Family Secrets: Books 5-8

by Virginia Kantra

  Then she realized that in her panic, she was running straight to Joe.

  She didnt want to see him. Hed rejected her last night, everything she wasreally wasinside. Shed bared herself to the moon and hed pushed her away. Not Honey. Not Honor. But Elise. And that hurt. God, it hurt. It made something small and ashamed twitch inside her and she hated it.

  She damned well did want to see him.

  She broke to a trot halfway to the beach, then she finally slowed to a more reasonable walk. Her lungs were on fire, dragging air in greedily now, sea-tangy, a little salty, sweet. Honey held a hand up. Steady as a rock, she thought, though that might change once she let her temper rip. She trudged on.

  Hed pushed away a half-naked woman.

  Max slammed the outboard motor back into place on the boat he was tinkering with for a man named Paco. Maybe it really was time to go back to the States, he thoughtto seek psychiatric help. God knew there were those who thought he needed it after his behavior these last six months. Now he was starting to wonder if they were right.

  He was also aware that the village kids were giving him a wide berth this afternoon, which said a lot about how foul his mood was. That shamed him, but not enough to snap him out of it. All the same, he forced a smile for Paloma when he saw her approaching him from across the sand. He stopped working to wait for her to reach him.

  Hello, Senhor Sailor.

  How are you today, senhora? Something seemed different about her, he thought, though he couldnt quite put his finger on it. Her beautiful black hair streamed down her back in a ponytail as always. Her brown feet were delicate and bare, her skirt long and almost severely plain. Her face was as open and curious as ever.

  I am happy enough to touch the moon, she told him.

  Airs a little thin up there. He turned back to the boat.

  Eu implore seu pardon?

  Max paused. No, he thought, he should be begging her pardon. He forced himself to stop working again and face her. Why are you so happy? he asked politely.

  She rubbed a hand in a circular motion over her tummy. Which, Max thought, could mean anything from a sexual come-onwhich would be virtually unheard of hereto a sign of hunger. Or

  Serafina tells me I have another baby, she said.

  Are you sure? In spite of himself, Max looked around at the tiny and primitive coast. Serafina was a healer who lived down in one of the Paz cabins. He wondered about her credentials. Rumor had it that shed never once left the island in her life and she was well into her seventies.

  Serafina is never wrong, Paloma said. Also, I knew.

  Well, congratulations.

  Thank you. You have babies, senhor, back in America?

  His reaction surprised him, a heated lance through his gut as sharp and as focused as it had been when hed counted up all his lost chances with Camille. Time wasnt healing him, he thought again.

  I guess you not need them so much where you come from, Paloma said.

  Now why the hell would you think that? Max growled and grabbed a wrench.

  The funny senhora with all the yellow hair told me.

  The funny He broke off. Why should it surprise him that Elise wouldnt want kids any more than Camille had?

  No, maybe that was husbands she talk about. Paloma tapped her temple as though trying to remember.

  Husbands, babies, what difference did it make to him? Max thought. Her daddy bred thoroughbreds and she got whatever she wanted. Always. Except him, last night. And after that blow to her ego, he doubted if shed be back to the beach before zooming off with Amando to the mainland and the nearest airport, whenever that would be. He was relieved, Max told himself. Shed finally leave him alone.

  She didnt want a husband either? What did that do to his gold-digger theory? He decided Palomas translations probably couldnt be trusted.

  The threads of the screw he was working on were shot. He was going to have to abandon this quick fix for Paco until he went to Portimao and picked up new hardware, Max decided. Then Paloma spoke again.

  She is here now.

  The hairs on Maxs nape stirred along with a few other parts of his body. He straightened and jerked around to look in the direction of the road. Elise. And what was she wearing now? Unless her skin had turned purple overnight, the dress wasnt actually transparent. A minor technicality, he thought. It might as well have been. It stopped just above her breasts and left her shoulders bare. It also stopped a few decorous inches below parts of her he had been on the point of discovering last night. The filmy fabric didnt cling so much as it shifted with her every stride, and somehow that was even more provocative. The slight breeze molded it to her as though she had been born in it.

  Paloma was gone now. Clever woman, he thought. Some things transcended language barriersand the intent of Elises stride was one of them.

  She reached him and punched a finger into his chest. Max had seen switchblades less deadly than that fingernail. And damn it, it hurt. He rubbed his hand there.

  I was going to apologize, he said, and thought how lame it sounded as soon as the words came out of his mouth.

  Yeah, well, youve had damned near sixteen hours now to accomplish that little feat, but I didnt notice your backside at my front door this morning bearing roses.

  Brunhia is a little short on roses.

  Portimaos not.

  And precisely how does one bear roses with their backside?

  One crawls, she snarled.

  Suddenly he felt temper kick in his chest. How did he get to be the bad guy in this? I never wanted what you were doing last night!

  You wanted it, she grated.

  I did not.

  Listen, pal, I might be a Honey choked. A virgin. It almost slipped out of her. It had nearly slid right past her lips. What did this man do to her? How did he do it? She fell back and regrouped. Then youd better have a word or two with the rest of your body to make sure its on the same page as your brain from here on in. Until then, you can just keep your hands to yourself.

  Damn it, I wasnt the one who started ripping my clothes off!

  I ought to do it to you again right now, then just walk away and leave you feeling the way I did last night, all achy and needy!

  You wouldnt He broke off when her hands began gathering fistfuls of her hem. Of course you would. And something charged inside him at the thought of her doing it in broad daylight, at the prospect of falling into her again, into the taste of her and the heat of her.

  He needed to get the hell out of here.

  There was only so much he could stand, Max thought, and little lavender dresses were on the wrong side of the line. There was also something in her vivid eyes right now, something a little too stark and inching toward vulnerable, something that wanted to reach out and touch him in places he didnt want touched.

  I hurt you, he realized. Ah, God. He knew what hurt was at the hands of the opposite sex. He knew how it writhed and burned and she didnt deserve it.
/>
  Dont flatter yourself. She turned and gave him her back. Yeah. You did.

  Max raked his fingers through his hair. Hasnt anybody ever turned you down before?

  She almost choked. If he only knew, she thought wretchedly. Mostly I do the turning. Voluntarily or otherwise, she thought. My mind can be a littleselective.

  Thats not necessarily a bad thing.

  His voice came from closer than she expected. Hed moved, Honey realized, and now he was right behind her. She turned slowly to face him again. We were good together. Things were happening between us these last few days. She wasnt so much the novice that she didnt know that. It would have been so good.

  And that was precisely the problem.

  He framed her face in his hands. Oh, heaven, she thought. He was going to kiss her again. She knew she ought to stop himshe had her pride, after allbut she thought, Get out of my way, angels. Im about to soar above you.

  But he only looked into her eyes. Something about his expression told her that he was trying to be honest.

  There are things He trailed off. There are things you dont know.

  She had a flash of the big room again as it had been yesterday, with everyone closing her out. You wont get an argument from me there.

  Thats why I stopped. It didnt seem fair to you.

  Fair, shmair. Okay, then, tell me what these things are.

  I dont know you well enough to trust you.

  Honey wrapped her fist into his T-shirt and dragged him an inch or two closer to her. She wasnt sure what she meant to do. Punch him? Kiss him? Screamor cry? All she knew for sure was that things were boiling inside her. Theyd been boiling since shed landed on this island. Things inside her were howling, and they gathered strength every time someone shut her out or judged her. For whole precious moments of time, shed escaped everything here. Shed drunk nectar with Paloma and shed made this man laugh. Shed felt and shed yearned and she hadnt bam-bam-bammed or rat-tat-tatted until the moment Marcus had gotten married and shed realized that even this brother, the one she was closest to, had managed to capture something she might never find.

  She was mad, Honey thought. She was furious. And not just at Joe, not just because hed had Elise throwing herself at him and had turned away. She was jealous of Marcus and she was trapped by her parents and suddenly her Honey persona was an albatross around her neck, when just yesterday, it seemed, it had been her lifeline.

  As suddenly as she had grabbed Joes shirt in the first place, she pushed him away again. You blew it, pal. I only beg once. She swiveled in the sand and took a step away.

  Then he tackled her.

  He wrapped both his arms around her waist. Their feet got tangled together. She told herself that was what happened, that he never meant to drop her in the sand the way he did. Because the alternativea man who wanted her enough to do something so sudden and outrageous and deliciousmade something go weak inside her. They stumbled together and went down, and when she twisted, he stayed on top of her. She saw his eyes.

  There was a whole lot of heat there. He wanted her. He really did, no matter what he had done last night.

  Dont forget our wager, she whispered. You kissed me again last night. Now you have to take it further.

  How much further?

  He was playing along. Her heart slammed, but the sensation bore no resemblance at all to the bam-bam-bam-rat-tat-tatting that had sent her rushing headlong to this beach. All the way.

  Then he was wrapped around her, on top of her, pressing her into the sand, and his mouth claimed hers fully. It was hard and urgent, something unleashed and gathering like a storm. She felt a sound vibrate in her throat, a sound of utter satisfaction. This was what she wanted, Honey thought, what she craved, and he was going to give it to her.

  She managed to get her hands in his hair, all that glorious hair. She threaded her fingers through it and held his head so he couldnt release her mouth. She found his tongue with hers and played with it. His hands caught her hips and held her still when she would have writhed against him, and she could feel how much he wanted her.

  Honor!

  The voice was a mosquito, buzzing at the back of her brain.

  What the hell are you doing?

  The voice came again, static and irritating, but inside herself she answered it. Im finding my way home to myself, she thought.

  For Gods sake, is this necessary?

  Drew. Drews voice.

  You ran out of the wedding to roll around in the sand with a stranger?

  Honey felt things go cold and brittle inside herself, like ice shattering. Joe seemed to find the intrusion a little off-putting as well. The hard proof of that moment when he had decided he really did want her was ebbing.

  Ive got to go, Honey said against his mouth.

  Who the hell are you? He didnt call you Elise.

  It doesnt matter.

  You want me to trust you with my answers when you wont give any of your own?

  I just want you to want me. She wriggled out from beneath him and got to her feet.

  She was shaking again. She wasnt sure if it was rage now or desperation, or the aftershocks of needing the man who had been pressing her into the sand. All Honey knew for sure was that her eldest brother was a dead man.

  When she stood and saw his face, she knew Drew was aware of that as well. He started backing off, his hands held up in surrender. This wasnt my idea. Dad sent me.

  She stalked toward him. Youre old enough by now to make your own decisions.

  Dad asked me to find you before you did something crazy. Again. And you did.

  She reached him and punched him as hard as she could in the gut. The air grunted out of him.

  Come on, kitten, he pleaded.

  Dont call me that! She screamed it and had no idea at all where the words came from. Somewhere deep, she thought. Somewhere visceral. Please, please, all of you, just let me go and be myself.

  She whipped around to look at Joe again. Well finish this later. You lost the bet.

  Then she left them and ran for the road to get to Drews motor bike first. When she reached it, she scrubbed a hand hard over her eyes to clear her vision. She hiked her skirt up and swung her leg over the seat to mount the scooter. Damn it, Honey Evans never cried.

  Max watched her go. He thought his ears might be ringing. He lifted his handsthe hands that had grabbed herand looked at them as though they belonged to someone else. He thought he could still catch her scent on his skin. Forests and flowers and heat.

  What the hell had he just done? Hed craved her, and hed acted on it. Maybe he didnt need a shrink after all.

  Then the other man cleared his throat. Who the hell are you? the guy demanded.

  Max dropped his hands slowly. The man was itching for a fight and while a good brawl might nicely take the edge off right now, it was generally best not to wade into one when you were reeling, Max thought. Joe, he said. Just Joe.

  The man stared at him. Trying to p
lace him. The pressured feeling started to come over Maxs chest again for the first time in days. It had been bound to happen. All these people on Brunhia

  Joe who? the guy demanded. What are you doing on Brunhia? Youre American.

  Last time I checked, that was something to be proud of. Max stepped around him, moving toward the shore again. Joe who? was a good sign. Maybe he hadnt pegged him yet. Which made it high time to get back to the Sea Change.

  Max kept himself from jogging, but he kept his back to the guy even when he heard him call something out to him again. He shoved the little boat back into the water, jumped in and ripped at the engine cord. The motor kicked to life.

  He was halfway back to the Sea Change before he let himself glance at the shore again. The guy was still watching him. Trying to place him, Max thought, and not quite able to do it. Because who would expect to find Max Strong on Brunhia, calling himself Joe?

  The guy hadnt called her Elise, he remembered. He wanted to be pissed off by that, that she had lied to him. But the laugh that shot out of his tight throat instead was rich and deep and felt good. It was too priceless. She wasnt who she had said she was either!

  He thought of going back to the beach and asking the guy about her. More than to protect his anonymity, Max didnt veer the dinghy around because maybe, just maybe, she had her reasons for going incognito, too. And maybe, he thought, they were as good and as desperate as his own.

  Nine

  S he felt like a caldron inside, Honey thought, smoking and brimming, ready to spill over. Thisthis time was too much.

  She zoomed the scooter straight into the garage and brought it to a stop with a squeal of tires. Why had she suddenly reached her fill of it all now? Theyd always called her kitten, everyone but Marcus. The baby, the girl. It had spread so far as to include Uncle Russs family, too. But she hadnt felt like a kitten rolling around in the sand with Joe. For the first time in her life she had craved something, had needed something for herself, something no one in her family could manage to arrange for her. And maybe it had been broad daylight, and maybe they had been right there on the beach in full view of both villages, but it had felt like what she craved, what she needed, what she had been looking for her entire life, had been right there within her graspuntil Drew had called her name.