She still smiled. "But you'd leave it for a while." "Alexi--"
"You started this! You gave out the ultimatums."
He watched her, then slowly shook his head, drawing her to him, ruffling her hair, speaking very softly. "Ultimatums don't work, Alexi. That's what I'm saying. I can't force you to live my way; I couldn't promise to stay in New York. We're on dangerous ground, you know."
Alexi felt his fingers against her hair. She closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of him and felt the warmth of his body next to hers. "I thought you wanted me to leave. You'd have your whole peninsula back."
His arms tightened around her. "I've decided that I like you there."
"Sometimes I think you've decided that I'm insane."
"Why do you say that?"
"I know you think I imagined footsteps the night I ran into you on the sand, and I know you think I imagined noises in the house when we came in from the beach. I wonder if you even believe I was hit on the head yesterday--the police, I know, think I fell down the stairs and invented the intruder."
"You're wrong. I might have doubted you once, but I believe you now."
"Because you think that John is out to--to do something." "Yes."
"I might not be a very good deal, you know," Alexi warned him. "I could very well be neurotic myself, and I seem to come with a half-crazy ex-husband." "I'm not worried." "Oh?"
"No. I'm a big boy. I can handle it." “But do you want to handle it?'' "Yes." "Rex?" "Alexi?"
"I think I'm falling in love with you." His arms tightened around her so much that for a moment she couldn't breathe. Then she discovered that she was falling in his arms to lie against the deck and he was over her, his eyes afire, a smile on his lips.
"Let's hear that again." His hold was fierce; his words were full of a harsh command. She twisted against the force of his arms.
“Rex, damn you--'' "Alexi, please!"
"I said..." She paused, watching the blaze in his eyes, watching that small smile that curved his lips. "You're just terrible!" she said accusingly. "Every time you want something, you just decide that if you sit on me--''
"Not every time," he protested. But he was straddled over her and she inhaled sharply, feeling all her senses begin to swim again beneath the dazzling command of his eyes and the easy feeling of him against her--his hands upon her, his chest, muscles rippling in the golden heat of the sun, his thighs tight around her own. "Alexi!" He lowered himself against her until his lips hovered just above hers.
"I'm falling in love with you, too, you know. And you're right. It's very, very frightening," he said.
"We're both afraid of the future," she whispered in return.
"Yes," he told her, kissing her lips.
“What do we do about it?'' She opened her eyes to him, very wide, very blue, trusting and innocent. She curled her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his.
"Maybe we could take a chance," he murmured, moving slightly to the side to stroke the length of her. The sun was gloriously hot upon their bodies.
"Maybe," she murmured.
"Let the feelings grow."
"For now, at least."
He tensed, staring down at her. "Sure. For now," he murmured bitterly. He rose over her again, lifting his arms to the sky. "For now. We've got the sun and the sea and a warm Atlantic breeze. What else could we possibly want?"
"We could pretend," Alexi told him. She placed her fingers on his shoulders, then let them run over the rippling muscles of his chest. She drew them lower, so that he sucked in his breath as he watched their progress. "We could pretend that this is never going to end. That there is no future, no worry over it. We could spend these few days forgetting to argue or wonder what can and can't be. We could just talk about the water and the day and the night and the sun and the moon. And laugh and relax and--"
He caught her cheeks between his palms and tenderly massaged them with the callused tips of his thumbs. He cut off her speech with a slow, deep kiss, cradling her breasts, stroking the nipples to high peaks with his fingertips.
"Make love?" he suggested.
"It's a wonderful way to explore one's feelings," she offered solemnly.
He stretched out carefully atop her, distributing his weight along her legs, moving against her hard and erotically.
"A wonderful way to explore," he repeated. He caught her lower lip between his teeth, then kissed her deeply, exploring her mouth with a sweep of his tongue and the intimate recesses of her body with his fingers.
She gasped his name, amazed at the molten fire spreading throughout her, tantalized...
"Sweetheart," he murmured, staring into her eyes, "I do think that I love you." He thrust himself deep inside her, shuddering at the feeling of the velvet encasement of her love. She wrapped her limbs around him, and he whispered all the things about her that he loved.
The sun started to fall, but neither of them felt the chill as the warmth left the sky. Beautiful pinks and mauves stretched out over the horizon as twilight made a gentle descent.
Alexi saw stars streaking the heavens in a splendid outburst. She whispered to Rex that she had seen them bursting out all around her.
He laughed and told her that it was night. They rose lazily at last and made spaghetti and salad for dinner in the galley, then sat out beneath the stars. They talked about the sky and the sea, and he tried to tell her exactly where they were, pointing out the islands and the coast, which were alive at night with a glow of light.
They didn't challenge each other anymore. They had made an agreement. They were going to take a chance.
But Rex couldn't stop worrying. Eventually, they were going to have to go back. And nothing could ever be right between them--Until he found out what was really going on at the Brandywine house.
Chapter 12
By the time they came back in, three days later, Alexi had grown fairly adept with the Tatiana. The sails were furled when they approached the dock, though; the motor was softly humming to bring them in at a slow, safe speed.
Alexi--ready to jump onto the dock and tie the Tatiana up in its berth--started, openmouthed, when she saw that Gene was waiting for them farther down the dock.
"Alexi!" Rex yelled.
"What?"
"Now! Hop off and secure her."
She obeyed him mechanically. She slipped the little nooses over the brackets just as he had shown her. When he leaped off himself to check her work and tighten the ropes, Alexi pointed down the dock. "Gene's here. Did you plan this?"
His quick look assured her that he had not. "Run and see if there's a problem while I rinse her down," Rex said. Then he abruptly changed his mind. “No. Wait. Start making sure that the boat's all in order, and I'll go tell Gene we'll be with him as soon as we rinse her off."
Hurrying off, he didn't give Alexi much of a chance to protest. She muttered something under her breath, then paused, smiling. He was darker than ever now. Striding down the dock, barefoot and in cutoffs, he was agile and smooth and dark and sleek and muscled, and, being in love with him, Alexi had to take a moment to admire him and determine that he was a perfectly beautiful male. Then she muttered beneath her breath again and hopped back onto the Tatiana to crawl below. She thought she'd start in the galley, making sure that the pots and pans and dishes were secured.
Approaching Gene, Rex looked back to assure himself that Alexi wasn't trailing right behind him. She was gone from the deck; below, he hoped.
"Gene!" Rex caught the old man's hand, instantly worried about the way he was standing there in the heat. “How long have you been out here? What's wrong?"
"Not that long out here in the heat," Gene said. "I've been here all morning, though. Long enough for breakfast, Bloody Marys and lunch. I knew you planned on coming back in today, and I didn't want to miss you." "What's up?"