Under Her Spell

by Isabella Ashe

  "If you weren't a sick woman," he said, "well, I'd have to --"

  "I'm not that sick," Bryony murmured, grazing the smooth skin on the back of his neck with her fingertips and then allowing her hand to slip down his back and around his well-muscled torso. Zach gasped as her fingers found the bulge in the front of his jeans.

  "I can't believe this is the same woman who blushed when I kissed her," he said, shaking his head and moving just out of reach.

  "You've created a monster, Mr. Callahan," Bryony said, laughing. "Don't you want me? You did yesterday."

  "You know I do," Zach said, his brows coming together sternly as he struggled to hold himself in check. "But one of us has to remember that you're recuperating today. Now, tomorrow, if you feel better --"

  Bryony stretched like a contented cat in the sunshine. "If that's not enough incentive to get well, I don't know what is. I'm just not sure how I'll survive until then."

  "Why don't you tell me why you're giving up on saving Kinney's Lagoon before you've even started?" Zach said. "That ought to distract you from lusting over my body."

  "Nothing could distract me from that," Bryony said, but she explained the situation and the new developments, including Frank Mancini's sad dilemma. When she'd finished, Zach had a look of intense concentration on his face.

  "Does the Mandell Corporation own the land already?" he asked.

  Bryony shook her head. "They have an option to buy it, but Frank won't get a penny unless the Board of Supervisors agrees to change the zoning. If the resort isn't approved, the Mancinis will have to look for another buyer. And who would be foolish enough to buy land they can't ever develop?"

  "I see," Zach said, looking thoughtful.

  "Do you have any bright ideas?" Bryony asked. "At this point, anything's worth trying."

  "Nothing definite yet," he said. "I'll think about it some more, though. If I come up with a solution, you'll be the first to know."

  "Thank you," Bryony said, without much enthusiasm. She wished she could believe everything would be all right, but it seemed unlikely. Short of a miracle, Kinney's Lagoon would never be the same.

  Watching the silent, pensive man who sat at the foot of her bed, she wondered if she would ever be the same either. She'd always told herself she could live without passion and romance. After the last 24 hours, she wasn't sure she could go back to her old, quiet life. Thinking of the sheer joy she'd experienced in Zach's embrace, the extraordinary pleasure of waking up in his arms, she couldn't imagine life without him.

  Unfortunately, she wasn't sure she would have a choice.

  "Are you sure you feel up to working today?" Zach asked as Bryony emerged from the shower the next morning, wrapped in a huge, soft apple-green bath towel and smelling of lavender-scented soap.

  "I'm fine," she said for the fifth time in fifteen minutes. "Really. Maybe a teeny, tiny bit weak, but I'll be fine the minute I eat some breakfast. Besides, I can always call Kasey if I change my mind later, and she'll come take over for me." She finished toweling off her hair and flung it back over her shoulder.

  "I guess I was just hoping for your company today," Zach said. He was lounging in her bed, his chest bare above the wine velvet comforter, his hair tousled from sleep.

  A broad smile spread across Bryony's face at his boyishly hopeful expression and the hint of a whine in his voice. "Maybe I'll close up the shop a little early tonight," she said, leaning over to plant a kiss on the tip of his nose.

  She was deliciously aware that the creamy skin of her breasts spilled over the top of the towel. Zach was viewing her exposed cleavage with serious appreciation.

  Her shyness with him had all but dissolved after Thursday's long, languorous lovemaking session. Bryony was surprised to discover how much she enjoyed tempting and teasing him. She'd discovered a new, gratifying kind of power in the way she could make him respond to her body.

  Twin fires had kindled in Zach's dark eyes by the time she straightened up again. One of his huge hands enveloped her wrist before she could escape. "I know exactly what you're up to," he said, pulling her toward him so that she lay across the bed. "Standing there in nothing but a towel, tantalizing me with that sexy body, and thinking you can leave for work just like that!" He snapped his fingers under her nose. "I don't think so."

  He pulled his hand to his lips and drew her index finger slowly into his hot mouth, caressing it with his tongue. Bryony gasped as her abdomen tightened instantly in response. "I've got to leave soon," she said. "There's no time for --"

  "Oh, there is," Zach interrupted, staring deep into her eyes with such dangerous intensity that she dared not deny him, even if she had wanted to. "There's plenty of time." He traced the outline of her lips with the ball of his thumb, taunting her with it until she answered his caress by drawing his thumb into her mouth.

  Zach ran the fingers of his other hand lightly along the upper edge of the bath towel, searing a path across the top of her breasts. She braced her hands against his bare, muscular chest and inched closer to him. The green towel crept up her thighs, exposing an expanse of sensitive skin for his touch.

  When his probing fingers brushed her most responsive flesh, Bryony almost cried out delight and need. Still Zach refused to leave off his teasing. He used his hands and tongue to bring her spiraling higher and higher. Bryony ached to feel his bare skin against hers, but each time she strained toward him he denied her. When she pressed her body against his, seeking his heat and crying out for his weight on top of her, he laughed softly and moved away.

  "How do you like it?" he whispered into her mouth as he rained soft, tantalizing kisses onto her lips. "This is how I felt yesterday, when you were off limits. How does it feel, now that it's your turn?"

  "Awful," Bryony said. "Wonderful -- I don't even know."

  He chuckled hoarsely, with something close to pain in his laugh. Bryony opened her eyes and stared into his, pleased to find that she wasn't the only one enduring the sweet torture of restraint. Zach's teeth were clenched as he visibly held himself back. His hands ranged over her body as if he owned it, leaving her gasping and arching her back to meet his caresses.

  At last, when she could bear it no longer, Zach's fingers hooked under her apple-green bath towel and pulled it from her body, flinging it away in one quick motion. He slid out from under the covers and lay exposed in all of his magnificent nakedness.

  Eyeing his flat stomach, slim hips, and long, muscular legs, Bryony wondered why she had never realized that the male body could be so beautiful. Zach reached for her and swung her over his body, guiding her as she lowered herself onto him with a small sound of pure pleasure. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the instinctive rhythm of lovemaking.

  The flames of passion burning in her groin ignited as she soared to heights she'd never even imagined, barely feeling Zach's guiding hands on her waist or his hard thighs beneath her, until the darkness behind her lids blossomed into a riot of swirling color and went white.

  Only then did she open her eyes to see Zach's face, damp with sweat and shining with an angelic radiance. He was watching her with shining, peaceful eyes and a smile of utter contentment. Once more, Bryony was flooded by a sense of overwhelming tenderness and love.

  She sank into the comfort of his embrace, and they lay together silently for several long minutes. Speech was unnecessary. Bryony had never felt so close to another human being. She felt as if their souls had joined, as if they were two people woven from the same cloth.

  When she spoke at last, it was reluctantly. She hated to break the spell. "I really have to go," she said. "I know I'll have a crowd ready to break down the doors. Besides," she added lightly, "there's always tonight."

  Zach turned to her, his brow creased by worry lines. "Yes, and then tomorrow I'm going back to the city."

  Bryony touched his cheek, biting her lip to hold back the quick tears. "I know. I've known all along that you'd leave eventually, but don't let's allow it to spoil our happiness, all ri
ght?" She slipped from his arms and crossed the room to her bureau drawer, where she slipped into a pair of white silk panties and a matching bra.

  "Well, we also talked about seeing each other on weekends. It's not as if tonight were our last night together," Zach said. "Is it?"

  Bryony pulled on a short black cotton dress with short sleeves and a businesslike collar, adjusting the dress around her hips. She turned to look at Zach. "I don't know. I've . . . I've tried not to think about it."

  "You know I can't offer you any kind of promises, but I do care about you, Bryony. God, I don't want to lose you."

  Bryony nodded, moved by the unhappiness in his voice. Still, she knew she needed time. She needed to leave this bedroom where he'd given her such intense pleasure and begin to sort things out. "I don't know," she said again. She couldn't meet his eyes. Instead, she examined herself in the mirror above her bureau as she gathered her nearly dry hair into a loose bun at the base of her neck and secured it with a scrap of black lace.

  Zach climbed out of bed and strode across the room to wrap his arms around her from behind. They stared into the mirror together. They were an attractive couple, Bryony thought. Her flaming hair contrasted well with his dark curls. His face was so rough and chiseled, her own so delicate. They were as different outside as inside.

  "Can we talk about it tonight?" Zach asked. "I want to convince you, before I leave, that we have some kind of future together. I can't offer you much right now, it's true. But I can't stand the thought of never seeing you again. Maybe, someday . . . ."

  He trailed off, and Bryony winced. She didn't need any "somedays" to know how she felt about Zach. She loved him. She wished from the bottom of her soul that he felt the same way. But he didn't, and she had to remember that fact.

  "All right," she said. "We'll discuss it tonight."

  "Good. You spend the day thinking about our relationship, and I'll try to get some work done."

  "Make yourself at home," Bryony said, kissing him quickly on the lips. She found her purse and dashed downstairs to grab a muffin she could eat on the way to work . She had a business to mind, she told herself sternly. She'd keep her promise to Zach later, when she had a moment to spare.

  It wouldn't take her very long to make her decision. Deep down, she already knew what her decision must be, for the sake of her pride and her dignity. It was also the hardest decision she had ever made.

  It would break her heart.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Zach sat at the desk in Bryony's glass-enclosed workshop, frowning over a blank sheet of paper. He'd puttered around all day, trying to avoid the task ahead. It had been a productive morning in other ways, though. He'd spent several hours on the telephone with scientist friends, trying to find out if any ornithological institutes were in the market for land. everal people had expressed interest and promised to look into saving Kinney's Lagoon. Zach didn't want to tell Bryony about his efforts unless they produced concrete results. Still, he was optimistic.

  Now he had no more excuses. He had to sit down and write his column.

  Words had always come easily to Zachary Callahan. After all, he made his living as a writer and editor. He'd always scoffed at those who claimed writer's block as an excuse for not finishing an assignment. Now, for the first time in his life, he was suffering from the ailment he'd mocked so fiercely.

  True, these were extraordinary circumstances. Zach tapped his heavy gold pen against the empty paper and stared out the window at a wide expanse of ocean. Sapphire blue, it lay calm and flat, the tantrums and storming of the preceding days all but forgotten.

  Zach remembered Thursday's angry, crashing waves and the terror he'd felt seeing Bryony trapped on the rocks. If he'd lost her that day. . . . He shuddered despite the warm sunshine streaming through the windows.

  On the beach, seeing her strained white face above him on the promontory, a thought had flashed through his mind. Caught up in the rescue attempt, he'd dismissed it immediately. Now it came into his mind again.

  How could he live without her?

  How could he return to his sterile, barren life? How could he go back to working impossibly long hours, dating gold-digging debutantes, going home to an empty apartment every night? How could he stand by and let Bryony Lowell slip away?

  Zach knew, as he sat there staring out at the sea, that she was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He thought of her quick smile, her bright, eager eyes, how she made him furious beyond belief, how she made him laugh. She was full of crazy schemes, harebrained notions, and more joy than he'd ever dreamed possible.

  Zach thought of the way her hair gleamed with gold fire, the way her eyes snapped at him when she was angry, and the tears of happiness glistening in her eyes when he made love to her. He remembered her body silken and yielding under his, her unselfish yearning to give him pleasure, how her lips trembling with need as he roused her body to greater and greater heights.

  As he thought on all of these things, something in his chest softened and began to melt. He tore his gaze from the gently undulating sea and put his pen to the paper. Once in a great while, he wrote, I am wrong. Today I want to tell you about a love potion that worked.

  His lips curved into a smile as he wrote. His readers would be scandalized and enraged by this column. But Bryony would love it. Besides, it was the truth.

  Two hours later, he began writing the final paragraph. Never had the words flowed so easily as they had this afternoon. He'd never enjoyed writing a column so much.

  His pen ran dry just as he went to write the last few words. Cursing, he shook it and tried again. Nothing. He tossed it into his briefcase and rummaged for another pen, but it was the only one he'd brought.

  There were no pens on Bryony's desk, either. Zach frowned. The perfect closing sentence hung on the tip of his tongue, begging him to write it down. He opened the top desk drawer, spotted a ball point pen, and reached for it. Then he froze.

  His throat closing in disbelief, he picked up the wrinkled sheet of paper staring up at him. "Plan for Making Zachary Callahan Fall in Love," it said across the top in a curvy feminine script. Underneath was a list of items.

  He read each one, his breath quickening with growing rage. His sense of betrayal swelled and turned his heart to steel.

  When he had finished reading, he put the paper down. Zach gathered up the pages of his column and slowly, deliberately, ripped them to shreds. He placed the torn pages carefully in the pocket of his briefcase and took out a stack of clean, blank pieces of paper. His face rigid with anger, he began to write.

  "Does this really work?" the skinny young man asked. He held up a small crystal vial of Bryony's love elixir.

  She smiled to keep from crying. "Not always," she said. The young man's face fell, and she sighed, pressing the heel of her palm against her forehead. "Don't mind me -- I'm not myself today. Of course it works, if you use it on the right person."

  "That's easy enough," the customer said, laughing. "I don't expect miracles."

  "No," Bryony said. "It's never a good idea to expect too much."

  She was exhausted, and her head ached. Business had been heavy all day, the customers were demanding and full of questions, and Bryony's feet hurt. Her exhaustion wasn't only physical. A heavy sadness weighed her down. She felt as if she were dragging a sack of lead around on her back.

  If she opened that sack, as she had not yet dared to do, she knew she would find her decision to tell Zach it was over. Seeing him again, after tonight, would only hurt worse than saying goodbye. Either way, he would go back to his old life as a wealthy, socially prominent bachelor and eventually forget about his vacation romance.

  Bryony knew she couldn't bear to sit around in Cypress Point waiting for his next visit. She didn't need the humiliation of answering questions from curious townspeople about when her handsome young man was going to marry her. Most of all, she couldn't stand to hold her breath and wonder how long it would be until she picked up the newspaper an
d saw a photo of Zach in the social column with his latest blond heiress.

  They had nothing in common. Bryony knew she wasn't Zach's type. Whatever promises he made, whatever plans they came up with, their relationship was doomed. It had blossomed only because they were thrown together by Vivien's ridiculous plan.

  Surely Zach wouldn't use his column to humiliate her. A week ago, this certainty would have seemed a major victory. Now it paled beside the fact that she was losing him. She loved him, and he didn't love her in return.

  She shook her head at her own foolishness. She was determined to make up for it. Tonight she would be as clearheaded, as logical, as unromantic as Zach had ever claimed to be. It was the only way to get out of this mess.

  If only it didn't hurt so much.

  "Miss? Excuse me, Miss? How much is this incense over here?"

  Bryony was jolted from her thoughts by the insistent voice of a tourist in a mustard-orange pantsuit. Bryony pointed to the large sign with the price on it and forced a smile. Only three hours until closing time.

  She wished she had more to look forward to tonight. But she knew her conversation with Zach would be difficult, and that she would have to stay strong. It would be easier if she didn't melt so easily under the touch of his dark eyes and his warm smile. If only his hands on her body didn't turn her insides to jelly. She thought of the long, lonely nights ahead -- nights without Zachary Callahan in her bed -- and clenched her teeth against the pain.

  "Hey, why don't you get out of this place?" a voice said in her ear.

  Bryony jumped. "Kasey! What are you doing here on your day off?"

  "I thought I'd relieve you so you could go home and go back to bed," her friend answered, winking at her. "Alone or with company, your choice. Come on, you can afford to take the rest of the afternoon off," she said, gesturing around the packed store. "Business is booming."