Provocative Peril, page 10
Selena watched the many expressions on Carolyn's face with concern. "I'm really surprised you didn't know who he was, Carolyn."
Carolyn sighed. Should she admit that Clay had lied about their relationship? Did she care if Selena recognized him as the biggest liar west of the Mississippi? "Well, to be honest, Selena . . ." Carolyn paused and looked at the woman beside her. "Uh, our fathers had a falling out many years ago, and
Clay and I didn't meet until recently." She dropped her eyes, refusing to see if Selena believed such a nonsensical story.
Clay's arm slid around Carolyn's shoulder as he leaned past her to refill his cup. She stiffened at his touch. "That's true. It's only recently I managed to locate Carolyn and introduce myself." He ruffled her hair, then gently smoothed it back in place. "We're still getting acquainted."
"So I noticed last night," Selena responded with a smile. "I just don't understand why you didn't tell her you were Kenneth Clay."
"Because I'm not. He's as much a figment of my imagination as Derringer Drake."
Carolyn looked around in surprise, only to find her mouth brushing his cheek. Did he have to stand so close? "Do you mean you haven't gone on safaris and climbed mountains and dived for sunken ships?"
"Oh, I've done that all right, otherwise I couldn't write about it. It's the bedroom exploits of Kenneth Clay that are so vastly overrated."
"Are you soliciting testimonials?" Selena drawled.
Clay hastily replaced his cup on the counter. "Cut it out, Selena. I was just trying to point out that for some reason people want to see me as a real-life counterpart to my make-believe hero." His gaze locked with Carolyn's. "I told you. I'm just a writer."
Clay watched her with narrowed eyes. He hadn't wanted her to know all of this about him. Not yet, anyway. He wanted her to get to know him better, to learn to trust him. Inviting Selena up for the weekend had to be the biggest mistake he had ever made.
Her eyes seemed to fill her face as she sat staring at him with dismay and bewilderment. She slid off the stool. "I've got to get ready if we're going to meet Brad at nine," she said as she cleared the counter of her dishes, placing them in the dishwasher alongside those used by Clay and Selena. Why did three people always seem to create the feeling of a pair and one extra? Carolyn decided that it didn't really matter any more. She'd be paired with Brad in a few minutes and this horrible day could move relentlessly forward.
Except it didn't work out quite that way. Somehow in the confusion of everyone crawling into Brad's car, Carolyn found herself in the back seat with Clay. It was a very small back seat. Brad had some sort of equipment in a box that took up a third of the space.
"Sorry about the crowding in the back seat. My trunk's already full or I'd move that stuff," Brad explained as they drove away from the resort.
"No problem," Clay obligingly offered. He placed his arm along the back of the seat so that Carolyn was tucked up hard against his side. She turned and glared at him and was rewarded with a smile.
This close to him she could feel his heartbeat. As she wriggled to find a more comfortable position she noticed that his heartbeat accelerated. Uh oh. Peeking at him out of the corner of her eye, she discovered that he was studying her intently. She could feel the blush start.
"Are you angry with me?" he asked softly.
She refused to look at him. "Should I be?"
"Not really."
"You could have told me you wrote as Kenneth Clay, you know. You let me go on and on about how tough a field it is, and how hard it is to get published," she muttered crossly.
"But that's true. It is a tough field and it's damned hard to get published."
She stared out the window in silence. She had nothing to say to the man. Nothing at all.
Brad was too busy showing Selena the sights along the coast to appear worried that his date had been preempted. Carolyn felt betrayed by both men. It wasn't long until the three others had a lively discussion going. Carolyn was surprised at Clay's friendliness toward Brad, compared to his attitude the night before. Since Selena was his guest, he was being quite philosophical regarding her interest in another man. Carolyn knew she'd never understand the male mind, never in a hundred years.
The marine museum was located near the arched bridge that spanned the mouth of Yaquina Bay. The brown rock walls and sharply slanted cedar shingled roof reminded Carolyn of African huts she'd seen in the National Geographic. She was glad to get out of the car and away from Clay.
The first thing they saw when they walked into the museum was a tank that looked as though it was about six feet in diameter and four feet deep. Indoor-outdoor carpeting edged the rim. With some trepidation Carolyn peered over the edge. She saw nothing but bubbling water. The sign overhead gave some statistics about the Octopus dofleini, the largest species known to science. It said that an individual may reach eighteen feet in diameter, attain a weight of one hundred pounds and live up to eight years.
Brad asked an attendant about the octopus, and the man replied, "No, we haven't done anything with him; he's still in there, although we're planning to make a trade later on in the week. This one is a little too playful to leave here in the open."
Carolyn, Clay and Selena joined Brad to hear the explanation.
Brad asked, "What's he been doing?"
"You mean other than crawling out at night? Not much. Although the other day he did squirt one of our visitors."
Carolyn spoke up. "You mean he can crawl out of there?"
"Yes. Octopus are night creatures, and this one is a little too adventurous for us."
Carolyn peered down into the clear water, but could see nothing.
The attendant ambled over and glanced into the water. "Oh, no. You were right. He's out again."
Carolyn found herself backing toward the door. "You mean there's an octopus loose in here?" Her voice quivered. She backed into a solid body and spun around. Clay stood there grinning.
"You're not afraid of a little ol' octopus, are you?" he asked in a soft voice as his arm slid around her waist.
"Yes, I believe I am," she responded with dignity. "I think I'll wait in the car until everyone is ready to go." His arm tightened, holding her.
"C'mon, Carolyn, there's no reason to be afraid of him. He's much more afraid of you than you are of him."
"I sincerely doubt it," she answered between clenched teeth. "Will you let me go?"
The voice of the guard interrupted their low-voiced discussion. "Here he is. I knew it wouldn't be hard to find him."
The attendant was grinning as he carried a soft lump of flesh about the size of a house cat, one tentacle drooping forlornly. With little fanfare he dropped him into the water. "He found the shrimp and crabs we had in one of the tanks to feed him. I guess he thought we were taking too long." He laughed. "It didn't take him long to learn the routine around here."
Carolyn slowly walked over to the tank and peered down. The octopus was curled into a ball, looking innocent. "He looks different in the water," she murmured, but the attendant heard her.
"Part of that is because he's changed colors. They turn red when they're stirred up or angry. He's settling in to sleep now and will stay that mottled gray unless someone disturbs him."
"It certainly won't be me," she pointed out as she quickly stepped back.
The rest of the tour was tame. Carolyn read various charts which informed her that the constant beating of waves against the shore was slowly washing the shoreline away. She was studying various photographs taken over the past eighty years along the coastline, noting the changes, when Brad appeared beside her.
"Selena said she'd like to see the tide pool out at Yaquina Point. How about you? It has quite a few more species in it than the one I showed you." Carolyn looked up to see smiling eyes watching her with friendly interest. Brad seemed completely unaware of the undercurrents that had so occupied
Carolyn's mind. She was pleased with his uncomplicated companionship after the tension she felt around Clay. Smiling up at him, she nodded. "I'd love to go, Brad."
He took her hand and led her over to the window where Selena and Clay were watching small sharks swimming in an enclosed tank. Clay was listening to Selena with a small smile on his face when he glanced up and saw them coming toward him. The smile vanished and his eyes grew cold as his gaze fell on their locked hands.
"If you guys have seen enough here, I thought we might go get something to eat and give the tides a chance to drop a little lower," Brad offered. "There's quite an extensive tide pool out at the point that you might find interesting."
"Lead the way, my friend," Selena responded gaily as she joined them. Clay followed her more slowly, his expression grim. Once again Carolyn and Clay were in the back seat. She couldn't quite figure out how that happened. One minute she was standing by Brad, the next minute Clay was helping her into the car, then crawling in behind her.
"The octopus has some interesting mating habits," Brad said as they drove to the restaurant. "The male only makes love once, but it lasts up to twelve hours, and he dies afterward."
Clay burst out laughing. "I can certainly understand why!"
How lucky for the lady octopus, Carolyn thought grimly.
The fresh seafood dinner was delicious, and Carolyn had relaxed somewhat by the time they reached the tide pools. The day was turning cooler, and a brisk breeze stirred whitecaps on the top of the waves.
All three were soon caught up in the spell Brad was weaving with his knowledge of what happened just below the surface of the water, of the life being lived by the hermit crabs, the sea urchins and sea anemones. The two couples were soon kneeling on the rocks, completely involved in studying the tiny life forms.
Carolyn moved away from the other three, unaware of how far out on the rocks she was going. She was on her knees, peering intently at a sea anemone as it closed around an unsuspecting water insect swimming by, when an unusually large wave broke over the rock where she crouched. It knocked her off balance, and she tumbled into the water.
Strong arms were holding her before she knew what had happened, and she glanced up to see Clay's worried face as he lifted her clear of the water and into the security of his arms. "Are you all right?" he asked, his voice raspy with urgency.
Pushing streaming wet hair out of her face, Carolyn tried to sound unconcerned, but the hard shiver that ran through her betrayed her discomfort. "Oh, I'm just fine. Thought I'd see what life in a tide pool is really like." All the while she talked, Clay agilely stepped from rock to rock, moving rapidly toward the parked car.
Brad and Selena quickly joined them, both concerned.
"No, I'm all right, really. I just feel like a complete fool. I was so engrossed I forgot to keep my mind on the waves."
By the time they reached the resort, Carolyn was shaking from the cold.
"Brad, I'm going to take Carolyn back to the room. She's chilled and I don't want her to get sick. Why don't you and Selena go ahead with the day's plans. You had several other places to show us today, didn't you?"
Brad looked uncertain. "Well, sure, but there's no real schedule. We can always go some other time."
Selena spoke up. "I'd really like to go, Brad. I've got such a short time here." She glanced at Clay and winked. "I'm sure Clay will be able to look after Carolyn without our help."
Carolyn had already started for the room. Clay grinned at Selena. "I'll do my best. You two enjoy yourselves. We'll see you tonight."
He spun around and loped toward Carolyn. He was glad the sun had come back out, but there was no sense in taking any chances. Carolyn's journey to the room was punctuated with sneezes. By the time Clay caught up with her she was at the door, fumbling for her key. He quickly grabbed his and opened the door, then stepped back so she could enter.
"You didn't have to come back with me, you know," she mumbled as she held a handkerchief to her nose. "I'm used to looking after myself." She started up the stairs.
"Carolyn?"
She stopped midway and looked at him.
"Is it all right if I want to look after you, anyway?" The tender look in his eyes was almost her undoing. She had to remind herself of all the things he had done to sabotage her vacation: He'd effectively turned Ted away, had used Selena to lure Brad away and had as much as lied to her about how he made a living.
She continued up the stairs without comment.
Carolyn filled the tub with water as hot as she could stand it, quickly shed her clothes, then gratefully crawled into the steaming water. Getting chilled was no fun at all. Sliding down into the water until her chin rested on the bubbles floating on top, she contemplated what she was going to do about Clay.
While mulling over several ideas that appealed to her, all of which had him begging for mercy, the object of her thoughts walked in.
"Get out of here!" She refused to move, but her tone left him in no doubt of her mood.
"I brought you some brandy. Thought it might help."
"Did you hear me?"
"Of course I heard you. This entire ten-mile stretch of coastline heard you."
"Then get out."
"You're very hard to be nice to."
"Then don't bother."
Clay stood there for a moment, staring at her. The steam had put color back in her face, thank God, and her skin shone like satin. If he'd had any doubt about how well he was winning a place for himself in her affections, her angry eyes told him. He sank onto the vanity bench with a sigh. Well, what the hell, he thpught, it can't get any worse.
"I love you, Carolyn."
The words drifted and eddied with the steam, floating free above their heads, circling into swirls to drop around Carolyn. She'd obviously misunderstood him. He'd been speaking softly, anyway. She frantically searched for something he could have said that sounded like "I love you, Carolyn," but couldn't think of a thing. In fact, her mind had suddenly slipped a cog and was spinning madly around inside her head.
He watched the expressions darting across her face . . . bewilderment, suspicion, dismay. Not exactly the emotions he'd hoped to provoke.
"I didn't mean to embarrass you."
Now that she could certainly understand. She smiled gently at him. "Then would you please get out of here? That would immediately relieve my embarrassment."
"I meant by telling you I love you. Just because you're only the third woman I've ever said that to, I don't want you to feel obligated or anything."
"The third woman? I'm impressed. No, really. The infamous Kenneth Clay—" Carolyn stopped, the words finally penetrating as she whispered "loves me?" She sat up, causing heavy waves in the large tub, dislodging the camouflage of bubbles and causing Clay to take an unexpected breath.
Unaware of her suddenly revealing position, she leaned toward him in bewilderment.
"Are you aware of what you just said?" she asked with evident astonishment.
He thought back for a few moments, then nodded. "Yes. You are only the third woman I've ever said that to in my entire life." His gaze kept returning to the water level.
"Not that. Were you serious about loving me?" He swallowed, tried to speak, had to stop and clear his throat, then nodded.
Panic seemed to engulf her at the same time as an exhilarating shock of pleasure coursed through her. He loves me! Is that what I'm feeling?
She was scared. She'd never felt like this before. To her, love was a warm, tender feeling, such as she'd felt toward Mitch—a caring, a sharing of mutual interests. Clay stirred such overwhelming feelings within her. Could that be love?
He watched as her eyes softened and sparkled like the midnight sky when first touched by moonlight. Then he realized what she was doing. She climbed out of the tub and, holding a towel in front of her, approached him, stopping when she stood between his knees. The towel was an adequate cover, held in front of her like that. Clay idly wondered if she knew the mirrors behind her faithfully reflected her image. Never had he seen a more beautiful form.
"Oh, Clay," she breathed, then she kissed him.
Clay prided himself on his ability to take command of any situation. He'd been with women in various situations, all for the sake of authentic research for Derringer Drake, of course, and had always conducted himself in a sophisticated manner. Why, then, on this most important occasion in his life, did he suddenly feel like a boy in junior high with his first crush.
His hands shook, but when they touched the smooth skin of her back, they seemed to know what to do without further signals from his brain, which must have turned to mush sometime in the previous few minutes.
He stood up, the towel still between them, and deepened the kiss. Carolyn's arms slipped around his neck, the towel forgotten, as Clay swung her into his arms and carried her to the king-sized bed.
Chapter 9
"Clay?"
"Yes, love," he murmured as he leaned over and placed her on the bed, where he had carefully turned back the covers.
"Are you going to make love to me?"
She looked at him shyly and his heart turned over in his chest. He pulled the covers to her chin, then sat down beside her.
"I certainly hope so," he said fervently, "just as soon as you're feeling better." He leaned over and placed a soft kiss against her trembling lips, then sat up with a smile.
She still looked uncertain. Her gaze wandered over his face, and a sudden yearning within her grew until she felt she would burst. She sat up in bed. Hesitantly placing her arms around his neck, she said, "I feel fine."
Clay could feel the blood rush through him, his heart pounding in his chest like a jackhammer. "I think there's something you'd better understand, Carolyn." He paused, trying to get a grip on his emotions. "Once I make love to you, you'll belong to me. I won't let you go."
She grinned, the impish grin that had been his downfall. "Is that supposed to discourage me? If so, it didn't work."
"I know what your vacation plans are, and I don't intend to be one of the scalps you're collecting."
