Page 6 of Coming Undone

He held her that way for ten steadying beats of his heart before his body reminded his brain what she’d just asked of him. All that numbness evaporated. Like a fireball shot into an oil spill, there was sudden ignition everywhere and a tremendous rush of heat.

“Is this your way of letting me down gently?” Stephanie wiggled free of his arms, backing up a step. The flower that she’d stuck in her hair was starting to wilt, no doubt a little crushed from when he held her. “Because if this is just a nice attempt to say no-”

“Yes.” He bit out the word more sharply than he’d intended. “I say hell yes. But I have to leave in three weeks for another six-month deployment, so I won’t be in town for long. But if you’re cool with that and don’t mind that this is short-lived… I want to be with you.”

He straightened the red flower, tucking the stem more securely behind her ear and trying like hell to smother the inferno threatening to smolder him from the inside out.

Her eyes went wide. A smile started, but she lifted her hands to her face, hiding it.

“Seriously?” She sounded happy. A little breathless. “I hope you’re not saying that just because you feel bad for the awkward girl who sucks at seduction. It’s just that I feel safe with you and-”

Danny kissed her. No hesitation this time. His blood still simmered for wanting her, so it wasn’t exactly a chore to seal her lips with his and cut off that line of thinking in no uncertain terms.

She sank into him, her body pliant and warm. She tasted like cinnamon, her lip gloss as edible as the woman. The soft yield of her mouth reminded him of other kisses, other times she’d given herself to him. And as much as he loved those past days together, right now, he wanted this kiss to be all about the present for both of them. A moment belonging so fully to the here and now that they’d never confuse it with the past.

Edging back, he whispered. “Not a chance.” He stroked up her spine to thread his fingers through her hair, the water swirling higher around their legs as the tide came in. “This is about me and you and new beginnings.”

“Yes.” She nodded fast, obviously liking that idea. “A do-over.”

“Exactly.” They’d be safer that way, he thought. The more they focused on the present, the easier this would be for both of them. “Are you ready to leave the past behind and enjoy the moment?”

Using her hands, she steadied herself on his shoulders as a wave rolled past them, splashing up to his knees.

“Very ready.” Her affirmation was all the encouragement he needed.

Lifting her against him, he tipped his forehead to hers.

“Here’s to a clean slate,” he said softly.

Right before he dragged her into the surf with him, submerging them both in the brackish water of Chesapeake Bay.

Chapter Three

Water closing over his head, Danny kept Stephanie pressed tight to him. He wouldn’t have hauled another woman into the water without warning. But Stephanie wasn’t any female. She’d always had a sense of adventure and a love of the unexpected, just like him.

Or so he thought until she started to struggle in his arms.

Blasting straight to the surface, he pulled her high out of the water, arms locked around her waist and shoulders.

“Are you okay?” He scanned her face, trying to get a read on what was wrong. “Is it too cold for you?”

Water sluiced down her face and shoulders, her dress straps sagging on her arms. Her flower had disappeared and her dark hair was plastered slick to her head. What scared him most was how pale she’d gone.

“I’m fine.” Her eyelids fluttered. Her heartbeat throbbed fast in the blue vein that stood out sharply against her pale throat. “I just… it was dark and I couldn’t see for a second.”

He frowned. Fear of the dark?

She’d never been freaked out by not being able to see before. So it only made sense something had happened between now and then to give her that kind of phobia. No doubt it had to do with her abduction. In trying to distance them from the past, he’d unwittingly thrown her right back into it. It would kill him thinking about how she might have developed that new fear, but he’d be damned if he’d ask her about it now, when they were supposed to be focused on a fresh start.

“I’m so sorry,” he muttered against her forehead. Being with Stephanie was going to be filled with landmines for both of them. “I was thinking fresh start and new beginnings, so I thought it’d be fun to-”

Scare the hell out of her? He cursed himself for his insensitivity.

“I get it.” Her pupils were wide despite the sun still high in the afternoon sky. She wrapped her arms around herself, her teeth chattering. “I was just surprised.”

“Come on.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her toward the shore. “You can dry off inside.”

“Thanks.” She wrung out a fistful of wet hair as they trudged toward the shore, soaked clothes weighing them down. “I promise I’m not usually spooked that easily. I love the water.”

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