‘Yes,’ he contradicted as he cupped her hips and cradled her to him. And she looked into his eyes to see he was looking at her with heavy-lidded desire, and, just as she’d once anticipated, it sent her to the moon…

And all the pent-up hunger she’d suffered, to have his hands on her, his body on hers, was released, making her move in his arms, making her offer her body to him with sheer pleasure and an urgent desire to please.

Until they were moving as one more and more urgently as their desire peaked and the sensations she’d never experienced before started to wash through her, filling her with the incredulous delight that she couldn’t hide.

He saw it in her eyes just before they came together and he was moved beyond words as they shuddered simultaneously in the ultimate release.

She was the first to break the rapturous silence.

‘Rafe?’ she whispered with her eyes closed. ‘You were wonderful.’

He kissed her eyelids. ‘We were, Maisie.’ He touched everything he loved about her-her red curls, her smooth skin now damp and dewy-and, with a little growl in his throat, he pulled her very close again.

‘I should have known right from the start that this was the way it should be. You always felt as if as if you were made to be right here.’

Maisie breathed deeply as she felt his heart beating heavily again and could only believe every word he’d said.

‘I’ll never want to be anywhere else,’ she murmured.

‘I’ve had an idea.’ He smoothed some wayward curls behind her ear. ‘Let’s get married again. We can call it a reaffirmation.’ He looked into her eyes. ‘A good idea?’

She smiled then looked apprehensive. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be away for a month on business?’

‘That was a business trip I didn’t really need to make. It was an excuse because I was going crazy trying to keep my distance from you.’

She relaxed. ‘It’s a lovely idea.’

They smiled into each other’s eyes then they clung together as if they could never get enough of each other…

Two weeks later, together with Sonia and Liam and their children, and, of course, Susie, as well as Grace and Jack Huston, Maisie and Rafe reaffirmed their vows in Vava’u.

The day before they’d hired a boat and cruised to the spot, in a sunlit calm sea, where Tim Dixon had died a hero, to scatter his ashes.

And the two weeks leading up to it had been a revelation for Maisie. The depth of Rafe’s passion for her amazed and delighted her and brought forth her own passion.

But it was just as much the little things that delighted her. Their mental unity, the little things they laughed over. Susie’s sudden discovery that there was a man in her life-Rafe-who always needed to be greeted with her most charming smile, was one of them.

Being able to hold hands for no reason other than they wanted to, waking up at night with his reassuring presence beside her, and knowing she was no longer alone…

It was a simple ceremony on the beach. Maisie wore a long sleeveless sea-green dress that matched her eyes; Rafe wore a black shirt and cream jeans.

Most of the staff of The Tongan, who were choir members of the church on the hill behind the resort, sang a joyful hymn unaccompanied, their voices soaring skywards.

And as they faced each other, her hands clasped in his, Rafe and Maisie looked deep into each other’s eyes and said these words to each other-

‘The ocean brought me peace

The wind gave me energy

The sun warmed my spirit

The flowers showed me life

But you made me feel love

Ofa atu-I love you’

There was hardly a dry eye amongst the onlookers as they went into each other’s arms.

Lindsay Armstrong

Lindsay Armstrong was born in South Africa but now lives in Australia with her New Zealand-born husband and their five children. They have lived in nearly every state of Australia and tried their hand at some unusual, for them, occupations, such as farming and horse training – all grist to the mill for a writer! Lindsay started writing romances when their youngest child began school and she was left feeling at a loose end. She is still doing it and loving it.


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