The Silken Web

by Sandra Brown

  It was during one such moonlit moment, just as she was turning around to go back to her room, that she saw Erik. He was lying on a blanket, very near where the water was lapping the beach with a lacy foam.

  There was no mistaking his form. She would have known it on the darkest night. He was wearing only the briefest of bathing trunks and, supporting himself on his elbows, was staring out over the water. A deep chuckle rumbled out of his chest. Kathleen glanced at the sea, searching for something that he could have found so amusing when he was all alone.

  But he wasn’t. Tamara was rising out of the water, naked and shimmering in the moonlight. Her hair looked like a silver stole thrown over her shoulders and back.

  “Aren’t you afraid you might step on a sea urchin out there in the dark?” Erik called to her.

  “If I do, you’ll come save me.” Their voices carried across the water and it was apparent they didn’t know they had an audience.

  “Like hell I will,” Erik said. “I’m too relaxed and lazy.”

  Tamara’s tinkling laugh reached Kathleen’s ears like the sound of splintering glass. “I know how to get you unrelaxed.”

  “You can try,” Erik challenged. By this time, Tamara was standing over him, dripping water on his torso.

  “That’s the most fun part,” she said.

  Kathleen couldn’t bear to watch any more after Tamara collapsed onto the blanket beside him. She ran with stumbling footsteps to her suite.

  “I ought to fire that bitch!” she screamed to the walls. “After all, I am Mrs. Kirchoff. I’m in charge, aren’t I? Don’t I represent Seth? And Seth hired Erik. I’ll go out there right now and fire her.” But even as she turned and put her hand on the doorknob, her resolve evaporated. She wasn’t about to return to the beach, knowing what she’d find there. And she wouldn’t fire Tamara either. She wouldn’t give Erik the satisfaction of knowing she was jealous.

  Without thinking of the consequences, she went into the bedroom and pulled one of her suitcases from the rack in the closet and began throwing things into it. When she had taken only what she needed, she left her room and made her way to the resort’s lobby. It had started raining hard again.

  “I need to leave here tonight. What flights do you have coming into your airport?”

  The sleepy night clerk scratched his head. “I don’t know, let’s see. The weather and all…” He trailed off meaningfully. “In the morning, you can get on the plane to San Juan. It leaves at seven. But with the weather—”

  “Can someone take me to the airport tonight? I’ll wait there.”

  “I guess he can, but, madam, why don’t you—”

  “Where is the limousine driver?” she asked imperiously.

  “He was in the bar the last time—”

  “Thank you. I’m with Mr. Gudjonsen’s party. If he needs to get into my room before I return, you may give him a key.”

  She found the reluctant driver, though he grumbled about having to leave his drink and drive someone to the airstrip when there wasn’t even a plane there.

  She sat in the deserted building all night. In the morning, she waited patiently for the scheduled flight and was thankful when it was only forty-five minutes late. The rain was still torrential.

  The flight to San Juan was extremely uncomfortable, and Kathleen feared that at any moment the aircraft would be plunged into the ocean. Puerto Rico wasn’t her final destination, however, for it was too commercial. She wanted seclusion. She asked for information at a booth in the airport.

  “You may want to consider Chub Cay. It’s a privately owned island,” the lady behind the counter informed her. “The resort area is comparatively small. The island is still being developed, but it is lovely and secluded, as you expressed a wish for.”

  “Yes,” said Kathleen. “How do I get there?”

  “They’re only flying one plane today and it leaves in…” she checked a schedule, “twenty minutes.”

  Kathleen raced to the ticket counter of the island-hopping airline and purchased a ticket. Her heart sank when she saw the airplane. It was about half the size of the one she had just deboarded. Every time she saw a plane now, she remembered watching Erik’s jet taxiing down the runway at Fort Smith and the disastrous crash. She had never been comfortable about flying since. Especially in the rain.

  What would have happened had that airplane not been involved in an accident? Would Erik have come back that evening? Perhaps over dinner they would have talked about his brother and Sally.

  Remorse lay heavy on her heart as she boarded the aircraft. Blessedly, the flight was brief and she was soon checked into the island resort. For absolute privacy, she had chosen to stay in a cabin away from the main lodge.

  Kathleen was driven by a bellman in a golf cart to her door and helped inside the cozy room that overlooked the ocean, then she collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion. The sleep that she had denied herself the night before finally made its claim.

  Cacophonous thunder awakened her in the early evening. She walked to the window and pulled the drapes open. The rain was a heavy curtain through which she could barely see. Feeling rested and safe, she went into the tiny bathroom and took a reviving shower. As she brushed through her hair, she thought about calling home, but decided against it. She would call in the morning. Tonight she wanted to be by herself.

  She pulled on the terry-cloth jump suit again. The downy yellow color complemented her renewed tan. She curled into the bed and situated the pillow behind her, picking up a paperback book she had quickly purchased at a newsstand in the airport in San Juan.

  The storm intensified. The thunder was closer and the crackling of lightning popped in an alarming fashion. She went to the window and reached to pull the draw cord of the drape. Her hand froze as she saw someone running pell-mell through the drenching rain. He staggered against the force of the wind, but still he barreled on.

  Her heart lurched to her throat when she realized that the apparition was coming straight for her door. Kathleen barely had time to whirl around in terror before her door crashed open and Erik burst through it.

  His jeans and shirt were sodden, and his hair was plastered to his head. He gasped in great, heaving breaths, making his chest rise and fall like a bellows. Raindrops dripped from his earlobes and nose and eyebrows. His hands were balled into fists at his thighs. He glared at Kathleen, who cowered against the windowsill, less afraid of the elements now than of him.

  He was a true son of Thor, spawned from the god of thunder during a storm. His eyes were as cold as any North wind. His face was terrible. It was the dark face of vengeance, intent on having revenge on some poor misguided soul who had had the audacity to offend the gods.

  “I ought to beat the hell out of you,” he growled.

  As an ominous refrain, the door slammed behind him.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Her initial fear was replaced by anger, generated by jealousy and frustration. Moving away from the false security of the window, she faced him defiantly, her body straining with suppressed fury. “Get out of here and leave me alone.”

  “Oh, no, Mrs. Kirchoff. Not after I’ve risked my life to get here. I’m not about to leave until I’ve done what I came to do.”

  Her face paled in spite of her claim to despise him. “You flew out here during this?” She indicated the storm outside. “How?”

  “I found a pilot with more greed than good sense and bribed him. I left him in the men’s room at the airstrip. He’s not feeling too well.”

  “You were crazy to come here. And you’ve wasted your time and your money and your heroic effort. I don’t want to see you. Please leave my room.”

  He laughed wickedly. “No way.”

  He took two menacing steps toward her, and to postpone what she now thought to be inevitable, she asked hurriedly, “How did you find me? I didn’t tell anyone where I was going.”

  “You have a bad habit of doing that, Mrs. Kirchoff,” he sneered. “This time, you didn’
t cover your tracks very well. I’ll admit when I arrived in San Juan and couldn’t find you registered at a hotel, I lost your trail for a while, but it wasn’t too hard to get back on it when I started asking around for a… never mind what I asked for. I’ve found you.” His mouth narrowed into a hard, bitter line. His drenched clothes had formed a puddle around his feet that squished when he came closer to her. “Why did you run away without leaving word with anyone?” His eyes speared into hers, pinning her against the window.

  Kathleen swallowed a lump of fear. He wouldn’t hurt her. She knew that. Didn’t she? “I… I was tired. I needed to get away for a while. I was intending to be back by the time you started taping again. Aren’t I entitled to a day off like everyone else?” she asked haughtily.

  “Yes, but you were the only one who chose to leave like a sneaking thief in the middle of the night without letting anyone know that you were going. You were the only one who deserted the rest of the crew, leaving the leader of said crew to worry out of his mind. Do you think that’s responsible behavior, Mrs. Kirchoff?”

  “Stop calling me that as if it were an epithet!” she snapped. His smile was insolent “Are you ashamed of your name, Mrs. Kirchoff? Or are you ashamed of how you came to have it? Poor old Seth has never been able to sample your wares, has he? For the life of me, I can’t figure out why a decent guy like him bailed you out when you were carrying my baby.”

  “Shut up!” She shoved away from the window and moved to a small chest of drawers, keeping her back to him. “Someone like you wouldn’t understand an honorable man like Seth. All men aren’t as spoiled and selfish as you. Nor as base, thinking only of one thing with the single-mindedness of an adolescent boy.”

  “What makes you an expert on what I’m thinking? Huh?” He was following her around the room. Each time Kathleen moved, he was behind her, trailing her, stalking her, leaving a wet path behind him.

  “If I don’t know what’s on your mind, I’m sure Tamara could tell me. I see she made it back to shore last night without stepping on any sea urchins!” She angrily resumed her original position at the window. The thunder and lightning had stopped, but torrents of rain continued to beat the sand and surf. The wind bent the palm trees to drastic angles.

  Erik quirked an inquisitive eyebrow. “You were spying on us?” he asked with amusement.

  Kathleen spun around and faced him again, furious. “No! I couldn’t sleep, so I took a walk out on the pier. You certainly weren’t difficult to spot. You obviously weren’t concerned about being observed. Before the scenario became too graphically disgusting. I left.”

  “Then you don’t really know what happened, do you?”

  “I can guess.”

  “Jealous?”

  “J—Jealous,” she sputtered. “You must be kidding!”

  “No, I’m not. You ran away because you couldn’t stand to see me with Tamara.”

  “I couldn’t stand to see two adults acting like… like naughty children! You must have a thing for making love near the water.”

  The moment the words left her mouth, Kathleen wished she could recall them. Her bosom heaved with emotion and anger as they stared each other down. Now Erik knew that she remembered—cherished—the time he had made love to her near the river.

  He stared at her from under lowered brows and his voice was gruff when he said, “So, you remember.”

  Her heart was pounding and she wanted to drag her eyes away from him, but they refused the commands of her confused brain. “Yes.” She ducked her head. “It would have been better if it had never happened.”

  “Would it?”

  Her head came up with a jerk and she said with feeling, “Yes!”

  “We wouldn’t have Theron.”

  “Oh,” she sobbed, and turned her back on him once again. Weakly, she leaned into the windowsill for support, though she thought nothing was strong enough to hold the heaviness in her heart. He had said “we.” He was wrong. He didn’t have Theron, she did. She and Seth. Barely above a whisper, she said. “How long are we going to tear at each other this way? Each time we’re together, we try our best to bring pain to the other. I surrender. I’m tired of fighting you, Erik.”

  “I didn’t come here to fight.” His voice was close behind her, though she hadn’t heard his approach.

  Blood rushed to Kathleen’s head and her eyes closed tightly. “Why did you come after me?”

  Erik didn’t answer. For the longest time, she stood there, waiting for his answer, but he wouldn’t honor her silent plea to hear it. Finally, she turned around to face him, tilting her head back to look up into the face hovering above hers. “Why did you come after me?”

  “Because I couldn’t let you disappear from my life again. I nearly didn’t survive it the first time,” he rasped. “I’ve got to have you in my life, Kathleen.”

  “I’m married.”

  “Yes, legally. But that man isn’t your true husband.” Erik’s hands settled lightly but firmly on her shoulders. “Have you and the man you’re married to ever had intercourse?”

  Then, right then, she should have slapped his face and told him her private life with Seth was none of his business. Instead, Kathleen shook her head. “No.”

  “Is he the father of your son?” His hands, warm and strong, cupped her cheeks and eased her head backward.

  “No,” she mouthed as his face descended until his lips rested against hers. He asked huskily, “Who is your husband, Kathleen?”

  “You,” she groaned softly before his lips claimed hers and she was swept into a captivating embrace. He lifted her off her feet, bringing their bodies as close to each other as clothes would allow.

  “Kathleen, kiss me, kiss me,” he urged as he raised his lips from hers only long enough to draw breath.

  She met his suggestion with abandonment, offering her mouth to the plunder of his and sending her own tongue on wild expeditions. When he finally allowed her feet to touch the floor, he wound his arms around her and pressed her face into his wet shirtfront. “Don’t ever leave me again without telling me where you are. I nearly went crazy, Kathleen. God, don’t do that to me again.” She could feel the expulsion of his breath on each word as he nuzzled her hair.

  “No.” She shook her head. “I won’t.” Then her voice changed and she laughed softly. “If you promise me one thing.”

  He pulled back slightly and looked down at her. “What?”

  “That you won’t get me all wet the next time you come after me.”

  He saw that teasing, happy glow in her green eyes, which hadn’t been there since he had kissed her and waved goodbye that fateful day more than two years before. The grin he returned was open and carefree, lacking any of the hard cynicism that usually curled his lip into a parody of a smile. “I promise.”

  He lowered his mouth to hers once again and played upon it. She chased his elusive lips with her own and growled in frustration when they wouldn’t be caught. When he raised his head this time, she recognized that devilish gleam in his eyes. “I didn’t bring any other clothes. What do you suggest I do?”

  “Well,” she answered, as if pondering a great problem. “We’re probably going to be kissing a lot. And since I don’t want to walk around in a wet terry-cloth jumpsuit, I guess the only solution is for you to take off all your clothes.”

  Erik snapped his fingers and his face brightened. “Now why didn’t I think of that?”

  She giggled like a young girl. “Why don’t you peel them off and I’ll get a towel.”

  He grabbed her arm as she went around him. “One quick kiss before you go.”

  She obliged him and then went into the bathroom. While she was there, Kathleen quickly sprayed Mitsouko around her shoulders and breasts. It seemed only natural to take off her jump suit. She walked out with the towel in front of her.

  Erik was down to his underwear, and then that was no longer a hindrance to his nakedness when he turned around to face her. She caught her breath at the sight of his
body. It was magnificent in its strength and hardness.

  He came to her slowly, studying her reaction and feeling confident with what he saw in her eyes. When he stood only a breath away from her, Kathleen said, “You are my Danish prince.”

  “No, that was Hamlet.”

  She smiled. “He didn’t have a thing over you.” She lifted the towel to his hair and ruffled through it, though it was almost dried by now. Then she lovingly dabbed the soft cloth to each feature of his face. His shoulders and arms came next, and when the towel was necessarily lowered, she heard him draw in his breath when he saw that she, too, was naked.

  She flattened the towel on his chest and rubbed her hands over it to dry him. It was more a caress than a motion of necessity. Her hands moved down over his taut stomach to his abdomen. Kathleen smiled secretly at his disappointment when she removed the towel and draped it across his shoulders. He was compensated by being able to look at her without the screening of the towel.

  She took one corner of the towel in each hand and pulled it back and forth across his back, working her way down and at the same time moving closer to him. When she reached the small of his back, Erik held his breath expectantly. His patience was rewarded.

  She drew the towel back and forth over his hips as she settled against him. Now it was her turn to open her eyes wide in surprise and gasp in pleasure when she felt the potency of his arousal against her.

  “It’s your fault,” he chided when he sensed her startled reaction. His mustache tickled her ear as he mumbled against it, “You’ve brought on the ailment, and only you can cure it.”

  Finished now with games, he put his arms around her and pulled her inexorably against him. His lips covered hers, parting them with his tongue. He nipped her lips gently with his teeth.

  Kathleen swayed against him, alive with prickling sensations as every nerve of her body cried out for his touch. The hands that stroked her back and teased her spine were skilled. They cupped her hips and lifted her to meet his passion.

  Erik wasted no time. Catching her under the knees and behind her back, he carried her to the waiting bed. He laid her on the pillows and then settled beside her, leaning on one elbow to look down at her.