Undeniable (3 page)

Terry rolled her eyes at the twins shedding their clothes
beside her. “Did you guys see Diana’s Mr. Right at Cabana’s tonight?” They both
giggled and shook their heads as she unclasped her bra. “Unless that nerd, the
one you never would have glanced at if Nana Lina hadn’t called—”

“He was not a nerd,” Diana said with a soft laugh.

“Well unless he’s the love of your life,” Terry continued,
“or Mr. Right is some perv lurking in the bushes, face it, Di, you ain’t
meeting him tonight.”

A wave of heat washed over Sebastian. Watching the women
went against every moral he possessed, every vow he’d made to the angels, yet
each discarded piece of Diana’s clothing incited his body and, like a great
mystery, insisted he remain and discover what had yet to be revealed.

He forced himself to close his eyes and reminded himself
that this woman may have lured Marek to his death. The lump in his throat
threatened to suffocate him. Why should she have another week of life? She
already had one more day than Marek. Marek’s wife and little girl didn’t get
another week with him.

Frank Nostrum didn’t deserve another week with his daughter.

Compelling her to swim until she drowned would be kind
compared to what Sebastian had planned, but the idea of watching her slip under
while her friends struggled against his mental hold was definitely tempting.
Too tempting to ignore.

Diana shuddered. One second the crisp night air caressed her
skin, the next the air felt charged with electricity. A strange tingling that
lifted her hair by the roots flowed over her head. She nodded in agreement with
the sudden idea that she
could
swim across the lake. She took a step
toward the shore. The tingling returned and she promptly forgot what she had
been considering a moment before. She raised her hand to scratch her head, then
froze. “Oh my God, Ter, I think there’s a bug in my hair.”

Terry immediately started sifting through her hair. “Okay,
Di, don’t freak out. It’s probably just some moth.”

Diana squeezed her eyes closed and forced herself to stand
still while every muscle screamed that she run into the lake and drown whatever
had crawled across her scalp. “Just get it out!”

“There’s nothing in your hair. Wait a minute. Did you do
that just so I’d stop making fun of Angelina’s prediction?”

Diana glowered at her best friend. “The last time you
convinced me to ignore one of Nana’s predictions, I ended up losing my state
title.”

“Was that the year you puked all over my parent’s carpet,
then passed out in our tub,” Cindy asked.

Unconvinced that nothing lurked in her hair, Diana bent
over, flung her hair over her head and answered as she combed her fingers
through the knots and curls she could never seem to tame, “And woke up so sick
and sore I could barely raise my legs high enough to get out of the tub, much
less kick some hotshot in the jaw.”

Fingers parted her hair. Terry scowled through the opening.
“Get over it, Di! That was in high school! And how was I supposed to know the
champion kick boxer from California had moved here?”

“Nana Lina did.” Diana flung her hair back over her head as
she straightened. She yanked at the buttons of her shirt, then shrugged out of
it. Emphatically shaking her head, she added, “I love you, Terry, but you’re
not screwing this up for me. Not this time.”

Terry draped her arm over Diana’s bare shoulders, led her
away from Mary and Cindy, then whispered, “Girlfriend, you need to see a
therapist. You masturbate nearly every night and yet you wait for Nana’s
permission to do the deed just because she predicted your virginity would hold
some power over your soul mate.”

“Don’t forget the warning that if I failed in winning his
heart, I’d spend eternity in a living hell while you and the rest of humanity
faced ravenous beasts unleashed by—

“The wrath of the angels,” Terry cut in with an ominous
voice. “Hello!” She held up a finger. “One. All old ladies believe men only
marry virgins. And they all believe that women who give out before marriage
will go to hell.” She raised another finger. “Two. Soul mate? Ravenous beasts?
Need I say more?” Not waiting for a response, she shot up a third. “And three.
No offense, Di, but your dad’s whacked and she’s his
mother
!”

Diana’s stomach clenched. “And I’m his daughter. Does that
make me nuts too, Terry?”

“No, but—”

Diana sighed. “Look, you come home every night to a mother
and father who miss you. It doesn’t matter if you were gone a few days or just
a few hours. They missed you. You know they missed you.” She glanced up at the
stars and clutched the silver locket bearing her mother’s picture. “I want that
so much, it hurts. Someone who misses me, someone who’s not too obsessed with—”
She bit back her words and searched the dark windows overlooking the third
floor balcony of the house for any sign of the boy who’d moved into town over
the winter.

She could swear someone was watching, listening. She didn’t
feel it in her bones; she felt it on every inch of exposed skin. Heat washed
over her body, lingering on her breasts, sweeping down her ribs, her stomach.
She gasped and covered her mound even though she still wore her thong.

The shadows surrounding them seemed to press closer and
closer. Her heart ached, but she couldn’t fathom why.

Her grandmother’s prediction replayed in her mind.

I see you and your soul mate surrounded by darkness. And
butterfly wings—thousands of butterfly wings—fluttering against your heart. You
offer him a white rose that is so flawless, so pure, its light blinds him long
enough for you to capture his heart. Then you will have what you’ve always
desired, Diana. Then you will know eternal love. But fail in winning his heart
and you will spend eternity in a place even worse than Hell, Diana, while the
rest of humanity falls beneath ravenous beasts the angels unleash ―

“What’s wrong,” Terry asked, squeezing her shoulder.

Diana bit her lip and glanced up at the house. “Nothing. I’m
just a little nervous.”

“Look, sweetie,” Terry said, “I understand how you feel.
Really, I do. But you’ve lived your life by rules dictated by a woman who never
leaves her house.”

“In my family, we call that stability,” she mumbled to
herself. Her mother deserted her. Her father, obsessed with the idea that he
was this century’s Van Helsing, barely noticed her. A housebound grandmother
who showered her with love and only asked that she wait for her go-ahead to
lose her virginity deserved her loyalty and obedience. “And I don’t mind
waiting.”

“Yeah, right. I bet when she called and said tonight was the
night, you nearly came in your pants.” Terry let out a bark of laughter, then
covered her mouth and shot a quick glance up at the house.

Although the thought of finally being with a man terrified
her as much as it excited her, Diana tossed her hair over her shoulder and
Terry’s arm with a flick of her head, then grinned. “You’ve got that right.”

When they rejoined Mary and Cindy beside their clothes, she
slid her fingers under the straps of her thong and started to lower them. The
hairs on the back of her neck rose. Her hands stilled. She hesitated long
enough to steal a glance at the windows before sliding her thong down her legs.
The blinds and curtains didn’t stir, but she still felt as if someone watched
her every move.

Dropping her thong, she looked up at the sky just as the
moon disappeared behind a lone cloud. A cool breeze lifted her hair. The ends
tickled her lower back. She stared up at the multitude of stars twinkling down
at her and, with a mental wink at the moon, picked which star she’d dance for
tonight. “Isn’t it a beautiful night? It would have been perfect…making love
under the stars.”

“Been there, done that. The bugs kinda put a dent in the
mood.” Terry chuckled.

Cindy groaned. “Not to mention grass tickling your ass.”

Diana giggled. She glanced over her shoulder and frowned.
“Or unwanted onlookers. We’d better get swimming before our young voyeur wakes
up.”

Mary slid behind Cindy and peeked at the house over her
shoulder. “Maybe we should find another spot. I heard Bobby has a website where
he’s promising naked pics of Lake George girls. Something tells me he means
us.”

Diana crossed her arms under her breasts. “We’ve been
skinny-dipping here since we were kids. I’ll be damned if some horny kid is
going to make us leave.” She stared at the lake. Stars twinkled on the ebony
blanket of water. She watched them flow into each other, touch, merge. “I
thought tonight I’d be here with the love of my life, finally giving this
twenty-five year old body what it should have had with Rickie Lemax in twelfth
grade.”

Terry let out a short bark of laughter. “Yeah, right. Like
you’d ever give in on the first date. Then or now.”

Diana grinned mischievously over her shoulder as she
sashayed toward the shore. “Girls, I’m so horny I’d probably tear his clothes
off in the first five minutes.” She waited for Terry to catch up, then added,
her voice firm, “
If
I was sure he was the one Nana told me to wait for.”

Terry ran in front of her, then turned around and grabbed
her arms. “See, you’ve got it backward, Di. When I think I’ve met Mr. Right,
he’s gonna have to wait ‘til I’ve convinced him I’m not a slut.”

“Which you are!” Mary and Cindy said in unison as they ran
past Diana and Terry into the water.

“I am not! Sluts have sex with anyone willing.” Terry stuck
out her chin. “I’m very choosy.”

“Not!” Mary dove under to avoid the spray of water Terry
kicked up.

Diana swished her toe back and forth in the cool water.
“Well I’m not totally led by Nana Lina’s predictions. Her Mr. Right might not
be right enough for me. It’s not like as soon as she says go screw him, I’ll
let some stranger jump my bones. I’m not spreading my legs ‘til I’m sure.
That’s really all she wants.”

Terry leaned over and whispered. “Give up this crap about
saving yourself for your soul mate, Di. Nana’s old. Her predictions are
probably as wrinkled as her ass. She said you’d meet him tonight and you
didn’t. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

“Man, I’ll never get how you’ve held out so long, Di,” Cindy
said as she floated on her back.

Terry licked her lips. “Especially with the last guy. The
fireman? He had the kind of bod even I might go two nights with.”

Diana closed her eyes, envisioning the washboard abs that had
caught and held her attention for nearly a month. “Mmmm, he was tempting. He’s
still leaving me messages calling me a cock-teaser.”

“Which you are,” Cindy shouted from the water, then dove
under again when both Diana and Terry retaliated.

“I am not! The guys usually got more out of it than me. And
Smokey the Bear left bruises all over my boobs, the creep.” She poked a finger
into the side of one of Terry’s breasts. “Yours look and feel great, by the
way.”

Turning from side to side, Terry grinned. “They do, don’t
they?” She nodded down at Diana’s breasts. “Well worth the money, honey. You
could turn those Barely Bs into Double Ds by the end of the summer.”

Diana ran her hands over her breasts and frowned. “I see
nothing wrong with my perfectly full Bs. If I had the money, I’d spend it on my
nose.”

“When you do meet Mr. Right, he’s gonna be more interested
in these than your crooked little nose.” Terry flicked Diana’s nipple and
smirked when Diana gasped. “No, you’re not too horny.”

Diana rubbed her nipple, embarrassed by the way it hardened.
“We’d better hurry. Our young Acteon,” she whispered, nodding toward the house,
“might wake up.”

Terry laughed. “Then we’d just have to feed him to the
dogs.”