Butterfly Cove (21 page)

When she looked at him, her heart seemed too fragile for all the emotions flooding over her. “Rafe,” she whispered in one broken, aching voice.

His hand anchored her hips. “Right here, honey.” His hands were hard and sure as Olivia felt the pleasure rise to crest again. She was crazy with feeling him, crazy with waiting and all this was so completely unlike her that she should have been horrified.

Instead she was fearless. The hot certainty that this was Rafe holding her, taking her inexorably, made the last fiber of reason snap. Pleasure gripped her, their bodies wet and agile in each other’s arms.

“Don’t make me wait,” Olivia rasped.

She felt the hammer of his heart. His mouth opened on her forehead. The dark, hungry words he said washed over her, and pleasure struck. Olivia rose in blind instinct, gripping his neck.

Rafe caught her hips and held her. His hands shook as he drove deep, caught with a hunger that had been too long unfulfilled. He speared his fingers through her hair, whispering her name.

Then he followed Olivia over the edge to his own shattering climax.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

S
TEAM SWIRLED THROUGH
the quiet room.

Olivia took a slow, ragged breath and watched beads of water trickle down the tile wall. Her heart pounded. Her knees were ready to cave in.

She couldn’t move a muscle. Their bodies were still locked, still pressed in intimate grip, and Olivia decided she’d like to stay this way forever.

Rafe’s fingers trailed slowly over her shoulder. She felt him lean down and plant a kiss in her hair. “Are you ready to move?” he murmured.

“Give me a little time. A century or two should work.”

His hand traced her cheek. “That’s faster than I can.” He caught her waist as she began to slide down the wall. “Is there something in the water here? Because that was—” Rafe laughed weakly. “That was like nothing I ever experienced. It’s either the water or it’s just you, Livie.”

How was she supposed to answer that? And was this one of those moments when men rated their satisfaction? Olivia just didn’t have the energy for it. “Is that a complaint?”

“Hell, no.”

He slid their bodies together, letting the hot, wet friction stir in waves over Olivia’s sensitized skin. “I’m so glad to hear it,” she said weakly. Because her whole body seemed to be drained of energy, she hooked her arms around his head and let him hold her. The feeling of Rafe holding her was the best thing Olivia had ever felt.

He caught her leg with one hard hand, holding her steady when her knees grew weak. Even then, he was still inside her. She could feel the hot movements that followed his release.

His heart was still hammering. She felt it beneath her ear, and something about that made Olivia smile crookedly. So this was what sex with Rafe Russo, the Summer Island bad boy, was like.

Olivia had spent most of her girlhood wondering. A good deal of her adult life, too. Now she knew. She also knew that the reality was more amazing than anything she had ever dreamed about.

“I guess that’s a game plan. It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but I’m not complaining.”

His lips moved to her hair, and Olivia heard his dry laugh. “It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind either. But then I saw you and all that hot steam and I forgot everything else. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Hell, no man with a beating heart could have walked away from you, Livie. You tear my breath away.”

“You always knew the right thing to say. I can see that hasn’t changed.”

“The way I feel about you hasn’t changed. It never will,” he said harshly. He ran a hand slowly along her leg and then anchored her waist. Carefully he brought her feet to the floor. When her knees gave way and she would have fallen, he held her upright.

Rafe took a rough breath and cursed softly. “We have to go, Livie. If we don’t leave very soon, we’re not going to get to the boat early enough.”

She nodded, aware that this was very important. But for the life of her, she couldn’t exactly remember why. The only important thing right now was the warmth of Rafe’s body. “Right. The boat.” She said the words slowly. If she worked hard, she might be able to remember the rest of it. “I’ll go get dressed. Meet you downstairs.”

Suddenly they heard a tapping on the floor below and the muted sound of voices.

Rafe’s eyes hardened and he slid Olivia behind him. He grabbed his jeans from the tile floor and jerked them on. “Stay here.”

Olivia opened her mouth, but she didn’t argue. She realized that Rafe was in full threat mode. More muffled noises echoed from the stairway. Something scratched at Olivia’s bedroom door, and it swung open.

Duffy, Jilly’s white Samoyed, stood sniffing the air, studying the two of them intently.

“Livie, are you up yet? Walker and I are down here. We brought you breakfast. And coffee, too, I might add.”

“Hell, how’d she get in?” Rafe’s body seemed to lose some of its tension. But he looked acutely uncomfortable.

“She has a key. Don’t worry, I’ll go down first.” Olivia took a long, lingering glance at the beads of water still trickling down Rafe’s chest. Desire surged again, but she hammered it back ruthlessly. “You might want to button up your jeans and find a shirt,” she said dryly. “Although I doubt that this situation will surprise Jilly very much.”

Rafe stabbed a hand through his hair. “Shirt. Jeans. Roger that.”

Olivia heard the confusion in his voice. Clearly, he had been hit as hard as she had been. She liked that idea very much.

She reached down for her clothes, folded on the edge of the bed and then called out to Duffy, “Did you come to see Aunt Livie? Are you ready for a run on the beach, big guy?”

The white dog barked loudly and then danced around Olivia in excited circles. She felt guilty when she realized there would be no time for a run or even a walk. She and Rafe would have to leave immediately if they wanted to beat Martin up the coast.

Without looking down, she shoved her blouse into her jeans and grabbed her shoes. “I’ll be right down, Jilly,” she called.

She glanced back at Rafe.

He was buttoning his jeans, but he seemed to sense her glance. Smiling slowly, he touched the tips of two fingers to his mouth. His dark eyes narrowed, running over her body.

And then he tossed her a little kiss.

Already head over heels, Olivia felt her heart drop even deeper into a dizzy, unsettling state that she was still not brave enough to call love.

* * *

“
W
ALKER HAD
to pick up more supplies at the hardware store and Duffy wanted a run on the beach, so I decided to come by and cook you breakfast. Where do you keep your—” Jilly turned around in the middle of her explanation, then stopped when she saw Olivia madly trying to tame the tangles from her hair. “Livie, what’s going on?”

“Nothing. I’m fine. I’m perfect. Thank you for coming by to cook breakfast. The problem is, I have an appointment up the coast. We’ll be late if we don’t leave in five minutes.”

Jilly frowned. “We?”

“Rafe and I. He thinks he should come along. We’ll explain it all later,” she said quickly.

Jilly walked across the room, shoved away Olivia’s hands and studied the buttons that were completely mismatched on her blouse. “You and Rafe. Now that’s interesting. Is he around here somewhere?”

“He’s somewhere. Upstairs, I think. He came over early. He wanted to be sure that we weren’t late.”

“He came over early.” Jilly cleared her throat. “Then get going. I have coffee in a thermos, and I made croissants this morning. Cream puffs, too. I’ll pack them up for you to take along.”

Olivia studied her energetic friend. This was a new level of hyper, even for Jilly. “Why were you up cooking cream puffs and croissants? It’s barely seven-thirty now, Jilly.”

Her friend shook her head mysteriously. “I guess that will have to wait.” Jilly smiled as Rafe appeared in the doorway.

His jeans were buttoned, Olivia thought thankfully. And he was wearing a T-shirt.

But his feet were bare. She made a strangled sound, aware that Jilly was missing none of these details.

“Morning, Rafe. I brought you some croissants and hot coffee. Cream puffs, too. I couldn’t sleep, so I got up to bake.”

“Sorry to hear that you couldn’t sleep, but those croissants are going to be great on our drive. Did Olivia tell you that we have to leave?” He glanced at the clock and muttered. “We have to leave five minutes ago, in fact.”

After her friend walked outside, Olivia gathered up her cell phone and purse and locked the house in record time. When she crossed the front porch, she saw Jilly playing with Duffy on the lawn while Walker and Rafe stood on the driveway, talking.

“Sorry to run, Jilly. Thanks for all the food.”

“No problem. Have a nice drive with Rafe. Just remember, you two are coming over for dinner tonight. I’m trying out a test menu.” Jilly looked from one to the other, smiling faintly. “Don’t be late. No matter how...distracted you are.”

* * *

“
W
OULD YOU LOOK
in on the house a couple of times today? Don’t bring Jilly.” Rafe’s voice was low. “But bring Duffy. Let him run around and sniff.”

Walker nodded, but his face was grave. “You want to explain why?”

“Not now. No time. We have to make this appointment. It’s important, or I wouldn’t ask.” Rafe looked up at the porch, where Olivia and Jilly were talking. “Something’s wrong here. I think it has to do with her father. Until I know, I’m taking no chances with her safety. Someone was in her house. The power was cut.”

Walker’s eyes darkened. “Understood. I’ll swing by. I’ll bring Duffy. Winslow, too. That dog doesn’t miss anything.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

O
LIVIA COULDN’T KNIT
. Too many possibilities and worries filled her head. She tried to calm her mind as Rafe drove through the quiet, twisting streets and then up the wooded coast. When she pulled out her current project, a lace shawl made of hand-dyed alpaca, the soft folds felt reassuring. “I suppose this could all get weird. I mean, people in town are watching us. They’re...talking.”

“Tell me about it,” Rafe muttered.

“But let’s forget about all that and enjoy each moment. If people have problems with us being together, then screw them.” Olivia swallowed. “Did I just say that?” She looked off into the distance and smiled slowly. “I did. I just said that. And it felt really good.”

Rafe slid his hand onto hers. “It sounded good to me, too. Just so it’s on the table, I want a future with you, Olivia. It may not be neat and tidy and it may take us a while to figure out how we’re going to manage it, but that’s my game plan right now. A future. The one we’ve waited for for too long.”

Olivia gripped his hand back. Because his touch was hard and strong, she faced a subject that she had been trying to avoid. “This boat of my father’s. You’re pretty sure it’s important because he didn’t tell anyone about it. And that means...he was trying to hide something there. That’s why you want to go along with me, in case there’s a problem.” She forced out each sentence, feeling a little dizzy, as if she was standing at the edge of a gorge and the land was falling away in front of her.

And she couldn’t go back.

Rafe didn’t answer. That told Olivia that she was right about the boat. “Okay. I’m ready for whatever we find. I think.”

Rafe muttered something under his breath. Olivia thought it sounded angry, but she knew it wasn’t aimed at her. “Aren’t you going to knit? Jilly said you always knit.”

Olivia didn’t move. “Not today.”

* * *

T
WENTY MINUTES LATER
they reached the address Martin Eaglewood had emailed Olivia. The dock was small, at the end of a nondescript little town. An unpainted pier ran down to a small cove with a dozen cars parked in the facing lot. A small trailer doubled as an office.

“This is
it?
” Olivia frowned. This wasn’t her father’s style at all. He liked luxury and brand names in everything he did. Status was crucial to him, and this place was depressing.

She started to get out, but Rafe put a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll go get the key, Livie. Then we’ll check out the boat together.”

“But how can you get the key? I’m his daughter. Why would they give it to a stranger?”

“Because I’ll explain that I’m a deputy with the Summer Island police and that I’m investigating a possible felony committed on the property.” Rafe flashed his badge. “This opens a whole lot of doors.”

“And you think there really was a felony committed here?”

“At the moment, I have no expectation of anything. I’m just doing what it takes to get us in and out fast.”

Spoken like a seasoned soldier, Olivia thought. And she was glad to have him watching her back. “Okay. I’ll wait for you. Just—don’t take too long.” Because she realized she might be losing her nerve.

* * *

R
AFE WAS BACK
in less than five minutes carrying a diagram that showed the location of every boat. As he walked beside Olivia, he kept his arm around her waist.

Comfort and reassurance, she realized. And she was intensely thankful for both.

When they came to the center of the dock, Olivia glanced down at the map and then up at the gray forty-foot boat docked before them. “This one?”

“That’s the number. Your father had rented it for the past six years.”

It looked unpainted. The deck was empty and the small windows were coated with grime.

No status at all. Somehow Olivia couldn’t imagine her father ever putting foot on that deck.

“I’m ready. Let’s go see what we can find.”

Rafe moved ahead of her onto the deck. Olivia realized he was careful to stay in front of her.

She had a sudden awful thought. “There couldn’t be a dead body or anything here, right? I mean—bodies go bad. It would...smell or something.”

“Don’t worry. No dead bodies. After a while you get to know that smell,” he said quietly.

Olivia had another quick glimpse into the life Rafe had led for the past decade. She said nothing, but squeezed his hand. Then she followed him down the narrow steps to the lower rooms.