The Return Of Antonides

So he’d done it. He’d done everything Matt would have done—taken her to dinner, danced every dance with her, put his arm around her in a crowded restaurant to make more room for her friends. And if he had heightened his own desire with every touch, well, he could see desire in Holly, too.

He had seen the way she’d looked at him tonight. Her cheeks had been flushed, her nipples had become hard pebbles beneath the midnight silk she wore. Lukas was twenty years old, not a virgin. He knew something about the response of women’s bodies when they were aroused. Holly had been aroused. By him. And God knew he was aroused by her.

He should take her home. She was Matt’s girl. Not his. He had no right. But what if she was making a mistake marrying Matt? What if she wasn’t as in love with Matt—as committed—as she believed she was?

Don’t go there, Lukas told himself.

But he couldn’t bring himself to take her home. He’d offered her a sail. It wasn’t betraying Matt to take her for a sail. Lukas put the car in gear and headed toward the marina.

Halfway down the dark, narrow highway, Holly said, “I can’t.”

Lukas, shoulders tense, turned his head sharply. “Can’t what?”

“Go sailing! How can I in this dress?”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “No problem. There’s stuff on board. Shorts, T-shirts. Jackets. You can wear something of Martha’s. It’ll be fine.”

She swallowed. “Oh. Well, good.” She didn’t sound wholly convinced.

Lukas expected she would find another reason to call a halt to things. But as he kept driving, Holly was silent. She sat very still the rest of the way.

The marina parking lot was virtually deserted, allowing him to park next to the ramp leading to the dock. Some cars were still there because people had taken their boats out for the weekend. But no one was around. Lukas started to lead the way down the ramp, then realized that Holly had to pick her way carefully because she was wearing high heels.

He went back and swept her up into his arms.

“Lukas!” She wriggled against him.

His half arousal went to full-on just like that. His jaw tightened. “You want me to drop you? Stop squirming!”

“I can walk,” Holly protested.

No. He wasn’t relinquishing her now. He strode down the ramp, getting a faceful of hair and a breath of citrus shampoo for his effort. “Hold still!”

“I am!”

She was. He was the one who was moving, causing her body to rub against his. Lukas swallowed a groan. By the time they got to the boat and he let her slide down his body to put her feet on the deck, he was in a state of temptation and torture both. It was worse to let her go.

“Martha’s stuff is below,” he said gruffly, leading the way down to the galley where he pointed to one of the tiny bunk rooms. “Put on a bathing suit. We can go for a swim.”

Holly looked at him, startled. “Swim?”

“There’s a beach just on the other side of the shop.” Lukas jerked his head in that direction. “We’ve got a couple of hours to kill before it starts to get light.” He could think of other more pleasurable ways of killing that time, but he knew better. He needed cold water. Lots of it. Now.

He thought she would object, but after a second’s hesitation, Holly nodded. “Good idea.”

When she disappeared into one room, he went into the other and stripped off his clothes, grateful for the cool night air on overheated skin. Then he dragged on a pair of board shorts and went back up on deck where he stood staring up at the sky, his body rock hard from a combination of desire and tension, as he wondered again what the hell he was doing with his best friend’s girl.

“Just doing what he asked me to do,” Lukas muttered aloud. Matt would have kept her out all night, he reminded himself. It was what you did after prom. It was a tradition. Matt wouldn’t have taken her for a sail, though. Matt had nothing to take her for a sail in.

No, Matt and Holly would have been doing something else entirely. Lukas cracked his knuckles fiercely, trying to avoid thinking about Matt and Holly making love when he so badly wanted to do it himself.

It was almost a relief when Holly climbed back up the steps. Except the sight of her—even in Martha’s sensible one-piece maillot—was enough to cause his self-control to slip another notch. Even the fact that she had a towel draped over her shoulders with the ends hanging down in front shielding her breasts from view didn’t help. Her long legs were bare and tempting in the moonlight.

Lukas sucked in a breath and jumped back onto the dock without waiting for her. “Come on,” he said over his shoulder and headed back toward the parking lot and the beach on the other side of the closed shop as fast as he could.

The whole place was deserted. But the moon and the lights in the parking lot illuminated the steps so that finding their way down to the beach was easy enough. He walked ahead, needing the space, only stopping to wait for her at the edge of the water.

She didn’t come. Instead, when he looked back, Holly had spread her towel and was sitting down.

“Sunbathing?” Lukas, self-control fraying badly, couldn’t keep the edge from his voice.

“Guess so.” Holly pulled her knees up toward her breasts and wrapped her arms around her shins. “Don’t let me stop you. Go on in.”

Lukas stared at her. What the hell was she playing at? Maybe she knew he was coming undone and was giving him a wide berth. “Suit yourself,” he growled. Then he turned and ran, flinging himself under the incoming wave.

The shock of the cold Atlantic in the middle of an early May night had the desired effect. By the time he broke the surface, he breathed a little easier. A glance back told him that Holly had stood up and was walking to the water’s edge. He caught a glimpse of a long, lissome shape in the moonlight. Then she began to run into the water. He heard a shriek, then she dove under—and surfaced bare inches from him.

So much for dampened ardor. Lukas swallowed a groan.

“It’s freezing!” Her teeth were chattering.

He resisted wrapping his arms around her. “You’ll warm up. Come on. Let’s swim.” He took off, swimming away from her as he’d always done, never letting her catch him. And Holly swam after him.

Minutes passed. Half an hour. They did laps. They swam in lazy circles. Lukas finally slowed a bit to allow her to come alongside where she did the sidestroke, all the while keeping her eyes on him.

Lukas couldn’t take his eyes off her. He should say something about Matt. Something to deflect his awareness, but nothing deflected his awareness of the girl swimming mere feet away. It reminded his fevered brain of one of those nature films they had showed in school, the ones that euphemistically described the mating rituals of exotic maritime animals. Not a useful train of thought. But apparently the only train of thought he had. It was all he could do not to reach for her.

“You’re making me crazy,” he muttered at last and abruptly turned to swim back toward the beach.

“What?” Holly sputtered. “What’s wrong?” He could hear her splashing after him, but he didn’t wait. Lukas needed space. He needed distance. He needed to stop wanting what he couldn’t have. He didn’t stop moving until he was back on the boat.

Then he turned to see Holly hurrying up the beach and across the parking lot after him, her towel wrapped around her shoulders. Her teeth were chattering like castanets when she finally reached the boat.

“Why didn’t you say you were cold?” Lukas demanded. “You can take a shower.” He slipped down the steps below deck and jerked open the door to the head. “There’s plenty of hot water. Lots of towels. Get warm, I’ll be on deck.”

He changed swiftly into another pair of shorts and a sweatshirt, resolutely ignoring the sound of the shower and his imagination’s notion of Holly’s naked body beneath the spray. Instead, he made himself focus on getting the boat ready to go. He was checking the mainsail when he heard Holly’s footsteps.

“What did you mean?” she said. Her voice was quiet.

He turned around then. She was wearing shorts and a baggy sweatshirt of Martha’s that hit her midhip. They had never struck him as remotely sexy when Martha wore them. Put Holly in them and it was a different story. Lukas crouched down, showing sudden interest in the mast again, in case his interest in Holly was more obvious.

“You said I made you crazy.” She had climbed up on one of the benches and was almost on eye level with him.

Lukas shrugged awkwardly. Was he supposed to tell her he wanted her? That he was crazy with longing for her—and she was engaged to his best friend? He put a hand back and rubbed between his shoulder blades and said the only thing he could think of. “You always argue.”

“I didn’t argue tonight!”

He grunted. “Most times you argue.”

“So do you.”

Lukas scowled, unable to dispute that. He turned his attention back to the mast. “We can go soon. Should begin to get light in half an hour or so.”

He thought she might go away, look out to the east for signs of dawn. She didn’t. She watched him. Then she asked, “Why did you agree to take me to the prom?”

“You know why. Matt asked me to.” He flicked a quick glance up at her, then picked at a bit of loose brightwork with his thumb.

“Is that the only reason?”

His brows drew down, and he scowled at her. “Why else would I do it?”

Holly shrugged awkwardly. “I don’t know. I just...wondered. Sometimes...” She stopped and looked away, staring out across the dark water. “Never mind.”

Wondered what? Don’t stop there! But damn it, she did. She didn’t say anything else. And he couldn’t make himself ask. He and Holly never had heart-to-hearts. They never talked about things that mattered. And he wasn’t going to admit to anything when she wasn’t saying how she felt.

“That’s the only reason,” he said gruffly. “I’m just doing what Matt would do. What Matt wanted me to do.”

If he said it out loud firmly and flatly enough, would that make it true?

“Of course.” Holly’s voice was toneless. Was she convinced? Was she doubtful?

Did she want...him? Lukas rubbed his hand against the back of his neck, then he straightened, walked back to the cockpit and dropped lightly into it. Only one way to find out. He reached up and caught her hand, pulling her down off the bench to stand facing him.

“What?” Holly looked up at him, confused.

“What would you and Matt be doing now?”

Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?” She looked at him, confused and wary.

“You asked me a question. My turn to ask you one. I’m standing in for Matt, aren’t I? What would you and Matt be doing?”

He felt her fingers twist in his as she looked away. “How should I know?”

“Kissing?”

She didn’t answer, just pressed her lips together and refused to look at him.

“Kissing,” Lukas affirmed softly, leaning in, so close now that he caught another hint of that citrus scent.

Her fingers pulled out of his hands. He let go, but only to catch hold of her wrists, then slid both his hands up until they rested lightly just above her elbows, drawing her closer.

“So I haven’t been doing my job,” he said, keeping his voice even, although he felt the tension rising within.

He would burn in hell for this. He knew it, but he couldn’t help it. If she responded... If she wanted him, he would save her from making the biggest mistake of her life.

Holly flicked a quick glance up at him, then immediately looked away again, but it was too late. Lukas had seen a flicker of interest in that glance. He let go of her arms to touch her face, to turn it to look at him as he ran his thumbs along her jaw and slowly and deliberately lowered his mouth to hers.

Lukas’s brain fogged over. His body took over. He had no plan. Hell, he never had a plan. He went with his gut—and other even more interested portions of his anatomy—doing what came naturally, tracing her lips lightly with his tongue. Teasing, testing, tasting...

And Holly didn’t pull away.

The taste of Holly on his lips intoxicated him, made him tremble with the need that had been building all evening. Evening, hell, it had been building for years. From a time when he was too young to understand, some gut-level instinct deep inside him that he couldn’t begin to put a name to had zeroed in on her. He had wanted Holly before he’d barely known what such desire meant.

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