Gift of Fire (Gift #2)

"I want a nice wedding. A big wedding. With a cake and a fancy dress and everyone in Sequence Springs in the church."

"I should have known."

"It'll be fun," Verity assured him, her enthusiasm rapidly growing as she envisioned the details. "It'll also be the only chance I ever get to wear a beautiful formal wedding gown."

"Verity, up until quite recently, you never even planned to get married at all. Why the sudden interest in cakes and wedding gowns?" Jonas complained.

"I've changed my mind about a lot of things lately. If I'm going to get married, I want to do it right," she stated stubbornly.

"Honey, it takes time to organize a big wedding," Jonas argued reasonably. He put a possessive palm on her belly. "And time is something we haven't got."

"Laura can help me. It won't take long at all to get things organized. And it's not like we have to keep the baby a secret. Everyone in Sequence Springs is going to know I'm pregnant as soon as I make an appointment with my doctor."

Jonas sighed heavily. "I really don't think we need to go through all this."

"It's what I want, Jonas."

"Stubborn little tyrant." He rolled onto his side and reached for her. "The things I do for you, lady." He dropped a warm, hungry kiss on the pulse point of her throat.

"You won't really mind, will you?"

"I'll survive. And I understand it's important to humor pregnant ladies." He moved his mouth slowly, teasingly down to the valley between her br**sts.

"Thank you, Jonas."

"Don't thank me. Just be prepared to get out of the wedding dress and into your black lace nightie right after we cut the cake."

Verity giggled, feeling suddenly euphoric. "I love you, Jonas."

"Love you, too, tyrant. And I've just given you the ultimate proof. If I didn't love you to distraction, I sure as hell wouldn't put up with the nonsense of a big wedding." His tongue was suddenly hot and wet in the small depression that dimpled her stomach. His fingers slid between her thighs.

Verity shivered with pleasure and turned her head so that she could kiss the scar that marked the strong curve of his shoulder. She and the baby would be safe with this man. He would protect them and care for them. She knew that now with deep certainty.

Jonas was now bound to her as surely as she was bound to him.

It was nearly dawn when Verity awoke. Not that a person would know it by looking out the window, she thought as she turned her head on the pillow. It was pitch black outside. The storm had arrived in a flurry of rain and wild wind.

"Doug and Oliver won't be able to get back here until this lets up," Jonas observed as he stretched and sat up on the edge of the bed. "Could be hours before they can return. Maybe a full day."

Verity watched him as he moved about in the shadows. She knew what was going through his mind.

"You're going to spend every spare minute hunting for that treasure, aren't you?"

"Damn right." He shrugged into a denim shirt and reached for his jeans. "But first I want to take another look at the boat in the cove."

"Jonas, it's dark outside. You won't be able to see a thing."

He glanced at his watch. "Should be getting light by the time I get there." He disappeared into the bathroom for a few moments. When he returned he came toward the bed. He bent over and caged Verity between his arms, his eyes intense in the shadows. "You stay in here until I get back. I don't want you wandering around this place without me."

"You don't really think Yarwood would try to hurt me, do you?"

"I don't know what to think. Everything in this joint is crazy. So you're to stay put until I return." He gave her a quick, hard kiss. "Don't worry. This shouldn't take long. I'll be back in plenty of time for breakfast.

Nobody will even know I'm gone." He straightened and grabbed his new jacket.

Verity sat bolt upright. "You'll ruin that coat in this rain."

"What the hell good is a jacket you can't wear in the rain?"

He reached into his duffel bag and pulled out his knife. He tried to be subtle about it, but Verity saw what was happening. She bit her lip and said nothing. In truth, she was rather glad he was not going out into that wild storm unarmed.

"You don't think whoever owns that boat will still be there, do you? Nobody in his right mind would be camping out there in this storm."

"On the whole, I'm inclined to agree with you on that last part. Which brings up some interesting possibilities."

"Such as?"

"Such as maybe whoever owns that boat is staying right here in this villa. There's plenty of room around here. A man could hide out for days in this monstrosity. Even if you knew he was there and you went looking for him, it would be hard to find him."

Verity's mouth fell open. "Good grief. I never thought of that. You're right. He could hide in one of the other wings and stay hidden for as long as he wanted. Be careful, Jonas."

"I'll be careful." He started for the door. "Get some more sleep. I'll be back soon."

"Sleep? Are you kidding? Now that you've told me you think some weirdo is running around in one of the unoccupied wings?"

"I shouldn't have mentioned that," he mumbled as he went out the door.

"No, you certainly shouldn't have mentioned it." But her words were lost, cut off by the softly closing door.

Verity fell back against the pillows, scowling. There was no way she was going to turn over and go to sleep, not now. She had always been an early riser anyway. Verity threw back the covers and climbed out of bed, wincing slightly at the slight soreness in her thighs. Jonas had been in one of his more energetic moods last night. The man had a way of leaving his mark on her, she thought wryly as she headed for the bathroom.

And now he wanted to put a ring on her finger. Talk about being marked for life. But when she looked in the bathroom mirror she was surprised at the warm and secretive smile on her face.

A vast sense of relief flooded through her.

The decision had been made—she was going to marry Jonas. Now that she'd decided to take the step, she wondered why she'd stalled for so long. She should have trusted her intuition, the same intuition that had sent her straight into his arms the very first time.

There were no guarantees in this world. It was true that her relationship with Jonas had some bizarre twists, and there were some questions for which there would never be any real answers.

But she loved him and he loved her. For better or worse they were linked together. And now they were going to have a baby. All in all, marriage seemed reasonable, even right, under the circumstances.