The Bitter Price Of Love

Reba decided she had never felt so secure. ‘Do you want to see me again?’ she asked, half teasing, half serious.

‘Only all the time,’ Hunter admitted wryly, and prompted a confession which had been bubbling inside her all day.

‘You’ll think it’s crazy, but I feel as if I’ve known you all my life.’

Hunter came to a halt, raising her chin with his hand so that their eyes met. ‘It’s not crazy, Reba. I feel the same. The minute I saw you, I knew you were different,’ he said, and brought his mouth down to cover hers.

It was a gentle kiss, offering much in its infinite tenderness. It was a promise of things to come, a seal on words unspoken. It took her heart away, and returned it to her irrevocably altered.

He released her with a shaken sigh. ‘This is uncanny. This morning I was a normal, level-headed man. Now I don’t seem to know which way is up any more.’

Oh, she knew just how he felt. Nothing had prepared her for this. Nothing ever could. ‘Do you mind?’

‘Hell, no! I’ve waited all my life for you; I’m not going to run away now.’

Her heart seemed to swell in her chest. It didn’t matter that they had only just met. Something that was destined to be could take five minutes or fifty years, but it would happen. She knew in her soul that they had been meant to meet.

Hunter left her at the hotel entrance, driving her there in a beat-up Jeep which had been parked behind one of the waterfront bars. Not wanting the evening to be over, Reba turned to him just as he was reaching for her, and this time the kiss was different. It sought a response to a passion held in check. Tasting her, learning her, he took her breath away and sent her blood pulsing through her veins. That unspoken awareness which had been between them all evening came to the surface at last, and she gasped, feeling nerve-ends come alive which she hadn’t even known existed. There was no way of not returning the kiss, and no way of hiding her groan of dismay when it ended all too soon.

Hunter’s breathing was ragged too, as he ran a finger over her tingling lips. ‘Momma should have told me it could be like this,’ he said huskily on a broken laugh, breaking the nerve-twisting tension, and Reba sighed, relaxing.

‘Do you realise you haven’t asked me about my girlfriends?’

Somehow the thought didn’t worry her. ‘How many have you had?’

His chuckle did wonderful things to her pulse-rate. ‘Plenty—in the past. Now there’s only you, and I want you all to myself. Do you mind?’ Hunter sounded possessive, and it sent a thrill along her spine.

‘No.’ She didn’t want to share him either. She wanted to be alone with him, close to him. A minute without him would seem a minute wasted.

‘Don’t leave with the others tomorrow. Stay aboard, and we’ll sail up the coast. What do you say?’

She smiled. ‘Yes.’

Hunter groaned. ‘The way you say that! It’s going to be a hell of a long day.’

Laughing, she climbed down from the vehicle. It would be a long day, but eventually it would be over, and then there would be just the two of them. She liked the sound of that. Liked it very much indeed.

They were both right; it did seem to take forever, but finally, after a successful day’s filming, the crew and the models were packed up and ready to leave. Reba had wished them gone a thousand times, because she hadn’t been able to speak to Hunter above twice all day. Every hour the need had grown inside her to be near to him, to touch him. She’d never really understood why couples felt they had to be glued together, but now she knew. It was a compulsive need to make contact, even if that simply meant holding hands.

‘They’re gone,’ Hunter declared from behind her, and she spun round, not having heard him come down to the cabin which they had been using as a changing-room.

A lump constricted her throat as she finally came face to face with him. There was a glitter in his eyes, and a teasing curve to his lips which made her heart flip. ‘I thought they’d never go!’ she exclaimed, wanting to go to him, yet strangely held back. She didn’t realise how vulnerable she looked in jeans and T-shirt, with her face free of make-up.

‘Come and kiss me, Reba, before I go quietly insane,’ he ordered huskily, and she knew then that he had suffered as much as she had.

She positively flew across the room and into his arms. All day she had been longing for his kiss and, from the hunger in his own lips which fused with hers, she knew she hadn’t been alone. Lord, she hadn’t imagined it, this tingling pleasure that sent pulses to every corner of her body, bringing it alive as never before. He was holding her so tightly that she could scarcely breathe, but it was wonderful.

Hunter reluctantly lifted his head before they suffocated. ‘I needed that,’ he groaned feelingly, and his fingers curled into her hair, bringing her head down on to his shoulder.

She could hear his heart thudding wildly, and revelled in it. ‘I missed you.’

He laughed. ‘God, this is crazy. We’re behaving like a couple of teenagers!’

Reba laughed with him, a bubbling sound, feeling almost drunk with happiness. ‘You know something? I don’t care.’

‘Neither do I. Come on, let’s get under way.’

They worked together as if they had always been a team. Reba didn’t need to be told what to do, jumping to each task with pleasure. It was hard work, but she enjoyed every aspect of sailing, even the most mundane job. When the sails were set and they were skimming along, leaving a creamy wake behind them, she joined Hunter at the wheel, slipping her arm through his.

He bent and pressed a kiss to her wind-blown hair. ‘You look at home here.’

It felt like the greatest compliment, coming from a man who seemed at one with the craft and the sea. ‘I love sailing, but I’ve never sailed a yacht as lovely as this. She handles beautifully—it makes me itch to have a go.’

He grinned, stepping back. ‘Then she’s all yours.’

With a cry of alarm, Reba sprang for the wheel, bringing the yacht’s nose into the wind again, watching the sail billow out. ‘That was a nasty trick!’

‘I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t trust you,’ Hunter returned, laughing. ‘Keep her on that course and try not to hit anything!’

She poked her tongue out at him, then laughed, buoyed up by his compliment. The wind tugged at her hair, and the spray caught her face, but she was on cloud nine. As far as she was concerned, they could sail on forever and never stop, so long as they were together.

However, they put in at a small uninhabited bay not too far along the coast and dropped anchor. Dinner was simple—chicken, French bread, cheese, fruit and white wine—but food had never tasted better. Afterwards they stretched out along the seat-cushion, finishing off the wine.

‘Where did you learn to sail?’ Hunter asked, settling her more comfortably into the curve of his arm.

‘My father was a sailor. He encouraged me, and later on I joined our local sailing club,’ she explained, trying not to be so vitally aware of his strong body pressed along the length of hers. But it was impossible. Little fires flickered into life all through her, and she wanted nothing more than to turn and press herself closer, to explore the flats and planes his clothes only hinted at.

‘Why did you take up modelling?’ Ever so gently his free hand began caressing a line up and down her arm.

Reba recalled the reason with a twist of her heart. She wanted to explain, but her mother preferred to keep her illness a secret within the family. Although she knew Hunter was trustworthy, she still couldn’t break her promise. ‘I didn’t intend to, but a friend told me I could make a lot of money at it, so I changed my mind.’ It was the truth, as far as it went.

Hunter’s hand left her arm to go to her chin and raise it so that he could see her face. He was frowning. ‘Is it so important to make a lot of money?’

She shrugged, trying to make light of it. ‘Of course, if you don’t have any. Only the rich can say money isn’t important, and that’s because they have more than enough for their needs.’ Her eyes clouded over. ‘Sometimes our needs are bigger than our pockets.’

‘Mmm, you may be right,’ he conceded, then, in an abrupt change of mood, set his glass down and relieved her of her own. Getting to his feet, he held out his hand. ‘Dance with me.’

Bemused, she automatically allowed him to pull her up and into his arms. ‘There isn’t any music,’ she protested as he slowly began to move.

‘Sure there is. Just close your eyes and listen,’ Hunter argued, pulling her closer until there was no air between them. They fitted as if they had been made two halves of a whole, and as her head came to rest on his shoulder, eyes closing, she began to hear the music.

Her free hand travelled up to his nape, fingers curling into the thickness of his hair. She could feel his lips on her own hair, slowly fanning downwards to her eye and her cheek, and it was simplicity itself to raise her head the fraction needed for their lips to meet. She heard music of a different kind then, at the first gentle caress. He sipped at her, tasting her sweetness, and her lips softened, moving to his command, parting at the silken glide of his tongue.

Everything vanished. There was only this exquisite sensation, the gentle exploration slowly building up a powerful need to act and not just react. Her tongue moved, touching his, and the sensation was electric. She gasped, pressing closer, boldly seeking more and more as his kiss became increasingly demanding. They fed off each other, and what had started so gently soon became a conflagration.

Reba had never experienced anything like it. Nobody had ever made her feel like this, arousing a need that throbbed inside her. As his hands found their way beneath her T-shirt her legs very nearly gave out. His touch was scorching her. She was going up in flames! And yet she wanted to burn. She wanted to feel his hands on her body, and she wanted to explore him the same way. The first brush of his thumbs along the swell of her breasts brought a whimper of the purest pleasure to her lips, and when he finally cupped her bounty, stroking her nipples into aching buds, she shuddered and her head fell back helplessly as she arched towards him.

‘Hunter!’ His name was an ache of need. She had no doubts, no fears. She gladly gave herself over to him, trusting him implicitly not to hurt her. Anything he wanted, she wanted. He was the lover she had dreamt of. He would take her to the heights and keep her safe. She loved him.

‘No!’ Hunter drew his hands away, and her drugged brain registered that they were trembling as he smoothed her T-shirt back down. Gazing into her bewildered eyes, he smiled crookedly. ‘No, Reba. This is too fast. God knows, I want you, but I want to get to know you first. I want us to go slowly, savour everything, not rush on as if there were no tomorrow. When we finally make love it will be all the better for waiting, I promise.’

Reba felt choked. She had been importuned all her adult life by men who wanted only one thing from her, and now here was the one man she would gladly have given herself to, with no regrets, saying they should wait. It made her feel cherished, and she knew he really cared for her.

Her eyes glittered brightly with tears that knew nothing of pain. ‘All right,’ she agreed, and sighed as his arms closed around her. ‘After all, we’ve got all the time in the world.’

CHAPTER TWO

THE ten days which followed became a period of time Reba would never forget. Even in her darkest moments, they would hold a warmth and brilliance that could never be dimmed. It was a time of discovery, as much about herself as about Hunter. She discovered what it was like to be truly happy. The fact that that happiness was totally bound up with another person didn’t worry her, because she knew that what was true for her was true for him also.

Outside work, they became virtually inseparable. At first she was teased unmercifully, but when it became apparent that there was more here than just a passing flirtation, the company grew silent, watching the romance unfolding before them with equal measures of warmth and envy.

Apart from a shared love of sailing, which they indulged almost every day, sailing a short way round the island at evening to have dinner in their own private cove, they also discovered an equal love and concern for nature. They held long discussions on the way natural habitats were being destroyed, and what they could do to put the world right. Other times they took long walks along the silver beaches, or went inland, where Hunter introduced her to the joys of bird-watching.

They spent every available hour together, exploring the island and enjoying each other’s company. To an outsider it might have looked platonic, but they were fully aware that underlying everything was that banked-down passion. Reba found it added spice to everything they did. It was something special to wait for, to savour, and their goodnight kisses were a pleasurable torture. She knew, beyond any doubt, that she loved him, and was as certain as she could be that he loved her. He didn’t have to say it. He had a way of being able to tell her with the briefest of touches, or just a look or smile. He made her heart sing.

Yet the banked fires in his eyes made her shiver in anticipation. His control was awesome, all the more so when, as the days passed, hers became less and less in evidence. Her dreams became extremely erotic as she fantasised about what would happen when that control finally snapped.

She found out in a rush when the shoot on the yacht ended. Their next location was to be up in the hills somewhere, near a waterfall. A week there, and then the assignment was over. For the first time Reba became uncertain. Hunter had to know the assignment wouldn’t last forever, and yet he had said nothing. She had made tentative arrangements to remain behind, though not at the hotel. She had hoped she could persuade Hunter to allow her to stay on the yacht, but his silence made her hesitate to ask.

Perhaps she would broach the subject tonight, she thought, as she showered and changed into a brilliantly hued sarong she had picked up in the market. As had become habit, she had stayed on board when the others left, and was just gathering everything up into her bag when the door behind her crashed open. She spun round in alarm, finding Hunter advancing on her with a thunderous face.

‘So!’ He snatched the bag from her hands and emptied it out again on the bunk. ‘You are leaving! Just when were you going to tell me, Reba?’ he demanded, in a voice which threatened to topple small mountains.

Her mouth dropped open in sheer surprise. ‘What?’

She could have sworn that she heard his teeth grind. ‘Don’t give me that. I’ve just spent the last ten minutes being thanked for my services and told goodbye!’

She understood then, and bit her lip to stop herself smiling. ‘Hunter, will you please calm down,’ she ordered, feeling a bubble of laughter rise up inside her. Oh Lord, he’d never forgive her if she laughed.

‘Give me one good reason why I should?’ he demanded loudly.

‘Because I’m not leaving!’ she shouted back equally loudly, and watched him falter to a halt.

‘You’re not leaving?’ He asked for confirmation much more quietly.

Reba had to bring her hand up to cover her twitching lips. ‘We’re going to another location, not leaving the island. At least, not yet,’ she explained, and watched in fascination as a tide of colour rose up his neck. Then, of course, she did laugh. She simply couldn’t help it.

Something primeval burst into life at the back of his eyes, and he advanced on her. ‘So you think it’s funny, do you? Let’s see how you like this!’ With a squeal she tried to avoid him, but he was too quick for her. Tossing her over his shoulder, he carried her struggling body along to the master cabin. Shutting the door with his foot, he tossed her down on the bed and came down after her, pinning her to the covers with the weight of his body.

In a flash everything changed. Reba’s eyes grew huge as she stared up at him, seeing the softening of his face, the sensuous curve of his lips. ‘Is this the punishment?’ she whispered thickly, feeling her blood begin to pump heavily through her veins.

Hunter’s eyes dropped to her lips, and they parted in anticipation of his kiss. ‘Hell, no. This is the prize. Somewhere along the line I must have done something good, and you’re my reward. I’m never going to let you go.’

With that he lowered his mouth to hers and, as she welcomed him, she knew that this time there was to be no turning back. Passion rose swiftly. She couldn’t recall who undressed whom. Perhaps they undressed each other. All she knew was that at last they were free of all restrictions, because flesh burned flesh as they moved together. Love taught her what to do as she travelled this new path. It gave her pleasure to run her hands over the sweat-slicked planes of his shoulders and back, feeling the heat of him, glorying in the way he moaned and arched into her. It was wondrous to find that he experienced the same pleasures at her touch as she did at his caresses, and her hands flitted upwards, finding the flat male nipples and teasing them until she heard him catch his breath.

He fell back against the pillow, his magnificent body open to her hot gaze. She didn’t see the way his eyes glittered through the slits of his lashes as she embarked on a voyage of discovery. Where her hand roamed, her lips followed, tasting him, knowing him. She heard him sigh and move, felt his hand come down to tangle in her hair, but when she would have made her final conquest his fingers tightened and pulled her upwards until he rolled over, pinioning her again.

‘God, you’re a witch. You take me to the limits of my control.’

‘I want you to lose it,’ Reba gasped, as his mouth trailed a fiery path down her throat.

‘Not yet, tiger-eyes, not yet,’ he growled, and set about making her lose hers instead.

It didn’t take long, with his hands and lips exploring every inch of her. Soon she was writhing against him as his mouth teased her breasts. His tongue laved her nipples even as his teeth nipped, and as her hands rose to hold him to her he drew her aching flesh into the warm cavern of his mouth and suckled until she cried out her pleasure.

He taught her body to sing, playing it like a finely tuned instrument, bringing her from one peak to the next, yet always leaving her aching for the summit which seemed beyond her reach. But then, magically, it wasn’t. His seeking hands found the warm, moist centre of her, stroking her until she arched and froze as a myriad stars exploded behind her closed eyes. And as she floated somewhere beyond herself he moved over her, parting her thighs with his, entering her slowly, breaking the last tie to her former self. He transported her upwards on a coil of tension which grew and grew with every thrust of the powerful body which had finally lost control, until there was nowhere else to go and the world exploded in unimaginable pleasure.

The universe righted itself very slowly as Reba raised eyelids which seemed to be weighted. She was curled into the warmth of Hunter’s side, and with a sigh she realised that they were lying on the bed in the master cabin of the yacht, in the aftermath of the most exquisite loving. She couldn’t remember ever being so happy. Her head rested on Hunter’s chest while his fingers idly combed their way through her damp hair. She loved the sound of his heart beating; it was so solid and reassuring.

‘How do you feel?’ There was concern in his voice. Even in his passion, he had recognised that it was her first time.

‘Wonderful,’ she breathed, knowing she might ache tomorrow, but not caring.

‘I didn’t hurt you?’

She lifted her head then, lips twisting in a wry grin. ‘I can’t remember.’

Hunter grinned back. ‘I was that good, hmm?’

She dug her chin into his shoulder, making him wince. ‘Don’t get big-headed. I have nothing to compare it with, remember?’

He tweaked her nose. ‘Never mind, I have. On a scale of one to ten, I’d say you were——’ He broke off as her fingers threatened a tender spot, laughing as he rolled her over. ‘Jealous?’

Her confidence was high. ‘Should I be?’

‘No,’ Hunter confessed at once, propping himself on one elbow and smoothing her damp hair away from her face. ‘We’ve got to make some plans, tiger-eyes,’ he declared softly, and her heart galloped on apace as she anticipated what plans he meant. A tiny smile hugged the curve of her lips as her finger found the dimple in his chin.

‘What plans are those?’

He caught her hand, kissing the tip of each finger in turn. ‘You said you’d have to leave eventually.’

‘I can stay a little longer, if you’ll let me stay on the yacht.’ She put forward her plans hopefully.

‘But you’ll still have to leave, right?’ he added, his face losing some of its softness.

Reba licked her lips. ‘I have to work, Hunter. What else can I do?’

Blue eyes bored into hers. ‘You could marry me,’ he suggested, and they were the most wonderful words she had ever heard, bar three yet unspoken.

‘Oh, Hunter, I’d love to marry you. Whenever you say!’ she cried, flinging herself against him as tears moistened her eyes. Yet even in the midst of her happiness, reality intruded. ‘But I’ll still have to work.’

He smiled into her wet eyes. ‘No, you won’t. Let me do the worrying about money. I might mess about with boats for a living, but it is a living. I can support my own wife.’

Of course he could, but he didn’t understand the situation. She knew he would when she explained to him, and she would do that as soon as she had her mother’s permission. It was important to Harriet Wyeth to feel she was in control of some of her life, and although Reba knew she could tell him now, she felt she couldn’t betray a trust. Besides, it would only be for one day. As long as it took to make a phone call. Then they would work something out. Two people who loved each other as much as they did would always be able to work out their problems together.

‘All right, Hunter, whatever you say.’

Hunter groaned, his smile rueful. ‘Lord, if only I could be as certain you’d always be this docile, tiger-eyes.’

‘Never mind. It doesn’t matter how uppity I might get, you’ll always be able to make me purr,’ she tantalised, and pulled his head down to hers.

Not surprisingly, it was late when Hunter dropped Reba off at her hotel. He had wanted her to stay over but, with the shoot moving on, she knew she would have to be up early. So they parted reluctantly at the entrance, where she kissed him goodnight and hurried inside. When she went to collect her key from the night clerk, he handed it to her, together with a folded piece of paper.

‘There is a message for you, Miss Wyeth. Somebody tried to contact you earlier, but we did not know where you were.’

Icy fingers of dread trailed themselves up Reba’s spine. So far as she knew there was only one reason anyone would want to contact her urgently. Sure enough, the message was from her sister, asking her to ring home at once.

‘Thank you,’ she managed to say, before hurrying to the lift.

Once in her room, she threw down her bag and picked up the telephone. The wonders of modern science meant it wasn’t long before she heard the sound of ringing, and then came her sister’s voice.

‘Maggie? It’s Reba,’ she began, and was interrupted at once.

‘Where have you been?’ her sister demanded in a distraught voice. ‘It’s been hours and hours!’

Reba closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath. Revealing her exact whereabouts was out of the question, even to her sister. ‘I’ve only just got your message. Calm down, Maggie, and tell me what’s wrong,’ she ordered, trying to remain calm herself.

Down the line came the sound of several sniffs. ‘Mum took a turn for the worse. Oh, Reba, they had to take her in again! The doctor said I should contact you, just in case…’