Ethan scratched his chin. He’d never known anyone outside of his father and a few of the tribe’s shamans to admit to having conversations with spirits. “Maybe knowing you’re troubled about―things, he is—trying to help you. You need someone to talk to and Scott’s providing the venue.”
“I’m sure that’s it. He knows the real me, my real name.” She let those words sink in before she changed direction. “I think I might like the tour guide idea.”
So she could talk about her troubles to a ghost, unburden herself to a dead guy, but not to him. How insulting was that? Good Lord, was he jealous? Ethan had to laugh at himself. He shook his head. “You’re all over the place, Hayden. Come here.”
She looked guarded for a moment before moving into his chest.
“You think I’m crazy.”
“No, I think you’ve found an outlet that’s helping you deal with the stress you’re under. And it’s cheaper than a shrink.”
She snickered. “Then I need to lengthen my appointments, make the most of him as a sounding board.”
He lowered his mouth to hers. For a moment he simply enjoyed grazing and nipping at her lips before hungrily devouring her in a mouthy kiss.
Hayden felt the stirring in her belly, felt her blood heat. She dragged the kiss out as long as she could before they had to come up for air. “You’ve got a first-rate tonsil-dive there, Deputy.”
“You’re not so bad yourself. I want you, Hayden.”
She sighed. “We’re getting there, Ethan. But I’m still not sure it’s wise for me to get involved with anyone, least of all someone who has issues―with my honesty.”
“Think about how good we’d be together and forget about issues.” He covered her mouth again, brought her into his body.
Hard male met soft female.
His body throbbed with need. He wanted her horizontal, under him, the sooner the better. But for now, he let her go and had to blank his mind to get the buzzing in his ears to stop. The woman flat out packed a punch. When he spotted the little dot of land known as Treasure Island, he focused on steering toward the postcard-sized strip of rock and dirt in the distance.
He prepared to come about, lowered the mainsail, and then sought out Hayden’s hand, helping her go through the steps to work the jib.
Without the sails, the wind seemed to die as the sloop’s progress dwindled to a stingy sway and give. The boat bobbled feet away from the tiny strip of land. “Picnic on the deck of the boat or Treasure Island?” Ethan asked. “Ladies’ choice.”
“I’d love to look around the island.”
“Land it is then,” he said, as he prepared to wade through the water, carrying the cooler. “I’ll come back for you.”
Hayden looked insulted. “You think I’m afraid of getting wet?”
Ethan watched Grisham spring off the deck and into the waves like a dolphin as the dog paddled the short distance to shore and was already shaking off the water.
“There’s no need to get huffy, or wet. Besides, it’s an excuse to wrap my arms around you again.”
“Aww, well then, I’ll stand here all damsel-in-distress-like and wait for you to carry me across the water, even though, I could just as easily traipse over there myself.”
“And get those brand-new shorts wet? No way. And there will be no traipsing, my lady,” he said in mock fashion. He scooped her up, planted his mouth on hers. Little tugs of need flared between them.
He took a measured step into the water. As the shallow tide swirled around his knees, he made like he was going to drop his hold. “Are you going to be nice to me today, Hayden?”
“Ethan, don’t you dare drop me or…”
“Or what?”
Those playful eyes drew her in. She grabbed his head between both hands and went with instinct. She brought his lips down to meet hers. Desire bloomed. Doubt melted away. “I want your hands on me, Ethan.”
He grinned and plopped her down on the rocky slab of beach. “I was hoping I’d wear you down. I’ll go back to the boat—get the blanket I have stowed on board and―a few other things.” He thought of the box of condoms he’d conveniently picked up at the drug store in Santa Cruz.
Before turning to go though, he looked at her and said, “Don’t change your mind before I get back, okay?”
Hayden laughed. “I won’t. But hurry.” She watched him stride back through the water, watched as his muscles bunched and he pulled himself into the sloop, disappeared below deck.
She looked around at the little slice of island no more than a half a mile long and even less than that across in width.
The beach sloped upward, more rock than sand, before leveling off into various patches of vegetation and knee-high bunchgrass. Aromatic white sage dotted the landscape as well as eucalyptus. She recognized flowering California sagebrush from the books about native plants she’d checked out at the library.
Across the inlet in the distance, she could make out Promise Cove as the old Victorian seemed to cling to the side of the cliffs. She narrowed her eyes at the swath of cove beneath and recognized the same jagged rocks she’d stood on to look out over the water.
Ethan came up behind her, smelling like sea and man. His hair was damp. His shorts wet. He dropped the blanket he carried on top of the cooler and took her by the hand, tugged her up and over the rise. “Let’s see if we can find enough wood to build a fire.”
“A fire? But the sun’s out. It’s not even that cold.”
He took the time to peruse her long, lanky frame, making no secret of his intent. “Without clothes a fire will come in handy. See that circle of stones over there in the clearing. Ready-made fire pit. That pit’s been used to build a fire since…probably forty years or longer.”
As she trooped behind him, gathering up sticks and small branches for kindling, she listened while he checked off the merits of fire safety. Something about contained areas versus wind direction. After a couple of minutes, she couldn’t help it, she laughed. “Why do I get the impression you were an excellent boy scout?”
“Once upon a time,” he said with a grin. “But I never once wanted to be a forest ranger.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Oh, look at those chubby birds over there with the funny plumage on their heads. They look like small chickens.”
Hayden pointed to a cluster of knobby sagebrush nearby where the colorful blue and gray fowl nested together, seeming to burrow into the soft sand. As she stood there admiring them, she’d swear they were talking to her, repeating Chicago, Chicago, over and over again. Weird.
“California quail.” Ethan explained. “The state bird. They’re native to the coastal shrub.”
With his arms laden with wood, he squatted down in front of the fire pit, dumped the logs on the ground, and began to stack the assortment of branches as if building a small tower.
Hayden knelt beside him, tempted to run her hands over his broad shoulders, feel the strength there. He took the kindling from her and their eyes locked. “We’ll get this show on the road and then start our own fire, how’s that?”
He took out matches, set the logs to flame. As soon as he was satisfied the fire caught enough not to die out, they walked back over the rise and down to the beach to retrieve the blanket and the cooler with the food.
Ethan plunked down the cooler, flipped it open, studied the label on the bottle of chardonnay while Hayden dug into the picnic basket and handed him the corkscrew. As he uncorked the wine Hayden brought out two glasses wrapped in cloth napkins. She held out both and waited while Ethan poured.
They sipped the wine and Hayden asked, “Are you hungry?”
He busted out laughing. “You keep asking me that. Oh yeah, I am, but not for food. I’m about ready to show you.” He picked up her hand, tugged her closer where he could nibble her ear. “It seems Hayden-no-middle-initial-Ryan has been making me crazy since that night on the side of the road, on purpose I think.”
“Who me?” She lifted her glass in a toast. “H
appy birthday, Ethan.” She turned her mouth up to his. After gnawing and nipping at each other. They set the wine down long enough to spread out the blanket near the fire.
The ground was hard and unforgiving, but they got as comfortable as they could on the hard-packed sand. It was a nervous Hayden who leaned over, placed her lips against the side of his face. “This is where I’m supposed to say, I should go change into something more comfortable.”
He brought her into his arms, skimmed his hands up and down her back then began to graze along her throat. “Uh-uh. For weeks I’ve visualized you without clothes, especially getting you out of your panties.”
“I’m not wearing any. Panties that is,” she confessed as she watched how hard he swallowed.
“That’s kind of a habit of yours.”
She snickered at the long look he gave her. “I’ve never made love outside before either.”
“Ever? Well, we’re out to change that.” He reached to unzip the hoodie she wore, discovered she had nothing on underneath. Rose-tipped points stared back at him.
His breath hitched. “God, you’re beautiful. It’s a wonder we made it to the island.” He slid the hoodie down off her shoulders as she snaked her arms around his neck, offered her mouth again.
He dipped his head, drew in a nipple, suckled one peak before going after the other.
Her head fell back, lolled onto her shoulders as she lost herself, content in the pleasure. He slid her cargo shorts down and off. She kicked out of them, leaving her completely bare. He caught sight of a few blonde wisps, a sexy little landing strip of natural hair, before finding her mouth again.
She pulled his Tee up and off, tossing the shirt aside. She worked on the zipper to his shorts. Once he’d kicked out of his clothes, he lifted her onto his lap. Finally she could run her hands along the muscles of his chest.
She draped her arms around his neck, listened to the crackle and pop of the fire. The sound of the surf a few feet away, lapped in rhythm against the rocky shore. Nature, she decided, was the perfect backdrop for making love.
Ethan got a kick out of the flutter of anticipation he felt emanating from her. He’d barely touched her, and yet, there was already a prelude to lust, a yearning building up.
He covered her mouth with his. Playful tongues slicked to taste and tease. Probing strokes turned hungry, greedy. They explored each other, fingering along folds, discovering all kinds of sensitive peaks and valleys.
It might have been broad daylight, but Hayden saw stars. Purple and red bursts of color blurred her vision as he took her higher, his long fingers working toward that white-hot light. Large and small rockets went off in every direction. After such a long drought, Hayden fractured into the palm of his hand in an explosion of silky heat, breathing out his name.
She’d never felt so uninhibited before. It had to be making love outdoors, underneath the sky, so near the ebb and flow of the ocean. Why hadn’t she ever made love outside before now? she wondered. She felt like a warrior goddess and mother earth blended into one.
That combo had her feeling powerful, bolder. She lowered her head and sought to touch Ethan in every way she could reach. She sleeked along his body until she could straddle him, guided him into her in one fluid motion.
From above, pools of mossy green speared deep chocolate. She discovered when aroused his exotic brown eyes took on an even sharper molten quality, their purpose meant to arrow straight into her soul.
From below, Ethan kept his eyes locked on hers. He toyed with her breasts, letting her set the pace. But before long, he eagerly latched on to her hips as he shifted to accommodate her tempo.
Anticipating each other’s movement, they began to build on thrusts, slow, fast, slow, fast. Beat and pulse soon gave way to need, urgency.
In a blast of heat that burst from both of them, they shattered into each other.
Still inside her, linked, Ethan was bombarded by flashes.
Initially he saw a darkened parking garage, then a golden-haired woman with Hayden’s face, pushed up against a concrete wall. He caught the silver glint of a knife as a man held the weapon to her throat.
His jaw tightened. His gut clenched. He tried to shake off the picture in his head, did his best to get back into the moment.
Hayden fell on his chest, breathless. He heard the sigh escape her lips, felt her breath against his skin, watched as she raised her head and those green eyes pierced his.
With the image of the man with the knife still in his head, Ethan heard her say, “That was…amazing.”
She sent him a dazzling smile. “I like being on top.” Her head went back, eyes focused on the bright blue of the sky. She spread her arms out wide. “I feel so powerful, so emboldened. Is it always like that…making love outside, I mean? If it is, then we should make a point of doing this outside as often as we can.”
In spite of the vision, he chuckled. He shook off the dregs of what he’d seen, determined not to let it ruin this moment. “Good thing. I’d have crushed you on top. Even with the blanket this ground is like concrete. But I’m not complaining,” he added quickly, as he toyed with her hair. “Let me guess, you’re a natural blonde. A green-eyed blonde.”
Her eyes grew wide before she choked out a laugh. “Observant, aren’t you?”
“It’s a shame you had to dye it. When will you be able to put it back?” A blur of lanky blonde with longer hair running in high heels through a parking garage flitted through his head. He swallowed hard, torn between wanting to keep the images coming and making them stop.
The cop in him had questions and wondered if the man with the knife had come after her specifically or had it been a random attack?
“Ethan, don’t spoil this,” she warned as she reached over and found her hoodie, zipped it up. “It’s just hair.” She blew out a nervous breath and veered the subject into safer waters. “Worked up an appetite yet, birthday boy?” she asked, shimmying into her shorts.
“I’m starving,” he answered, watching her get dressed. He gave her a wink, trying for casual, even calm, though he was anything but. “We should probably eat first, keep up our strength.”
Once they set out the food, Ethan made fast work of the lobster and shrimp salads before moving on to the fruit. Then, as if rewarding himself for a job well done, he ate his piece of chocolate cake and half of Hayden’s.
But the images were there along the fringes of his vision and wouldn’t go away.
Stretched out on the blanket with his hands locked behind his head propping it up, his legs crossed at the ankles, Ethan sighed audibly. He wondered if he was pulling it off. Was he acting casual enough? “I feel like a nap,” he said after a moment. But when he caught Hayden staring at him he asked nervously, “What?”
“I’m trying to remember the last time I saw a grown man eat so much in one sitting. Where do you put all that?”
“High metabolism. I work it off.” He suddenly sat up and snatched her around the waist, bringing her down on the blanket beside him. “Let me show you how.”
Nipping her lower lip, he coaxed a kiss out of her before slowly unzipping the hoodie again. “How about we get you out of these shorts too?” he prompted as he tugged them down her long legs.
The things he could do with his mouth, thought Hayden as she held his head in place, while he tugged and nipped at her breasts. But she wasn’t prepared when the man began moving lower, licking and tasting his way past her belly. Making his way further down, he went after her center, telling her, “Ah, you are my real dessert.”
As his tongue played, she squirmed and writhed to the motion until finally she begged, “Now Ethan, now.”
He quickly got rid of shorts and shirt, collapsing back down on the blanket again. He settled her on his lap, began an assault on her mouth. With her arms and legs locked around him, he completed the link as one and slipped inside.
Hard male chest leaned up against soft female curves. Ethan began moving, fast, hard, slow.
Hayd
en let Ethan take her under again as waves of delight continued to lap at the edges. White bursts of light distorted her vision. In a blaze of heat he brought them through the flowing current while a gigantic riptide carried them under, finishing together.
As they lay there connected, Ethan rested his head on Hayden’s forehead. The snapshots were still there if he looked. It was difficult not to. It was definitely Hayden in that parking garage, fighting with a man who held a knife to her throat. Because she’d fought, she’d been able to get away, to run.
And she was still running, he thought miserably.
He looked up into her face. She was eyeing him curiously.
“I don’t think I’ll ever see this island the same way again after today,” he forced out.
Hayden gave him a tight belly laugh. “We didn’t even take time to explore every inch.”
“Mmmm, I was too busy exploring more interesting inches, like this one right here.” He nuzzled her throat. “And this one.” His long fingers trailed along a breast.
“I could stay like this forever,” she said, still wrapped up in his embrace. “Making love outside is exhilarating.”
Damn. He was going to have to end this peaceful solitude and not in a good way. He wasn’t sure how she’d react. He set her off his lap, breaking their connection, and watched as she self-consciously reached for her shorts.
As they began to gather their clothes, the sun dipped a little lower in the afternoon sky. Time on their little slice of island was about to run out.
In a quiet tone, Ethan wanted her to know, “I’m expected at my parent’s house tonight, Hayden, for a birthday supper. I want you to come with me.”
After pulling on her hoodie, she opened her mouth to object, but nothing came out.
He watched her for any sign she was pulling back away from him figuratively. He expected resistance, was even prepared to go into stubborn mode to nudge her toward accepting the invitation.
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