by Sami Lee
Unfortunately, Cassie knew they couldn’t stay in paradise forever. Reed’s stomach rumbled, reminding her that they had never gotten to their picnic. “Do you want to go eat?”
“Let’s take the food back to the boat.” Reed lifted his head from where it had been resting on her shoulder. The intent in his eyes was clear. “I’ll want you again soon. I’ll want you all night long.”
Cassie trembled, thrilled by his impassioned declaration and all it promised. “Yes, Reed. I want that too.”
*****
True to his word, Reed made love to Cassie exhaustively that night, reaching for her time and time again while the moon was high in the sky, and once more as the starlight slowly faded, giving rise to dawn. She woke reluctantly the following day, her body pleasantly aching and her being filled with renewed purpose.
She loved Reed. She’d known it all along and had been forced to acknowledge it when she’d come face-to-face with him again after their long separation, but the events of the previous night had reinforced that knowledge tenfold. The wounds she’d carried throughout their three-year marriage had healed themselves sometime during the wee hours. Cassie was imbued with renewed enthusiasm for her relationship, more than ready to start fresh.
To her surprise, Reed wasn’t beside her in bed. Out of the two of them, she was usually the earliest riser. When she glanced at her watch she realised it was after ten. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept past six-thirty.
Cassie smiled to herself. Well, she was physically and emotionally spent, having been loved to a point almost beyond her capacity to respond. Almost. No matter how replete she was, there always seemed to be a little something left over for Reed.
She climbed out of bed, found her shorts and shirt and dragged them on. Then she went in search of her husband.
He was standing on the deck, staring out at the endless blue horizon. He held a mug in his hand but didn’t seem to be drinking from it. Cassie watched him for a moment, warmed again by the sight of his strong physique, the shift of his dark-brown hair that was ruffled in the slight breeze. He was so handsome, so sexy, that the part of her she’d thought utterly depleted fluttered to life. She was absolutely insatiable.
She was also moving back to Sydney with him, there was no longer any question in her mind. No way could she go through the hell of losing him again. She would have to sell The Rendezvous, but Uncle Shane would forgive her not following in his footsteps. He’d been her favourite uncle, and he’d only ever wanted her to be happy. Cassie had never been happier than she’d been last night with Reed. She figured Uncle Shane would approve.
She walked toward Reed and placed a hand on his lower back. “Good morning. Or should I say afternoon?”
He glanced at her but didn’t laugh at her little joke. His face was set in such grim lines that Cassie’s heart performed an odd twist. It started thrumming hard when Reed set down his mug, took her face in both hands and kissed her. There was passion in the kiss, but of a different quality than that which he’d displayed in the past twelve hours. There was something bittersweet in the way he held her face, the way he traced her lips with his tongue.
Cassie’s heart was pounding by the time he pulled back, something about the way he was acting making her spine tingle a warning. He stared at her for what seemed like a full minute, his countenance inscrutable. Then he opened his mouth and kicked her in the chest.
“I’ll sign the papers, Cassie. The minute I get back to Sydney, you’ll have your divorce.”
Chapter Eight
Cassie stared at him, feeling as though she’d been sucker punched. Reed wanted the divorce? Now? How could he even consider it after all they’d shared last night?
Her voice was as frayed as a worn rope. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s the way it has to be, Cass. I see that now. I can’t give you what you need.”
Cassie shook her head, as though the act would help her make sense of what he was saying. It only made her dizzy and more confused. “What do you mean you can’t give me what I need? Last night you let me in, Reed. You really spoke to me. You re-established a connection. That’s all I’ve ever needed from you.”
“You’re wrong. There’s something else you need that I can’t ever give you.”
“Like what?”
Reed turned his gaze to the crystal-clear waters around them. “This. This place is your home, Cass. It’s not right for me to take you away from it. It wasn’t right the first time, but I did it because I didn’t know better. Now I’ve seen you here. I’ve seen how you love the ocean, how you love to sail. It’s in your soul, and I won’t ask you to leave it again.”
“That’s my decision to make, not yours.” Cassie reached up to frame his face with her hands, turning it so he was once again looking at her. “I love you, Reed. I’ve loved you since our first date. I want to give our marriage another try.”
He let out a heavy breath. “Oh, Cass. I love you too. I always will. That’s why I’m letting you go. Up here in the Whitsundays you’re free. In Sydney you’re hemmed in, landlocked most of the time. If you come back with me you’ll eventually resent it and we’ll be back to where we were before you left. At least if we do it now, it’s less painful than it will be a few more years down the road.”
“You think?” Cassie took a step back, putting distance between them. She glared at Reed, this man who was giving up on their marriage without a fight. Again. “Because I don’t see how it’s possible for something to hurt worse than this does. What was that all about last night? If it wasn’t about us getting back together, why the hell did you make love to me like you did?”
“Because I couldn’t not do it. I’m sorry, Cass. Somewhere in the dark hours I knew it would have to be our last night together, but I couldn’t deny myself one last taste of you.” He lifted a hand and stroked it over her hair. The expression on his face was so full of adoration it tore at Cassie’s heart. “You were so beautiful.”
“You bastard.” The heat of a volcanic anger rose within her and Cassie smacked his hand away. “How could you make me love you again only to do this to us?”
She brushed past him, barely resisting the urge to push him overboard in a fit of rage. But tears stung her eyes as well, and she knew what she felt wasn’t sheer fury.
Beneath her frustration and anger, she was truly, utterly heartbroken.
*****
Cassie was crying again.
She tried to hide it, but with a sidelong glance Reed noticed the way she surreptitiously stuck her fingers beneath her sunglasses to swipe at her eyes. A jagged rock of emotion lodged itself in Reed’s throat, but he stifled the instinct to go to her. He was the cause of her distress. He’d lost the right to offer comfort.
Up ahead, Abel Point Marina loomed, the town of Airlie Beach stretching out beside it. Even the main business centre was picturesque. Everything here was perfect, drenched in sunlight and nautical-themed charm. Didn’t Cassie see that a life with him could never come close to competing with a life in paradise? Better they admit that now than a few years down the road when they’d both invested more in the relationship, when they’d possibly brought children into it.
At the thought of the kids he’d never have with Cassie, Reed’s own eyes stung. They’d talked about starting a family a few times but had both decided to wait until they’d saved a little more money and found their dream house. Then they’d started having problems, Cassie had started pushing for him to talk all the damn time and he’d gotten increasingly frustrated with her. The more she’d pushed, the tighter he’d shut her out. At the time, he hadn’t seen the point in talking about things you couldn’t change.
He hadn’t been right about that. Last night when he’d told Cassie about Mikaela, it had made a difference. Not to Mikaela, it was too late for her. The change had occurred in him. He’d felt lighter, more open. When he’d made love to Cassie afterward, it had seemed as though it was the first time they’d ever truly made lo
ve, with their bodies, hearts and souls exposed. At least that was true for him. Cassie had always made love like that. She’d always given freely, while he’d taken what she offered and given only physical satiation in return.
Cassie deserved love—pure, selfless love. He hadn’t given her that at any point during their marriage. Another reason you have to let her go, Dalton. She deserves better.
Long before he wanted it to be, their cruise was over. Cassie switched to using the yacht’s motor and eased into the mooring they’d left six days ago. Not quite a week, but Reed felt as though he’d lived half a lifetime since he’d last set foot on this particular jetty. He’d come here determined to reclaim his wife, to take her back to Sydney with him where she belonged. Somewhere along the way he’d had to face the fact she was already right where she was supposed to be.
The best thing he could do for her now was to leave her be, give her a chance to move on.
His mind careered away from that thought and the mental image it conjured of Cassie with another man, perhaps pregnant with that other man’s child. He had to get off the damn boat and leave before he weakened and doing the right thing for Cassie didn’t seem as important as making himself feel better. He went below deck and grabbed the bag he’d already packed. Then he rose out of the hatch and into the North Queensland sunshine for the last time.
Cassie was on the wharf, her arms folded over her chest. She didn’t look at him as he jumped off the stern rail onto the wooden planks beside her. Reed was gutted, made speechless by a fierce sense of loss. He knew that walking away from Cassie would leave a hole in his heart that would never be filled by anyone else.
He steeled himself against the self-pity that threatened to develop. Toughen up, Dalton. “I’ll never forget this time with you, Cass. I hope you find happiness.”
She was still wearing her sunglasses, but even so she refused to meet his eyes. She looked off to the left, at nothing in particular. Her voice was flat. “Just go, Reed. I can’t take this anymore.”
Swallowing past the dry restriction in his throat, Reed turned and strode off, feeling like he’d left his heart, the love of his life, on the jetty behind him.
Chapter Nine
Cassie slept on the boat that night, unwilling to go to the three-bedroom house she’d shared with her divorced cousin and her daughter for the past year. Louise was bound to see Cassie’s red-rimmed eyes and ask a lot of questions, and Cassie didn’t think she could handle that, not so soon after Reed had walked out of her life.
He’d walked out of her life. He’d thrown in the towel as far as they were concerned. Had it hurt this bad when she’d done it to him?
As much as she wanted to blame Reed for everything, Cassie had a host of recriminations for herself. Perhaps if she hadn’t left him twelve months ago, had instead forced him into counselling or something, perhaps they would have stood a chance. Maybe separation, her running away to Airlie, wasn’t the best move.
But then they would never have had this past week, which Cassie couldn’t bring herself to regret. She couldn’t wish away their last night together, when all the walls between them had simply fallen away, leaving two people who didn’t want to live without each other.
Cassie woke from a fitful sleep just after dawn, the truth blaring in her head like a siren. She didn’t want to live without him, and he didn’t want to live without her. She’d seen that truth in his eyes as he’d told her he’d never forget their week together, when he’d made love to her beneath a moonlit waterfall. He didn’t want a life without her any more than she wanted to go on without him.
So why was she blindly doing what Reed Dalton told her to do?
With a sudden burst of fiery determination, Cassie leapt out of bed. Unquestioning obedience wasn’t her style, a fact she was going to have to remind her stubborn husband of. She yanked on jeans and a T-shirt and stormed off the yacht without bothering to even run a brush through her hair.
She had to get back to her cousin’s house, pack a bag and book a flight to Sydney. With any luck, she’d get there before Reed signed the divorce papers. If she didn’t, she’d simply tear them up in front of him and demand he talk to her instead of shutting her out again. She’d had enough of being shut out of her husband’s heart to last a lifetime. She wasn’t accepting it anymore.
Cassie ran along the wharf, her sneakers slapping on the wood. A few of the yacht dwellers were up already, and they watched her speed by with curious stares. Cassie paid them no mind. The only thing she cared about was getting to Sydney so she could start her life over again.
She was still running full pelt when she passed Steen’s Chandlery. She was so focussed on reaching her car that she didn’t see him at first. It wasn’t until he called her name that she came to an abrupt halt and spun around.
Reed was sitting on the bench seat in front of the chandlery, wearing the same clothes he’d been dressed in yesterday and sporting a dark beard shadow that, along with the crinkled shorts and T-shirt, made him look a wreck. A rumpled and wonderful wreck.
He stood when she saw him, took a few steps toward her. “I went to the airport. I didn’t get on the plane.”
Cassie took a step forward as well, until there was only two feet separating them. She could hardly believe he was here. Her heart still raced from running, and the sight of Reed standing before her wasn’t going to make it calm its pace anytime soon. “I can see that.”
“You see, I remembered I have a lot of leave owing to me. I haven’t taken a day off in the past year because I didn’t want to spend my down time with anyone but you. I called the sarg.” He lifted the iPhone he still held in his hand. “Woke him up. Man, he was pissed. But he granted me a month off, effective immediately.”
“A whole month?” Was he saying he wanted to stay here with her for the month? What about after that?
“Yeah.” His lips tilted in a half-smile that caused Cassie’s racing heart to melt. “I was hoping we could spend some more time together. Figure this out properly. Said a lot of stuff yesterday that I’ve been kicking myself for ever since. The fact is, I don’t want to live without you, Cass. I can’t do that and have any chance of being happy.”
She’d sensed it, but hearing him say it was so much better. Speechless with gratitude, with relief, Cassie took the last step forward until they were standing chest to chest. In a flurry of movement, Reed’s arms went around her. A shaky breath stuttered out of him as he squeezed her tight.
Cassie wound her arms around his waist and breathed in his scent, revelled in the joy of being in his embrace again. Her husband. The only man she’d ever loved, or ever would love if she had anything to say about it.
“I was coming to Sydney to knock some sense into you,” Cassie said.
There was a smile in Reed’s voice. “I’ve no doubt you would have done it.”
“I was going to rip up the divorce papers. I’m sorry I ever sent them. I only did it because I didn’t think you wanted to fight for me.”
“I only said I’d sign them because I thought you deserved to be free.”
“Oh, Reed. Being without you is not a kind of freedom I’d ever want.”
“Good. Because I am going to fight for you, Cass. I’m going to fight for us.” He gathered her even closer, if that was possible. “I love you, sweetheart. I’ll do anything to make this work. I’m going to move here.”
Cassie drew back to stare at him. “You’ve always lived in Sydney. That and being a cop is what you know.”
“Living here and being a kick-ass sailor is all you knew four years ago, but you married me anyway. You changed your life for me.” He touched her face, his eyes earnest, his pledge sincere. “It’s my turn.”
“Really?” Cassie rasped.
Reed nodded. “There are jobs here—in the police force even. I’m going to get one so you can have all this.” He looked around to indicate the perfect still waters of the marina and the endless, clear-blue sky. Then he looked back at her and grinne
d. “And you can have me too.”
Cassie smiled. “That sounds like a dream.”
“It doesn’t have to be. It can be real. So…will you?”
“Will I agree to let you move here?”
“Agree to let me.” Reed laughed and rolled his eyes. “Who wears the pants in this relationship?”
Cassie arched a brow. “I figure we both do.”
“Well, maybe.” Reed conceded with a grin. “But I’m moving here, sweetheart. I’ve made up my mind on that. All I want to know from you is…” To Cassie’s surprise and delight, Reed got down on one knee before her, took one of her hands in his and held her gaze. His blue eyes were filled with love, such love Cassie had to cover her mouth with her hand to stop from gushing. “Will you stay married to me, Mrs Dalton?”
Cassie gave up on stifling her urge to gush. She was so full of joy and excitement it simply had to come out. She leaned down and started covering Reed’s face with kisses, giggling and crying. “Yes!” she said. “Absolutely, yes.”
Thank you for purchasing this short story, I really hope you enjoyed it. If you have time, please consider leaving a review at your place of purchase so you can help other like-minded readers discover Cassie and Reed’s story.
Want to find out more about the beautiful tropical island where Cassie and Reed had their romantic moonlight swim? Enjoy stories about lovers reunited? Turn the page to to find out more about Moonlight Mirage, an erotic romance novella set on magical Bilby Island.
Moonlight Mirage
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