by Ginna Gray
"It's a waterfall. Don't you hear it? It's..." He cocked his ear, then pointed straight ahead, "...that way. C'mon." He tugged on her hand and pulled her along the path. Rebecca didn't argue. The mere word waterfall conjured up an image of a sylvan glade with a crystal pool, a tranquil place where she could lay back and soak her aching-feet.
Thirty or so feet ahead, the animal trail leveled out. From there they followed its winding path for another fifty yards through a thick stand of trees. With each step the sound of rushing water grew louder, until finally they stepped into a small clearing and came to a halt. The idyllic setting that Rebecca had imagined paled in comparison to the scene before them.
"Oh, my," she murmured.
"Yeah," Travis agreed with something akin to reverence.
At the northern end of the clearing a plume of sparkling water plunged thirty feet or so down a rocky cliff face. Bubbling foam, like a froth of white lace, spread out from where the cascade struck the pool at its base and mist rose in a cloud. The sun striking the gauzy vapor created twin rainbows that arched across the clearing and disappeared over the trees.
The rock-lined pool was about twenty feet wide and twice that long. At the end opposite, the fall, water spilled over boulders into a smaller pool a few feet farther down the side of the mountain, and from there into yet another, even smaller pool.
Ferns lined the far bank and on the near side the glade was carpeted with lush green grass and clumps of wildflowers.
The instant Rebecca reached the bank, she dropped down and stripped off her shoes and socks. Plunging her feet into the water, she sighed and leaned back on her elbows, closing her eyes in ecstasy. "Ahha, that feels heavenly."
"I don't know about you," Travis said, eyeing the pool with relish. "But I'm ready for a swim."
"Mmm, me too, but we can't. We didn't bring our swim-suits."
"So? Who needs suits?" .Rebecca's eyes popped open. "Travis! You're not suggesting ... We can't..."
"Sure we can. Back when we were in school a lot of us went skinny-dipping in the river all the time."
"Well, I certainly never did." Rebecca's gaze narrowed. "Does your mother know about that?"
Travis stripped off his shirt and sat down to go to work on his shoes and socks, "Are you kidding? She would've skinned me alive." He winked and added wickedly, "Especially if she had known that Barbara Buford was usually one of the group."
"No doubt," Rebecca agreed dryly.
The girl in question had been known around school as Backseat Babs, and if rumor was correct, the nickname had been well earned. The image of Travis and the girl together brought on an unexpected and unwelcome surge of jealousy, which Rebecca immediately squashed. However Travis had sewn his wild oats as a teenager, it was none of her business, she told herself sternly.
"Ah, the things that girl taught me while we were swimming." Travis sighed, rolling his eyes. "Thanks to her I learned—"
"Travis, I really don't care to know," Rebecca snapped.
"—to tread water," he finished with exaggerated innocence. He grinned at Rebecca's blush and tweaked the end of her nose. "What's the matter, Quinn? Got your mind in the gutter?"
"No, I do not. But neither am I naive enough to believe that was all you learned from Backseat Babs Buford."
He laughed and tugged on the knot in his left shoelace. "I'll never tell. Now, quit stalling and strip."
"Travis, I am not going to swim with you in the nude.''
"Why not? So it's a little naughty. So what? There's no one here but us. It's an incredible sensation. Trust me, you'll love it. And just think," he added with a leer. "As an added bonus, you'll get a peek at my bod."
Rebecca snorted. "What on earth makes you think that is an inducement?"
"C'mon, Rebecca, don't tell me you're not curious." Eyes twinkling, he nudged her ribs with his elbow. "Fess up. I'll bet that back when you had a crush on me you used to dream about how I looked..." Pausing, he wiggled his eyebrows at her and whispered, "You know...buck nekked."
"I did no such thing!" She gave his shoulder a punch, laughing and blushing all at the same time. "Travis McCall, you're terrible!"
"Maybe. But you know you love it." Catching her by surprise, he cupped the back of her head and brought her close for a hard, hot kiss that made her head spin.
Before Rebecca could react, it ended, and he sprang to his feet. Dazed; she watched him unsnap his jeans and lower the zipper, but when he hooked his thumbs beneath the waistband, she gasped and turned her face aside. A moment later, from the corner of her eye she saw a blur of motion and heard a jubilant shout. Immediately a tremendous splash followed, and a spray of cold water splattered the front of her body.
She shrieked, and Travis laughed. When she opened her eyes he was grinning at her from the middle of the pool, only his head and the tops of his shoulders visible above the water. "Oh, man, this is great. C'mon, honey, forget your modesty and join me."
"No, thank you. I'm fine just as I am."
"What's the matter? You chicken?" Tucking his thumbs in his armpits, he flapped his arms and made chicking noises.
Rebecca chucked a pebble at him. When it missed by a foot, he laughed and she stuck out her tongue. "Very funny, put I'm still not going to disrobe for you, so forget it."
"Not even if I promise not to watch?"
"No. I don't trust you."
"Okay. How about if you just strip down to your unities? Hell, they can't be any more revealing than a bikini."
He had a point. The panties and bra she had on were navy blue and made of opaque satin. If anything, except for the lacy inserts on each side of the panties and along the top of the bra cups, they were far more modest than most bikinis. Except, of course, she never wore bikinis because of the pars on her lower back. But then, Travis had already seen those. And she was hot and sweaty and the water did look Inviting.
"C'mon, sweetheart," Travis urged in his most seductive voice. "live dangerously for once. You know you want to."
"All right, but you turn the other way. And no peeking. You have to promise to keep your distance."
"I will. Scout's honor. See, I'm turning around."
Keeping a cautious eye on Travis's back, Rebecca stood up, and with quick, jerky movements stripped off her shirt. As quickly as she could, she shimmied out of her jeans, kicked them aside and leapt, feet first into the pool.
The shock of the deliciously cool water against her skill was pure heaven. As it closed over her head, she shut her eyes and savored the sensation. The pool was deeper than she had thought; before her feet touched bottom she began to drift back up. Giving a kick, she shot upward toward the glow of sunshine and broke the surface with an exultant gasp.
Laughing and swiping Water from her eyes, she looked around for Travis, but he was nowhere in sight. She treaded water and started turning in a slow circle, but before she made half a revolution, sinewy arms closed around her waist.
Her instinctive shriek turned to a "glub, glub" when water closed over her head. Outraged, Rebecca pounded at Travis's chest and shoulders, but he merely grinned and pulled her close, and with a powerful kick sent them shooting back up.
They broke the surface amid laughter from Travis and coughs and sputters of outrage from Rebecca.
' 'You cheat! You promised!''
"I lied."
"What about Scout's honor?"
He shrugged and flashed an unrepentant grin. "I was never a Scout. So sue me. By the way, I like those lacy strips down the sides of your panties."
"Why, you!" She tried to shove him away, and in the attempt her hand grazed his hip. Her eyes widened.
"You.. .you're wearing your briefs! You rat! You let me think you were naked!"
Releasing her, he backed away and held his hands up. "Hey, I was just trying to protect your modesty."
"Ha! You just wanted to make me look ridiculous. I'll get you for that, McCall," she shrieked, making a lunge for [him.
Laughing, Travis dodged the
attack and struck out for the f falls, and the battle was on. For almost an hour they chased each other nonstop around the pool, dunking and splashing and launching sneak attacks under the surface. Several times Travis tossed Rebecca up in the air. She retaliated by attacking his ticklish spot.
Finally, her energy flagging, Rebecca tried to call a King's I Ex, but Travis was having none of it.
"Oh, no, you don't. No time-outs allowed. This is a fight to the finish." Catching her around the waist, he hauled her up against his chest, his steely arms holding her prisoner.
"Traa-vis! I'm exhausted. I need a rest."
"Fine. All you have to do is admit defeat."
"You are so competitive," she accused, scowling.
"Uh-huh. You give?"
Rebecca sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, all right. You win. I surrender."
The last came out on a breathless sigh, but the soft sound seemed to electrify the very air around them.
Travis tensed. Their gazes met and held, and Rebecca's heart took a leap right up into her throat. Fascinated, frightened, she watched the fire ignite in his silvery eyes.
Muscle by muscle, his face tightened into a look of raw passion. Suddenly all was quiet, the only sounds the roar and splash of the waterfall, the only movement the instinctive swirl of their legs beneath the water. Even the birds had ceased their twittering.
In those few tense seconds, tiny, inconsequential things imprinted themselves on her consciousness: the incredible beauty of his spiked lashes, the throbbing pulse at the base of his neck, the slow swing of the saber earring dangling from his left ear, the smell of the water clinging to his skin, the way his pale hair lay sleeked back from his face, the random fall of droplets from the sodden tendrils.
A bead of water trickled down from his temple. Rebecca tracked its erratic path along the ridge of his cheekbone to his nose, then down the crease line to the corner of his mouth, where it clung. She stared at the drop, and unconsciously the tip of her tongue sneaked out to touch the corner of her own mouth.
Travis's gaze homed in on the action. His pupils expanded. His nostrils flared and whitened.
Rebecca couldn't breathe.
Mesmerized, she watched his sculpted lips part, his eyelids drift downward and his head begin a slow descent.
Every instinct screamed that this kiss would not be a teasing smooch or an affectionate peck like those he had bestowed on her during the past two weeks. She knew she should protest, but she couldn't seem to move, or even utter a sound. Her throat tightened and her heart pounded painfully in her breast, and as his warm breath touched her face and his features began to blur, her eyelids fluttered shut, and she released a shuddering sigh.
His mouth closed over hers with the devouring hunger of a starving man. Without hesitation or any hint of enticement, he deepened the kiss, his tongue plunging and swirling with rapacious demand.
The kiss should have sparked revulsion and terror, anger at the very least, but it didn't. Excitement and need pounded through Rebecca. Of their own volition, her arms slid up over his slick shoulders and tightened around his neck. She wanted, needed, to meld with him, t© crawl right into his body until you could not tell where she left off and he began. She pressed closer, but it wasn't enough, and a moan tore from her throat.
Travis captured the sound with his mouth and answered it with a groan of his own. Sliding his hands down her back, he cupped her bottom and pulled her hard against him. His arousal pressed against that part of her that ached for him.
Her swollen breasts were flattened against his chest, the fine hair covering it tickling the lush swells spilling over the tops of the bra cups. Only his briefs and two lacy straps of satin separated their bodies. The flimsy barrier was at once both enticing and frustrating.
Desperately they clung to each other, their mouths fused in a hot, wet, endless kiss, their yearning bodies straining. So complete was their absorption, both forgot where they were and the need to stay afloat, and as their legs entangled, they slowly sank below the surface of the pond.
Even then neither noticed. Turning in graceful slow motion, they spiraled downward, sinking lower and lower, locked together in passion. Not until their starving lungs finally demanded oxygen did full awareness strike.
For Rebecca, panic followed hot on its heels. Stunned and horrified by what was happening, by her own behavior, she frantically tore herself from Travis's embrace and struck out for the surface. She shot through the water like a bullet, kicking as hard as she could, uneasily aware of him right beside her.
They reached the top at the same time and exploded up into the air, gasping. When they were once again treading water, only a couple of feet separated them. Breathing hard, they struggled to catch their breath and looked at each other warily.
"Rebecca-"
"Why did you-"
They spoke at once, and both immediately fell silent.
Travis looked away at the waterfall, then looked back at her. He sighed and raked a hand through his wet hair. Desire still simmered in his eyes but the muscle twitching in his cheek and his clenched jaw told her he was fighting it. "Look... Rebecca... I'm sorry. That shouldn't have happened. I, uh... I guess I just got carried away."
It shouldn't have hurt. He was absolutely right. Hadn't she been about to blurt out the same thing?
So why did she have this terrible ache in her chest?
God knew, she couldn't afford to start anything with Travis. She didn't want to start anything with Travis. She had put all that foolishness behind her long ago.
Then why did you let him kiss you that way ? her conscience prodded. And why did you kiss him back?
It occurred to her then that it was fortunate they had been in the water. If that sizzling kiss had occurred anywhere else they would be making love at that very moment, she realized with a fresh flutter of panic.
Pride came to her rescue, and she unconsciously fell back on the defense that had served her well all of her life. Her chin lifted a notch, and her face took on that carefully schooled look of polite neutrality. "We were both a bit carried away. It was just an extension of high spirits that got out of hand. That's all. Let's just forget it, shall we?"
Travis frowned. "Rebecca—"
"We'd better head back, don't you think, if we're going to make it home before dark." Without waiting for his reply, she started for the bank.
Treading water, Travis watched her climb from the pool and pick her way over the rocks. The skimpy panties clung to her firm bottom, and water sluiced down her back and those long gorgeous legs. The sight sent another surge of desire slamming through him.
Dammit, he still wanted her. He'd been wanting her for the past two weeks, and it was getting worse by the day. If she had been anyone else, he would have already made his move. But there was that damned promise he'd made Erin and Elise.
As bad as he hated to admit it, they were right; Rebecca wasn't a woman you took lightly. She was special. She was... hell, she was Rebecca. She was also easily hurt. Hadn't he just seen that flash of pain in her eyes when he'd given that clumsy explanation. He could have kicked himself.
She deserved more than a summer fling. She deserved a man who would love her, who would build a future with her, make babies with her.
The trouble was, he wasn't sure he was ready for that kind of commitment. Hell, he wasn't sure he ever would be. "Great. Just great. Until you are sure, you'd damned well better keep your hands off the woman," he muttered to himself as he stroked for the bank.
Neither spoke while they dressed and each took care not to glance at the other. For the most part, the awkward silence continued throughout the long trek back down the mountain. They spoke only when they had to, polite, monosyllabic phrases like, "watch your step" and "give me your hand" and "thank you," but the friendly, sometimes teasing badinage of the past two weeks was nonexistent. In its place was a polite stiffness.
Travis hated it, but he had no idea what to do to change it. By the time they re
ached the beach house, he had convinced himself that it was wisest not to try. Perhaps a little distance between them was what was needed.
The minute they entered the house, Rebecca went into the kitchen and started dinner. Travis flopped down on one of the sofas, picked up a magazine and started flipping through it, though he hadn't the slightest idea what he was looking at. The air practically pulsed with tension.
The firm knock on the door a moment later caught them by surprise and they both jumped as if they'd been shot.
"Who the hell-!"
Puzzled, they looked at one another. Darkness had fallen and neither had seen the lights of a boat approach the dock. "It's probably someone from the village. Or maybe one of the other summer residents," Travis said, heading for the door.
It was obvious, however, judging by his expensive suit, that the man standing on the deck was neither a fisherman nor a neighbor.
Stepping forward into the light, their visitor's eyes narrowed coldly on Travis, then looked past him to where Rebecca stood motionless in the middle of the living room.
"My name is Evan Hall. I've come to see my wife."
Chapter Nine
Stark terror grabbed Rebecca by the throat. She could not speak or move. Deep inside, in the very core of her being, an awful, uncontrollable quaking began. She was cold. So cold. Oh, God. How had he found her?
Travis glanced sharply at Rebecca, then back to Evan. "I believe you mean your ex-wife, don't you?"