From Waif To His Wife

She put her hand over his with a sudden cloud in her eyes. ‘Susie…’ And she told him what had happened to her phone. ‘I should check in.’

‘She’s fine. I was talking to Grace only minutes before I bumped into you, just in case you’d checked in with her. Susie’s had a bottle and she looks set to sleep for hours.’

Maisie relaxed. ‘I love you too,’ she told him and helped him out of his sodden jacket. ‘We could have a shower-we should have a shower, and not only to continue a tradition we once established, and properly this time, but also to get warm and clean. See that little gas heater up on the wall there?’

He’d removed her sweater and he looked in the direction she was pointing. ‘Uh-huh,’ he said but distractedly because what he’d revealed was a pale lemon bra patterned with forget-me-nots.

‘Well, it provides instant hot water.’

‘Wonderful.’ He turned his attention back to stripping her trousers off. ‘Since,’ he looked into her eyes, ‘we’ve established that, may we proceed?’

‘Please do,’ she invited and a little glint lit her eyes. ‘I was only keen to-set the scene.’

He paused and looked at her narrowly. ‘You really want us to take a shower?’

‘I really do. I had an amazing fantasy once about…showers-boat showers to be precise-so-’

He put his fingers to her lips. ‘Say no more.’ He ripped off the rest of his clothes, turned away to prime the gas heater then picked her up in his arms and carried her into the Amelie’s bathroom.

It wasn’t as large or as grand as the Mary-Lue’s but the jet of water, after a few preliminary splutters, was warm and wonderful as it streamed over them.

Maisie took her bra off and her knickers and stood revelling in it. Then she looked into his eyes and saw a question in them. She turned the water off, wound her arms around him and pressed her breasts against the hard wall of his chest as she offered him her mouth.

The result was dynamite. Their kiss was everything she’d fantasised about. His hands on her sleek, slippery body were everything she’d dreamt about as tremors of desire rose from deep within her.

The hard months slipped away and she felt at last as if she’d reached a safe shore, a haven, but not only that, one shot with rapture and pure pleasure.

When he lifted his head at last it was to ask her if she still believed she was dreaming.

‘No,’ she gasped. ‘Oh, no! But-would you mind not stopping? Because that was pure magic.’

He laughed softly. ‘There’s actually no stopping me now but we need a bed. Come.’

The double bunk on the Amelie was also in the aft berth and, again, not as luxurious as the Mary-Lue’s, but perfectly adequate for two people who were setting each other alight.

‘Do you have any express wishes in this instance?’ he queried as he stroked her from head to toe and all the sensitive, wonderfully erotic places in between.

Maisie drew a shaky breath because Rafe was looking down at her with tenderness and laughter as if it was a private joke only they could share.

‘I have had one overriding wish for a long time now.’ She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder.

He put his fingers beneath her chin and tilted her face to his. ‘Tell me.’

‘Just to be openly in love with you and relaxed and happy about it.’

His eyes softened and he kissed her. ‘Still?’ he queried against the corner of her mouth.

‘Mmm…Do you have any express wishes?’

‘Yes. You’ve just put it into words.’

‘Oh, Rafe.’ She felt herself melt beneath her own rush of tenderness and she cupped the side of his face in her hand.

And that was the mood that claimed them as they kissed and made a timeless exploration of each other.

And although they could have been anywhere, Maisie began her own journey into a sea of delight.

He told her things she would never have guessed. Such as how he’d been almost unbearably tempted to make love to her after Sonia’s soiree. Such as the iron discipline he’d had to exercise the night they’d slept in each other’s arms at the muster camp.

‘No,’ she breathed.

‘Yes,’ he contradicted as he cupped her hips and cradled her to him. And she looked into his eyes to see he was looking at her with heavy-lidded desire, and, just as she’d once anticipated, it sent her to the moon…

And all the pent-up hunger she’d suffered, to have his hands on her, his body on hers, was released, making her move in his arms, making her offer her body to him with sheer pleasure and an urgent desire to please.

Until they were moving as one more and more urgently as their desire peaked and the sensations she’d never experienced before started to wash through her, filling her with the incredulous delight that she couldn’t hide.

He saw it in her eyes just before they came together and he was moved beyond words as they shuddered simultaneously in the ultimate release.

She was the first to break the rapturous silence.

‘Rafe?’ she whispered with her eyes closed. ‘You were wonderful.’

He kissed her eyelids. ‘We were, Maisie.’ He touched everything he loved about her-her red curls, her smooth skin now damp and dewy-and, with a little growl in his throat, he pulled her very close again.

‘I should have known right from the start that this was the way it should be. You always felt as if as if you were made to be right here.’

Maisie breathed deeply as she felt his heart beating heavily again and could only believe every word he’d said.

‘I’ll never want to be anywhere else,’ she murmured.

‘I’ve had an idea.’ He smoothed some wayward curls behind her ear. ‘Let’s get married again. We can call it a reaffirmation.’ He looked into her eyes. ‘A good idea?’

She smiled then looked apprehensive. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be away for a month on business?’

‘That was a business trip I didn’t really need to make. It was an excuse because I was going crazy trying to keep my distance from you.’

She relaxed. ‘It’s a lovely idea.’

They smiled into each other’s eyes then they clung together as if they could never get enough of each other…

Two weeks later, together with Sonia and Liam and their children, and, of course, Susie, as well as Grace and Jack Huston, Maisie and Rafe reaffirmed their vows in Vava’u.

The day before they’d hired a boat and cruised to the spot, in a sunlit calm sea, where Tim Dixon had died a hero, to scatter his ashes.

And the two weeks leading up to it had been a revelation for Maisie. The depth of Rafe’s passion for her amazed and delighted her and brought forth her own passion.

But it was just as much the little things that delighted her. Their mental unity, the little things they laughed over. Susie’s sudden discovery that there was a man in her life-Rafe-who always needed to be greeted with her most charming smile, was one of them.

Being able to hold hands for no reason other than they wanted to, waking up at night with his reassuring presence beside her, and knowing she was no longer alone…

It was a simple ceremony on the beach. Maisie wore a long sleeveless sea-green dress that matched her eyes; Rafe wore a black shirt and cream jeans.

Most of the staff of The Tongan, who were choir members of the church on the hill behind the resort, sang a joyful hymn unaccompanied, their voices soaring skywards.

And as they faced each other, her hands clasped in his, Rafe and Maisie looked deep into each other’s eyes and said these words to each other-

‘The ocean brought me peace
The wind gave me energy
The sun warmed my spirit