She brushed her lips back and forth across his. "And I promise to always be nice."
"Not too nice, I hope. Just warn me before you do or say something really outrageous so I can hide. And never, never be nice in bed." He rolled her to her back and braced himself above her.
"Nice trick, Ace," she quipped, smiling up at him. "Who taught you that?"
"A real pain in the butt therapist I once had."
"As I recall, you were the one with the pain in the butt. Remember those decubitus ulcers?"
"The bedsores?"
"All gone now." She ran her hands over his buttocks. They kissed. When he finally raised his head, his eyes were troubled. "What?" she asked quickly. "Are you in pain?"
He shook his head. "No, no, it's not that." He gazed beyond her head for a moment before bringing his eyes back to hers. "My prognosis is still uncertain, Lilah. I saw Arno the other day. He put me through a battery of tests. He's still convinced that one day I'll be as good as new, but there's an outside chance that I might always walk with a cane, with a pronounced limp.
"I think if I had had to, I would have thrown down that crutch and chased you through the hospital corridors until I caught you." He paused. "But I might never be able to chase you anywhere. I just wanted you to know that."
She tilted her head to one side. "Cavanaugh, you really provoke me. Don't you know by now that I'd love you if all you could do for the rest of your life is crawl around on your belly? If you can put up with my fresh mouth, the least I can do is overlook a cane or a limp."
He drove his fingers into her hair and held her head still while he kissed her ardently. "God, I love you."
"Well, hallelujah. I thought you'd never get around to saying it. And just for the record, I didn't pick up anybody in the Sugar Shack that night I went to Lahaina."
He had kissed his way down her chest. His lips were lightly plucking at her nipple. "I know."
"You know?"
"Hmm. We were well on our way to this by then. The only man you wanted that night was me." His nimble tongue traced damp patterns across her breasts.
Moaning and arching her back reflexively, she sighed. "Fairly confident of yourself, weren't you?"
"Not at all." It was a sacrifice, but he ceased what he was doing and looked up at her. "Falling off that mountain was nothing like falling for you, Lilah Mason. You know how Elizabeth is always saying I stay on the move, how I leave everybody breathless in my dust?" Lilah, mesmerized by the sincerity in his eyes, nodded dumbly. "Well, you not only slowed me down, you brought me to a skidding halt. And I'm not talking about when I was flat on my back unable to move. You toppled the mighty Adam Cavanaugh the first time he saw you in those irreverent black leather pants. From that moment on I didn't stand a chance, and I knew it. That's why I fought it so hard."
Lilah found it difficult to swallow and impossible to speak. He laughed softly. "Don't tell me I've rendered you speechless."
That prompted a smile and a wisecrack. "Hardly, Cavanaugh, but I'm tired of talking. You've got till the count of three to get this show underway."
"Or else what?"
She winked up at him. "Or else you've got till the count of four."
The End