Part 10 (1/2)

She started, clearly thinking that her arrival had gone unremarked. She patted briefly at her hair as if to tame it into order, tugged at her s.h.i.+rttail, and threw back her shoulders in familiar defiance.

”Fernando told me I could find you here.”

He rinsed his razor in the gourd of water on the ground between his feet and toweled his face, dabbing his cuts gingerly. The Maya pendant swung against his bare chest, reminding him of his abrupt decision to put it on this morning. As a remindera”a reminder and a visible pledge. As a symbol of friends.h.i.+p it no longer had any meaning, but as a symbol of betrayala He stilled the pendant with one hand, noting the way Mac focused on it. Or on his chest, as if she'd never seen a half-naked man before.

”Did you miss my company?” he asked.

She flashed straight white teeth. ”Not in the least. I slept like a baby. Amazing how comfortable those hammocks are.”

Liam slapped the towel over his shoulder. She was not a good liar; her dark eyes were deeply shadowed with sleeplessness. ”And did Fernando give you breakfast?”

She strolled closer, looking past him at the lake. ”He did, thanks.” She ran her hands through her hair again and plucked at the cloth of her s.h.i.+rt.

Liam smothered a grin. He knew exactly what she was thinking. The morning mist had lifted, and the day promised to be as hot as any other in the past week. There was not so much as a cloud in the sky to mar the tempting serenity of the water. It provided a perfect place for bathing, formed by a rain-swollen stream and cut off by a s.h.i.+ft in the water's course.

”I think you need a bath, Miss MacKenzie,” he said.

”How astute of you to notice. As a matter of fact, Ia”” He noted with interest that it was her bare ears, and not her cheeks, that reddened. ”I came down here to wash up. And to ask if youa” She choked on her request and finished in a rush. ”If you had any spare clothes I could borrow until mine are clean.”

So she was finally reduced to asking him for something. Liam stretched his legs and worked the muscles of his shoulders lazily.

”I have no corsets and such with me,” he said, watching her. ”Nothing, I'm afraid, that would tempt a female.”

She shuddered. ”I don't need aa corset.” Her gaze followed the movements of his shoulders almost boldly; maybe she had seen a half-naked man before. The thought unaccountably annoyed him.

”If you have any spare pants and s.h.i.+rtsa””

”Mine? You'd drown in them.”

She cleared her throat. ”I don't have a lot of choice, O'Shea.”

He gave her request due consideration. Thin as she was, she was tall enough that one of his s.h.i.+rts might not fall much below her knees. The thought of seeing her dressed in his clothes had a peculiar effect on him, and his grin faded. He'd thought her mannish garb outrageous, and yeta ”Fernando's would fit better,” he said brusquely, ”but he hasn't any spares himself. I'll find you something.”

”Thanks.” Her voice was low and husky, so unlike Caroline's sweet soprano. ”If, um, if you're done here, maybe I could use the lake?”

He relaxed and folded his arms. ”It doesn't belong to me. Help yourself.”

Her small, square jaw tightened. ”I'd appreciate some privacy.”

”I'm confused. I thought you said that women in your time are the equals of their men, and have left behind such feminine sensibilities.”

”Common courtesy still existsa”at least most of the time.”

”By no means would I be discourteous. But I'm not leaving you here alone. I'll fetch the clothes now, and that should give you enough time to preserve your modesty.”

”Really, it's not necessa”” She noted his expression and thought better of her protest. ”Could you at least stay out of sight?”

”My sight, or yours?”

”You know what I mean.”

”You do know how to swim?” he asked.

”Yes.”

”Then I'll go fetch the clothes.”

”Thanks.” She looked at her muddy, booted feet. ”I mean it.”

Liam grabbed the stool and collapsed it. I think I've learned one thing about you, Mac, he thought. You seldom say anything you don't mean.

Aloud, he said, ”Try not to frighten the water snakes and crocodiles during your bath, Mac.”

Her answer was m.u.f.fled and undoubtedly rude. He knew she didn't move while he was in view, and probably not for some time after he left the lake behind.

Liam slowed, frowning. d.a.m.n him for a fool, he was imagining Mac down in the lake. Imagining her clean, fair skin streaked with fresh water rather than sweat; her movements unhurried and easy in solitude. Touching her small, firm b.r.e.a.s.t.s with her hands, stroking her thighs clean of muda You haven't had a woman in months, he reminded himself. And that restraint had been due to his guardians.h.i.+p of Carolinea”and the knowledge that soon he would seal her safety and future by asking her to marry him.

Not that he'd ever expect Caroline to satisfy his needs. She was a lady. She was everything a man could want in a wife, graceful and lovely and feminine. Meant to be cherished and protected.

But as for sharing her beda Liam tried to imagine it, and as always his mind refused to cooperate. He'd known her since she was a child. Desire would surely come in time.

The entire uncomfortable line of thought was neatly severed by another mental image of Mac.

d.a.m.n her.

Fernando was nowhere to be seen when he reached camp. Liam went into the tent, tossed his shaving gear on the desk, and rummaged through his trunk of clean clothes. He tugged on a s.h.i.+rt and snagged another from the trunk, one of his older ones. It would do well enough for her. He found a pair of loose cotton trousers and shook them out. They'd go around her twice, and they were of a thinner material than her own. Wet through, they'd leave nothing to the imagination.

d.a.m.n it to h.e.l.l. Why was he thinking of her this way?

He grabbed the s.h.i.+rt and trousers and walked the quarter mile to the lake at a furious pace. As he reached the end of the path he heard splas.h.i.+ng and a husky voice raised in some tuneless melody.

She was singing. He stopped and c.o.c.ked his head, incredulous. Her song was as unmelodious as her overly bold features were lacking in beauty, but there was an artlessness to it, a simple and startling joy, as if she found nothing in the world so wonderful as bathing in a jungle lake.

He couldn't keep himself from stepping out from the path.

She stood waist-deep in the lake, her back to the sh.o.r.e. His first thought was that she had more curves than he had expected, her waist tiny and her hips not nearly as slim as a boy's. He had little more time to contemplate that pleasant discovery before she gave a little hop and dove under the water. She emerged facing him, shaking thick dark hair from her forehead.

She remained oblivious just long enough to allow him an un.o.bstructed view of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. They were hardly large, but they were firm and well shaped, the nipples puckered into buds. Her shoulders and arms suggested a slender strength, and her neck was surprisingly graceful. Her belly was flat, and his gaze drifted lower as she began to wade toward the sh.o.r.e.

Until she saw him. Her eyes widened, and she backpedaled into deeper water, arms flailing. She plunged under the surface and reemerged only to the chin. She tossed her hair with a fierce snap.

”d.a.m.n you, O'Sheaa”I thought you were going to give me some privacy!”

He couldn't help but grin. She looked like a half-drowned cat, dripping wet and hissing with rage.

”I seem to have mistimed my return,” he said, displaying the clothes he'd brought. ”You did want these?”