She loved the feel of his firmness, his strength, the mat of hair on his chest as he made hot, passionate love first to one breast then to the other. A moment later he moved downward, easing apart her thighs as he rained kisses on her middle, igniting her like a torch as he manipulated her from one height to another.
When she felt the first scorching touch of his lips against the center of her being she was sure the world had stopped its rotation and that all life had ceased to be. He made love to her, first gently, tenderly, then pressing deeper, deeper, urgently, demanding. She knew it would be impossible for her to deny him anything.
Wave after wave of delicious pleasure washed over her as the almost forgotten ecstasy of sexual passion blotted out everything but the sensuous delights of physical love. There was a strangely sweet aching inside her that was gradually increasing in its intensity. An instant later something far deep in her soul exploded like a huge skyrocket and she felt herself flying off into space, leaving everything mortal behind.
Slowly she returned to the living and felt the tangle of bedclothes beneath her. She clung to him weakly, blissfully grateful for the fantastic pleasure that he’d given her. She sighed a deep sigh of relaxation and opened her eyes.
It took a moment or two before his face came into focus. A tiny gasp caught in her throat as she turned her head on the pillow. She felt the stinging at the backs of her eyes as the pangs of disappointment wracked her brain. She shut her eyes and silently spoke his name.
“Peter.”
CHAPTER THREE
“No, April,” David said as they walked along the low lying coastline. It was mid-afternoon and despite the fact that the sun had stayed stubbornly behind the bank of clouds, the day was warm. “I’ve been giving it a lot of thought all week and I seriously think the right thing to do is for us to go to your mother. I’ve tried approaching the matter with Father but we never could communicate. He’s too busy to listen to me and Mother is visiting in Los Angeles.”
“My mother doesn’t care what we do,” April complained. “She has a new employee, a man she is spending all her time with, Raymond Andrieux. He’s French,” she said, making a face.
David shook his head. “I still think we would be making a mistake by eloping to China.”
“You don’t love me,” she pouted.
“You know that isn’t true. As much as I want to marry you and travel to your father’s home in Kalgan, I think I should at least meet your mother.”
“She’d never permit us to run away together. She hates your father. You’re the last person she’d want me to marry.”
“I am not my father,” he said stubbornly. “Once she gets to know me I know I can get her to like me.”
April’s disappointment made her petulant. “I suppose all women swoon at your feet.”
“Stop, April. You’re behaving like a child.”
“Me?” she cried. “You’re the child, afraid to do anything without mama’s consent.”
He stepped in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders. As usual, he felt a sort of shattering turmoil that affected every inch of him each time he looked deep into her lovely eyes. “We’re arguing,” he said giving her a gentle smile. “It’s our first.”
April threw herself into his arms. “Oh, David, why do we have to have other people in our lives? Why weren’t we born alone on a deserted island where we’d have only each other?”
He chuckled softly at her naiveté. “That sounds wonderful, but hardly realistic.”
“Why do we have to be realistic? Why can’t everyone leave us alone?”
“Because people weren’t meant to be left alone.” He held her quietly for a moment. “Come on, let’s go to your house and you can introduce me to your mother.” He saw her fear and added, “It’s only fair that she meet the man you are to marry, April. That way she won’t have to face a stranger when we bring her grandchildren to her.”
April smiled at first, then laughed. She took his hand and started to run toward the hill.
They found her mother sitting at the writing desk in the morning room. Lydia was engrossed in a letter and did not look up when they came to the doorway.
“Mother,” April said, her voice tight. “I’d like you to meet someone.”
Lydia stopped writing and raised her head. When she saw the handsome young man standing so tall and straight beside her daughter her breath caught in her throat. For a moment she thought she recognized Peter MacNair as she had seen him so many years before.
“Mother,” April said nervously, leading him into the glass-paneled room. “This is David.”
“How do you do, David,” Lydia said as she stood up and put out her hand to him. Even when their hands touched and she had a clear view of his face, she could not rid herself of the uneasy feeling that stirred inside her.
“I am very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Nightsong. April talks about you all the time.”
“Oh? You have known April for some time then?”
“Since the beginning of the summer. We met in Chinatown.”
“I see.”
An awkward silence followed.
David cleared his throat and said, “I’m fond of April, Mrs. Nightsong. Extremely fond.”
“As am I,” Lydia said with a charming smile.
David swallowed hard and said, “We would like to consider ourselves engaged to be married.”
Lydia’s smile slowly disappeared. “I see.” She motioned toward the adjoining sitting room and moved toward it. “You realize, of course, Mr....”
“MacNair. David MacNair.”
“Mr. MacNair, that April....” Her voice stopped. “MacNair?” she said, whirling around to face him. “Peter MacNair’s son?”
“Yes,” David admitted.
“How dare you!” She glowered at April. “How could you encourage him knowing....”
“But I didn’t know,” April argued. “Not at first. And then when I learned, it didn’t seem to make any difference.”
Quickly David put in, “And it doesn’t matter, Mrs. Nightsong. April told me that you were not particularly fond of my father, but that’s something between you and him. I’m concerned about my life and that life includes April.”
“It most assuredly does not include April, young man, nor will it ever! Now kindly leave this house and you are never to see each other again. Is that understood?”
April clenched her fists and stood up to her. “No, that is not understood. I love David, and he loves me. All my life I’ve had to do what you want me to do. Well, I’m not going
