finally did so. She sank into him and kissed him back.
Sensation so astronomical overwhelmed her until she could only pick out pieces to focus upon lest she drown in the delectable whole.
The subtle strength of his hand cupped the back of her head. His breath tickled the column of her neck before he rained kisses over every inch of her throat. Her cardigan tie slithered across her back as he undid it.
She came to from far, far away when suddenly it all came to a cruel halt.
She opened her eyes to find him staring at her chest. Her chest wasn’t all that impressive without a lot of help.
‘What on earth are you wearing?’ he asked.
She looked down to find his fingers enclosed over a fat, furry, pig-shaped button on her pink flannelette pyjama-top.
She slapped a hand across her eyes. ‘My pyjamas. Oh God, I was cold, I was lazy. I was feeling sorry for myself.’
‘Rosalind.’ The way he said her name…
She let her hand slip away and looked up into his eyes. His deep, dark, bottomless, persuasive blue eyes.
He slipped the first button from its hole, and her breath caught.
And when he kissed her again she felt so frail she believed she might just shatter into a thousand pieces before the night was through.
Hours later, Rosie stroked slow fingers over Cameron’s naked chest while his fingers played gently with her hair.
The rising sun washed beams of gold through the opening of the tent, leaving his beautiful profile in sharp relief, while she was shielded from the beams’ touch by his large form.
So it had to be. No matter how much they each struggled against their true natures, he would always be a child of the light, she of the dark.
Perhaps the only moments they could simply still be together were the in-between moments, right at dawn or dusk, when everything seemed softer, gentler, quieter. When nothing, past or future, mattered more than the moment itself.
A great sadness overwhelmed her. Why, she didn’t know. After the night she’d had, she should be feeling anything but sad.
She rested her chin on the back of her hands and in the rosy half-light her thoughts spilled unchecked from her lips. ‘I’ve come to the brilliant conclusion that you’re the human equivalent of Alpha Centauri.’
He opened his eyes and her sadness slipped away. He turned his head to watch her, a quizzical smile only adding more character to his beautiful face. ‘Would it be in my best interests to ask why?’
She grinned from the top of her mussed hair to the tips of her bare toes. ‘I’m gonna tell you anyway. Alpha Centauri appears as a single point of light to the naked eye, but is actually a system of three stars.’
‘You think I have a split personality?’
She held up a stilling finger. ‘I think there’s more to you than the face you show the world. You’re also bright, eye-catching and seem much closer than you really are.’
‘Eye-catching, eh?’ He closed one eye. ‘And how long were you lying there coming up with all that?’
She shrugged, her upper body sliding deliciously against his. ‘Not long.’
‘Mmm.’ He lifted a heavy hand and trailed it down her naked back, sending goose bumps popping up all over her skin. ‘So how far away is my heavenly twin right now?’
‘Four-point-three trillion kilometres.’
His laughter lifted her as it echoed through his ribs.
Rosie buried her blushing cheeks in a mound of sleeping bag. ‘I’m sorry. I just compared you with spheres of hot gases. And after all the nice things you just did for me. And to me. It seems to have opened neural pathways better left closed.’
‘I only have myself to blame.’
She lifted her head and rubbed a knuckle across the end of her cold nose. He lifted his head to kiss the spot.
This was bliss. This made it all worth it. Surely…
She looked directly into his disarming eyes as she said, ‘All that Alpha Centauri stuff—I just meant that you’ve turned out to be not quite who I expected you’d be.’
‘A man ought to do his best to exceed expectations wherever possible.’
‘Maybe a man ought to, though in my experience not all that many bother to try.’
‘Your experience?’ he rumbled. ‘Now, there’s a subject I could warm to.’
He waggled his eyebrows, and Rosie felt like she’d blushed enough for one day. Any more and her cheeks might stay that way.
‘This is not the time for that conversation.’ She dragged herself into a sitting position. She slipped her flannelette pyjama-top