'Right! Come to me!'
She could see him all the way down, his powerful body twisting as he kicked upwards, and she began what seemed to be a very tricky descent, quietly furious that she could not simply fall gracefully into the water like Dan. She wasn't about to try anything fancy, though. He had said there was deep water off Andros, and it looked deep enough here, even though she could see the white, sandy bottom.
'No daring deeds,' Dan warned. 'Gently does it!' He spent what seemed like ages teaching her to use the equipment, and then he sank away, looking up at her through his mask, the sunlight through the water turning his hair to burnished gold, his brown hand signaling, and she sank rather fearfully towards him, her mind rapidly running through his instructions.
He was on the surface only a couple of yards away, and she found that the flippers were not the clumsy encumbrances in the water that they had been on deck. She floated across, gently kicking her feet, a slow smile beginning on her face as she felt the freedom of the water.
It was fabulous! He moved slowly away, looking back every few seconds to make sure she was still following, and after a while she began to really enjoy herself. Now she was actually in the wonderland. The coral, like flowers, below her, brilliantly colored fish all around. It was incomparably beautiful, and Anna forgot every anxiety, her only irritation that she could not talk excitedly to Dan at once.
After a long while he touched her arm, signaling her upwards, and she thought they were going back to the house.
'Enjoying it'?' He pushed his mask up and she followed suit, her face alight with excitement.
'Dan, it's fabulous! I could stay here forever.'
'You've got fifteen more minutes!' he laughed. 'Don't forget that. If you disobey, you'll be shore bound for good!'
'Spoil-sport!' She made a face and then added, 'Anyway, I'm starving!'
'That's the first sensible thing you've said since we left England. Let's get back to the launch!'
His hands came to her shoulders and he bent his head, his lips brushing hers quickly, and then he slid his mask over a quite impassive face and sank beneath the water.
It was a second before she could follow. The quick, light kiss only added to the magical feeling that there was nobody else in the world and the shining, buoyant water was a mystical place where Dan was hers alone.
She saw him shoot upwards and followed, and then she was being helped to the hot, sunny deck, Dan's firm hands shedding her equipment for her, her shaking legs telling her that she was still not back to normal strength and that Dan had been quite right to ration her stay below.
They ate their lunch and then Anna spread out her towel and lay in the shadow of the deck-house, out of the fierce rays of sunlight that had dried her as she ate. Dan stayed in the sun, but he was darkly tanned, used to this brightness, and she didn't want to get burned and ruin everything. He stayed hazily in her mind as she drifted to sleep, the gently rocking boat soothing her troubles away.
She awoke later to find him standing close, looking down at her.
'Oh, I never meant to sleep! Are we going back in the water?' She struggled up and he took her hand, pulling her to her feet.
'No. I think you've had enough for today. Tomorrow, if I can manage it. You did nothing wrong, nothing dangerous. We'll quit while we're ahead!'
'I didn't realize I was such a liability.' She looked up with an impish smile, her mind still partly in the mood of dreams, no barrier up between herself and Dan.
'You're not. I'm just in a cautious mood. Right now I feel I've moved carefully through a dangerous afternoon and come out relatively unscathed. Who knows, if we stay longer, a chick Harney may appear and do untold damage?'
'What's that'?' Her face held the fascinated awe of childhood as she looked up into the amused eyes, and he became very serious.
'It's red-eyed and three-toed and it hangs from trees. Its sole function is to cause trouble!'
Amused exasperation flared across her face as she realized he was teasing. 'There's no such thing!'
'Don't be too sure. I thought there were no mermaids, but look how wrong I was!'
His eyes ran over her figure, now smoothly tanned, the black bikini merely an enticement, her lustrous black hair sun-dried and shining. Her skin felt as if he was touching her, and she shivered as his eyes returned to hers.
His arm curled out, unexpectedly encircling her waist, pulling her forward as his hand collected her long black hair, a silken rope to twine around his wrist, his gentle pull forcing her head up until her face was close to his.
'Kiss me, mermaid,' he ordered huskily. 'I brought you from the sea, and now you owe me a wish!'
'Dan!' There was panic mixed with her laughter, but he waited, his lips hovering over hers, his arm drawing her close. For the first time in her life she felt Dan's skin against hers, and a gasp of excitement left her lips as forbidden feelings raced through her. Everything blanked in her mind, nothing left but feeling, dangerous, alluring awareness. Dan's eyes burning into hers, all laughter gone.
'Kiss me!' It was a faint whisper, the sound of the sea almost drowning it, the sound of her own heart pounding much louder, and her eyes moved to the long, firm lips that now looked sensuous and enticing.
'Anna!' Her name was a low sound deep in his throat, a husky order, and she closed her eyes, her trembling lips brushing his, opening when he suddenly deepened the kiss and released her hair, pulling her fully into his arms, molding her against him.
He murmured deeply, a sound of male satisfaction that shot waves of heat through her whole body. The fright left her as she gave herself up to feeling, and her arms went tightly around his neck as his hands began to search her skin urgently, moving across her warm back, spanning her waist and the slender length of her thighs.
They might have been deep in the water or up in the sky; there was nothing but pleasure and warmth and a blind instinct to cling to him.
'You entrancing little devil!' His lips caressed her face and neck, his strong hands arching her against him. 'Don't move. Stay with me.'
It reminded her that they had to go back to the house, and it reminded her of her place here. The memory of Daphne and the small boy brought Anna out of the trance that she had willingly entered. She pulled away and turned her back, ashamed as she had never been.
'Anna?' His hands came to her shoulders, but he made no attempt to turn her to face him. She couldn't face him, and she felt him withdraw from her even before his hands had left her skin. 'I'm sorry. The sunlight is supposed to be an aphrodisiac. Clearly it is. Maybe I'd better get back to California after all!'
'It-it was my fault,' she confessed in a voice that held some measure of her shame. 'If I hadn't been ..."
'If you hadn't been what-yourself?' he interrupted harshly. 'I can hardly think of anyone else you could be, so don't burden yourself with guilt. We both know what all this is about, all this underlying antagonism, all this bottled-in heat!'
Yes, she knew! It was her obsession with Dan, a child's love that had grown to a woman's desire, even though it disgusted her! As for Dan-wasn't he a man, after all? It had been a long time since he had felt only the need to protect her. The very thought brought tears to her eyes. What had he done, but protect her when she was so ill at college? She was here because he was protecting her. It was a hopeless muddle, and every barrier she had built up against him for over four years was crumbling daily.
'I should go home.' She said it as coolly as trembling lips would allow her eyes on his golden, handsome frame as he bent over the wheel, his hand on the ignition. 'Right! I'll just spin us around and head out over the Atlantic,' he assured her sarcastically. 'It may make some sort of record! '
'I'm serious!'
'It felt like it,' he jeered. 'Unfortunately, it didn't last long enough for me to be quite sure. Maybe next time we can assess it better!'
'There won't be a next time!' Anna snapped, her trembling hand clutching the towel tightly.
'It
's a small island, baby!' he reminded her mockingly. 'You're on it and so am I. Poor Bryan is miles away, dedicated to science. It will happen again, it's been boiling long enough!'
He started the engine, ignoring her and she sat abruptly, her legs unsteady, her mind not at all sure what she had heard. He was keeping her here until she ... until they...
The boat moved out and turned for the other side of the island, and she walked forward urgently to stand by him, looking up into his face as he stared out to sea. 'Let me go home!' she demanded, her voice tight and afraid.
'No!'
He didn't even look at her. His face was cool and remote, and she knew he had never had the slightest intention of letting her go. She didn't know him at all. The Dan she had known was gone, a frightening, exciting stranger taking his place.
'Dan!'
'Save yourself an argument,' he said harshly. 'I'm not letting you go!'
Of course it couldn't go on. She knew it couldn't, although Dan behaved as if nothing had happened at all. It had happened to her, though. She had come to excited life, her conscience weakening daily, her eyes constantly on Dan.
There was always the sound of his voice, deep and soft, and she sunned herself in the sound of it as the days drifted by. Sometimes he would be quiet, suddenly and unexpectedly, and then their eyes would meet, his tawny eyes taking on a deep glow as he seemed to read what was on her mind.
The trips to Nassau became almost like a drug, a burning need to be in his arms, and as they returned Dan would often be silent, leaving her to walk alone up to the house, then going to his study to work for hours, his face strained next day. It was becoming more difficult to be natural, and often she thought that he was deliberately forcing the tension up. It was a thrill that ran through the days, a force that was dragging her under.
She went everywhere with him; she had no choice. At least twice a week they went to Nassau to dine, and danced until very late. At first she had been anxious, afraid when he touched her, but she was always reduced to trembling acquiescence when those eyes smiled into hers and his hand reached out to take her own. For all her fears and guilt, it was just an excuse to be in Dan's arms, and she prayed he wouldn't realize it. It was only a dream, and she acknowledged that. It seemed to merely amuse him.
Often they visited other islands during the day, when Dan would suddenly declare he had worked for long enough, the white launch skipping over the sea and nosing its way into new and exciting places. Away from Nassau there were no crowds, everything was relaxed and laughter came easily. He told her fantastic tales of the Out Islands, many of which were hard to believe, and the islanders who talked to them were even worse.
Anna sat on the low stone wall of the harbor after a day looking around Cat Island. She was getting to know how Dan's mind worked, and she ate juicy pineapple, her eyes amused as he coaxed an old Bahamian into talking. He was gathering material for a book, she was sure, and the old man had no idea that his reminiscences were being directed.
He shot off at a tangent and Dan's eyes lost their intent concentration as Anna became the focus of attention.
'It's the sweetest pineapple in the islands that's grown here!' the old man said proudly, his eyes satisfied at her enjoyment. 'We got everything!' He began a long recitation on bush medicine that almost choked her with the need not to laugh. She had never known there could be so many aches or internal disorders, or so many revolting-sounding cures.
She was only free to laugh when the old man had gone, and Dan turned glittering eyes on her.
'What a pity I didn't know about all that,' he said with teasing regret. 'I should have brought you over here as soon as we reached the Bahamas, and you would have been right as rain immediately!'
'Or poisoned!' Anna laughed.
'He never said anything about obeah!' Dan told her seriously, getting her interest at once.
'Obeah? What's that'?'
'Witchcraft. It's still practiced here by the older people, although they don't talk about it. They might have opened up to you though, considering the way you look with all that long black hair. Think what you could do with a few potions.'
'I could have tried them out on Bryan!' she said quickly, knowing perfectly well what potions he was mocking about.
'Bryan? Who's he?' Dan asked softly, and all the laughter was gone as suddenly as it had come. She had to ignore it. She couldn't cope when he was like this.
'My fingers are sticky.' she complained looking round for her bag.
'Lick them,' Dan murmured.
Before she could move he had taken her hand in his, lifting her slender fingers to his lips, drawing them into the warmth of his mouth.
'Don't!' Her whole body leapt as if she had been touched by an electrical charge, and she snatched her hand away, searching frantically for her handkerchief.
'Merely trying to oblige.' he assured her softly, taking her arm and leading her off towards the boat as if nothing at all had happened. Maybe it hadn't, for him! For her, it was just one more step along the way, one more thing to fire her wild obsession with him;
CHAPTER SIX
ANNA waited each day as Dan worked, and never asked again to go home. Maybe he had kidnapped her! She didn't care. She lay like a contented cat beside the pool, her body almost sensuous as she thought of Dan. Each day the feelings inside her grew stronger. Each day their eyes held for just a little longer. She stretched sinuously, a smile on her face that was pure sensuality, her eyes opening to see Dan standing there watching her.
Color flooded her cheeks, but she looked straight back and saw an answering flare of color on his high cheekbones. Their eyes locked and she knew that his hands were slowly clenching and unclenching. She refused to look away because at that moment there was a madness in her, a need to fight for him, to keep him for herself. Her legs were turning to water and he took a step towards her, an acknowledgement of her feelings deep in his eyes.
It scared her and she tore her gaze away, knowing that she had been deliberately calling to him with her eyes and that this time he had been only too ready to respond. There was now no mockery on his face, only a raw, masculine need that was almost aggressive. She shot to her feet and raced towards the house.
'I think I'll change and go for a walk!'
She just flung the words over her shoulder, fully aware of what she was deliberately inviting. If he followed her she was too vulnerable to even make any protest. He did not, and she knew he would have come to his senses and be feeling angry with himself and with her. Life had become too difficult. She spent all her days wanting Dan to touch her, and all she was doing was inviting disaster.
She sat on the edge of her bed, trying to feel the surge of disgust with herself that had protected her so far, but it would not come. Dan knew how she felt! He could not. As she finally came rather fearfully back when she had changed, she could hear the hammering of his typewriter from behind the closed door of his study.
What was he thinking? Was he angry with her, disgusted? She knew she should insist on going back to England, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words. It would mean that she would never see him again. Her teeth bit into her bottom lip and she almost jumped out of her skin as Josie followed her out on to the veranda, waving a letter.
'You got mail, Miss Anna! You got mail from England at last!'
It was a fat brown envelope, a big one, and it seemed to contain more than one letter. Clearly it had been posted on. She went back to her room to open it and sat on the bed, her heart still unsteady from her encounter with Dan.
A letter from Bryan fell out and she looked at it without opening it, her mind only seeing him hazily, because everything in life was a hazy dream now that she was here. This place was the vibrant reality. But her heart gave a quite alarming leap when the next letter that fell out had the college stamp on it.
This was it! She hardly dared open it. In the joy and excitement of being with Dan, she had completely forgotten her finals and the state she had been
in at that time. She read it slowly, read it again, and then she was on her feet, running to Dan with no thought but to share her happiness.
He looked up in surprise as she burst into his study, but she was riding on the crest of a wave. Only the stillness of his face, the forbidding look, brought her to her senses.
'I've got some mail from England!' she began breathlessly, the letter open in her hand.
He didn't even glance at it.
'A letter from Bryan,' he said sardonically, 'and you brought it for me to read? How kind!'
Disappointment clouded her eyes and she looked at him reproachfully. 'I passed my finals. I thought you might like to know.'
He got up slowly a smile growing in his eyes, and came round the desk to her as she stood in the doorway. It dawned on her that she shouldn't be here at all. It was the inner sanctum.
'I'm sorry I burst in,' she began, but she couldn't keep it up. He was smiling, sharing her joy. 'Oh, Dan, I passed!'
'How?' He was standing in front of her, watching her face, and she grinned up at him.
'I got a first!'
She flung her arms around his neck, forgetting everything else, the letter waving in her hand, and his arms closed tightly round her, almost lifting her off her feet. 'I expected nothing less!'
'But I was in such a mess!' She drew back and looked up into his face, her arms still around his neck. 'The figures were sometimes almost a jumble. I don't know how I did it.'
'Witchcraft!' he suggested softly, his eyes gleaming into hers. 'Isn't that how you do everything?'
All at once she saw the look on his face, and the memory of the few seconds beside the pool flooded her mind. She was back in his arms as she had been on the boat. For whatever reason, she was here, being held tightly, Dan's face close. Her body softened almost instinctively and his eyes moved to her parted lips, his gaze almost caressing, when she looked up his eyes were half closed, his face tightening as his hand reached out to close the door. Then he was urging her gently back against it, his gaze locked with hers.
'Anna!' he said thickly as his lips closed over hers.
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