A Lasting Love (17 page)

Suddenly a noise attracted Loren beyond her
desire-
crazed state, and she looked up to see
Lupe
making
her
way down the steps and toward the pool with a tray
laden
with food. "Reid, it's
Lupe!"
she muttered against his
lips.
Reluctantly the two of them broke free from each
other
and swam apart underwater.

Reid emerged near the pool's edge and cast a
winning
one-dimpled smile at
Lupe.
"Hi! What have you got
there,
Lupe?
Did you bring beer?"

"Excuse
me,
Señor
Reid."
Lupe
nodded, not looking him in
the
eye. "I just thought you and
Señorita
Loren
would like
lunch by the pool."

"As usual,
Lupe,
that's a great idea!" Reid
boomed.
"We'd love it. What would I do without
you?"

She cast him a faithful look, appeased by his
enthusias
tic praise. "There have been several calls
this morning. I said you would return them after lunch. Is that all
right?"

"Yes, that's fine,
Lupe.
Thanks." He pushed his
muscu
lar body easily out of the water, then turned to
watch
Loren's slender form climb the
ladder.

"Thank you,
Lupe."
Loren smiled. "It looks
wonder
ful."

Lupe
set the tray on the umbrella table and walked
away, a small, satisfied smile tugging her lips.

"You are so luscious in that suit, I don't know
if I can
eat my lunch with you so tantalizing across
the table!"
Reid affirmed.

"Brrr! You don't have to worry! I freeze the
minute this
dry air hits me, so I'll just slip on this
robe." Loren
grabbed the thick terry-cloth wrap. "How
can I be so cold
when it's so dang hot out
here?"

He followed her to the table. "The water
evaporates
from your skin rapidly because of the low
humidity.
That's what chills you. But you'll warm up
soon enough,
when you try Lupe's
tacos.
And hot salsa.
"

Loren glanced down at the plateful of small
round tortillas folded in half encasing some juicy food. "Chicken
tacos
?"

"This, my
señorita,
is a
Mexican
soft taco. Flavored chicken wrapped in corn tortillas.
N
obody makes them as good as Lupe does.
You'll love them. Here's the hot salsa. The sissy stuff is in
this other bowl."

Her eyes traveled from the red to the
green
salsa,
each
full of
interesting looking ingredients. "Which is the hot
one?"

He looked up and smiled. "You'd better try the
green
salsa
until you get used to our
food."

She spooned the thick sauce over the
taco
and sampled a bite.

"Well, how is it?" He waited anxiously.

"This isn't the hot one?" she gasped, grabbing
for a
beer.

"Nope." He grinned, generously spooning
red
salsa
on
his food.
"Delicious, isn't it?"

"Once you get past the burning, it does have a
nice
flavor," Loren admitted timidly.

"Same could be said for a lot of things,
mi amor
!" Reid
laughed.

Loren gave him a menacing look and ignored his
com
ment. "This place is different in all ways. Even
the food
is strange."

Reid leaned over his plate. "Strange? You, who
ate that . . . that damned scraggly animal on a sandwich, have
the
gall to call this food strange? This is home
cooking."

"Speaking of strange animals," she smiled
sweetly. "I
was enchanted this morning by the local
wildlife. On the
way to the stables I scared a
jackrabbit with those giant
ears. And a roadrunner was
as close to me as the pool. He
twisted his head all
the way around and glared at me. Then those cute little quail
marched by and scattered
under the cactus."

"You've had a good initiation, but there are
more. We also have coyotes, coatimundi, and an occasional bobcat in
the
mountains. How would you like to go horseback
riding in
the
Catalinas
tomorrow?"

"I'd love it. Could we?"

"Sure. I'll get my business under control this
afternoon
and leave tomorrow free. Depends, of course,
on how Dad
is. But we'll plan on it, okay?" His
contented gaze settled
on her, happy to have her
close, in his world.

After lunch Reid spent several hours in his
office, then
headed downtown for meetings and another
trip to the
hospital.

Loren was left to her own devices. She lounged
in the sun as long as she dared, then ambled inside where
the
coolness invited her to take a brief nap. She
spent a heav
enly half-hour in the Jacuzzi, her mind
roaming to the limits
of her imagination. As the
turbulent water rushed around
her legs and churned
over her back and breasts, she
thought of Reid. How
exciting it would be to have him there with her! She leaned back
and closed her eyes,
dreaming about his body pressed
urgently against her. It
probably wouldn't take much
persuasion to convince him
to join her. She made a
mental note of that.

By evening, when Reid returned, they were both
hungry
for each other. One starved exchange of glances
between
them and it was obvious. He was weary and the
sight of
Loren's blue-violet eyes and gentle smile
made him ever
grateful he had persuaded her to come
along.

Loren thought there was a definite slump in the
squareness of Reid's shoulders tonight. Perhaps it was the heavy
load he was carrying, plus the unfinished business of the
water bill in Washington.

"Wine?" he asked, opening the tall liquor
cabinet.

"Sure," she nodded.

“
Red or white?”

“
Red.”

He poured, handed her a glass, then carried the
bottle with him. "Come on. This is the prettiest part of the
day.
Out here,
mi amor.
"

They sipped red wine on the veranda while the
setting
sun sent its magnificent explosion of color
across the west
ern sky. They spoke very little—just
enjoyed.

Lupe
approached the quiet couple on the porch. "Everything's
done,
Señor
Reid. Your dinner is in the warm
ing oven. Your
favorite,
berria.
"

“
Fine,
Lupe.
We'll see you in the
morning."

"Buenas noches,
Señor
Reid,
Señorita
Loren."

Loren smiled at her new friend. "Good
evening,
Lupe.
Thanks for making me feel so much at home here."

"Sí,
señorita.
"

"Good night,
Lupe."
Reid waved her away. "Go on
and
take care of your family. And thanks for
everything."

"Where does she live, Reid?" Loren asked as
Lupe's car
drove away.

"She has a small place in the barrio.
Remarkable wom
an. She has two children of her own and
is keeping the
teenaged son of her sister, who died
last year. A few years
ago that bastard she married
deserted them, leaving her
with two small children to
support."

"She seems to be a wonderful employee. Very
loyal."

"Oh, she's terrific. Like part of the family.
We tried to
persuade
her to move out here, but she keeps
hoping her
husband will return to the family
someday."

"Well, she's extremely grateful to you and your
father,
believe me. Why, she thinks the sun rises and
sets with
your dad . . . and with you."

"What about you, Loren? What do you think?"

She laughed and scoffed. "I know better,
Señor
Reid."

"Do you know that I need you?" His voice was
low and
serious.

"I'm glad I came, Reid. I can see you're under
stress."
Her hand touched his arm.

"Can you see that I want you . . . now? Now,
Loren."
Reid's dark eyes were sable signals of
suppressed passion
that beckoned to her.

Loren's eyes inadvertently traveled down
Reid's
lengthy frame as he sat lounging in the casual
chair beside her. His fingers trapped the delicate wineglass at his
waist.
One thumb rubbed the glass impatiently. Below
his flat
waist his slacks pulled tautly, revealing his
arousal
.

"Reid?" She grinned mischievously as her eyes
rose to
meet his. "Before dinner?"

"Oh, it’s a toss-up.
Berria
is my favorite, like the best roast beef
you’ve ever, ever had. But it doesn’t compare to what you have to
offer."

She grinned and tried to tweak his nose, but he
grabbed her hand
and pulled her against him. "Food
can
wait. Right now, I want you
. . .
want to love you, Loren." His kiss was a torch that
lit passionate embers within them both, kindling
explosive
tinder. Flames of desire shot through her
limbs, and she
opened her lips to his probing
tongue.

The flavor of wine lingered, and Loren relished
the taste
of him, the heady fragrance of his skin.
Reid's soft mus
tache tantalizingly brushed her
intoxicated lips, the exqui
site column of her neck,
the noble curve of her breasts. His
kiss, his touch,
sent whorls of desire spiraling drunkenly
through her
veins, and she writhed with undisguised
plea
sure.

Breathless and giddy, Loren leaned against him,
locking
her arms around his neck. Wildly she wanted to
press him
into every cell, every inch of her. She
never wanted to forget the resilience of his solid chest and the
flourish of
his taut maleness, aroused so urgently by
her touch.

Her hands roamed recklessly down his chest to
free his
shirt from the belted slacks. Exploring
fingers moved
under his shirt, caressing his bare
ribs, traveling his spine, surveying his lower back, digging into
his
firm butt. Instinctively, Reid thrust his hips
ar
dently against hers.

She shifted away slightly to allow one brazen
hand to
slide around and cup his groin. With affirmed
satisfaction Loren knew that Reid was within the power of her
touch.
Curious hands continued their ecstatic torment
until, with
a distressed groan, Reid swept her up in
his arms.

Forgotten were their wineglasses, their waiting
dinner, even the illness that brought them to Arizona. Loren
was
aware only of being carried to heaven and the
fiery trail
of Reid's lips on her neck and
half-exposed breasts. By the
time they reached his
bedroom, she was burning with an
inner fever that
could be quenched only by Reid's match
ing
passion.

"Reid, be careful." She gasped as he tore
vigorously at
her sundress.

"Careful?" he growled. "After what you did to
me out
on the veranda? You're lucky I didn't lay you
down on
that cold Mexican tile."

With quick, shaky hands Loren discarded the
flimsy
dress. "You don't want to cool things too much,
do you?"
she taunted.

He reached for her. "With this heat between us,
I'm not
worried,
mi
amor!"
His
lips played over her tight,
aching
breasts, then encased each alert
nipple.

With a delicate moan she began unbuttoning
Reid's
shirt. She could only think of his proud,
magnificent body
loving her, relieving the burning
fever in them both. While
he swiftly shucked his
remaining clothes, Loren's hands
raked over his body,
examining and inflaming. “Beautiful.”