Private Pleasures

'Actually, it is a nice little romantic retreat,' Mariah said, deliberately goading her sister.

Jade made an exasperated sound. 'I'm having you committed.'

Mariah wound her finger around the phone cord, asking innocently, 'Whatever for?'

'Your sanity has obviously fled. What else would possess you to run off with Grey for an entire week?'

The answer came easily, Mariah thought. Love had possessed her. And hope. Grey had given her a part of his past he'd never shared with her before. A vulnerable side that touched her and made her optimistic for their future together. He'd shared hopes, broken dreams and fears, and she wanted to reassure and soothe him. In time, and with an abundance of love and patience, she was certain she could replace those terrors with the knowledge that he'd be a good, loving husband and a better father than his own had been.

Her dad had taught her to fight for what she believed in. She believed in Grey and his ability to let his caring flourish into an emotion far richer and more rewarding. It was all a matter of showing him how wonderful love could be. Making him see that love was a good thing, and nothing at all like the disappointing memories of his childhood.

Another five days alone with him could make all the difference to their future.

'Have all my efforts been for nothing?' Jade asked. 'Haven't you learned anything I've taught you the past couple of weeks?'

'Like what?'

'Like not to trust a man's motives, for one.'

That was Jade's motto, not hers. Besides, Grey had never given her any reason to distrust or doubt him. 'I believe Grey's intentions are honorable.'

Jade gave a snort of disbelief. 'You've slept with him, haven't you?'

'That's none of your business.'

'I'll bet he's making you all kinds of promises, isn't he?'

'Not one.'

'Well, considering the dreamy quality of your voice, you'd think he offered you a ring and marriage.'

Not quite, but close. If you want the ring, it's yours. Grey's words echoed through Mariah's mind. Now she just needed a declaration and a proposal to go with it. She was confident she'd have both. Soon.

'I give up, Mariah,' Jade said, a sigh of defeat escaping her. 'You're a hopeless cause. The next time Grey breaks your heart, just remember that I told you so.'

Sitting on a large, smooth boulder at the back of Mark's cabin, Grey stared out at the rippling surface of Lake Arrowhead, feeling more content and relaxed than he could ever remember.

It was a beautiful summer afternoon, hot-but a slight breeze and the tall pines surrounding the lake kept the day bearable. Families on vacation played on the lake in their ski boats, and kids floated by Mark's dock on rafts and inner tubes, laughing and frolicking in the cool water.

Casting a quick glance over his shoulder toward the cabin, Grey wondered what was keeping Mariah. She'd promised him she'd be down in a few minutes and he already missed her. He wanted to share every minute with her, make every moment special, and have it last forever. Up in the mountains, away from everyone and everything, anything seemed possible. Even forever.

Picking up a small, flat stone from the ground beside him, he tossed the rock into the lake and watched it skip four times before sinking. He hadn't known what to expect when he'd kidnapped Mariah-it had been a last-ditch desperate effort to persuade her to his way of thinking-but never would he have imagined that her caring and gentleness would change him.

And he was changing. While she'd coaxed him to open up and confide in her about his painful past, a cold, hardened part of him had subsided. Resentments he'd harbored for so long had eased, making room for the more tender emotions Mariah inspired in him. As impossible as it seemed, his feelings for her had altered over the past couple of days, too, growing stronger, richer and infinitely more fulfilling. He felt like the luckiest man on earth and knew Mariah had everything to do with his newfound elation.

Yet he was hesitant to put a label on the unique emotion settling so warmly in his chest. Love wasn't possible, not for him, yet caring didn't seem like a powerful enough word to describe how he felt, either.

Well, hell.

'Hey, you,' Mariah said, sliding onto the rock behind him. She scooted close, bracketing his thighs with her long, bare legs. 'What are you doing?'

He turned his head and glanced at her. 'Waiting for you.'

'Well, I'm here.' She smiled and placed an affectionate, kiss on his cheek. 'What do you want to do today?'

Looking at those sweet lips so close to his, and feeling her thighs tighten at his hips when she shifted to find a more comfortable position, there was only one answer that sprang to mind. He wanted to spend the entire day making love to her, in bed, on the sofa, out on the deck in nature's glory, in front of a nice, warm fire… A hundred, erotic scenarios flashed before him, but he'd made her a promise he wasn't about to break, no matter how badly he ached to be physically close to her.

So, instead, he suggested an activity certain to keep his mind off of sex. 'I was thinking we could follow one of these trails around Mark's cabin and go hiking.'

She shuddered. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she rubbed her palms over his flat belly. 'Grey, I'm up here to relax. I refuse to let you torture me that way.'

'We'll find an easy trail.' Hooking his fingers beneath her knees, he lifted her legs and draped them over his thighs, so her calves were more accessible to his hands. He cupped the firm flesh in his palms and kneaded. 'And when we get back we can soak any aches or pains you might have in the spa. And if that doesn't work, I'd be happy to be your personal masseur.'

'Hmm.' A tiny sound of pleasure escaped her and she all but melted around him. 'Sounds tempting.'

Grey nearly groaned at the press of her breasts against his back as she arched, and the way her hands slid to his thighs gave new meaning to the word temptation. 'Give me a few more minutes, sweetheart, and you'll agree to just about anything I ask.'

She laughed into his ear, the sound husky. 'I'm just about there.'

At that moment, three young, tow-headed boys came barreling down the path from a nearby cabin and onto the dock next to Mark's, forcing Grey to ease up on his seduction, though he didn't stop touching her. The trio hooted and hollered and jumped into the water in a succession of dive-bombs and belly flops, then came back up sputtering to splash one another. Grey chuckled at the rambunctious youths and their antics.

'Umm, that does look like fun, doesn't it?' Mariah asked.

'Feeling a little hot and bothered, are ya?' he drawled lazily. 'Like maybe you need to cool off?'

'I'm perfectly fine,' she said, giving him a poke in the side to behave himself. 'I just meant that those boys look like they're having a good time.'

Smiling, Grey watched one boy dunk another. With a war cry, the third kid jumped off the dock and into the water to join in the playful battle. 'Yeah, they do.'

They watched the boys for a few quiet minutes, then Mariah asked, 'Did you ever miss not having a brother or sister to play with while you were growing up?'

'How can you miss something you've never had?' There was enough cynicism in his voice to contradict the casual shrug of his shoulders. Thankfully, Mariah didn't call him on it. More times than he cared to recall as a child he'd wished for a brother or sister, someone to play with and share secrets. Someone who would have been there for him, just as he would have been around for them, to make them feel wanted, cared for and maybe even loved.

Which had been a foolish whimsy…the selfish longings of a youth searching for acceptance and attention. He hadn't had much experience in feeling wanted, cared for and loved. What made him think he could offer a sibling a part of himself he didn't have to give?

Mariah laughed as one of the boys pushed another into the water, then the third snuck up from behind to shove him in. 'I can't imagine what my childhood would have been like without Jade.'

'Probably very peaceful and quiet,' Grey said wryly.