She was at the foot of the cliff, waving at him, a huge smile on her lips. His whole body relaxed. Clearly, nothing was wrong.
“Come and see,” she called, “someone has arranged the rocks in the shape of a beautiful flower!”
Her enthusiasm was infectious, irresistible for someone who had spent months feeling sorry for himself without quiteknowing why. Not for the first time Torsten reflected that Aife had burst into his life at the perfect moment, when he’d needed it the most. Well, not burst, exactly, as she had always been there, but rather…eased herself into his daily routine, become an intricate part of it. She was by his side even more often than before and in his thoughts constantly. Without making any ripples she had claimed her place in his soul, without ever disturbing his days, she somehow made them brighter. It was as if whoever was weaving the tapestry of his life had decided to add a thread of gold to the original, somewhat dull threads they’d selected at first. The design hadn’t changed, but suddenly everything shone. Everything was different. Beautiful.
Tucking his find in the purse at his belt, he hurried to join her by the cliff.
“Look,” she urged him, gesturing at the ground. “It’s so pretty.”
At her feet were stones and rocks of various sizes and colors arranged in a swirling pattern. The effect was most impressive, he had to admit, even if he probably wouldn’t have given it another thought if she’d not pointed it out to him.
“It is pretty, but it’s not a flower,” he contradicted, just for the pleasure of seeing her reaction. He’d discovered a fondness for teasing her, as she always responded so beautifully. “It looks more like an overblown cabbage to me.”
She didn’t disappoint. Her eyebrows shot up to the roots of her hair, betraying her shock and disbelief. “How dare you? I’m very sure it is meant to look like a flower.”
“Oh, I’m sure it wasmeantto be a flower. But it ended up looking like a cabbage. And I’m sure that whoever did it agreed with me. They probably stomped home in a foul mood, angered at their inability to distinguish between a flower and a vegetable.”
Mock outrage caused Aife’s eyes to twinkle. “I’m sure they did not. And it is most definitely a flower.”
Torsten swiveled on himself, gesturing at the empty beach. “Well, as there’s no one here we could ask, we’ll just have to agree to disagree, won’t we?”
“I guess we will.” Her mouth quivered at the pleasure of their nonsensical conversation. A little bit more and she might actually laugh, that wonderful laugh that never failed to set his loins on fire. He could not resist, knowing he wouldn’t stop until the husky sound had burst out of her lips.
“Why don’t I try to do a flower? Show you how it’s done? I’ve been told that I had nimble fingers.”
As soon as the words had passed his lips, he regretted them. Damnation, why did he have to allude to what they had done in the Roman ruins? Teasing her was one thing, provoking her quite another. He’d meant to coax a laugh out of her, not force another inappropriate erection out of him! And yet, here he was, as hard as the stone of the cliff behind him. Even worse, instead of laughing, Aife had gone as still as a statue and her cheeks had turned a delightful pink.
It was then that Torsten realized how naïve it had been of them to agree to forget everything they had shared. There would be no forgetting it. Even if it had been possible, he wasn’t sure he wanted to forget what had been the most intense, the most erotic, the most amazing moment of his life. He didn’t want to forget the woman who’d given him pleasure, who’d given him his life back, the first woman he’d stroked to release.
She was too bloody perfect. Perfect for him. Could he be perfect for her as well? There was only one way to know. He would have to ask.
He took her hand in his.
Well, he reflected when she swallowed, as if in readiness for what was to come. It was safe to say that their minds were nolonger on the flower at their feet. Aife had made no move to disentangle her fingers from his and she seemed waiting for the kiss he was steeling himself to give her. Or…should he tell her what he felt first? What was the right way to do this?
Having never really wooed any woman, he had no idea.
Aife stood in front of Torsten, panting, wondering what to do. He had just alluded to what they had done in the Roman ruins, as if his mind was so full of the memories that he could not help himself. She understood the feeling all too well. It was all she had thought about for days, but she hadn’t dared hope it would be the same for him.
And yet…and yet, perhaps it was. He was holding her hand, looking at her as if he wanted to kiss her and more. There was a glint in his eyes that made them appear as luminous as the pebble he had found earlier and he had?—
An ominous rumble interrupted her thoughts. Odd, as the sky was the same vibrant blue as before and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. What could it be? Not thunder, surely? Before she could think, she was thrown to the ground and Torsten was lying on top of her, caging her in much the same way he had done before asking her to show him how she pleasured herself. A burst of joy exploded through her chest and a flash of heat seared her loins. She could only think of one reason for which a man would want to lie down on a woman thus, and her heart leaped at the thought. The rumbling she’d just heard must have originated from Torsten’s chest. She’d been right. He wanted to do much more than kiss her.
A heartbeat later, however, she understood that their position had nothing to do with seduction.
Torsten was not making love to her, he was saving her life, using his body as a shield.
A shower of rocks and loose earth tumbled over them in a deafening crash. The edge of the cliff, rendered unstable by therecent storm, was falling apart.Thathad been the rumbling she’d heard. Aife screamed when she felt the jolt of a big boulder hitting Torsten in the back and then reverberating all the way to her own pelvis. No! He would never survive this. Unlike her, he didn’t have anyone absorbing the shock for him. A moment later, another, slightly smaller rock hit him on the head and he went limp above her, heavy as a corpse.
At long last, silence fell and the dust settled.
Panic sliced through Aife. All danger was past, but Torsten was not moving. Why was he not moving?
“Help!” she cried, doing her best to infuse strength in her voice. Pinned to the floor by his body and the earth heaped over her legs, she couldn’t move either. She could barely breathe. “Help!”
Would someone hear her? Would they both die here, alone, half buried under the rubble? The beach had been deserted, despite the good weather, and they hadn’t seen anyone from the moment they’d arrived.
Aife started sobbing, tears she couldn’t wipe sliding down her cheeks.
