and her eyes are brighter.
'Actually,' he continued, gazing down at his glass, 'a friend of mine in school in Paris who was studying psychology told me most men fall in love with someone who reminds them of their true love, their first love, someone who impressed them at an early age, someone they couldn't have, but someone they spend a lifetime trying to win. It made sense and I let myself get close to Gisselle again.
'That's my story,' he said, smiling. 'What's yours?'
'Mine's simpler, Beau. I was alone with a baby, afraid. Paul was always there, helping. Everyone in the bayou knew we were once very fond of each other. Everyone believed Pearl was his child. Paul is devoted to me and, despite my protests, is willing to sacrifice for me. I don't want to hurt him, if I can help it.'
'Of course not,' Beau said. 'He's a very nice man. I enjoyed being with him. I just envy him.'
I laughed.
'What?'
'That was what he said to me about you.'
'Why?'
I stared into his eyes, falling back through time. 'Because he knows how much I love you, how much I've always loved you, and how much I always will,' I said.
It was enough to shatter the wall of nervousness and tension between us. His eyes brightened and he put down his glass so he could embrace me. Our first passionate kiss after so long a span of time was like a first kiss, full of fresh excitement.
'Oh, Ruby, my Ruby, I thought I had lost you forever.' He brought his lips to my hair, my eyes, my nose. He kissed my neck and the tip of my chin, one kiss following immediately upon another as if he were starved for love, as starved as I was, and as if he were afraid that I was an illusion and I would pop out of his mind any moment.
'Beau,' I whispered. His name was all I wanted to say. The sound of it from my lips restored me, filled me with pleasure, assuring me I, too, was really here, in his arms.
He stood up, holding my hand, and I stood up and followed him into the small but cozy bedroom. The afternoon sun poured through the sheer cotton curtains, filling the room with brightness and warmth. I kept my eyes closed while he undressed me. Moments later we were beside each other in the bed, our bodies clinging together magnetically. We moaned, we whispered words of love and promises that went from now to eternity.
At first our caresses were frenzied, but gradually we became calmer, softer. He pressed his lips to my breasts and traced a line of kisses from them to the small of my stomach. I dropped my head to the pillow and felt my body sinking into the soft mattress as Beau brought his body over mine, covering me with his chest and bringing his hard manliness to me. I cried out when he entered me and he soothed me with his petting and his soft words.
Then we moved against each other, drawing love from each other, touching passionate heights time after time until we both reached deeply into our minds and bodies and exploded in an ecstatic crescendo that made everything else but his lips, his voice, his body, disappear. I felt like we were drifting in space.
'Ruby,' he said. 'Ruby. Are you all right?'
Wherever our lovemaking had taken us was a place I didn't want to leave. I clung to it like someone in a wonderfully pleasing dream refusing to regain consciousness. But my peaceful aftermath frightened him and he raised his voice. 'Ruby!'
My eyes fluttered open and I looked up at his concerned face.
“I'm fine, Beau. I was just drifting.'
He smiled. 'I love you,' he said, 'and I won't stop.'
'I know, Beau. I won't stop loving you either.'
'This will be our love nest, our paradise,' he said, turning over in the bed to lie beside me. He held my hand and we stared up at the ceiling. 'You can dress it up any way you want. We'll go shopping today and find things to put in it, okay? And I'll buy some of your paintings for the walls. We'll get new linens and a rug and—'
I couldn't help laughing.
'What?' he said indignantly. 'You think I'm foolish?'
'No, never, dear Beau. I'm laughing at your exuberance. You're sweeping me off and into your dreams so rapidly, I can barely catch my breath.'
'So? I don't care. I don't care about anything else.' He turned and propped himself on his elbow to gaze down at me. 'Maybe you can bring Pearl into New Orleans next time, too, and the three of us can enjoy the day together.'
'Maybe,' I said, but not confidently.
'What's wrong?'
'I just don't want to confuse her. She believes
Paul is her father right now.'
Beau's bright smile faded and his face darkened. He nodded and fell back on his pillow. He was silent for a minute.
'You're right,' he finally said. 'Let's take it an inch at a time. I have to learn to control my excitement.'
'I'm sorry, Beau. I didn't mean . . .'
'No, you're right. It's okay. I shouldn't be greedy. I have no right to ask for any more. I have no right to ask for this.' He turned to kiss me softly and we smiled at each other again. 'Hungry?'
