Come Morning (26 page)

He’d found more papers in a lockbox in Jeremy’s desk. Apparently, the company he’d worked for in California had had a retirement plan that matched any money the employee put into it, which was what Jeremy had cashed out when he’d moved to Nantucket. At first, he’d rented the house that was now Slade’s, then taken out a mortgage on it with the sale of his first few paintings, finally paying it off only five years later. Had he left all that information there for Slade to find, and if so, why? A puzzle.

The wind was picking up and Slade felt the first few drops of rain. Raising his arms and rolling his shoulders, he stretched, then climbed down. Hands in the pockets of his khakis, he began strolling back, unconcerned about getting wet. It was a fairly warm evening and a little rain never hurt anyone.

Finally, after all his rambling thoughts, he allowed himself to think of the one person he’d been trying not to dwell on: Brie. The truth was, he missed her far more than he’d have imagined.

When had he gone from enjoying her company to looking forward to the next glimpse of her? he asked himself. When had he begun waiting for her smiles like a storm walker searches for the sun? When had he started needing her in his life?

No! Slade felt the air back up in his lungs. Hadn’t he seen what caring deeply for someone had done to his mother? His father? Ruined both their lives, that’s what. More than half the guys he’d served with in the navy years ago had either been divorced already or had marriages so troubled they’d had no compunction about cheating on their wives. Captain Steve Romero, a man he’d looked up to at the station more than any other, had recently separated from his second wife. Even Irma Tatum had made her way through a few husbands.

Quicksand. He was definitely stepping into quicksand, thinking forever thoughts. Yet, if ever there was a woman he’d even consider such a thing with, Briana Morgan was the one.

A flash of lightning out over the sea caught his attention and he waited for the answering boom of the thunder. It appeared as if Mother Nature were going to put on a show. Slade picked up his pace.

Funny thing about being on this island, about having so much time on his hands to think and ponder and reflect He’d asked himself countless questions he’d avoided for years, about his puzzling past this unforeseen present he’d been thrust into, and about his hazy future. He hadn’t come up with every answer, but he’d found a few.

What did he want? Briana had asked him on this very beach the night of their picnic. Well, he supposed he wanted what most everyone wanted. Though he’d never admitted it out loud, he wanted acceptance and respect and… and love. He wanted to be loved for who and what he was, for his good points and bad, for his strengths and weaknesses.

But he was deathly afraid he’d blown it.

His defenses down their last evening together, he’d told Briana the truth about Megan and Rachel. She’d been wonderfully understanding that night maybe too understanding. She’d wanted to erase his pain by offering herself to him. And he’d been well on his way to taking her up on it before the ringing phone had put a stop to things.

Maybe it was just as well. She’d left early the next morning and been gone four days now. Four days in which she’d had time to think and rethink and reconsider. Undoubtedly she’d realized in the cold tight of day, and the ones that followed, back on her home turf with close family and friends surrounding her, that that phone call had saved her from making a terrible mistake.

Briana was too young, too beautiful, too intelligent to throw herself away on a misfit like himself. She had talent, for he’d seen the few photos she’d displayed at the exhibition, and money, and a rock-solid family background to draw strength and support from. She didn’t need him, never would.

And he wanted no part of a one-sided love affair. He didn’t want her pity and that, he’d begun to believe, was why she’d reached out to him that night. She’d felt sorry for him. God, what a terrible basis for a relationship.

The light drizzle had turned into a steady rainfall, not yet a deluge, but corning down pretty hard. The beach was deserted for as far as he could see, with no one else foolish enough to go walking in the rain when a storm was brewing. Slade walked on, already quite wet, unconcerned about getting soaked. What difference did it make? He had no one waiting for Mm, no one who cared if he caught cold or lived to see another day. Lord, now he was moving into self-pity!

No matter. He’d survive. Others had walked away and he’d survived. Briana would return in her own sweet time and be unable to meet his eyes as she’d explain that she’d thought things over and decided to sell her grandfather’s house after all because she was moving back to the mainland permanently. And he’d put on a smile if it killed him, and wish her well. Damned if he wouldn’t.

Love was for fools, Slade reminded himself as his Dock-siders sprayed wet sand with each step. For a moment, he’d forgotten that, and he desperately wished he hadn’t. She’d snuck in during that brief moment, but he’d squeeze her back out. Because loving, needing someone, was the thing that brought a man to his knees.

Slade stopped in his tracks when he heard an unfamiliar sound. Like moaning or sobbing. Glancing around, he realized he was almost upon Mayberry House. He remembered vividly Brie telling him about the tortured ghosts of Josh and Annabel Mayberry, who often cried out for each other on stormy nights.

It couldn’t have been real, the sound he heard. But wait! There it was again, an eerie keening. Romantic foolishness, Slade told himself as he turned back. But what he saw then had him halting again.

Someone was walking toward him on the beach, but he couldn’t make out who. The globelike streetlamps that dotted the coastal road were dimmed by the falling rain, casting only a small halo of light. Whoever it was had a head bent down, hands in their pockets much as he had, eyes downcast, probably as lost in thought as he. He stood waiting, wondering, unable to stop the sudden acceleration of his heart.

No, it couldn’t be, could it?

Perhaps a hundred yards away, the person became aware of him and slowed. Over the sound of the rain, he heard a sharp cry and then she began running toward him. Recognition slammed into Slade and he set off to meet her.

Blood pounding, Brie sprinted to him, abandoning her hopeless thoughts, her fears. Forgetting everything except there he was, the man she’d been hoping to find, the one she wanted above all others.

Heart thumping, Slade reached her, all but colliding with her, grasping her body to his and fastening his mouth on hers. She was here, she was in his arms, she was kissing him like she’d been gone for four years instead of four days. Holding her, he lifted her off her feet and spun around with her, the kiss going on and on while the rain poured down on them. And they didn’t care.

Finally, needing air, Brie pulled back, trying to make out his features in the dim lighting. “Is it really you? Are you really here?” Her voice was a little hoarse, a little hesitant. All during her long, long walk, she’d become more convinced with each soggy step that he’d left the island, that he’d gone away so he wouldn’t have to deal with the unwanted feelings she’d aroused in him. When she’d looked up and seen him, she wasn’t sure if her hopeful heart had conjured him up like an apparition. But no, his arms around her were firm and strong and his hard body against hers was warm and familiar.

“Yes, I’m here. You came back.” Slade set her back down on her feet, his hands stroking her hair off her wet face. “I was convinced you weren’t going to.”

She smiled then, wondering if the dampness on her face was from the rain or her own joyful tears. “I was worried about you. I’d just about convinced myself you’d left Nantucket.”

A rumble of thunder overhead sounded almost as loud in Slade’s ears as his hammering heart. Could he believe what he was hearing? That was the second time she’d claimed to be worried about him. Could she really want him as much as he wanted her? He didn’t have the words, so instead, he bent his head to kiss her again, long and thoroughly, until he scarcely had the breath to pull back.

He smiled then, feeling giddy with the sight and sound and feel of her. His mouth close to her ear, he whispered. “I want you. What do you think we should do about that?”

She nuzzled into his neck. “Find a warm, dry place.”

“How fast can you run in this?” he asked, glancing up at a liquid sky.

Her smile was challenging. “Faster than you, I’ll bet.”

Turning, she began streaking down the beach, clumps of sand flying from her wet sneakers. Grinning foolishly, Slade started after her. He could run faster now, he knew, because his heart wasn’t nearly as heavy.

Feeling mellow, he let her win the race by a hair, as he followed her onto his porch and dug for his key.

Breathing hard, Brie toed off her sodden shoes on the wooden floor. “We can’t walk across Jeremy’s white carpeting all dripping wet like this.”

“The hell we can’t. I’m ripping out that carpeting soon, anyway.” But when he finally got the door open, he slipped off his shoes, too. “Come here.” When she moved closer, he picked her up in his arms, stepped over the threshold, and bumped the door closed with one hip. “Only one set of footprints this way.”

Unable to stop smiling, Brie wound her arms around his neck and held on. As he climbed the stairs with her, he pressed his mouth to hers in a breathless kiss, one he didn’t break until he’d carried her through Jeremy’s huge master bedroom suite and on into his large bath tiled in several shades of blue.

Setting her down, he gazed around. “I haven’t used this room yet, but I think it’s time. Feel like a shower?”

“Mmm, I think we could both use a rinsing off.” Or was it a cooling off? But she didn’t want to cool off. She wanted the heat he offered, the sweet warmth she knew he’d bring to her. After the long months, years of being cold, Brie knew she’d found someone who could warm her again.

The shower stall was large, enclosed by smoky glass on two sides in the far corner. Even the oversized tub looked inviting. Through the doorway, she could see the mahogany four-poster king-size bed, the room done in blue and white. “Where do you sleep if you haven’t used this room?”

“Down the hall. There are two spare rooms plus the storage room.” A shadow flickered over his features, then was gone just as quickly. “I haven’t felt comfortable in here, until now.”

She wasn’t sure just how her presence made a difference, but she was glad he’d overcome another hurdle. With one hand, she gathered her hair to the back, then nodded toward the shower. “Shall I go first?”

His expression unreadable, he nodded as he pointed to a double rack. “Lots of clean towels, so help yourself.” He walked out, leaving her alone.

Her nerves skittering, Brie turned on the jets, then slipped out of her wet things, leaving them in a heap in a corner of the tiled floor. Holding up one of the fluffy white towels, she saw that it was generous enough to wrap around herself after her shower. She felt ready to make love with Slade, yet she was just a shade apprehensive, too. It had been an awfully long time, which was just one reason she was glad he’d suggested cleaning up. The first time, at the very least, ought to be special.

Stepping under the spray, she let the soothing water flow over her before picking up the shampoo.

Minutes later, intent on rinsing shampoo from her hair, she wasn’t aware that the shower door had opened until she felt a hand on her arm. She jumped back, startled. “Oh!”

“I couldn’t wait,” Slade said, his voice husky. He saw soapsuds gliding over pale, golden skin, wet blond hair falling past creamy shoulders and suddenly wary brown eyes. In a gesture as old as time, he watched her arm automatically move up to partially conceal her breasts, then drop down as she obviously realized the move was foolish under the circumstances.

“Don’t hide. Not from me.”

“I… uh … can step out and give you more room.” Perfectly silly to be self-conscious at this stage of the game, she reminded herself, yet that’s exactly what she was.

“I don’t need more room. I need you.” Dipping his head into the spray, he pressed his mouth to her breast and heard her draw in a sharp breath. Her knees seemed to sag so he slipped an arm around to steady her as he continued the intimate kiss. In moments, she seemed to sway closer, her flesh more willing for his attention than her mind was yet.

He shifted his concentration to the other breast and feasted there for long moments. Briana’s arms looped over his shoulders and her head tipped back as a soft moan came from between her parted lips. Slade trailed upward, planting kisses along the lovely line of her throat then captured her mouth. Bodies locked together, they lost track of time.

Finally, tossing back his wet hair, he reached for the soap and held it out to her. “Help me?”

Standing to the side out of the spray, she looked at the soap, then at him. Swallowing around a nervous lump, she took the soap into her palm and began skimming along his shoulders, down over biceps hard as rocks all the way to his fingertips. Back up, she moved to lather his chest, swirling the clean, lightly scented soap in the dark hair there. Never having done this before, never having shared a shower even, Brie couldn’t believe how surprisingly sensual it was to feel free to explore and caress the masculine hills and valleys. Her shyness forgotten, her other hand joined its mate to tangle in the incredibly soft hair of his chest pausing to outline the firm muscles, then slipping down along his rib cage.

There she stopped, looking up at him. “Would you like me to wash your hair?”

His smile was intimate, knowing. “Afraid?”

She stood her ground, though her pulse stuttered. “No.”

“Good.” But he let her off the hook and pulled her to him. As she raised her face to the spray, he sent his hand on a journey of discovery, inching lower until he cupped her. He felt a response shudder through her, then his fingers found her and moved inside as her knees threatened to buckle.

Whirled into a sea of sensation, Brie could do little more than hang on as desire rocketed through her. His mouth was on hers as his clever touch worked its magic. Needs pounded throughout her system, screaming for a release just out of reach. She groaned into his mouth as she strained against him.