Lancelot's Lady (21 page)

Rolling slowly to her side, she reached for him, but the other side of the bed was empty.

"
Jonathan?
"

There was no reply.

"
Where are you?
"
she whispered in the dark.

She recalled his kiss and touched her lips. She thought of his hands on her, every moment leading up to a culmination that rocked her world.

Now he had vanished.

Swallowing hard, she sat up and turned on the lamp.

His clothes were gone too.

Rhianna moved from the bed, ignoring the dull throbbing of her body. Dressing hastily, she ran to her room and closed the door.

Seeds of doubt sprouted.

Did Jonathan regret what they
'
d done?

Tears sprang to her eyes.
"
Of course he does.
"
She moaned.
"
What have I done?
"

Sitting on the bed, she released a pent up breath. There was still a couple of weeks left of her stay here. How was she supposed to face him now?

She fell back.
"
Way to go. Your first
real
experience and you
'
ve scared him away.
"

Glancing at the clock, she saw it was just after three in the morning. The sun hadn
'
t even struggled to make an appearance yet.

There was no way she could sleep now.

Not
with Jonathan out there some―

She sat up.
"
I know exactly where you are.
"

Moving to the window, she peered through the glass.

There was a light on in Jonathan
'
s studio.

He
'
s painting.

"
Great job, Rhianna. You
'
ve driven him to work.
"

Her breath fogged up t
he glass. With one finger she drew four vertical lines.

"
Prison bars,
"
she muttered, though she suspected she wasn
'
t the only one feeling imprisoned.

She had to get away. Think about things. She needed someplace quiet. Peaceful.

Where could she find that?

She smiled.
The pool.

Grabbing a towel from the bathroom, she slipped quietly downstairs and out the door. She followed the path instinctively, her desire for calm leading her.

She heard the falls before she saw them. Without pausing, she peeled off her clothes, leaving a trail behind her. She stepped into the water and waded toward the center of the pool. Cupping her hands, she poured water down her neck. She sighed and closed her eyes.

Then her calm was interrupted.

She didn
'
t hear him approach as much as she sensed it. When she opened her eyes and turned, Jonathan stood on the shore, watching her.

"
I thought you
'
d be sleeping still,
"
he said.

She shrugged.
"
I woke up.
"

"
I can see that. Sorry, I felt an urge to paint.
"

"
I guess you have to give in when it
hits you,
"
she said dryly.

"
I have another urge now,
"
he said in a low tone.

She blinked.
"
I thought, maybe, you didn
'
t―
"

Jonathan stripped in the dark and waded out to her.
"
But I do.
"

She trembled when he reached for her. He tasted her skin, tracing feat
hery kisses along the side of her neck.

"
I want you, my little castaway.
"
He kissed her hard.
"
I want to take you behind the falls.
"

And he did.

Chapter 21

The following day passed by quickly. In the morning and afternoon, Rhianna taught Misty new signs and tested the girl
'
s conversation skills. That night, Jonathan taught a willing Rhianna a few things
―about the ancient art of lovemaking.

Now, stretched out on her stomach in Jonathan
'
s bed, she was fulfilled like never before. It was like someone had climbed inside her head and swept away the cobwebs, then moved to her heart and flipped a switch.

Someth
ing had changed.
Everything
had changed.

Rhianna studied the man beside her. Jonathan was lying on his side, facing her, eyes closed.

Did he feel the change too?

She sighed and hugged the pillow.

Jonathan had never mentioned a future together and she had no idea what to expect from him
―or if she had the right to expect anything. For all she knew, this was a summer fling, a simple distraction. He
'
d forget all about her once she was gone.

Of course, he
'
s not looking for anything permanent,
she berated herself.
He lives on a blasted island
in the middle of nowhere and you have a job and life back in Miami.

Now she was pissed.

She caught Jonathan staring at her.

"
What are you thinking?
"
he asked.

"
Nothing.
"

He propped his head up on one hand.
"
Liar.
"

"
I
'
m just wondering where this is leading.
"

"
By
this
you mean…
this
,
"
he said, trailing his hand across her back.

"
That tickles. Stop it.
"

His eyes narrowed.
"
What if I don
'
t want to?
"

"
Then we
'
ll never get any sleep.
"

He kissed the back of her neck.
"
Sounds like a plan.
"

"
I
'
m starting to wonder if this is all you want,
"
she blurted.

Jonathan froze.
"
You think all I
'
m after is sex? You should know me better than that.
"

Rhianna rolled to one side, pulling the sheet up to her chest.
"
Why would you think that? I don
'
t see you until after supper, then we
'
re with Misty, and then after that we
'
re…here. We never just…talk.
"

"
We can talk anytime you want,
"
he said.

For some reason, this angered her even more.

"
What part of
you aren
'
t around to talk to
don
'
t you get?
"

She knew she sounded like a disgruntled wife.

"
I
'
ve been a bit busy,
"
Jonathan said. He smiled.
"
I finally had an idea for a new painting. I think it
'
ll be one of my best.
"

Rhianna let out a huff.
"
Great. I
'
m happy for you.
"

She moved from the bed and began collecting her clothing.

"
What are you doing, Rhianna?
"

"
Going back to my room.
"

"
Don
'
t. Come back to bed and we
'
ll talk.
"

She eyed him suspiciously.
"
Talk.
"

"
I can do that you know. I
'
m not just a sexy guy after your body, you know.
"

She arched a brow.
"
So you
'
re sexy now, are you?
"

"
That
'
s what you told me an hour ago,
"
he said, grinning.

"
Maybe I should
'
ve kept that to myself. Wouldn
'
t want it to go to your head.
"

He patted the bed.
"
Come on. I promise I
'
ll behave. We
'
ll talk and I
'
ll keep my hands to myself. I won
'
t even kiss you.
"

Rhianna felt a twinge of disappointment.

~ * ~

Jonathan watched as Rhianna slipped into her bra and panties.
Don
'
t touch,
the action warned him. His fingers itched to do just that.

"
Fine, we
'
ll talk,
"
Rhianna said with a sigh.

When she slid beneath the sheet and pulled it up to her neck, he almost laughed.

"
So,
"
he drawled.
"
Where do we begin?
"

"
Tell me about your childhood. Where were you born? Do you have any siblings?
"

"
I
'
m an only child, born in New York, in the Big Apple.
"

"
And your parents? Where are they?
"

"
My mother died almost five years ago.
"

She touched his hand.
"
Sorry. Maybe we shouldn
'
t―
"

"
Hey, you wanted to know more about me,
"
he said.
"
My mother is dead and my father
'
s an asshole.
"
He tried to keep the bitterness from his voice.
"
It
'
s been years since I last saw him.
"

Rhianna
'
s eyes widened.
"
You mean he
'
s never seen Misty?
"

"
Nope. A
nd it
'
s better that way.
"

"
But she
'
s his granddaughter. His only grandchild.
"

"
Let me tell you about the man that is Misty
'
s
grand
father,
"
he said, seething.
"
He
'
s a rich, powerful man who doesn
'
t care one bit about family. When I was about seven, I overheard my parents arguing about a woman
'
s photograph my mother had found in one of his jacket pockets.
"

"
Your father was having an affair?
"

"
He always denied it, but yeah. He was messing around on my mother.
"

"
That
'
s awful.
"

"
My old man would yell at my mother, stay out all night doing God knows what, then creep into the house the next morning.
"
Jonathan flicked a look at the window, his voice softening.
"
I couldn
'
t wait to leave. I moved out the day after I turned eighteen. He called me after I went into art school. When he found out what I was doing with my life, he nearly had a heart attack. Said I was wasting my potential.
"

Jonathan remembered that call so clearly. His father had yelled at him, called him crazy and irresponsible. Jonathan had hung up on him.

"
And you haven
'
t been back?
"
Rhianna asked, her eyes luminous.

He shook his head.
"
I kept in touch with my mother. But I never went to see him.
"

"
Did your mother ever see Misty?
"

"
When they moved south after my mother
'
s diagnosis, Misty and I would go visit her every couple of months. We
'
d meet at a restaurant. My father never knew.
"

"
It
'
s been a long time, Jonathan. Maybe he
'
s changed.
"

"
I doubt it. The last time I saw him was the day I married Sirena. He walked into the back room where I was getting ready and told me my marriage was doomed from the start. Called Sirena a gold-digging wannabe movie star with no talent.
"
Jonathan smiled.
"
He was right about that.
"

"
I still can
'
t believe she
'
d walk out on Misty. Just give her up like that.
"

"
Sirena only cares about her career. Everything else just got in the way. Including me and Misty.
"
He stared at Rhianna.
"
I don
'
t know why it took me so long to realize Sirena wasn
'
t the one.
"

"
Sometimes it
'
s hard to face reality,
"
she said in a quiet voice.

~ * ~

Rhianna
wanted to comfort Jonathan, but she sensed now wasn
'
t the time. He was too angry, too hurt by his past. If there was one thing she knew well, it was that past hurts don
'
t heal overnight. Fixing what was broken took time―and a lot of soul searching and per
sistence.

"
My reality was that the three of us didn
'
t work,
"
Jonathan told her.
"
We used to come to Angelina
'
s Isle to get away from winter. Misty and I fell in love with it, but Sirena hated it from the start. I built the pool for her, thinking it would make her happy.
"

"
But it didn
'
t.
"

"
No. Sirena can
'
t cope without her weekly spa days and her morning Starbucks cappuccino.
"
He chuckled.
"
And she would
'
ve hated having you stranded here.
"

Rhianna shot him a scornful smile.
"
Gee, thanks.
"

"
She hated other women. Everyone was competition to her.
"

"
But you loved her.
"

He shrugged.
"
I thought I did. But hell, what did I know about love?
"

Rhianna didn
'
t want to contemplate the topic of love, so she changed the subject.
"
Did your parents get a divorce?
"

"
No. My mother forgave him and stuck by him to the bitter end.
"

Unable to stand the pain in his voice, she wiggled closer and eased one arm across his chest.
"
She loved your father very much.
"

Jonathan said nothing.

She took a deep breath.
"
If she could forgive him, why can
'
t you?
"

He glared at her.
"
Because he always carried around his lover
'
s photo. I caught him staring at it every time he thought he was alone.
"