Garden Of Fantasy

by Karen Rose Smith

  "I want to make love to you." He sighed and smiled. "But holding you sounds awfully good right now."

  Unable to resist, she kissed his shoulder and brushed her hand across his chest. "Rest and let the medicine work."

  It wasn't long before Beth realized Nash's eyes were closed and he was sleeping. Somehow she had to persuade him to let his guard down with her. When she yawned, she pressed the remote and turned off the television. She couldn't resist running her hand over Nash's flat stomach. Her last conscious thought was how much she enjoyed touching him.

  In the early hours of the morning, Nash turned his head and realized his chin brushed Beth's hair. He breathed deeply. She smelled so good. And it felt so good waking up with her there. He'd been lonely, isolated, restless without knowing why. She'd changed all that. He felt whole again.

  He slid his fingers down her arm, relishing the softness, the beauty, the wonder of being this close to another person.

  Beth turned her head and her lips touched Nash's shoulder. "How do you feel?"

  Electrified. He wanted her. "I didn't know you were awake."

  She smiled. "I'm not. How do you feel?"

  He reached for the edge of the sheet tangled at his feet and repositioned his leg. "A little woozy. The sharp pain's gone."

  "But it's sore?"

  Nash slid his arm around her shoulders so he could hold her. "You worry too much."

  His lips caught hers and molded her mouth. His tongue dashed between her teeth and navigated a course that was seductive and thoroughly arousing. Beth filled herself with his taste. Spicy-sweet. Male. Nash. Pressing pliantly against him, she molded her body to his like soft clay, nudging her tongue into his and stroking liberally until she was dizzy.

  The pure touch of his skin against hers heightened all her senses. She inhaled his masculine scent, gloried in the downy texture of his chest hair. Beth was overwhelmed by her own desire and blooming love. It scared her. What would happen if Nash walked away? What would happen if she won Osgood's contract and he didn't? What would happen if he found out about John and didn't believe her?

  Nash chased the questions away by breaking the kiss and nibbling her neck. She nipped lightly at his ear. Her tongue teased around the edge as he stroked her hair. Beth's pulse raced and her breasts ached for Nash's touch. She rubbed them against him to fulfill some of her need and to whet his.

  His passion surged against her thigh. When he tried to roll toward her, she knew it was time to take over. With a serene smile, she pushed his shoulder down. "Lie still and enjoy."

  His chest rose and fell quickly. His expression was pained. She didn't know if it was from frustration or actual discomfort. She smoothed his ruffled hair with her fingers and teasingly brushed her lips across his. When he would have grasped her tightly against him, she positioned herself lower and kissed a trail down his chest. Her hand tarried on his thigh, then voyaged up his leg. While her lips punctuated his taut stomach with kisses, her hand moved to more sensitive territory.

  Nash thought he was in heaven. What Beth was doing to him defied all words. Her hot, soft lips were tasting him, her feathery fingers were stroking, toying, creating a fire he had to quench. His temperature rose as his pulse throbbed in his ears. He tried to watch her, but the pure pleasure she was giving him made him close his eyes so she couldn't see his need. Never in his most vivid dreams had he imagined her like this. He had never made love with a woman who was free enough to take the initiative. It was incredibly exciting!

  Her feel and touch and texture and fragrance were driving him insane. She was pushing him to the edge of a monumental cliff and he knew he'd soon fly over the precipice.

  A tremor coursed through him. He needed her. "Beth."

  She lifted her head and gazed into his eyes. She seemed to know he'd reached his limit. Reaching to the nightstand, she tore open a foil packet. In a graceful movement, she straddled his legs.

  Beth's naked breasts glowing ripe above him made him quake with expectancy. He felt vulnerable. As she prepared him, he thought he'd lose control. She led him inside her femininity and he groaned with the sensation. She was hot, enveloping, slick, and he fit snugly as if he'd been fashioned only for her.

  He whispered, "I can't hold back."

  Her eyes were huge luminous brown pools. "You don't have to. I'm as ready as you are."

  His voice was thick with arousal. "No one has ever made love to me like this."

  She smiled.

  Beth let Nash gauge the tempo as they shimmered with the sheen of loving. Her hands quested across his damp shoulders as he blessed her breasts with erotic caresses. He tried to drive to her core, to give her all of him. His thrusting and her rocking harmonized into a steady rhythm that beat, thudded, and roared through his blood. He was lost in Beth and he didn't care if he ever found his way back.

  When he soared to the highest plane, he dynamited into her, shuddering not only from the physical release but from the depth of feeling. Her intense cry told him she, too, had arrived at the same brilliant journey's end.

  She collapsed on his chest. Nash held her close and knew he'd fallen deeply in love.

  After the fast-beating excitement gave way to languorous repletion and Beth moved to his side, Nash reached for the sheet and settled it over both of them. Looking at her still-flushed face, the damp tendrils of hair on her temple, he didn't think she'd ever looked more beautiful.

  She drew a circle on his chest. "Are you going to do what the doctor advised?"

  The idea of Beth caring about him made him feel good. "Yes, I'm going to cut out the jogging and walk and swim like he suggested. Then again, there's the form of exercise we just participated in. You can be a big help with that."

  She raised herself up to stare at him intently. "You're really going to listen?"

  He wasn't as stubborn, arrogant, or macho as she must think. "Baby, I don't want to end up with a cane. I'll listen."

  She sealed her lips to his and rewarded him.

  Instead of continuing the kiss until their bodies joined again, Nash broke it off. "Will you go to the shore with me next weekend? For the past few years, I've rented a house at Stone Harbor for a week as a birthday present for Shannon. Wayne accepts it that way and gets to enjoy it too. I go down for Labor Day weekend and join them."

  She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. "They won't mind me coming?"

  He loved the physical familiarity that had sprung up between them. "They like you."

  "Do you mind if I take work along? I have polishing to do on the Osgood presentation."

  "No problem." Nash caressed her hip and bent his head to kiss her in earnest.

  But she braced her hands on his chest. "Nash? What happens if I win the contract?" The expression on his face must have shown his surprise because she moved away from him. "You don't think I can win the contract, do you?"

  "Now, Beth--"

  Her eyes shot defiant sparks. "Don't patronize me. Do you think I can get that contract or not?"

  He'd try logic to settle her down. "You haven't had much experience with commercial development."

  "So?" She tilted her head and waited.

  "So...it's more complicated...grander."

  "And you've done so many like it, you can do it in your sleep. Don't you think maybe your ideas could get old because of that and mine might be fresher?"

  He thought he knew what Osgood wanted. His concept was fanciful enough to appeal to Osgood's eccentric nature but practical enough to be well executed. He had all the confidence in the world in his ideas. Beth's portfolio, on the other hand, was limited. But if she could top his work, she deserved the contract.

  "If your ideas are fresher, your presentation more eloquent, you deserve the job."

  She looked taken aback. "You mean that?"

  "I mean it."

  "And it won't affect us?" she asked warily, searching his face for feelings he might be hiding.

  "If I lose, I'll be disappointed, maybe crabby for
a few hours. But I won't have lost anything."

  "How can you say that?"

  His voice softened. "Because of Osgood, I met you."

  When she put her arms around him and sinuously moved against him, he wondered how she'd react if he won the job.

  ****

  Saturday afternoon, Beth almost purred as Nash's large hands rubbed suntan lotion on her back with deliciously erotic strokes. When his fingers dipped dangerously close to her breast, making it peak in anticipation, she looked over her shoulder.

  He grinned and shrugged, whispering in her ear, "If Shannon wasn't here, we could have some real fun."

  "Is that all you think about?" she whispered back.

  "When we sleep in separate rooms, it is."

  They had arrived at the beach house in Stone Harbor late Friday evening. For his nephews' sake, Nash had felt it was best for him and Beth to sleep in separate rooms. "It was your idea," she reminded him.

  "Yeah, and a bad one. Tonight I sneak in."

  Although Nash was acting playful and bantering with her, he seemed preoccupied. His gaze kept slipping away from her and their conversation to the ocean. Maybe his knee was acting up. "What about tomorrow morning? The boys were all over you at seven a.m. today."

  "I'll set the alarm," he growled as he gave her his full attention for the moment and placed a hot, wet kiss on the back of her neck. It mingled with the sensations of sand and sun and lotion.

  Beth forgot where she was until Shannon looked up from the magazine she was reading and asked Nash, "How's the knee?"

  "Much better. Just a little stiff. The water will be good for it." He settled himself on the blanket, stretched on his side. "Are you excited about starting work Tuesday?"

  "And scared. I have to get Roger and Jason ready for school and drop Davie off at daycare before I start. I might be worn out before I begin."

  "You'll do fine." Nash looked to the white-tipped waves crashing on the shore. All of a sudden, he sprang to his feet. "Where's Jason?"

  Shannon's gaze followed his across the beach. "He's with Wayne. I'm sure--"

  "I saw him go down under a wave." Nash took off at a lopsided jog.

  Beth and Shannon hopped up too, but before they took two steps, they saw Wayne swinging Jason out of the water. Nash was at the water's edge. He picked up the boy and hugged him.

  "He must have gotten knocked over by a wave and Wayne had to help him up. I bet Nash almost had heart failure," Shannon murmured. "I never should have suggested we all come swimming. His panic is my fault."

  Beth watched as Nash put Jason down and started walking down the beach as if demons were chasing him.

  Surprised and confused, Beth said to Shannon, "I know he worries about the kids, but--"

  Shannon darted a glance at her, not saying a word.

  "Shannon, what's going on?"

  Nash's sister avoided Beth's eyes. "Nothing. Just a scare."

  "There's more to it than that. Why is Nash walking the beach as if he's running from something?"

  Shannon's gaze followed Nash, then swerved back to Beth. "I was hoping he'd told you. He had a daughter, Christy. She drowned in their backyard pool."

  "Oh my God!" Beth started to take off after Nash, but Shannon gripped her arm.

  "You'd better wait. He likes to work his problems out on his own."

  With difficulty Beth deferred to Shannon. She knew her brother well. "How did it happen?"

  Shannon stared at Beth for a moment. "I think Nash should tell you himself."

  "I can't believe he hasn't." Her dismay must have sounded in her voice.

  Shannon touched her hand. "It still hurts him. He doesn't talk about it."

  "We've gotten so close." But not close enough for him to tell her about his daughter. And not close enough for her to tell him about her past. She wanted to make an excuse and say losing a daughter was different from the scandal she'd left behind. She could put her experience in the past, but Nash's would be with him forever.

  She had to be alone to think. "If you don't mind, I'm going in and work for a while."

  Shannon nodded sympathetically. "Nash said you might. Important project."

  "Sure is. It could make me financially secure for the first time in three years. If there's any time to be a perfectionist, it's now. Call me when you need help for supper."

  "Hot dogs on the beach don't take a lot of work."

  Beth picked up her beach bag. "Call me anyway. When I get involved, I lose all sense of time and place."

  Shannon grinned. "Gotcha."

  The library table in Beth's bedroom was perfect for spreading out her sketches, markers, and pencils. But it was a while until she could put aside Nash's panic and what Shannon had told her. Finally, she concentrated with a vengeance. When her eyes began to blur, she spoke into the tape recorder, using her notes to outline her speech, then going back a second and third time to fill in. Feeling she needed perspective before she listened to it again, she went downstairs to the kitchen for a can of soda.

  On the deck, Shannon sat in front of Wayne on a lounge chair, her head on his chest. The boys were building a giant sand castle. Beth smiled. She didn't want to disturb them.

  Where was Nash? Still walking the beach, immersed in the past?

  She popped the lid off the soda and took a few sips. Seeing a bag of pretzels on the table, she sat down and munched on one, trying to clear her head. How should she approach Nash about his daughter? Should she ask him? Would he bring up the subject?

  She finished the soda, went into the living room and up the stairs. As she walked down the hall, she heard movement in her room.

  She hurried, then came to a full stop as she saw Nash, his hand on her tape recorder, his eyes sweeping over her boards. "What are you doing?"

  He looked startled, but recovered quickly. "Looking for you."

  Her eyes went to her drawings, then back to him. An unconscionable suspicion raised its head. "Checking out the competition?"

  He evaluated her question, but didn't rise to the accusation in it. "Not intentionally. There was no evidence you were coming back, so I came over to turn the light off."

  She wanted to believe him. Why shouldn't she believe him? He had never lied to her. Right? But a small voice said, He didn't tell you about Christy. What else was he hiding? Guilt hit her again because she kept a secret, too.

  Crossing to the table, she shuffled the boards into an even pile and deposited them into the open leather portfolio on the bed. She zipped it.

  "All finished?" Nash stood at the foot of the bed.

  "Almost." He looked weary, the lines around his eyes deeper than usual. She nodded to the tape recorder. "I'm working on the spiel."

  "You're putting everything into this, aren't you?"

  "Aren't you?"

  He shrugged. "It's one project, Beth. I can't put all my apples in one basket."

  He was being awfully casual. "So it doesn't matter if you get it?"

  "Of course it matters. It's an important project, a lucrative one. But I'll survive without it and do quite well."

  Since when did the resort lose its allure for him? Since when did she question his sincerity? Rosenthal's doubts must have lain dormant until now. A swift ache sped through her. Had John's betrayal done this to her? Made her distrust the man she loved?

  She took a step toward him. "I didn't hear you come in the house."

  "We must have just missed each other."

  Was he trying to convince her he wasn't in the room long? "I was in the kitchen. Have you been walking all this time?"

  "No. I'm not pushing my luck. The knee feels good."

  Should she bring up Christy now to see how he'd react? She couldn't do it. "Is it time to get supper?"

  His eyes moved from her to the bed. Desire flashed in them, but instead of acting on it, he asked, "Beth, could we go for a walk later? Just you and me? I'd like to talk to you about something. And if we don't plan it, Shannon and Wayne's munchkins will make s
ure we don't get two minutes alone."

  He was going to tell her. On his own. Without her asking. "Sure. I promised Roger I'd play a game or two of beach tennis with him."

  Nash crossed to her. "I promised Davie and Jason I'd help them fly a kite. They can't sit still for a minute."

  His desire was alive and burning again. He played with her blouse collar. She felt she should back away until they talked, but when his hands roamed over her breasts, her reserve crumbled. As the cotton shaped to her, the heat from his touch was more scorching than an August sun. She steadied herself, trying to bury her suspicions that Nash was in her room for unethical reasons.

  He brushed his lips across her forehead.

  She murmured, "Nash, we shouldn't..."

  "Dinner's ready!" Shannon called.

  Beth sighed with relief.

  ****

  Digging her toes in the sand, Beth watched Nash reel in Jason and Davie's kite while Wayne supervised Roger. Nash had so much patience with the boys. He treated them with respect, as if every moment he spent with them was special. Was that because of Christy?

  Black night was overtaking gray dusk. When the kites were packed in their cases and the boys and Wayne headed toward the house, Nash ambled over to Beth. He held out his hand to her. "Ready for a moonlit stroll on the beach?"

  "You don't want to sit for a while first?"

  He pulled her up. "No. I want to walk and talk with you. I've been thinking about it all day."

  She flipped off her sandals and hooked her hand through his arm. "Let's go."

  They walked in silence, close to the edge of the water, letting the foam spritz on their calves as they squished their toes in the spongy sand. The screech of a lone sea gull pierced the night as the beams from the crescent moon flirted with the waves. Hundreds of pinpoints of light pierced the dark sky.

  The peace and tranquility encompassed Beth as the salty breeze tossed through her hair and fanned it out around her face. She swung Nash's hand. "Do you feel the power?"

  He looked out at the expanse of ocean. "I feel it here, I feel it in the sunset, I feel it when I finish a garden then stand back and watch it bloom and grow."