eye her soberly. “They needed evidence, solid proof of what Jane and her cohorts were trying to do. They needed a relevant conversation on tape. And they got it!”
“were waiting for me, here at the house, when I got back. They're with Intelligence, sent by the State Department. The Secretaryâwho happens to be a good friendâhad Miller checked out. When he became suspicious, he sent his men.” Pausing, he rested his head against the softness of her breasts; she stroked the rich thickness of his hair. “I wanted to go right out to get you. They convinced me that I had to wait until Jane and company arrived. They sent a man out to look for youâI think they're still looking for
him!”
Drawing away once more, he tipped his head back to eye her soberly. “They needed evidence, solid proof of what Jane and her cohorts were trying to do. They needed a relevant conversation on tape. And they got it!”
“Thank God,” she murmured, settling herself onto his lap and kissing him. His lips held the promise that her own craved. When she was free to breathe once more, she knew that it would always be this way with themâalways sweet and heady, a most intimate form of communication. “When did your memory come back completely, Heath?”
The grin that flashed across his lips seemed somehow at odds with the intensity of the moment. “
You
were responsible for that, darlin'!”
You
were responsible for that, darlin'!”
“Me?”
“Yes!” he growled in well-feigned anger. “You were ready to fall asleep on me during that slow, slow ride back here last night. I was frightened to let you sleepâI don't know, I half-worried you'd never wake up. I felt groggy myself, but I'd only had about a third of that coffee. When the effects on me began to wear off quickly, I knew you'd be all right. But,
until
they began to wear off, I was in a near panic. I felt that I had to get you home, to get some
real
coffee into you. At one point there, I don't know if you remember, you were ready to give up and go to sleep. You taunted me to talk, to keep you awake. I suppose I dug deep enough to penetrate that barrier to my memory.
Of course, when it all came back and I understood the extent of the danger we both were in, then I couldn't ditch you soon enough!”
until
they began to wear off, I was in a near panic. I felt that I had to get you home, to get some
real
coffee into you. At one point there, I don't know if you remember, you were ready to give up and go to sleep. You taunted me to talk, to keep you awake. I suppose I dug deep enough to penetrate that barrier to my memory.
Of course, when it all came back and I understood the extent of the danger we both were in, then I couldn't ditch you soon enough!”
“Mmmm. My hero!” she said, mocking his drama.
“But it was
you,
April. Your prodding, my need to protect you, my wish to have you foreverâthat brought my memory back! You're a very powerful woman!”
you,
April. Your prodding, my need to protect you, my wish to have you foreverâthat brought my memory back! You're a very powerful woman!”
“I'm not quite sure if that's a compliment.” But she glowed anyway. “Powerful women can scare off even the strongest of men.”
“Not this one! When I went back to get you in the middle of the night and found you goneâI would have easily spanked you then!”
“Tsk, tsk, you have threatened me with a spanking twice now. All talk?”
The tightening of the arms that held her gave adequate answer to her taunt. It also drove home to her the depth of his feeling, a depth that spilled out with his own terror. “I told you to stay there ⦠to sleep! I had no idea how that drug would affect you in that darkness! When I couldn't find you, I nearly went mad! I wasn't sure whether you'd wandered off, or whether you'd been taken by another of
them.
”
them.
”
“In that pitch-black night?” she asked softly, but her heart ached at his concern.
“I imagined everything!” As his intensity reached out to her, she met it halfway.
“So did I.” A retrospective shudder quaked through her, and he settled her more protectively on his lap. Needing him, she let herself sink into his beingâher head against his shoulder, her back into the crook of his arm, her body turned toward his as the flower to the sunâas she recalled those harsh imaginings, the pain, the anguish, the heartache.
“I was confused,” she whispered. “I couldn't remember things. I thought you had left me ⦠to go to Jane. I
thought ⦔ Burying her face against the cushion of his chest, she cried softly and uncontrollably, purging herself at last of all the ghosts.
thought ⦔ Burying her face against the cushion of his chest, she cried softly and uncontrollably, purging herself at last of all the ghosts.
“Ahhhh, April,” he moaned gently, “I love you so much!” Holding her, rocking her, he conveyed his love in the infinite tenderness of his touch. “Don't cry now, darlin'. I won't ever leave you again.”
Her tears glistened at the tips of her lashes, but no brighter than the smile, carved from sheer happiness, lighting her face from within. “God, how I love you!” she breathed, then wrapped her arms convulsively about his sturdy frame.
They sat that way, arms wound around each other, uncaring of anything else in the world. It was the joy of being together and in love that would carry them through any storm, the strength of that love which would deliver them to safe haven. While the ills and worries of the world might lash fury around them, they would always, together, find the eye of the storm.
With this knowledge, April's hope was boundless. She had found her man and her future; she was totally at peace. Or ⦠almost â¦
“When are those men leaving?” she whispered hoarsely, her heart beating suddenly faster.
Heath took his hand from her back and put it lightly over her heart, feeling its throb, knowing its cause. His voice, too, was deeper, more husky than before. “They're making a few last calls.”
“Tell them to leave?” Her brown-eyed gaze mirrored her plea.
He couldn't have missed the urgency in her voice, particularly as it tremored through his body in turn. But her eyesâthey spoke volumes. Flames flickered in their depths as in the depths of her body, her warm femininity begging for completeness. Only with him was she completeâas a person, as a woman, as a lover.
Her breath came unsteadily as he left her in the kitchen, trembling, waiting, aching for his return. The low murmur of voices filtered from the living room, an interchange whose words she missed. She did not miss, however, the subsequent opening and closing of the door, the footsteps that moved smoothly across the floor, the tall, proud man who stood at the kitchen door once more, this time with arms open to receive her. She went to him in joy and anticipation, in wild and wondrous love, offering him her all, her everything.
It was with barely bridled excitement that they walked, arm in arm, to the bedroom, neither taking his eyes from the other for a moment. In unspoken accord, each undressed himself quickly, without hesitation. It was Heath's words that broke through the air of crisp expectancy.
“Are you sure you wouldn't like to learn more about me first?” he asked innocently, tugging his shirttails from his pants and deftly working at the buttons.
“No,” she murmured, whipping off her sweater and shirt, so recently donned.
His fingers attacked the wide buckle of his belt. “There's a lot to tell,” he tempted her. “I remember it all.” His jeans slid over the leanness of his hips at the easy urging of his strong hands.
April bent to tug at her own jeans. “Uh-uh. I love you ⦠regardless of what you have to say.”
“Aren't you curious?”
Was his male ego injured, just the slightest bit? Grinning, she stood straight, tossing her underwear into the growing pile of clothes. “You'll tell me everything ⦠later.” Her eye followed the flight of his shorts, then darted back to his body, so long and lean and breathtakingly masculine. He stood tall, all man, and ardently ready for her, a magnet to whom she was unequivocally drawn. “Right now”âshe threw her arms about his neck and was
lifted off her feet and placed on the bedâ“I'm curious about other things.”
lifted off her feet and placed on the bedâ“I'm curious about other things.”
“Like ⦠?” His hands expressed their own curiosity, exploring every curve of her flesh in dire need to know her totally.
“Like ⦔ she whispered, “ ⦠what it feels like to hold you in me and hear you say âI love you.'”
With a soulful groan, Heath moved atop her, taunting her for an unbearable instant before offering her the satisfaction she so desperately craved. Over and over, he said the words, vowed them, pledged them, worshipped them ⦠and her. April felt the electrification of him, as he filled her with a passion as timeless as the seas from which he'd come to her. Their bodies, bare and warm, were one, coming together, building together, then together at last in the ecstasy of fulfillment.
It was only after, lying together, their sweat-slickened limbs entwined in the wake of rapture, that they could touch and caress with slow appreciation. Confident now of his love and her own, April probed the secrets of Harley Evan Addison, who would always, in her heart, be Heath. She savored the feel of his flesh with its dark and manly furring of hair, his sinews and planes and pulsepoints. In turn, she indulged him his pleasure, quivering as his fingers adored her breasts and their rosy peaks, her waist, her belly, and the warm, moist core below. His hands held a magic, his lips its potion. She would always be driven wild by his touch.
Body to body, in the thrill of equality, they gave themselves to each other once more. It was a slow but fierce revel, the vow of love to last a lifetime. For they had a lifetime to share, a world of promises to keep. Later, they slept, sated and at peace. When April awoke and reached for Heath, he was gone. Alarmed, she sat up, called his name. Only as she looked back to the pillow, where the
indentation of his head remained, did she see his note. Lifting it with a trembling hand, she read.
indentation of his head remained, did she see his note. Lifting it with a trembling hand, she read.
“Dear Dr. Wilde. My story is one from the heart,” he had written, his dark scrawl rich and dignified. “After years of lonely bachelorhood, I have finally fallen in love. I find I want a wife, to wear my ring, to bear my children, to be by my side through life's long and varied parade. I offer safety and care, a home and protection, a promise of excitement and adventure ⦠and my everlasting devotion.” April's eyes filled with tears; brushing them away, she read on. “Above all, I offer my love, all my love. Please, April, please marry me. For my heart is yours. Without you, I am half-whole.” It was signed, with a flourish, “Your-Sadly-Smitten-Lover-from-the-Sea.”
To her amusement, as she sniffed away more tears of happiness, she noticed the smaller script, added to the bottom of the page.
“P.S. Have gone into town for caviar and champagne. Get the ice ready.” Then, in an even lighter scribble, was a final note. “P.P.S. On second thought,
I'll
take care of the ice. You simply stay in bed and keep it warm for me. I love you so very much!”
I'll
take care of the ice. You simply stay in bed and keep it warm for me. I love you so very much!”
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