He shook his head. “It amazes me how you do that.”
“Do what?”
“Teach so many subjects. How do you get your brain to flip from advanced anatomy to basic math?”
Laurin laughed. “Matt, how do you know if it’s a physical ailment or a spiritual one?”
“I just…” He paused, then joined in and laughed with her. “Hey, that’s not fair. It’s not the same at all.”
“It is. I simply do the next thing. That’s all you do, right?”
He sat across from her. “I’m awed by your skills, that’s all I’m saying. You’re so good with the children. Far more patient than I am, at times.”
“I don’t know about that—I’ve seen you around them. But yes, I do love children.”
Something caught inside him. One of his initial reasons for not getting involved with women from among the water people was to avoid a repeat of his own fatherless childhood. He wanted a family of his own, and as he admired Laurin, the dream seemed to be growing closer with every day that passed.
She blushed. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He hesitated. Did he want to freak her out? A gentle shrug of his shoulder. She deserved the honest truth. “I was imagining you with my child.”
The flush of red spread to her brow, her eyes widening. She opened her mouth as if to speak, then licked her lips. He let her have the time she needed until she dropped a hand on top of his where it rested on the table between them.
“Someday. I… Oh God, I’m speechless.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “I love you, Laurin. I’d love to have a family with you. But someday is a good enough answer for now.”
She placed her wine glass on the table and came around to his side, crawling up to straddle his lap. His body reacted as always, going from semi-aroused to instantly ready for her. Since the moment he’d laid eyes on her, he’d wanted her. Now having the layer of love wrapping the physical desire made their relationship that much better.
They needed to make the next step.
He accepted her embrace, closing his eyes to simply feel her hold him. Take in the sensation of her torso touching his, her lips making contact and sneaking away like an erotic game of hide and seek. Against his cheek, his eyes. Her warm lips brushed his forehead. He tightened his grasp on her hips and nudged her higher so he could bury his face between her breasts and breathe in her scent.
The ache in his groin he pushed aside, wanting to drive them both mad enough with anticipation that when they did make love that evening, it would be even more spectacular than usual. Laurin wiggled closer, pressing her breasts to his mouth, and he bit through the layers of fabric. Hmm, she wasn’t wearing a bra, and her nipple tightened to a peak under his lips. The sounds she made as he teased her—his brain was liable to shut down completely, and he’d eagerly throw his plans for a slow seduction out the window, again, if he wasn’t careful.
Far too addictive—that’s how he found her touch. Her taste.
Instead of carrying her to the bedroom and ravishing her, he slowed. Lowered her into his lap and kissed her. The heat of her sex pressed against the ridge of his erection, but he held her still instead of letting her ride him. She complained and he swallowed the mutterings, his tongue sliding against hers. Wet kisses that eventually led to uneven breathing, with repeated caresses of hands over shoulders and backs.
“I want you…” Laurin whispered.
He laughed softly. How often was he the one to slow them down? “Later. We need to make some arrangements first.”
She leaned away, surprise in her expression. “Now?”
“Now. I’m not sure how else you think I’m going to get to the Rockies. It would take a long time to swim there.”
Laurin stared at him, her warm body nestled close, her fingers tangled in the hair at the back of his neck. He doubted she even knew she had continued to caress him.
“To the Rockies?” Sudden awareness hit her. “You’re coming too?”
“If that’s okay with you.”
She squeezed his face between her hands and kissed him, hard, pulling back to grin at him. “I had no idea you’d join me. Are you sure?”
Matt nodded. “I want to be there for you, and I’d love to meet your family, if you’re okay with me coming along. I promise not to take over—you can call the shots.”
Her look of delight faded slightly. “There should be no troubles, none that we can’t handle. I’m sure all the tribes have heard we’re together now, so there should be no more fistfights over me.”
“Well, I don’t mind if I do need to offer a little convincing. Wherever or whatever is necessary.”
Laurin wiggled off his lap and paced the tiny galley area. “I don’t even know where to start dealing with this…nebulous sensation haunting me. I mean, it’s just a feeling I have that whatever I’m suppose to do still has to happen.”
“Can we speak with your grandfather?”
She froze on the spot and twisted back to shake her head. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that myself. Of course we can. And there’s the shaman, and…”
He wouldn’t have been surprised to see her bounce up and down in her excitement. It hit him—she’d been gone for over two years. It was one thing to have left home to move on with your life, but she’d left on the run. Matt took a deep breath and kicked his own butt for not having thought of it sooner.
“Go on, grab your computer and we’ll book flights from Vancouver. Once we finish the next stop on our tour, it will be time to put the Stormchild into dry dock for the winter anyway. She’s too delicate a creature for the winter storms. We’ll need to switch to a sturdier vessel until the spring.”
Laurin pulled her computer off the shelf and set up the satellite link. “We can fly into Calgary, and I’ll get my parents to pick us up.”
Her hands danced over the keyboard as she arranged things, but it was her continued babbling that made him grin. Her delight and excitement was contagious, and as they booked flights and arranged for the trip, he could only hope that somewhere in the midst of the adventure he wasn’t setting up for an event that would tear them apart forever.
Hands, strong and firm, caressed her back, sneaking over her hip, and pulled her naked body tighter to Matt’s warmth. She nestled against him willingly even as she felt the twinges from their sexual romp the previous night. When they’d finally gotten all the details into place, Matt had taken her to bed and made love to her—an almost frantic rut that she’d thoroughly enjoyed, but wondered where his head was.
That had been the first session of many over the rest of the evening. He’d plied her with food and wine, then stripped her down and taken her on the deck of the Stormchild as the sun set on them. He’d moved her to the shower on the deck and washed her clean before carrying her back to the berth and loving her so thoroughly she felt decadently used this morning.
Whatever had gotten into him, she wasn’t about to complain.
Except when he reached around to cup her breast she stilled him, catching his wrist in her fingers. “You’re insatiable.”
He planted wet kisses on her shoulder blade. “Is there a problem with that?”
Laurin laughed, pulling away. “I want to brush my teeth. I need coffee, and then if you still have any sexual mojo left to take care of, I’d be happy to oblige.”
Matt sat up in the bed, the thin cover of the quilt tangled around his thighs. The firm line of his abdominal muscles disappeared under the edge of the fabric, and she moved quickly to grab her toothbrush. The sooner she felt human, the sooner she could investigate that intriguing line—with her lips and tongue.