Rafe, please come back to me….
With a low growl, he released the woman from his thrall and then, thinking he was a damn fool, he followed the sound of his beloved's voice.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Fighting the urge to cry, I went into the bathroom and turned on the light. After undressing, I stepped into the shower. With hot water sluicing over my body, I could pretend the wetness on my cheeks was water and not tears.
Once started, the tears came harder, faster. How long could a person cry before they dehydrated?
So, I'd made a mistake, but it wasn't irreversible. It couldn't be. In spite of the danger, I would go back to Oak Hollow and find Rafe. I'd tell him I loved him, that I would always love him, and hope that he would believe me, and forgive me.
Unwrapping a bar of soap, I washed my face. When I rinsed away the soap and opened my eyes again, Rafe was standing outside the shower door.
I blinked at him, wondering if he was real or if I had been so desperate to see him again, I had conjured his image from my imagination.
I watched him undress, my gaze moving avidly over every inch of exposed flesh, and then he opened the door.
“You want to get rid of that?” he asked, gesturing at the silver chain and cross that I now wore day and night.
Happiness bubbled up inside me like warm champagne. He was here, and by the look of him, he wasn't mad at me. I ran my fingertips over the chain. “I don't know if I should take it off,” I said, as if I was giving it serious thought. “A girl can never be too careful.”
“Take a chance,” he said, flashing a wicked grin. “Walk on the wild side with me.”
“You tempt me, sir.” Batting my eyelashes at him, I lifted the chain over my head, leaned out the door, and placed the cross and chain on the sink top. I grinned inwardly when Rafe dropped a washcloth over them.
“That's the idea,” Rafe said, and stepping into the shower, he closed the door. Taking the soap from my hand, he began to wash me, first my neck, then my shoulders and my arms.
I trembled at his touch, afraid to speak. If this was a dream, I didn't want it to end.
I had never felt anything as erotic as Rafe's strong, soapy hands sliding over my flesh. Once, I had imagined what it would be like for the two of us to shower together. The reality was better than my wildest fantasies. Desire stirred within me, hot and slick. A glance at Rafe showed that my nearness was having a similar effect on him.
When he had washed me from neck to heel, I took the soap from his hand. “My turn,” I said, surprised at how breathy and sexy my voice sounded. It was an amazing feeling, running my lathered hands over his taut flesh, feeling his muscles quiver with longing at my touch, watching his eyes grow hot as my hands moved over his body, lower, lower…
With a growl, he turned off the water, swung me up into his arms, and carried me to bed.
He made love to me without a word, and I reveled in it.
He was here, and he was mine. There was no need for words. The look in his eyes, the sweet caress of his hands said it all eloquently.
Later, satisfied and sated, with my head pillowed on his chest, I whispered that I was sorry.
He covered my mouth with his fingertips. “Don't,” he said quietly.
“But…”
“You don't need to apologize for being human, for being afraid of the unknown, for wanting a home and a family.”
“Yes, I do.”
Rafe turned on his side so that we were lying face-to-face, our legs intimately entwined. “I knew what you were thinking, feeling.” He pressed his hand over my heart. “I knew how you felt, in here, but I let my pride get in the way of my good sense. I told myself I didn't need you, and I walked away.” He lifted one hand, his fingertips sliding over my lower lip. “I'll never leave you again,” he said, and I heard the promise in his voice, “unless you tell me to go.”
“It'll never happen.” The short time we had been apart had been enough to convince me that I never wanted to be parted from him again. “Will you promise me something else?”
“Anything.”
“Please don't ever shut me out again. I tried to find you and I couldn't.”
He stroked my cheek, brushed a lock of hair from my brow. “I'm sorry. It will never happen again.” He blew out a sigh. “You saved me, you know.”
“What do you mean?” My hand slid over his chest. I loved the feel of his bare skin beneath my palm, the fact that I could touch him and taste him to my heart's content.
“I was leaning toward the dark side,” he said with a wry grin. “I had decided to stop fighting what I am and take what I wanted. I was about to feed when I heard your voice.” He paused, his jaw tight. “Another minute, and I would have taken her. I would have taken it all.”
“But you didn't. That's what's important. You didn't.”
“You can't know how hard it is,” he said, and there was no humor in his expression now, and none in his voice. “How hard it is to forever deny yourself that which you crave most, to smell it and taste it and not touch it.”
I didn't know what to say. I couldn't begin to imagine what it was like for him.
“That woman owes her life to you.”
I didn't know what to say to that, either.
He shook his head. “If I'd taken her, I would have regretted it the rest of my life.”
“From now on, we'll be strong for each other. Just promise me one more thing.”
“Whatever you want.”
“Promise you'll never turn me against my will.”
“I promise.”
I snuggled against him. I hated to ruin the moment between us, but it couldn't be helped. “On the news tonight…”
“I heard. You were smart to leave town.”
“I didn't know about that until later. Someone broke into my house. They broke the lock on the front door. I didn't wait around to see who it was, or if they were still there.”
He squeezed my shoulders. “Like I said, smart.”
“What'll we do now?”
“You're going to stay here.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I'm going back to Oak Hollow to put Edna and Pearl out of commission.”
“Why can't Mara and Clive do it?”
“Clive took off for South America last night to take care of the last of the rebels. Mara's gone to Texas to put a certain school out of business.”
“And she left you here to clean up the town?”
“More or less.”
“I need to go home,” I said, “and since you're going back to Oak Hollow, I think I'll just go with you.”