by Sandra Kitt
“I’m sorry!”
“It whipped into my side, and it had sharp teeth!” Adam quipped, but Eva saw his jaw clenching and unclenching in pain, and his brow was damp with perspiration.
“Maxwell, why didn’t you have Lito do something!”
“He didn’t see how deep it was…and I just wanted to get back to St. John…” Eva looked up into Adam’s heavy-lidded eyes and saw his full meaning in the look he gave her.
“You—you should have stitches,” she said vaguely, more intent on the look in his light eyes.
“No…it’s not that bad. And it will heal better open…”
Eva suddenly remembered the way her mother had handled serious cuts and gashes and went about making sure Adam’s wound would not get infected. Then she taped fresh gauze on the wound, as tight as she could make it. Adam let out a long tight sigh when she was finished. Eva looked anxiously at him, realizing that he had been in a lot of pain and was now exhausted.
“I think you should go to bed,” Eva said calmly.
“Is that a suggestion…or an offer?” Adam asked, but winced again in pain as he stood up. He bent his head and put his hands on his waist to steady himself. “Never mind,” he groaned. “I couldn’t do a damned thing anyway.”
Moving slowly and tiredly, he got to his room. Eva followed, returning all the medication to the bathroom. When she peeked into Adam’s room, the light was off, and he had his sneakers off and was just pulling down his jeans. Eva tried to ignore his stepping out of his shorts as she pulled back the light bedspread and held it up as he climbed onto the bed.
Adam sprawled in complete collapse as Eva brought the spread only up to his waist. He was asleep before she left the room. Eva hugged herself and walked slowly back to the living room. She felt as if she’d just been swept through the center of a wind storm with it pulling and tearing at her, leaving her breathless, confused, and excited.
She’d had more varying emotions wash over her in a period of an hour than she’d had in a whole year. That it should all begin and end in one person as abrasive as Adam Maxwell also left her scared. She’d never had such strong feelings for anyone but Kevin. But Kevin was gone, and Maxwell was here…and she was here with him.
It had upset her greatly the way he’d attacked her. But she was too exhausted herself and concerned about him to give much thought or analysis to his ridiculous accusations.
Eva sat in a chair thinking about the man and wondering at a number of conflicting feelings she had for him, not the least of which were both anger and concern. Her first sight of him leaning against the pillar had also sharply defined the extent that she’d missed him. That had been scary, too. And then his rugged appeal had instantly reached deep within her and began to stir desire in her, warm and flowing.
After a long time Eva brought in his things from the Jeep. And she made herself coffee. Later still she looked into Adam’s darkened room to find him breathing deeply, the sleep of someone beyond instant call. He hadn’t shifted positions and, in fact, didn’t move or make a sound for the next sixteen straight hours.
At eight the next morning, Eva slipped away to drive back to her own house, to shower and change clothes. She’d only napped off and on all night, but it just wasn’t in her to leave him all alone. She changed into a black short-sleeved T-shirt and white cotton pants with an elasticized waist. She brushed her hair into its adopted summer style and drove back to Maxwell’s. He was still asleep.
Eva made herself busy trying to get the blood out of Adam’s shirt. Thinking he might have specimens in his duffle, she emptied it, but only found dirty clothes. She washed those, too. At noon, her stomach protested angrily her lack of attention to it, and she made some boiled eggs and toast, taking it up to the roof deck to sit in the sun. But the sun made her sleepy, and after an hour or so, she came back down.
She checked on Adam again and found him turned on his stomach, one leg drawn up almost to his chest. The cover was almost down to his knees, giving Eva a look at his smooth brown back. She came just close enough to see the bandaged wound had not bled again and, pulling the covers up once more, she went back to sit in a chair.
Eva wasn’t sure what time she fell asleep. And she certainly had no idea what time it was that Adam finally woke up and came naked to the living room and found her curled up in a chair, a magazine sliding off her lap to the floor. She felt herself being gently lifted and her head rolling in a fog onto a smooth hard plane. She never really felt the need to move and come fully awake, because she felt perfectly safe where she was. Then she was being lowered and stretched out on a flat, warm surface.
Eva felt hands pulling at her T-shirt, bringing it up and over her head. She frowned, shaking her head, the sudden air tautening the brown peaks of her small breasts. Her arms came up to cover herself. Her eyes blinked open once in the already dark room.
“No…” she whispered.
She was pulled against another hard surface, this one with a soft curly center.
“No, Maxwell…” Eva moaned, blinking again and finding Adam leaning over her, his bearded face very close. “You can’t. Your side…” she whispered.
“I want to,” Adam whispered back, pulling her arms down from her chest. He moved his head from her line of vision, and Eva next felt his warm moist mouth close firmly over a breast. She moaned, twisting her head.
“Max…stop…”
“Do you want me to stop?” he asked softly, a hint of hoarseness in his voice.
“Oh, no—no! But your side…”
“Then be quiet,” he growled gently into her neck, but the words had no harshness to them…only impatience. His large hand slipped under the elastic of her pants and pulled both outer and under garments down together, over her feet, and dropped them to the floor. His hand came to spread flat on her stomach. Eva quivered under the warm hand.
“Max?”
“What?” he asked, his mouth now finding the other breast. Eva arched herself closer to the source of such exquisite pleasure.
“I—I’ve never kissed anyone with a beard before…”
Surprisingly, Adam chuckled. “There’s a first time for everything.”
“I thought it would scratch,” Eva ventured in a raspy whisper as he continued to stroke her. Adam lifted his head to see her pretty brown face.
“Does it?” he asked thickly.
Eva put her arms around his neck and drew his head down to her. “It tickles…” she said with a smile. Adam kissed her with exploratory gentleness for a long time, feeling her return kisses beginning to match his in ardor and intensity. He moved finally to lie over her, to separate her knees, but, suddenly he went stiff with pain as his body stretched. Adam fell backward, his arms around Eva bringing her on top of him.
Eva suddenly felt a certain sense of exotic illicitness about what she was doing. Adam’s hand on her hips shifted her position.
“Max?” Eva questioned as he settled her over his hips. “I can’t, Max…I—I’ve never…”
“I’ll show you,” he crooned in a seductive voice. His hands cupped her bottom and he rotated his hips. Eva gasped, bracing her hands on his chest as the position began to have its effect.
“Oh!” Eva moaned in surprise. Adam gave a lusty guttural laugh, deep in his throat.
If Adam was feeling any ill effects or weakness from his accident, it was never made known to Eva. And at least for the next day and a half together in the house, neither cared.
EVA STOOD in front of the mirror gnawing at her bottom lip. She twisted the fabric and pulled and smoothed and wasn’t sure this was a good idea. Her face was deep in concentration as she tried to see the blue java wrap from all angles. It was very pretty fabric, but was the garment decent? There was only one other piece of clothing on her besides the wrapped cloth, and Eva felt very undressed!
Sighing in exasperation Eva turned away from the mirror and stepped into high-heeled open-toed clogs. She then located her rose shawl, grabbed a straw clutch, and wen
t into the living room. Her watch showed she still had fifteen minutes, but experience had already taught her that Maxwell hated to be kept waiting.
Eva still felt stunned and surprised at his declaration that they would have dinner at the exclusive restaurant at Caneel Bay Plantation, a resort on St. John. Adam hadn’t asked her, as was also his habit; he simply told her it would be. And there hadn’t been any question on Eva’s part that she would agree.
Eva stayed with him nearly three days before a belated sense of caution drove her back to her own dwelling. Adam had not been pleased about that, and they’d argued. But then they spent a long time making up on the warm surface of the roof deck before they finally parted, both satiated and much more peaceful.
Adam’s wound healed rapidly with Eva giving it much more care and attention than Adam himself, who only seemed to tolerate her fussings over the open injury. It also seemed a foregone conclusion that they’d spend their time together, much of it making love. Eva’s previous lack of experience vanished with the developing days. She had a reminder, however, one morning that she was playing a dangerous game, and she set about taking personal precautions before her luck ran out.
She was amazed at the change in herself. She had finally left completely the mire of her tragedy, though Kevin and Gail in some special ways would be with her all the days of her life. But she discovered again that life was for the living.
And so she did.
When Adam arrived to get her, he stood a moment with obvious admiration in his eyes that made Eva’s heart race. He had finally shaved off the beard, and when his eyes had finished their appraisal and approval of her, his grin turned into a tender half smile, the very first he’d ever given her. Eva was stopped cold by the handsome change in his features, a deep dimple slashed in a curve of one cheek.
“Is that going to stay up?” Adam asked caustically, referring to Eva’s java wrap.
“I hope so,” Eva commented wryly.
“So do I. I’m looking forward to a long, leisurely meal…”
“With no interruptions?” Eva supplied.
Adam looked at her, quirking a brow and tilting his head thoughtfully. “I may not mind a surprise or two. We’ll see…”
The restaurant was glorious, facing on the bay toward the twinkling distant lights of St. Thomas. The tables were large and beautifully laid out with flowers, wine glasses, and candles. Eva had no idea to what she owed this fairy-tale evening, but spending it with Maxwell added to the beautiful fantasy.
They started with a chilled strawberry soup, followed by an island salad with avocado and conch. There was a basket of warm breads with soft sweet butter. Adam had stuffed veal chops and Eva the fish, grouper prepared with a cream and mushroom sauce. Neither had dessert, electing instead to have liqueurs in the lounge while listening to the soothing tunes of a local calypso band.
They leisurely walked the grounds of the beautiful resort, well lit in the dark, all the way to Paradise Beach, where, taking off their shoes, they walked in the sand.
“It’s a lovely night,” Eva sighed. “Look at all the stars! You can never see them so bright back home.”
“Do you know the stars?” Adam asked in his deep voice, standing behind her. He had an arm around her waist and stomach, holding her to him.
“No. Not at all…” Eva shook her head.
“Lito showed me how to find my way by them.” Adam dropped his shoes in the sand and pointed with his free hand. “You see those three bright stars?” He pointed to form a triangle.
“Yes, I see them.”
“Well, that forms the Summer Triangle. There’s Denab, Vega and Altair. Each of those stars is in a different constellation. Now if you look just to the right, you’ll see Hercules. There are five stars…”
Eva was laughing softly. “Maxwell, it’s hopeless. I’ll never see what you see.”
Adam turned her to face him and looked down into her upturned face. “It doesn’t matter,” he said smiling at her. “When I teach you to sail…”
“Teach me to sail!” she said incredulously.
“It’s simple.”
“But I don’t need to know.”
Adam took her shoes from her hands and dropped them as well. “You can never tell,” he crooned.
His hands made to wind around her waist further, but his fingers were caught in the gently gathered folds of the java wrap. Adam pulled his hands free but the fabric loosened around Eva, and she gasped, grabbing for it. Adam’s rich bass laughter rang through the night. He began to pull the cloth.
“Maxwell! What do you think you’re doing!” Eva asked scandalized.
“This is large enough for us both to lie on!”
A tug of war began to take place, Eva struggling to keep the fabric around her otherwise naked body.
“Stop it!” she hissed. But Adam was hugely entertained. When she continued to pull, he reached out a hand and began to tickle her. The results were instantaneous, and Adam stood holding the fabric completely within his grasp.
“I’ll never forgive you for this!” Eva whispered, but she couldn’t keep the laughter out of her voice. Maxwell’s laughter continued to ring out.
“If you’re nice to me, I’ll give it back.”
“Max! Please! Someone might see me!” she said making a grab for the cloth. It was jerked away.
“Be nice…” he reminded her.
Eva replied, “You’re mean!” Her arms crossed her chest. Then she walked in front of Adam. Placing her hands on his chest, she reached up to kiss his mouth.
“Please, Max…” she begged.
Adam put a hand to the back of her head and held her still while he kissed her again more thoroughly. Then slowly he draped the fabric around her. Eva caught the ends and hastily twisted them to secure the garment once more. She was barely finished before Adam had her back in his arms.
“From now on I’m wearing real clothes!” Eva declared in exasperation.
“Don’t do it on my account,” Adam murmured, nuzzling her neck and ear.
“You have no appreciation for the trouble I went through. It’s difficult wearing this!”
Adam worked his way up to her chin with his mouth. “It is clever,” he admitted. “And very convenient,” he added finally reaching her mouth, and his hands found her bare flesh again under the folds of the wrap.
Chapter Ten
Eva lay stretched out on her stomach, her head resting on her folded hands. The ship pitched from side to side with the gentlest movement and, with her eyes closed, it was soothing and comforting. She had positioned herself in the narrow shadow created by the main sail, avoiding the intense scorching sun as it beat down upon the open water and the lone ship temporarily anchored. It was so quiet and still that she could have been the only person left in the world. Except for Maxwell. But he was somewhere under the ship, deep below the aqua surface of the sea.
Eva’s eyes cracked open just enough to make out the lines of the horizon beyond the bow of the ship. It was very easy to see how someone once believed that the world was flat and that you could just fall off the edge if you went far enough. But Eva also realized that beyond that calm, flat edge, somewhere north, was home. Soon she’d have to leave St. John and go back there.
Not once in all the time since she’d first met Adam Maxwell was any mention ever made of that inevitable date. He knew she was on vacation, but he treated it as indefinite, beginning perhaps when they first came together as lovers and continuing apparently without any end. But Eva knew better. Often in the last two weeks she wished she didn’t. She wanted this idyll to go on and on. Common sense told her otherwise.
It had been a singularly startling moment when she fully realized that it was entirely possible for her to love another man in her lifetime other than Kevin Duncan. It had been heart-stopping to recognize that that man could be Adam Maxwell. Suddenly Eva saw Adam in a new light that rounded him out as a whole person in her mind. He could be arrogant and aloof, sarcastic and har
d. But he also had a sense of humor. He had a quick temper, but he could be incredibly gentle. He had strengths and weaknesses. He was lusty and loving, and Eva found that she could deal with all of that in the man, and that it all endeared him to her.
Yet, what did it mean? And what did it matter? She had to go home. She’d been happy here in the Caribbean, but she didn’t belong here. She had to go back to her own life. Maxwell would continue here, poking around seaweed and wiggly sea creatures, sailing a small ship expertly on the open sea, having his daughter grow up and out of his life, and managing nicely without Eva.
Eva’s mind had also latched on tenaciously to a comment that Lavona Morris had made. Maxwell didn’t want anyone permanent in his life and didn’t need anyone permanent. He could, perhaps better than most, do exactly what he wanted with his life, breezing in and out of short-term affairs, never responsible for anyone but himself. From what she’d learned of Maxwell, Eva knew that this course of action was entirely possible for him. He was capable of being alone. He had learned to be alone. Well, so had she, and she had to go back to that singular life she’d adapted to, with the loving support of her mother, brothers, nieces and nephews to see her through. But she now found the prospect gnawing at her in an unsettling and unhappy way.
There were sounds from the water and things thudding in the bottom of the launch, tied to the side of the ship. There followed the shortest silence until Maxwell’s huge, wet, glistening body sprang over the side and onto the wooden deck.
Through the small opening of her lazy eyes, Eva watched his well-sculptured body flex, watched his deep-chested breathing from his physical exertions, watched the muscular columns of his legs as they braced apart for balance against the swaying vessel.
Adam leaned over the side again and hauled up a bucket on the end of a twined rope and carefully sat his specimens down. His head turned to see her lying in repose, and Eva thought she saw the smallest smile curve his mouth. Thinking she was asleep, Adam walked carefully over to her. He held his arms out over her and began shaking them vigorously, sprinkling Eva with cold salty water.
