Dangerous Obsession

by Patricia Wilson

  'It's ready.'

  'Keep it hot, we can't take time to eat now-and get some sort of woolly with you,' he added, his eyes skimming over her.

  'I haven't got one. My luggage is in Nassau.' Her voice faltered as his eyes glanced at her accusingly. She shouldn't even be here. It was all in the one sharp look.

  'Get one of mine. You'll have to get it yourself and leave it where you can lay hands on it. It may well turn cold. I've really no idea.'

  'Can-can I go in your room and, .. .'

  He simply glared at her. 'Yes, you can go in my room and .. .'

  He strode out and she bit her lip. Everything she said made matters worse. She hurried to Dan's room and looked quickly for a sweater, taking the first one to hand and hurrying out as if chased by devils.

  One glance in the kitchen assured her that everything was all right, the meal keeping hot, and then she went to find him. What the banging had been was now clear. He was putting shutters up to all the windows, and he had just reached the front of the house. The wind was picking up quite alarmingly, and when she looked across to the sea her face stiffened in surprise.

  It was boiling. The clear turquoise sea was no more.

  Out towards the east the sea seemed to be piling up, rolling, threatening and unspeakably alive. Breakers crashed on the once tranquil shore and it alarmed her. She was actually looking at a scene she had never looked at before, as if this was a strange place, another island. The beautiful palms were bending almost to the ground, great palm fronds already tossed to the sand. Every plant in the well-cared-for garden would 'be ruined. There would be no more hibiscus to place in her hair.

  'For God's sake, get inside, Anna.' Dan looked across at her angrily and bore down on her, taking her arm and hustling her inside. 'I've got two more shutters to do and then we're battened in. I can't walk around worrying where you've trailed off to. Stay here.'

  He pushed her inside and slammed the door which in any case almost blew out of his hands; his urgency took hold of her. He had given her things to do and she had done them. What now?

  Pictures she had seen came to her mind and she hurried into the kitchen, taking down glasses, crockery and pans, stowing them away in cupboards, certain that Dan would ask if she had gone mad, but his furious speed and the desperation of his efforts to finish the tasks was taking hold of her too.

  He didn't think she was mad. He came silently in during her hurried packing, and as she looked up he nodded.

  'Good girl! A few glasses aren't the real worry, though. Now that we're battened down you can help with something more precious. Get the ornaments and pictures. They have a very special value for me. I had a very good reason for collecting them. I'm damned well not going, to see them all shattered.'

  He had boxes all ready and they filled them up, neither saying anything about the wind that now seemed to be funneling round the house. The sea was roaring in a way she had never heard before, the crash of the breakers on the shore alarming.

  It came to her mind that this was a small island with little high land. The wind and sea had a fury that made the land seem puny and transient. In her mind she could see the waves piled up high, the sea approaching in a great invading mass.

  'Is it here now, the hurricane?'

  She couldn't keep the anxiety from her voice and he smiled grimly.

  'Not yet, really. This might be called the advance guard. The rest comes later.'

  They both looked up as thunder shook the house, and Dan stood. 'That's it! We've done well. Now we retreat!'

  She had always thought the room at the centre of the house strange; there was something oddly different about it. Dan dragged the boxes in there and ordered her to stay put.

  'The meal!'

  'My God, you're an irritating female! Come on!'

  They brought everything else in together and, as Anna spread a cloth on a small table and set out the meal, Dan brought in the packs of sandwiches and the flasks and shut the door.

  'Eat while you've still got the nerve,' he ordered grimly. 'It may be the last warm meal you get for some time.'

  'How long will it last?'

  'It's not really here yet.' He shrugged. 'Who knows? Depends how fast it's travelling, where the "eye" is, where it's going.'

  They ate in silence. At least, they were silent. The noise around the house was growing, frightening gusts adding to the steady, screaming force of the wind, rain now driving against the roof like something desperately trying to enter. Anna pushed her plate away before too long, unable to simply go on eating, moving the table aside as Dan followed suit and put down his knife and fork.

  She curled up in a chair, her eyes on his as he sank tiredly into the settee.

  'Scared?' He suddenly looked up at her and she shook her head.

  'No. You couldn't say I was scared. Terrified-now you might say that! I can't think at the moment of a bigger word.'

  He grinned across at her.

  'Come and sit by me. We'll face it together.'

  She needed no second invitation. Whatever was happening, she could face it with Dan. She curled up at the other end of the settee, her eyes on him as he sat with, his head back, and his whole demeanor weary.

  She looked round. There were candles, water and a substantial first-aid kit, as well as the flasks, and in the corner, on a table, a two-way radio.

  As she was looking at it, it came to life.

  'Amara Cay! Amara Cay! Can you hear me? Over.'

  Dan lifted her aside and went over, taking the microphone and speaking quickly. 'Amara Cay. Go ahead, Johnny! What's the situation? Over.'

  'It's not too bad, but there's a great build-up to the east. You're the last island I have to contact. Good luck, Dan!'

  There was a fierce crackling and the voice ended abruptly; Dan walked back and sank down beside Anna.

  'Here it comes,' he said quietly. 'Why aren't you on that plane and miles from here?'

  'I'd rather be here,' she confessed softly. 'Whatever happens, I'd rather be here.'

  He pulled her closer and she snuggled against him, closing her eyes as the wind set up a banshee wail that frightened her more than anything she had ever heard.

  There was a terrible crash and she shot bolt upright, her eyes wide open. Dan reached across, gathering her with his arms and pulling her close.

  'What was that?' She felt like burying her head against him, and he must have known because his hand came to her hair, soothing and stroking.

  'I would imagine that it was a tree.'

  'Is there any chance of one crashing on the house?'

  'Unlikely. Although if the hurricane really hits us, then anything might happen.'

  'I somehow thought it had hit us!' Anna said with shaky humor, but he shook his head.

  'If we get a direct hit, we'll be in no doubt. I've seen that happen once.' He leaned back, pulling her with him. 'There's not really any problem at the moment. This is the second house that I've had on Amara Cay, and I took great care that this one would stand anything but a direct hit by a hurricane. It may stand even that-at least, this room should.'

  'What happened to the other house?'

  'I bought the island and there was already a house here,' he told her. 'Fortunately I was away when the storm came. When I came back there was just devastation. The house was just so much rubble, everything gone. When I had this one built, it was with the first one in mind. The frame is steel reinforced. There isn't a tree close enough to fall on it, and I made this room into a survival room. It's not a beautiful room, but its sound.'

  CHAPTER NINE

  ANNA opened her eyes to hear Dan's voice at the radio, her feeling of disbelief that she had actually been asleep for some time making her look about her with dazed eyes. She was still looking around her as Dan turned, his eyes meeting hers. They were alive, still here, her face lit up with a smile and he came to stand over her.

  'It's finished.'

  He stood looking down at her, his smile reaching hers. 'I
actually slept!'

  'After a long time. It's morning-at least, it's first light. I've been on to Nassau. The hurricane just clipped us. We didn't get a direct hit, after all.'

  'Will it come back?'

  'No. They feed on water. It's hit the eastern coast of the States. It will blow itself out.' He reached for her hand. 'Want to see the damage?'

  He pulled her to her feet, his arms catching her as she swayed.

  'Have you been out?'

  'A few yards. The radio dragged me back, but I couldn't get to it before you began to stir.'

  He went on holding her, and she was still too hazy to move. She may only have slept for a little while, but she had slept deeply. She felt warm, secure, an almost feline pleasure in her body. He didn't say a word. The smiling eyes held her as fast as his arms held her, and she had no thought of moving from him.

  'So you came back?'

  'Yes.' It was only a murmured agreement, and she had not had any difficulty in following his chain of thought.

  'I sent you away.'

  'I had to see you!'

  He just nodded his face warm and understanding.

  His eyes began to search her face, the slender length of her neck and the pulse that began to beat rapidly where the soft shirt buttoned. His gaze rested on the upward tilt of her breasts, mounds of pleasure, straining beneath the white covering of cotton.

  Steadily his hands moved from her shoulder to sweep in one breathtaking caress from her breast to her thigh, and he pulled her close until her hips were against his.

  His head swooped down, and the warmth of his mouth covered hers in a lingering kiss that was almost tender, his lips moving over hers gently, softly.

  'Let's look at the storm damage,' he murmured, his head lifting at last.

  He turned her to the door, his arm still around her waist, and she knew that all at once everything was different. His lips had told her. The quiet of his voice had told her. The strong, possessive caress had been his unspoken admission.

  The interior of the house looked just the same, nothing broken or lost. But as Anna stepped through the front door into a grey and watery dawn she was thankful they had only caught the edge of the hurricane. The sea looked sullen and grey, seaweed and sediment dispelling the lovely color she was accustomed to. And the island had been brutalized!

  The small quay was wrecked; its strong planks so much flotsam, much of it not there at all, the wreckage floating in the sea. Not one plant had survived in the garden, the beautiful hibiscus gone as if it had never been, and much of the lawn had been raked bare.

  The beach was strewn with the battered remains of the beautiful palms, and, although many of them still stood, some of them were snapped like matchwood, and others had been stripped of their bark. Branches and twigs had been driven into the window shutters like arrows, and Anna could see what would have happened had Dan not taken precautions. Yet this had merely been a near miss, the edge of the danger.

  'What damage to the house?' she asked huskily, overwhelmed by the evidence of nature's majestic fury.

  'A few panes of glass and a few tiles,' he said with satisfaction. 'Not bad at all.'

  'What about the launch?'

  'Ah! That's something yet again. I'll take down the shutters and then I'll go over there and see what happened.'

  His arm left her waist and his mind left hers; the house, the launch and Amara Cay were now his immediate concern.

  Anna went inside and started to clear up. The first job was to make everything look as it had done. That seemed terribly important, because Dan loved it all and so did she. The pictures were heavy, but she struggled and somehow managed to get them back into place, remembering with love each special spot, wanting things to look right before Dan came back.

  The ornaments she handled with tender care. They were wonderful, each piece chosen as if it meant something. She had loved them on sight. She stood back and surveyed her work, well-satisfied, and then she tackled the kitchen.

  She was just washing last night's dishes when Dan came in, wet to the waist and muddy.

  'Is the launch still there?' She swung round and looked at him, her eyes opening in surprise at his disheveled appearance, and he nodded, that slow smile growing again.

  'A bit battered but the bay is sheltered. I left it there as there's no place to tie up here at the moment. The journey through to it is hazardous. Don't go wandering. Some of the trees are going to come down.'

  He glanced at the dishes.

  'No more water. We may run short until things sort themselves out!'

  'Oh, I wanted a shower.'

  'Me first, I think!' Dan said with a laugh, glancing down at his own unkempt looks. 'If there's any water left you can have a quick shower next, but take it easy on everything until I tell you otherwise.'

  He went towards his room and she dried the dishes and put them away, just finishing when he called that she could now use her ration of water.

  She felt as if she had been sleeping in her clothes for a whole week, and she pulled them off as she went towards the shower in her room, letting them stay as they fell. It reminded her of Anita and Josie's complaints, but she pushed the past and the future out of her mind.

  She was stiff and tired, but she knew that even today Dan could not force her to go. Even if a boat came in, there was nowhere to tie up. He was hers for one more day, and his kiss had acknowledged it. They had shared the terrifying night, faced things together. She would remember it always.

  She was careful, soaping herself and then showering, trying not to waste the precious water, but her mind was only half on the task. Somewhere inside her was a growing elation, an expectation, excitement welling up like a clear, bubbling stream as the water cascaded down her black hair. She was conscious of the pleasure of the water on her skin, her body alive with awareness, a breathless waiting inside her.

  A slight noise made her turn her head, but she felt no surprise. Dan was standing there, his brown body covered by a short black robe, his tawny eyes alight as they moved over her. His vibrant gaze moved from the glistening length of her black hair to the rounded swell of her breasts and down the slender length of her legs, his eyes moving back to devour her over again.

  She felt no shyness, no desire to hide or cover the shimmering body that his eyes embraced. She just looked at him, her breathing shallow, her pulse rapid, and he came forward slowly, his eyes on hers as he discarded his robe and stepped under the water, his arms closing around her as she moved willingly to him.

  She wound her arms around his neck and his hands moved over her wet skin, shaping her waist and the slender length of her thighs.

  'You knew I would come,' he murmured against her face.

  'Yes!' She moved against him and gasped, his arms tightening.

  'How did you know?' he asked thickly.

  'I wanted you to come so very much.'

  'Witch!' His lips searched her cheeks and the line of her neck. 'Kiss me.'

  It was a mere whisper again, the words spoken on a husky breath, the words she had longed to hear, and she searched for his lips with a blind passion, the same passion for Dan that dictated all her movements, all her thoughts.

  'Anna! Anna!' His lips captured hers, deepening the soft kisses with a powerful urgency as she wound herself around him, her wet body sinuous and warm, like a gift from the sea.

  They didn't speak. Desperation was in all their movements, their hearts thundering together. The kisses were wild, deep, fired by necessity, the precious water forgotten as it rained down on them, his body closely entwined with her own.

  'I need you!' He gasped out the words and lifted her closer. He seemed to be possessed of superhuman strength as he held her against him, parting her thighs, driven to take her with no ability to wait, and she clung to him willingly, her lips fused with his.

  Fire shot through her as she arched against him, a moan of passion deep in her throat, her body moving with the fierce rhythm of his possession until he lowered
her to her feet, her body lethargic in the aftermath of his frenzied demands.

  She was hardly aware that he turned off the water, that he moved and tied a towel around her waist. Even as he lifted her out and stood her on the soft carpet, her heavy lids would scarcely lift more than a little way. He wrapped her long hair in a towel, enclosing her in another and lifting her into his arms.

  She felt the bed beneath her but the world had gone; nothing existed any more but the face that hovered over her, the brown fingers that traced her cheeks.

  'Dan!' It was the slightest sound, a faint murmur that seemed to come from a very long way off, but he would not allow even that.

  'Shh!' He unwrapped her long hair, his hands against her trembling skin as he moved the other towel that covered her. 'Don't speak, sweet Anna! Don't say anything at all,' he breathed. 'I needed you fiercely, but now I'm going to love you.'

  He had taken her almost ferociously, like a man driven to desperation, but now his touch was gentle, his lips searching her body as his hands had done before. Every skilful caress drew her back to life, his reassuring murmurs breathed against her skin as she moaned in delight. His mouth moved back to hers, his tongue stroking her lips before moving down to stroke against the tight, rosy peaks of her breasts.

  'Dan!' The ecstasy became too much for her to bear her voice pleaded, and his body, hard and strong, came back to her, compelling a further surrender, his possession tender until she cried aloud for satisfaction and he crushed her against him with the same urgency he had shown before.

  She was trembling uncontrollably as she spiraled back to earth, her eyes deep and dark on his face, awe and wonder in their black depths, and he watched her for one long moment before tossing the towels to the floor and pulling her back into his arms, covering them with the cool sheets.

  'You're tired,' he said softly, his fingers tracing her tremulous lips.

  'Yes.' She was languid, wondering why she couldn't speak, why his eyes seemed to fill the whole world. 'Yes, I'm tired.'

  'Then sleep with me, darling.'