FOR THE CHILDREN Read online

  "Do you see anything?" she asked in a low voice, watching her nieces.

  He shook his head. "Whoever you saw this morning is gone. There's no reason to stop your nieces from swimming. Everything has to be as normal as possible for them. They'd think it was odd if you kept them out of the lake, wouldn't they?"

  "Are you always this cold?" she whispered. "Is there anything you do without a reason, without planning it in advance?"

  He turned to look at her, his eyes suddenly blazing. "There are a lot of things I can't plan, Abby. Just like there are things that happen without a reason."

  "Like what?" Her voice was barely audible over the breeze and the lapping of the waves.

  "Like this." His mouth came down on hers, hard and fast. His kiss burned down into her soul, lighting a fire that threatened to consume her. She had no idea how long they stood there, his lips hungry and demanding on hers. When she reached for him, he took a step backward and looked away.

  "I'm sorry, Abby," he muttered. "I didn't mean to do that." Shaken, trembling inside with desire and fear, she felt his words gash a wound in her heart. Turning away, she managed to say, "That makes two of us, then."

  Stepping in front of her, he turned her head until she was forced to look at him. "That's not what I meant. We're supposed to be watching your nieces, not making out like a couple of teenagers."

  She felt the blood drain from her face as she swung around to search frantically for her nieces. "Oh, my God. I can't believe I forgot about them."

  "They're fine, Abby." He gave her a strange look. "They were right in front of us the whole time. That's not what I meant. All I was saying was that we were supposed to be watching for the men we saw this morning."

  "No, you don't understand. I'm supposed to be watching while they swim. I can't take my eyes off them for a minute."

  "That's a little excessive, don't you think?" He raised his eyebrows at her. "That kiss lasted maybe all of thirty seconds."

  "A lot can happen in thirty seconds," she retorted. "Swimming is dangerous."

  "Abby, they're in about a foot of water and we were standing right here. I'd say they were about as safe as they're going to be while they're swimming."

  "You don't understand," she cried.

  "Then tell me."

  Abby looked over at him, and for a moment she was tempted to do just that. She didn't think Damien would judge her, or condemn her for something that had happened so many years ago. And she really didn't blame herself anymore. She had realized long ago that it wasn't her fault. But she still couldn't force herself to tell him.

  "I'm just very concerned about water safety," she muttered. "I make sure I'm watching the twins whenever they're swimming."

  Damien watched her for a moment, and the understanding in his eyes made her uneasy. There was no way he could know, none at all. Turning away abruptly, she said, "I think I'll go for a swim myself."

  "Good idea," he said easily. "I'll join you."

  She didn't want him to join her. She wanted to get away from him, to put some distance between herself and those knowing eyes of his. Pulling off her short cover-up, she ran into the water and dived underneath, swimming out several yards until her feet barely touched the rocky bottom of the lake.

  "Aunt Abby," Casey called when she surfaced. "Can we come out that far?"

  "Stay where you are, girls," she replied. "You can't come out into deeper water until you can swim."

  Damien broke through the surface of the water beside her and turned to face the girls. "Your aunt Abby is right," he called. "But maybe later I can give you some swimming lessons."

  Abby turned to look at him, startled. "Swimming lessons?"

  "All kids need to learn to swim," he said, treading water and looking around the lake. "They're not too young to learn. I'm surprised your sister hasn't taken them to swimming lessons already."

  Abby thought of all the times she'd offered, and of Janna's adamant answer. They weren't old enough yet. Even though Abby knew the reason, she didn't agree with her sister. "Janna works during the day," she answered carefully. "It's hard to schedule things like swimming lessons when you work full-time."

  She could feel his eyes on her face as he studied her. "Are you always this protective?" he finally asked. It sounded like the words had been dragged out of him involuntarily.

  Shrugging, she turned away, watching Maggie and Casey play. They'd gotten out of the water and were building a castle in the dry sand on the shore. Angus, her cat, had followed them down to the beach and now sat on a rock watching them, and she glanced over at him. "I take care of my family," she said lightly.

  She felt his gaze follow hers to the cat. "And family is described as anyone or anything who comes into your life needing help?"

  His voice was surprisingly gentle, without sarcasm or scorn. Startled, she turned to look at him and found him gazing at her with a look of longing in his eyes so intense that her breath caught in her throat.

  "Damien?" she said, feeling a rush of heat sweep over her. Even the water swirling around her felt hot, as if licks of flame engulfed her.

  She saw the struggle in his eyes, saw him trying to pull away from her. But slowly, as if his hands moved against his will, he reached for her, pulling her toward him. Instead of taking her in his arms, though, he turned her around so she faced the shore.

  "Watch the girls," he whispered into her ear. "I just want to hold you for a minute."

  Maggie and Casey were mounding sand into a lopsided castle, their giggling voices drifting to her on the breeze. She yearned to turn to the man standing behind her, to lose herself in his embrace, but she couldn't look away from her nieces. She couldn't take her eyes off them while they were this close to the water.

  "I know," his voice whispered into her ear, and for a moment she thought he'd read her mind. "You watch them. I'll watch you."

  His hands settled on her hips, pulling her back against him. The water lapped gently over her shoulders, a cool counterpoint to the touch of Damien's fingers on her sides. The thin nylon of her swimsuit might as well have been nonexistent as the pressure from his hands burned into her. As he pulled her back into the cradle of his legs, desire washed over her in a wave of heat, leaving her trembling in his arms.

  And, in spite of his earlier words to her, she wasn't alone in her desire. She felt him burning into her, hard and rigid against her buttocks. When she shifted and moved against him, his hands tightened on her hips, pressing in and pulling her closer.

  To anyone watching them on the shore, they would simply be two people watching children play in the sand. But although her eyes and one part of her mind were focused on the two children in front of her, the rest of her being centered around Damien's hands on her stomach and Damien's body, pressed against hers in the cool water.

  His arms slowly encircled her waist as he bent down to press a kiss into her neck. "Forgive me, Abby, because I can't help myself." His whispered words brushed across the fine hairs on her neck, and she shivered convulsively, her body tightening under his hands. Slowly she reached out and laid her hands on his arms, holding them next to her.

  She heard his sudden intake of breath when she touched him, and felt the involuntary jerk of his body. Then, slowly and carefully, he moved his hands higher on her stomach.

  Her body throbbing, she held her breath, waiting for his touch. When his hands finally cupped her breasts lightly, his fingers barely brushing the sides, she exhaled with a rush and drew in a shaky breath. Desire twisted inside her until she ached to thrust her throbbing breasts into his hands. Instead, she stood very still, and waited.

  It seemed like he stood motionless forever, his hands resting on the curves of her breasts, his face still nuzzled into her neck. Finally he moved, and she had to bite back a cry of disappointment as one hand drifted down her stomach. Resting that hand on her abdomen, he lifted his head and looked up at Maggie and Casey.

  "Are they all right?" he asked, his voice breathless in her ear.<
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  "They're fine," she managed to answer.

  Bending his head to her neck again, he pressed his lips against a spot below her ear. She felt his tongue, hot and moist as he tasted her skin, and she shivered again.

  He went very still as she moved against him, then his hand trembled on her breast. Slowly, as if he was helpless to stop himself, his fingers sought out her nipple straining against the thin nylon of her swim suit.

  Desire exploded inside her, shinning her with its force. As he brushed his thumb over her again, barely touching her, she sagged back against him, her legs trembling and weak.

  "Damien," she moaned, his name drifting up and melting into the breeze that caressed them both.

  His hands stopped their explorations, and he murmured into her ear, "Do you want me to stop?"

  The small part of her brain that was watching the twins, the only part able to think, wanted to say yes. It urged her to move away from his hypnotizing hands, from the deep, drugging pleasure of his touch. But she was helpless against the passion he had unleashed, and so she shook her head no.

  That wasn't enough. He bent his head closer, until she could feel his breath ruffle the fine hairs on her neck. "Tell me, Abby. What do you want?"

  Swallowing hard, knowing that her next words would set her on an unknown path, she finally whispered, "I don't want you to stop."

  His hands trembled again, then he bent and kissed her neck. His tongue traced patterns on her skin, tasting her, swirling her taste around his mouth, letting her know how he wanted to taste other parts of her.

  Maggie and Casey rolled in the sand in front of her as Casey shrieked once, forcing her to focus on them. Damien had been right; they were on dry land and were perfectly safe. But still she couldn't take her eyes off them. As much as she wanted to turn around and melt into Damien's arms, she couldn't force herself to do it.

  And he seemed to understand. "Don't move," he murmured into her hair as he shifted against her. "Just let me hold you for a while."

  The weight of his hand on her breast shifted and eased, and she was shocked at how disappointed she felt. Then he lifted the edge of the tight green nylon, and his fingers slipped underneath it. Even in the cool water his skin burned against hers. When his fingers found her nipple, she turned her head to smother her cry against his shoulder.

  Her knees weakened, threatening to buckle under her, and she leaned more heavily against him. He surged into her, and she could feel the hard length of him probing against her buttocks. Mindless with need and consumed by passion, her eyes drifted closed as she tried to turn around in his arms. Then she heard a voice in front of her.

  "Aunt Abby, why are you and Damien just standing there?" Casey's voice had the innocent curiosity of childhood, and Abby's eyes snapped open.

  "We're watching you and Maggie, sweetheart," she managed to say weakly.

  "I thought you wanted to swim."

  "We're just getting used to the water, Casey." Abby stumbled over the words, feeling heat blaze into her face. "I'll come play with you in a minute."

  "Okay." Casey scooped more sand into her bucket and dumped it onto the castle.

  "She didn't see a thing," Damien whispered into her ear. "And she's not going to." He pressed his lips into her neck one more time and then stepped away from her. Abby turned in time to see him dive under the water. He surfaced twenty feet away from her and began swimming, heading steadily out into the lake. Still aching with the need he had stirred, she watched him for a while, feeling the same frustration that drove him. Finally she turned toward her nieces.

  As she swam the few strokes through the water to get to the beach, her body felt like an alien being, outside her control and totally foreign to her. When she reached the castle Maggie and Casey were building, she turned and looked for Damien again. He was far out in the lake, still swimming steadily. Was he running from her or from his own demons? she wondered.

  Maybe they were one and the same. Her heart twisted, but she turned and forced herself to smile at Maggie and Casey. "Do you want me to help you make your castle?" she asked.

  "Yes!" they shouted. They both spoke at the same time, telling her the story of the castle.

  After a few minutes she glanced over her shoulder. Damien was swimming back toward her. She turned back to the girls, but a movement off to the side caught her attention. A bright color flashed in the trees on her left, then was gone.

  A moment later a hiker emerged from the pines and began walking on the edge of the lake. He didn't look over at her, but she pulled the girls behind her anyway.

  As she watched, he veered up toward the trees again. Just before he turned, he gave her a casual wave and disappeared.

  * * *

  Chapter 8

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  Damien swam toward the middle of the small lake, cutting through the water with smooth, powerful strokes, swearing steadily at himself. He tried to ignore the need still throbbing inside him, tried to ignore the scent of Abby that still filled his senses, but it was impossible. He couldn't swim fast enough or hard enough to leave her behind.

  His need for her, his yearning for her touch, a force that had been building inside him since he'd first seen her, had overpowered him. He'd given in to it, and now he knew she wanted him, as well.

  He hadn't wanted to know that. It was hard enough to keep his distance when he thought his desire was one-sided. Now that he had felt her respond, held her in his arms while she shivered from his touch, it would be agony to back away from her.

  But it would be a worse agony to repeat what had happened today, far worse indeed to allow himself to feel anything again. Because he knew the price he would pay. And this time the cost would be more than he could afford.

  Pulling through the water as though the hounds of hell were after him, he didn't stop until he saw the shoreline approaching and red cliffs rising out of the water in front of him. Then he paused and turned around. He could barely make out the cabin hidden on the other side of the lake, and Abby and the two girls were tiny, almost invisible specks on the sand.

  His lungs heaved for air as he started back across the lake, calling himself every ugly name he could think of. He'd lost control of himself, and then compounded his mistake by swimming off and leaving the three of them unprotected. Some bodyguard, he thought bitterly, trying to propel himself through the water more quickly.

  By the time he dragged himself onto the beach, gasping for breath, Abby and the two girls were sitting in the sand, working on a sand castle. "We saw you swimming, Damien," Casey said, grinning at him over a castle wall.

  "You went far." Maggie examined him with a critical eye. "Did you have a tube?"

  The sand warmed his cool body, and the breeze dried the water on his back as he tried to steady his breathing. "No, Maggie, I didn't have a tube. I know how to swim."

  "We don't swim. I think my mommy is afraid of swimming," Casey confided. "She doesn't ever go in the water."

  "Maybe she just doesn't like the water." He casually answered the girl as he let his gaze drift over the area surrounding the cabin.

  "She's scared," Casey insisted. "I can tell."

  Damien looked back at the child with sharpened interest. "How can you tell she's scared, Casey?"

  "Because of the way she looks when we're playing in the water. She looks like Aunt Abby looked once, when we played in the bushes behind her house without telling her."

  Damien looked over at Abby, who was sitting rigidly in the sand. He expected her to be smiling at her niece's fantasies, but instead he saw a look of stricken fear on her face. Was it because of the swimming, or was it something else?

  "The lake can be dangerous," he said carefully, noticing that all three of them were listening to him. "But it's less dangerous if you know how to swim. Would you like me to teach you how?"

  Casey nodded her head with enthusiasm. "Yes! I want to be able to swim as far as you did, Damien."

  "It'll be a long time before you can do that. B
ut you should be able to swim along the shore by yourself." He looked at Maggie. "How about you, Mags?"

  The pet name slipped out before he realized it. But before he could react and snatch back the endearment, Maggie nodded doubtfully. "I guess so. But I'm not sure I want to put my face in the water."

  "I'll show you how, I promise you." He glanced over at Abby. "What do you think, Abby? Is it all right if I try to teach them to swim?"

  Abby looked at him, doubt in her eyes. "Are you sure?" she asked quietly. "I thought you had a lot of things to do while we were here."

  He knew what she was doing. He could see the concern in her eyes. She'd realized he didn't like being around the twins, but instead of condemning him for it, she was trying to give him an excuse. Trying to ignore the tenderness that welled up within him at her words, he shook his head. "I have time for some swimming lessons. As long as it's all right with you."

  "I don't mind," she said slowly. "I think the girls should know how to swim. But I need to talk to you first."

  As he watched her, he sensed that there was more to her decision than simply letting her nieces learn to swim. Pain and sorrow flickered in her eyes for a moment, then she looked at Maggie and Casey and her face softened.

  "Great." He spoke too heartily, trying to keep himself from wrapping Abby in his arms. He wanted to wipe that pain from her eyes and replace it with something else, something hot and full of desire for him. Something he shouldn't even be thinking about.

  He turned to the twins. "Why don't you play in the sand for another few minutes? I need to talk to your aunt Abby."

  When they had moved away from the girls, he took Abby's arm. He forced himself to ignore the way she felt, smooth and warm. And as soft as a satin sheet. "What is it, Abby? Would you rather I didn't teach them to swim?"

  "It's not that." She licked her lips, and he couldn't help the fire that snaked through him. "I saw someone while you were swimming."

  "What?" He tightened his hold on her arm. "Where?"