Heart Stealers

by Patricia McLinn

  “We are not mismatched! And I’m glad—”

  “But how can you ever forgive me for ruining your life?” she rushed on.

  “Would you stop? You didn’t ruin—”

  “It’s just that I love you so much, and—”

  He kissed her, more as a way to make her stop talking than anything else. But the moment his mouth touched hers, she seemed to ignite in his arms. She returned the kiss with a desperation that knocked him back a step.

  He braced himself as her arms tightened about his neck. He tried to pull his mouth from hers long enough to speak, but she followed, pressing her body against him. Blood surged to his groin when her hips molded to his. Jesus, he’d been half hard all evening with visions of getting her out of that dress. Or taking her while she was still in it. Not that it ever took much to get him aroused when she was around.

  Unable to resist, he decided to kiss her back just for a minute, then he’d find out what was wrong. He slanted his head to mate his mouth more fully with hers and let his tongue slip inside. She tasted so good, so unbearably good, he couldn’t pull away. He needed more. Just a little more.

  His hands moved to cup her breasts. She moaned as she came up on tiptoes, her pelvis rubbing his erection. Her arms lowered and her hands slipped inside his jacket to caress his stomach, his sides, and up his back.

  Somehow the dress slipped lower and he was holding her naked breast, her nipples teasing his palms, begging to be tasted. He broke away from her mouth and trailed a line of kisses down her neck.

  “Yes, oh yes,” she rasped, arching her back and offering her breasts up to him. With one arm around the small of her back to support her, he lavished attention on each breast in turn, before sucking one nipple into his mouth.

  A choked sob escaped her, a sound filled with more pain than pleasure. Startled, he lifted his head and found her still crying. “Aurora, what is it? Did I hurt you?”

  “No, I just—I want you so much it hurts.” She burrowed her face against his chest, crying softly. “I know it’s wrong, but I want you. Just one more time and then I’ll do the right thing.” She kissed his neck, his jaw, the underside of his chin. “Love me one more time, Chance. Please love me.”

  He tried to make sense of her words as she tugged his shirt from the waistband of his trousers, but his pulse was roaring in his ears. Her hands found his bare skin, making him flinch. He was so hot, he probably scorched her fingers. She found his mouth and kissed him with such desperate longing, he gave up on rational thought.

  Later, he decided, he’d find out what had upset her. Later. Right now he had to touch her, taste her. Without breaking the kiss, he looked about the clearing. Twigs and leaves littered the ground. God, what he wouldn’t give for a blanket!

  A stout oak stood just behind her, offering at least some support. He walked her back a couple of steps. When she felt the trunk, she leaned against it while her hands tugged at his belt. He undid the buckle and the sword fell to the ground. He shed his jacket and flung it away while she unfastened his trousers. Kissing her, he lifted the yards upon yards of skirt and petticoats until he found the warm smooth skin of her thighs.

  Her underwear was quickly dispensed with. When his hand slipped between her thighs, her head dropped back against the tree. A look of pleasure softened her face even as tears continued to course down her cheeks.

  Longing to take the tears away, he kissed her cheeks as he stroked her gently with his fingers. But the feel of her so hot and wet had his body aching with a different need, one to bury himself deep inside her.

  “I love the way you touch me,” she whispered, her eyes closed.

  His groin clenched at her husky words. He freed himself and braced his feet wide apart, his thighs forcing hers to open. “Aurora,” he rasped. “Hold on to my neck and wrap your legs around me.”

  Her legs went eagerly around him. Cupping her bottom, he poised her, then plunged with near brutal force. She gasped and stiffened in his arms.

  “Aurora,” he rasped as she clamped her legs around him, pulling him deeper, and his control snapped. She moved with him, calling his name, telling him she needed him, loved him. Then she stiffened against him, her head flung back. Her expression of rapture sent him over the edge.

  His climax hit him like a physical blow, leaving his limbs weak. His knees nearly buckled before he managed to lock them. He collapsed forward, supporting her more with the pressure of his body than his arms, which had turned to rubber.

  They remained that way a long time, their harsh breathing drowning out the sounds of the night. Her head had fallen forward onto his shoulder. When he felt he could move, he pressed a kiss into her hair.

  “You okay?” he asked in a surprisingly steady voice.

  “Yes.” Her own voice sounded small and unsure.

  “Calmer now?”

  She nodded, her cheek moving against his shoulder.

  “Then do you think you can tell me what’s going on?”

  She lifted her head and nodded but didn’t meet his eye.

  He eased her feet to the ground and helped her straighten her clothes. Then he gathered his jacket and sword. When they were seated side by side on the driftwood log he waited for her to begin.

  “Well?” he prompted.

  She plucked at the folds of her skirt. “I overheard some women talking. They said your job at the bank was in jeopardy because of your partnership with us.”

  “That’s it?” He sagged with relief. “God, Aurora, never scare me like that again. I thought something serious had happened. And the way you were babbling a minute ago, I thought you were trying to break up with me.”

  Her head snapped up and fire shone in her eyes. “What do you mean, ‘That’s it?’ You’re about to lose your job because of me, and you don’t think that’s serious?”

  “I’m not about to lose my job because of you—”

  “Are you saying the bank didn’t give you an ultimatum?”

  “Yes, they did. And I’m sorry, now, I didn’t talk to you about it sooner. But I thought you had enough to deal with this week without finding out that I’d decided to leave the bank.”

  “No!” Her face paled. “You can’t. I won’t let you.”

  “Aurora, it’s okay.” He tried to reassure her. “If you’re worried about the money, don’t be. I make enough off my investments to live reasonably well. And once the inn takes off, we’ll have income from that.”

  “It’s not the money, it’s your life. I really have ruined it. First your relationship with Paige, now your career. No, Chance, I won’t let you throw everything away like this. You belong at the bank, not running an inn. The three of us will buy you out.”

  “The hell you will!”

  “If only I could put everything back the way it was.”

  “I don’t want it put back.”

  “But I can’t do that.” She shook her head, clearly not listening to him. “Oh, Chance, it’s even worse than you realize. I’m so sorry for what I’ve done to you, but I can’t change it now. And I know it’s selfish, but a part of me is glad, because even though I can’t have you, I can have—”

  “What?” he asked, his thoughts reeling.

  She looked at him, her eyes shining with tears in the moonlight. “I can’t have you, but at least I can have your baby.”

  The world stopped dead on its axis. He tried to speak, but his lungs didn’t work.

  Tears spilled down her cheeks. “I’m pregnant, Chance. I’m going to have your baby.”

  “B-baby?” he managed. She was pregnant and he’d just taken her against a tree with all the gentleness of a battering ram? “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I know I should have. But I was so afraid you’d feel obligated to marry me. I wanted you to want me without knowing, but now I realize how stupid I’ve been to think you’d ever marry me.”

  A baby! His mind worked past the immediate fear of having hurt her just now to the wonder of what she was saying. Aurora w
as going to have his baby! The concept was too huge to take in all at once.

  “You have every right to be mad that I didn’t tell you sooner,” she said. At least he thought that’s what she said. He stared at her mouth as other words tumbled out. Something about it happening the first time they’d made love. She’d been pregnant all this time and he hadn’t had a clue. He felt a bit cheated over that, but the emotion didn’t stand a chance against the others that were crashing through him. As soon as the world started turning again, he was going to shout at the moon. Aurora was going to have his baby!

  He tried to concentrate on her words, but she was talking so fast, and crying again. She assured him he’d have as much access to the child as he wanted. But he mustn’t feel guilty if he didn’t want to be an active father because Allison and Adrian would be there to help her. And through her whole jumbled revelation, she kept insisting that he mustn’t feel obligated to marry her.

  “What do you mean?” he finally managed to say. “Of course we’re getting married.”

  “No! Haven’t you been listening to me? I don’t want a marriage based on obligation. The baby and I will be fine.”

  “The hell you’re not going to marry me!” She was pregnant with his child but refused to marry him? “We’ll go to the courthouse first thing Monday and get a license.”

  “See, I knew you’d react like this!” She rose in a rush. “But I won’t let you. I love you too much to let you throw your life away. You have a career at the bank, and family and friends who will never accept someone like me. Nothing changes who we are or how differently we were raised. We belong to different worlds! And there’s no point even discussing this anymore, because I won’t let you throw your life away over this.” She turned and fled from the clearing.

  He tried to stand and go after her, but his legs weren’t working yet. He sat there, staring into the dark, trying to sort out what had just happened.

  He’d asked Aurora to marry him, and she’d said no. Even knowing she was having his baby, she’d still turned him down. She’d said they belonged in different worlds, which sounded like she didn’t want him in hers.

  The thought brought a sense of devastation so great he felt numb.

  He fumbled in the jacket pocket for the ring. He’d kept it on him, since he didn’t feel safe leaving it at the house with so many people coming in and out. The diamond winked at him in the moonlight, almost as if laughing at him.

  She’d turned him down.

  What the hell did he do now?

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Realizing he couldn’t just sit in the clearing for the rest of the night, Chance headed back to the house. How he would face people when he had a huge hole in his chest he didn’t know. He’d get through it somehow, though. And tomorrow he and Aurora would talk. He’d ask her if she’d meant what she’d said—that she didn’t want him to be part of her life... or even the inn.

  The whole idea seemed ludicrous. Did she really think that cutting him off from everything he cared about would be saving him from ruin? If so, he needed to set her straight... And yet, he knew how stubborn she could be. If she thought pushing him away was the right thing to do, he might never talk her out of it.

  And what if all that talk was just her way of sparing his feelings? Maybe she simply didn’t love him. But she’d said she did. Dammit, none of it made sense!

  When he reached the bonfire, he looked for Adrian. He wanted to know where Aurora had gone so he could avoid her for a while at least. He didn’t feel capable of dealing with her until he’d had time to think things through logically. As if logic and Aurora would ever go together!

  Adrian, however, wasn’t on the beach. Chance started to ask one of the servers where he was, but a commotion on the deck of the ship drew his attention. Glancing that way, he saw Jackie and Mr. Baxter involved in a shouting match. From Harry’s aggressive stance, he thought the man was about to hit her. Alarmed, he raced to the pier.

  By the time he reached the main deck of the ship, Adrian was standing between the arguing pair with Mrs. Baxter wringing her hands while she watched.

  “What the hell is going on!” Chance demanded.

  “Chance, thank God you’re here.” Marcy grabbed his arm. “You have to help us find Paige.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  Harry turned to him, his face flushed with rage. “Paige has been missing most of the evening. When Marcy asked if anyone had seen her, Frank Adams said he’d spotted her earlier struggling with one of the men from this ship. She broke away, but the man chased after her. Since her car is still here, I think she’s been abducted.”

  “Abducted!” Chance shook his head, trying to think. Kidnapping wasn’t out of the question, considering the Baxters’ wealth, but he found it hard to believe. And why had Frank waited so long to tell Marcy, unless the scene with Paige wasn’t as bad as Harry was making it sound. Think, he told himself. Think! He looked to Jackie. “Are any of your men missing?”

  “No,” she answered stiffly. “And no, I haven’t seen the little princess. And yes, I’m sure she is not aboard this ship because I just came from below deck, and she’s not there.”

  “I say we search the ship anyway,” Harry said.

  The first mate stepped forward, a solid wall of muscle ready to block Harry’s way while guests stood by watching in horrified fascination.

  “Mr. Baxter.” Chance moved toward him. “There are other places Paige could be, and I don’t see any reason to believe Jackie is lying. Rather than waste time arguing, why don’t we search the grounds and house?”

  Harry looked torn, but nodded.

  “Fine.” Chance turned to Adrian. “Will you lead the search of the grounds?” Adrian agreed and Chance looked over the crowd of guests, picking out the ones he knew to be the most levelheaded. “Paul, Eric, Jeremy, you three help him. I’ll go with Mr. Baxter to search the house.”

  Without waiting, Harry headed down the steps to the dock.

  Adrian let his breath out in a loud rush. “Be sure he doesn’t tear the place apart, will ya?”

  “I’ll try.” Chance started to leave, but stopped long enough to ask, “Have you seen Aurora?”

  “She’s in Jackie’s cabin crying her eyes out, which is why Jackie didn’t want the man charging down there. And as soon as we find Paige, I want to know what the hell is going on between you two that has my sister so upset.”

  “I wish I could tell you,” Chance said, feeling hollow. Before Adrian could question him further, he headed after the Baxters, meeting up with them right before they reached the house. His parents joined them on the veranda.

  “Harry, what is it?” his father asked.

  While Harry explained, Chance noticed that word was rapidly spreading through the crowd. The moment they entered the house, Harry started calling his daughter’s name, which drew stares from everyone on the first floor. Allison came out of the music room, clearly startled.

  “Mr. Baxter.” Chance said, alarmed at how quickly the situation could get out of control. “Let’s try to do this calmly. As of yet, we don’t even know there is a problem.”

  Harry turned on him. “Considering it’s your fiancée who’s missing, I can’t believe you’d suggest I stay calm.”

  Chance opened his mouth to explain that he and Paige weren’t even dating, but stopped himself. Now was not the time. Besides, if Aurora were the one missing, he’d be just as frantic as Harry.

  Harry charged up the stairs, mounting them two at a time. Chance and his father followed with Marcy and Ellen trying to keep up. The minute Harry reached the top of the stairs, he looked about then turned to the only closed door. The door to the Crow’s Nest.

  “Paige!” he bellowed, and ran to the door only to find it locked. “Paige!” He took a step back and raised his foot.

  “Wait!” Chance shouted as Harry kicked the door in. He heard Paige scream just before he reached the door. Frightened by the sound, he pushed his way inside,
past Harry who had come to a stop. He stopped as well, stunned.

  There in the bed, a naked Paige and Captain Bob grabbed at the sheet to cover themselves.

  “Daddy!” Paige gasped, her eyes huge.

  Harry’s eyes went from his daughter to the man in bed beside her. “You son of a bitch!”

  “Daddy, no!” Paige screamed as Harry lunged.

  Chance and his father grabbed Harry’s arms while Bobby grabbed Paige by the waist and hauled her from the bed, sheet and all, so they stood against the far wall.

  “I’ll kill you for touching her!” Harry bellowed. “Do you hear me?”

  “Daddy, please!” Paige clung to Bobby’s neck as he tried to push her behind him and keep them both covered with the sheet. “Don’t hurt him! Please, don’t hurt him!”

  Marcy reached the door, took in the scene, and started shrieking. Chance thanked God his mother was there to grab her friend, hug her tight and shut her up. Harry stopped struggling and stared at his daughter as if he’d never seen her before. “Paige, how could you take up with this—this low-life dock bum!”

  She stared back at all of them with frightened eyes.

  “Sweetheart,” Bobby said softly, “if you’re ever gonna stand up to your parents, I’d say now would be a good time to start.”

  Paige loosened her death grip around Bobby’s neck enough to look up at him. She was so delicate and pale against his dark, muscle-bound body that even seeing them together, Chance couldn’t believe it. Which made her expression of adoration that much more startling to behold.

  “You’re right,” she whispered. Her face looked serene when she turned back to the doorway. “Mom, Dad, I’m in love with Bobby, and I’ve agreed to marry him.”

  Marcy made a strange, breathy sound and Chance turned just in time to see her collapse to the floor in a dead faint. His mother knelt quickly to see to her friend. Behind them stood a crowd of guests. Their faces mirrored his own shock at the scene playing out before them. Paige Baxter and Captain Bob?

  “Paige, you can’t be serious,” Harry said, clearly rattled. “You can’t marry him. You’re engaged to Chance.”