A flicker of understanding darted through her. 'Is that why you were so angry afterwards?'
'Yeah,' he drawled, his face set in hard, angular lines.
'I blamed myself for what happened between us. If I'd been experienced I would have known that my actions were offering encouragement where it was not intended, and I would also have known not to let the situation develop as far as it did.'
'I know, honey, and it wasn't necessary for you to explain.'
He raised her hands to his lips to kiss each finger in turn, and Sarika closed her eyes for a moment to gather her scattered wits about her. It was then that a frightening little thought leapt into her mind. 'What— What else did Ayah tell you about me?'
'There are certain things that only you can tell me.' Sean released her hands to tilt her face up to his, and the brilliant blaze of his eyes held hers captive. 'Do you love me, Sarika?'
She had never been a coward, but she was shrinking inwardly from the truth when Ayah's words intruded on her thoughts. You are living behind the closed doors of your heart because you are afraid. Sean was waiting for her answer with a tormented look on his rugged face, and she knew she could not withhold the truth.
'Yes,' she whispered in a choked voice, and that one word seemed to ease a fraction of the tension out of his face.
'Will you marry me?'
'Yes,' she whispered this time with less difficulty, and that singing joy was exploding inside her once again as he flung her book aside and pulled her into his arms with a muttered exclamation on his lips.
He held her so tightly with her face pressed against his shoulder that she could scarcely breathe, but she did not mind, and she clung to him a little wildly in return. She had longed for the strength of his arms about her during that long night on that wretched island, and now that he was holding her she was going to revel in that secure, safe feeling growing inside her.
She turned her head slightly so that she could press her lips to his warm throat, but he eased her out of his arms and tilted her face so that he could look into her clear eyes. 'Tell me you love me so that I can hear it and believe it.'
It's for you to open the doors of your heart and to let the truth spill from your lips, Ayah's wise words hammered at her mind, and Sarika felt a warmth slide through her body to melt that last fragment of ice about her heart.
'I… love you.' The words Sean had sought came haltingly from her trembling lips, and they were repeated almost immediately with more conviction as she went back into his arms and buried her face against his chest. 'Oh, Sean, I love you so much!'
'Thank God for that!' he groaned, then he was raining fiery little kisses on her face until his mouth found hers with a white-hot passion that left her limp and trembling in his arms when at last he released her lips to seek out the sensitive cord of her throat. 'I should have known the moment we met that I'd met my fate.'
'When did you know that—that you loved me?'
'I knew that afternoon when we sat in the gardens at the Taj Mahal,' he confessed, and it felt to Sarika as if her heart would burst with happiness.
'Oh, Sean, I knew it and felt it then as well, but you were so aloof and unapproachable afterwards that I was afraid you might have guessed how I felt.' Her eyes clouded with the memory of the agony she had suffered. 'I was convinced I never stood a chance that night when you said you'd sworn never to get involved with a—a virgin.'
'Darling girl, can you imagine how a confirmed bachelor must feel when he realises his bachelor days are numbered?' he smiled down at her with a hint of self-mockery in his eyes. 'I was so shaken by the discovery that I loved you that I needed time to sort myself out. I told myself that if I took you to bed once or twice I'd get you out of my system, but the discovery that you're untouched blasted that fragile hope of mine sky-high. I was mad at you, but I was even more furious with myself.'
'Why were you furious with yourself?' she asked curiously, tracing the strong curve of his jaw with her fingertips, and he caught her hand to plant a tingling kiss in her palm.
'I had some pretty nasty preconceived notions about you before we met, but you proved me wrong about each one of them, and that should have warned me that your innocence wasn't an act.' His features darkened with a mixture of anger and torment. 'God, Sarika, I never want to go through another night like the one when the Sea Nymph was caught in the storm!'
She had only to look at him to know what he had suffered, but that old wariness persisted. 'Are you very sure it's me you want?'
'Would you like me to prove how sure I am?' A devilish gleam lit his eyes as he undid the small bow that held her bed jacket together, and her efforts to stop him were futile.
'Be serious, Sean,' she pleaded huskily when his mouth burned its way across the shoulder he had bared to ignite little fires inside her.
'I am serious,' he warned, the tone and timbre of his voice exciting her as he slid a hand beneath the lace at her breast.
His mouth shifted over hers, coaxing and demanding a response she could not withhold, and the sensual, probing caress of his fingers sent an intoxicating flame darting through her body. His mouth deserted hers to roam down to her breast, nibbling and tasting her burning skin until the tantalising arousal of his tongue brought a moan of pleasure to her lips. Her eyelids fluttered down as her head fell back against the pillows, and she locked her fingers in the hair at the nape of his strong neck, encouraging him almost to continue this erotic arousal which sent arrows of desire darting along her quivering body. She pushed her hands into his shirt, seeking and finding the hard, damp warmth of his wide shoulders and his back in a fluttering caress that made him ease himself away from her with a shuddering groan.
'I guess I'd better behave myself, or I might just make love to you here and now, and that would shock Ayah out of her mourning habit,' he murmured thickly, desire still burning in his eyes when he lifted her bed jacket on to her shoulder and sat up.
Sarika giggled, her mind conjuring up Ayah's shocked expression, but the next instant she sobered. 'What are we going to do about Ayah?'
She had barely spoken those words when the door opened and Ayah walked into the room with a glass of milk which she placed on the bedside cupboard. Her glance went from Sarika's flushed face to Sean and back, then she asked suspiciously. 'Is there something happening that I don't know about?'
Sarika's cheeks felt as if they were burning with renewed fever, and she was still struggling to compose herself when Sean turned to Ayah and said: 'Sarika has agreed to marry me.'
'Oh, I am so happy for both of you!' Ayah announced excitedly, embracing them with a film of tears in her eyes before she stood back to smile down at them.
'But, Ayah,' protested Sarika anxiously, 'what will you do?'
'Do?' Ayah looked at her with some surprise. 'I will stay here, of course, and look after this house so that everything will be as you want it when you come for a visit, and I will travel to wherever you are when you need my help with your babies.'
Sean's mocking glance rested on Sarika's face, and she went red to the roots of her hair as he laughingly admonished Ayah. 'You're making Sarika blush, talking about babies when she's still trying to get used to the thought of having to share my bed!'
Ayah's laughter mingled with Sean's, and Sarika surveyed them with a rebuke in her sparkling eyes. 'I think you're both horrible to make fun of me.'
Ayah was the first to sober, and her features suddenly adopted a stern look. 'Drink your milk, Sarika, and take your tablets.'
'Yes, Ayah,' Sarika answered meekly, but Ayah was already turning to Sean.
'And I give you no more than fifteen minutes, Sean, then you must be out of here. It is not good for Sarika at the moment to still be awake at this hour.'
'Yes, Ayah,' he mimicked Sarika's reply teasingly, and Ayah left the room with an indignant snort on her lips which changed to a contented smile when she reached the door.
Sean's expression sobered when he looked at Sarika. 'Do you tru
st me, honey?'
A tremulous smile curved her mouth as she raised a hand to caress his rugged cheek, and her eyes no longer hid the feelings that were pulsating through her. 'I trust you.'
He leaned over her, and in between tantalising little kisses he said: 'You'll have to marry me soon.'
'Soon,' she agreed, her heart hammering wildly in her breast.
'I'm leaving for the States in three weeks, and I want to take you with me,' he murmured, teasing the corner of her mouth with the sensual caress of his tongue. 'Shall we make it a honeymoon trip?'
'Yes,' she whispered against his lips.
'Will you always agree to everything I say?'
'Yes,' she breathed, eagerly seeking his evasive, tantalising mouth with her own.
'Liar!' Sean laughed shortly, drawing her fully into his arms and setting his hard mouth on hers at last in a tender, passionate kiss that made her senses soar.
More than fifteen minutes had elapsed before he reluctantly left her room, but his presence seemed to linger with her long afterwards, and she went to sleep that night with a smile on her lips. The fragrant perfume of the jasmine floated in through her open window, and with it came the promise of many tomorrows.
Wild Jasmine Page 18