by Неизвестный
Antonio was amazed to find he felt the same away. There again, going anywhere with Paige, he suspected, would be an adventure. She was so full of life and the unexpected. She was constantly surprising him. ,
The houseboat had surprised him as well. In all honesty, he hadn't expected to like it as much as he did. He'd come up with the houseboat idea on the spur of the moment, because he'd wanted to take Paige somewhere right away from everyone. He'd seen a programme on TV about cruising the Hawkesbury in various craft some time back, and been awed by the untamed majesty of the river, with its wide waterways, interesting inlets and large unspoiled surrounds.
Apparently, it hadn't changed much since the days of the early explorers, when aborigines had inhabited the caves in the rugged hills through which the river wound its leisurely way in scenic splendour. There were some houses dotted along the more habitable sections of riverbank, and the occasional restaurant and supply stop to cater for the holidaymakers, but on the whole the river remained as it had been for hundreds of years. With its proximity to Sydney another attractive facet-no plane flight necessary to get there-Antonio had filed it away in his mind as a possible idea for a relaxing holiday.
Once Paige had agreed to come, however, he'd had to set about making his proposed holiday real. He'd spent a good hour yesterday morning on the phone, negotiating. It had still cost him a small fortune, first to hire the honeymoon version, then to have the darned thing fully equipped with everything from food and wine to extra linen and towels. He'd had to offer a bonus to have it all done for him that same day.
Late last night he'd been thinking he could have taken Paige to the honeymoon suite in the most exclusive hotel in Sydney for the same price. But once he saw what he'd paid for-including Paige's reaction-he felt certain he'd done the right thing.
Her beautiful blue eyes had shone as brightly as the sky overhead, and she'd fairy gushed with delight over everything, from the weather to the river to the houseboat. Especially the houseboat. Antonio had been more than impressed himself, both by the furnishings and the design.
Divided into three living areas, it had a stylish sitting room up front, nautical in flavour to complement the wheel, a dining area in the middle, with rich pine cupboards and green granite tops, and a master bedroom at the back, all blue, complete with a cleverly compact en suite bathroom. The sky-blue quilted bed was very wide, and there were porthole windows above the built-in pine bedhead, and a massive skylight in the ceiling above. Outside, there was a sundeck up top, and decks front and back. A small dinghy was tied up at the back steps- useful, they'd been told, for rowing ashore, either for fresh supplies or maybe a picnic at any of the small coves and beaches which lined the river.
Antonio wasn't so sure about picnics, but he intended taking Paige to dinner to at least one of the excellent restaurants dotted along the river. He was looking forward to seeing her in that saucy little gold dress again.
And to seeing her out of it.
Such thinking sent his eyes sliding over to where Paige was standing at the viewing window, a metre or so away. She'd finally taken off that black jacket, but she'd pulled the white shirt out from her waist and it was hanging loosely over her hips, hiding her figure from his gaze.
Suddenly, he wanted her closer. Much closer.
'Come here,' he commanded softly, and took one hand off the wheel to beckon her to join him.
Paige only hesitated a second before moving into the gap he'd made between his body and the wheel, her back against his stomach and chest. His hand returned to the wheel, completing the circle his body created around her. With a contented sigh, she leant back against him, her eyes closing.
It wasn't a sexual moment for Paige-though perhaps Antonio might have thought differently. The feelings which flooded through her were ones of peace, not passion. It felt as if she'd finally come home, finally found where she belonged.
With Antonio.
'Better not relax too much,' he advised drily. 'You're supposed to be watching the waterways, as well as telling me things I'm already beginning to forget.' '
'Such as what?' she murmured, her eyes half opening to glance upwards into his.
'Such as what side is port and what's starboard. And which side we were supposed to pass other craft on. You see, there's this big boat coming straight for us, and I think it's time for evasive action.'
She cried out in fright, her eyes snapping forward. There was indeed a huge yacht coming towards them, and it wasn't making any attempt to shift course. Fortunately, Paige had concentrated on that part of the video which explained the basic rules of right of way.
'Right!' she ordered. 'You must always pass on the right And always give way to sail.'
'Aye-aye!' Antonio returned, already turning the wheel.
The yacht was finally doing the same, and they passed with plenty of room to spare.
'Congratulations,' Antonio praised, and bent to kiss the top of her head. 'You just passed your first test as first mate with flying colours.'
Ridiculous to feel so pleased. But she hadn't been on the end of much praise in her life.
"This is going to be such fun!'
'Mmm. Now that we're almost in the middle of the river, we have to make a vital decision. Should we turn left, and head up-river under the bridge? Or right, and go down-river towards Broken Bay?'
I'll have to consult the map again,' Paige said. 'I left it over there on the coffee table. Excuse me. You'll have to let me out.'
'No, don't worry about it. I've decided to go downriver for today.' And he turned the wheel to the right.
'Why?'
'There's more water that way. And it doesn't look as crowded. I'd like to find us a nice private mooring as soon as possible and drop anchor for the afternoon. It's such a lovely day. We could have lunch, then loll round on the top deck for a while.'
Paige laughed. 'I can't imagine you lolling around anywhere.'
'I have to admit I haven't done a lot of lolling lately. Wow, now that's a tongue-twister! Still, I'm very much in need of some serious lolling. You know what they say. All work and no play makes Antonio a dull boy.'
'You? Dull? Never!'
'I have my dull moments, believe me,' he drawled. 'But now is not going to be one of them. So turn round and kiss me.'
'What?' Paige gasped.
'You heard what I said. Do as your captain tells you. Mutiny will not be tolerated. It requires the same punishment as teasing.'
Paige gulped, her peaceful, platonic pleasure giving way to passion with an astonishing speed. Her heart began to pound and a wild heat ignited deep inside her body, showing her how swiftly Antonio could change her. mood from |One of fun and friendship to one of wildly driven desire.
Slowly, she turned in his arms, fearful of seeming too easy, yet compelled to do whatever he wanted. Because she wanted it too. Instantly. Intensely.
Kiss me, he commanded. Oh, God...
Her eyes lifted at the same time as her body, widening as her lips moved closer, then squeezing tightly shut when contact was made, a
She began kissing him, softly at first, then with more pressure, urging him to open his mouth, dying for the feel of his tongue..
She moaned when his lips remained firmly shut, her mouth finally lifting, her eyes fluttering open with dismay and reproach.
'I don't think this was a very wise idea,' was all he said, his own eyes narrowed and glittering.
Paige had a pretty good idea what he meant. She could feel it, pressing hard into her belly. Yet with her blood pounding and her head whirling she wasn't thinking about wisdom. She was wanting him far too much.
'I think perhaps you should go unpack,' he advised drily.
She didn't want to go anywhere. She wanted to stay here in his arms. But she gradually saw that that would be very cruel. It wasn't as though they could do anything right then and there, other than make the situation worse.
I'll go change, shall I?' she said sensibly, but with a little sigh in
her voice. 'Then see about putting something together for our lunch.' The kitchen cupboards were full of supplies, with fresh food in the gas-operated fridge.
'Good thinking,' he said crisply. 'Put a bottle of white wine in to chill as well. Oh, and hand me that map of the river before you go. I'll look for a suitable mooring.'
'Right,' she returned, just as crisply, and ducked under his arms. But as she handed him the map and hurried off Paige's main feeling was frustration. She hadn't wanted to go. She'd wanted to keep kissing him, wanted to touch him, wanted to...
Her face flushed as the thought hit, her stomach tightening as she realized Antonio could have asked her to do that, and she would have. When Jed had tried to force her head down there, she'd been so revolted she'd cried out like a banshee and flown from his bed.
It wasn't revulsion which flooded her when she thought of doing that to Antonio, but excitement.
Yet she was grateful he hadn't asked, in a way. It showed he respected her feelings, and that his interest in her wasn't solely sexual.
Paige threw her suitcase onto the high wide bed and began to unpack. When she came to the pink bikini, she didn't hesitate for long. As much as she liked Antonio feeling other things for her than sexual ones, she didn't want his taking this new respect too far.
Alone at the wheel, Antonio let out a long shuddering breath. What in hell had he thought he was doing, asking' her to kiss him? He was in the middle of a damned river, steering a damned houseboat, hardly the best place for a romantic interlude.
Although it hadn't been romance he'd been thinking of once she'd kissed him so eagerly, had it? The moment her lips had met his, a black lust had invaded his veins with the speed of a lethal injection. Thank God he'd kept his stupid damned mouth shut, because if he hadn't all would have been lost!
Oh, he had no doubt he could have coerced Paige into ridding him of his instant and very painful erection. It had been obvious she was very turned on. But neither method which came to mind would have endeared him to her afterwards. There was a time and place for such selfishness, and this wasn't it. His mission over the next ten days wasn't solely sex and seduction, but the making of a real relationship.
'Remember this, Antonio?'
Her voice startled him, and the map he hadn't even begun to examine fluttered from his fingers onto the floor. Antonio knew, before he even glanced over his shoulder, that he was in trouble again. When he did, his muttered oath told it all.
Dear God, more bows! Two on her hips, a third between her luscious breasts, all three responsible for keeping that wretched excuse for a swimming costume from falling from her oh, so beautiful body.
Antonio had seen some provocative bikinis in his life, but this was something else. It always had been, but it seemed even more so, now that Paige's figure had matured.
Ironic that the colour was shocking pink. The colour almost matched the wild pink in its wearer's cheeks as she stood there before him in an obviously aroused state. Once again the temptation was there, to have her do things which his aching flesh craved.
'Now I know why I had trouble keeping my hands off you all those years ago,' he muttered darkly.
'Did you really?' she asked breathlessly, and actually began to walk towards him, movement doing things to those inadequately encased breasts which would have corrupted a saint.
'How can you doubt it? But let me warn you, Paige, if you keep coming over here, things will happen which we both might regret later. I can see the headlines now,' he added ruefully. '"Houseboat runs amok! Naked lovers found drowned in river!'"
Her approach was halted, not by his warning, but by another houseboat suddenly passing close on their port side. A man was behind the wheel and three teenage children were sitting on the sunlit upper deck, swinging their feet against the sides and watching the world go by. They spied Antonio and Paige through the wide front viewing window and waved. One of the two boys wolf-whistled. All of them stared.
Antonio lifted his hand to wave back. Paige stood rooted to the spot, blushing wildly.
Soon they were alone again.
'Well? he said. 'What are you going to do?' He was no longer capable of resisting, if she insisted.
'I...I think I'll go cover up with some shorts and a proper top.'
His body didn't like the idea, but his brain did. 'Sensible girl.'
'Do you want me to be sensible, Antonio?'
'No.'
'Good,' she said, and with a smug little smile on her flushed face she whirled and left him.
He stared after her for a moment, then laughed.
'Just you wait till we're safely stopped somewhere!' he called after her.
She popped her head back into the sitting room, but only her head. 'Can I expect my first comeuppance?'
'You can depend on it."
'Before or after lunch?'
'Both.'
'Oooh... Her lips pursed into a provocative little circle.
'Yes, that too.'
'What too?'
'That's for me to know and you to find out. You see, I have a feeling you're the sort of girl who's easily bored with a man. Can't have that if we're to make a commitment to each other!'
Paige was on a sexual and emotional high for the forty minutes it took Antonio to find a mooring in a nice, quiet little cove. Her body burned for him, and her emotions soared.
He wanted her, plus he wanted to make a commitment to her. Her love for Antonio no longer had to be ignored, or hidden or-even controlled! Her feelings could be allowed to fly, to reach the dizzying heights which she'd always known were possible.
She was just finishing making up two lunch plates of cold meat and salad when Antonio came inside from where he'd been securing the houseboat at the mooring. He stopped and just stood there, staring at her and saying nothing, a look of dark hunger in his hot black eyes.
'What?' she said, flattered and flustered at the same time.
'Have you still got that bikini on under those shorts and top?'
Yes. Why?'
'Care to join me for a quick dip before we eat?'
'In the river? You have to be joking! It'll be freezing at this time of year.'
'That's the idea. Cool us off a bit so we can eat first.'
'Are you that hungry?'
'Mmm.' His eyes lanced hers, then raked down her body, seemingly stripping it as he went. Every nerve-ending in Paige's body began to vibrate, every erotic zone immediately went on alert. Surely he couldn't expect her to calmly eat lunch when all she wanted was him, not food.
'Yes,' he growled at last. 'Yes, I'm that hungry.'
'Oh...' Her dismay was as sharp as her disappointment. Her eyes slid away from his, confusion in her heart.
'So forget the damned salad and take them off.'
Her eyes whipped back to his, and widened. 'What?'
'The shorts and the top,' he ordered brusquely. 'Not the bikini. I want the pleasure of doing that.'
'H...here?'
'Right here. And right now.'
Her shorts had an elastic waist, and were easy to remove, but she still fumbled a little as she slipped them down over her hips. Letting them drop to the floor, she stepped very carefully out of them. Even then she swayed a little, and had to grab the cupboard-edge for support. The T-shirt had to be removed over her head. She felt as if she was doing it in slow motion, her breasts strangely heavy as the action of her arms lifted them upwards, pressing them together.
It was weird, that second or two when her face and eyes were hidden from his yet her body not. She could still feel his eyes upon her, feel the heatwaves of his
desire hitting her like lightning bolts. They ignited a return desire so strong that nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of its consummation this time. Not even people passing by.
By the time she tossed the top aside and stood there, watching him watching her, she was his, totally, to do with as he willed.
'God help me,' was all he said as he visually coveted her curve
s.
'God help me, don't you mean?' she countered.
'Yes,' he rasped, nodding slowly. 'Yes, I would think that might be so. Now come here,' he commanded roughly.
She walked straight into his arms, and a kiss which bore no resemblance to the one she'd given him earlier. No tentativeness. Or tenderness. Just raw savagery, plundering her mouth and every misconception she'd ever had about lovemaking. And love.
For if this was love that she was feeling for this man, then it was the most dangerous emotion in the world. So violent in its intensity, and so powerful in its potential for self-destruction. Neither experience with Antonio the other night had prepared her for this...this darkly powerful and all-consuming passion.