by Janet Dailey
“You get a feeling of peace, don’t you?” She studied the glittering canopy above them and let a little sigh slip out. “I guess that appeals to me tonight.”
“Yes, it tends to make the troubles at the Mitchells’ seem like a bad dream,” Sebastian said, following his own train of thought.
With a downward dip of her chin, Laura angled a glance his way, something light and teasing in her eyes. “Did I mention that my grandfather thinks you are a good influence on me?”
“Which is undoubtedly the reason you are convinced age has impaired his judgment.”
Her laugh was soft and musical, in perfect harmony with the surrounding hush. “How astute. Are you that quick in court?”
“A solicitor doesn’t argue cases in court. That is the role of a barrister.”
“I believe you told me that once before. Oh, look. A falling star.” She pointed to a white scratch in the sky an instant before it vanished from sight. “Did you make a wish?”
“It went too quickly.”
“They always do.”
A coyote yipped somewhere off to the east, an eerie sound in the quiet land. Sebastian’s horse swiveled an ear in its direction but never changed the pace of its steady walk. Turning in the saddle, Sebastian rested a hand on the cantle and looked behind them. The buildings of the ranch headquarters had long ago disappeared from view. Only a faint glow in the distance remained to suggest its location.
Facing the front again, he remarked, half in jest, “I hope you know where we are.”
“I do. See that dark line of trees over there?” She nodded to the southwest. “That’s the river we crossed when we left the ranch yard. It makes a big, sweeping curve to the south. All we have to do is follow it and it will lead us home.”
“Upstream or downstream?”
“Downstream. Worried about getting lost, are you?” Laura said with a laugh.
“No, but I like to be prepared.”
“Don’t tell me you were a Boy Scout.”
“Sorry, no.”
After a short run of silence, Laura remarked. “It’s a warm night. Usually it cools off after the sun goes down. It might be cooler by the river. Let’s ride that way.” She laid the reins against her horse’s neck, pointing it toward the dark line of trees, and tossed a challenging look at Sebastian. “Race you there.” She dug her heels into her horse’s side. It shot forward, reaching a full gallop in two strides.
Sebastian gave chase, bending low in the saddle, urging his horse on. The river was less than a quarter mile distant. Laura’s horse was in the lead by a nose when she checked its headlong pace and reined it away from the treed bank. Sebastian broke in the other direction and circled his horse back to join up with her.
“I won.” There was laughter in her eyes and in her face, a glowing joy from within that only added to her natural beauty.
“A head start and a lighter weight in the saddle might have had something to do with that,” Sebastian suggested with a grin.
“Life isn’t fair that way,” Laura reminded him, playfully.
“But races are supposed to be.”
“In that case”—her horse danced sideways as she scanned the shadowed edges of the tree line—“we’ll have another one.”
“Where is the starting point?”
“Up there.” Energized by the run, her horse bounded into a canter the instant Laura signaled him forward. Sebastian quickly urged his horse alongside her. Together they loped parallel to the river until Laura pointed to a break in the trees growing along the banks.
“That is my own private swimming hole, wonderfully secluded,” she told him, a naughty look shining in her dark eyes. “The perfect spot for skinny-dipping. Are you game? Be warned, though, the water is only chest-deep.”
In response, Sebastian kneed his horse into a gallop and tugged his shirttail loose from the waistband of his jeans. Reaching up, he undid the top two buttons, conscious of hooves pounding the ground directly behind him. By the time his horse plowed to a stop near the open section of riverbank, he had pulled the shirt over his head and unfastened his jeans.
Wasting no time, he peeled out of the saddle and dropped the shirt on the ground along with the reins. He had already tugged off one boot when Laura swung off her horse. The second boot followed the first. Then it was an easy strip of his jeans, shorts, and socks.
He threw one look at Laura, catching a glimpse of her as she shrugged out of her bra, and he ran for the water. His second step into the river, he planted his foot and pushed off, making a shallow dive into the center.
When he surfaced, Laura was there, stretched out in an effortless sidestroke, the moonlight silvering the paleness of her skin. “Cheater, you had fewer clothes.”
Letting one foot touch the bottom, Sebastian wiped the water from his face. “This time the advantage was mine; last time it was yours. That’s only fair, don’t you agree?”
She slapped the surface with her hand, sending a spray of water at his face, and the water fight was on. It ended the only way it could, with Sebastian pulling her under the water.
They pushed to the top in unison, emerging only inches apart. Laura swiped a hand across her face and gave a brief toss of her head to shake off the excess water, then fastened her gaze on Sebastian, a darkening in her eyes that was full of invitation.
“I’m cold.” She crossed her arms behind his neck and dipped her head toward his mouth. “Warm me up.”
“That was my plan all along,” Sebastian murmured and met her halfway, his mouth moving onto her lips, parting them to deepen the kiss.
The buoyancy of the water made her weightless in his arms, leaving his hands free to explore every tantalizing dip and curve of her body. But he kept coming back to her breasts and the nipples that the chilly water had turned pebble-hard.
With a faint groan of need, he lifted her partway out of the water, but the slickness of her wet skin made it difficult for him to keep his grip. She would have slipped if she hadn’t wrapped her legs around his middle, solving the problem for him. Her fingers dug into his hair as he rubbed his mouth over a gleaming white breast, briefly teething its hard point before sucking it into his mouth.
Need grew, stimulated by everything from the rounded cheeks of her buttocks and the hard peaks of her breasts to the writhing push of her body against him and the little animal sounds she made in her throat.
Adjusting his stance to gain a better footing on the muddy river bottom, Sebastian pried a leg from around his middle, lowering her. In the next second her hand was there, guiding him inside her.
Only briefly was he conscious of the water lapping against them as he drove into her again and again. Then he was lost to everything except the hot race of his blood and the screaming ache for release. It came with an explosive, shuddering rush that had both of them straining to hold on to the intense pleasure of it.
His foot slipped, and they both went under, the suddenness of it separating them. Sebastian broke the surface an instant before Laura came up sputtering and coughing. But her sputtering quickly dissolved into laughter.
“I’ve never made love in the water before. Next time I’ll remember to hold my breath,” she declared, then shivered. “Brrr. Now it really is cold. This time I think we need to get dressed. Come on.” She caught hold of his hand and led him toward the shore. Glancing back, she noticed his enigmatic smile. “What are you looking so pleased about?”
“To be frank, it had crossed my mind that this might be another one of your good-bye scenes. Obviously it isn’t, since you don’t seem averse to talking.”
“But you will be leaving sometime,” Laura said lightly, releasing his hand and crossing to her pile of clothes.
“Why? Because of that ring on your finger?” Sebastian mocked. “Rutledge isn’t going to make you happy.”
“You’re wrong,” she replied easily and stepped into her jeans, tugging them up her wet legs.
“Am I?” He aimed a taunting smile her way as
he scooped his jeans off the ground. “You’re obviously not in love with the man, or you wouldn’t be cheating on him already.”
For a stunned instant, Laura simply stared at him, then slipped on her bra and worked to fasten it. “I’m not really cheating on him.”
“Then what am I?” Sebastian challenged lightly. “A last fling before you walk down the aisle?”
The corners of her mouth deepened in a smile. “That’s exactly what you are. Disappointed?”
“Not in the least.” Jeans on, he sat on the ground and pulled on his boots.
“Good. Because when you leave, I don’t want you to go away mad.”
“But it wouldn’t bother you at all if I left with a broken heart, would it?” Sebastian picked up his shirt and unfastened the rest of the buttons.
A laugh bubbled from her. “And it’s very likely you will be brokenhearted, because you’ll leave the way you came, with empty pockets.”
“No one can fool you, can they?” He smiled.
“Actually, you did, but not for long.” After tugging on her last boot, Laura stretched out a hand so he could pull her upright.
Together they walked over to where the horses were grazing and gathered up the trailing reins. “In time you will become very bored with Boone,” Sebastian stated as he swung into the saddle.
“And why is that?” Laura asked, her enjoyment for this back-and-forth banter showing in her expression.
“Because you’ll find you can’t match wits with an unarmed person.”
She made a face of mock dismay. “Ooh, that’s an old joke, Sebastian.”
“But extremely accurate in this case.”
“He suits me,” Laura declared and pointed her horse toward home.
With their hair wet and clothes damp from the brief swim, neither was inclined to dawdle along the way. They cantered across the moonlit plains on a straight course to the Triple C headquarters and crossed the river just south of the barns.
After seeing to the horses and stowing the tack, they set out for The Homestead. Sebastian’s hand brushed the back of her hair as he companionably draped an arm around her shoulders.
“Your hair feels dry,” he remarked idly.
“Almost,” Laura confirmed and let her glance wander over the white-pillared facade of the big house, noting its many darkened windows. “I wonder what time it is.”
“Somewhere around midnight, I imagine. Hardly late by your standards.”
“By Boone’s it is. Ranchers are always early risers.”
“I’ve noticed that,” he murmured.
“Uncivilized, isn’t it?” Laura replied, tossing him a smile.
“Very,” he agreed. “Were you planning to call Boone—and ease your conscience a little?”
“Not for the reason you think. I just remembered he was supposed to call tonight.”
“Poor man,” Sebastian murmured in feigned sympathy, letting his arm fall from her shoulders as they started up the veranda steps. “No doubt he expected his loving fiancée to be sitting by the phone waiting for his call. Instead she’s off swimming nude in the moonlight with another man.”
“I don’t think I’ll tell him that.” Laura said, matching his teasing tone.
“I wouldn’t, either, if I were you,” he agreed, perfectly straight-faced. “I suspect he wouldn’t be very understanding.”
“Would you be?” she countered, stepping back as Sebastian opened the front door for her.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
Having no quick answer for that, Laura walked into the house. The utter stillness of it had an immediate impact as she instinctively spoke in a hushed voice, “I think everyone’s asleep.”
“As you said, it is late,” he murmured. “Long past time for naughty little girls to be tucked into bed.”
“That sounds remarkably like an offer.” She slanted him an upward glance of amusement.
“That doesn’t sound like a refusal,” Sebastian countered and let her lead the way across the darkened living room to the oak staircase.
“Rein in the horses, Charlie,” Laura admonished him. “Right now I think a hot shower will provide all the warming up I need.”
“If you should change your mind, you do know where my room is,” he said, following her up the stairs. “And the name is Sebastian.”
“My mistake, and I do know where you’re sleeping. But it isn’t in my bed.”
“Perhaps another night,” he suggested and accompanied Laura to her bedroom door.
Turning, she put her back to it. “I doubt you’ll be staying that long.”
“You might be surprised.” He leaned a hand on the doorjamb near her head. “I enjoyed our moonlight excursion immensely.”
As he dipped his head toward hers, Laura turned the doorknob and backed into her bedroom, eluding his kiss. “Good night.” Her eyes laughed at him as she closed the door.
Sebastian remained where he was, and waited. In mere seconds the door was jerked open, and a stunned Laura faced him. “The portrait,” she began and threw a quick glance at the painting propped on a chair in her bedroom, as if to confirm it was still there. “How . . . When . . . ?”
It was the first time he’d known her to be at a loss for words. “I didn’t spend the entire time after dinner on the phone with Helen.”
“But . . . why?” Confusion clouded her expression, along with a certain wariness.
“I should think it’s obvious; I wanted you to have it,” Sebastian replied easily. “After all, Lady Elaine was never an ancestor of mine, while it seems quite likely that you are related to her.”
Turning, Laura moved out of the doorway and walked back to the chair with the painting. “But it’s always hung in Crawford Hall.”
Sebastian let his hand fall from the doorjamb and wandered into the room behind her. “It would have ultimately fallen to the gavel, as Crawford Hall will, along with the bulk of its contents. Rather than have that happen, I prefer to give it to you as a memento of your visit to England.”
“You said it had little value. Surely you could have kept it.” Her gaze studied him, alert to any change in his expression, no matter how small or brief.
“I have no need for a portrait to remind me of you.” A wry smile curved his mouth. “Forgive me for sounding maudlin, but you have haunted my mind since the day you left Crawford Hall. It came as a bit of a start to realize that I had fallen in love with you.”
Amused, Laura cocked her head. “You don’t really expect me to believe that, do you?”
Sebastian chuckled. “Ever the skeptic, aren’t you? I would have an easier time of it if your name was Smith or Brown and your bank balance no better than mine. Ironic, isn’t it? Initially I pursued you for your wealth, and now I wish you didn’t possess it.”
“You are a smooth one, Sebastian.” There was a trace of admiration in her chiding tone.
“Naturally. That’s why you find me so irresistible. In fact, I suspect you’re more than a little in love with me right now.” Standing less than an arm’s length from her, he raised his hand and traced the curve of her cheek with his fingertips. Her skin tingled from the featherlight contact.
“Maybe a little,” Laura conceded, honest with herself and him. “You are always so full of surprises. But I am not about to marry you.”
“Boone is a much safer matrimonial choice, isn’t he? He has money, while I am a . . . poor risk, shall we say?” Sebastian remarked, eyes twinkling.
She laughed. “An extremely poor risk.”
“But our life together would never be dull. I doubt the same could be said of a life with Boone.”
“Just the same, he suits me.”
“Not as well as I do,” Sebastian countered, then paused. “I have a proposition for you.”
“I can hardly wait to hear this,” Laura mocked.
“Return his ring, marry me, and keep your money.”
His words brought a little surge of hope, but Laura quickly saw through them.
“How very clever.”
“Clever?” One eyebrow arched in silent inquiry at her choice of adjectives. “I thought it was very simple and straightforward.”
“But if I keep the money, you’ll lose Crawford Hall. Then where would we live?” Laura challenged.
“I have a small flat in London.”
She shook her head. “That wouldn’t do at all. I’d want to live in something big and grand . . .” The pause was deliberate. “Something like Crawford Hall. And if I’m buying a large estate, why not the family manor? It would be logical to own the place that goes with title. And you’re counting on that, aren’t you?”
There was a flicker of annoyance in his expression. “Clearly your mind is much more devious than mine.” His mouth had a slightly grim set to it that seemed to match the new, cool amusement in his eyes. “Enjoy the portrait, Laura. At least I’ll have the consolation of knowing that every time you look at it, you’ll think of me and wonder.”
He made a leisurely turn and walked out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him. Laura stood there, certain she hadn’t been wrong in her assessment. His leaving was merely an attempt to plant some doubt in her mind. And yet . . .
She looked at the painting and wondered.
Chapter Sixteen
The first rays of sunrise poured through the bedroom window. Conscious of the glare of it against his eyelids, Sebastian turned over and punched the pillow under him, bolstering its thickness. The muffled sound of footsteps came from the hallway, signaling he wasn’t the only one in this house of early risers who was awake. For a moment he lay there, listening to the quick tattoo of the footsteps descending the stairs.
Giving up any thought that he might go back to sleep, he threw back the covers and rolled out of bed. After a quick trip to the bathroom, he padded over to the closet, briefly surveyed the clothes on hangers, and picked up the suitcase on the closet floor. He placed it on the bed and flipped it open, then walked to the chest of drawers.
More footsteps moved along the hall and stopped at his door. A knuckle rapped twice against it, and the latch clicked as the door swung open.
Trey poked his head into the room. “I thought I heard you moving around in here. We’re moving cattle this morning. I thought I’d see if you wanted to—” He broke off in mid-sentence the instant he noticed the suitcase lying open on the bed. “You aren’t thinking of leaving just when things are about to heat up, are you?” There was something of a challenge in his question.