Free Summer Mahogany by Janet Dailey Page A

little impression on Rhyder. Not until her fingers were curling weakly into his shirt did he ease the pressure of his mouth to masterful possession. His male attraction was something she couldn't fight, nor the wild rapture his lovemaking aroused.
    Desire flamed as he plundered the softness of her throat. Her hands inexpertly unfastened the buttons of his shirt so her fingers could glide freely over his hard flesh, smooth as leather.
    A gasp of heady pleasure caught in her throat at the touch of his hand sliding open the zipper of her dress. As it fell around her feet, Rhyder lifted her out of it and into his arms. Luminous green eyes blithely met the darkly glowing fires of blue in his gaze.
    Without a word, he carried her to the bed and laid her on the scarlet coverlet. A knee rested on the edge of the bed as he towered above her, something primitive and conquering in his stance.
    A pagan shiver fluttered Gina's lashes. In the next second, his shirt was discarded and the muscled brown of his naked torso was bending toward her.
     

 
    Chapter Five
     
    THE PARTIALLY MUFFLED SOUND of voices wakened Gina the next morning. The pillow was damp beneath her cheek and she remembered sobbing into it last night.
    Rhyder had attempted to comfort her, but it had soon become evident that he intended to ease her pain with the same tactics that had caused it in the first place. Gina had cringed from him, inciting his anger, but he had left her alone with her tears.
    Very slowly she lifted her head from the pillow and glanced over her shoulder. A shudder of relief quaked through her at the empty pillow beside hers. Warily she looked around the room, but there was no sign of Rhyder.
    Then she heard his voice coming from the terrace outside their suite. She listened, unable to figure out whom he could be talking to—until she heard a familiar voice.
    "My God, I can't believe you actually married her!" came Pete's astonished exclamation. "When they told me at the harbor, I thought they were pulling my leg. But you actually did it?"
    "I had no choice," Rhyder replied, his low voice tautly on edge.
    Gina tensed herself, her muscles protesting as she slipped from beneath the covers. Her clothes were still scattered on the floor. She sidestepped them, wanting to forget how they had come to be there, and hurried to her suitcase on the luggage stand.
    "But how? Why?" she heard Pete's puzzled voice ask as she pulled a pair of slacks and a top from the folded clothes.
    She was just stepping into the slacks when she heard Rhyder answer, "I believe it's commonly known as blackmail."
    "Blackmail?" Pete breathed. "What happened while I was gone?"
    With frozen movements, Gina finished dressing. She now strained to hear the voice she had tried to ignore. She had to know what his explanation was for that statement.
    "She came to the boat late one evening. It was raining and she was soaked to the skin," Rhyder began his explanation tersely. "I went to get a blanket to wrap her in. When I came back with it, the damned little Lolita had taken off her clothes and was begging me to make love to her!"
    "Oh, my God!" Pete interjected. "Did you—"
    "I told her to go home and grow up!" Rhyder snapped. "She went out of there, crying through the streets, half-naked. Nearly the whole damned town saw her leave the Sea Witch."
    Gina felt cheap and degraded. The stark truth of his words shamed her, but she hated him for telling Pete about her wanton behavior. It was too demeaning.
    "What did you do then?" Pete wanted to know, incredulity running through his low voice.
    "I decided I'd better tell my side of the story before the uproar got so loud nobody would listen, so I went to her house to talk to her grandfather," Rhyder sighed grimly.
    "And he didn't believe you?"
    "I think he believed me all right." Rhyder exhaled a savage, mirthless laugh. "The trouble was his granddaughter's reputation had been irreversibly damaged in the eyes of the town, a fact he kept