Tread Softly (5 page)

"That
had to be the fastest shower on record." Cady giggled at him as he strode
across the bedroom toward her, just a few minutes later, dressed casually in
light slacks and a knit shirt, toweling his hair.

He tossed the
towel in a careless heap on the floor, then sat down beside her, his thigh
touching hers. He put a hand to her hair, threading his fingers through it.
"You have lovely hair. The sun shines in it." He nuzzled her cheek
with his nose. "I was afraid you might go downstairs again if I didn't
hurry, and I have something to say to you."

Cady's
heart was thudding wildly. Her eyes were so close to Rafe's indigo gaze that
she could see the tiny gold streaks that rayed out in his irises. "What..
.what is it?" she choked.

"Marry
me." His mouth closed over hers, his tongue intruding into her mouth to
tease and coax her tongue. "Marry me, angel. I want you." He leaned
over her as he pushed her back onto the bed. "You're too young, I know
that, but I can't wait for you. I want you now."

Cady pulled him
down to her, her body feverish. She prayed she wasn't dreaming. She had thought
of their first conversation so many times, she felt she might be dreaming now.
He had been kidding before when he had sat on her bed and asked her to be his
wife. Was he kidding her now? "Do you mean it?" she asked.

Rafe
pulled back from her, the bones of his face seeming to push through the skin,
his mouth a hard slash across it. "Oh, yes, I mean it. Am I too old for
you?"

"Oh,
Rafe, you're perfect for me. I love you, Rafe." Cady's fingers dug into
his neck, urging him down to her.

He
didn't relent for a moment but gave her a long look, his eyes like cobalt rays.
"Someday you may change your mind, Cady. You're so young to be subjected
to the pressures of being a politician's wife. I know damn well you should be
going to fraternity dances and beer blasts, but I can't let you go. I only hope
you don't hate me for this later and decide to leave me."

"I
won't ever want to leave you. Aren't you going to kiss me?" She laughed up
at him, feeling eleven feet tall and able to leap skyscrapers in a single
bound.

His
mouth was gentle on hers at first; then, as she wriggled under him, the kiss
deepened, his hands trembling as they explored her, touching every pore.

Cady could feel
the bowstring tension of his body as he tried to keep himself in check. She had
no such inhibitions with him, letting her restless limbs telegraph the need
she had for him. With a sense of power she could feel him slipping toward her,
his iron control melting as their bodies strained toward one another through
their clothing.

"Hey, Rafe,
are you in there? I think the professor is getting worried about his
daughter."

Rafe looked down
at her, his eyes blinking as he tried to surface from the whirlpool of desire
into which both of them had been drawn. "All right, Bruno. We're coming."
Rafe took a deep breath and then looked down at her again, one hand pushing
back the dampened tendrils of hair at her temples. "Saved by the knock on
the door," he said lightly. "It's a good thing Bruno came when he
did. I think I would have taken you right here."

"I think
Bruno is a busybody and I wish he would mind his own business," Cady
hissed, her fingers running down his nose.

Rafe
laughed and reached for her hand, letting his tongue trail down the lifeline of
her palm. "Let's go down and tell your father that we don't want a long
engagement. I don't think I could take it."

"Neither
could I," Cady murmured as Rafe set her on her feet, then tightened the
ties of her bikini.

"Do
you have a beach jacket you could wear over that?" He led her out into the
hall. "I don't think I would like even your father looking at you in that
pink bikini."

Cady's laugh
trilled down the hall as she delighted in the possessive gleam in his eye.
Before they went to her father in the library, Cady fetched a beach jacket in
pink terry cloth.

"I'm not totally satisfied, because those long legs
are delicious and they are showing, but it's better than before." Rafe
kissed her lingeringly.

At once Cady
stepped closer and wrapped her arms about his neck, her tongue thrusting at
his.

"Cady,
angel, don't," Rafe groaned, pushing back from her and holding her arms at
her sides. "I'll be dragging you back up the stairs in a minute." He
threaded his fingers through hers and pushed open the door of the library,
where Bruno was handing Cady's father a drink. "Would you mind leaving us
alone for a few minutes, Bruno?" Rafe smiled at the man, then turned to the
professor.

Cady
felt a frisson of trepidation race down her spine when she looked at Bruno.
Then the flicker that she saw in his eyes as he looked at Rafe was gone. It was
easy for her to blame her imagination. The golden aura she floated in didn't
allow for anyone's disaffection.

"Ah—Professor
Nesbitt... ah, sir, could I speak with you a moment?" Rafe tightened his
grip on Cady's hand as her father pushed his glasses back onto his head and
looked at their clasped hands with a narrowed gaze. "I've asked Cady to
marry me, sir, and she's said yes. I'd like you to give us your blessing."
Rafe had sounded very formal to Cady.

Her
father rose to his feet. "Cady?" He looked at her long and hard.

She
freed herself from Rafe's grip and went to embrace her father. "I love
Rafe and want to marry him. Please say you're happy for me."

"And what
of your studies at the university?" Her father stroked her head pressed to
his chest.

"I've
thought of that, sir," Rafe said, coughing. "She could continue her
studies at Georgetown or George Washington University or any of the many
schools in Washington. She only has two years..." Rafe's voice trailed
off. Cady could see the deep red color staining Rafe's neck as he looked at her
father.

"Ahem."
Professor Nesbitt looked at Rafe, his face not unfriendly, but not totally
open, either. "I see that you've given this much thought."

"I've
had a hard time thinking of anything but Cady since I met her." Rafe's
laugh was brittle.

"But you
kept enough of yourself apart to concentrate on the election," her father
mused, sighing as he looked at Cady's moonstruck face.

"I
had to concentrate on the election, yes." Rafe watched Professor Nesbitt,
his eyes wary.

"Please,
Father, I want to marry him. I can't be happy without Rafe," Cady pleaded,
only taking passing notice of the rather sad look on her father's face.

"Yes,
I can see that you're in love, child." Professor Nesbitt embraced his
daughter. "I want you to be happy."

Their wedding was supposed to be a small
one. Both Rafe and Cady had agreed on a ceremony in the Cornell Chapel and a
small dinner party afterward with just a few family members.

Emmett Densmore
had tried to change that, insisting that the wedding be held in St. Patrick's
Cathedral in New York City. When Cady balked, her father intervened and told
Emmett that the wedding would take place in the chapel. Rafe sided with the
professor.

Cady mumbled in
her sleep, still seeing in her mind's eyes the fomenting rage in the elder Densmore
when he was thwarted on the wedding plans and remembering with horror the
circus of people at the reception, people Emmett had insisted on inviting.

"Don't
worry, darling, we'll be leaving soon and won't have to bother with any of
them," Rafe had whispered into her ear, his hand caressing her spine.

"But
how about poor Father?" she had said, sipping from the champagne glass
that Rafe held to her lips.

"If
I know my new father-in-law, he'll just quietly disappear after a suitable time
and go home." Rafe laughed, leading her out onto the dance floor of the
country club that Emmett Densmore had rented for the day; he had herded the
guests there after the small dinner party hosted by her father for the small
number of people who had been invited to the wedding.

Cady had been
aghast at the large group assembled at the country club and had been glad of
Rafe's constant presence at her side. He hadn't faltered once when he
introduced her to their guests in the long and tedious receiving line that
Emmett had insisted on.

"Damn it,
boy, you have to keep the image intact. You're a politician." He had
looked at Cady, a hint of contempt in his smile. "I assume that your
schoolgirl bride understands what a politician is. A woman like Lee Terris
would have had no trouble in understanding. You dated her for a long
time."

Rafe had
stiffened at Cady's side, his arm pulling her even closer to him. "Cady
understands my life and will be an active part of it." His voice lowered.
"I won't let anyone put her down—not anyone, do you hear me?"

Father
looked at son, their wills concrete walls pushing against each other.

"You don't
have to protect your wife from Densmores, boy. She's one herself now."
Emmett's voice was hearty, but his eyes were as hard and cold as slate.

Their honeymoon
had been paradise. The first evening, when Bruno Trabold called, Rafe had told
him not to call again, that he was unhooking the phone and that they would be
back from Santo Tomas Island in three weeks. They had sipped more champagne,
and between sips Rafe had kissed her. "I feel I've waited forever for you,
Cady, love." He had loosened her hair from the fashionable chignon that
Cady was sure made her look more sophisticated. "I don't like all that
sunlight twisted and tied back." He had eased the blouse from her
shoulders. "God, Cady, of all days for you to wear a bra," Rafe had
groaned.

She
had laughed, feeling excited but not the least worried. She was where she
belonged, in the arms of the man she loved and who loved her. Her fingers began
an exploration of their own, unbuttoning his shirt and tangling themselves in
the hair on his chest. When she felt his chest contract, her pulse quickened.

"Cady, darling, I'm going to kiss every inch of your
body," he growled into her neck, his hands busy at her skirt zipper.
"You're not frightened, are you, angel?"

"No. I'm
where I want to be." Cady nuzzled her lips along his jawline, liking the
fresh-shaven feel.

"I hope you
won't mind spending three weeks in bed," Rafe muttered, his lips pulling
on one nipple until it was like a pale ruby. His left hand cupped the fullness
of the other breast, his thumb gently stroking the nipple.

"How did
you get my clothes off so fast?" Cady asked with a dazed gasp.

"I've
been practicing in my dreams since I met you," Rafe rumbled, not moving
his face from between her breasts as his hands continued down her body, now
naked to his eager ministrations. "Undress me, love."

Cady's
hands had never been faster or surer as she helped him disrobe. She wanted to
be close to Rafe, to belong to him. Nothing and no one would ever separate them
then. She felt the cushions of the couch shift as he levered himself erect with
her in his arms. "I never knew that a man could have such a beautiful
body," she crooned, her index finger curving down his ear to his neck.

Rafe's
laugh was hoarse as he mounted the stairs two at a time. "I'm glad you
like my body, angel, because I love yours." His mouth closed over hers in
a hard kiss. "I wanted to make love to you the first time up here where we
almost made love before, the day we became engaged."

"The
day Bruno interrupted us. I remember." Cady frowned.

"Don't
think of anyone but me now, wife," Rafe commanded as he followed her down
to the bed, his hands and mouth taking possession of her at once. "I want
you to stay with me always, Cady," Rafe had moaned to her as Cady
feather-touched his spine.

"I'll
never go unless you send me away." Her voice had faded as sensations
erupted like a flash flood, her hands coming up to clutch him, her body turning
to molten lava.

When
he lifted himself over her, Cady was eager for him. The sudden pain came as a
surprise. Before it could register, Rafe was soothing her, beginning a rhythm
that started her spinning. She heard someone calling Rafe's name, and through a
hot pink haze she realized it was herself.

"Darling,
I can't hold back any longer," Rafe had called to her, but Cady hadn't
heard him. The vortex had caught her as well and spun them together off the
planet.

Cady
felt as though her body had been oiled from the inside out as she relaxed
against Rafe their bodies sliding together.