by Maya Banks
“You had no relatives to take care of you?”
She shook her head. “None that would, anyway.”
A young woman came out then carrying a tray of food, and Jewel sighed in relief. She didn’t miss Piers’s frown, which told her the conversation wasn’t closed, just delayed.
Still, nothing good would come of her rehashing the past.
They ate in companionable silence. Jewel enjoyed the sounds and smells of the ocean and found herself more relaxed than she’d been in longer than she could remember.
As the sun dipped lower on the horizon, the sky faded to soft hues of pink and purple with threads of gold spreading from the disappearing sun. The ocean shimmered in the distance, reflecting the brilliance of the sunset.
She hadn’t realized she’d long since stopped eating, so entranced by the view was she. Only when the maid returned to collect the dinner plates, did Jewel break from her reverie.
“You look tired, yineka mou,” Piers said gently. “I think I should take you upstairs so you can get ready for bed.”
She yawned and then chuckled at how easily she’d given herself away. “Bed sounds really good right now. Does the bedroom have windows we can open? I’d love to be able to hear the ocean.”
“I think you’ll find the view from our bedroom magnificent, and we can certainly open the windows if that is your wish.”
He helped her to her feet and they returned inside. They took the stairs slowly, and she bit her lip when the upward movement put awkward pressure around the area of her incision. Her entire belly felt bruised and tender.
When they entered the master bedroom, she let out a sound of pure delight. The entire back wall that faced the ocean was glassed in from floor to ceiling. She left Piers’s side to peer over the water, her palms pressed to the cool glass.
Her throat suspiciously tight, she turned to face Piers. “This has been the most wonderful day. Thank you so much.”
“I’m glad you approve,” he said huskily.
She returned her attention to the view, watching as the last bits of the orange glow from the sun disappeared into the sea.
“What about your work? Your hotels?”
He came to stand beside her, studying the ocean with her.
“Most of my work can be handled from here. I have a phone, my computer and a fax machine. There will be times I need to travel. Up to now, I’ve always done the bulk of the traveling, but I find myself unwilling to continue on that track. Either my brothers will have to help shoulder the load or we’ll hire someone to do most of the traveling.”
“You won’t miss it?” she asked lightly.
“A few months ago I would have said yes, very much, but now I find myself more reluctant to be away from my wife and our child.”
Warmth spread through her chest. How like a family they sounded. She wasn’t entirely certain what had caused him to change his tune, but she had no desire to question it. She only hoped it lasted.
CHAPTER 15
For the next several days, Jewel rested and recovered under the watchful eye of Piers and the staff he’d hired. It seemed odd at first to have other people in the house, but they blended so seamlessly into the background that Jewel quickly became accustomed to their presence.
Piers even had a physician come to the house to check her incision and remove the staples so she wouldn’t have to make the trip into town.
In short, she was spoiled and pampered endlessly, and she was fast becoming bored out of her mind. She was positively dying to explore her surroundings. A trip down to the beach was foremost on her wish list, but she also wanted to go beyond the grounds of their estate and see the rest of the island.
According to Piers, the island was small and not yet discovered by the many tourists that flocked to the Caribbean. Fishing was the main source of industry for the locals. There were plans to build an elaborate resort, an exclusive playground for the wealthy where no expense would be spared and guests would be lavished with personal attention.
The goal was to keep the island as private and as unspoiled as possible while still providing an influx of capital for the locals.
Jewel broached the subject of a trip down to the beach over breakfast, the day after the doctor had removed her staples and pronounced her fit.
Piers frowned for a moment. “I’m not sure you should be descending the stairs this soon after your surgery, yineka mou.”
“But I’ll have you to hang on to,” she cajoled. “Please, Piers. I’m about to go stir-crazy. I’ve watched from a distance for so long, I’m beginning to feel like I’m viewing postcards.”
He smiled. “I find I can deny you nothing. All right. After breakfast we’ll go down to the beach. I’ll have the cook prepare a picnic lunch.”
She bounced on her seat like an excited child. “Thank you. I can’t wait to see it!”
“Be sure and wear some comfortable shoes. I don’t want you slipping on the steps.”
She smiled at his solicitousness. How perfect things were right now. Gone was the feeling that at any moment her world could come crashing down around her. If only…if only he’d open up to her.
For days she’d argued with herself, vacillated from having the courage to ask and having it disappear. The other problem was that if she managed to get him to talk to her about his past then she’d be forced to speak of her own.
Soon, she promised herself. But not this morning. Nothing was going to ruin their outing to the beach.
Picnic basket in one hand, his other firmly wrapped around hers, Piers made his way down the steps carved into the face of the cliff. With each downward movement, the sounds of the ocean got louder and Jewel became more excited.
When their feet finally hit the sand, Jewel stopped and looked up at the impressive rocky cliffs looming over and around them, isolating their stretch of beach from the rest of the world.
“It’s like we’re in our own little world,” she said in awe.
Piers smiled. “No one can see you except by boat, and I have it on good authority the locals don’t fish this end of the island.”
“Conjures up all sorts of naughty possibilities, doesn’t it?”
His eyes glittered in response. “You can be sure once you are well that I’ll be all too willing to indulge in some of those possibilities.”
She laughed and kicked off her shoes, digging her toes into the warm sand. Unable to resist the lure of the foaming waves, she hurried toward the water’s edge, anxious to feel the water swirling around her ankles.
The cascading water met her and rushed over her feet. She threw out her arms to embrace the breeze and smiled in absolute delight as her hair billowed behind her. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deep and wished she could stop time, right here in this perfect moment.
“You look like a sea nymph,” Piers said. “More beautiful than a woman should be allowed to look.”
She turned to see him standing beside her, his pants rolled up to his knees, his feet bare.
“Is it safe to swim here?”
He nodded.
“We’ll have to do it sometime.”
“You look happy, yineka mou. Have I made you so?”
The vulnerability that flashed in his dark eyes made her catch her breath. This strong, arrogant man was as human as the next person. Not questioning the wisdom of doing so, she flung herself into his arms, wrapping hers around his neck.
“You’re so good to me, Piers. You do make me so very happy.”
Tentatively, he returned her embrace and as she pulled her head away to look at him, their eyes met. Their lips were but an inch apart, and she licked hers nervously, in anticipation of what she knew was about to happen.
Instead of waiting on him, she pulled him close, fitting her mouth to his. He seemed willing to let her dictate the pace, and she explored his mouth thoroughly, learning every nuance, his taste, feeling the warmth of his tongue.
His fingers were a soft whisper against her neck. They delved farther
into her hair, holding her closer as she deepened the kiss. The salt from the ocean danced on their tongues, mixing with the heady sweetness of their passion.
Finally she pulled away, gazing up at him through half-lidded eyes. “And do I make you happy?” she asked huskily.
He ran his thumb over her cheekbone, stroking to the corner of her mouth. “You make me very happy.”
She smiled brilliantly at him then grabbed his hand and tugged him farther down the beach. “Come on! Let’s explore.”
Indulgently, he allowed her to pull him along. They covered every inch of the beach from cliff to cliff. By the time they returned to where the picnic basket lay, she was starving.
“Help me with the blanket,” she said as she unfurled the brightly colored quilt. Laughing, she fought with the billowing material as it refused to cooperate.
“Here, let me.”
Piers wrestled the blanket to the sand and piled their shoes at each corner to hold it down.
“Now hurry and sit before it flies away again,” he said.
She gingerly eased down and dragged the basket into the middle of the quilt. Piers sat beside her and they began divvying up the food.
The sun shone bright above them, and the sand glistened like tiny jewels, scattered to the water’s edge. She sighed and turned her face up into the warmth.
“You look very content, yineka mou. Like a cat sunning herself.”
“Haven’t you ever wished that a single moment could last forever?”
He became pensive as though he were giving her question serious consideration. “No, I can’t say I have, but if I were given to such flights of fancy, then today would be one such time.”
She smiled. “It is perfect, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It is.”
They finished eating, and Jewel lay back on the blanket, enjoying the sounds and smells of the ocean. The warmth of the sun’s rays lulled her to sleep, and before she knew it, she was being shaken awake.
“It’s time to return to the house, yineka mou. The sun will be setting soon.”
She yawned and blinked lazily as his face came into view. She smiled up at him and held up her hand so he could help her.
Together they collected the remnants of their lunch, and Piers packed them and the blanket into the basket. He reached for her hand when they arrived at the bottom of the steps, and she slipped her fingers into his.
Tonight. Tonight she’d broach the subject of his past, and for the first time, she wouldn’t avoid hers. She wanted to know his secrets, the source of the pain she saw lurking in the depths of those shuttered eyes.
Would he share those secrets or would he block her out? And should she press him on something that clearly he had no wish to discuss?
* * *
True to his word, after the night Piers had found Jewel on the floor of her bedroom writhing in pain, she’d slept each night in his bed. In deference to her incision, he spooned against her back, and she enjoyed the warmth and security his muscled body offered.
Most nights she wondered if they’d resume their lovemaking after the tenderness left her abdomen. Tonight, however, she lay there, cuddled against his chest, gathering her courage to broach the subject of his past.
“Piers?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Carefully she started to turn over to face him.
“Will you tell me who hurt you so badly?”
He went still, and she wished the lamp was on so she could gauge his reaction.
“Who made you so distrustful of women?” she continued on. “And why is it that you don’t want this to be your child.”
He put a finger on her lips. “That’s where you’re wrong, yineka mou. I want her to be mine very much.”
Jewel cocked her head to the side. “But you seem so convinced that she isn’t.”
He turned on his back to stare up at the ceiling. She tentatively cuddled into the crook of his arm and laid her head on his shoulder. When he didn’t resist, she relaxed, allowing her fingers to trail through the hairs on his chest.
“Ten years ago I met and fell in love with a woman. Joanna. I was young and stupid and convinced I had the world by the tail.”
“Don’t we all at that age,” she said with a slight smile.
He chuckled. “I suppose you’re right. Anyway, she became pregnant, and so we married right away.”
Jewel winced at the similarities but remained quiet as he continued.
“She gave birth to a boy. We named him Eric. I adored him. I was as happy as a man can be. I had a beautiful wife who seemed devoted to me. I had a son. What more could I ask for?”
Jewel’s mouth turned down unhappily. She could only imagine what he’d say next.
“And then one day I came home to find her packing. Eric was two years old. I remember him crying the entire time I tried to reason with Joanna. I couldn’t understand why she was leaving. There hadn’t seemed to be any problems. I had no warning.
“Finally, when I told her that she could leave but there was no way in hell I’d let my son go, she told me that he wasn’t my child.”
Jewel sucked in her breath. “And you believed her?”
A derisive sound escaped his lips. “No, I didn’t believe her. But to make a long story short, her lover who she was involved with when she and I met had devised the perfect plan to milk me for all they could. Several months and a paternity test later, it was proved that Eric wasn’t my son. Joanna took him and a great deal of my money, and I haven’t seen either since.”
“Oh, Piers, I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “How horrible of her to allow you to fall in love with a child you thought was yours and then to yank him so cruelly away. How could she do that to either of you?”
Piers trailed his fingers up and down her bare arm.
“I have nightmares sometimes. I hear Eric calling to me, asking why I won’t help him, why I left him. All I can remember is the day they left, and how Eric screamed and cried, how he stretched his arms out trying to get to me, and all I could do was watch her walk away with my son. It’s a sight I’ll never get out of my mind.”
“You miss him.”
“He was my entire world for those two years,” he said simply. “I realize now that I didn’t love Joanna. I was infatuated with her, but I did love Eric.”
Jewel rose up and cupped his cheek in her palm as she lowered her mouth to his. Then she drew his hand down to her swollen belly where their daughter bumped and turned between them.
“She’s yours, Piers. Yours and mine.”
“I know, yineka mou. I know.”
CHAPTER 16
“Piers looks more at ease than I’ve ever seen him,” Marley said to Jewel as the two stood on the patio overlooking the ocean.
Jewel turned to the other woman and smiled. “Really? I hope I can take credit for it.”
Bella laughed as she took another sip of her wine. “Of course the credit is yours. I’d swear the man is in love.”
Jewel bit her lip and turned away. She wanted Piers to love her, but he’d never said the words. She wasn’t sure he was capable of offering his love to another woman after what had happened with Joanna.
“Your house is beautiful, Jewel,” Marley said. “I just wish it wasn’t so far away from Greece.”
“Or New York,” Bella said dryly. “You think Piers planned it this way?”
Jewel grinned. “But we have jets at our disposal, don’t we?”
“Hmm, you’re right,” Marley said thoughtfully. “The world shrinks quite a bit when airplanes are involved. No reason we couldn’t all meet in New York for some shopping. Theron is a soft touch, and he’d no doubt accommodate us.”
Bella glared over at Marley. “Just because he isn’t an ape swinging from tree to tree and beating his chest while muttering stuff like ‘you my woman’ doesn’t mean he’s a softy.”
“She’s very protective and possessive when it comes to Theron,” Marley said with a roll of her eyes. “All I meant
was that of the three brothers, Theron would be the most accommodating when it comes to us wanting to get together. Chrysander and Piers would spend a month planning the security team.”
Bella nodded. “You’re right about that.”
Jewel looked at the two women in question. “Piers mentioned what had happened to Marley when I asked him why the need for all the security people. Has nothing been resolved yet?”
Marley sighed unhappily. “As a matter of fact, we think the men who kidnapped me have been arrested. Chrysander got the call yesterday but we didn’t want to ruin our time here. When we leave, we’re flying back to New York with Bella and Theron so that I can identify the suspects.”
Bella threaded her arm around Marley’s waist and squeezed. “I’m so sorry, Marley. What rotten timing for you when you’ve been so ill with the new baby.”
Marley smoothed a hand over her still flat stomach. “Chrysander is worried it will be too much, and he’s still feeling so guilty. He hates that I have to do this.”
Jewel touched her hand in a comforting gesture. “Still, what a relief to know that they’ve been apprehended. I can only imagine the fear you’ve been living in.”
“And the inconvenience it’s caused you and Bella,” Marley added. “I know that Theron and Piers have taken extra precautions because of the potential threat to anyone close to them. Maybe we can all relax a little now.”
Bella held up her glass in a toast. “To freedom and relaxation.”
Jewel held up her glass of water as did Marley and the women clinked the crystal.
“I’m so glad you’re all here,” Jewel said.
Bella looped her arm through Jewel’s. “We’re grateful you’ve made Piers so happy. He’s been so…hard.”
Marley nodded. “It took him a long time to accept me. Of course now he’d do just about anything if I needed him, but it wasn’t like that in the beginning.”
Jewel sobered. “Marley, do you think you could pull Chrysander to the side for me? There is something I’d like to discuss with him, something I’d prefer Piers not to know right now.”
Marley lifted a brow. “Okay, I can do that, but you should know that Bella and I are insatiably nosy, and you’ll have to fill us in first.”