Sometimes, she had the worst luck.
She walked for several minutes in silent contemplation before she became aware of another presence. Turning, she found the subject of her musings a few yards behind her. Had her thoughts conjured him?
He was shoeless and his trousers were rolled up his calves several inches.
“Mind if I join you?” he asked.
“Do I have a choice?” she countered, then bit her tongue at the snappishness of her voice.
“I suppose we all have choices, Clara, but I rather hoped you’d welcome my company.”
She looked toward the ocean. Moonlight shimmered over the water. What harm would a late night walk do?
“I wouldn’t mind your company, Mr. Everett.”
“Grayson, please, or just Gray. It’s what my friends call me.”
“Are we friends?”
He reached out to grip her hand. “We aren’t enemies, are we?”
She chewed her lower lip. In the light of the full moon, she could see him clearly, make out the dark brown of his eyes. He stood so close she could feel the heat of his body. Lust spiraled through her. She shouldn’t be alone with him on the beach.
“There are things you don’t know about me,” she whispered.
He raised an eyebrow. “Are you an axe murderer?”
“What?” Startled, she stopped walking. “No, of course not.”
“Did you embezzle millions from your employer?”
Clara laughed. “I’ve never worked for anyone who had millions to embezzle.”
“Do you rip off the mattress labels when you’re not supposed to?”
She grinned at him. “No.”
“Then nothing about you is worth not letting me get to know you better.”
“This is.” She needed to tell him why she was at his resort.
He put his finger against her mouth. “Shhh. See that moon? It’s a Blue Moon—the second full moon of the month. It’s magical, and that means tonight is special.” He cocked his head at her. “You don’t want to waste all that magic telling me things about you that don’t matter, do you?”
“What does matter, then?” Her voice was breathless.
He stepped closer, pulling her into his arms. “This.”
His head lowered and he claimed her mouth in a deep kiss. His tongue teased and parried with hers. His hands explored the hollows of her back, cupping her buttocks and holding her against his growing erection.
Clara’s arms circled his waist and she moaned.
It had been too long since she’d been held like this … kissed liked this. She felt cherished and desired. Needed and wanted.
She molded to the contours of his hard body. He tightened his arms around her and broke the kiss. He dropped his head into the hollow of her neck, his breath hot against her skin.
“Christ, what you do to me, Clara,” he whispered, lifting his head and resting his cheek on her temple.
She laid her head on his chest, listening to his ragged breathing and the rapid thumping of his heart. She felt none too steady herself and feared if he released her she’d crumple to the sand in an ungainly puddle.
He pulled away from her, lifting her chin until he stared at her with dark, desire-filled eyes. He searched her face, as if looking for an answer there.
“Clara, what am I going to do with you?”
Take me to bed? Make wild, passionate love to me? She remained silent.
Gray groaned. His mouth hungrily covered hers once more. Heat, lust, need spiraled through her. She grasped his shoulders and forgot why she shouldn’t be doing this. His lips seared a path across her cheek and down her neck. He nibbled her earlobe. His hands roamed her body—waist, buttocks, back. He cupped a breast through her cotton dress, teasing the nipple with his thumb.
“Clara.” He reclaimed her mouth, devouring its softness. He pulled her down onto the sand as he continued the sensual kiss.
Her skin tingled as he touched her bare skin. She gasped when his mouth latched onto her nipple. When had he undone the buttons of her dress? She moved restlessly against him, brushing her thigh against his arousal. He ground his hips against her. His hand moved up her thigh and under the hem of her dress.
She wanted to cry out when he stopped just short of touching her most intimate spot. He released her nipple and laid his head on her bosom.
“Clara, I want to make love to you, but not here on the beach. Come to my suite.” His fingers twitched against her leg and he lifted his head to look into her face. “Let me make love to you properly in my bed.”
She froze, her breath caught in her lungs. What was she doing? Oh, God! How could she tell him no when her body cried out for fulfillment? How could she not?
“No. Let me up, Gray.”
His hand bit into her thigh. “Are you going to tell me you don’t want me as badly as I want you?”
“No, but I … I can’t get involved with you. Please, let me up.”
She thought he wouldn’t do it, but after a few moments he blew out a breath and moved away from her. She scrambled to sit and button her dress. She groped for her shoes and stood.
He sat on the sand, staring out into the surf.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Just go, Clara, before I try to change your mind.”
* * * *
Clara invaded his dreams and his waking thoughts. Gray couldn’t get her out of his system. Normally, when a woman rejected him, he moved on. His emotions had never been engaged enough to care, but Clara was different. She was under his skin. What was it about her that made him give a damn?
Breaking a vow he’d made sitting on the beach after she left him alone, he sought her out.
She sat under an umbrella on the beach. She looked sexy as hell in her tank top and shorts and his body responded quickly. He shifted so she wouldn’t see his hard-on first thing.
“Clara.”
She whipped her head around to face him. Her kissable lips formed an ‘O’ when she spotted him.
“Gray,” she said warily.
He glanced around like a nervous sixteen-year-old. For once, he was at a loss for words. “May I join you?”
Her eyes shifted away from his. “I’m not sure that would be such a good idea.”
“Clara, please.”
She turned to face him. He couldn’t make out her eyes behind the reflective lenses of her sunglasses.
She bit down on her lower lip. “Okay.”
He sat in the chair beside her. He reached for her hand, then hesitated. Touching her would not be a good idea.
“I know you’re not married. Are you involved with someone, though?” He needed to know why she refused to accept their attraction to each other.
She took off her sunglasses. Her eyes were red and puffy. Had she been crying?
“No. I’m not.”
“Then why are you denying what we feel toward each other?”
She ran her hand through her straw-colored hair. He knew from experience it was as soft as silk. His hand itched to follow her movements.
She let out a deep sigh. “I’m not supposed to tell you yet, but I see I must.” She shifted in the lounge and turned her body to face him. He had to force his eyes to stay on her face and not drift down her body.
“I work for a magazine in Montana. Your old college buddy, Benny Wilkerson, is the editor. He sent me here to do a story on you and your resort.”
Gray blinked. That was why she refused to make love with him? Didn’t she know he knew why she was here? “I don’t understand. What does that have to do with you and me and having great, wild sex together?”
She blushed, licking her lips.
Blood rushed to his groin.
Clara glanced away from him to watch the ocean. “Journalistic ethics, Gray. I’m here to do a report on you. How can I be unbiased if I sleep with you?”
“So, if I’m not a good lover, you’d trash the place even if there’s nothing to trash?” he asked.
He said. Who? “What are you talking about?”
She was quiet for several minutes.
“Four years ago I was doing a report on corruption at the city hall where I lived. I was approached by someone with information and he suggested we get to know each other better.” She turned to face Gray. Her eyes grazed his face.
“He was good looking, too. Silly, plain-looking me fell for his lines. Then he videotaped us making out. When I realized he was involved in the corruption, he pulled out the tape and threatened to expose our one-date relationship.
“I did the report anyway, exposing all I’d found, including his part in the kickback scheme. He sent the tape to my editor. We didn’t have sex. I’m not that stupid or desperate, but we were into some pretty heavy petting. It didn’t matter I’d reported the truth. I was fired for compromising my integrity.”
Gray sucked in a breath. At least now he understood her motives. His motives still confused him. For the past ten years, he’d been too busy to think much beyond his desire to turn Enchantment By the Sea into the best resort in the Caribbean. A permanent relationship with a woman had never interested him.
But Clara, with her simple looks and quiet demeanor, intrigued him. He wanted to know her more, wanted to spend time with her, and yes, wanted to make love to her. He couldn’t remember desiring a woman more than her. But it went beyond that. He wanted more than a romp in the hay with Clara. Wanted a whole lot more!
He looked to the horizon. Though only late afternoon, the white disc of the Blue Moon hung in the air. It’s magic, he’d told her. Was that the reason he felt so attracted to her, the magic of the Blue Moon?
He wanted her in his life forever. Maybe it was magic.
“I don’t have a video camera in my room, Clara. You can search it from top to bottom if you wish. I’m sorry for what that bastard did to you, but I’m not him.” He finally touched her, clasping her hand in his. “Don’t let him affect your feelings for me.”
Her fingers trembled in his grasp.
“I can’t explain it,” he said. “All I know is I’ve never wanted a woman like I want you. I’ve never cared enough to pursue a woman before, but you…” he squeezed her hand. “You do something to me. I can’t stay away. You invade my thoughts, my dreams. Don’t push me away, Clara. Please.”
She wavered. Gray saw it. He didn’t let her think. He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.
“Clara, come with me. Let me love you.”
* * * *
He stripped her slowly, savoring each revelation of her skin. Then he gently eased her onto the bed. While he explored the hills and valleys of her body, her hands worked on the buttons of his shirt. She pushed the shirt off his shoulders and ran her hands down his chest and abdomen.
Muscles grew taut at the feathery touch. She flicked a finger over his nipple and lust shot to his groin, straining his erection against the zipper of his pants.
His fingers found her slick, hot core. She moaned when he slid a finger into her.
Gray kissed her mouth, imitating the movement of his fingers with his tongue as he moved in and out of her warm, wet body.
He groaned when he felt her hands on his sex. Through the cotton material of his jeans, she caressed him, then she undid his fly and released his member. Her hand stroked his length and his whole body shuddered.
Thank God she was ready for him. He didn’t think he could wait much longer to be inside her. He fumbled with the condom, then finally shifted his body until he was cradled between her thighs.
He feathered kisses down her throat and chest until he came to a nipple. He lapped his tongue over its pebbled point and she arched up to meet his mouth as he suckled her. Clara wrapped a leg around his thigh, opening herself to him, rubbing soft skin against his erection.
Knowing she wanted him as much as he wanted her, he hesitated no longer. Gray poised himself over her and pushed in.
She was tight. He lifted his head from her breast and stared into her eyes. Her lips parted in a gasp. Had he hurt her?
He pulled away from her. “You’re not a virgin, are you?”
Grey eyes, clouded with passion and confusion, stared at him. She bit her lower lip. “No, I’m not.” She shifted, moving from him. Her knee brushed against his erection and he bit his lip at the pleasure-pain.
He didn’t know if he was elated or disappointed. Virgins weren’t something he played with. They came to expect too much of a man. But the thought of Clara in the arms of other men upset him. Realizing she was withdrawing from him, he reached for her.
“It’s okay.” He touched her arm.
“I’m not a virgin, but I’m not very experienced either and it’s been a long time since I was with anyone. I didn’t mean to disappoint you.”
“Good God, that’s what you think? That you’ve disappointed me?” He’d blundered this one badly.
She shook off his hand and started to get off the bed. He pulled her back down, and covered her with his body. Her grey, expressive eyes stared at him, tears on the surface.
He brushed the tears away with his lips. “I’m sorry. I’ve bungled this, Clara. You have in no way disappointed me. It’s just that, well,” he moved his hand to rest between her legs. “You are so tight and I thought I was hurting you … I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“You weren’t hurting me, Gray. You were…” she blushed a deep red.
“Shhh. Let’s start over, Sweetheart.” He kissed her deep and slow until she was panting once more, then he settled between her legs and slipped into her welcoming body.
He tried to go slow, to give her time to adjust, but she lifted her hips against him.
“Don’t, Gray,” she whispered. “Don’t think now. Just love me.”
Taking a deep breath, he pushed to the hilt, her muscles clamped around him, embraced him in their warmth. They found the tempo that bound their bodies together, a dance a million years in the making. He had never felt such harmony and completeness.
She cried out his name and nails dug into his shoulders. She quivered under him and he followed her into ecstasy.
Completely spent, but feeling more satisfied than he’d ever felt, he rolled over and pulled her into his embrace. Tucking his body around her, Gray cradled Clara in his arms.
* * * *
Late the next afternoon, Gray’s phone rang minutes after he left the suite. Clara didn’t bother answering it. She knew it wouldn’t be for her.
After the fifth ring, the answering machine picked up. Clara heard Gray’s voice tell the caller to leave a message and he’d get back to them as soon as possible.
“Yo, Gray, what’s up, man?”
Clara paused in her task of flipping through a magazine. She recognized that ‘yo.’
“I was calling to see how things are going with you and the Ice Princess. You got two days left, man. Have you won the bet yet? Or am I still in the running for that case of beer?”
Ice Princess? Bet? What was going on?
“I still don’t think you’ll get her into your bed before she leaves. Clara’s colder than a cow’s teat in minus forty degrees. So, gimme a call. I want to hear the low down or the lay down.” A gaff of laughter filled the air. “Catch ya later, man.”
The machine gave a beep and clicked off.
Cold seeped through her body, starting with her heart and working outward. Tears pricked her eyes. The magazine slid from her lifeless hands and onto the white rug.
That’s what the seduction had been about—a bet to see how fast Gray could lay her? The tenderness of his lovemaking, the adventures he’d shared with her in bed and out, the intimate talks of their lives, were just a ploy to win some stupid bet with Benny?
With mechanical arms, she picked up the magazine and placed it on the glass-topped coffee table.
She rubbed her hands together. She’d never felt this cold in her entire life—not eve
n when The Scumbag had betrayed her.
She rose from the couch and approached the phone stand. A pad and pencil lay beside the infernal answering machine. Her name, flight numbers and times of arrival and departure were scratched across the top notepaper.
Gray had never told her he knew who she was, that he knew Benny had sent her. Lies and deception. This was a worse betrayal than before. This time, her heart was involved.
She glanced at the departure information in front of her. Two more days. She knew as her heart shattered into tiny shards she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t look Gray in the face, let alone pretend she didn’t know he’d shown an interest in her simply because of a stupid bet.
She picked up the pencil and scratched her own words under the information. Congratulations. You won the bet.
“A plane leaves every day,” the pilot had told her when she’d arrived. “Same time, three-thirty sharp.”
She glanced at her watch. Three hours. The air strip was only thirty minutes away. She could make it with time to spare. And to hell with checking out. Benny could damn well pay for the two days she still had left and Gray could go to hell.
* * * *
Seven days. That’s how long it took Gray to find Clara. Benny had claimed not to know where she was when he’d called his old ‘buddy’ after discovering Clara had fled. A crisis at the resort when a water main ruptured during the construction of a new bungalow kept him from following her immediately.
Her roommate, Cindy, didn’t know where she was, but he did get the address for Clara’s parents and some friends in Billings. They thought he was a stalker and refused to talk to him.
He’d finally managed to beat the information out of Benny. Unfortunately, the two jabs to Benny’s jaw did little to relieve the rage Gray felt toward his college roommate. He could’ve beat the man to a bloody pulp. Benny confessed Clara was staying with her sister Stella in New Mexico.
A very pregnant woman answered the door. She looked enough like Clara he figured she had to be her sister. Her eyes narrowed when she heard his name.
“What do you want?” Attila the Hun couldn’t have sounded more menacing.
Blue Moon Magic Page 13