Mountain Moonlight (23 page)

He groaned when her foot made contact with his arousal and retaliated by sliding his hand over her thigh to the warmth between her legs.

Though he'd never kept count of how many times he'd made love to a woman in the space of a few hours, he was certain today would surpass any record he might have set. Just as Vala surpassed any other woman he'd ever known. He couldn't get enough of her.

From the eager way she responded, she must feel the same about him. A thrill of pure masculine pride shot through him. She was the only woman in the world he'd ever cared enough about to want to impress any way he could.

As they came together, it was as though this was the first time he'd made love with her. He wanted her with all the passion and need he'd brought to that night under the penultimate moon.

"You know what?" she murmured as they lay entwined afterward.

"Can't imagine," he said.

"Your bed is more comfortable for love-making than your sleeping bag."

"I can see you're getting spoiled."

"Another thing."

"What?"

"I'm hungry."

So was he, now that he thought about it.

Still naked, they finished off what was left of the brunch, then took another dip in the Jacuzzi.

"We could go swimming," he suggested. "Ever tried it nude?"

"Outside? Never. Except for that time at Spanish Horse Springs and that wasn't really a swimming pool and, besides, we were in the mountains. Your house is in the middle of a city, for heaven's sake."

"There's a fence around the back yard."

"But still--"

"Scared?"

"I told you I'm not used to--well, running all over the place naked."

"All the more reason to try swimming that way."

"I thought people weren't supposed to swim right after they ate."

He grinned at her. "We'll stay in the shallow end. Try it, you'll like it."

"Why do I get the feeling that the next thing you'll want me to do is don wild geese feathers so I can fly with you."

"No need, when we fly together just fine without them." "I'll bet you were formidable in court," she said. "You're hard to out-argue. Okay, one quick swim and, if anyone looks over the fence, you're in real trouble."

Once she was actually outside in the swimming pool, Vala forgot about being naked. Although the water's caress wasn't the same as in the Jacuzzi, she found swimming a totally different experience without a suit on. For good or ill, one by one her inhibitions were dissolving and it was all Bram's doing.

It made her realize how conservative Neal had been.

He'd never liked to be caught without clothes on. She wouldn't have dreamed of undressing in front of him.

She smiled, reveling in the freedom of no clothes at all. Being with Bram was unlike anything she'd ever known. With him she was learning to be herself.

Later, as, wrapped in towels, they lounged in the dappled shade of a Russian olive tree, she noticed he seemed deep in thought.

"Care to share?" she asked.

He turned to look at her. "I'm seriously considering going back, at least part time, to my original profession."

"Oh? Why?"

"Would you believe Mokesh told me I had to get out there and fight?"

She blinked. What on earth was he talking about? "Mokesh?" she repeated.

"Yup. In all his rattler finery, he came to me in a vision-dream. Said if I'm Ndee, then I'd better contribute--or else. I figure as a lawyer I can stir the pot, get it boiling and see what cooks up. I've always looked forward to challenges."

"I can believe that."

"But reality-based Vala is withholding judgment on the vision bit?"

She tried to be as truthful as possible. "Something like that is beyond my experience, but I'm not so narrow- minded as to deny it can exist. However the idea came to you, though, I think what you've decided to do will be good for both you and the Ndee."

He gave her a crooked grin. "Glad to have you in my corner."

She bit back the words that would have told him she'd always be in his corner, no matter what. Instead, she focused on the here and now. "Do you know what time Davis will be back?"

"I've been waiting for you to ask. We don't have to get dressed until five, at the earliest. Rick is treating him
to supper. Until then, fair maiden, you're my captive."

    "Oh mercy me," she wailed in mock fright, "whatever shall I do? Here I am helpless and unclad in the clutches of a warrior. And not just any old warrior, but an Apache, as I, in my ignorance call them--the most feared of all warriors."

"You got that right."  Bram rose and loomed over her lounge chair. "Do you come peacefully or by force?"

Giggling, in a sudden swift leap, she shot from the chair, eluded his grasp and ran across the back lawn, losing her towel on the way.

He was after her like a shot and she darted this way and that to avoid capture. Both of them naked, they raced over the grass until he lunged and caught her. Lifting her into his arms, he trotted toward the back door. As he shifted her to open it, Vala caught a glimpse of a man on the other side of the back fence. He stood on a tall ladder, apparently repairing a gutter on his house.

She carried his expression of mixed amazement and amusement with her into the house.

"Your neighbor over the fence saw us!" she cried.

"Bet he's sorry he's not me," Bram told her as he dropped her onto his bed.

This time their love-making was slow, so sweet and tender she felt she would never forget this man, this day, this moment. How could she when she knew this would be the last time they'd lay together like this.

Later, after showering, Vala put on her new Arizona clothes, tying her hair back with the scarf.

"You look so different," Bram told her. "I'm not sure we shouldn't stay right here so I can get to know the new you."

"You already know all you need to about me," she told him, pleased at his admiration.

They drove to a nearby Mexican restaurant for an early dinner, arriving back at the house shortly before Rick pulled up with Davis.

"You can park this kid with me any time," Rick told them. "Man, can he pick winners. Called 'em, six out of eight, damn good odds."

While Davis tried not to look as proud as he felt,

Rick
explained that the boy had predicted, in six out of the eight bronc riders, which man would stay on his horse and which man would fail to.

Vala smiled. "Heavens, I hope this doesn't mean he'll grow up to be a bookie."

"He did watch the horses, not the riders," Rick said, "so maybe you got something to worry about."

Davis shook his head. "Naw, I'm gonna be a shaman." Rick's eyebrows rose. "Oho, so that's your secret."

He clapped Davis on the shoulder. "Hope we can get together next time you're in these parts, amigo."

After he left, Davis said. "We had a really awesome time, Rick and me. And, yes, Mom, I remembered to thank
him. What'd you guys do while I was gone?"

We had a pretty awesome time ourselves, Vala thought. "We went swimming and sort of laid around," she told him, the understatement of the century.

The phone rang, Bram answered it and came back with the news that the airline had confirmed their reservations for noon tomorrow.

Davis muttered, "Bummer."

Silently, Vala echoed him.

Chapter 15

Vala slept better than she'd expected to, considering it was her last night in Arizona, the last night anywhere near Bram. When she woke in the morning, she lay quietly for a bit, thinking she might be boarding a jet at noon, but she'd be leaving her heart behind. It made no difference how Bram felt about her, she loved him. On this treasure map trip, what she'd found was a man worth loving.

After she showered, she put on the navy pants suit, but wore the bright yellow shirt she'd bought in the mall with it, instead of the plain white one. For some reason, this lightened her spirits a little.

When she went into the kitchen, through the sliding doors she noticed Bram and Davis were standing on the patio in what looked to be earnest conversation. No doubt having to do with how soon Bram can send the kitten, she thought. Davis glanced her way, saw her, waved and then the two of them, Davis still talking, walked away from the house into the yard.

Vala shrugged and went about fixing herself breakfast. Though she didn't feel much like eating, the idea of facing airline food for the rest of the day made her decide to eat something decent while she had the chance.

She was downing her second cup of coffee when Davis came through the sliding doors into the kitchen. Bram, she saw, was still in the yard, apparently contemplating one of the grapefruit trees.

"He's thinking things over," Davis informed her.

"I know he's planning some changes in his life," she said.

"You do?" Davis sounded surprised.

"I think he intends to start lawyering for the Ndee. It seems he had a dream where Mokesh told him to."

"Whoa! It was really Mokesh?"

"In his rattlesnake form."

"Awesome. So he's gonna do it?"

Vala nodded. "Your map made a difference in Bram's life, didn't it?"

"Mine, too," Davis said. "And yours."

Startled, she stared at him. "Why do you say in my life?"

"Um--"
Davis
tugged at his ear. "Well, you learned to ride a horse, didn't you?"

Not sure he wasn't concealing something, she would have pursued it if Bram hadn't pushed open the sliding door and entered just then. When her gaze fastened on him, everything else fled from her mind.

He looked at her with those wonderful dark eyes and she was caught, unable to move or speak, feeling the arc of emotion flashing between them, filling her heart.

"I have an errand to run before we leave for the airport," he said finally, breaking the spell. "Be back soon."

Bram took the BMW, easing it into the flow of traffic, turning off at the mall, thinking he didn't have much time for what he had to do. He shook his head. Wouldn't be doing it at all if it weren't for Davis. Smart kid. He couldn't say the same for himself.

His mother's favorite word for those unfortunates a can or two short of a sixpack was noodleheads. He'd never believed he belonged there but damned if he hadn't just about joined his mother's noodlehead club.

In the jewelry store, he asked the female clerk, "If you were a no-nonsense lady of maybe sixty, living alone in the Superstitions, but with an eye for beauty, what do you think would catch your eye in here?"

"Does she prefer Native American designs?" the unfazed clerk asked, gesturing toward a tray of turquoise set in silver. In a box next to the tray he saw a gold snake pin with yellow gem eyes and small chips of turquoise set into the body in a diamond-back pattern. "Mokesh," he muttered under his breath.

He pointed. "I'll take the snake."

After Pauline got this gift she could no longer claim there wasn't gold in the Superstitions, he thought with amusement. The gold snake, though, was only a token. He owed Pauline more than he could ever repay.

He finished his shopping and drove back to the house. Inside, he found Vala and Davis on the floor by the kitten box. It hadn't taken Sheba long to learn Davis meant her kittens no harm and, though she made her usual mother noises, she didn't object to the boy holding Zorro.

Davis had the kitten snugged up against his face while Vala watched, smiling.

"I'd say Zorro is the luckiest one of the lot," Bram said to them. "Kinked tail, crossed-eyes and all."

"I hope he won't mind New York winters," Vala said.

"Not to worry." When she glanced up at him, he added, "Cats are adaptable."

"I whispered to him so he wouldn't miss me too much," Davis said. "I told him we'd be together soon."

Vala rose and, leaving Davis with the kitten, followed Bram into the living room.

"All packed?' he asked.

She nodded.

"I like that yellow shirt," he said. "You look good in bright colors."

Hell, to him she looked good in anything. Or nothing. But the colors she'd worn before she bought that skirt and this shirt in the mall here tended to be dark ones. Or plain white. In his mind the brighter shades meant she'd come out of her shell. It gave him a thrill to think that at least part of that was his doing.

"Thank you," she told him.

He took a jewelry box from his pocket, saying, "I want to show you the pin I bought for Pauline."

When Vala gazed at the pin, she murmured, "Mokesh. Perfect."

"Will you help me gift wrap it before we take off for the airport? They'd have done it at the jewelry store but I wanted you to see it."