by Tina Beckett
Nate had actually sent his own money to the island anonymously asking it to be earmarked for the prevention and treatment of schistosomiasis.
“It was my first time out of the country as a doctor, and I’d never seen a case before. I always felt if I’d identified it earlier...”
“You couldn’t have known and it would have been too late by then, anyway. Our island was struggling on a lot of different fronts at that time.” Her fingers twined with his. “Believe me—her parents would not have given you that doll if they weren’t extremely grateful to you. If they felt you hadn’t done everything possible to save their child.”
“I would have done almost anything to save her.”
“I think you did everything you could have.” She studied him. “What was her name?”
“Marie.” A hard twinge went through his jaw, and he forced his teeth to unclench. He didn’t often say her name out loud.
There was silence for a few seconds, then Sasha said, “I’m glad you kept her doll.”
“It’s a reminder. She’s why I came back to Saint Victoria.”
“I’m glad for that too.” Her voice lowered. “Even if it was for those reasons.”
Was she really? He’d gotten the idea she wasn’t thrilled about him being there. Actually, she’d pretty much admitted it to him. And although he should have been able to let it roll off his back, her prickliness when they’d first met had bothered him. And he wasn’t sure why.
Was she changing her mind about him? Maybe. They were back on a first-name basis again. And he felt better after confiding in her.
Just then a sound hit his ears and a rogue wave rushed toward them before he could warn her, sloshing over their legs and knocking Sasha flat on her back. She sputtered, and he went to yank her upright before realizing she wasn’t struggling, she was laughing.
“Bondye mwen, what just happened?”
He leaned over her, chuckling at the look on her face. “Bondye mwen, indeed.”
“Sorry, the language just slips out sometimes. You know what it means?”
“After three years, I should. Besides, my God kind of comes through in any language. And I like those little slipups.” Maybe because he’d pretty much had that same thought. Only it hadn’t been about the wave. It was about how she looked right now, with her hair plastered to her head and her skirt... Hell, the thing was almost transparent.
Her eyes widened and she sat up in a rush. “Oh, no. Your shoes.”
“What about them?”
She waved her hand. “Well, one is here and one is...down there.”
“Ah, hell.” He leaped up, hearing her laughter as he jogged down to the low point of the water where his errant shoe was tumbling in the surf. He snatched it up, just as another wave crashed over his knees almost knocking him down. He looked up at where she was sitting and saw she’d made no move to stand up. She was holding her stomach as laughter poured out of her.
Suddenly, he felt carefree, loved that she could just get flattened by a wave and laugh about it rather than getting angry at her clothes being soaked. He tried to picture his mom in this kind of situation.
She definitely wouldn’t have been doubled over in mirth.
Reaching her side, he grabbed his other shoe and then her sandals and threw them out of the sea’s reach. Then he dropped back by her side. “So you find that funny, do you?”
“Yes. Very.” The laughter came again. “If you could have seen yourself running toward the water, your pant legs dragging around your ankles. What kind of chief of staff are you, anyway?”
“A very wet one. I could ask the same of you.” He leaned closer, murmuring, “What kind of doctor are you?”
The question hung in the air for a few seconds, before she said, “The kind who can laugh at herself.”
“Really? It seems you were laughing more at me, than at yourself.”
Her brows went up. “And you have a problem with that?”
“No. No problem at all.” In fact, he liked it. Very, very much.
This time the kiss wasn’t impulsive. Wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing. He’d thought about it. Thought about all the reasons why it was a bad idea. And then Nate Edwards leaned over and did it anyway.
* * *
It was even better this time. The kiss. The setting.
The laughter.
She hadn’t laughed that hard with a man in...well, forever.
It made having his mouth on hers that much sweeter.
He laid her back in the sand and followed her down, and right now she didn’t care if the water rushed up and covered her head. If that happened, she would keep on kissing him for as long as she could hold her breath.
The heat of his body penetrated her wet clothes, her skin, reaching the innermost part of her. Sasha did not kiss men she barely knew. But here she was, rushing into uncharted territory, just like that wave that had crashed into them.
Only this was more powerful than that wave. And unlike Nate’s shoe, it was unlikely she was going to catch herself before she tumbled into something even more dangerous. Something that wouldn’t be as easy to pull free from.
But right now, she just didn’t care.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him closer, her tongue touching his, tasting coffee and mint and... Nate.
One of his legs slid between hers as he closed the gap between them, and something nudged against the outside of her thigh. Her insides melted.
She wanted him. Here in the sand, under the sky.
“Sasha...”
The sound of her name made her open her eyes. His were deep and dark and full of all of the things she was feeling. Another wave went over her, sliding between their bodies, the juxtaposition of the cool water and the heat of his skin making her nipples pucker.
He kissed her again as the water receded. It was long and drawn out, making her breathless for more. Then he pulled away slightly. “You’re going to drown if we stay here.”
“Mmm, I can hold my breath for a very long time. So I don’t think I care.”
“But I do.”
He stood, and she was just about to protest, when he reached down and swung her up in his arms. “Oh!”
“Yes, oh.” He chuckled before walking with purpose down toward the water, moving sideways in a way that avoided them taking the brunt of the waves.
A heady sense of need went through her. He wasn’t stopping. He was doing the opposite: making it possible for them to do more. Feel more. Explore more. He carried her farther out in this private slice of paradise, until the water covered her bottom and sent delicious sensations through her. Then he set her down on her feet.
He kissed her. Recklessly. With a passion and fervor that rivaled anything she’d ever felt before. Then he slowly turned her away from him, facing the shore as his fingers edged under her light top, under her bra, palms sliding over her breasts in a way that drove the air from her lungs. She pushed into his touch, with a soft cry, glad it was muted by the sounds of the sea. It didn’t matter. No one would see them here. Her hands rounded his strong thighs and closed over his butt, dragging him closer, until he was nestled tight against her.
Nate leaned down and nipped at her ear. “You’re driving me crazy, Sash.”
No crazier than he was driving her. She hoped he had a condom somewhere on him, although she felt like she would die if she didn’t have him however she could get him.
One of his arms dipped beneath the water, coming up under her skirt and bunching it around her legs. His fingers found her lacy undergarment and he slid against her, making her instinctively move toward the hard heat she felt behind her. He pushed against her, groaning as his fingers found her, brushing over that sensitive part of her and cupping her.
“Do you want this, sweetheart? If you don’t, please tell me now.”
; “Yes. I want it.” The words came out with a need that almost made her cringe. Until he growled against her ear, pushing her panties down her legs.
She stepped out of them not caring if they were lost forever to the sea. It seemed kind of fitting since she was finding herself lost to it too. Then his fingers were on her flesh, teasing, squeezing, trailing across her folds and blotting out every other thought but what was happening to her. He dipped inside her with a suddenness that made her clench around his finger.
Yes. She wanted it. Way too much.
“Hell. You’re going to have to help me.”
He withdrew and somehow, from his wallet or his pocket or some secret place pulled a packet above the water and handed it to her. She pivoted toward him as she ripped the packet open and handed him the wrapper. He shoved it in his pocket just as her hands slid beneath the surface of the water. When she found him, he’d already released himself. All she had to do was. Slide. It. Slowly. On.
It was heavenly. Warm and heavy and, oh, so hard. She could explore him forever.
But as soon as she’d sheathed him, his hands scooped beneath her thighs, lifted her onto his hips. She twined her ankles beneath his butt.
With one palm pressed against the small of her back, he used his other hand to find her, entering her with one swift deep thrust.
“Ahh...” She pressed her face against his neck, panting against his skin as she absorbed the sensation of being stretched. So very full.
“Okay?”
“Yes. Oh, yes.”
Supporting her butt, he began to move, thrusting slowly, the water providing the perfect medium for them. The push and pull of the waves echoed what was happening inside her. She licked salt from his neck, murmured in her own tongue against his lips, before allowing herself to slide back into the water, her body buoyed by the salt and sea currents.
She could see him above her moving, eyes on hers. The sight was hypnotic. She couldn’t see where they were joined but could see the muscles under his shirt contract with each forward movement, could feel the result inside her.
“Sasha, I need...to...touch you.” Each word was punctuated with a short thrust that made her push against him.
A luscious pressure was building inside her. “You are, Nate.” She took a breath. “Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
His hands squeezed her ass as he pulled her harder against him with each stroke. Her legs tightened around him, adding her own rhythm in an effort to keep up with the demands of her flesh.
Suddenly one of his arms slid under her back, and he supported her, leaning forward and taking her nipple into his mouth, then sucking hard. She held on to his shoulders to keep herself from going under as she watched his mouth work its magic on her, his hair wet and dark and wild.
As wild as she felt inside.
She moved against him, the friction against sensitive areas of her body making any hope of drawing this out impossible.
Using her legs, she pumped herself on him, going faster and faster, watching as his head came up, eyes glazing.
And then she was there, her body tumbling and crashing and exploding, as a keening cry erupted from her throat.
Nate’s own cry joined hers a few seconds later as a frenzy of thrusts drove her even higher.
And then it was over. She lay on top of the water for a few seconds, her breath heaving, trying to push through the thick layer of sludge that seemed to have taken over her brain.
With one hand still behind her waist, he used his other hand to pull her upright until she was resting against him.
Neither one of them said anything for a few minutes. Then Nate eased free, and she closed her eyes in an attempt to blot out the truth: it was over. And she had no idea what to say.
He saved her from having to come up with something. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” She moistened her lips, almost dreading to hear his response. “You?”
“I think I just destroyed something.”
She blinked at him in shock before realizing he was smiling. She smiled back at him, having no idea what he was talking about. “You did? What?”
“You were worried about my shoes. But neither one of us thought about this. Well I did. But I didn’t care at the time.”
He reached behind him and up out of the sea came his wallet. And it was streaming with water.
And suddenly she was laughing just like she’d been on the beach. This could have been the most awkward moment ever. And all Sasha felt was gratitude that he’d come up with the perfect icebreaker, even if his wallet had paid the price. She leaned forward and hugged him, putting every ounce of feeling she had into it as she thanked him in the only way she knew how.
And then she set her feet on the ground, and turned and trudged slowly toward shore.
CHAPTER SIX
SASHA DIDN’T MAKE the next gala meeting that night, even though her mom did, bringing with her an impressive presentation that Nate added to what they’d already sent him. And as it had been at the last meeting, the vote was unanimous that they let Tessi James’s team head up the food and decorations. All they had to provide were the venue and the speakers. And that was the easy part.
And although he was glad things had gone in Tessi’s favor, his mind was on the woman’s daughter during most of the meeting.
She’d seemed to be okay after their...don’t say it... But the words sex on the beach surged through his mind anyway. He barely refrained from rolling his eyes in front of everyone.
Maybe she wasn’t okay though. And he had something in his office that belonged to her. He just wasn’t quite sure how to get them back to her. He could mail them. But that seemed worse than handing them to her in person, somehow.
Except how? And where? Was there even a comfortable way for that exchange to take place?
He could just throw them away, but then she might wonder what had happened to them or worry that they might wash up on the shore somewhere.
He adjourned the meeting, and as far as he knew everything was set in place for the gala.
Tessi came up to him afterward, and he tensed, wondering if Sasha had talked to her about what happened. He forced a smile.
“I just wanted to say thank you for letting us do the food and service for the fund-raiser.”
“I should be thanking you. And Sasha, of course. She’s the one who ultimately thought of it.”
The woman nodded as if her thoughts were elsewhere. “She hasn’t had it easy. First her dad and then that fiasco with Austin.”
“Austin?” Nate knew about her dad and his death, but the other name wasn’t familiar.
The woman frowned. “A man she dated at Harvard. He was rich and pretended to like her. But as soon as he got what he wanted—a job at a prestigious hospital—he dumped her. After five years of dating.”
Shock rolled through him. She’d never mentioned having a relationship with anyone while in medical school. And somehow it seemed inappropriate to be talking about this with her mother. Especially since a wave of guilt had just knocked him for a loop.
Did she equate him with this Austin person?
No. They’d never talked about dating. And she’d acted like what had happened was all in good fun. But maybe it wasn’t. Maybe on some level she expected him to...
To what?
Start a relationship with her? He hadn’t dated seriously since Tara. And he’d had no desire to do so.
No. He thought over what had happened, and there’d been no hint that Sasha felt anything more for him than physical attraction. Which was good. Because that’s all he felt for her too.
Right?
Of course. They barely knew each other.
And yet he’d told her about Marie. He told other people about the doll, but he rarely discussed it in the kind of detail he’d shared with her. And he’d never to
ld Tara about it at all.
And Sasha had never once mentioned Austin.
“I’m sorry. I had no idea that had happened.”
“She doesn’t talk about it.” Tessi’s eyes closed. “And she would be very angry if she knew I’d shared it with you. I’m sorry. Would you mind...?”
“I won’t say a word.”
“Thank you so much. I don’t even know why I said anything.” Even as she said the words, worry lined the woman’s face.
He tried to erase the concern. “You have a very special daughter.”
“I know. I only wish she knew how much people think of her.”
Nate thought of her entirely too much. But he needed to make sure that stopped here and now. She’d already been hurt by one man, who according to Tessi had toyed with her emotions and then cut her off without a word. Kind of like his parents had done with him?
Well, he had no intention of adding his name to a list of people who had hurt her.
So what was he going to do about it?
Maybe talk to her. Go have that lunch they’d never had. And do what? Lay her undergarment on her salad plate?
Hell, he shouldn’t even be thinking about that with her mom standing right in front of him.
So he just added his own thought to hers. “I wish she did too. But people like Sasha aren’t normally aware of just how important they are.”
“That’s the truth.” Tessi smiled and reached up to pat his face. “But I have an idea that you do.”
