Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
S ara hadn’t been prepared, not prepared at all, for a surge of pleasure so strong she cried out.
Kieran went completely still. “Did I hurt you, lass?”
“No! That was a cry of pure joy.”
“Pure joy, is it, then?” He held her gaze and a slow smile curved his sexy mouth. “That’s good news.” Easing back, he pushed forward again. “Still good?”
“Uh-huh.” A quiver in her lady parts promised fun times ahead. “I think you got this party started.”
“Then let’s keep it going.” He began an easy rhythm.
Simple. And oh, so effective. His eyes were a mesmerizing blue as he continued the most intimate caress of all. Nothing fancy. And yet… he slowly, almost without effort, was turning her inside out.
The finale, when it came, was swift. One minute she was gliding along on a wave of pleasant sensation and the next she was flung over Niagara Falls, yelling and holding on for dear life.
He kept thrusting, prolonging the best damned climax she’d ever had. Gradually he tapered off until at last he stopped moving.
She took a shaky breath. “How… how did you do that?”
“Changed the angle a bit.”
“That was the most spectacular sex I’ve ever had.”
His eyebrows rose. “You don’t usually?—”
“Oh, I have orgasms, but nobody’s ever… you have skills, my friend. And you didn’t come.”
“Because I think you can come again.” He settled in deeper.
Sure enough, whatever angle he’d found was still sensitive to that measured rhythm and in no time she was tossed over the edge into the swirling waters of another spectacular climax.
Only this time he joined her, his breathing rougher than before and his strokes faster. Throwing back his head, he called her name in a hoarse shout of triumph. Then he pushed deep, gasping for air as his body shuddered against hers.
She rubbed his back until he stopped trembling. When he lowered his head, his eyes were closed. He murmured something she couldn’t hear.
Then he opened his eyes and looked directly into hers. “Marry me.”
“ What ?” The shock of it left her gasping.
He sighed. “You think I’m acting the maggot. And I probably?—”
“If that means you’re acting crazy, then yes, you are. We had wonderful sex, but that doesn’t?—”
“I know.” Grasping the base of his cock to keep the condom secure, he eased away from her and left the bed. “I’ll be right back. We’ll talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about!” She fought panic. Her worst fear was coming true. One fabulous sexual experience and he was head-over-heels in love with her.
And now she was going to hurt him. She couldn’t bear to hurt him, but what choice did she have now that he had this insane idea fixed in his besotted brain?
She should call off this arrangement immediately. Staying in this cabin with him for another minute would only make things worse.
Except she was stuck here, wasn’t she? She couldn’t call Rance and ask him to take her back. She could at least get dressed, though. Climbing out of bed, she surveyed the array of clothes strewn across the floor.
“Searching for your clothes, are you?”
She glanced up. Why did he have to be so gorgeous? And good in bed? She couldn’t look at his magnificent body without wanting more of what he’d just given her.
“Please don’t get dressed.”
“We can’t make love anymore. You’re falling for me. We talked about this on the phone, and you said?—”
“That I didn’t see us spending the rest of our lives together. I know.”
“And an hour later you’re asking me to marry you?”
“An hour ago I didn’t know what I was talking about.” His warm gaze swept over her. “I didn’t know who you were, lass.”
She groaned. “You know that’s crazy talk, right?”
“Just let me explain what?—”
“I know you’re crazy, but then you give me that look and call me lass . And I want you all over again! It’s not fair, Kieran.”
“Come back to bed. We’ll work this out.”
“We’re not making love. Not when you?—”
“We’re not. I need my wits about me for this discussion.”
“Okay, then.” She walked around the foot of the bed, propped a pillow against the headboard and got in. “This is my side.” She pulled the sheet up and tucked it under her armpits. “You need to stay on your side.”
“All right.”
“It’s not funny.”
“It will be some day. You’ll see.”
“I doubt it.”
He copied her setup except he only pulled the sheet up to his waist, the rat. His lovely broad chest with its sprinkling of soft chest hair was on full display. But asking him to cover it would sound ridiculous.
He took a deep breath. “Remember when I said I was afraid you’d disappear?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever seen Ladyhawke ?”
“It’s my favorite mov— wait! Did you think I’d turn into a hawk?”
“Something like that. I never expected to find you. And when I did, I had trouble believing you were real, since I’ve only seen you in my dreams.”
She hadn’t meant to look at him, but when he came out with a statement like that, she couldn’t help it. “I’m your dream girl?”
“Yes.” His gaze remained steady.
“In what way?”
“Every way. When I first saw your face in the mirror at Hannigan’s, you looked familiar, but I knew I hadn’t met you before since you’ve never been to Ireland. Then tonight I saw you lying on the bed and I finally recognized you. In my dreams you’re always naked.”
“You really believe that somehow I’m the incarnation of your dream girl?”
“That I do. I wasn’t positive until we made love.”
“You made love to me in your dreams?”
“I never did. I guess that part had to wait until we were physically together. It was the final proof.”
“So let me get this straight. I look something like your dream girl, so?—”
“Exactly like.”
“Okay, I’m the spitting image of her.”
He frowned. “I don’t know what spit has to do with?—”
“Never mind. I look like her, so based on that, you think we should get married.”
“Hell, no. It goes way deeper than that. It’s all the circumstances that brought us together. I’ve been working for years to get to Wagon Train. I could have come any week, but I came this week. You could have ended up here any week but your family chose this one. I decide to get a hat, walk into that shop, and there you were.”
“Coincidence.”
“Is it? We were instantly attracted to each other. Have you ever had that kind of reaction to someone?”
“No, but?—”
“Neither have I. And for a while it looked like we’d never be able to act on it. Then Rance came up with a solution and here we are.”
She took several slow breaths while she sorted through all he’d said. “It’s a very romantic picture you’ve painted, but if you’re thinking I’ll just move to Ireland and live in your little village, that’s not happening.”
“But you said your company is international. They must have an office in Dublin.”
“They do, but they also have a strict policy of hiring only people native to the country for the local offices.”
“So you’d have to leave your job.”
“Yes.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to do that.”
“And I wouldn’t ask you to leave your granny!”
“Good, because I would never do that.”
“So even if I said yes, which I’m not going to, how would we create a life together?”
“I don’t know. Asking you to move far away from your family is bad enough, but leaving your job... I hadn’t counted on that being a problem. I’ll need to do more thinking.” He reached for her hand.
She almost pulled it out of reach, but then… she didn’t. She loved touching him, being touched by him.
He wove his fingers through hers. “I went about this all wrong.”
“You think?”
“Making love to you was like a religious experience. I even said a little prayer at the end, giving thanks for what we’d shared.”
That touched her. She didn’t want to go all mushy inside, but he had a way about him. She’d wanted to hug him from the moment he’d taken the postcard out of his shirt pocket.
He squeezed her hand and looked at her. “You can probably guess I’ve never proposed to anyone before, judging from the arseways I handled it.”
“It wasn’t what you’d call smooth.”
“Or respectful. It was more of a demand than a request.”
“If you’re working up to a do-over, it’s not a good idea. I’ll just shoot you down.”
He nodded. “Any sane person would. My plan is banjaxed. But let’s say that a miracle happened, and a path opened that would allow us to be together without me leaving granny to fend for herself or you giving up your job.”
“That would take a big miracle.”
“But pretend that happened. Could you see yourself marrying me?”
“After knowing you for less than a day?”
“Good point. I’ve known you for years, wanted you for years.” He flashed her his winning smile. “I don’t suppose I look like your dream fella.”
“I don’t have one. But… I like the way you look. I like it a lot.”
“So you approve of my looks and you enjoyed the sex. There was also that moment when we took a walk with Sam and you said some nice things about me.”
“Now you’re fishing.”
“Have to. I need all the arguments I can find. I remember something about pure gold . Did you mean that?”
He was utterly sincere and completely adorable. “Are you sure you’re a construction worker? Because you’re sounding more and more like a lawyer.”
“I have to say, pure gold sounds like the sort of thing you’d look for in a partner.”
“All right.” She couldn’t keep her smile from breaking through. “You’ve impressed me from the get-go. But I would never agree to marry someone, even hypothetically, when I’ve only spent a few hours with him.”
“Very intense hours. We’ve had a chance to show our true colors. We’ve had quality over quantity. We?—”
“Give it a rest, counselor.”
“Meaning?”
“You won’t get an answer from me tonight.” She let the sheet fall away. “But if you’re willing to drop the subject, you might get something else.”