When he reached for her, it was the most natural thing to fall into his arms. This time their lovemaking was tender and sweet, an absolution and a benediction after confession. It was the first time in her memory that he had ever been so gentle with her, bringing her to release several times before he sought his own…whispering soft words that were erotic and loving at the same time as he touched and caressed her, kissing her eyes, lips and breasts until he slid inside her at last.

As the ship plunged into the waves in a wild rocking motion, his mouth moved against damp strands of hair that straggled over her cheek. “I love you, green-eyes. Don’t you know that?”

“Yes…oh Steve, yes!” Arching upward, she shuddered at the rough friction of his body inside her, the exquisite torment of his powerful thrusts. Inside the cabin, it was warm and stuffy, the humid air that filtered through the small round porthole over the bunk smelling of the sea and wind. It was a voyage into sensual discovery, an exploration of the senses and, ultimately, of their souls.

By the time the ship docked at Point Isabel below Brownsville, Texas, Ginny felt for the first time that she held a piece of Steve Morgan’s heart.

MEXICO

13

The Liberty docked at Point Isabel around midnight. The lights on the shore were dimmed by heavy fog, faint blurred pinpricks against black velvet shadows. They spent the night aboard ship, disembarking at first light the next morning, while their baggage was being unloaded.

Ginny waited in the warm morning air that pressed down like a heavy hand on her, the humid dampness clinging to her hair and face, filling her lungs. Seabirds swooped and cried over the harbor, a familiar melody punctuated by the groan of chains hauling baggage from the hold of the ship, and the bellowed orders of the stevedores unloading it.

Wagons rattled on wooden docks, lumbering vehicles that would carry Ginny’s trunks and personal belongings to Don Francisco’s hacienda. The things she had purchased in London shops to furnish their home, even some of the children’s new furniture and toys, would be stored until they had decided where to live. The Hacienda de la Nostalgia was her favorite home in Mexico, but Steve had suggested they inspect his new estates before they made a final decision.

“Hearst tells me that the rancho is situated in a prime location, and we may find it more accessible to the United States, Ginny.”

So she had agreed, reluctantly, for she truly loved the home she had been given as a wedding present, but they could always travel between the two homes if they chose to do so. So much depended upon the political situation in Mexico, upon the revolution that was still raging between Díaz and President Lerdo.