Summer Magic (13 page)

“I think you’re a much better cook than I am,” she said in a singsong voice.

Logan lay beside her, smiling. “I doubt that. After all, you’re the daughter of a very successful master chef.”

She closed her eyes. “My culinary skills will never match my father’s.”

Moving closer, Logan turned on his belly and draped an arm over her flat middle. He couldn’t remember when he’d been so relaxed. A cool ocean breeze floated over his body, and he wondered if the air had cooled too much for Caryn to remain outdoors wearing only a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. The storm had broken a record-breaking two week heat wave.

“Let me know when you’re ready to go in.”

“Are you kidding,” Caryn remarked, moving closer to his warm body. “I could sleep out here all night.”

Raising his head, Logan chuckled. “I can just imagine you waking up screaming because a crab has decided to feast on your bare feet.”

She opened her eyes, their gazes meeting in the ghostly moonlight. “If I wake up screaming, then you’ll have to protect me. And knowing you, you’ll probably catch the hapless crustacean and cook him.”

He held her gaze, and there was only the sound of the incoming tide as lapping waves broke against the sandy beach. “You’re right about that, Caryn. You’ll always have me to protect you.”

Everything that was Logan Prescott swept over her in that instant as she rose and looped her arms around his neck, inhaling his familiar fragrance. She savored the unyielding strength of his hard body and his warmth.

Turning her head, she stared longingly into his eyes, smiling. “Thank you for a wonderful dinner.”

Logan’s gaze moved slowly over her deeply tanned golden-brown face. “I should be the one thanking you. I was carrying a lot of hatred when I first stepped foot on Marble Island. And knowing I had to share this house with a woman did little to improve my disposition.”

“And now?”

Reaching up, he picked at the short curling hairs on the nape of her long neck, rubbing them between his fingertips. “Now I wouldn’t want it any other way. You’ve helped me more than you’ll ever know.”

Her moist breath swept over his mouth as she inched closer. “Are you saying you like sharing the house with me?”

“I like sharing
everything
with you,” he whispered seductively. He displayed the sensual smile that always made her catch her breath as she ran her forefinger down the length of his straight, narrow nose.

“You have a beautiful face, Logan.”

He went still, then glanced away. “Men aren’t beautiful, sweetheart.”

“You are,” she countered softly. “Everything about your face is so perfect, so evenly balanced. Your eyes, nose, and mouth resemble those on male statues in European museums. You could’ve been the model for Michelangelo’s David.”

A slight smile played at the corners of his mouth. “I look nothing like my biological mother, except for coloring, so I assume I must have inherited my features and height from my father.”

“Doesn’t it bother you that you don’t know who your father is? That perhaps you may have passed him on a street and not known it?”

“The very questions you’re asking haunted me at one time, but not now. I’ve learned to deal with now, not the past.”

Caryn nodded. Logan was right. She had let go of her past when she decided never to write Tom’s name in her
journals. All she and Logan had was now, and she intended to enjoy whatever time given them.

“What do you want to do now?” she questioned so softly he had to strain to catch her words.

“I want to make love to you, Miss Caryn Edwards.”

She’d asked and he’d been truthful. And it was time she was truthful—to herself and to Logan. “I
need
you to make love to me.”

Together, as if on cue, they rose and picked up the remains of their dinner, carried it back to the house, and put everything away. They worked side by side in silence, cleaning the kitchen while anticipating what was to come.

Caryn retreated to her bedroom and showered while Logan did the same, but when she left the adjoining bathroom to reenter her bedroom she found Logan standing at the window staring down at the beach. He wore a pair of silk boxers, the stark white a brilliant contrast against his sable-brown flesh. Her pulse quickened, her gaze sweeping over his exquisitely proportioned body and lingering on the breadth of his wide shoulders, narrow waist, hips, and powerful calves.

Sensing her presence, he turned slowly and stared at her. She’d wrapped a towel around her head and another around her slender body.

“How long have you been waiting for me?”

“About ten minutes.”

She held up a jar of scented cream cologne. “Would you mind putting some cream on my back?”

Moving over to the bed, he patted the mattress. “Lie down.”

She complied and lay facedown on the sheet, resting her cheek on her folded arms. Closing her eyes, she shivered slightly when Logan removed the towels. The heat from his large body warmed her limbs as he smoothed the delicate fragrant cream over her back, arms, legs, and feet. Turning her over, he repeated his ministrations, his fingers gliding over her shoulders, breasts, and belly.

Caryn closed her eyes against his burning gaze when his
fingers retraced their path and tightened over the fullness of her breasts. His thumbs lingered around the nipples as they hardened, verifying her rising desire.

Closing his eyes, Logan manually traced the curves and valleys of her form, committing every part of her to memory. And he would need the memories after he left Marble Island because Caryn had set the terms for their brief interlude.

He wanted to tell her of the feelings she aroused in him. But how could he tell her he loved her when all she wanted was a fleeting physical attachment? And wouldn’t because it would make him too vulnerable, and he doubted whether he would be able to walk away from Caryn Edwards unscathed.

He wished he could be like some men who took whatever a woman offered, not offering or giving up anything in return. But he knew he was different. Caryn had offered him the gift of her body and he’d accepted it, while he’d returned the gift along with his love—a love she would never hear him openly declare.

Lowering his head, his tongue swept over one nipple, then the other. He teased the turgid flesh between his teeth, she gasping and arching off the mattress.

He reached out and held her hands above her head with one hand when she attempted to push him away. The power failure of the night before had not permitted him to visually feast on her naked body, and tonight he wanted his fill.

Her oversized T-shirts had hidden a lush feminine body which drew his devouring gaze. The shirts hid a pair of full, firm breasts with large dark brown nipples. His eyes closed briefly and opened just as quickly when he envisioned his child suckling at her breasts, but dismissed the vision as soon as it appeared. Caryn would never bear his children because she would never become more to him than a passing summer dalliance.

Lowering his body, he released her hands and traced the outline of her lush mouth with his tongue. Freed, she
curved her arms around his neck, pulling his closer, her own mouth staking her claim on his full lower lip.

He returned the kiss, his mouth slanting across hers in hungry abandonment. Her soft moans were his undoing as he gathered her in his arms and carried her out of her bedroom and down the hallway to his.

What followed left Caryn gasping as she lay sprawled across Logan’s bed, staring at him in the soft light of a bedside lamp. He divested himself of the silk boxers, paused to protect her, then slipped between her thighs with a strong sure thrust of his powerful hips.

The dormant sexuality of her body had been awakened with his hardness, and she couldn’t control her whimpers of delight with the erotic pleasure flooding her whole being. The passion became an ache, becoming stronger and stronger with each thrust as she rose, arching to meet him.

Wanting to get closer, Logan reached down and cupped Caryn’s hips, holding her captive and not permitting her movement. He felt the soft crush of her breasts against his chest, inhaled the clean sweetness of her freshly showered body, and he tried measuring the contractions of her fevered flesh pulsing around his rigid sex.

She’d ignited a fire which threatened to incinerate him as the flames of passion grew higher and hotter. His heart pounded uncontrollably in his chest, and he thought if he didn’t release his passions it would explode.

A moan of ecstasy slipped through Caryn’s lips, followed rapidly by another, then another. She felt the heat of Logan’s large body sweep down the length of hers, felt his hardness grow harder while her head thrashed wildly back and forth on the pillow.

The pleasure he gave her escalated and spiraled out of control, sending her hurtling into a fiery blaze of awesome, shuddering ecstasy. She screamed his name at the same time he groaned out hers. Together they climbed the peaks of fulfillment with gusts of desire shaking them long after the turbulence of their passions had quieted and cooled.

Caryn turned away from him, pressing her face to the pillow to stop the words of love from escaping. She hadn’t wanted to admit it, but she had made a mistake to sleep with Logan, and she wondered how long it would take before she blurted out her love for him.

Chapter Thirteen

Logan scrolled down the screen on his laptop containing the zoning board proposal, listening intently to his father’s voice coming through the receiver on the cellular telephone.

“There shouldn’t be a question of ingress and egress because the entire development is laid out in a quadrangle,” he argued softly. “Look at the plans again, Dad, and you’ll see what I’m referring to.”

“Hold on a minute, son. There are so damn many papers on my desk that I can’t … wait a minute, I have it.” There was a slight pause. “I see what you mean. It looks good. In fact it looks very good. Nice work.”

“Thank you.”

“There shouldn’t be too much of a debate over this one,” Jace remarked, confidence filling his deep, authoritative voice.

Logan smiled, nodding. “I also figured as much.” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “Have you had any feedback on new investors?”

“Nothing yet. But I’m confident we’ll find someone to finance this construction project.”

“I hope you’re right, Dad.”

“How often have I been wrong, Logan?”

“Not often.”

“Precisely. I’m not trying to put any pressure on you to return to Raleigh, but I want you to think about becoming more involved in the firm.”

A frown creased Logan’s smooth forehead. What was his father talking about? He was practically running the
architectural firm. “How much more involved do you want me to be?”

“I want you to take over.”

His fingers tightened on the palm-size instrument, squeezing until he left an impression of the telephone on his palm. “When did you decide this?”

“Maeve and I talked about this the day you called.”

“She told you why I called off the wedding?”

“Yes. And I don’t blame you. But this has nothing to do with Nina Smith or her father. I’ll turn sixty-nine at the end of October, and I no longer want the full responsibility of running a company at my age. I’ve been promising your mother I’d take a few months off and go on an around-the-world cruise with her. I probably could’ve put her off until next year, but she’s given me an ultimatum.”

“What’s the ultimatum?”

“She’ll ask Edwina Mattison to go with her.”

“Dad, she can’t. Edwina is worse than a blood-crazed shark when it comes to men. You don’t want Mama’s reputation compromised by vacationing with that woman.”

“Precisely.”

“When are you thinking of stepping down?”

“As soon as you return. I’d prefer it sooner than later.”

Logan’s gaze narrowed as he stared out at the beach where Caryn sat on the sand with Domino while the dog sniffed at her bare feet. How could he leave her now? How could he walk away from the woman who had helped him let go of his anger and bitterness? A woman who showed him how to love. A woman he’d fallen in love with.

His expression was impassive. “I’d rather it be later.”

“How much later, son?”

“The end of the summer.”

“I thought you were only going to be away for a month.”

“I’ve changed my mind.” And his change in plans was because of the woman with whom he was sharing a beachfront house. Not only was he sharing the house, but also her bed.

“Then I’ll look for your return at the end of the summer.”
There was no mistaking the disappointment in Jace Prescott’s voice.

“I’ll call you in a couple of days.”

Depressing a button, he ended the call, cursing softly under his breath. His father’s decision to retire had come at the wrong time. If Jace stepped down as CEO of J. Prescott and Associates, then he was expected to oversee the day-to-day operations of the architectural and design firm. He would no longer enjoy the luxury of working from home and going into the office two or three times a week. And he also would not have the option of spending weeks at a time on an island like Marble Island. Unlike Caryn, he would not have the summers for his leisure.

He’d contacted Hamilton and Cynthia, putting off their visit until midweek once he realized he wanted more time alone with Caryn. They’d been sleeping together for less than a week, and the anticipation of sharing of her body each night had escalated instead of declining. They usually breakfasted together, but did not see each other again until late afternoon. He often wondered where she went whenever she drove away in her car, yet could not bring himself to ask her. But this morning was different. She had remained on Marble Island.

Staring at the beach, he watched Caryn rise to her feet, her black swimsuit–clad body clearly outlined against the sun-bleached sand and calm gray waters of the Atlantic. She waded into the surf, then turned and glanced over her shoulder at Domino, who appeared reluctant to venture into the ocean.

Logan rose to his feet and whistled sharply between his teeth. The Dalmatian’s ears lifted, and he turned quickly and bounded back to the porch. “Stay, boy,” he commanded softly. The frisky puppy lay down on the top step, placing his muzzle between his spotted paws.

Man and dog watched while Caryn dove over a wave and swam strongly out into the ocean. Then, as if on cue, both went completely still, staring intently as she disappeared from their field of vision.

Logan moved off the porch and made his way to the beach, his gaze fixed on the area where he’d last seen Caryn. Not realizing he’d been holding his breath, he released it when he saw her swimming back to the shore. Why were his protective instincts so strong with her when they hadn’t been with any other woman?

But then he had to ask himself whether she needed protecting. There was no doubt she could handle herself physically, and she certainly wasn’t reticent about telling a man what she wanted and did not want. She hadn’t hesitated letting him know that she was willing to sleep with him, but wanted nothing more. There would be no declarations of love or talk of a commitment. He smiled as she neared him. Even though she’d denied it, and despite her overall gentle nature, he still thought of her as scrappy.

Her smile matched his. “Why don’t you come in? The water’s at least seventy-five degrees.”

Reaching out, he caught her hand and pulled her to his side, the moisture from her wet body seeping into his shirt and shorts.

“That sounds like a wonderful inviation. Wait here for me to change.”

Caryn sat on the beach, her gaze fixed on the ocean when Logan returned wearing a pair of Speedos. She jumped slightly as he sat down beside her and eased her onto his lap.

“A penny for your thoughts,” he whispered close to her ear.

Smiling, she rested her head against his shoulder. “They’re more like a hundred dollars.”

He whistled. “That’s rather steep.”

“They’re rather profound,” she said in a solemn tone. And they were. How could she tell him he occupied her waking thoughts and now even her dreams? How could she tell him she loved him so much she ached whenever she thought of not seeing him? That she left Marble Island after breakfast to distance herself from him.

“Can you afford to listen?” she teased.

Tightening his grip on her waist, he pressed his lips to her wet curly hair. “I’ll stop you when you deplete my bank balance.”

“I feel I’m at a crossroads in my life,” Caryn began, closing her eyes. “I love teaching, but I feel as if I could walk away from it without too many regrets. I felt like this at another time when I decided I wanted to change disciplines. Day after day I’d walk into the classroom and watch the blank stares on some students’ faces whenever we discussed the works of Charles Dickens, Edith Wharton, James Baldwin, or Toni Morrison. It was as if they didn’t care about what these brilliant writers had to say through their written words.

“I taught literature for three years, then took courses to enable me to teach life and career skills. I noticed the different attitudes immediately. I was teaching something most kids could relate to. For them discussing how to manage a limited budget, or how to prepare nutritious inexpensive meals was more to their liking. I love the give-and-take, the challenge of teaching, but there’s still something missing. I know it’s not my teaching skills, but something within me.

“I feel a restlessness akin to what a nomad feels when she can’t settle in any particular place. It’s not a yearning to travel because I’ve done that. I’ve visited Europe twice, and fulfilled a lifelong passion to see several African countries. I’ve tried analyzing what it is and can only come up with the justification that I’d moved around too much as a child.

“Every time my parents opened a new B&B, I had to leave my friends at one school to make new ones in a different state. I’d come to think of myself as a gypsy, and there were times when I actually dressed like one. One teacher in particular wrote a note home to my parents complaining about my style of dress—”

“What did they say?” Logan asked, interrupting her monologue for the first time.

“They saw nothing wrong with it. They told her I was very artistic and that I was just expressing myself with long flowing skirts and what I now think of as loads of very tacky jewelry.”

“Were you a popular student?”

“Not with the girls, but the boys loved what they said was my ‘free spirit.’ At that time I wore my hair down to my hips, and I had affected the habit of not putting any oil on it whenever it was humid. Everyone said I looked like a throwback to the hippie and Woodstock era with hair sticking out all over my head.”

Logan chuckled, his gaze sweeping over the short, shiny curls clinging to her well-shaped head. “The girls probably hated you because you were so much more beautiful than they were.”

Curving an arm around his slender waist, Caryn laughed softly. “You’re wonderful for a woman’s ego.”

“It’s not your ego I want to appeal to, sweetheart.”

She felt her breath catch in her throat, then start up again, increasing in rhythm until she was almost lightheaded.
No
, she cried silently.

“Don’t, Logan,” she said, finding her voice. “Don’t make what we have more complicated than it should be. You have to know I like you, otherwise I’d never permit myself to sleep with you.”

Fighting to control his temper, Logan swallowed back the virulent words poised on the tip of his tongue. She was using him. Using him for her own sexual gratification.

“What is it you want?” His voice was deceptively, calm, soft.

“Friendship,” she replied without hesitating.

The hell with friendship
, he shouted silently. Friends did not sleep together. And friends were usually honest with each other. He wanted to tell her he loved her, but she did not want his love. If he could, he would pack up everything and leave her and Marble Island, but now that he’d sampled her flesh he knew he was lost, lost in the passion she aroused in him just by existing.

“Friendship is what you want and friendship you shall have.” Tightening his grip on her body, he stood up and held her effortlessly in his embrace.

She buried her face in the hollow between his neck and shoulder, eliciting a smile from Logan. He couldn’t let her go any more than he could stop breathing, knowing he would love Caryn Edwards until the day he drew his last breath.

They swam, floated weightlessly on the calm waters, then after tiring returned to the house. Logan returned Domino to his cage, while Caryn retreated to her bathroom to shower. She shampooed her hair and had applied an instant conditioner at the same time as the door to the stall opened.

Logan stepped under the flow of the lukewarm water. “I thought I’d share your shower and save water.” His midnight gaze caressed her face and body, taking in the rich buckskin-brown hue of her face and a deeper, richer brown on her shoulders and back. It was apparent the sun loved Caryn Edwards. It had kissed her flesh, resulting in beautiful vibrant browns from chestnut to rosewood.

Giving him a saucy smile, Caryn tilted her chin to meet his amused stare. “I didn’t know you were also an environmentalist.”

“I didn’t know it myself until now,” he whispered, pulling her wet, naked body to his.

Her hands moved slowly up his hard chest, feeling muscle and sinew as they registered the unleashed power in his upper body. She hadn’t realized how wide his shoulders were until now, and she doubted whether her arms would meet around them.

He stood motionless, nothing moving, not even his eyes. She drank in his male beauty with his high, chiseled cheekbones, smooth and nearly poreless black skin, and his perfectly balanced features.