They both laughed. “Hopefully, we’ll never again have to take you up on that offer. And thanks again,” Josie added warmly.
Velasquez pursed his lips as he looked at John. “I would offer to kiss the bride, but gunshots are painful,” he added on a laugh. “So I will simply congratulate you.” He gave her a solemn bow. “And I hope that we will all meet again someday.”
“So do I,” Josie said. “Thank you for saving my life,” she added gently.
He shrugged. “It was the least I could do. Dios te bendiga.”
“Igualmente,” she replied with a warm smile.
Dunn Marlowe, who had overheard the conversation, joined them a minute later. He hadn’t known that Velasquez had a child, or that he’d lost it. He didn’t like thinking about children.
He smiled. “Congratulations,” he told them. “And I’m glad you came back with your shield instead of on it,” he added to Josie.
She laughed. “It was a close call. I owe my life to one of theDie Hardmovies, in fact.”
“So I heard.” He shook his head. “Took guts to do that.”
“Exactly,” John broke in. “That’s why if I ever get in trouble, I’m calling her first.”
They all laughed.
They traveled to Holland for their honeymoon, staying in Amsterdam in a plush five-star hotel right on the Dam Square. In fact, they arrived just in time for high tea.
Josie, who’d never heard of such a thing, was guided by John, who’d been to several. They ate dainty sandwiches and cakes and drank tea and, finally, went up to their room.
It was unsettling to Josie, who’d never had intimate contact with anyone. She was very nervous, and it showed.
John reached into the small refrigerator and drew out two small bottles of wine. He found two glasses and poured them in. “False courage,” he teased gently.
She grimaced. “I’m sorry...”
He bent and kissed her softly. “First times are hard.”
She narrowed her eyes as she looked up at him.
“If you’re learning to ski, you don’t want an instructor who goes over a cliff on the first slope?” he asked slowly.
She burst out laughing. “Okay,” she agreed, and started drinking.
She didn’t even protest when pieces of clothing came off between slow, hungry kisses that grew in length and pressure until she was helping him divest herself of the last little piece.
He was slow and very tender, calming her when she was shocked at preliminaries that seemed perfectly natural to John. He only smiled and kissed her slowly until she relaxed.
She learned so much that was never in the torrid novels she’d read. It was very different, the feel and touch of a man in person rather than in prose. At first, it was uncomfortable. Not painful,exactly, but John knew how to handle that. Seconds later, she didn’t care if it hurt or how much, because past the discomfort was a sudden burst of pleasure that arched her off the bed and caused wild little sounds to come out of her throat.
He covered her mouth as he moved over her and into her, his big body slow and tender, his weight resting on his forearms so that he didn’t crush her. She clawed at his back, trying to bring him even closer, her long legs twining around his as they moved together on crisp, clean sheets in the dark silence of the room.
When fulfillment came, she was panting, sweating, almost senseless with delight. But he moved again, and all at once what had seemed like the pinnacle was only a plateau that led to another, and another and another...!
She cried out into his shoulder as the final frenzy arched her up into him, as she felt him so deep and warm in her body that she thought they must be welded together forever. And she wanted them to be. She’d never dreamed that such pleasure existed.
She was shuddering when he rolled over and pulled her against him, against a body as damp and exhausted as her own.
Her hands were still holding him, digging in as if she were afraid he might float away.
“This,” he whispered heavily, “is why you don’t hire a ski instructor who sails off a cliff.”
She started laughing and couldn’t stop. He joined her. But soon, the stress of the long flight and the long night caught up with them and they fell asleep, still locked together, and more in love than ever before.
