Desire in the Sun (21 page)

She didn’t. She lay down fully dressed, and curled up smack against his back.

He felt the softness of her with every fiber of his skin. The imprint of her shape was seared indelibly into his back.

“This is much nicer than sleeping by myself. I was always afraid something would get me in the middle of the night.”

He could feel her warm breath against the back of his neck. Christ, if she got any closer she’d be lying on top of him. Did she want what she was inviting? he wondered savagely. Did she even know what she was inviting?

“I got cold by myself, too. There’s quite a breeze that blows in off the bay at night.”

Her voice reminded him of the sleepy purr of a kitten. But her shape told him that it was no kitten who was curled against his back.

“Joss?”

“What?” If he sounded irritable, it was because he was. She was driving him insane, either deliberately or out of criminal ignorance. He’d give almost anything he’d ever possessed to turn over and enlighten her in the most basic way possible.

“I’m a little cold now.”

She snuggled closer. Joss lay rigid as a board, gritting his teeth as he fought the impulses that threatened to overwhelm him. Finally, no longer able to help himself, he began to tremble.

“Joss! What’s wrong?”

“Not a single bloody thing.” The words were forced out between his teeth.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure!” He had the trembling under control again, thank God, but for how long he couldn’t guess.

“All right, then.” She sounded doubtful, but to his relief she quit talking. The softness of her breath stirred the hair at his nape, her breasts burned holes in the skin of his back, and her bare arm rested against his waist.

A gentleman he was, A saint he wasn’t.

On that thought he turned over, prepared to sweep her into his arms and give her the education she’d been begging for. Only to find that the maddening female was fast asleep.

“Lord Christ!” He glared at her for a moment, on the verge of waking her, then was defeated by the soft innocence of her face. She looked very young and very defenseless lying there beside him, her head pillowed on her arm, the feathery brown crescents of her lashes spreading out over her cheeks like fans. Her lips were barely parted as her breathing moved them, and her glorious hair tumbled all around her face and body. He lifted a hand toward her, hesitated, and drew it back. It came to him suddenly that she was lying there like that for one reason and one reason only: She trusted him.

Grinding his teeth, Joss discovered that the notion of her trust was a greater deterrent to his intentions than his promise ever had been.

She stirred, wriggling, as she tried to find a comfortable position. Cursing himself for a complete fool, he slid his arm beneath her and pulled her against his side so that her head was cradled on his shoulder. She sighed contentedly, snuggling close, but did not waken. Her arm moved to lie across his waist.

The weight and scent and softness of her was unbearable. Joss smiled grimly, set his teeth and closed his eyes. Only once before he fell asleep did he permit himself to stroke her hair.

XXIII

W
hen Lilah awoke, she was alone. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked around. Sunlight filtering in through the chinks in the hut turned dustmotes into sparkling gems. The disorder of the palm fronds that served as both floor and bedding were physical reminders that last night she had slept with Joss.

Joss.

A small smile played about her lips. Sometime during the course of the afternoon before, she’d come to a realization. She was so madly in love with him that the mere sight of those broad bronzed shoulders was enough to make her heart quake.

She couldn’t marry him. What he was made that quite impossible. She had accepted the reality of that. But she could love him. For a little while. For as long as they were on the island. An enchanted world, for the two of them alone. Something to remember when she was old, when she had been married to Kevin for years and her children were grown and Heart’s Ease had enjoyed another fifty years of prosperity.

When they were rescued they would go their separate ways. That was how it had to be. But for now, just for now, just for once in her life, she would indulge herself. She would love him. Just for a little while.

The only difficulty seemed to be letting him know how she felt.

She’d tried the night before, creeping close to him as they settled down to sleep. He had resolutely ignored her, keeping his back turned and fighting his impulses heroically. But he had trembled as if he had had a fever.

Another smile curled her mouth. Whatever he might think, she was not so ignorant as not to know what that meant. He wanted her, but he was determined not to do anything about it no matter how she tempted him.

He was a gentleman. But she had thrown her cap over the windmill and discovered, to her joyous astonishment, that deep inside she was no lady. Not where he was concerned. The knowledge that they had only this little time together had made her bold.

What he’d said about “fond” being cold comfort when two people were in bed together had started her thinking.

Never in her life had she felt about a man the way she felt about Joss. From the very first moment she’d set eyes on him, so dashing and debonair as he had appeared to her then, an instant attraction had quivered to life between them. Even when the truth about him had been revealed, the attraction had never died. It had grown, fed on nothing but glimpses of him. It had flourished, despite her efforts otherwise. And he felt it too. She’d seen it in his eyes every time he’d looked at her in the gazebo at Boxhill; from the block at the slave auction; on the
Swift Wind
before he had kissed her; and here, on the island, before he had stalked away from her on the beach that first morning, before they’d had that dreadful fight and he’d kissed her so shockingly; and last night when he’d emerged naked and gloriously beautiful from the sea.

Her eyes had riveted on him as he’d walked toward her and she got her first real look at a naked man. He
was all hard muscle sheathed in bronze satin and soft fur, and her heart had started to pound as she’d stared.

If she was never again in her life going to feel this way about a man, she’d better do something about it. Or she would go to her grave mourning the wonderful shimmering gift that life had offered her and she had spurned.

What was between them couldn’t be forever. Heart’s Ease and her father and Kevin were forever.

But Joss could be for now.

XXIV

L
ilah crawled out of the hut, blinking as the brilliant sunlight hit her eyes. She got to her feet and stood looking around, pushing her hair back from her face. It tumbled free, bleached to an even paler shade by the sun, a thick curtain of silk that reached to her hips. Despite her careful wearing of her petticoat-turned-sunbonnet, she knew her face had to be bloomed with color. The thought of pinkened cheeks was not so bad, but a pinkened nose? Still, Joss did not seem to find any lack in her appearance, and Joss was the one she was concerned about.

Where was he?

“Joss!”

“Over here!”

His voice came from behind the promontory. Lilah made a quick trip into the trees, then picked up her skirt and climbed the hill, stopping at the top to get a drink of water from the puddle and wash her face. There was barely any water left now, and she knew that the day had come when they would have to explore the interior of the island.

Joss was sitting cross-legged in the sand beneath the coconut palms, intent on something he held in his lap.

“What are you doing?”

“Making us both a pair of sandals. See?” He held up an object that had been resting in the sand beside
him. Lilah took it, looked at it, and saw that it was really an ingeniously made sole woven of supple vines around a bent twig frame with more vines attached to secure it to the foot.

“I’m all admiration,” she said, handing it back.

“Come here. I want to try these on you to see if they work.”

Lilah obediently stepped closer, and he picked her foot up by the ankle and guided it into the sandal, carefully adjusting the restraining vines. Then he did the same to her other foot. His hand was warm on her ankle and foot, his touch gentle. Lifting her skirt the few inches necessary for him to work, looking down at his black head bent over her bare foot, Lilah marveled at how natural such intimacy with him seemed. She had known him only a scant two months, but she felt as if she had known him all her life.

“Well? What do you think?”

He looked up as he secured the second sandal, proud of his handiwork. Lilah smiled down at him with warm amusement. His eyes narrowed, and he abruptly dropped her ankle and stood up.

“They’re wonderful,” Lilah said, moving her feet up and down experimentally.

“Mmmm.” He was already pulling on his own pair and wasn’t looking at her. Lilah smiled to herself. Clearly, he was still determined to be a gentleman, in accord with what he thought were her wishes. But just touching her ankle made him uncomfortable.

“We’re going exploring today. At least, I am. You don’t have to come if you’d rather not.” His words were abrupt.

Lilah made a face at him. “You’re not leaving me behind!”

He grinned, relaxing, and the familiar flash of white teeth dazzled her. “I didn’t think so. Come on, then, let’s go.”

Making their way through the forest proved harder going than Lilah had expected. The trees grew so closely together that the branches intertwined overhead, shrouding the interior of the island in an eerie green glow. Beneath her feet were centuries of debris fallen from the trees, degenerated over time into a spongy mulch. Small twisted trees bursting with huge flowers ranging in shade from milky white to deep crimson sprang up everywhere, their pungent scent spicy as it filled the air. Vines twisted across the bushes like fat snakes. Monkeys, disturbed by their presence, chattered as they fled before the human intruders. Brilliantly colored parrots flew into the air with loud squawks. An orange spider the size of Joss’s hand ignored them, busy weaving a huge and intricate web between the branches of two trees. Seeing it, Lilah shuddered and shrank closer to Joss’s side. He instinctively took her hand and she clung gratefully to his warm fingers, trying not to imagine what other creatures might be lurking out of her sight. Snakes were her biggest fear, but the only one they saw was a small green one that slithered harmlessly away as they approached.

The island was actually the tip of an undersea mountain thrusting through the surface of the ocean, and for that reason their walk was uphill. The air seemed to get thicker and steamier the farther they went. At last they came across a small stream trickling over a bed of black rock. Joss grinned at Lilah triumphantly.

“Ahah!” he said, and dropped her hand as he moved toward the stream.

Joss bent down to scoop up the water for a sample taste. As soon as he touched the surface of the creek an odd look came over his face and he drew his hand back, sniffing at his fingers and then cautiously tasting the dampness on them.

“What’s wrong?”

From the expression on his face he didn’t quite believe what his senses were telling him.

“It’s hot! The water’s hot!”

“Hot!” Lilah moved forward to stand beside him, then knelt beside the stream to gingerly touch the water. It was indeed hot, about the temperature of a bath she might have had Betsy prepare for her at home. All of a sudden she understood the reason for the odd bubbling noise that had been niggling at her consciousness since they had stopped.

“Come on.” Lilah stood up and caught his hand.

“But …” He resisted, looking as if he might be inclined to argue, so she gave an insistent tug. He capitulated then and allowed her to lead him along the trail formed by the black rock, following the trickle upstream.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

In a few minutes they found what she’d been seeking. Lilah saw it first, saw the steam rising from behind a veil of flowering mimosa vines starred with delicate mauve blossoms. Pulling the vines aside, she gestured for him to look.