Mr. Hyde’s Assets

by Sheridon Smythe

  In fact, he still hadn’t decided whether he was even going to reveal the truth to Candice, right? If he did, she would lose her inheritance, and so would the baby.

  His baby. Not Howard Vanausdale’s, but his.

  Well, hell. What if she did lose the money and this house and her security? She would make it just fine… wouldn’t she? Of course she would. He had. But then, he had chosen not to touch his inheritance.

  Candice might not have that choice.

  Austin paused in the hall outside her door, tempted to look in on her, make sure she was okay. Then he remembered the coolness of her smile, the I’m-the-employer-and-you’re-the-handyman/bodyguard look she had been presenting to him since McVey’s visit.

  No. He couldn’t just turn the knob and take a reassuring peek without the risk of losing ground, and he’d lost too much of that already.

  Frowning, he shook his head and continued downstairs. There was always a chance she would lose the money anyway, even if he decided not to reveal himself as the baby’s father. Then what would she do? By her own admission, she had no relatives other than an estranged stepfather, and while Mrs. Merryweather would obviously lay down her life for Candice, she was an elderly woman, close to retirement, and hardly rolling in dough.

  Steeped in his thoughts, Austin nearly missed Lucy’s chortling plea as he passed the utility room just inside the kitchen on the right. When he paused to identify the noise, she scratched against her cage door frantically. He sighed and gave in, filling her feed bowl before opening the cage to let her out.

  Lucy sniffed the air, twitched her whiskers as if saying thanks, then immediately began to munch on the dry cat food.

  Austin watched her for a moment, finally deciding she would be all right until he returned from activating the drain on the pool. Still, he issued a whispered warning, “Don’t leave this room. I’ll be right back.”

  He let himself out through the back door and turned in the direction of the pool, absently noting the warm, still air. Not yet six o’clock, which meant it was going to be another scorcher. Fairly typical for a California May.

  Too bad he was about to put the pool out of commission.

  Coming to a halt at the edge, he eyed the inviting water with longing, casting a speculative glance at the closed, curtained patio doors to Candice’s room. She had slept upstairs, he reminded himself, so she couldn’t possibly hear him and investigate.

  Mrs. Merryweather wouldn’t be up for another hour, and Candice for another two.

  Should he?

  Dare he?

  It would take several days to drain the water, and several more to complete his surprise. Meanwhile, he planned to keep the pool cover in place. If anyone asked any questions—if they even noticed—he would make the excuse that he was too busy to keep it clean, nobody used it, and leaves from the overhanging trees kept the filters clogged.

  Simple, logical explanations, and if luck stayed with him, Candice would continue to use an upstairs guest room as long as he kept painting in the nursery. In fact, he intended to make the job last as long as he could.

  But right now he wanted to plunge into the cool water and swim a few laps, work the soreness from his overused muscles.

  Before he could change his mind, Austin shucked his clothes and slipped naked over the side into the water. He’d have to make it quick before Sleeping Beauty awoke—or the fire-breathing dragon.

  Austin’s strokes were smooth and efficient as he sliced through the cool water to the opposite end of the pool, hoping he wouldn’t regret his weakness.

  The last thing he needed was for Candice to catch him swimming.

  ———

  Candice came awake with the first loving lick of Lucy’s tongue. “What—! Oh, it’s you.” She sat up in surprise at the sight of the ferret perched on the bed beside her. “How did you get in here?” Brushing her hair from her eyes, Candice glanced at the cracked door, then at Lucy, trying to look forbidding. Lucy twitched her whiskers and stared at her with tiny eyes outlined with black raccoon circles.

  Finally, the ferret dived beneath the covers and came out holding something shiny and gold between her sharp little teeth.

  Mrs. Merryweather’s locket! With a delighted laugh, Candice tugged the locket away from the reluctant ferret and wisely closed it into the drawer of the nightstand. She’d give it to Mrs. Merryweather later.

  A thorough search of the house a few weeks ago had uncovered her missing jewelry, but not Mrs. Merryweather’s locket. Where had the little animal hidden it? she wondered, throwing the covers aside. They had found her earring and her pearls beneath the sofa. Obviously Lucy had decided not to place all of her eggs in one basket.

  “You should be ashamed of yourself,” Candice scolded gently.

  Chuckling over the animal’s antics, Candice gathered her up and padded downstairs. She tiptoed past the den, knowing that Austin had worked long into the night on the nursery and that he must be exhausted. As she reached the kitchen, Lucy scrambled in her arms, obviously wanting down.

  Puzzled, Candice set her on the floor and prepared to grab her if she decided to run for it. Lucy scurried to the back door and began to scratch in earnest.

  “You want outside?” Candice frowned, glancing down at her oversized cream silk pajamas. Not exactly the right attire for a morning stroll, but then, it was early. Too early for newspaper reporters. In fact, the kitchen was silent and shadowed, a strong indication that even Mrs. Merryweather was still abed.

  Lucy scratched impatiently, then turned to look at her.

  Candice smiled and relented. “Okay, but don’t think I’m going to chase you, little lady.” She patted her slightly rounded stomach. “I’m not in any condition for running, you know.”

  Lucy chortled her impatient agreement and waited. Candice sighed and opened the door, wondering if she were making a mistake. She couldn’t remember Austins taking the ferret outside; and she was almost certain Mrs. Merryweather didn’t.

  But why, then, did the critter appear to know exactly where she was going? Hurrying to catch up with Lucy, Candice broke into a trot. Her heart began to beat faster when she saw that the ferret was heading straight for the pool.

  Did Lucy know how to swim? If something happened to the little animal, Austin would be crushed. She would be crushed, and Mrs. Merryweather would cry for days.

  Candice increased her speed, fearing she wouldn’t have time to catch up with the critter. The bizarreness of her situation flashed briefly through her mind. It was barely six o’clock, and she was outside in her pajamas chasing a ferret who seemed intent on going for a morning swim.

  The media would love it, and her in-laws would declare her insane. Mrs. Merryweather would put her to bed for a week, and Austin would growl and threaten to drown Lucy with his bare hands.

  A laugh hitched in her chest just as Lucy made a graceful dive over the side.

  Candice didn’t hesitate; she dove into the water, pajamas and all. She swam furiously until she realized the ferret was swimming, not drowning. Lucy’s tiny legs paddled the water like a pro as she headed for the opposite side of the pool. Smiling, Candice treaded water and watched, relieved now that she knew the ferret wasn’t in danger. Perhaps Austin had been allowing the animal to go for a swim in the mornings, and that was why she seemed so intent on getting into the water.

  A movement to the left startled out a gasp that might have been a scream if she hadn’t gulped a mouthful of water. Choking, she whirled, pinning her alarmed gaze on the dark shape gliding beneath the water along the side of the pool.

  Recovering from the shock, Candice glanced behind her, her gaze narrowing on the ladder that appeared to be the swimmer’s destination. He thought to sneak by and actually get out of the water before she saw him?

  Then the implications slammed into her, one by one.

  Austin was swimming. Not a beginner’s swim, but a full-throttled breath-holding underwater swim that a novice couldn’t possibly learn in three
weeks.

  Austin was also swimming for his life, because he knew how furious she would be.

  But the most mind-blowing, pulse-crashing, nerve-rending realization was that he wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. Candice took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then quickly opened them again. She glanced down at the transparency of her own attire. She might as well be naked herself, for she could see the outline of her nipples, and lower, the shadowy thatch of hair between her legs.

  She jerked her gaze up as Lucy paddled by on her way to catch Austin, who had reached the ladder and was now climbing up it in all his majestic nudity.

  Despite the warning in her head ordering her not to look, Candice looked. And forgot to breathe. Yes, she’d seen him nearly naked before. But never like this.

  Water sluiced from his tanned, magnificent body. Broad shoulders and a heavily muscled back tapered down to tight buttocks, which were a shocking white compared to the rest of him. His thighs hardened as he braced himself on the ladder, the light layer of hair darkened and slicked to his skin from the moisture.

  She knew the moment he realized she was watching him. His back stiffened; the muscles of his forearms above his hands gripping the ladder knotted. As if in prayer, he lifted his face to the sun, then shoved his hair from his eyes before turning slowly around.

  The absolute absurdity of the last few moments hit Candice hard. If she recapped this story to the media, they wouldn’t believe her. In fact, she hardly believed it herself. Was she actually in her pajamas, in her pool, with a determined ferret and a naked handyman, at six o’clock in the morning?

  She was.

  Austin finished the turn.

  No question about it, he was naked. Lord, was he naked. Candice edged back until she felt the pool wall behind her. He was amazingly naked. Disturbingly naked.

  She averted her gaze, wondering if her breathing would ever return to normal. It was hard to remember that she was supposed to be angry at him. Very hard. She gulped, wishing she’d never crawled out of bed, wishing she had listened to the saner side of her brain that had told her not to look.

  Lucy had made it up the ladder and now stood shaking herself dry, oblivious to the havoc she had created with one stroke of her tongue. Desperately, Candice focused her dazed gaze on the ferret. Instead, she saw the curve of Austin’s calf inches from Lucy’s nose.

  Grasping the edge of the pool with one arm, Candice swept a wet strand of hair from her cheek and forced herself to meet Austins gaze. She couldn’t stay in the pool all day, and he couldn’t stand on the ladder baring everything, even if he did do it well.

  Candice gave herself a mental shake and licked her lips. “Why… why did you pretend you couldn’t swim?” And speaking of pretending, would pretending she hadn’t noticed his obvious nudity work?

  The answer was no.

  As if her words released him from a spell, he stepped down the ladder into the water, turning his body slightly to the side and giving Candice a whole new, breathtaking view. She wondered if he knew how ruggedly beautiful he was.

  His voice was rough, edged with regret. “I was curious about you, and at the time I thought it was a good idea.”

  “It was a dirty trick,” she said, unwilling to let it go. Maybe anger would help her keep her head above water.

  He nodded, watching her with eyes that smoldered with something she didn’t dare question.

  “At least I’m honest.”

  Candice stiffened, then laughed at the blatant, softly voiced lie. “Honest? You call tricking me into believing you almost drowned honesty?” She bobbed on the surface of the water, welcoming the anger, daring him to argue, and desperately wishing she wasn’t Mrs. Howard Vanausdale for just a day so that she could have what she really wanted. Him. Mr. Hyde. Austin.

  His jaw tightened perceptibly. He began to edge around the pool, his burning gaze never leaving her face. “Yes, honesty. But you wouldn’t know about that, would you, Mrs. Dale? You would never resort to trickery to get close to someone, because you would never admit needing to in the first place. Especially if it meant you might get caught.”

  Candice realized his intent too late. In one smooth lunge across the water, he was there. He placed his arms on either side of her and balanced himself in the water. She flattened her back against the pool wall, but there was no escape. With agonizing slowness, he pressed his body against hers from toe to chest.

  The shock of it numbed her for an instant before a riptide of sensation rocked her world. He lowered himself an inch, then eased his body up again, and with each slow stroke his manhood—that magificent thrust of male glory she’d glimpsed earlier—slid across the aching junction of her thighs.

  She gasped and closed her eyes, her voice a thready whisper. “Don’t—don’t make me—”

  “What? Don’t make you tell the truth? That this is what you want, have wanted since our first kiss?” With a husky growl, he reminded her, laying claim to her gasping mouth and sucking the resistance right out of her.

  Not that she had any left. No, she had surrendered the moment she saw his naked body gliding through the water. If she were honest with herself, she had known then that something was going to happen between them, that it had been building over the past few weeks with each heated, hungry look, every burning, erotic thought.

  Her tongue clashed with his, then shyly retreated, only to be grasped and tugged back into submission. His teeth grazed her bottom lip before he broke loose, continuing the up and down sliding motion that was driving her crazy.

  With the sheer strength of his will, he forced her to look at him. The low, driving intensity of his voice made her shudder with reaction and need. “Thoughts of you, of doing this to you, keep me awake at night.”

  Every move, every torturous slide of his body grazed her ultrasensitive nipples against his chest and increased the ache between her thighs. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t think. The only things that mattered right now were what he was doing to her and the sound of his ragged voice telling her how much he wanted and needed her. She clutched his shoulders, begging him without words to take her further, deeper, harder.

  “Slow down, baby. Slow down,” he cautioned, trailing hot kisses along her neck and down to the outline of her breasts. Through the wet silk of her pajamas, he took a rigid nipple in his mouth and flicked his tongue back and forth across the sensitive nub, keeping rhythm with the strokes of his body against hers.

  Candice moaned, thrusting upward and out and forcing him to increase the pressure of his mouth. Lord, she felt as if she might splinter in two. She didn’t think she could stand the pleasure if it got any better.

  And then Austin proved her wrong. He proved she could take it and then some. “I want you,” he growled against her mouth as he lowered her pajama bottoms, caressing each sweet curve feverishly. “Touch me and see how much I want you.”

  Trembling, Candice released one hand and lowered it into the water, finding him and clasping her fingers around him. He throbbed against her palm, a sharp hiss whistling between his teeth at her shy touch. In retaliation, his hand nudged her legs apart, and his fingers teased her, circling the burgeoning nub of her womanhood until Candice squirmed and pressed against him.

  She wanted…

  She needed…

  “Austin… I want…”

  “Yes, baby, tell me what you want.” As if to taunt her, he closed his hand over hers, and together they guided his hard shaft between her legs.

  Then he stopped.

  Candice whimpered, and when she heard the sound and realized it came from her own throat, she grasped his shoulders and tried to pull him closer. He resisted.

  “Tell me…” he half demanded, half pleaded.

  “I want you inside me,” she let out in a rush of aching desire. And she did. Now. All of him.

  Chapter Twelve

  She wanted him inside her…

  They were the sweetest words Austin could ever remember hearing.

  He
crushed his mouth to hers, kissing her with a soul-searing passion that swept away the last lingering doubts about what was right or wrong.

  For Austin, there was no wrong. He wanted her, ached for her, and needed her with a fever that startled him in its intensity. He had to have her. Now.

  Maybe forever.

  Cautioning himself to slow down before he exploded, he remained poised at the entrance of Heaven, the water swirling around him, adding to the delicious feel of her quivering against him. She squeezed her thighs together, trying to draw him closer. He gave a husky laugh that betrayed his crumbling control, bending to rake his teeth lightly over her pebbled nipples. First one, then the other. Back and forth, reveling in her whimpers of pleasure, pushing slightly against her opening, teasing, teasing…

  “Austin…”

  Half warning, half plea, her voice was like wind to his forest fire. Austin groaned against her damp neck, clasping her waist and drawing her closer, then closer still.

  “Are you sure?” It was just a moan, nothing more. In fact, he couldn’t be certain she understood his question. He didn’t know why he asked it, doubting he could even stop even if she wanted him to.

  “Yes!”

  She didn’t want him to.

  Thank God.

  Releasing a shaky breath, she pulled his head away and stared at him, her cat’s eyes heavy with desire and deadly serious. “Please make love to me.”

  Austin met her lips halfway, wallowing in the heat and sweetness of her mouth, his tongue thrusting with gentle strokes in forewarning of what he was about to do to her.

  If he could hold out.

  It was debatable, because as he eased his hot length into her, she tightened around him, nearly catapulting him over the edge with that single, wonderful movement. He’d never been this hot for a woman, this out of control.

  She kicked her legs, and it wasn’t until she wrapped them around him and thrust down, sheathing him more fully, that Austin realized the object brushing against his arm was her pajama bottoms floating on the water’s surface.