She started, clearly thinking that her arrival had gone unremarked. She patted briefly at her hair as if to tame it into order, tugged at her shirttail, and threw back her shoulders in familiar defiance.
"Fernando told me I could find you here."
He rinsed his razor in the gourd of water on the ground between his feet and toweled his face, dabbing his cuts gingerly. The Maya pendant swung against his bare chest, reminding him of his abrupt decision to put it on this morning. As a remindera"a reminder and a visible pledge. As a symbol of friendship it no longer had any meaning, but as a symbol of betrayala He stilled the pendant with one hand, noting the way Mac focused on it. Or on his chest, as if she"d never seen a half-naked man before.
"Did you miss my company?" he asked.
She flashed straight white teeth. "Not in the least. I slept like a baby. Amazing how comfortable those hammocks are."
Liam slapped the towel over his shoulder. She was not a good liar; her dark eyes were deeply shadowed with sleeplessness. "And did Fernando give you breakfast?"
She strolled closer, looking past him at the lake. "He did, thanks." She ran her hands through her hair again and plucked at the cloth of her shirt.
Liam smothered a grin. He knew exactly what she was thinking. The morning mist had lifted, and the day promised to be as hot as any other in the past week. There was not so much as a cloud in the sky to mar the tempting serenity of the water. It provided a perfect place for bathing, formed by a rain-swollen stream and cut off by a shift in the water"s course.
"I think you need a bath, Miss MacKenzie," he said.
"How astute of you to notice. As a matter of fact, Ia"" He noted with interest that it was her bare ears, and not her cheeks, that reddened. "I came down here to wash up. And to ask if youa" She choked on her request and finished in a rush. "If you had any spare clothes I could borrow until mine are clean."
So she was finally reduced to asking him for something. Liam stretched his legs and worked the muscles of his shoulders lazily.
"I have no corsets and such with me," he said, watching her. "Nothing, I"m afraid, that would tempt a female."
She shuddered. "I don"t need aa corset." Her gaze followed the movements of his shoulders almost boldly; maybe she had seen a half-naked man before. The thought unaccountably annoyed him.
"If you have any spare pants and shirtsa""
"Mine? You"d drown in them."
She cleared her throat. "I don"t have a lot of choice, O"Shea."
He gave her request due consideration. Thin as she was, she was tall enough that one of his shirts might not fall much below her knees. The thought of seeing her dressed in his clothes had a peculiar effect on him, and his grin faded. He"d thought her mannish garb outrageous, and yeta "Fernando"s would fit better," he said brusquely, "but he hasn"t any spares himself. I"ll find you something."
"Thanks." Her voice was low and husky, so unlike Caroline"s sweet soprano. "If, um, if you"re done here, maybe I could use the lake?"
He relaxed and folded his arms. "It doesn"t belong to me. Help yourself."
Her small, square jaw tightened. "I"d appreciate some privacy."
"I"m confused. I thought you said that women in your time are the equals of their men, and have left behind such feminine sensibilities."
"Common courtesy still existsa"at least most of the time."
"By no means would I be discourteous. But I"m not leaving you here alone. I"ll fetch the clothes now, and that should give you enough time to preserve your modesty."
"Really, it"s not necessa"" She noted his expression and thought better of her protest. "Could you at least stay out of sight?"
"My sight, or yours?"
"You know what I mean."
"You do know how to swim?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Then I"ll go fetch the clothes."
"Thanks." She looked at her muddy, booted feet. "I mean it."
Liam grabbed the stool and collapsed it. I think I"ve learned one thing about you, Mac, he thought. You seldom say anything you don"t mean.
Aloud, he said, "Try not to frighten the water snakes and crocodiles during your bath, Mac."
Her answer was m.u.f.fled and undoubtedly rude. He knew she didn"t move while he was in view, and probably not for some time after he left the lake behind.
Liam slowed, frowning. d.a.m.n him for a fool, he was imagining Mac down in the lake. Imagining her clean, fair skin streaked with fresh water rather than sweat; her movements unhurried and easy in solitude. Touching her small, firm b.r.e.a.s.t.s with her hands, stroking her thighs clean of muda You haven"t had a woman in months, he reminded himself. And that restraint had been due to his guardianship of Carolinea"and the knowledge that soon he would seal her safety and future by asking her to marry him.
Not that he"d ever expect Caroline to satisfy his needs. She was a lady. She was everything a man could want in a wife, graceful and lovely and feminine. Meant to be cherished and protected.
But as for sharing her beda Liam tried to imagine it, and as always his mind refused to cooperate. He"d known her since she was a child. Desire would surely come in time.
The entire uncomfortable line of thought was neatly severed by another mental image of Mac.
d.a.m.n her.
Fernando was nowhere to be seen when he reached camp. Liam went into the tent, tossed his shaving gear on the desk, and rummaged through his trunk of clean clothes. He tugged on a shirt and snagged another from the trunk, one of his older ones. It would do well enough for her. He found a pair of loose cotton trousers and shook them out. They"d go around her twice, and they were of a thinner material than her own. Wet through, they"d leave nothing to the imagination.
d.a.m.n it to h.e.l.l. Why was he thinking of her this way?
He grabbed the shirt and trousers and walked the quarter mile to the lake at a furious pace. As he reached the end of the path he heard splashing and a husky voice raised in some tuneless melody.
She was singing. He stopped and c.o.c.ked his head, incredulous. Her song was as unmelodious as her overly bold features were lacking in beauty, but there was an artlessness to it, a simple and startling joy, as if she found nothing in the world so wonderful as bathing in a jungle lake.
He couldn"t keep himself from stepping out from the path.
She stood waist-deep in the lake, her back to the sh.o.r.e. His first thought was that she had more curves than he had expected, her waist tiny and her hips not nearly as slim as a boy"s. He had little more time to contemplate that pleasant discovery before she gave a little hop and dove under the water. She emerged facing him, shaking thick dark hair from her forehead.
She remained oblivious just long enough to allow him an un.o.bstructed view of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. They were hardly large, but they were firm and well shaped, the nipples puckered into buds. Her shoulders and arms suggested a slender strength, and her neck was surprisingly graceful. Her belly was flat, and his gaze drifted lower as she began to wade toward the sh.o.r.e.
Until she saw him. Her eyes widened, and she backpedaled into deeper water, arms flailing. She plunged under the surface and reemerged only to the chin. She tossed her hair with a fierce snap.
"d.a.m.n you, O"Sheaa"I thought you were going to give me some privacy!"
He couldn"t help but grin. She looked like a half-drowned cat, dripping wet and hissing with rage.
"I seem to have mistimed my return," he said, displaying the clothes he"d brought. "You did want these?"
Her glance took in the shirt and trousers and shifted to her own, rinsed clean of mud and draped over low branches to dry. "Just leave them there, on the bushes."
Liam did as she asked, bowing low. "Can I get you anything else, Miss MacKenzie?"
The water rippled as she crossed her arms. "You could let me get out."
"Why in such a hurry? You seemed to be enjoying yourself."
"I was."
"It is beautiful here," he said lazily. "I"m almost tempted to take a second swim myself."
She bobbed lower in the water. "Don"t you dare."
"What are you afraid of? I already promised you"d find me no threat to your honor."
"And what about your honor, huh? Can"t you at least pretend to be aa a gentleman?"
"You"d test any man"s gentlemanly conduct to the limit," he said lazily. He squatted where he was, hands dangling between his knees. "In any case, I"m rather curious to see what you have hidden."
She was mutea"fuming, no doubt. "At least turn your back."
He sighed. "Very well."
"Give me your word."
So she"d guessed that was the one way to make him do what she wanted. "My word on it," he said. He scooted around until he faced the path, expecting her to take some time about trusting him. But he could hear her scramble out of the water almost the moment his back was turned. Her feet squelched over the muddy bank at a rapid pace. There was a brief pause when all he could hear was her breathing, and then she darted up beside him to s.n.a.t.c.h the clothing he"d left hanging on the bushes. Pale, bare skin flashed in the corner of his vision.
He kept his promise and let her dress in peace. When he turned, she was enveloped in his clothing, shirt cuffs dangling to her fingertips as she bent to roll up the trouser legs. That accomplished, she straightened, and the waistband of the pants fell to her hips. She grabbed at them and hung on, her ears fiery.
"You need a belt, Mac, or a good length of rope," he commented. "But otherwisea"
Otherwise, she lookeda He frowned. The only words that came to mind were frankly nonsense. Patches of damp shirt clung to her body, including a large portion of one breast and brown nipple. Her legs were invisible, but the very looseness of the trousers was strangely alluring.
"A belt would be useful," she said, folding her body to shield her chest and simultaneously keep her trousers from puddling around her ankles. "Too bad this jungle doesn"t have a nice Banana Republic."
"Bananaa""
"Never mind. Forget I said that."
They stared at each other. Liam felt something so powerful and unantic.i.p.ated that he bowed to impulse. In a few rapid strides he closed the distance between them and pulled her hard against his body.
Her lips were unexpectedly sweet. He tested her innocence with a quick thrust of his tongue between them. She opened her mouth on a gasp, allowing him deeper access.
She had been kissed before. He was certain of it. She didn"t shriek or beat at him or pretend to swoon, any of which acts would have caused him to let her go instantly. Her astonishment was real, but it was untainted by fear or virginal disgust.
To be sure, the resistance he felt in her body was unfeigned. She was no wh.o.r.e used to being mauled by men. If she were acting now it was beyond his ability to recognize it.
Neither virgin nor wh.o.r.e. Unlike any woman he"d ever known. Astonishingly feminine in his arms, wiry and strong though she was. No fragility, no need to hold back as he embraced her.
And if she didn"t fully return his kiss, she sure as h.e.l.l wasn"t hating it.
He had nearly half a minute of enjoying her astonished and unguarded compliance before she began to resist. He kept her imprisoned until he had taken full measure of her lips. By then she had gone rigid as a board in his arms, but he"d made his point and satisfied his impulse.
He released her and stepped back, grinning. "I believe you have some natural talent, Mac. Maybe you should attempt to develop it."
She smiled at him broadly. "Maybe I should."
And she pulled back her arm, made a fist, and planted it violently on his chin.
Chapter Seven.
Enough, if something from our hands have power To live, and act, and serve the future hour.
a"William Wordsworth LIAM O"SHEA WAS considerably more solid than the neighborhood bully Mac had supposedly trounced as a child. An explosion of pain shot through her knuckles, she cursed with feeling, and Liam staggered back with a few choice curses of his own.
She shook her throbbing hand and backed away.
"You little h.e.l.lion!" he rasped. She had a second"s satisfaction at his disbelief before he grabbed for her, and then she was concentrating on keeping out of his reach.
Not that it was easy to concentrate on the bizarre little dance they did there on the lakesh.o.r.e, pursuer and pursued. Liam looked ready to turn her over his knee for real this time. And her lips were humming with the remembered pressure of his, the thrust of his tongue, the wholly overwhelming sensation of being in his arms and feeling the rampant evidence of his desire. However completely astonishing, unbelievable, and outrageous the entire thing was.
"What"s the matter, Iggy?" she taunted.
He froze, skin flushed under its tan. "Don"t call me that!"
"Can"t handle a woman fighting back?"
She darted under his outstretched arm. She"d been angry with him before, buta"d.a.m.n, but this was almosta fun. Her mind tripped on the word. Fun, trading insults with this arrogant jerk who thought he owned the world?
But it seemed as though her newborn twin, the reckless adventurer Mac Sinclair, had possessed her body completely. A body that was keenly aware of Liam"s, so ominously close and patently dangerous. A body that had more curves and softness than she"d ever remembered, as wild as a wood nymph and as fearless.
"I can take whatever you dish out," she taunted. "Tell me, how exactly did you get that middle name?"
He chokeda"she couldn"t think of another definition for the sound he madea"and lunged toward her. This time she wasn"t quite fast enough. His fingers were like clamps as they closed around her arms.
"You think it"s funny, you little minx? You think you"re a match for me?"
Her heart was hammering. He was closea"oh, so close, his scowling mouth a finger"s breadth from her own. She fluttered her lashes. "Oh, you"re so big and strong. I wouldn"t dream of considering myself your equal."
He was startled into laughter. "I could make you say that in earnest."
There was something about his intensity that made the hair stand up on the back of her neck. "We have a name for men like you in the future," she said. "It isn"t very nice."