And it was so easy to believe that all would be well, especially since she was falling in love with Brandon. He dominated her thoughts. At different times during the day, she caught herself yearning for his touch or anxious to see his tall presence approaching and having him close at hand.
The dream of reclaiming her place on the London stage no longer held the same allure. Her overpowering resentment at the past was fading, as was her need to prove herself. London didn’t seem all that important...
Her laughter rang through the room. Kate had tried to kick him out of bed because he’d complained about her stealing the covers and Bran’s response had been to grab her foot by the ankle and pull her toward him.
“No,” she begged, holding on to the other side of the cotton mattress. They were both naked.
“You do not throw me out of the bed. Or steal all the covers,” he announced, coming up on his knees and jumping on her like a rowdy boy.
Kate warded him off with bent knees as he tried to tickle her. When he rolled onto his back, she was the one who tried to tickle him and gave a delighted shout when she realized he did have one very ticklish spot. She sat on top of him, tickling, laughing—
And that was the moment he fell in love.
Oh, he’d been in love with her, but he was quickly learning there were many types of love. There was the love of her body, of their union—and this was the love ofher. He admired her mind, her drive, her determination, and the special sparkle that made her who she was. This was the sort of love that lasted an eternity.
He caught her wrists, his sides hurting from laughing. He held her arms out, looking up into her face. In that moment, he knew he wanted nothing more in his life than to hear her laughter every day. He would let her rob the covers from him every night, if it meant keeping her with him forever.
She had noticed how still he’d grown. Smiling down at him, her hair messy from their love play, she asked, “What? Why do you stare at me that way?”
Because I love you.“Because I’ve seen nothing more beautiful.”
Kate sat back as if his words had touched her. “Perhaps you feel that way because I amnaked,” she suggested, wagging her eyebrows with a devilish grin as if teasing him.
“It’s possible,” he answered. “Or it could be because your passion matches my own.”
“And by the last you mean what?” Oh, she knew, but he wasn’t to let such an invitation pass with just words.
“This.” He lifted her hips and slid her down over him.
Kate’s eyes widened. She squeezed him and he thought he’d be undone before they’d started. Gently, he guided her on how to move, on what he liked. Her head fell back in pleasure. “I do so like this,” she whispered before catching her breath in a moan.
And I love you,he wanted to say. The words never passed his lips. He was not ready to be so vulnerable.
Instead, he showed her.
“What surprise do you have for me?” Kate asked.
“You will find out,” Brandon answered. “Just follow me.”
He led her down the stairs of the Dower House. She was wearing his shirt and nothing else. Even her feet were bare. For his part, Brandon wore just his breeches. He carried a candlestick.
He led her into what should have been the front room of the house. There was no furniture in it save for a large table and a chair.
There were two more candlesticks on the table. He lit them. Golden light filled the room and fell on the large sheets of paper spread out on the table.
“This is what I want you to see,” he said, gently pushing her into the chair in front of the table. “These are my thoughts on set pieces forThe Tempest.”
“Your what?”
“You were telling me what you envisioned for the play and I thought I would make a few drawings.”
Kate looked at the scenes on the paper—and was charmed.
He crossed around to the other side of the table. “I know it is set on an island, however, I picture a forest on the island. A magical forest.” He tapped one of the pages.
She pulled it out and gasped in appreciation. The trees he’d designed were indeed magical. In their bark were the faces of mythical creatures. The same was true of the rocks.
“This is clever. Very clever,” Kate said wonderingly. The mythic element would quickly bring the audience’s imaginations into the play.
