“I picked those flowers up by the falls,“ Colby said quietly. “I went there for the same reason you did. I wanted to give you something from Chained Lady Falls so you’d know that I won’t be looking back on that night and thinking it was a mistake, either.“
Diana smiled at him, her relief and happiness making her eyes glow. She took the stone from his palm and gently set it down beside the vase full of wildflowers. Then she went into his waiting arms.
“My sweet, sexy Diana,“ Colby breathed as he held her close for a long moment. “We’ve got a hell of a lot going for us. We’ll make this marriage work.“
“I’ll do my best, Colby,“ she vowed earnestly. She leaned against him, inhaling the scent of his body and absorbing his strength.
He chuckled softly. “You sound as if you were accepting a new job.“
“Well, it is sort of like starting a second career, isn’t it?“
“I guess you could look at it that way.“ He lifted her chin to gaze down into her eyes. “So long as you understand that this is the most important job in your life, and that you can’t resign if the benefits don’t suit you.“
She wasn’t sure she cared for the wary, searching intensity of his gaze. Diana smiled. “I think some of the benefits are going to be very satisfactory,“ she murmured. Her palms glided over his shoulders, savoring the strength of him.
Colby studied her for a long moment, and then he smiled back with lazy sensuality. The expression in his eyes took on a new and different gleam, one Diana was familiar with. It was the kind of look that made her think she was going to melt. Colby’s hands snagged in her hair and he bent his head to kiss her parted lips.
“You want to talk benefit packages. Madam Executive? I’ll show you benefit packages.“ His mouth closed over hers.
Diana moaned as the heat of his kiss scorched through her. She tightened her arms around his neck and shivered as she felt his palm sweep down her spine.
Her mind whirled, and then the room spun, too, as Colby lifted her and carried her over to the bed. When she felt the pillow beneath her head, she opened her eyes to watch as Colby stripped off his briefs.
His strong, lean body was heavy with arousal. She looked up at him, and a fantasy flickered in and out of her head.
It was a fantasy she’d had once or twice before when Colby made love to her.
He reached over to turn out the bedside light and Diana’s fantasy grew stronger. She watched him move about in the darkness, preparing to come to her, and it seemed that he was someone she had known before in another time or in her dreams.
He had been fierce and primitive in that other dimension – a dangerous, arrogant, warrior male who had accepted no restraint, no feminine bonds. He had refused to grant her the respect and honor that were her rights. He had used her and abused her, and she had fought back with the only weapons she had at her disposal, for she had been as fierce and proud as he.
She had refused to give him the child he had demanded, and in the end she had used his own knife to kill him.
But she had known to her sorrow and anguish, even as the blood welled between her fingers, that it could have been different. In some other lifetime it would be different.
“Diana?“ Colby came down beside her, reaching for her. “What’s wrong?“
“Nothing.“ She shook her head quickly. “It’s just that sometimes fragments of those dreams flash through my head. It can be disconcerting.“
“I know what you mean.“ He loomed over her, his legs anchoring hers. His eyes glittered in the shadows.
“Sometimes when we’re like this, very close, about to make love, I get images in my head, too. Like scenes out of those damned dreams.“
“You never told me.“
“I didn’t know how to explain it. But now that I know you’ve had similar dreams, maybe you can understand.“ He hesitated and then asked urgently, “What’s it like for you?“
“I see you as you are now,“ she began slowly, hunting for the right words, “but also as someone you once were.
The warrior who chained the lady in the cave. It’s as if the dream image of you, the warrior image, is superimposed onto the real you. Does that make sense?“
“Unfortunately, yes. Sometimes I see you that way, too.“
“As a warrior?“
Colby gave her a gentle shake. “No, not as a warrior.“ He drew a breath. “As the lady who got chained in the cave
– a proud, powerful huntress who refused to bend to any man’s will.“
A frisson of fear, laced with excitement, went through Diana. “What’s she like, this other woman you sometimes see in me?“
“She’s not another woman,“ Colby said slowly. “She is you. But a slightly different version of you. A more primitive you, I guess. She’s some kind of amazon. Fierce, arrogant, untamable. And I handled you all wrong last time.
I didn’t understand…“
“What?“ Diana looked up at him as he broke off. She was bewildered and desperately curious. “What do you mean, you handled me all wrong?“
Colby shook his head, as if to clear it. He scowled in the shadows. “Honey, those images are just fragments of our dreams.“
“I know, but it’s so strange that we’re both dreaming about the legend of Chained Lady Cave.“ Diana was very serious now.
Colby grinned slowly in the darkness, showing his teeth. “Does it get you excited?“
“I didn’t say that!“
He bent his head and kissed the base of her throat. “I think it does.“
“Colby, stop it. I want to talk about this dream business. There’s something going on here, and we ought to discuss it.“
“It will be more fun to act it out. What’s the point of having a vivid imagination if you don’t get some use out of it in your fantasy life?“ His eyes were glittering with sensual intent as he slowly and deliberately lowered his weight along the length of her.
“Colby?“ Diana wriggled experimentally and discovered her legs were trapped beneath his. She suddenly realized just how much more he weighed than she did.
“Are you getting hot yet, honey?“ He tugged off the peach-colored nightgown in one swift, efficient move.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Honestly, Colby, I’m trying to have a serious discussion with you, and you’re playing games.“
“A man’s got a right to play a few games on his wedding night.“ He used his foot to part her legs.