More Than You Know (44 page)

Rand raised her gown higher. The smooth expanse of her flat belly was under his hand. Her skin was warm. He felt the curve of her ribs as she drew in a shuddering breath. She held up her hands and let him remove the gown. She watched him as he lowered his head and took her nipple in his mouth.

Claire blinked. Even knowing she was about to feel the damp edge of his tongue didn't prepare her for the sensation. She clutched his shoulders and rose a fraction off the bed as pleasure shot through her. It was the same when he placed his lips on her other breast. She closed her eyes ever so briefly. She did not want to look away.

Rand teased her later. “Are you ever going to kiss me with your eyes closed again?"

"Probably not,” she said. She stretched sleepily and made the abrupt little yawn of a child. “Will you mind?"

"No."

She smiled, content. Her cheek rubbed his bare shoulder. She felt his small shiver. “Too much?” she asked.

"No.” It almost was. He could still feel her hands on him. His skin remembered where she had touched. There was a light trail of sensation going from his wrist to his elbow. He could feel the tug of her teeth on his ear. She had bent low over him to remove his drawers and the curling ends of her dark hair had swept over his thighs. Then her mouth ... “No,” he said again, his voice husky. “Not too much."

Claire lifted her head anyway. She propped herself on one elbow and looked down at Rand. “I want to come back here some day, Rand. I know we can't return to Solonesia, but there are so many other islands. You want to study here, don't you?"

He didn't answer immediately. “What about Henley?” he said finally.

"Bria will care for it. The treasure will ensure that she has the money to do it. Your sister's largest problem in the future will be keeping fortune hunters away. She won't have to contend with Orrin once you buy him out."

"There's my mother."

"She won't have to contend with Orrin either. And she can always travel with us."

Rand tried to imagine his mother aboard
Cerberus
and Bree alone at Henley. Neither came easily to his mind. “We'll see,” he said, not committing himself. “We have weeks to go before we reach Charleston and there's still—"

Claire shook her head, cutting him off. “I don't want to talk about it."

He couldn't help smiling. “I see,” he said gently. “It's all right if you arrange my life, but there's no talking about arranging yours."

"It's
our
future,” she said.

"Then we should talk about what's to be done with Strickland. If you don't want to see him when I deliver his share of the treasure, that's all right, but I intend to see that he gets it."

"That's just my point,” she said. “He deserves none of it. Macauley Stuart would have killed us."

"I don't believe for a moment that was your godfather's desire. Whatever else he's done, Claire, Strickland loves you and he would have had no harm come to you. Stuart was acting on his own. The duke can deal with him."

"And Macauley stays in the hold until then."

"God, yes. You can't talk me out of that."

"I don't want to talk you out of it,” she said feelingly. “I was simply making certain.” Because the last sounded a little cruel to her own ears, she added, “But you're treating him well enough, aren't you?"

"Well enough,” Rand said dryly.

Claire laid her head on Rand's shoulder again. “Do you think it's possible the duke means for me to inherit his collection someday?"

"I think it's very likely."

"Then whatever portion of the treasure you turn over to him will come to me eventually."

"Yes. In fact, I'm going to insist upon it. It's one of the ways the duke can prove that you've made him a better man than he is."

Claire smiled. “I suppose you think you're very clever."

"I only hope you think so."

Her agreement was muffled as she trapped another yawn behind her hand. She knew she was fighting sleep and couldn't seem to help herself. “I don't think I want to visit the London doctors,” she told him. “Or even Dr. Messier. There will be such a fuss, and they'll all want to examine my eyes. I don't want that. You won't insist on it, will you?"

"Of course not."

She frowned a little. “But there might be something someone can learn from my experience.” Claire bit her lower lip as she wondered again what exactly her experience had been. For all that she and Rand had gone over the events, they still were uncertain what had brought about the return of her sight. “I suppose there will be as many explanations for what's happened to my vision as there are physicians."

"Probably."

"I don't know that Dr. Messier was entirely right. If he was, why didn't my sight return with my memory? After Tiare spoke of the past, I should have been able to walk down from the temple unaided.” She didn't wait for Rand to answer. “Yet it didn't happen then. I think my vision actually returned while we were still in the vault, but I didn't know it until I was leading the way out. When we reached the antechamber, the sunshine from beyond the waterfall disoriented me. I didn't understand what I was seeing, or
that
I was seeing."

Rand recalled Claire's uncertain, faltering steps as she came upon the entrance to the vault. She hadn't been able to move. “Ironic, isn't it? You were blinded by the light."

Her mouth curled to one side. “You're not helping."

"Sorry.” His grin negated his apology. “You know what I think."

She did, but it was hard for her to agree. “The seven sisters,” she sighed.
"Reunited, freed of curse.
Do you really believe that by returning the stones to that crown I lifted some sort of curse?"

"No. But you believe it."

"I don't. I've never said that."

"Just because you can't bring yourself to say it doesn't mean that somewhere inside you didn't hold it as truth. As much as you wanted to save all of us, Claire, you had to free
yourself.
The seven sisters gave you a way to do both."

She was silent, thinking hard about his reasoning. He'd never explained it in quite that way before. It wasn't that the stones held the key, but that somehow the key had been within her.
Seven rings but just one key.
Her brow curved together. “It would make Dr. Messier correct,” she said slowly. “In a way."

"Or not entirely wrong,” Rand said. “In a way."

Claire was quiet again. Finally she said, “It can't be right to withhold the information, can it?"

"I don't know about right, but it's certainly understandable."

"Dr. Messier would want to publish his theories. I would be Patient C. I don't think I like that. Although I shouldn't like it if my name were used."

Rand chuckled. “Can you continue this argument with yourself, or must I offer an opinion from time to time?"

Claire's mouth flattened, but only in order to tamp down her sleepy grin. “I'll carry on alone,” she said softly. “Go to sleep."

Rand knew that she would be surprised to learn she drifted off first. He looked down at the serene curve of her mouth and felt a surge of tenderness that became a pressure in his chest. He touched her cheek and brushed aside a lock of hair the color of dark chocolate. She didn't stir.

They would return to the South Pacific, Rand thought, as soon as their business was concluded half a world away. Claire couldn't seriously doubt it was what he had planned all along. He needed to know it was what she wanted as well. She probably had some idea about being his assistant, doing much the same thing for him as she did for her father. He would, of course, have to make her rethink that bit of foolishness.

He would never accept Claire as his assistant. She was his partner. Rand thought of the treasure in the ship's hold and the one in his arms. His lips moved softly over the words as he closed his eyes:

With the sisters, this verse brings

Wealth beyond the dreams of kings.

Dear Reader,

I'm never certain when I begin a book what adventures are in store for the characters. The Hamilton-Waterstone riddles pulled me along this time, taking me in directions I didn't always anticipate. There were moments when I wondered if I would be able to solve the riddles ahead of Rand and Claire. Confused? Well, imagine being in
my
head.

If you've enjoyed
More Than You Know,
then I think you'll be happy to learn that my next story will feature Rand's sister Bria. I hope that you agree with me that she's intriguing enough to deserve a book of her own. Perhaps it's
More Than You Wished.
We'll know in April 2001.

Later this year (September 2000) you can expect the rerelease of the second book in the McClellan trilogy,
Seaswept Abandon.
This will be followed in November 2001 with the re-release of the conclusion of the McClellan trilogy,
Tempting Torment
(Noah and Jessa's story).

Readers who wish to write me should send their letters with an SASE care of the publisher or E-mail me at
[email protected]
You can link to my Web site through
www.kensingtonbooks.com
or go there directly at
www.romancejournal.com/Goodman.

As always, happy reading!

Jo Goodman