“What happened in Monaco. If we could replay that morning, would you do it again?”
His incredulous gaze went to hers, the lines of his face so drawn and tight he seemed a character from the pages of a tragedy.
“My, God, I’d die before I’d hurt you again. I never meant to…I shouldn’t have left you…I love you…I’d never do anything to—" Clay broke off, realizing what he had said. His stricken look said he wished he could call back the words.
Ellie’s heart twisted. The tears in her eyes spilled onto her cheeks. Those times they were together, the way he had looked at her. The way he had made love to her that night.Clay loved her. He would never lie about something like that. She hadn’t imagined it.
With a soft sob, she gathered her emerald gown and raced toward him across the grass. When she reached the little knoll where he stood, he caught her up in his arms and held her hard against him.
“I’ve missed you so much,” he said. She could feel him shaking, feel the pounding of his heart.
“I love you, Clay,” she whispered as she clung to him. “I love you so much.”
He kissed her then, a wild, hot, needy kiss, and yet it was the sweetest, most tender kiss she had ever known. She kissed him back, her heart swelling with love for him.
“Are you sure?” Clay asked, his beautiful brown eyes searching her face.
“I love you. I know the man you are inside. That’s the man I fell in love with.”
Clay kissed her softly. “Marry me,” he whispered, and Ellie’s heart broke for this man she loved so much.
“It doesn’t have to be right away,” he said. “If you aren’t ready, you can take whatever time you need to be sure.”
She had to ask. “Could you…could you be happy with only one woman? Could you spend a lifetime with only me? I could never share you, Clay. I love you too much.”
His hands framed her face. “I don’t need a throng of women to make me feel like a man anymore. I’ve learned things about myself, about who I really am. You’re what I want. What I’ve wanted for a long time. If you need me to prove it, we’ll wait. I’d wait for you forever, Ellie.”
Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. “Oh, Clay. I’ll marry you. I’d marry you tomorrow, if that’s what you wanted.”
Clay kissed her again. His hand cupped her cheek. “When I saw you leaving with McKittrick something just snapped. I couldn’t let him touch you. Not when I love you so damned much.”
Ellie smiled at him softly. “Tell me again.”
Clay’s big hand rested against her cheek. “I love you more than life.”
“Oh, Clay.” She thought that he would kiss her, but he just stood there, waiting for her to decide whether she would forgive him. “I want you, Clay. It’s been so long since we were together.”
“I want you, too. There’s been no one else. I haven’t wanted anyone else. Only you.”
“I’ve thought of that night so many times. I remember every moment, every touch.” She glanced over at the little sailboat bobbing against the dock. “Make love to me, Clay.”
Clay leaned down and kissed her. “Yes,” he said. “I won’t hurt you this time. I’ll never do anything to hurt you again.” Sweeping her up in his powerful arms, he carried her down to the wooden dock and set her on her feet on the deck of the sailboat, the teak cold beneath her stockinged feet. Clay stepped aboard and kissed her again. When the fiery kiss ended, his gaze searched her face. Then he took her hand and led her below. In seconds, he had a small gas lamp burning. A wide berth upholstered in sturdy brown tweed filled the bow of the boat. Water lapped softly against the hull.
Ellie felt the heat of his hands as they skimmed over body, slipping off the narrow rhinestone straps of her gown, sliding down the hidden zipper. Feverishly, she pushed his jacket off his broad shoulders, worked the buttons on this white tuxedo shirt, the button at the waist of his slacks, then his zipper.
Clay gently kissed her. “I tried to forget you, but you were all I could think about. There’s no one else for me, Ellie. Not ever. Only you.”
Her throat ached. She hadn’t been wrong about Clay. She had followed her heart and it had been true. She kissed him full on the mouth. They took off the rest of their clothes and Clay lifted her up on the berth in the tiny cabin, then joined her.
“I’ll make you happy, Ellie. I promise, you won’t be sorry. I won’t ever let you be sorry.”
“I’ll never be sorry, Clay.”
He kissed her deeply while he settled himself between her legs. He trailed kisses over her shoulders, down to her breasts where he captured the peak and tugged it gently into his mouth. Ellie laced her fingers in his hair as Clay moved lower, his tongue darting into her navel, his lips sliding over the flat spot below. When he started moving lower, Ellie jerked upright in surprise.
“It’s all right, love.” Clay eased her back on the berth. “Let me do this for you. Let me pleasure you.”
Ellie started to protest, but the heat of his mouth moving over her washed any thought of protest away. Ellie cried his name as she reached the pinnacle, and deep saturating pleasure spilled through her. The moment went on and on. Tiny ripples still pulsed through her body as Clay came up over her, braced himself on his elbows and slid himself inside.
