around the banisters, their curious eyes staring at Sam. Four panting mixed-breed dogs, tails wagging playfully, rounded the side of the house.
Jeannie spoke to the animals, calling each by name. They purred and woofed in unison, welcoming their mistress.
Manton hurried ahead of them, rushing up the steps and onto the huge veranda to open the front doors. The rooms were large and airy, with floor-to-ceiling windows and double French doors leading to the veranda. The windows had been opened, and the warm breeze fluttered the lace curtains as it filled the rooms.
Jeannie reminded Sam to set her on her feet when they entered the front parlor, a spacious room with clean white walls, Victorian sofa and chairs upholstered in cream damask, and a baby grand piano in the corner.
He slid her slowly down the length of his body, allowing the intimate contact to linger. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she gazed up at him dreamily. He wanted to kiss her. She closed her eyes, waiting for his kiss.
Manton paused in the doorway long enough to make eye contact with Sam, then proceeded to carry the luggage down the hall to the bedrooms. Jeannie cleared her throat. Sam grinned.
'Is he going to be watching us the whole time we're here?' Sam asked.
Opening her eyes, Jeannie frowned. 'Manton will be here all the time, but he won't be watching us. We'll feel his presence, because he is a part of this island. As much a part of it as the earth and the trees, the flowers, the birds, the animals.'
'I think I'll have a difficult time considering him just part of the scenery.' Sam kissed the tip of her nose, and chuckled when she wrinkled her nose and frowned at him. 'Where does Manton sleep?'
A tentative smile began spreading across her face. 'He has rooms downstairs on the lower level.' Her smile widened. 'Our rooms are on the main level, just down the hall.'
Lowering his head, his breath mingling with hers, he brushed a light kiss over her lips. 'Are we going to need separate rooms?'
She drew in a quick breath, then released it on a deep sigh. 'No.' That one word said it all. The acceptance of the inevitable. The promise of ecstasy. The knowledge that no power on earth could keep them apart.
But as surely as Jeannie knew that Sam Dundee was destined to become her lover, she knew that he would never be free to love her as long as his past possessed his soul. Every time she touched him, she sensed his unease and uncertainty. He wanted her with a fierce and desperate hunger, but he was afraid of her, of her special talents—and he felt unworthy.
How could she ever make him understand that she was as afraid as he was? The power of Sam's primitive nature, his savage strength, his iron will, all just barely concealed beneath his sophisticated surface, made her doubt she could ever possess him, truly possess him, heart and soul.
Not only did the vast differences in their basic natures stand between them, but so did Sam's guilt-ridden conscience and Jeannie's endangered existence. No matter how they might long to be together, Jeannie knew she had no choice but to accept the likelihood that she and Sam had no future together.
Jeannie shuddered at the realization.
'What's wrong?' he asked when he felt her tremble.
'We're safe for now, aren't we? Here on my island, no one can harm us. We can be happy for a while.'
His kiss combined the elements of passion and protectiveness and sent ripples of excitement through her, while at the same time, it soothed her concerns. Pulling away from Jeannie, Sam looked into her eyes. Warm, compassionate brown eyes that had haunted his dreams six long years.
'Yes, we're safe,' Sam said. 'You're safe here on your island, and I'm going to make sure nothing goes wrong. The authorities back on the mainland will monitor Reeves. They'll know where he is at all times. Besides, he has no idea where we are.'
'Then we can truly relax here on Le Bijou Bleu, and spend our days and nights—'
'Making love.'
His next kiss sent shivers of desire rocketing through Jeannie's body, hardening her nipples, flushing her face, moistening her femininity.
Sam sensed her arousal and knew she had tapped into his, increasing her own passion. She gripped his shoulder with one hand. While standing on tiptoe, she dropped her cane onto the hardwood floor and caressed his neck with her fingertips. He lifted her off her feet, cupping her hips as she threaded her fingers through his hair and sighed deep in her throat as he deepened the kiss.
Manton knocked softly on the doorpost, announcing his presence. Slowly, reluctantly, Sam eased Jeannie back down on her feet, ending the kiss gradually. Holding on to his forearms, she stepped back, separating their bodies. Clasping Jeannie about the waist with one hand, Sam bent over and picked up her cane.
Manton glanced at Sam, giving him a brief but thorough inspection, then looked at Jeannie. Smiling, she nodded, then laughed aloud. Sam had no idea what they were saying to each other.
Jeannie wondered how long it would take Sam to realize that Manton approved of him, that he was actually encouraging Jeannie to explore her feelings for Sam.
Sam shook Jeannie's arm gently. 'What's going on here?'
Turning her radiant smile on Sam, Jeannie hugged up to his side. 'We were just planning dinner for tonight.' She tugged on his hand. 'Come on, let's change clothes before I give you a tour of the house and then the island.'
'Change clothes?'
She looked him over from head to toe. 'You don't plan on wearing a suit while we're here, do you? After all, Ollie went to a lot of trouble this morning, washing your new casual clothes before she repacked them.'
'What should I wear?' He followed her out of the parlor, nodding cordially to Manton as he passed him in the doorway.
'Put on some shorts and a T-shirt. And sandals.'
Jeannie led him down the hallway, stopping in front of an open door. 'This is my room.' She pointed to the next room down, directly beside hers. 'And that's your room. To come to my room, all you have to do is walk out on the veranda. Every room in the house has access to the veranda.'
He jerked her into his arms. Gasping, she gripped her cane, but did not resist him. 'Why don't you come to my room with me?' he asked, with a playful leer.
'Go change clothes, and I'll meet you in your room.' Pulling away from him, she gave him a shove in the right direction.
Turning around, not waiting to see if he obeyed her request, Jeannie slipped into her room and closed the door behind her. Sam waited for a couple of minutes, then walked to his room. Inside, he found a sunny space of beige-and-yellow warmth. The Center point of the room was an old walnut tester bed without a canopy. Black- and-white ticking material had been fashioned into a coverlet and into pillows that mixed with beige-and-yellow down pillows. Sam's clothes bag lay across the foot of the bed; his carryall rested on the seat of a large overstuffed chair.
Shorts, T-shirt and sandals. Jeannie wanted their time together to be a vacation, not an escape from danger. He intended to give her what she wanted. An interlude from the real world.
In the next room, Jeannie sat down on her bed, a huge white oak four-poster with a fancy black ironwork canopy. Hooking her cane over the bottom post, she lay down and breathed in the fresh salt air blowing in off the ocean. She looked around her room, loving every precious inch that she had decorated as a teenager. The heart of pine floors and planked ceilings gave this old house a country charm. While examining the room, she saw, lying on the floral chintz chaise longue, the clothes Manton had laid out for her. Her pale pink-and-lavender-striped sundress.
