She spotted Cary immediately. She slid onto the seat opposite him and reached for one of his Whoppers. "Thanks. I'm starving," she said softly.
Cary stopped chewing for a moment. Things like this only happened in the movies. "I am, too. . .. That's why... I bought three. Have some french fries and one of these coffees."
"Thanks. I was waiting at your house all day."
Cary didn't find the admission strange at all. "I went to your place and they said you rented a car, which probably
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meant you would be gone all day. I just sort of bummed around and kept calling. Those guys know me already."
"They told me someone was asking for me. I never dreamed it was you. This is the best hamburger I've ever eaten."
"I think I've made a fool of myself."
"I don't mind. I've been calling your house at all hours of the day and night. I lied to the rental car place and said you sideswiped me. They gave me your address and phone number."
Cary's eyes were full of awe. "Why?"
"I wanted to see you. You should have gotten more catsup."
"They're all out. I got the last. I thought when I didn't call back... you would think ..."
"I did. Then I decided anything worth having has to have problems attached. All I've been thinking about is making love to you in that beautiful house. I've heard so much about it from Aunt Billie."
"Ever since I got here I've been having dreams about you. In one of them I was going to make love to you down by the water. I had you wrapped up in a lei I made myself. I woke up."
"Were you sorry?"
"Yes. Maybe we should... talk about this some more?" Cary said hesitantly.
"If you like. I won't change my mind. There are no strings attached to me. Why didn't you call back after I left that message?"
"No guts. This deal I'm working on. Amelia. I didn't want you to be hurt. I wanted to call. A couple of times I had my hand on the phone..."
"We aren't kids. I'm thirty-nine, in case you've forgotten," Julie said gently.
"I haven't forgotten anything. I played our time together over and over in my mind. A thousand times at least. I thought you said you were starving."
Julie fixed her eyes level with Cary's. "I am, but not for a Whopper. You don't seem to be too hungry yourself."
"My appetite seems to have disappeared," Cary said softly. "We should talk."
"Words have a way of coming between people."
"In that case I think we should climb into our respective
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cars, with me in the lead, and head back to the house I'm staying in. Jesus, I'm glad you were hungry enough to stop here," Cary said happily.
"Me, too. Cary, there doesn't have to be an afterwards. This is now." He nodded to show that he understood.
Cary drove slowly, constantly looking into the rearview mirror to make sure he wasn't dreaming and that Julie was still behind him. He wiggled a finger and smiled to himself. It was happening. Julie was here. They were going back to the house. Three days and three nights left. Julie's eyes had told him what she was expecting. He hoped his answering glance told her his thoughts were identical.
The leaves of the huge banyan tree at the Nelsons' gate parted in the wind, as though they were standing aside for the lovers to enter. Julie took it as an omen. She was meant to be here. Absolutely.
The cars slid to a stop in the middle of the long driveway, both doors opening simultaneously. It was dusk now, that soft, lavender-gray time when the worries of the day were behind and new beginnings were forged. Julie's voice was as light as a summer breeze. "It's so beautiful here. If I lived here, I don't think I'd ever want to leave."
"I feel the same way," Cary said. His arm was around her. Julie leaned into him as they walked to the lanai.
Cary uncapped two wine coolers from the small refrigerator. "I think we should talk. Not that I want to. I can't make you any promises, Julie."
"I'm not asking you for any. I'm here. You're here. This is our time. It will mean whatever each of us wants it to mean. No more and no less. Tell me about the dream again, the one where you wrapped me in a lei and then made love to me," Julie said lazily.
"Why don't I show you instead," Cary said softly as he pulled her toward him. His arms drew around her, holding her close to him. How tall he was, towering over her, lifting her chin with the tips of his fingers to look down into her eyes. His lips, when they touched hers, were soft, giving as well as taking, gently persuading her to respond. His arm, cradling her against him, was firm, strong, but his fingers touching her face were tender, trailing whispery shadows over her cheekbones. A kiss like this was the best possible beginning to a wonderful evening. A kiss. A tender gesture that tempted and demanded.
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"Hello, beautiful lady," Cary whispered against her cheek.
"Hello, darling Cary," Julie responded breathlessly. "I've never been kissed like that before," she confided shyly. Cary smiled in the lavender shadows as he squeezed her closer to him.
"We're going to make a lei," he said boyishly. "No one taught me how to do it. I figured it out myself, in my dream."
"I'll help you," Julie whispered.
"Why are we whispering?" Cary whispered.
"I don't know," Julie whispered back. "Maybe because this place is so perfect, so hushed, loud voices will shatter something. Where's the string for the leis?"
"In that little cabinet next to the refrigerator."
They talked of everything and nothing, of Cary's trips to the Beach Tower and Julie's unhappy days in Waikiki. Their voices were as soft and gentle as the warm trade winds billowing about them. They worked on their leis, their eyes on each other.
"I has to be a long one. In my dream I wrapped your entire body in it and there was still some left over," Cary said.
"They should make perfume like this," Julie said.
"No. Then there wouldn't be moments like this." Please, God, don't let this be another dream, he prayed silently.
Cary reached for her. His embrace was so natural, she felt herself melting into his arms as though she'd been doing it for hundreds of years. He felt good. He felt right. His arms tightened, bringing her closer to him. No words were spoken; none were necessary. Gently, she felt his lips in her hair, on her cheek and throat. Tenderly, his fingers lifted her chin, raising her lips to his own. He was pressing her closer to his chest, crushing her breasts against him. His body was hard, muscular. Julie's arms encircled his back. Without reason or logic she felt safe and secure in his embrace, and she faced her tumultuous emotions with directness and truth. She couldn't help it. She wanted this man as much as she wanted to take her next breath.
Their eyes met in the soft dusk. Julie knew that she could drown in that dark gaze and emerge again as the woman she wanted and needed to become.
Seeing her moist lips part and offer themselves to him, Cary lowered his mouth to hers, touching her lips, tasting their sweetness, drawing from them a kiss, gentle, yet passionate. As the kiss deepened, searing flames licked her body,
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the pulsating beat of her heart thundered in her ears.
It was Cary who broke away first, his hands trembling as he untied the shoulder straps of her loose-fitting dress. Her flesh burned when he undid her bra and slipped her panties down over her hips. The cool, fragrant plumeria blossoms were wound about her body, a balm to her scorched skin. Her own hands were quivering, yet gently, when she undid the buttons on Cary's shirt and loosened the buckle on his belt. She felt his hardness when she slid his shorts down over his muscular thighs. When she laced the last of the plumeria around him, his eyes searched hers for an instant, then time became eternal for Julie. From somewhere deep within her a desire to stay forever in his arms, to feel the touch of his mouth upon hers, began to crescendo, threatening to erupt like fireworks. Thick, dark lashes closed over her blue eyes, and she heard her own breath come in ragged little gasps as she boldly brought her mouth onc
e more to his, offering herself, kissing him deeply, searchingly, searing the moment upon her memory. Slowly, Cary lowered Julie to the emerald-green of the lanai carpeting, the garland of plumeria breaking apart so they could lie among the fragrant blossoms that were an aphrodisiac, heady, bringing all of her senses to a high-pitched frenzy.
She kissed him then as she had never kissed another man, a kiss that made her weak and dizzy. She knew, in that endless moment, that this man belonged to her. She had found him
Cary's fingers were gentle as they danced through her hair. He sensed what she was feeling. There are needs of the soul that go beyond the hungers of the body. His voice was deep, husky, little more than a whisper. "Help me make this a night for all eternity."
He waited for her answer, wanted to hear her say it, commit herself to it. Wordless agreement would not do for him, he realized, not with this woman whose skin was so soft and fragrant beneath his lips and whose eyes were lowered with shyness. "Tell me, Julie," he murmured against the hollow of her throat, sending little tremors vibrating through her.
"Yes, yes," she cried. Was that voice her own? A voice deep and singing with desire, her woman's voice. "Cary," she murmured against his lips, feeling them soft and moist on her own. "I want you to make love to me."
Cary was excited by her voice, each of his senses heightened because she wanted him to love her. He captured her
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mouth with his own, entering with his tongue, feeling the velvet of hers. Together they knelt and fell back into the soft bed of plumeria blossoms, where she offered herself to him, allowing his hands to move over her body, exciting her, matching his hunger with her own.
She surrendered to his touch. She grew languorous as his hands possessed her breasts, the soft tenderness of her belly, and the smoothness of her inner thighs. His mouth gently opened hers, his silken-tipped tongue exploring, teasing, caressing with a fervor that sent her senses spinning.
When his hands moved between her thighs, rising upward, she moved against his touch, and she heard the response to her passion in the catch of his breath and the deep, deep sound that came from his throat. "You're so beautiful, Julie. So very beautiful. I love the way you want me to touch you." His voice was softer than a will-o'-the-wisp, and she wondered if she only imagined it.
Rolling over on the soft blossoms, he took her with him, trailing his fingers down the length of her spine and returning over and over again to the roundness of her buttocks. He invited her touch, inspired her caresses, always watching her in the dim moonlight, reveling in the heavy-lidded smoldering of her eyes. He wanted her to take pleasure in him, wanted her to find him worthy of her finely tuned passions. Did he please her? he wondered, as she smoothed the flat of her palms over his chest, her fingertips gripping and pulling at the thicket of hair. Her mouth found his nipples, tasting, lowering her explorations to the tautness of his belly and the hardness of his thighs. He reveled in her touch, in the expression of her eyes as he took her face in his hands and held it for his kiss.
Putting her beneath him once again, he kissed the sweetness of her mouth, her eyes, the soft curve of her jaw. Her breasts awakened beneath his kisses; she arched beneath his touch.
She sought him with her lips, possessed him with her hands, her own passions growing as she realized the pleasure she was giving him. The hardness of his sex was somehow tender and vulnerable beneath her hands as she felt it quiver with excitement and desire ... for her. His hands never left her body, seeking, exploring, touching.... She wanted to lie back and render herself to him; yet at the same time she wanted to possess him, touch him, commit him to memory and know
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him as she had never known another man. She felt her body sing with pleasure.
Julie was ravaged by this hunger he created in her. She wanted him to take her and bring her release, feeling as though she would die if he did not, yet hating to put an end to excruciating pleasure.
He put himself between her opened thighs, his eyes devouring her as she lay waiting for him. Her hair reflected the silver of the moon, her skin was bathed in a sleek sheen that emphasized her womanly curves and enhanced the contact between their flesh. He sat back on his heels, his gaze locking with hers as his hands moved over her body. Julie met his eyes, unashamedly, letting him see the hungers that dwelled there and the flutter of her lashes which mirrored the tremblings in her very center. His hands slipped to her sex, and she cried out softly, arching her back to press herself closer against his gently circling fingers. "You're so beautiful here," he told her, watching her eyes close and her lips part with a little gasp.
He gentled her, fed her desires, brought her to the point of no return, then smiled tenderly when she sobbed with the sweetness of her passion. She climaxed beneath his touch, uttering her pleasure, whispering his name. His hands eased the tautness of her thighs, kneading the firmness of her haunches and smoothing over her belly.
When she thought the sensation too exquisite to be surpassed, he leaned forward, driving himself into her, filling her with his pulsating masculinity. Her body strained beneath his, willing itself to partake of his pleasure, to be his pleasure. The fine hairs of his chest rubbed against her breasts. His mouth took hers, deeply, lovingly. His movements were smooth and expert as he stroked within her, demanding she match his rhythm, driving her once again to the sweetness she knew could be hers.
Her fingers raked his back, feeling the play of his muscles beneath his skin. She found the firmness of his buttocks, holding fast, driving him forward, feeling him buried deep within her. He doubled his delight and she climaxed again, and only then did he quicken his pace, thrusting himself into her with shorter, harder strokes.
Her body was exquisite, her responses delicious, but it was the expression on her lovely face and the delight and pleasure
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he saw there that pushed him over the edge and destroyed his restraint. The total joy, the hint of disbelief in her clear blue eyes, the purity of a single tear on her smooth cheek, were his undoing. He found his relief in her, her name exploding on his lips.
They lay together, legs entwined among the blossoms, her head on his shoulder as he stroked the softness of her arm and the fullness of her breasts. His lips were in her hair, soft, teasing against her brow. "You're a beautiful lover," he breathed, tightening his embrace, delighting in the intimacy between them. "I could make love to you again and again," he chuckled.
They lay together in the lanai for a long time, saying words only lovers say, but Julie knew that no matter how many times they made love, there would be one small part of Cary that would never be hers. She had sensed it several times during their ardent lovemaking. She'd sensed something else in him, too—a wariness, as though he were listening. Caught up as she was in her passion, she realized she could be wrong, but she doubted it, and in the end it made no difference to her. She was here with Cary Assante. If there were little ghosts between them, she'd handle it.
Cary sighed deeply. He couldn't ever remember being so satisfied, so contented. He hugged Julie to him. Was he falling in love with her? For now, in this wonderful place, it would be all right if he did.
But always, in the back of his mind, he waited for the phone to ring.
"How about a midnight swim?" he asked.
"Is it midnight already?"
"I have no idea. While you're here, we are not going to look at a clock or ask one another the time. For us, now, time has no meaning. Is that okay with you?" Cary nuzzled his face in her hair.
"It sounds too wonderful to be true, and yes, I agree. I also agree to the swim."
For a brief moment she felt self-conscious when she stood up, naked. She knew Cary was staring at her ample breasts, her heavy thighs. She sucked in her breath, waiting to see if the expression on his face changed. When it didn't, she let her breath out in an explosive sigh.
"What was that all about?" Cary laughed.
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"I was wondering if m
y ... my... ampleness shocks you."
For an answer he drew her to him, kissing her deeply. "I think I'm falling in love with you, ampleness and all."
"Shhh," Julie whispered as she laid a finger against his lips. "Come on, last one in the water is a stinkweed."
They swam effortlessly, in sync with each other, out to the coral reef and back. Their energies in high gear, they frolicked like two playful dolphins, laughing and dunking each other. When at last they tired, they made their way up to the white beach, bathed in silvery moonlight. They lay back, exhausted.
They made love again and again when their energies returned, the moonlight bathing their bodies in silver, the stars winking their approval. They slept entwined in each others' arms, Julie deeply, Cary soundly but with an ear to the lanai. Where the phone was.
They breakfasted on fresh fruit and pineapple juice. They swam, they snorkled, they made love. They napped and sat under the monkeypod tree. They even climbed the gnarled old tree and nestled in the deep boughs, swearing their love for all eternity. The twin lemon-yellow hammocks rocked with their pleasure and their giggles. They loved each other until they were exhausted, then napped and loved again and again.
On the afternoon of the last day, they showered and dressed together. Now it was time to talk. There would be no more lovemaking; there wasn't time. Cary had to pack, and then they'd drive to the airport in separate cars. It was Julie who initiated the talk, her heart crying out to know things only Cary could answer.
"Why," she whispered, "didn't you go to Washington with Amelia?" Please say it was because of me, she pleaded silently.
Cary listened to the question, hating to answer but knowing he must. If nothing else, he had to be fair to Julie. His voice was halting at first, then the words tumbled out one after the other. He finished with, "I can't believe she's ashamed of me. I guess she is; nothing else makes sense."
"Cary, you're wrong." Julie leaped from her beach chair to drop to her knees at his side. "I'll never believe that, not of Amelia."
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