Poignant tenderness and passion were in his voice and his eyes… They were so beautiful she felt tears rise in her own. Everything was beautiful, his golden eyes, the sensual curve of his lips, the brilliant coral orchids on the wall beyond his shoulder, but most of all the feel of him as he became part of her.
"Relax." There was a touch of impatience in his voice. "I told you I wouldn't hurt you. Don't you trust me?"
Of course she trusted him, but there was something the matter. There was a hint of troubled hurt in his face and she, couldn't bear it. Nothing must spoil the beauty of what was happening to both of them, she thought dreamily. Not when she could take care of the problem so easily.
She surged upward with determined forceful-ness and there was a sharp piercing pain that was immediately drowned in the equally sharp delight of being full of him. She smiled happily up at him. "Better?"
"Better," he echoed blankly, his face stunned. He flexed spasmodically and a great shudder racked him. He closed his eyes. "Oh, Lord, yes, that's better."
"Good." Her hands caressed his hips lovingly. "I want you to be happy, Beau."
His lids lifted and he looked down at her with a curious expression of torment. "I know you do," he said hoarsely. "Everyone has to be happy even if it means the giving has to go on forever. Because we all keep taking, don't we?" His lips twisted bitterly. "Even me. For once in my life I wanted to give, but I'm taking too." One hand reached up to gently stroke her cheek. "And the damnable part of it is that I can't stop now."
She was bewildered. She'd wanted to help him, but he looked so sad now. "Beau, should I-"
"Shhh." His fingers were on her lips. "Hush, everything's all right. I'm going to take, but I'll find a way of giving too. Maybe it will all even out." He was moving with a slow stroking thrust, letting her get used to him. It wasn't easy for him to maintain that control. She was conscious of the leashed urgency in him struggling to break the bonds of restraint. She could feel the knotted muscles of his hips beneath her palms. The stroking was hotly tantalizing but still she wanted more. She wanted that primitive animal passion he'd shown her before. She needed it.
"Beau." Her murmur was feverish as her nails dug unconsciously into the flesh of his hips. She surged against him urgently. "Please, Beau."
She could see the conflict on his face and then he gave a helpless groan. "Kate. Oh, damn, Kate." And thrust forward forcefully, taking her breath, burning, pressing, thrusting until she was almost mindless with pleasure.
Treasure. A carousel playing a haunting melody, Beau's golden eyes, his hand in hers walking through the rain forest, a mocking Southern drawl with a note of underlying tenderness, courage, honesty, passion, this beautiful, throbbing rhythm. So many treasures. He was giving them all to her and when he gave the final radiant gift that made rapture seem commonplace, it was no more precious than the other treasures he'd heaped upon her.
Her head was cradled in the hollow of his shoulder and she could feel the hard thud of his heart beneath her ear. Its cadence was gradually lessening, as was her own. His hand automatically tangled in her curls and began to thread through them with lazy contentment. "So silky," he murmured. "Did I tell you how much I loved those soft little ringlets?"
She nodded. "You're certainly a very tactile person, Beau," she charged teasingly, then suddenly chuckled. "Not that I'd be so ungrateful as to complain in the present set of circumstances."
She could feel him stiffen against her and his hand paused in her hair. "No, you wouldn't complain no matter what I did to you," he said quietly. "You wouldn't care to tell me how you happen to be a virgin? I received the distinct impression from the lady I was with in Alvarez's bar that you were every bit as experienced as she."
"Did you?" she asked, blissfully uncaring. "I was in there quite often prying Jeffrey away from the whiskey bottle. She probably misunderstood." Her head lifted suddenly as she gazed at him in troubled uncertainty. "Does it bother you?"
"You're damn right it bothers me. I'm not accustomed to deflowering virgins. Why the devil didn't you tell me?" His lips twisted. "Lord, I was even telling you what a meager price I was exacting for my services."
"It was cheap," she said quietly. "Getting Jeffrey away from Castellano was important to me. In comparison the other didn't matter at all."
"It was important enough to keep you a virgin until now."
"The men I've come across seem to look upon women as something to be used." Her tone became fierce. "I won't be used! I have worth."
"Yes, you have worth." He touched her cheek with gossamer gentleness. "It can't have been very easy for you considering the life you've led."
She shrugged. "I can take care of myself. It's been easier lately with Julio around."
"And before Julio was around?"
"I just told anyone who bothered me that I had VD," she said simply. "Jeffrey said it would work and most of the time it did. Men seem to be very frightened when you mention that."
He chuckled. "It's a wonder you ever got away with it if you looked at them the way you're looking at me." Her eyes were as clear and solemn as a little girl's. "I don't think you've ever learned to lie very well."
"You're right. I hate it." She suddenly shivered. "But it's much easier when you're frightened."
He felt a sudden fierce anger at the thought of Kate alone and afraid. It was so intense it caught him off guard. He couldn't remember ever before experiencing that sense of outrage. He had to draw a deep breath and consciously force his tense muscles to relax. "They must have been very faint- hearted types," he said gruffly. "I guarantee I wouldn't have been so easy to get rid of even if I'd believed you."
Her eyes widened. "You wouldn't?"
He grasped her by the shoulders and tumbled her back into his arms. "Nope. Not with a very special lady like you." He brushed a butterfly kiss on the tip of her nose. "First, I'd have sent you to the best doctor available to start your cure. Then I'd have whisked you away and spent your entire convalescent period showing you how many wonderful ways we could pleasure each other with no danger at all to either of us."
"What ways?" Her eyes were bright with curiosity-
"I'll demonstrate later. It loses something in the telling."
"Well, I don't see how it could have been any better than what we've just had." She raised her head to gaze at him mistily. "It was so beautiful."
"Was it, Kate?" His voice was husky. She was so dear, like a happy little girl. "I'm glad it was like that for you."
"Oh, it was." Her blue eyes were full of dreams. "You made it that way, Beau. I wish I could give you something just as valuable." She brushed her lips lovingly over the pulse beat in the hollow of his throat. "I'd like to give you rare spices, precious stones, and one hundred twenty talents of gold."
"One hundred twenty talents?" Beau asked, puzzled.
She nodded. "That's what the Queen of Sheba brought as gifts to Solomon."
The creases in the corners of his eyes deepened as he laughed up at her. "I should have known." He shook his head ruefully. "That brain of yours is filled with the most amazing trivia." He kissed her quickly to banish the troubled frown that was beginning to form. "Fascinating trivia from a fascinating lady. And for your information, my services are not to be bought with one hundred twenty talents of gold. They're considered absolutely priceless in some circles. So you may keep your gifts, Kate."
"Really?" Her eyes were suddenly dancing with mischief. "I bet I know one gift you'll accept." She pulled away from him and jumped to her feet." "You, being such a very tactile gentleman." Ignoring his growl of protest, she picked up the white caftan and pulled it over her head. She ran to the far corner of the room and began turning a crank high up on the wall. "This took an entire week for Julio and me to set up, but I think it was worth it. It's rigged with a pulley outside."