“Not that? Is it not enough?” he inquired as the pad of his thumb swept boldly across her lower lip.
Abby was quite certain she was going to faint in his arms, swooning like some lovesick child. She kept herself from it through sheer force of will.
But this sweetly provocative touch was not nearly enough to cause a scandal. Nor, she found, was it nearly enough to satisfy this unfamiliar yearning deep inside her. Trembling, she stepped closer and tilted her head in a way that invited the kiss he so stubbornly withheld.
He smiled. “Ah, so that is it,” he said, clearly reading her invitation correctly.
Her pulse skittered wildly as he slowly, slowly lowered his head until there was the merest whisper of breath between their lips. Abby thought she would die if he did not close that infinitesimal distance at once. But he knew, it seemed, the seductive power of anticipation. He kept her waiting, taunting her with the promise of a kiss.
Finally, finally, just when she thought she could bear the anticipation no longer, his mouth slanted over hers, sealing it with a touch of fire and velvet that was like nothing she had ever experienced before. The sweet scent of flowers, the masculine aroma of Riley himself, his heat and strength—the combination made her head swim.
With that kiss, what had begun as a provocative dare on her part turned into an all-too-easy victory for him. He claimed her as inevitably as if he had sought and won her favor after months of courtship. She felt...branded, marked forever as his. The feeling, to her astonishment, seemed right, destined.
And still it wasn’t enough. Her breasts ached in a way that was deliciously unfamiliar. Her entire body felt vibrantly, wickedly alive.
She heard a soft moan low in his throat, felt him trembling, and wondered at the power of something as simple as a kiss. She had never dreamed it could unleash such feelings, that it could stir such forbidden desires. She had counted only on the scandal.
She had not counted on losing her heart.
CHAPTER FOUR
It was the most difficult phone call Riley had ever had to make. How was he going to explain what had happened to Abby to her family? How would they ever forgive him for being so reckless, for not protecting her every second she was under his care in Mexico?
He thought up a dozen excuses for waiting, then chided himself for delaying the inevitable. He finally forced himself to pick up the bedside phone in her hospital room. After several false starts with the hospital operator, the call to Arizona finally went through. Receiver in hand, he paced up and down beside Abby’s bed as he waited for someone to pick up.
Fortunately it was calm, unflappable Mrs. Dennison who answered. She’d always had a soft spot in her heart for Riley, and she was also the least judgmental person he knew. In some ways that made it even harder to break the news.
“Riley, what a surprise! I thought you and Abigail would be way off in the middle of the rain forest by now. I didn’t expect to hear from you for ages. Are communications there more advanced than I thought?”
“They aren’t and we were,” he said and then couldn’t think how to go on.
“Dear, is something wrong? You and Abby haven’t had a fight, have you?”
“Actually there was a bit of an argument,” he admitted, wondering how she’d guessed. He couldn’t recall ever fighting with Abby before this. She’d always been so easygoing, so amenable to anything he suggested. Her brothers used to say that Abby would follow Riley into the fires of hell, if he asked. They had meant it as a joke. Right now it didn’t seem nearly so amusing.
He gazed down at her bruised body and sighed. “But the argument wasn’t the worst of it.”
“Riley Walker, stop mincing words and get to the point. Is Abigail all right?”
Finally turning his gaze from Abby’s pale face to stare out the window, he forced himself to admit, “She’s in the hospital, Mrs. Dennison. She’s unconscious.”
“Oh, dear Lord in heaven,” she murmured, part exclamation, part prayer. “What happened?”
“It’s a long story, but the bottom-line is that she and our guide were attacked by thieves looking for information on the Mayan treasure. Abby got the worst of it. The doctors didn’t think her head injuries were that severe, but she’s not coming around. I thought maybe you or Mr. Dennison or someone from the family ought to be here for her. I’d be happy to make the arrangements and to pay your expenses.”
She was silent for so long, he was afraid she’d fainted. “Mrs. Dennison? Are you okay? Is someone there with you?”
“I’m fine, Riley. I was just trying to think of what would be best for Abby. You say the doctors don’t think her injuries are life threatening?”
“That’s what they say. It’s just that she’s not responding to treatment. They can’t explain it.”
“Riley, what was the fight about?”
He couldn’t imagine why that was important. “Does that really matter?”
“I have a feeling it does.”
“I wanted to send her home,” he admitted.
“And she wanted to stay.”
“Exactly.”
“What’s the rest of it? Were you with her when she was injured?”
He had known that sooner or later the truth would come out. He’d hoped for later. “No. She was furious with me. She ran off. Fortunately, she wasn’t alone. She had talked our guide into going with her.”
“Oh, my. She must have been upset.”
He didn’t need reminding. “Look, Mrs. Dennison, I could call her fianc;aae, if you think she would prefer that.”
“No, don’t do that,” she said at once, an odd note in her voice. “I’ll speak to Martin myself. I doubt if he will want to drop everything and fly to Mexico. He never approved of her going in the first place.”
That was news to Riley. “Martin didn’t want
