Free The Village of Gerard's Cliff by Carol Anne Vick Page B

wandered toward the ocean,
venturing almost to the sea foam washing on the shore. The wind was
so strong, and the ocean so loud, that they couldn't hear each
other talk. A huge wave crashed and sent a deep crescent of water
rushing towards them. Allie shrieked with laughter, and without
thinking, they grabbed each other's hand and ran from the almost
certain drenching of their shoes and pants. Out of breath, they ran
hand in hand, back up to the base of the cliff. "This wind is
brutal!" Connor yelled, close to her ear, laughing. Allie looked at
him, and nodded in agreement.
    "Come on...I know
someplace we can go..." Allie pulled his hand, and they walked
quickly northward, as she scanned the boulders. "Here it is!" She
ducked behind a huge boulder, and Connor followed, into a dark,
secluded cave. Connor discovered that he could stand upright, with
a few inches to spare. "This is better, isn't it?" Out of the
fierce wind, Allie let go of his hand and smoothed her hair, which
had been blown in all directions. "Whew....that was fun." She
leaned against the side of the cave, still breathing hard, and
looked around her.
    Connor leaned on the wall
opposite her, propped one shoe back against the wall, and rubbed
his short, dark hair, which was wet from the ocean spray. He looked
around him at the small cave, and figured it to be roughly five
feet wide, and ten feet deep, as he could make out the back wall.
The sun shone into the enclosed area just enough to make it dim,
not pitch black, as he had expected. He looked over at Allie, who
seemed to have finished her visual scan of the cave, and realized
that she was watching him intently, her arms folded loosely across
her waist, a slight smile on her lips. Their eyes locked, and
Connor was aware of nothing but their breathing, as they leaned
against their walls in the quiet enclosure.
    Time seemed to stand still
as Connor looked into her brown eyes...her beautiful eyes filled
with specks of light, rimmed with damp, dark lashes. She seemed to
be patiently waiting, her lips slightly parted, as she watched him.
Despite his previous misgivings the night of the storm, Connor knew
what they both wanted.
    He pushed off slowly from
the wall, and even more slowly crossed the short space between
them, never taking his gaze off Allie's glistening, upturned eyes.
He didn't need words...her eyes spoke for her. He put one hand on
the wall behind her shoulder, and the other on her cheek, lightly
caressing her soft skin. As he saw her breathing quicken, he put
his fingers under her chin, and tilted her face upwards toward him.
She kept her arms lightly crossed, as he bent his head toward her
lovely face. Through his own lashes, he watched her eyes flutter
close, as he lightly brushed her soft lips. Connor raised his head
a little to linger on her face, and saw her eyes open as if she
were in a daze....eyes that were soft, and liquid, and smoldering.
She raised her arms, her hands moved upward, and she caressed the
back of his neck, as he bent his head and kissed her again, this
time with a passion that ignited them both. He pressed himself
against her, wrapping his strong arms around her trembling
body.

Chapter XVII
    Damn, it's started . Connor had to talk to Allie...tell her everything...but, he had to
talk to Jake Ayers first. He had to know what he was talking about
first, before dragging her into it....hell, she was already
involved, wasn't she? Her wrist was proof of that, Ethan was proof
of that, however he was involved in all of this, and now, someone
had tried to break in....damn it . He hit the steering wheel with his
fist .
    He had wanted to work on
getting her trust before filling her in on the sordid details, or
at least what he was pretty confident to be the sordid details. And
now, he and Allie had discovered that their feelings for each other
were mutual...well...that had hit him like a bolt of lightening,
come out of nowhere...and changed everything. After this afternoon
in the