'You want me to take you to bed?' A last ray of sanity forced him to ask, and delicate colour rushed under her skin, her lashes drifting down to cover her eyes.
'Shall I beg?' Her voice trembled and he caught her to him fiercely.
'From me? Never that, not with you!'
He was stirred at once, crushing her against him, his mouth searching hers deeply and endlessly as his hands caressed her body with growing desperation. When he slid her dress away she was naked to the waist, her breasts taut beneath his hands, and he bent his head to fondle them with urgent lips as Natalie's fingers unfastened his shirt, her breathing fast and uneven at the thought of his skin once again on hers.
'Please, Kip! Please, please love me,' she begged in a small broken voice and he lifted her to the bed, his eyes blazing down at her as he finished undressing both of them.
When he came to her, pulling her close, her name was a jagged sound in his throat.
'Natalie!' He rained kisses all over her, unable to think beyond this one moment, his hands stroking the whole of her skin, his kisses more deep and intimate each second until she was sobbing in his arms, wild tears in her eyes.
He kissed them away, her own desperation inside him.
'If you leave me now, it will kill me,' he groaned. 'I can't wait for you, Natalie!'
He possessed her with fierce tenderness, his mouth crushing the wild cry that rose in her throat, his hands holding her fast when pain speared through her. And then the pain was gone, the feeling of almost frightening pleasure spinning her into another world where Kip's arms held her securely, a world that Kip entered too, never leaving her until they drifted back to the lamplit room together.
He was heavy over her, his body still shuddering in the aftermath of passion, and she lifted a trembling hand and stroked the fair head that lay against her breast. Dark eyes looked up at her and he raised himself to look down into her face, seeing the glitter of tears. It filled him with remorse, his hand touching her soft cheek.
'I hurt you and you cried.' His eyes darkened further as he saw fresh tears flood to the surface. 'Don't, baby,' he pleaded. He swallowed hard and she managed to smile, her arms looping around his neck.
It had nothing to do with pain, this desolate feeling that seemed to come from the very centre of her being. Soon he would be gone; so would she. She would never see him again. And what was she? One of his loves— for one night.
'Kip.' She whispered his name and he rolled to his side, crushing her against him.
'Don't leave me,' he ordered. 'Don't leave me for even a second. I'll come after you across the world.'
If only that were true. She curled against him, arching readily at the stroking of his hands until his eyes questioned hers and she melted back into his hard warmth, a beautiful, pliant being with no desire to ever leave this night behind.
In the early morning Natalie awoke, gently easing herself from the arms that held her tightly. For one night there had been love, endless love, and now the sun would soon rise on a new day, a day fresh and golden, the green of the trees and grass brilliant after the rain that had lasted most of the night.
Kip lay sleeping, his face relaxed, a half-smile on his lips, and she couldn't resist dropping a kiss on his mouth before she got carefully out of bed and slid her arms into his shirt, wrapping it around her and walking to the window.
As she opened it the song of a bird startled her. It was a clear, melodious sound, three falling notes repeated three times and then four notes following with quickening rhythm. It was beautiful, eerie, sad but joyous. She was held spellbound listening.
'The joy of the morning. A hymn to the beauty after rain.'
Kip's arms came round her from behind. He had slipped into a robe without her having heard his movements and he pulled her back against him.
'What is it?' She leaned back, looking up into his eyes, and he smiled down at her.
'An ornithologist I most certainly am not,' he confessed, his lips trailing over her cheeks. 'However, I cart tell you what we call it; You're listening to the rain bird.'
'Where is it?' Her eyes searched the trees in the gathering light and he pointed beyond her.
'Somewhere in that tree. It seems to have one favourite spot. You can't see it from here and in any case it's
nothing spectacular, a small black and white bird you'd never notice until it sings.' 'After the rain?'