Sweet Caroline (29 page)

"Lie back," he said, and she did, dragging him along with her. She found his mouth and kissed him hungrily, but his hands had found her breasts, and from that moment on, Caroline Spring quit talking ... thinking ... wishing ... hoping. As sure as the sun rose in the east, Caroline Spring had met the man she was made for, who'd give her the night of her dreams.

To Mick's delight, Caroline's breasts were small and firm yet soft to the touch. A rounded tiny pear that fit perfectly between his lips. He swept his tongue across the pink nipple, which blossomed immediately. He knew it would, expected it to, still a new wave of excitement coursed through him and Caroline as well. Beneath him, her heart pounded as she arched up ever so slightly to meet his mouth.

"Beautiful, beautiful," he said more a breath than a whisper, at the sight of those lovely mounds. Each was just enough to fit his palm. He pressed them together, until they stood as one, then licked and suckled, favoring each in turn. 279

Sweet Caroline

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Mick kneaded and teased, mostly gentle, sometimes urgent, sucking, tasting, nipping as the smooth warm flesh grew harder and seemed to swell beneath his lips. A quite moan slipped past Caroline's. She quivered. He felt her excitement building, and when she cried out, "Touch me!" he knew exactly what she wanted.

Mick abandoned her breasts in favor of tracing the length of her with his tongue and lost himself in the smooth, flawless skin. He planned to pleasure her in a way he knew instinctively she'd never been pleasured before. With his tongue, he traced the route of his fingertips, separating her nether lips and licking and teasing the very essence of her. She writhed beneath him, grabbing blindly and wildly at his shoulders, his hair, at anything to hold onto, until tremors wracked her body and she gave into pure feral bliss. He didn't stop until she shuddered one last time and sighed contentedly. He kept his hand on her, protecting her warmth while her breathing returned to normal. When she tried to coax his hand away, he remained immovable.

"Please, it's my turn to..."

He smiled. "Are you kidding? I haven't even begun."

"No, no." She resisted, until he massaged her hardened nub. She moved with him now, lifting her hips, breathing and moaning exactly the way he'd hoped she would. She gasped when he slipped a finger inside her.

"Relax for me, darlin'. Don't think, go with it."

"I'm ... I'm..."

"Shh." He kissed her full on the mouth, erasing her resistance and letting her taste her own desire from his lips to 280

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hers. "Relax, sweetheart. Let me love you the way we both want it."

And he did. He brought her to electrifying peaks a half dozen times, each greater than the last until he knew he couldn't hold on much longer himself.

"Ah, sweet Caroline, now it's my turn." He shivered. They traded places as naturally as if they'd been making love to each other all their lives, pausing only long enough for him to rip open a foil packet. His hands trembled so, he turned all thumbs. "Bloody hell!" Caroline groaned and wrested the packet from him.

"Bloody hell is right!" She managed to accomplish what he could not.

Then to both their need and delight, he guided her to a meeting point. Ever so slowly, he lowered her onto him until she had taken him completely inside her, a perfect fit. Swaying to their rhythm, she leaned forward so that her breasts tantalized his lips. He raised his head and took one in his mouth, darting his tongue against her taut nipple in time to the motion of their bodies.

They moved as one, knowing instinctively when it was time to slow or when to move faster. The glow of the candles flickered about them, the scent of roses mingled with the scent of lovemaking—musky, male, and yet somehow so sweet. It was a perfect rainbow of pleasure, vibrant colors against a cerulean sky, soft pillows of white floating lazily across a far horizon, two hearts pounding against each other in sync with their dance.

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"Sweet mother, you're so tight," he groaned, lost in the pleasure of her.

"Sweet mother, you're so ... big." Mick never felt so hard, Caroline never felt so full—or so good, or so ... loved.

Somewhere along the way, they'd switched positions again, and now Caroline wantonly arched her back, wrapped her legs around his waist and closed her eyes. With every thrust, he drove deeper, the tempo building, the pressure growing to an urgency she had never experienced before, and didn't fully understand.

Their movements quickened along with their breathing, until he had time left only to say, "Oh, Caroline," before he exploded inside her.

Seconds later, she cried out, "Oh, Mick," and joined him in bliss.

* * * *

MICK KEPT HIS promise, and much to his surprise and delight, Caroline willingly returned all of his favors. She was shy at first, unaware of the depth of her own passion and sexuality. They uncovered it together, and with each new discovery, the purring kitten turned into a tigress. At some point during the night, they'd ended up in her apartment, where she drew happy faces and shamrocks all over him with lime-flavored body paints—then licked them off. After that, they found new uses for coconut and chocolate sauce, warm peach halves, and chilled Jell-O. By two, they'd used the last of the condoms and their bodies were crying 282

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Uncle!
Murmuring something about a willing spirit and weak flesh, they drifted off to sleep arms and legs entangled.

* * * *

SUNLIGHT STREAMED THROUGH the window, the rays shining across Caroline's face when she awakened to a tap on her wrist. "Hmm?" she said without opening her eyes but grinning as memories of last night tumbled around inside her. She raised a lid, expecting to see that magnificent naked body she'd come to know with all five senses. Instead, she saw Mick already dressed, in a coat and tie.

"Get up, sleepin' beauty. Thirty minutes 'til we leave." Caroline pulled the sheet up to her chin, feeling exposed compared to his business attire. "Thirty minutes to what? It's Sunday morning. Or did we play right through Sunday and never knew it?"

"You wish." He sat on the edge of the bed and tousled her hair before dropping a kiss on the tip of her nose. "Mum called awhile ago. She thinks the photo in your postcard was taken in the woods behind Holy Trinity Academy. Annie's giving the homily at the 10:15 a.m. Mass. Mum wants us to join her for brunch and bring Annie with us." Caroline looked at the clock. A quarter to nine. "We're going to church? With Annie?" She pulled the sheet higher.

"After what we did all night?"

"Especially after what we did all night." He grinned broadly. "To thank the Lord for not strikin' us dead half way through."

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"Don't make jokes about religion," she scolded. "In some circles what we did all night is considered a bit on the sinful side."

"I prefer the circles that believe nothing is wrong if two people—" He stopped short, eyes wide, face paling as if he'd suddenly realized what he'd almost said.

Caroline sucked in a sharp breath. Had he almost said what she thought he did? "If two people what, Mick?" He stood quickly, threw back the bedding and pulled her up and out of bed. "If two people are
adults.
Now move it." He patted her on the rump to urge her along. "We can't be late."

* * * *

THEY ARRIVED TWENTY minutes early and used the time to walk through the woods on a perfect September morning. They saw squirrels scurrying through the fallen leaves and heard birds chirping in the branches of aging pines and majestic redwoods. A stream ran alongside the footpath, its babble adding to Nature's conversation. Everything smelled twice as fresh to Caroline. A night of incredible lovemaking had heightened her senses, though she still felt a pleasant ache in the oddest parts of her body.

"Looks like Sheila guessed wrong," Mick said. They'd doubled back twice and headed for the small chapel between the convent and the boarding school's dormitories.

"Is that the key, Mick? If we figure out where the photo was taken we'll know who took it?"

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"I'm more curious about why. Likely we'll have to delve into that face to face."

"That reminds me." Anxiety stirred in the pit of her stomach. "There's a couple of other things you need to know."
Like why I'm really here, and what I've uncovered for
Ian.

Mick smacked the heel of his palm against his forehead.

"Sweet mother, Caroline, you're not going to tell me you've a husband and six kids waitin' for you in Dallas?" She balled her fist and punched him in the arm. "No, silly, seven and I'm gay."

"Oh, I know that last part's not true." He circled her waist and lifted her until they were nose to nose. Then he kissed her soundly. "See, told you so. Now come on, those are the final bells before Mass starts."

The chapel at Holy Trinity was small, seating no more than thirty or forty. Mick and Caroline slid into the back row, praying along with the faithful until Sr. Anne took her place at the lectern to deliver the homily. She looked straight at Caroline and Mick and her gaze never wavered. She spoke of love and commitment, of family and friends, loyalty to God and weaving integrity into everyday living. In a strong voice, delicately flavored with an Irish brogue, she spoke without notes, never hesitating to find the right words, yet their simple honesty brought tears to Caroline's eyes. Mick took her hand almost from the start. She knew by the pressure he exerted that Annie's words had touched him, too. Caroline found herself praying with hope and belief for the first time since her mother's death, not with anger and 285

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anguish. With Mick standing beside her, she found a sense of peace she had not known since childhood.

After Mass, they waited in the parking lot for Sr. Anne to join them.

"That was quite a miracle we experienced, now wasn't it, Mick?" Annie asked while he hugged her. "I'm talkin' and fearin' that any minute the roof's going to fall or the pillars collapse from your bein' there after all these years." He laughed as he kissed her on the cheek. "There are no pillars inside, Annie. You'd be surprised to know Sheila drags me in several times a year." He placed his arm around Caroline's shoulder. "You remember Caroline, from the weddin'?"

"Of course, I do." She extended her hand. "How could I forget such a lovely lass, especially on the arm of my favorite heathen?"

Caroline laughed with them, while the heat of a blush crept along her neck and cheeks. "I'm afraid I'm no better."

"Nonsense, there's always room in God's heart for a prodigal son and daughter. Perhaps He sent you to Mick to facilitate that reunion." She slipped an arm through each of theirs and walked between them. "Are we still meetin' Sheila at the club?"

"I think she's had her fill of houseguests. She left Tony behind to send them on their way."

"Good for her. That gives us a chance to catch up without everyone in the world buttin' in." She stopped and looked around. "I have a few things to do this afternoon. You know, I start a week's retreat tomorrow."

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"I didn't know," Mick said. "I thought you were stayin' out at the ranch."

She stared at the horizon, her face wistful. "I've given almost thirty years to this, Mick. It's time I discovered what God has in store for me for the next thirty."

"You'll have time to visit before you have to go back, won't you?"

"Oh, you'll be plenty tired of me before I leave again. I'm on sabbatical until the first of the year." She shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked about the parking lot. "Ah, there it is."

Both Caroline and Mick looked in the direction she pointed, where a nondescript gray sedan was parked in the shade of a ring of sycamores. "Fr. Tom said I could borrow his car to run my errands. You two go on ahead. Tell Sheila I'll meet you at the club as soon as I get his keys."

Mick frowned. "Are you sure you still know how to drive?

You never were any good at it."

Without warning, she knocked him on the side of his head with the file folder she carried that contained notes from her homily. "Why, Michael Gabriel Mahoney, you little snot. I was good enough to teach you."

"Oh, but it wasn't
my
license they suspended."

"You were only ten years old! You didn't have one to suspend."

* * * *

WHETHER MICK WAS so happy because he'd been reunited with his dear Annie again, or if his joy was due to the 287

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afterglow on their night together, Caroline had never seen him in a better mood. He and Annie had verbally jousted until they were both laughing so hard tears rolled down their cheeks. Caroline could only imagine what they'd been like growing up. Or how Sheila had managed to survive it. They waited until Annie found the car keys then led the way in their two-car convoy. Mick sang to Caroline all the way, dazzling her with a medley of Irish songs sung in a rich baritone that she didn't know he possessed. At the club, he escorted them to the table where Sheila DeSantis waited looking every inch a Celtic dowager. She stood and hugged Caroline then cast a dubious look at her son. "You let him inside the chapel, Annie, and risked the safety of the faithful?"

"I don't mind tellin' you, Sheila, I was frightened. But I figured the Good Lord wouldn't punish the rest of us for the transgressions of one sinner."

"Very funny, you two," Mick said, feigning injury. "See, Caroline, this is what I've had to put up with all my life." She showed him no mercy either. "Doesn't look like it hurt you, big guy."

"Well said, Caroline!" Annie clapped her hands, laughing as Sheila joined in.

"My poor darling son, I think you've met your match." Mick shook his head sadly, looked up to the heavens in supplication and rolled his eyes. "The high price of being a Mahoney male."