Three Marie Ferrarella Romances Box Set One (18 page)

She returned to Nick, followed by a din of hearty applause.

“You rat,” she said, slightly breathless.

Nick held up his right hand solemnly. “I cannot tell a lie—you were magnificent.” He hugged her to him. “We’re leaving soon,” he told her, whispering the words in her ear. Someone else was performing now, but Nick’s words, pregnant with promise, drew all Shane’s attention.

“But the party—“ she protested, although not very strongly.

“We’ll make our own,” he promised her, running his finger along her lips.

The thrill of anticipation took hold of her body as she snuggled closer to him, her shoulders partially draped by his fur cape.

Pins and needles of excitement coursed through her veins as she leaned against him in the dark interior of the limousine. They were going to his place. Her heart sang. And for another night, ecstasy would keep the future, with its cold realities, at bay. She willed herself not to think of anything but the warmth of his body next to hers and the thrill of his lovemaking.

Scottie let them out at the front door and took the car around to the garage. She didn’t see him again until the next morning.

“Come, milady,” Nick said, scooping Shane into his arms at the foot of the spiral stairway, “I wish a private performance.” Shane cradled her body against his chest, the melody from the seduction scene in Gone With The Wind floating through her head. But Rhett Butler, she mused, never held a candle to Nick Rutledge.

He carried her into his vast bedroom and closed the door softly behind him. One lone, brass lamp gave light to the dark. Nick pushed a button over the carved headboard of his bed, and the ceiling retracted before Shane’s surprised eyes. The stars she had admired on the trip back now winked at her through the domed skylight.

“Dance,” Nick whispered. He sat down on the bed and watched.

Shane kicked off her shoes. The tiny bells on her ankles tinkled seductively as she began slowly to sway to the inner music she felt. This time there was no wild abandon; this time the dance was performed as a rite of love as she moved seductively closer and closer to Nick, tantalizing both of them.

She watched his face as she took off first one armband and then the other, tossing each to him with a wicked smile on her face. She wasn’t even certain what possessed her to behave like this. Maybe it was the costume, or maybe it was the woman in her that Nick had awakened with his kisses. She wasn’t sure. She didn’t care. All she wanted was to bring out and heighten the look of love and desire she saw flickering in his eyes.

The transparent layers of her skirt came floating toward him next as she peeled them off one at a time. The process was slow and deliberate. The last layer left her in the tiniest of panties. A ribbon beckoned invitingly on either side of her hips. But she ignored that and went on to the thin laces of the shimmering silver bolero. Deftly her fingers pulled at the tiny cord, drawing it away from the first hole, then from the second, and finally the third, leaving the material barely draping the sides of her breasts. The pink tips of her nipples peered out teasingly.

Shane heard Nick mutter an anguished groan as she drew nearer, offering herself to him and then drawing away at the last moment. The sides of her bolero hung open, exposing the fullness of her ripe breasts to his ravaging eyes. She could hear his breath quickening as she whirled slowly around the bed, thrusting her body forward and then pulling it away. The bells jingled hypnotically as she drew closer again. With calculating movements, she offered her hip to him.

Nick pulled at the pink ribbon that was there, causing it to fall open. She shifted her weight, hardly able to stand the excitement herself. Nick’s fingers parted the other ribbon, and the last shred of material on her body drifted to the floor. Moonlight illuminated her nude body as Nick reached out for her.

“C’mere, you,” he breathed huskily, his voice choked with emotion.

“No,” she whispered back. “You’re not ready yet.” She breathed the words into his ear, touching his ear lightly with her tongue. She caught the involuntary shiver and smiled. “Stand up,” she commanded seductively, drawing him up against the length of her body. She could feel the hard outline yearning for her. Her satisfaction deepened.

With fingers that were almost trembling, Shane unfastened the fur cape that was draped across his right shoulder and let it fall to the floor. One by one she undid the lacings of his leather vest, her throbbing fingers caressing the hard muscle that met her touch as the vest parted. She slipped it off his shoulders, coming around behind him and taking care to allow her breasts to brush teasingly, lightly, against his back. She heard Nick whisper her name.

He turned to take her.

“Not now,” she warned, still determined to go on. She came around to face him once more, applying herself to his leggings next, stripping away the leather lacings until his bared legs met her gaze. Rising to her feet, she found him waiting for her. But there was one more article in their way.

“Never met a Viking in briefs,” she murmured, her hands slipping in on either side of the blue cotton that clung to his firm hips. His skin felt hot.

“And how many Vikings have you undressed, vixen?” Nick asked. His voice sounded strained, as if he were fighting for control.

“Just one,” she replied, sliding the material off one hip and then the other with deliberate movements. The briefs fell away. Shane raised her head, pressing her body against his. “Now,” she said. “Take me now,” she all but pleaded, entwining her arms around his neck.

The passion that exploded within them took a long time to quell. With the stars defining their boundaries, Nick made love to Shane, not once, but several times, that night. Each time brought with it fulfillment and the sting of bittersweet sadness. Shane sought desperately to lose herself in Nick’s arms, feverishly making love to him.

“Hey, what is it?” he asked at one point, his arms cradling her as the length of his body fit against the soft contours of her own. She clung to him, her nails digging into his back, pulling him in closer to her. Nick stopped moving and pushed away the strands of hair that had fallen into her face.

“Just love me, Nick,” she cried, pulling his head down closer to her, her lips yearning for his. “Just love me.”

“I do,” he murmured against her mouth, scorching it once more with the intensity of his kiss. One arm pillowed her head while another stroked the side of her body, stroking her over and over again before it slipped beneath her hips.

She parted her legs, responding to the signals that had become almost like second nature to her. She felt the hot, urgent thrust within her and gloried at the sensations that rushed to meet it. Their ragged breathing mingled and echoed through the dark room as the united rhythm of their movements increased, reaching up to the ultimate burst of fulfillment.

Shane prayed that something would hold back the dawn and let her die within the ecstasy created by the only man she would ever love.

The last week of her assignment passed like water through a sieve, despite the way she tried to cling to each moment. After her weekend in paradise, Shane found it harder to concentrate, harder to face the reality that she knew was waiting for her. Some women would have thought of her as the world’s greatest fool, giving up a life with Nick for a career that was only partially formed; a career she still had to work at in order to mold it into what she ultimately wanted. But she knew that in the final analysis, she wouldn’t be complete unless she was her own person. And besides, she thought ruefully, Nick had never repeated his proposal, never even brought up the fact that she was supposedly considering his offer of marriage.

Shane watched Nick film still another scene as she sat in the shadows of a darkening set. It was a night scene, and the conditions were perfect. Most likely he’d regretted his proposal the minute he had made it, she thought. She wasn’t going to be some pathetic, clinging vine and remind him of it. That wasn’t the kind of woman he was attracted to, she told herself. What she had had was a month made in heaven. A month that had enough passion in it to last her for a lifetime.

It would have to, she thought with tears in her eyes.

The last-minute details of filming on location took up almost all of Nick’s free time, so Shane was left to her own devices, and threw herself into her work. The article that emerged from her pen was the finest she had ever written. A labor of love, she thought with a sad smile as she sat in her lonely hotel room, trying hard not to relive every moment of their time together. Later she could take out those memories and explore them, handling them like fine, delicate Christmas ornaments to be cherished and preserved. But not now. Now they were still rimmed in pain. Now she had to work and be the bright, efficient woman who had breezed onto the set almost four weeks ago.

She accompanied Nick to the reservation again and took part in the small end-of-semester party that the students threw for him. She watched him closely and was delighted to see that he had as good a time at this party as he had had at Gloria’s charity ball—perhaps even better.

Her time alone with Nick was limited to driving to and from the reservation because of the demands of the shooting schedule. Still, she consoled herself, she’d have the last night.

Or so she thought.

“A dinner party?” she repeated, trying to hide her dismay as he presented the idea to her that last afternoon on the set. Her plan to spend an intimate evening in his arms crumbled. Perhaps he was embarrassed to be alone with her, she thought. Perhaps he was afraid she’d raise the issue of his marriage proposal. Well, he needn’t worry about that. She was adult enough to handle the situation. Still, she avoided his gaze, knowing he had the ability to see the pain that she was experiencing. Instead she watched as various crew members busied themselves with packing the equipment, getting it ready to ship back to the studio. A man Nick had introduced as the production manager was rushing around, issuing orders.

“Who’s going to be there?” she asked, pretending to be interested.

“Alexander Tate and his daughter,” Nick said. They began to walk back to his trailer. Shane concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.

She glanced covertly at Nick’s face. Was there a special light in his eyes when he mentioned Ginger? Or was that just her imagination? How loving Nick had brought her into close proximity to her best and worst emotions! She would have sworn she didn’t have a jealous bone in her body until meeting and falling for him. Even in her brief marriage, she hadn’t experienced jealousy, so much as hurt. Grow up, McCallister, she ordered sharply. Jealousy is for fools. And besides, you haven’t the right to be jealous of Nick. He hasn’t made any commitment to you.

Nick was standing in front of his trailer, and she almost walked into him, oblivious to the fact that he’d halted. He put his hands on her shoulders to steady her.

“Hey, whoa, there. What are you so preoccupied with?” he asked, studying her face.

She looked away. “Just the end of my article,” she lied. And the end of us, she tacked on silently.

“Work on that this afternoon. I’ll have Scottie pick you up at seven. Don’t be late,” he said with a wink.

“I never am,” she said, attempting to sound carefree.

“Amazing woman.” Nick laughed, blowing her a kiss.

She pretended to catch it, then turned and walked away, her heart aching.

Nick’s chef had outdone himself, Shane thought as she sat in the spacious formal dining room that evening. But she discovered that her appetite had deserted her. She wasn’t the least bit tempted by the delicate dishes that were served. Shane was placed opposite Scottie and next to Tate, who sat at Nick’s right hand. Ginger sat at his left.

Shane tried not to let the seating arrangement bother her.

“Nick tells me that you’ll be returning to New York tomorrow,” Tate said.

“Yes,” Shane replied dully. Back to New York. Back to her career. Back to her life without Nick.

“Tell me, would you consider making a career move at this time in your life?” Tate asked, taking her completely by surprise.

“I beg your pardon?” She must have misunderstood him, she thought. The question came out of left field.

“Would you consider making a career move at this time?” Tate repeated, his tone as soft and unassuming as ever.

“If a good offer came,” Shane said honestly. “I’d be more than willing to consider it.”

“Would you consider a position as a senior writer on In-depth magazine a good offer?”

Her eyes grew wide as she realized that conversation had otherwise stopped at the table and now everyone seemed to be waiting for her answer. Knowledge sizzled through her like a flash of lightning.

“In-depth magazine?” she repeated dumbly, her mouth forming an unspoken “Oh” as the truth rushed in on her. “You’re that Alexander Tate? The owner of In-depth magazine?” She hoped that the squeal she thought she uttered was only in her imagination.

“Among other things,” he told her. “How about it?” he prodded. “I realize that it would mean moving from New York. I like my writers to stay close to the home office,” he explained. “And the home office is in Los Angeles.”

He needn’t have told her that. She knew all about In-depth magazine. It was an even classier publication than Rendezvous, and the position Tate mentioned was one she would have given her eyeteeth for—if she had come by it honestly.

Shane eyed Nick suspiciously, but he merely smiled at her, appearing to be as interested in her answer as the others were. There wasn’t a trace of smugness in his expression. Had he arranged all this, or was she being unduly mistrustful?

“I would consider an opportunity to work on the staff of In-depth a godsend,” Shane said. “The move from New York would be a small price to pay for the privilege of being part of the staff of your magazine. But—“

Tate didn’t seem to hear the last word. “Fine. It’s all settled, then. Here’s my card,” he told her, fishing it out of his breast pocket and handing it to her. “Give me a call, and in private we’ll discuss salary, benefits, that sort of thing. Then, of course, I’ll have your contract all drawn up and ready for you to sign.”