by Ginna Gray
Joanna sniffed and hiccuped. Leaning back within his embrace, she laughed self-consciously and wiped at her cheeks with the back of her hands. "Of course I am. Oh, Sean," she said in an emotion-packed voice, looking up at him with melting eyes. "I've loved you for so long, but I never really believed that you would ever love me back. You never seemed interested in a serious relationship, even though there have been many beautiful, glamorous women in your life—"
"Hey." He stopped the flow of words with a quick, breath-stealing kiss. When it ended he smiled into her eyes. "That's all over now. I was never serious about any of them, because I didn't love them. I do love you, Joanna. Very much."
She cupped his face between her palms. "And I love you, darling," she whispered tremulously.
Their lips met in a slow, sweet kiss. Joanna twined her arms around his neck and held him close, her heart swelling with a pleasure so intense it was almost pain. Sean's arms enclosed her, binding her gently but firmly to him, flattening her breasts against his chest. His hand splayed over her buttocks, pressing her feminine cradle tight against the hard ridge of his arousal. Heat sizzled between them. Their aching bodies throbbed. Taut muscles quivered. And still the tender kiss went on and on.
When Sean's lips left hers to trail moistly over her cheek Joanna stroked her hands over his shoulders and neck and tunneled her fingers in the thick hair at his nape. A shudder rippled through her when his tongue wetly traced the delicate swirls in her ear, and she sighed. "Oh, darling, this seems too wonderful to be true. I'm terrified I'm going to wake up and find it was all a dream."
"This is no dream," he murmured, nibbling a wet path down the side of her neck. "This is real. I intend—" his lips pressed against the pulse at the base of her throat "—to show you just how real."
Sean's mobile mouth blazed a tormenting trail back up over the arch of her throat, lingering a moment to nuzzle the tender skin on the underside of her jaw. Then his lips claimed hers again in a slow, drugging kiss that made her senses swim, her knees go weak.
Breaking the thrilling contact suddenly, Sean scooped her up in his arms. He paused, holding her high against his chest, his dark, fiery gaze searing over her flushed face with a possessiveness that made Joanna's skin tingle. "It may take me all night," he said huskily.
Joanna looped her arms around his neck and smiled. "I hope so."
Sean growled, and his mouth came down hard on hers. Without breaking the thrilling contact, he headed for the bedroom with long, purposeful strides.
The next few days passed in a haze of sheer happiness. They were so perfect, Joanna still had trouble convincing herself she wasn't dreaming it all.
In the evenings after dinner they went dancing or saw a show in the main lounge, or just strolled the decks, arm in arm, before returning to either Joanna's suite or Sean's cabin. Their nights were filled with passionate loving so intensely beautiful it left them both shaken and awed, but their hunger for each other went beyond the physical. For hours, lying in each other's arms while the ship rocked gently beneath them, they talked quietly, sharing secrets, hopes, joys and disappointments.
The daytime hours were spent ashore on the islands. Together, Joanna and Sean explored Ochos Rios and toured Jamaica's heavily cultivated coastal lowlands and valleys and the inland limestone plateau. On Grand Cayman they visited a turtle farm and strolled hand in hand for hours down the beautiful seven-mile beach.
The ship's next port of call was Cozumel, where Joanna and Sean spent the morning strolling through the quaint shops before succumbing to the lure of the beach. With rented snorkeling equipment, they explored the turquoise water for over an hour. Then, like two children, they indulged themselves in a boisterous game of tag, splashing and dunking each other mercilessly. Finally, exhausted, they hauled themselves out of the water and collapsed on the large towels they had spread on the sand.
Sean flopped down on his back and flung his forearm over his eyes. "Whew! I may never move again. Keeping up with a sweet young thing like you is tough on an old man."
Joanna dropped onto her knees beside him and began to towel dry her hair. "Oh, come on, you're not that old. Don't tell me a little shopping and swimming has you tuckered."
Rolling his arm up a quarter turn, Sean gave her a long, sizzling look and drawled, "It's not so much the shopping and swimming, as all those strenuous nights."
"Complaining?" Joanna asked with a sultry smile.
Sean's face softened, and he reached out and lifted a drop of water from the end of her nose with his fingertip. "Hardly," he said huskily.
Joanna took his hand and brought it to her mouth. Holding his gaze, she kissed the end of his finger tenderly.
"Ouch!" Sean yelped when she nipped the pad, and Joanna laughed throatily, the sound full of delight and mischief and sensual promise.
"You little devil, you—"
"Oh, look," Joanna cried, cutting him off as she sprang to her feet. "There's someone selling ice-cream cones." She looked at him eagerly and began to search through her terry cloth beach bag for some money. "You want one?"
Sean's smile was indulgent. "I think I'll pass. But you go ahead."
"Okay. I'll be right back."
Rolling to his side, Sean propped his head against his palm and watched her trot away toward the vendor's stand. Subtly, his smile changed to one of masculine enjoyment as he admired her narrow, tapered back, the cute derriere, the firm lithe curves of her legs.
Sean was still amazed by the feelings that swamped him every time he looked at Joanna: love, pride, jealousy, a violent possessiveness. He'd never felt like that about a woman before. He'd liked many, been fond of several. A few he had even thought he loved, but it hadn't been like this. Never like this.
For the past few years a vague feeling of discontent had been slowly growing in him. As little as three weeks ago he had been besieged with doubts, and had felt restless and unsettled, unsure of what he wanted out of life, personally or professionally. No longer.
He knew now exactly what had been missing from his life: love, commitment, having that one special someone to share your triumphs and defeats, your joys and griefs. And there was no doubt in his mind or his heart that for him, that someone was Joanna.
Neither was there any longer doubt about which direction he wanted his professional life to take. The long-term goals he'd been working toward for years were still worthwhile. And now that he'd found what he'd unconsciously been searching for, he was eager to pursue them.
Joanna had her ice-cream cone and was strolling back at a leisurely pace. Sean smiled as he watched her pink tongue lick the fast melting sweet. His eyes ran down her slim, willowy body, deliriously revealed in the skimpy bikini, noting the way her hips swung with unconscious provocation, and he felt his body tighten, his heart flood with emotion. She was innocence and sensuality, youthful eagerness and gritty determination, girlish appeal and womanly allure.
And she was his.
At least, she would be soon if he had anything to say about it.
Joanna dropped down beside him and waved her cone under his nose. "Wanna bite?"
"Umm, but not of ice cream," Sean drawled, dropping his gaze to the soft swells of her breasts above the bikini bra. His black eyes glinted with drowsy sensuality, and as the flush spread up over Joanna's neck and shoulders his smile grew wicked.
"You're insatiable."
"Complaining?" he asked, in the same intimate tone she had used.
Joanna forgot all about her embarrassment as heat suffused her. When Sean looked at her that way she felt all tingly and weak. Her gaze went soft, and her voice dropped to a warm velvet pitch. "No. Not in the least." Holding her cone out to the side, she leaned close. "Since I can't do anything about that appetite of yours right now; maybe this will hold you until we get back to the ship."
Her mouth met his, open, sweet, soft. It was the gentlest of caresses, a mere touch, a delicate rubbing of flesh to flesh, yet its sensual impact was staggering. At the first
touch Sean's heart slammed against his ribs and began to beat with a painful, heavy thud. Her tongue darted into his mouth, rubbed his and darted out again, and he shivered. She tasted of ice cream and salt water and woman. Of Joanna.
It was a taste he was becoming addicted to. Hungrily, he sought more. Over and over, without increasing the pressure of the kiss, he delved into the honeyed sweetness, plumbing the silken depths of her mouth thoroughly, slowly.
His hand slid up her braced arm to her shoulder, her neck. Lightly, he touched her jaw with the tips of his shaking fingers, then sank them into the damp hair behind her ear.
A squealing child ran by, followed by a yapping dog. They didn't hear them, or the faint swish of waves tumbling gently against the shore or the dry rattle of tatter palms overhead. Their lips nibbled softly, rocked back and forth, clung. Their breaths mingled. The sun beat warmly against their damp flesh, but they felt only the heat of passion that surged so hotly between them. Tortuously, the soft kiss went on and on as taut muscles quivered against the tender restraint'.
Joanna's fingers crushed the waffle cone, and the melting scoop of ice cream plopped to the sand.
Abruptly, Sean ended the kiss. Their gazes locked, and for a moment they stared at each other in heated silence. A few strands of Joanna's hair lifted in the gentle breeze. Their chests rose and fell as they drew in long, shaky draughts of air. With every breath they inhaled the smells of sand and sea, of warm flesh, of coconut-scented tanning lotion.
A muscle twitched along Sean's jaw. Without warning, he grabbed Joanna's wrist and stood, dragging her up with him. "Come on," he commanded in a tight, strained voice, snatching up the towels and her beach bag. "We're going."
"Where?" Joanna cried. He marched across the sand with long, ground-eating strides, and she stumbled along beside him.
"Back to the ship. This beach is too damned public for what I have in mind."
In the taxi that took them back to the harbor they sat on opposite sides of the seat, stiff and silent, looking straight ahead, only their clasped hands touching. The air between them was thick with awareness. Their bodies throbbed with anticipation.
When they boarded the ship there was almost no one around. It was early afternoon, and most of the passengers and crew were still ashore. As they walked down the long, deserted passageway it seemed to Joanna that they would never reach her suite.
The moment the door clicked shut behind them they were in each other's arms.
"Oh, Lord, sweetheart, I can't get enough of you," Sean panted in between tumultuous kisses.
"I know. I know," Joanna agreed breathlessly.
Her clutching hands roamed frantically over his back, before they slipped beneath the waistband of his swim-suit and grasped his firm buttocks. Sean growled and grabbed the string tie of her bikini top.
In a frenzy of snatching and tugging, they worked to rid each other of their skimpy beachwear. Within seconds Joanna's bikini bra went sailing across the room. It landed on a lamp shade and dangled provocatively. As their lips met in a long hungry kiss Sean's fingers worried the string ties at Joanna's hips. When they wouldn't budge he growled in frustration and gave them a sharp yank, and with the sound of popping thread, the ties tore away and the tiny scrap of material dropped to the floor to join the pile of towels at their feet.
With her thumbs hooked under the top edge of Sean's brief trunks, Joanna bent her knees and pushed them downward. Dropping lower, she scattered frantic kisses over his chest, his abdomen, his lean belly. Her teeth nipped at his protruding hipbone, and a violent shudder rippled through Sean. "Oh, God, Joanna," he groaned and clutched her hair with both hands as her tongue traced a wet line down his thigh.
Desperately, he bent and lifted her to her feet. For a taut instant they looked at each other in silence. Then she melted into his arms, and their soft moans of pleasure blended together as warm flesh met warm flesh. Their mouths melded in a searing kiss. Joanna raised up on her tiptoes and coiled her arras around his neck, shuddering at the gentle rasp of his chest hair against her tight, aching nipples.
Sean's hands roamed freely over her slender curves while he kissed her with a hungry passion, his tongue thrusting slowly, ardently, into the sweet darkness of her mouth.
A few feet away the bedroom beckoned, but neither could wait. With their mouths still fused together, they sank to the carpeted floor. There was a wild hunger raging in both of them. We're like greedy children, Joanna thought, and briefly she wondered at her own wantonness. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered but their love, and the delicious pleasure it brought them.
They touched and explored and stroked until they could not stand it a moment longer. "Dear heaven, you make me wild," Sean declared huskily, as tremors wracked his body.
Clutching at his shoulders, Joanna urged him to her and sobbed, "Now, darling. Oh, please, now." and Sean moved between her thighs and slid into her. He thrust deep, loving her with a ferocity that should have frightened her, but didn't. Instead she matched it, and the compelling rhythm built, faster, stronger, spinning out of control, until there was a vast, ecstatic explosion that sent them hurtling into space.
And then they were falling... falling... falling
Joanna had no idea how long she floated in that delicious sea of languor, but all too soon Sean was nudging her. "Come on, sexy. That floor is okay in the throes of passion, but if you fall asleep there you'll be too sore to move later."
"But Sean," she groaned in protest as he hauled her to her feet. "I'm so sleepy."
"There's a perfectly good bed in the next room to hop on. But first we hit the shower."
Too lethargic to protest further, Joanna allowed him to bundle her into the shower stall. She was thoroughly scrubbed and shampooed, and after she returned the favor Sean backed her against the tile wall, and there beneath the warm spray, they made love again. Slowly. Deliciously.
* * *
A half hour later, curled against Sean's side in the king-size bed, Joanna smiled drowsily and ran her fingers through the mat of hair on his chest. She felt content, sated, complete. Settling her head more comfortably on his shoulder, she sighed with sheer pleasure and wondered if anyone else had ever been as happy as she was at that moment. Sean loved her. After all this time it seemed a miracle, and she clutched the knowledge to her like a coveted treasure.
Sean's arm encircled her, holding her close, his hand absently massaging her hip. He stared at the ceiling as he nuzzled her forehead with his chin. Tipping her head up, Joanna gazed at his handsome face, pensive now in repose, and smiled. "What are you thinking?" she asked quietly.
He looked down at her and smiled with his eyes. "Oh, I was just wondering if you would be happy as the wife of a senator," he said, so casually it took a moment for his words to register. Even then she wasn't sure she'd heard him right.
Her eyes grew wide and her heart began to pound. "Wh-what do you mean?"
Sean's grin flashed at her confusion, and just as quickly his expression grew serious. "I've decided to run for that Senate seat, Joanna, and I want you by my side. As my wife."
Joanna's heart soared with joy. She looked at him in amazement, her eyes slowly filling with tears as emotion choked her. "Oh, Sean," she managed finally in a wobbling voice and reached up and touched his cheek with her fingertips.
Capturing the hand, Sean brought it to his lips. The teasing smile returned to his eyes as he lazily nipped her. "Does that mean yes?"
Laughing and crying at the same time, Joanna flung herself across his chest and covered his face with wet kisses. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Sean laughingly accepted the exuberant smacks, but after a moment he caught her head between his palms and brought her lips down to his for a hard, searing kiss. When it was over he eased her back and looked deep into her eyes. "I love you," he said with such depth of feeling that Joanna almost started crying again.
Love filled her heart and overflowed, spilling like a warm tide through her body. She blinked and gave
him a melting look. "And I love you, my darling," she said with a tremulous smile. "Very much."
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. For a long, soul-satisfying time they held each other tight, absorbed in the wonder and beauty of the moment.
"You never answered my question,about being a senator's wife," Sean said after a while, idly rubbing his hand up and down her back. "I want to make a bid for the nomination, Joanna, but not if it's going to make you unhappy."
Joanna's eyes popped open wide and she caught her breath. Good Lord! She had been so wrapped up in
Sean, she hadn't even thought about the Senate race in days. Senator Hartwell would have a fit if he ever found out that she hadn't even brought up the subject.
She raised up on her forearms and looked at him. "Sean, I love politics. I'm delighted that you've decided to run. I don't mind campaigning. In fact, I love it. And I told you, I don't object to publicity, as long as it's for a good reason and isn't taken to an extreme, like it always has been with my mother."
"I was hoping you'd say that," Sean said, heaving a relieved sigh.
Tilting her head to one side Joanna looked at him quizzically. "When did you make up your mind about the race? And what caused you to accept? You seemed undecided a few weeks ago."
"Actually, I have you to thank for that."
"Me!"
Her astonished look drew a chuckle from Sean. "Yes, you. I came on this trip so I could put the whole thing out of my mind for a while, give it a rest, so that maybe I could put it into better perspective. With you on board, I was able to do just that." He lifted his head and planted a quick kiss on her mouth. "I haven't been able to think of anything but you since that first night."
Which, Joanna thought, thoroughly chagrined, is exactly the opposite of what I was supposed to accomplish.
"When I fell in love with you I realized that it was not my career, but the emptiness of my personal life that had been causing my dissatisfaction all along." His fingers stroked the side of her neck and played idly with the velvety rim of her ear. "Now that I have you, running for the Senate seems like a terrific idea. I'm itching to get back and get things rolling."