He stretched out carefully atop her, distributing his weight along her legs, moving against her hard and erotically.
'A wonderful way to explore,' he repeated. He caught her lower lip between his teeth, then kissed her deeply, exploring her mouth with a sweep of his tongue and the intimate recesses of her body with his fingers.
She gasped his name, amazed at the molten fire spreading throughout her, tantalized...
'Sweetheart,' he murmured, staring into her eyes, 'I do think that I love you.' He thrust himself deep inside her, shuddering at the feeling of the velvet encasement of her love. She wrapped her limbs around him, and he whispered all the things about her that he loved.
The sun started to fall, but neither of them felt the chill as the warmth left the sky. Beautiful pinks and mauves stretched out over the horizon as twilight made a gentle descent.
Alexi saw stars streaking the heavens in a splendid outburst. She whispered to Rex that she had seen them bursting out all around her.
He laughed and told her that it was night. They rose lazily at last and made spaghetti and salad for dinner in the galley, then sat out beneath the stars. They talked about the sky and the sea, and he tried to tell her exactly where they were, pointing out the islands and the coast, which were alive at night with a glow of light.
They didn't challenge each other anymore. They had made an agreement. They were going to take a chance.
But Rex couldn't stop worrying. Eventually, they were going to have to go back. And nothing could ever be right between them--Until he found out what was really going on at the Brandywine house.
Chapter 12
By the time they came back in, three days later, Alexi had grown fairly adept with the Tatiana. The sails were furled when they approached the dock, though; the motor was softly humming to bring them in at a slow, safe speed.
Alexi--ready to jump onto the dock and tie the Tatiana up in its berth--started, openmouthed, when she saw that Gene was waiting for them farther down the dock.
'Alexi!' Rex yelled.
'What?'
'Now! Hop off and secure her.'
She obeyed him mechanically. She slipped the little nooses over the brackets just as he had shown her. When he leaped off himself to check her work and tighten the ropes, Alexi pointed down the dock. 'Gene's here. Did you plan this?'
His quick look assured her that he had not. 'Run and see if there's a problem while I rinse her down,' Rex said. Then he abruptly changed his mind. “No. Wait. Start making sure that the boat's all in order, and I'll go tell Gene we'll be with him as soon as we rinse her off.'
Hurrying off, he didn't give Alexi much of a chance to protest. She muttered something under her breath, then paused, smiling. He was darker than ever now. Striding down the dock, barefoot and in cutoffs, he was agile and smooth and dark and sleek and muscled, and, being in love with him, Alexi had to take a moment to admire him and determine that he was a perfectly beautiful male. Then she muttered beneath her breath again and hopped back onto the Tatiana to crawl below. She thought she'd start in the galley, making sure that the pots and pans and dishes were secured.
Approaching Gene, Rex looked back to assure himself that Alexi wasn't trailing right behind him. She was gone from the deck; below, he hoped.
'Gene!' Rex caught the old man's hand, instantly worried about the way he was standing there in the heat. “How long have you been out here? What's wrong?'
'Not that long out here in the heat,' Gene said. 'I've been here all morning, though. Long enough for breakfast, Bloody Marys and lunch. I knew you planned on coming back in today, and I didn't want to miss you.' 'What's up?'
'John Vinto is what,' Gene said worriedly. He gazed at Rex keenly. 'I'm glad you came up to me alone, Rex. Vinto has called her mother, her cousin, and me--three times. He insists he has to see Alexi. He's determined to make an appointment to talk to her.' He looked down the dock and lowered his voice, even though Alexi was still nowhere in sight. 'I think he's going to show up at the Brandy wine house. He knows she's there.'
'I think he's already shown up at the Brandywine house a few times,' Rex muttered.
'Maybe. Maybe not. Amy--that's Alexi's mother—is certain she saw him nosing around Alexi's apartment in New York just last week.'
'One can come and go easily these days,' Rex insisted, 'let transportation. And between here and New York there are nights just about every hour.'
'I don't know,' Gene said. 'I just don't know. And since I don't know quite what happened between them, I didn't know how worried I should be.'
'I'll be there with her,' Rex said grimly. 'And Samson will be there, too.' He didn't want to say any more to Gene. He wasn't sure whether John Vinto was a dangerous man or had just been dangerous to Alexi because she hadn't been as physically strong as he.
He thought of how she had screamed that night in the car in front of the house and what a trauma it had been for her to tell him what had happened. John Vinto had hurt her in many ways. She had stood up to him after that--but then she had run away. Rex wasn't sure Alexi should see him again.
'I'm going to take her to my house,' Rex said. 'I'll leave her there with Samson, and I'll meet John Vinto, see just what it is he wants from her.'
'Good,' Gene said,- indicating with a nod something slightly past Rex's shoulder. 'She's on her way over to us.'
'Alexi!' Gene stepped past Rex and threw his arms out for a big hug. Alexi returned the hug and kissed his cheek.
She was in white shorts and a red-white-and-blue halter top, with her hair pulled up into a high ponytail. She had on very little makeup, and her cheeks were tinged from the sun. Rex thought that she seemed exceptionally appealing, fresh and young and innocent and stunning all at once.
And delicate, slim--and vulnerable.
He tensed, thinking again that he did love her, thinking of the things he'd said to her and the things that she'd whispered to him. He was falling in love--hard. Like a rock. And he could even begin to believe in a future for them.
He couldn't let her face Vinto again. Not without him there. Because if Vinto so much as touched her...
'Gene, what are you doing here?' Alexi asked him, smiling, and quickly added, 'not that I'm not glad to see you, but it's so awfully hot out here!'
'I, uh--lunch! I knew you were coming in, and I thought I'd meet the two of you for lunch again.'
Alexi cocked her head, watching him suspiciously. 'What's up?'
'Nothing.' Rex, safe behind Alexi's back, arched a brow as Gene flatly lied to her. 'Well,' Gene hedged, 'I was just hoping that you weren't mad at me, after the way you left and all. I mean, Rex there was acting just like a caveman and I didn't do anything to help you.'
'You both have atrocious manners, and neither of you seems to be aware that women did earn the vote,' Alexi told him sternly. She was smiling, though, and Rex breathed a little sigh of relief. She had fallen for it. Rex knew Gene. He wasn't a bit sorry for letting Rex stride out with her over his shoulder. Gene had decided that the two of them were good for each other. When he made a decision, that was it. Good or bad, he never regretted it. 'Can't go back,' he always told Rex. 'That leaves you with forward, boy. No other way to go.'
'Why don't you two go ahead and have lunch?' Rex suggested. Alexi swung around, ready to insist that they all have lunch together. Rex caught her shoulders, dazzled by her smile, and shook his head regretfully. 'Seriously. You're both dressed, and I'm a mess and I want to hose down the Tatiana.'
'But, Rex--'
'Please, Alexi.' He lowered his lips to whisper in her ear. 'It's too hot for Gene to stand around out here. Go on in with him! I'll join you a little later.'
'Oh!' she murmured quickly. She turned around and slipped her arm through Gene's. 'Let's have lunch, then. How are their Bloody Marys?'
'Wonderful. Tall and cool and wonderful.' 'Oh, Gene!' Alexi told him, full of bright-eyed enthusiasm. 'I've
