Authors: Brooke Hastings
He finally sounded like the man she'd fallen in love with.
Greatly encouraged, Randy began to remove his shoes and then his socks,
and was unable to resist running a teasing finger along the bottom of
his foot.
He quickly jerked away, threatening, "Miranda, if you
start tickling me…"
"What will you do?" The wine had gone to her head by now.
She turned her attention to his belt, unfastening the buckle and
unsnapping the jeans. "I need a little cooperation," she scolded.
Luke merely smiled and lifted his body to permit her to
remove his clothing. Randy sat down beside him and ran her hands up and
down the full length of his body. "Something tells me you aren't angry
anymore," she teased.
"At a certain point one's hormones take over," Luke
admitted. "But isn't this doing things backward? I thought that the
idea was to get my attention. Believe me, Miranda, you've got it."
Randy gave his objections due consideration and then
dismissed them. She didn't feel like talking, she felt like touching
him and kissing him until he begged for mercy. "We'll get to that," she
said, pouring him a glass of wine and holding it up to his lips. "Come
on, drink up."
He sipped the wine, then shook his head and laughed.
"Isn't this setting a little rustic for Chateau Lafite?" he asked.
"But it's your favorite." Randy pouted. "Isn't it?"
"True," Luke agreed, "but a little expensive to get me
drunk with. Unfortunately, I think it's too late for you. Come on,
honey, untie me before you pass out."
Randy ignored him in favor of pouring and drinking another
half-glass of wine. She held Luke's glass up to his mouth for him to
drink, and with a shrug he complied. Then she slowly stripped off the
rest of her clothing, well aware that he couldn't take his eyes off her.
She felt pleasantly dizzy as she lay down next to him, one
leg draped over his thighs, her sensitive breasts pressed against his
chest. Her kisses were featherlight, meant only to tantalize and
arouse, but Luke didn't seem to understand that. He repeatedly tried to
capture her lips, only to have her tease him with the soft inside of
her mouth and then repeatedly pull away. By now, of course, she knew
exactly how to touch him and didn't hesitate to take advantage of the
knowledge. She stroked and caressed him until he restlessly responded,
moaning with a mixture of pleasure and frustration.
Her own pulses were also racing by now, so that continuing
to tease him turned into a self-inflicted torture. When he murmured
hoarsely, "Miranda, please let me kiss you," she couldn't refuse. She
eased fully on top of him and offered her parted lips, which were taken
in a devouring, bruising kiss. Though he clearly ached to possess her
body as well Randy made him wait. As she moved above him she could feel
his wild urgency and delighted in it. Finally satisfied, she raised her
head and smiled. Luke stiffened and looked up at her, breathing
raggedly.
"If I thought you knew what you were doing to me I'd tan
your backside," he said. "Cut the ropes off, Miranda."
Randy rolled off him, pretending to consider the matter,
while Luke rolled onto his side. "Miranda," he growled, "now!"
"I have to find a knife," she said, running her hand over
his chest and tracing the dark arrow of hair to its point.
What came next happened so quickly that Randy never even
saw it coming. One moment she was playfully caressing him, and the next
she was pinned flat on her back, Luke on top of her, his knee
aggressively parting her legs and his hand roughly claiming her breast.
He lowered his mouth to hers in a fiery kiss that ended long before
Randy wanted it to.
"How did you… ?"
He looked down at her with the most devilish glint she'd
ever seen in his eyes. "Never mind that. Now you're going to pay the
price for the last few hours," he announced. "You have two choices,
Mrs. Griffin. One, I take you right now, and I do mean
now
,
or two, I tease you the way you've just teased me. In either case I
promise to leave you
very
frustrated."
Randy studied his crooked grin for a moment, then
protested, "Luke, those are
terrible
choices.
Give me a third."
He shook his head. "One or two, Miranda."
Of course he didn't mean it. "The first, I suppose," Randy
told him.
Luke grunted and lowered his head. Randy could feel him
trembling as he kissed her, his mouth gentle, thorough, tender. His
hands were feverish on her body, yet he made no move to press his
physical advantage. Instead he caressed her until she was arching
toward him, hungry for his possession. For such a large man he could
use his body with exquisite sensitivity, and as he moved against her
her need increased until she was burning up with it. And then he
stopped.
Randy stared at him, unable to believe that his threat had
been serious.
"Do you have my attention?" he asked hoarsely.
She nodded, unable to get a word out.
"Good. Then listen carefully. I love you, Miranda. Do you
hear that?"
"Yes," she whispered.
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
"Positive?"
"Yes," she said urgently.
"No doubts?"
"Luke," she moaned, "
please
. . ."
He cut her off with a kiss, suddenly out of control. Randy
didn't mind at all. She was so recklessly excited herself that she
stayed with him every step of the way, right through to the tempestuous
finale.
And afterward, as they lay in each other's arms,
everything felt so right to her that she wondered if her imagination
had been running away with her all week.
"Miranda?" Luke murmured.
"You're the only one who ever calls me that," she told him
sleepily.
"Because I like the name. Always have, ever since the
first time I read
The Tempest
." He kissed her
nose. "You were right, you know."
"About what?" she asked.
"My feelings. Things happened too fast. It wasn't only
work this past week."
Randy straightened up and pulled away from him, tense all
over again. But Luke quickly stroked her hair and pulled her back.
"It's okay now," he said. "I did a lot of thinking in Dallas,
especially about the way I reacted to Raley's call. When I realized
that the thought of being without you made me physically sick I figured
it was time to stop analyzing all the reasons why we should have waited
and trust my emotions."
He reached for the wine, smiling at her. "Any woman who
thinks to bring along a bottle of my favorite wine is too good to lose."
After he'd refilled their glasses and settled back on the
bed Randy said, "But you were the one who insisted. You admitted that.
You knew as well as I did that my father would calm down by Friday
morning. So why, if not for the money?"
"I admit that it seemed like too good a deal to pass up.
And I was also a little angry at the way the four of you were laughing
at me. But basically I wanted you with me. I told you that."
Randy sipped her wine, hating every single stock option
and certificate.
"So we'll give it all back," Luke sighed.
She started in surprise, almost spilling her wine. "How
did you know… ?"
"It's obvious, if you understand women. What
you
don't understand is that cutting a deal with your father gave me a
rational excuse to justify what I wanted to do in the first place. It
would have taken me some time to give in to my emotions, but the end
result would have been the same. And if you want to return the
stock…"
"The truth is, it's much less than what I already own,"
Randy told him. "I guess we can keep it."
Luke's complacent smile said that he'd known all along
that Randy would eventually see things his way, and when he promised
that in the future he'd talk about what was bothering him she decided
that the stock was really very unimportant. But as she silently sipped
her wine it occurred to her that if he'd already sorted out his
feelings in Dallas, there was no reason for him to have been angry
about being hauled to Lake George.
"Luke," she said, "earlier today—all that
cursing and all those dirty looks—did you mean them?"
He shook his head, grinning at her. "Of course not. I
enjoyed every minute of it, especially once you started taking off your
clothes. Although you
did
go a little too far,
Miranda. My self-control isn't quite as great as you seem to believe."
"Oh." Randy started to play with a lock of his hair. "Were
you planning to work tomorrow? Did I foul up your schedule?"
"If you could look in the pocket of my suit jacket you'd
find a pair of airplane tickets to London. I told you that I was trying
to clean things up so we could get away, didn't I? Unfortunately, the
flight leaves tomorrow morning."
Randy moaned, "Oh, no!" and then, thinking that perhaps he
was teasing, asked him, "That's true? You're not just saying it?" When
Luke assured her that he was serious she exclaimed, "But why didn't you
explain! We could have driven straight back!"
"Because I was having too much fun. You're the first woman
who's ever kidnapped me, and I was finding it very erotic. Didn't you
wonder what Roger whispered to me, or why we were laughing?"
Randy admitted that she had, but that she was so nervous
that within moments she'd forgotten the whole incident.
"He said, 'You'll never play Hamlet at this rate, Luke.
You're overacting.' Then he slipped me a metal file to cut the ropes
with. Unfortunately, it took longer than I thought it would. You damn
near drove me crazy, Miranda, especially since I'd been thinking about
making love to you ever since I stepped on the plane in Dallas."
Randy meekly apologized. "I guess I had too much wine. But
to think I could be packing for London right now… !" She
sighed. "I suppose all's well that ends
well, but still..."
Luke smiled at her. "Wrong play, angel," he said. "Try
Ferdinand to Miranda, Act Three of
The Tempest
."
His voice dropped to a husky murmur. " 'I, beyond all limit of what
else in the world, do love, prize, honor you'."
Miranda wiped away a sentimental tear. She'd once played
her namesake and recognized the speech he'd quoted. "That's from the
scene where Miranda's father has Ferdinand carry all those logs to
prove his love for her." She giggled. "It's a little backward, Luke,
but very appropriate all the same. And a lovely quote." She pecked him
on the lips as a reward. "How nice that you can recite Shakespeare to
me. Do you remember the part that goes, 'Admired Miranda! Indeed the
top of admiration! Worth what's dearest—' "
Luke cut her off with a burst of laughter. "Darling
Miranda, I picked up a copy of the play in Dallas to find one
appropriate line to recite to you when we got to London. Which will
hopefully be some time Tuesday, if we ever get off this blasted
island." .
Miranda grinned at him. "Prospero, Act Five of
The
Tempest
: 'I'll deliver all, and promise you calm seas,
auspicious gales, and sail so expeditious…' "
"Oh, shut up," Luke laughed, and pulled her into his arms.