The Adventurer

indescribable.
    Before he could even begin to sort out his feelings, the full force of his own release roared through him. The power of it drove out all other sensation.
    He heard himself call Sarah's name and then there was only a sweet, blissful exhaustion.
     
    S ARAH DRIFTED SLOWLY up out of the dreamy web of satisfaction that had held her for several minutes. She was aware of the great weight of Gideon Trace on top of her. The deliciously crushed sensation made her smile. Her hands moved slowly on his smoothly muscled back, exploring the powerful, lean contours. He felt so right.
    There had never been any real doubt. Gideon was her knight in shining armor, her moody, taciturn, difficult hero whose grim facade hid a passionate, loyal heart.
    She had been wrong to worry about letting the lovemaking happen too soon. There had been no reason to hold off until she was sure of him. She was already sure of him. She had been since the beginning. Her intuition had not failed her.
    And even if it had, it was too late to worry about it. She was head over heels in love with the man. She had been in love with him for months.
    Sarah looked up into the trees, aware that it was now midafternoon. Branches rustled overhead. The sun that filtered through the leaves was still warm. The rock digging into her back was getting very hard.
    Gideon exhaled heavily and raised his head to gaze down into her eyes. Satisfaction and an amusing, rather arrogant, vaguely leonine contentment gleamed in his eyes.
    "You look a little like Machu Picchu," Sarah said.
    Gideon smiled slowly. "Fair enough. You look like Ellora." He kissed her lightly on the mouth. "Any regrets?"
    "None."
    "That's good because I don't think I could go back to playing your courtship game."
    "It wasn't a game. I just wanted to be sure you knew what you were doing."
    He kissed her shoulder. "How'd I do?"
    "Beast. You knew what you were doing, all right."
    He raised his head again, laughing down at her with his eyes. "Thanks. I'll assume that's a compliment."
    "The resemblance to Machu Picchu is getting stronger by the minute."
    "How's that?"
    "Well, you're getting quite heavy, for one thing." She wriggled her shoulders, trying to find a more comfortable spot on the ground.
    "And you're such a delicate little thing, aren't you? Wouldn't want to squash you." Gideon moved, rolling over onto his back and dragging her with him so that she sprawled on top of him. "Now about this treasure hunt we're on… "
    She shook her head, framing his hard face between her palms. Frowning with serious intent, she looked deep into his eyes. "Forget the treasure hunt. As of this afternoon, the earrings are no longer important. I'm still not sure why searching for them was so linked to finding you, but everything is much clearer now than it has been for the past few days."
    His brows rose in silent laughter. "Sex has made it clearer?"
    She smiled. "I suppose so. The point is, you're my important discovery, Gideon. I don't need the earrings now. They can wait." She brushed her mouth against his.
    His arms closed around her, hard and tight and strong. Sarah was sure that his kiss was saying everything he did not yet seem able to say with words. He wanted her, needed her, loved her. It was enough, more than enough for the present.
    When he freed her mouth, she was breathless again. She saw the look in his eyes and laughingly shook her head. "Oh, no. Not a second time on the ground. Not unless you're on the bottom."
    "Not that comfortable, huh?"
    "Like being trapped between a rock and a hard place."
    He grinned wolfishly. "So how did I compare to one of your heroes?"
    "Bigger." She kissed the tip of his nose. "Harder." She kissed his cheek. "Stronger." She kissed the strong line of his jaw. "Sexier." She kissed his mouth. "Much sexier. To sum it up, the reality was much better than the fantasy version, but I like to think that creating you over and over again in my books prepared me for the real thing when you walked into my life."
    "I didn't exactly walk into your life. You walked into mine."
    "Details, details. Same result. A happy ending."
    The wicked satisfaction in his eyes was echoed in his laughter. "Are all romance writers experts at happy endings?"
    "It's our stock and trade. You only get two fundamental choices in the world when it comes to philosophies: optimism or pessimism. Romance writers are basically optimists at heart, just like treasure hunters."
    He gave her an odd look. "I've