At least she had stuck to her guns and not crumbled into compromises and half measures. She could be proud of herself on that score. She had faced up to the future and not made a foolish choice. Which left her only this weekend with him. One night and another day to indulge what could be the love of her life.
She knew what he wanted from her—to be happy with him—and she wanted that, too, for the short time she would have him. She smiled, her golden eyes lit with hopeful appeal. “Let’s make it beautiful, Blaize. Happy and beautiful.”
For a fraction of a second he looked puzzled. Then he smiled at her. “Agreed. Happy and beautiful.”
And it was happy and beautiful. It seemed that the decision having been made, they both relaxed their private guards and did precisely as they pleased, making the most of the brief time they had together. If Tessa felt like touching him she did, and Blaize enjoyed the same freedom, neither one rebuffing the other at any time. Tessa found it intensely pleasurable to just follow whatever whim took her, often teasing Blaize into surprised laughter. The sense of sharing grew more and more intimate as all inhibitions fell away between them.
When they made love that night, Tessa asked Blaize to hold her afterwards. She told him she liked being cuddled. He seemed to enjoy obliging her. He cuddled her until she went to sleep, and when she woke up in the morning his arm was still around her waist, her body snuggled spoon fashion against his. The moment she moved, his arm tightened around her, and they made love again before getting up.
Sunday was a perfectly glorious summer’s day. They had a swim before breakfast—skinny-dipping, which was something Tessa had always wanted to do but never done. It was a deliciously sensual experience, made even more so by being with Blaize. He was an incredibly exciting lover, unpredictable and very erotic. He certainly hadn’t lied about being a man who liked a lot of sex. But Tessa didn’t mind. She found she liked it, too. A lot. With him.
After breakfast they did some fishing for a while, with no success. Tessa thought they probably weren’t concentrating on their lines enough. Occasionally she caught Blaize looking at her in a wondering fashion, as though he didn’t understand what was happening or why, but he liked it. He definitely liked it. The warm pleasure in his eyes was not feigned. Nor was the amusement. He enjoyed being with her.
By mutual consent they spent the last of the afternoon in bed. They made love to each other, and Blaize held her for a long, long time, not moving apart, lying joined together even when his aroused state was gone. It was beautiful. She felt happy and sad... happy for what she had had with him, sad for the inevitable end to it. She snuggled closer, kissed his throat.
“Thank you, Blaize,” she murmured huskily. “Thank you for being good to me.”
He made no reply. The fingers threaded through her hair tightened their grip for a few seconds, then slowly relaxed. He sighed. “It will be dark soon. I guess we’d better start moving.”
They cruised slowly towards Akuna Bay. Blaize had the motors barely turning over. The shadows lengthened as the sun started to sink behind the mountains. The flaming clouds changed to a deep purple. Blaize didn’t seem to be concerned about the gathering darkness. The boat puttered on.
“We’ll take forever to get back there at this rate,” Tessa commented dryly. They could have spent longer in bed together, she thought regretfully.
He reached out and curled his hand around hers. “Do you mind?”
“No.” She wasn’t going to mind anything. Happy and beautiful to the end, she decided.
“Neither do I.” His dark eyes seemed fathomless in the twilight, but she had the impression they were filled with good memories. “I like this speed,” he murmured.
It was nice that he felt reluctant to part with her, Tessa thought. She laid her head on his shoulder. His arm slid around her waist, pressing her closer to him. A mood of melancholy wrapped them in silence. Twilight had fallen. The birds had gone to bed. There was a pale moon rising, a week older than when she had last seen it at Peppers. She wondered what Blaize was thinking.
He cleared his throat.
“Stockton...”
Ah! It was over. Back to business, Tessa thought with resignation. Time for the switch off. She didn’t know how Blaize did it. Although she guessed it was relatively easy when one’s emotions weren’t deeply involved. She was glad she had decided against any further “weekends” with him. They would have killed her.
“Yes, sir?” she drawled mockingly.
A long pause. She had the impression of furious mental activity. There was definitely a rise of tension in his body. His chest rose and fell on a long-drawn-out breath.
“Stockton, I’m not in the habit of making hasty decisions.”
“No, sir,” she recited flatly.
“So this decision—you’d better believe it—is not hasty.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Stockton, I’m going to marry you.”
Tessa’s mind went totally blank with shock. She had given up any hope of that remote possibility. She was resigned to the inevitable parting. She couldn’t take it in.
“Why, sir?” she asked, unable to believe it.
“Because I want you, Stockton.”
Good heavens! Tessa thought. I really did force him into black or white by refusing all the grey areas. But she had never really anticipated he would want her that much. With the prospect in front of her, she suddenly thought of all the reasons he shouldn’t marry her. She was not another Candice. She would probably be a total misfit in his world. And after he had been satisfied with the pleasure he obviously got from her, where would they be then? He would begin to look critically at her. He would start thinking she didn’t measure up. And that would be dreadful. Dreadful!
“No, sir,” she said in a very small voice.
“Stockton, did I hear you correctly?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Give me one good reason we shouldn’t get married,” he demanded tersely. He was even more tense now.
Tessa was feeling very tense herself. “We wouldn’t be happy together, sir.”
“Don’t be a fool, Stockton. Marriage has got nothing to do with happiness.”
She gaped at him. He looked steadfastly ahead, grim-faced with determination.
“Then what has marriage got to do with, sir?”
He switched off the motors. The cruiser drifted idly along the middle of the Hawkesbury River. He turned to her, lifted his hands onto her shoulders. He had a weary look on his face. He spoke in a tone of infinite patience.