The moonlit beach was dotted with the shadowed bulk of palms. They slipped off their shoes and stepped onto the sand. Away from people and noise, Taylor could hear the small rustles of the night creatures going about their business. To one side, a crab scuttled into a stand of mangrove. And the waves grew louder.
Dev led her past the palm trees and onto the dock. Their feet made hollow thumps as they walked along the creosote coated planks. Thick ropes swung from squat posts, making only a passing pretense at security. It didn’t matter, really; in such shallow, warm water, a person falling in could hardly get hurt. Out on the end of the dock, a red light atop a tall post winked out to sea.
The water stretched away from them black and fathomless. Far in the distance, on the coast of the mainland, a few lights glimmered. Above them, stars painted their patterns on a midnight velvet sky.
Dev looked up at them. “The stars are different down here, have you noticed?” Somehow, that had been the thing that had finally allowed him to let go the frustration and betrayal, that sense of being somewhere different. He’d come out to the dock at night a lot those first weeks. Gradually, the peace had seeped into his soul. “That was the first thing I looked for down here, the Southern Cross.” He pointed. “You can barely see it on the horizon.”
Taylor stepped close to him and he felt the soft swell of her breasts brush against his arm. “Where?”
He moved so that she was in front of him and pointed over one of her shoulders so she could sight along his finger. “There, there, and…there.”
“Do you know any other constellations?”
“I was pretty into it when I was a kid.” It had been a good excuse to get out of the house and away from the fighting. “There’s Sagittarius and Scorpio,” he said, pointing them out. Taylor’s hair brushed against his arm, silky and light.
“How come all of the constellations are always critters?”
“They’re not. You’ve got Perseus and Orion, they were warriors, and Cassiopiea, she was a seer.”
“Always alone, though. Don’t you think all those lonely shepherds that named the original constellations would have seen lovers somewhere?”
“Sure. They just didn’t make it into the astronomy books.”
She leaned back against him and he wrapped his arms around her. “I like the idea of lovers painted on the sky.”
“How about earthbound lovers?” He nuzzled her hair, breathing in her scent.
Taylor turned in his arms. In her eyes, he read promise, challenge and mischief. Then she pressed her mouth to his. It jolted through him down to his toes. He made himself concentrate on the soft, nibbling temptation, holding back from letting his hands rove over her body, that sleek, alluring frame. He could taste the faint sweetness of the margarita she’d had at the theater.
Then she stepped away. “How about lovers in the water?” she asked, dropping her shoes.
Exhilaration tore through him. “You don’t have a suit,” he pointed out.
“Mmm, you’re right, and I’d hate to ruin this nice dress.” She reached down and pulled the pink silk up, sliding it off over her head.
Underneath, she wore nothing.
His mouth went dry. Her skin glowed pale and lovely in the moonlight, rounded breasts tipped with the darker shadows of her aureole. Before he could look his fill, she turned and walked to the edge of the dock.
“I think you’re running behind, Mr. Carson. You’d better catch up,” she said, flashing a look at him over her shoulder.
And dove into the water.
3
THE SALTWATER CLOSED AROUND her body and slid against her skin, warm as an embrace. Like a sea creature, she arrowed through the water, feeling a rush of illicit arousal at the brush of liquid against her bare nipples, her bare behind. She burst up through the surface laughing at her own audacity.
And blinked. The dock was empty in the moonlight. Taylor gave a quick glance around, raking her fingers through her wet hair. He was here somewhere, she knew. A man like Dev Carson didn’t walk away from a challenge. She felt the thrill of expectation.
Then the water next to her exploded and she jumped and whirled to see him rearing out of the water.
She put a hand to her chest, suddenly intensely aware of her bare breasts above the waterline. “You just took ten years off my life, you know.”
“Did you think I was a sea monster?”
Actually, with the water streaming from his shoulders and his hair soaked and disheveled, she thought he looked more like some kind of a sea god. A surge of anticipation ran through her as he moved nearer. “You can never tell what’s swimming around,” she said, then blinked as he disappeared. Seconds ticked by, then she jumped at the feeling of a slippery hand sliding down her back.
He surfaced a few feet away. “Well, you know, you’re taking your chances, swimming at night. You never know what’s going to decide to take a bite out of you.” He stepped closer and a little shiver of anticipation ran through her.
“I know. Something just fondled me,” she said.
“Those damned fish are getting more forward all the time.”
“Maybe it wasn’t a fish. Maybe it was some other kind of critter.”
“All the more reason you should stay close so I can protect you. I’ll keep an eye out for the bad guys.”
“You must have good night vision.” She swayed lightly in the soft pressure of a swell.
“I eat lots of carrots.”
“Planning ahead?”
“It never hurts to be prepared.”
“Were you a Boy Scout?”
He laughed, a low, rough sound in the dark. “No, I hung with a more disreputable crowd.”
It had her pulse thumping. “Maybe I should go in, then. A young lady’s known by the company she keeps.”
His teeth gleamed in the dim lighting. “Did you learn that from your mama?”
“From cotillion, thank you very much.”
“Somehow you don’t seem like the type to get too caught up in rules. After all, the signs say no skinny dipping.”
“I wanted to go swimming,” she said with dignity.
“Without a suit?”
“I’m impatient.” Somehow, she was breathless, even though she hadn’t moved.
“So am I.” His eyes were shadowed. The moonlight had leached the color out so that they just seemed to glow silver.
“What are you impatient for?”
He skimmed a hand across the water between them and stepped a bit closer. “You.”
Taylor stared at him, watched him come near. Then she whipped out of the way, swimming past him so that she brushed his legs. His fingers started to close around her ankle, but she whisked past. When she felt him stroking after her, she abruptly reversed direction in a flip turn and surfaced, breathing hard.
Dev came out of the water a few feet away from her. “Playing cat and mouse?”
“Or shark and angelfish.”
“Are you calling me an