Wild Bells to the Wild Sky (76 page)

Her pale green eyes met his for a triumphant second before she was diving back down again, her hand grasping hold of his again to lead him into the dark, narrow-walled corridor that wended through the coral reef, and hopefully not out to sea.

He had about despaired of ever reaching land again when his feet struck sad and he surfaced just behind Lily into a cavern formed of rock, and the very same cave he'd been in earlier in the day.

Slipping more than once, he staggered out of the water, his arm flung over Lily's slender shoulder. He was unaware that he was leaning so heavily on her until she stumbled under his weight and they both fell to the sandy floor of the cave, but high enough on the sloping floor not to worry about the rising tide.

Their breath came raggedly as they lay there.

Then Valentine Whitelaw's laughter filled the cave, startling Lily from her fatigue. His laughter was jubilant, deep and rich with triumph.

Suddenly he rolled over and captured her mouth with his, kissing her deeply and stealing from her the breath she'd just caught. "Thank you for my life, my dearest love," he murmured against her lips, then lifting his mouth from hers, he got to his feet and walked quickly to the mouth of the cave.

Lily struggled onto her stomach, staring at the cave entrance where he'd disappeared. Trying to calm her racing pulse, she found herself smiling slightly-
-
they were alive, and he'd called her his dearest love.

As she lay there, dripping wet from the sea, she suddenly began to shiver. She was so cold. She was suffering more from the effect of the traumatic experiences of the day than the coolness of the cave, and with teeth chattering, Lily sat up and wrapped her arms around her shaking chest.

"They are searching the cove for us. The
Estrella D'Alba
is still anchored beyond the reefs. We will be safe here at least," Valentine said as he reentered the cave, forgetting that she might recognize the name of Don Pedro's ship. "Lily>" he said worriedly, seeing her huddled so forlornly against the floor of the cave.

"Why, you're shaking."

He knelt down beside her, taking her into his arms and lifting her off the floor. Walking to where a pale shaft of sunlight filtered into the cave, he sat down against the curving wall of the cavern and held Lily in his arms.

His hands moved over her arms and legs, not passionately, but merely to restore the circulation to her cold limbs. The shaft of light held some warmth, and gradually Lily's shaking lessened, but when Valentine caught sight of her face, he saw that it was tearstained.

"Ah, my love," he breathed, placing a soft kiss against each eye.

Lily felt shamed and tried to hide her face from his gaze, but he turned it up to his
and
stared down into the tormented green eyes.

"What happened on the island, Lily? Those soldiers didn't touch you, did they?" he suddenly demanded, a horrible thought entering his mind when he remembered
Lily’s
dishabille when she'd been led captive onto the beach by the soldiers.

"That young man, Valentine. The Spaniard who died," she said, her voice husky with tears. "He saved my life," she told him, stunning Valentine with the confession.

"He did?"

"He needn't have died, Valentine. I might be the one lying dead right now if he hadn't pushed me away and stepped in front of me. It was Choco."

"Choco?" Valentine asked, not remembering the
black
jaguar.

Lily nodded. "He was at the pool. I had wanted to find him. I wanted to know if he still lived. I was swimming in the pool when I heard the thunder. I was wading out when I saw him lying in the tall grass. But, Valentine, he didn't attack me. He could have, but he remembered me, I know he did," Lily said, her hands gripping Valentine's arms.

"The jaguar you left behind. Choco," he said, understanding now. But the thunder she claimed she'd heard had been cannon fire.

"I truly think he might have left me alone," Lily said, not seeing the expression on Valentine's face when he thought how close she'd been to death facing that jaguar, for he did not believe that the big jungle cat would have left her alive and his arms tightened around her body, holding her closer to him.

"Those soldiers came into the clearing by the pool. I didn't see them at first, but they saw me in the pool and were coming to take me prisoner so I would not warn you when Choco leaped out of the grass. I don't know who was more frightened. He isn't used to strangers and felt they were threatening him. When they ran, I escaped, only that young Spaniard caught me. We were standing there, just beyond the hut, when Choco came flying over the fallen tree. That was when that
man
pushed me aside. It was awful," Lily said, beginning to cry in earnest now, her muffled sobbing racking her body.

Valentine's hands were gentle as they caressed her. "He screamed so
horribly and
there was so much blood. The poor man. I didn't know him, Valentine, and yet he gave his life for me. He was my enemy. Why
would he
sacrifice himself for me?" she asked, burying her face against Valentine.

Valentine continued to hold her until she had fallen into a restless sleep. He stared at the shaft of light, watching it fade as the sun sank lower, until finally the cave was thrown into complete darkness.

Lightly resting his chin on top of her head, his arms holding her close against his heart,
he stared
into the darkness. Strange, he thought, that Don Pedro Villasandro, a man who had betrayed so many others, including his wife's sister, should now have to pay so great a price for his sins. Retribution had been ten years in coming, but when it had, it had struck swiftly and cruelly, taking from Don Pedro his only son, and on the very same isle where he'd left Basil and Magdalena and an innocent child to die. It would be a bitter irony to Don Pedro that his son should die saving the life of the girl that he, years earlier, had passed a death sentence on.

"Lily." He said her name softly, caressingly, and settling himself more comfortably against the damp wall of the cave, he closed his eyes for a few minutes of rest. "Lily, you're mine now," he murmured before he fell asleep.

Lily awoke, startled, her heart pounding. The sound of the sea lapping gently against the floor of the cave reminded her all too quickly of where she was and what had happened.

She shivered, then hearing the steady breathing of the man lying next to her, she felt herself relaxing. The heat of his body had warmed hers while they'd been curled up asleep on the floor of the cave. His arm was heavy across her waist, while his leg was slightly bent and resting between hers, giving her a strange feeling of shared intimacy with him.

She eased herself onto her elbow and stared into his face, curious to look at him more closely now that he was asleep and she did not have to face his quizzical gaze.

"I love you, Valentine," she whispered, her breath soft against his face. "I always have loved you and I always shall. I would have died if anything had happened to you. Valentine," she said the name again.

He was beautiful, she decided, noting the finely chiseled mouth and the straight bridge of his nose. His cheekbones were high, the flesh taut across his lean, bronzed face. His eyebrows were not too thick, one even arched slightly higher than the other, she thought with a smile. She knew a sudden urge to reach out and touch his beard, to feel its roughness beneath her palm. A black curl had fallen across his wide brow, and Lily knew the curling strand would be soft beneath her touch. Her gaze drifted down his body, lingering on his chest and hips and she found herself wondering unmaidenly thoughts. She frowned slightly, then gazed lower before returning her stare to his face,

Belatedly, she realized that it was dawn, and that she'd been gazing at hi through the silvery light spreading through the rough-hewn
window
high on the cave wall.

She continued to lie in his arms, staring at him, until finally she could no longer resist and she reached out and lightly touched his beard with her fingertip.

She was taken aback to have her finger bitten, then find his turquoise eyes staring deeply into hers with a boldness she didn't understand until he rolled over and pinned her beneath him. Her eyes widened in surprise as she felt a probing hardness pressing against her.

"And I love you," he said, smiling when he saw her look of surprise. "When we share a bed you will learn soon enough that I am a very light sleeper. I've been enjoying your caress for the last half an hour, although I've had a hard time containing myself knowing those beautiful green eyes have been wandering over me."

Lily was speechless with embarrassment. He was going to fast, presuming too much, she told herself in growing confusion as she met his ardent gaze. He loved her?

"Kiss me, Lily," he said softly, his lips just a breath away from hers. "Kiss me like you did at the fair
.
.
.
No?" he murmured, his tongue lightly touching her lips when she remained unresponsive.

Lily felt a dryness in her throat and parted her lips, prepared to speak, but his tongue touched hers, and her mouth opened wider under the pressure of his. She remembered the pleasurable touching of their mouths once before and found herself responding to the pressure, her tongue licking against his now as the kiss deepened in intensity.

His hands moved along her back, sending a tingling sensation along her spine. They moved around to touch her breasts, gently and slowly until they swelled in his hands, the nipples rising taut beneath the thin linen of her chemise.

Her lips were still caught by his, his tongue moving against hers, savoring the warm softness of the entwining. His hands moved lower to encompass her small waist, then slide over the curve of her hips and the firm roundness of her buttocks. His hand moved down to her thighs, caressing their slender length, then surprising her when one of them lifted up her petticoat and slid between her thighs to move along the soft inner flesh to where she had begun to feel a slow quivering deep inside. Lily sucked in her breath when she felt his finger touching her so intimately, causing her breath to quicken.

Sensing her confusion at his boldness, and the sensations she'd never experienced before, he stopped, his hand moving away and leaving her feeling oddly empty and longing for those tingling sensations again.

He had never stopped kissing her, and when he finally lifted his mouth from hers, her lips felt numb. "Lily?" he questioned. "You and I belong together. You belong to me now, Lily. I did not realize it at the time, but you have been mine since I first saw you here on this isle. And when I saw you riding along the riverbank, you belonged to me then. Only then I didn't realize the truth. And, Lily, I belong to you. You are my love, my only love. I intend that you shall be mine completely, Lily Francisca. I will not lose you again, not now that I have found you. It only seems right that we should come to know one another as lovers here on this isle. We are already friends, aren't we, my dear? Now I wish to become your lover," he said, his voice low and husky and very seductive.

He was bending over her, his thumb moving along the delicate line of her jaw, his mouth so close to taking hers again. The turquoise eyes were bright beneath the
heavy
lids that half-masked their expression.

Valentine Whitelaw stared down into her pale face, her lips reddened from his kisses, her breath shallow and coming quickly, her pale green eyes glowing mysteriously as she met his gaze openly. He could see the love in them and he thrilled to that knowledge.

Lily stretched her arms up to entwine them around his neck and pull his head down to hers, their lips meeting in a long kiss that
sealed
the promise of their newfound love. "The isle has not lost its
enchantment
," she
murmured
, losing herself in Valentine Whitelaw's embrace, melding herself to him, drawing from his warmth and strength. And something told her that her mother and father and Basil would have been pleased by the
choice
she had made this day.

Valentine's hands moved quickly, surprising her by his deftness as he removed her petticoat and chemise, leaving her body bared to his gaze. He stared down at her ivory-tinted flesh, at the soft womanly curves that beckoned for a man's touch. Her breasts were high and firm, the pink nipples hardening under his gaze, but she continued to lie there, not trying to cover herself when his eyes wandered lower to where she had yet to know the full passion of his lovemaking and truly become a woman. His hand reached out to caress her, sliding over her smooth belly to feel the softness nestled between her thighs and letting her experience the growing pleasure his touch would bring her.

He removed his shirt and breeches, his hose pulled off with little care to turning them rightside out. He felt her eyes upon him and allowed her to gaze at him. He stood tall before her, his chest broad and covered with fine black hairs. Lean-waisted, with narrow hips and long muscular thighs, he now gave her the pleasure she had afforded him moments before by letting him gaze so boldly upon her. Smiling, he took her hand and guided it to him, startling her by the vibrancy of him.