Natalie’s mouth was soft and warm, her tongue a delicate tease along the edge
of Dev’s lips. Her breath was sweet, her body ? rm in the way of a well-toned
athlete, yielding in the way of a woman. Natalie hummed an appreciative sound
in the back of her throat and tightened her ? ngers in Dev’s hair. The kiss
ratcheted up a notch and Dev felt a trickle of warning. She eased her head
back.
“We’ll attract bears if we keep this up out here. Come up to the cabin and let
me give you that nightcap I promised.”
Natalie laughed. “We’ll attract something, I suppose. Yes, let’s get more
comfortable.”
Once inside, Dev went to the tiny kitchen and reached into the cabinet over the
sink for the brandy she’d stored there. Natalie’s arms came around her from
behind and she felt the ? rm press of Natalie’s breasts against her back. For just
a second, she was back on the motorcycle with Leslie behind her. The
memories were coming so hard and so fast in the last few days; she couldn’t
seem to stop them from streaming through her mind. Things she hadn’t thought
of in years felt as if they’d happened yesterday. She shivered.
“Dev?” Natalie stepped back and waited for Dev to turn. She regarded Dev
quizzically. “You just went somewhere, didn’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“I felt it.”
“Sorry.”
• 84 •
WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE
“Like I said. Dinner. And after that we’ll see.” Natalie held out her hand for the
brandy. “Let’s go outside and toast the moon.”
“Yeah,” Dev said. “Let’s do that.”
“I probably should’ve asked this before now,” Natalie said as they sat side by
side on the top step of Dev’s porch, “but are you involved with someone?”
“No.”
“On the serious rebound?”
Dev laughed. “Not that either. I don’t get…seriously involved.”
Natalie shifted sideways to look at Dev’s face. “Never?”
“Nope. Just not my thing, I guess. I probably should’ve told you that before
now.”
“I don’t see why,” Natalie said, laughing. “We just had dinner.
That’s not exactly grounds for posting the banns.”
“Still, you should know.”
“What I know,” Natalie said, setting her glass aside, “is that I like you and I like
kissing you. That’s quite a lot for a week.”
“I suppose it is,” Dev murmured as Natalie moved closer. Part of Dev’s mind
yielded to the pull of the moon, and the warm fragrant breeze, and Natalie’s
sweet, hot kisses. But deep inside, she remained remote and untouched. And it
was that part of her that ? nally pulled away. “You’re hard to resist.”
“Do you want to?” Natalie’s voice was breathy and low.
“Yeah. I think I better.”
“I can think of a million arguments against that,” Natalie said, caressing the back
of Dev’s neck. “Some of them, you might even buy. But”—she kissed Dev’s
cheek—“it’s a long summer. Wanna walk me back to my car, or should I have
another brandy and sleep on the couch?”
“Is that a trick question?”
Natalie laughed.
v
Leslie knew she should go inside. It was chilling fast, and even the blanket she’d
pulled around herself when she curled up in the porch chair wasn’t keeping her
warm. After parting with Dev in the parking lot that morning, she’d used the
wireless connection at the lodge to download work from the of? ce, and she’d
kept busy for the rest of
• 85 •
RADCLY fFE
the day and evening. She’d worked straight through dinner and ? nally relaxed
with a bottle of wine out on her porch. Dev’s cabin had been dark until after
eleven, when the lights came on. A few minutes later she caught the murmur of
conversation, although she couldn’t hear any words. However, she could make
out the unmistakable sound of feminine laughter.
She told herself that she was glad Dev had company and that she was feeling
better. She meant it, too, at least part of it. When she heard the quiet thump of a
door closing and the voices disappeared, she ? nally dragged herself inside in
search of sleep. Lying alone in the dark, images that she’d thought long ago
expunged returned to haunt her.
Half dragging Mike back to the boathouse while he raged and accused and she
denied and pleaded. The ? eeting glimpse of Dev staggering to her bike and
careening from the parking lot. The look of broken despair on Dev’s face.
Leslie closed her eyes tightly as the frantic ? uttering in her chest stole what
remained of her breath. Grief and guilt felt so much the same, she could no
longer tell them apart.
• 86 •
WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE
CHAPTER TEN
Natalie was a light sleeper and the quiet movements across the room woke her.
She turned on her side beneath the cotton blanket and watched Dev making
coffee. She could have told her she was awake, but she was enjoying the
opportunity to observe her. Dev wore a T-shirt that had seen better days—hell,
better years—and a pair of faded plaid boxers. She was barefoot, and muscles
rippled in her arms and thighs as she stretched and reached into cabinets. Her
hair was wet from the shower and a shade darker than usual, slicked back
behind her ears and curling in small tendrils over the back of her neck. Those
delicate strands gave Dev an unexpectedly vulnerable look, and Natalie felt a
dangerous stirring in her heart. The stirring in her loins that the sight of Dev
always elicited didn’t bother her. Lust was a familiar and not unwelcome
sensation. It assured her that her heart was beating and that all systems were
functioning. If she’d looked at Devon Weber and felt nothing, she’d have been
worried.
However, what she did not want was to look at Dev and feel that little twisty
sensation in the pit of her stomach and the tightening in the center of her chest
that spoke not of lust, but longing. Especially not with the signals that Dev had
been sending, which were not so much mixed as cloudy. Natalie sensed Dev’s
attraction and her desire, but something held her back. Something that she was
willing to bet Dev wanted very much but couldn’t, or wouldn’t, admit.
