Welcome to Serenity Harbor

by Multiple Authors

  Her mind raced.

  He was her neighbor.

  The neighbor she didn’t even like! Not that she had many neighbors. How could she have had sex with him? And without protection!

  She was so stupid.

  It had been so damn good! Thinking about it, her knees went weak as her body reacted. No man had ever given her an orgasm like she had there in the kitchen. She paused climbing the ladder. She needed to regain her strength.

  How could it have been so good? So delicious? So needed?

  Man. If sex was like that every time, she would have started sleeping around a long time ago.

  She made it up the rest of the steps and pulled the dinghy up to let it dry. She would reattach it later.

  She made her way to the cockpit and started up the engine.

  “Millicent?”

  She refused to look at him. “Pierce, no one calls me Millicent. Millie. Call me Millie.”

  His voice deepened, as he moved closer. “I can’t.” She felt him move up close behind her. "I think of you as Millicent. Always have."

  "Millicent is the name of an old lady," she retorted. She smirked when she put the boat in gear and heard him stumble back.

  The water was rougher than it had been this morning but it gave her the perfect excuse to keep her attention off of him. However, she couldn’t resist asking, “So you see me as an old lady?”

  She turned the boat sharply to head towards the inlet leading to their cove and watched him waver on his feet. He reached up and grasped the sides of the cockpit. He was so broad. His biceps bunched. Her mouth went dry. She turned back to focus ahead of them.

  She more felt than heard him move up behind her again. She stiffened when his hands wrapped around her middle. When he spoke, his breath feathered her ear. She tried to repress the shiver his nearness caused.

  “Never would I ever mistake you for an old woman. Grumpy, grouchy, but old? Never. Did you know Millicent means strength? It fits you. I’ve never met a woman as strong as you. Millicent, will you look at me?”

  She wanted to refuse him. She wanted to get home, away from him. Instead she found herself bringing the boat to a stop and turned around within his arms. She looked up at him, waiting to hear what he had to say next.

  He kissed her.

  She resisted, but that lasted one and a half seconds before she wrapped her arms around him and returned his kiss with all the passion he sparked in her.

  “Damn it,” she whispered when he slowly pulled away with one more small nip on her bottom lip.

  “What?” he asked, his gaze still on her lips.

  “Now, I have another reason to dislike you.” She bent her head, resting it against his neck. “You're too hard to resist.”

  He chuckled and pulled her tighter against him. “Maybe I don’t want you to resist me?”

  “Why? You don’t like me and you know I feel the same about you.”

  “Why would you think I don’t like you?”

  She heard the confusion in his voice as it rumbled through her. She glanced up at him. “Why else would you keep offering for my land if you didn’t want me living so close to you? You’ve been trying to drive me out with money for years.”

  Millie blinked when a smile beamed across his face. He leaned closer, keeping his voice hushed. “I’ll tell you a secret. When I made the first offer, yes, I was hoping you would take it and run. You were a temptation for me. I was drawn to you from the beginning. I had just divorced my ex-wife and did not need another woman drawing my attention. I couldn’t keep my eyes off you. If I saw you, everything stopped until you were out of my view. I figured if I bought the property, I could rid myself of you, As I told you yesterday, not all the notes I’ve left at your door have been offers to buy your house. Some were offers of friendship because you, Millicent, have been invading my dreams for years.”

  He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss upon her lips, a smile his face. “The day you told me to go to hell and burn, something changed. You challenged and intrigued me. Everything shifted. Since then, I haven’t really wanted to buy it. I just like the way your eyes sparkle when you get all annoyed at me. You are so beautiful and when you’re mad… I find you gorgeous.”

  “You can’t.” Millie hated the fact her voice came out in a whisper.

  “I know I can’t buy your land. But I sure as hell can find you beautiful.”

  “Why are you doing this to me?”

  “Because I suspected you were attracted to me but you are determined to despise me.”

  “I don’t despise you.” Her voice found a bit more strength. “I don’t like you.”

  “With the way your fingers are stroking me,” he said, leaning closer, “I would say you do like me, even if it’s only my chest.”

  Millie started. She didn’t even remember touching him. Yep, here was her hand pressed firmly against him, slowly moving back and forth. She yanked her hand away. He captured it and brought it to his mouth. Ever so gently, he placed a kiss against her palm. “I don’t mind you touching me.”

  She raised her other hand and stopped. The way he was gazing at her combined with what he was doing to her hand made her quiver. She didn’t want to let him go. She didn’t want him to stop touching her. She wanted him to make love to her again and again.

  Her breath shortened being this close to him. His other hand tightened behind her, pulling her closer as his kisses moved up her arm until he found a sweet spot on the inside of her elbow. Her knees threatened to buckle.

  She couldn’t think. Her eyes drifted shut as her body turned into a thing that just felt! She could feel the heat from his body pulling her closer. Against her will, she leaned towards him.

  She had dreamed about him, too.

  The thought of those dreams brought a rush of heat to her face. Need filled her. She went liquid. She wanted him again. She had wanted him since the first time she met him. Even when he opened his mouth and talked, when she begun to dislike him, she had still wanted him.

  She knew, however, this wasn’t a complication she needed in her life. His mouth continued to make love to her body moving up her arm to her neck. Her head dropped back and she wordless consented to allow him to have his way with her. Right there on the dock of her ship. In plain view of anyone who happened to go by. This time, he took his time ravishing her. Kissing her, touching her, and making love to her. His touch, his kiss did things to her, not just to her body, but to her heart as well. Most importantly, he shut her brain off so she could just feel every inch of him against her.

  Within her.

  She didn’t know how long they laid there on the deck of her ship, intertwined. Sated in the warm sun with a cool breeze blowing in off the ocean.

  Slowly, the smile on her face faded as her brain began to speak again.

  Was it him or had she been single for so long that he seduced her so easily? How did he manage to turn her into a slut so easily? If she wasn’t careful, she would find herself craving his touch, his kisses.

  Craving the man himself.

  It scared her.

  He was making her stupid.

  Stupid.

  “What?” Pierce asked, raising himself up on one arm. He brushed her cheek as he gazed down at her. “What did you just say?”

  She met his gaze, silently cursing herself for accidentally saying the word aloud. Never one to play games, she responded bluntly. “Stupid. I was telling myself how stupid I was.”

  “For what?”

  She barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. “What do you think, Pierce?”

  “For making love with me?”

  She laughed and pushed him off her. She adjusted her clothes as she rose to her feet. “We did not make love.” She scoffed. “Pierce, we had sex. Or to put it plainly- you fucked me. Hard. And I enjoyed it. This can’t continue.”

  He got to his feet. His eyes darkened as he leaned towards her. “Millicent, don’t make what we did into something crude. It was wonderful fo
r both of us. Don’t discount it.”

  “Don’t sugarcoat it, either.”

  “I have feelings for you.” Pierce raised his hand.

  Millie quickly stepped back out of his grasp and headed to the cockpit. Within seconds, the engine was running and they were moving through the water.

  “Millicent? Millie?” Pierce’s voice cut through her. She flinched at the hurt she heard but knew this amazing afternoon was a crapshoot. It wouldn’t work. Not that she wanted it too.

  “I don’t know what you want from me,” she replied after a long moment. “This isn’t a fairytale. We’re not right for each other. We live in two different worlds.”

  “Stop bullshitting me,” he snapped.

  Startled, Millie glanced over at him. He glared at her. Her breath caught. She had to look away. She had never seen him so angry. He was magnificent. He looked like a warrior ready for battle.

  She still wanted him.

  Oh, God, did she want him!

  He pointed his finger at her “Right there. I see it in your eyes. You feel something for me.”

  “I told you earlier I do. I also told you I don’t like you. Isn’t that enough emotion for you?”

  “Then why did you fuck me?” His voice turned lower, icier.

  “I had an itch to scratch and you scratched it. Oh, you scratched it good. And thank you for that, but it’s over. Pierce, I don’t need you in my life and the complications you will bring to me.” She glanced back at him before she turned the boat towards the inlet that housed them. She hated what she was doing but couldn't stop herself. She forced herself to remain strong. The hurt was still there in his gaze. She could see it behind the anger and a little bit of her died as she continued to kill the… the- whatever it was between them.

  A future between them was not something she could see or imagine. It was better to do this now before she got too attached. She didn’t want to fall in love with him and have it not work. She didn’t want to get her heart broken. She didn’t want-

  Her eyes filled with tears. She fought them back. She had to be strong. Tears would show she cared. They would show she did, indeed, feel something for him.

  “Go away so I can concentrate,” she ordered, refusing to look back at him. She felt him leave. Felt him walk away and forced back the emotion rising within her.

  Chapter 7

  Pierce was pissed when they docked. Still, he tried.

  It hadn’t been just sex to him. It was so much deeper than that. His attraction to her hadn’t dimmed. He was mad but it was because, having finally held her in his arms, his heart had taken that final leap. What they did was amazing. Never had sex been so good. And not because it had been so long since he’d had someone. It had been incredible. The thought of the magic between them made his legs tremble.

  So he gave her space on the boat but he tried to talk to her before he debarked. He barely got a word out of her. She didn’t even nod when he asked her if she would be there Saturday.

  He hoped so. He still wanted to see her.

  Maybe they could mend the fence she had just hammered down because they weren’t finished yet.

  He knew it.

  Why was she so damn stubborn? Why was she so determined to push him away? Why deny what was between them?

  He knew she felt something. The way she had clung to him when he loved her. The freedom she gave herself in his arms. The way she whispered his name. It had all been packed with emotion.

  He hoped she would come to his party. He wanted to give her a glimpse of his world. They did, he knew, come from two different places but it wasn’t as if they weren’t compatible.

  Would she rise to the occasion? He would love to see her in anything other than ratty jeans and a t-shirt.

  Carrying his kayak, it was a lonely walk back to his house. His anger faded with each step. He could still taste her on his lips. He wanted to go back and yell at her. He wanted to love her. He yearned to take her in his arms again and make love to her for the rest of the evening and all through the night. To wake up with her still sleeping in his arms. He knew that wasn’t going to happen. Millicent had closed down and sent him on his way with a “Go home” and then proceeded to ignore him. She frustrated him on so many levels. Almost as much as she intrigued him.

  He reached his house and put the kayak away before going in to shower. A half hour later, he found himself staring out the window at Millicent’s place, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. He wanted to go down there and let her have it despite the fact he knew she wouldn’t answer the door.

  Sick at himself, he glanced at the clock. The Ocean’s End would still be open. Maybe his mysterious artist had a new painting out? He looked up at the seascape painting hanging over the mantel of his fireplace. The colors were so bold and rich. He loved the work of this particular artist and wished he knew who he was. He would love to talk to him personally and ask him about the unusual symbol he used as a signature.

  Art had always been a soother for his soul. When his marriage ended, he found himself wandering the galleries of NYC and the MET. When he first came to Serenity Harbor, he found himself in The Ocean’s End Gallery and fell in love. He became captivated by an oil painting of a raging sea. The deep blues of the ocean were offset by the white foam. The sky was a blend of black, blue, and purple streaked with flashes of yellow-white lightning. As he stared at it, he could almost hear the thunder and the roar of the sea. He became transfixed and couldn’t look away. He didn’t know how long he stood there until the owner Lauralee, came over to introduce herself and talk to him about the piece.

  It was his first purchase and now hung in his office in Manhattan. Lauralee and he had become fast friends. She would call to let him know when a new piece was coming in. He had run into her the other day in town and she told him she would be acquiring a few new pieces soon.

  He drove into the small coastal town. Traffic was slow due to the fact it was the height of leaf-peeper season. Luckily he found a parking space two blocks down from the gallery.

  The gallery was quiet when he went in.

  “Not yet,” Lauralee greeted him with a smile, “but I’ve got word I’ll have some new ones next week. I did acquire a new artist. Her watercolors are beautiful. Would you like to see her work?”

  “Thanks, Lee.”

  “Lauralee, Pierce.” She guided him towards the back of the gallery. “Please call me Lauralee.”

  He smiled down at her and firmly pushed Millicent to the back of his mind. He didn’t want to think about the harridan he was in love with. “Lauralee, I would love to see the works you have on display. Will you be attending my party on Saturday?”

  “Of course I will. You’re presenting the art you’ve bought at my gallery. How can I not? You know it's business for me.” She offered him a shy grin. “After all, you keep my business afloat.”

  He was tempted to ask her again about the artist whose work he loved but she wouldn’t tell him anything. Truthfully, she couldn’t. She had signed a confidentiality agreement with the artist. She wouldn’t even tell him the sex of the artist. He yearned to know but with no answers, he would still buy each piece that spoke to his soul.

  The watercolors were pretty but without the deep boldness of colors he wasn’t drawn to them. They gave him a sense of loneliness and sorrow. One had a woman standing on the edge of a pier, her hand over her eyes blocking out the sun. It reminded him of Millicent. It made his heart ache.

  He wanted her to be a part of his life. He wanted her for more than a quick afternoon fling.

  He didn’t want to go back to his lonely house overlooking hers. He knew he would spend the evening watching it from his office. He turned to Lauralee. “Would you like to have dinner with me?”

  Chapter 8

  Millie felt horrible as she watched Pierce walk away. She wanted to call him back. She wanted to tell him she’d be at his party. She wanted to ask if he would forgive her for being a callous bitch.

  She didn’t. />
  She wasn’t one of those women who believed she was in love with a man because they had sex. She liked her life the way it was and if she got lonely occasionally- Well, that’s life. She had married friends who kept trying to fill their lives with children or projects because they were so lonely.

  She preferred to fill hers with her art and work.

  She didn’t need a man in her life, especially not the one who just entered his house.

  No. She didn’t need a man in her life.

  But she did want one that little, evil voice in her head whispered.

  She shook off her regret and sudden loneliness. She still had work that needed to be done. She went back to her boat and opened her chest to check her painting. Unloading her canvases, she carried them one by one into her art studio before looking them over with her supplies.

  Satisfied there was nothing needed fixing, she placed her pieces on specially made racks to dry. She went back to her boat to double-check everything was where it needed to be and cleaned up anything that needed it.

  Minutes later, she was done. She sat down on the edge of the boat and looked up at the big house just beyond her own. As she watched, Pierce pulled out of his garage and drove quickly up the long drive.

  He was gone.

  Strangely, she missed him.

  How could she miss him?

  She didn’t even like him.

  But she realized she did.

  She thought over their conversations during the day. The way it felt being with him. He made her laugh. He challenged her. He turned her on.

  She did like him.

  It had never been merely a physical attraction.

  For years, she had denied it might have been more. She ignored the little thrills that went through her at his presence.

  She hid it from herself. Almost.

  It was easier to be alone. It was safer to hide her heart and tell herself she was better off single. She didn’t need someone to love because they either leave through death or they break your heart.

  Either way, she always ended up alone.