Dark Star (8 page)

“Sonofabitch tried to gut me.” He looked down
at the surgical incision. “The cutters managed to patch me back up,
but he almost sent me to hell. Some say I’m bullet proof, but
apparently that doesn’t apply to knives.

“I’m thinking you’re not either. Good God,
Nate, what on earth?” she said finally pulling her hand away.”

He shook his head then turned back to the
ocean. “You know I’m not going to tell you.”

Tonya took a deep breath. Any of those wounds
would have been enough to kill him. As angry as she was at him the
thought of him not being alive made her more than a bit sick. No
matter what, she wanted to know,
needed
to know that Nate
Randolph was alive out there somewhere, even if he didn’t want her
and she didn’t want to want him, he had to be alive.

Shaking her head to clear it, she took a
moment to remove the shorts and t-shirt she had on over her bikini.
The bright yellow garment was modest by most standards, but she
still felt uncomfortable wearing it in front of him. Fortunately,
he didn’t react one way or another when he saw her in it.
Perversely, that annoyed her too. He could have at least said she
looked nice. She gritted her teeth in aggravation at herself. The
man had kidnapped her and dragged her off to East Bumfuck Egypt and
she wanted him to lust after her? Really?
Girl get a grip.
Determined to put any further thoughts about Nate behind her, Tonya
decided to focus on enjoying the rest of the day.

She loved to swim and did so whenever an
opportunity presented itself. Now as she followed Nate into the
water, she delighted in the warm silky waves lapping at her skin.
It didn’t take long to make her way out to the small coral reef
that made up most of the cove’s enclosure. Life abounded here and
Tonya lost herself in fascination with all the varieties of fish
and other sea life. She was examining a particularly vivid coral
formation -- it was so brightly colored it was almost fuchsia. She
beckoned Nate over to look at it and they watched the small fish
dart in and out of the structure. Then he tapped her shoulder and
gestured for her to follow him into a small cave. It wasn’t high
tide so they were able to remove their masks once inside. She
stared in astonishment -- the walls glistened as though covered in
diamonds.

Tonya struggled to close her mouth, which had
dropped open in awe. “What in the world...”

Nate grinned. “They’re crystals. I found it
by accident on one of my first trips here. There are so many
islands and so many caves it’s possible no one has ever seen this
but us. Isn’t it great?” he said, his enthusiasm reminding her of a
small boy with his first bike.

“Amazing. But why would crystals form this
way? I’ve been in a lot of caves, but I’ve never seen anything like
this.”

“I think it has something to do with
atmospheric conditions, especially the high temperature and mineral
content. I’m sure you’ve noticed it’s like a sauna in here.” Tonya
nodded, it was extremely warm, but it felt good.

“All these islands are volcanic so I’m sure
it’s on a thermal fissure of some sort. I haven’t had a chance to
do much research, but I don’t come here often because I think it
might mess it up. There’s a similar one in Mexico, but they limit
visitors to keep the atmosphere as pristine as possible. But this
cave is one of the reasons I had to buy my house. If I could’ve
bought this cove I would have. I’d love to own the entire island,
but that’s well above my pay grade.”

Tonya turned in a circle looking around at
the sparkling walls. “I can see why.”

“I travel a lot for work and I wanted a place
to come to so I could decompress.”

“I totally get that, but why the South
Pacific?”

“This is the part of the world where I spend
most of my time. It seemed reasonable to buy in the vicinity and
cut down on travel time.”

“I assume you’re not going to tell me why you
spend so much time in this area,” she said.

“No, I’m not,” he said laughing. Then he dove
down into the swirling water.

She looked around but didn’t see him.
Suddenly she felt hands grab her legs, pulling her down as well.
She sputtered as water went up her nose and she swam strongly after
him. The chase was on! They frolicked in the cave like a pair of
frisky otters. Around and around they went, gasping with laughter
the whole time. Eventually Tonya surfaced, begging for mercy as she
realized the foolishness of what she’d been doing. Playing with
Nate was a very bad idea. It was too evocative of the life they’d
had together and her heart, not to mention her nether regions, were
treacherous bitches where this man was concerned. Pleading
tiredness, she swam back to shore. Nate followed. She dried off
with the beach towel she’d brought then spread a second towel on
the pristine sand to sit on. After taking a moment to smooth on
sunscreen, she sat down on the towel. Nate did the same, only he
didn’t bother with sunscreen. He did pull on a bright blue t-shirt
that looked particularly striking with his coloring. She started to
offer him some of her sunscreen, but the implied intimacy of the
gesture halted her. If he wanted to fry in the tropical sun, let
him. That morning had reminded her too much of all the time they’d
spent at the lake back in Maple Fork. Tears came to her eyes as she
reflected on those halcyon days. She quickly wiped them away on her
towel, but she should’ve known he would notice.

“What’s wrong?” he said reaching over to take
her hand.

“Nothing.”

“You’re crying.”

“No. My eyes are just a little irritated from
the salt water.”

He stared at her for a contemplative moment.
She held her breath until he nodded. With that small gesture he
conveyed a wealth of information. He knew she was lying and he was
choosing to let her get away with it. She heaved a sigh of relief
and slipped her sunglasses on her nose before lying back on the
towel.

“Are there other people on the island?” she
asked desperate for a subject change.

“Yeah. Farther up. They tend to be hermits
like me. Very few people live here year round. This cove doesn’t
belong to me, but I’ve never seen anyone else use it. If they
object they’ve never spoken up.”

“Maybe they share it the way y’all share the
jeep.”

“Maybe so. Most of the residents here aren’t
particularly possessive. It’s so isolated we have to share.
Sometimes storms will take out the electricity and everyone shares
food and gasoline for generators.”

“I would imagine that the atmosphere
contributes to people’s generosity. Who can be petty when
surrounded by such beauty? I’ve never seen anything so wonderful,”
she said, inhaling the salt air, which was ripe and pungent with
the aroma emanating from the lush vegetation.

“Me either,” Nate said but he wasn’t looking
at their surroundings. Before Tonya could remonstrate him for the
hackneyed line he continued speaking. “Tonya, I,” he said as he
reached out to touch her hand. She stared at the long masculine
fingers, transfixed by the contrast in their coloring. Her breath
caught in her throat as the familiar jolt of pure lust shot through
her loins. “I just want to apologize for all this. I screwed up,
but I’m trying to make it right.”

“You call kidnapping me a screw up? Dragging
me off to God knows where and ruining my career? Gee thanks. And
how pray tell do you plan to fix it?” Tonya deliberately made her
words as biting as possible. Anything to take her mind off her
body’s response to his touch. She’d dated a lot of men over the
years, but none could make her heart race the way Nate did. Her
skin tingled, feeling feverish and swollen from even this minimal
contact.

Nate sighed. “I can’t dispute any of that. Do
you want to go back into the water?”

Tonya shook her head. Nate still hadn’t moved
his hand and she shivered under the onslaught of his nearness. She
started to snatch her hand away, annoyed that she still reacted so
strongly to him after all the changes he’d put her though. Then he
did something so characteristically Nate that she just wanted to
kick him. He raised her hand from the towel and brought it palm up
to his mouth. Now wasn’t that just some Jane Austen shit? And so
typical. She’d always been intrigued by the dichotomy between the
south Alabama Bubba and the suave Frenchman. In a word it drove her
hormones nuts. It kept her off-balance and she hated it -- and
loved it. Now she did snatch her hand away. Nate grinned at her.
His perfectly straight teeth shone in stark contrast to his dark
complexion.

“Well I can’t make up for ruining your career
or scaring your mom, but you’re developing a lovely set of freckles
across your nose. I can at least get you out of the sun before you
accuse me of giving you skin cancer. Besides, I’m starving. How
about some Belgian waffles?”

Tonya couldn’t resist. “I’ve been known to
forgive nearly anything for waffles.”

* * * * *

They returned to the house, and after a quick
shower Tonya pulled on a loose-fitting sundress. The fabric was an
abstract design in vivid blues and greens. She hadn’t packed
anything like it, but Nate had gone into the small village and
picked up some things for her. Apparently he hadn’t forgotten her
love for bright colors, as the dress was definitely one she
would’ve bought for herself. She especially appreciated its
ankle-grazing length. When she joined Nate in the kitchen, he was
wearing the same shorts he’d snorkeled in. And thankfully for the
sake of her libido, he was still wearing a shirt.

He was standing in the center of the tiny
kitchen whisking something in a bowl. She leaned against the
counter and watched as he poured the batter into a waffle iron. The
kitchen was in the center of the house, which didn’t have a
hallway. Instead it was built on something of a spoke design so all
the rooms branched off. She’d cooked in the kitchen a couple of
times and found it surprisingly well appointed, though she
suspected that with its teak cabinets and upscale appliances, it
wasn’t designed for actual use. Nate checked the waffle iron every
few minutes and before long he produced four delectable looking
waffles. He waved her over to the kitchen table as he plated them.
He’d already placed butter and warmed maple syrup on the table and
she applied both liberally, but declined the heavy cream he
offered.

They sat at the table and dug in
immediately.

The warm gooey waffles defined deliciousness.
Her mouth practically danced in delight. “Obviously you remember
all the cooking skills you picked up at Carlyle’s.” He had spent
one summer in Maple Fork attending classes with her at a local
community college and working at the legendary fish joint.

“Oh, that’s real cute. You know they never
let me cook. I was a glorified dishwasher. I still have a scar on
my hip from taking down that damned fry station,” he said.

“Poor Nate. Manual labor and all that. Your
lost summer spent living in our basement and slaving away in a
seafood restaurant. And you were such a good boy, too. You didn’t
even try to come up the stairs and sneak in my room.”

“I assumed your mom had it booby-trapped,” he
said. “I like all my body parts where they are, thank you very
much.”

Tonya chuckled. “Yeah, you’re probably
right.”

“So no nookie, but it was worth it.”

Tonya inhaled a sharp breath. “Was it
really?” Had he spent as much time thinking about that idyllic
summer as she had?

“Hell, yeah. You know Carlyle made the best
fish sandwiches anywhere. Damn I miss them. To this day I can’t
smell hot grease without getting nostalgic for a sandwich all the
way with extra hot sauce.”

Tonya had to laugh. She’d walked right into
that one.

“Tell me about your next book.
Covered
was my favorite. Though I like
Scattered
too.”

“You’ve read my books?” She couldn’t keep the
delight out of her voice. Of course, she was always surprised to
find that
anyone
had read her books.

“Of course. I told you I’ve kept an eye on
you over the years. I bought the first one out of curiosity, but
now I’m hooked.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? Because you’re a
damned good writer. I knew that when we were still at the UA and
you were writing my papers for me,” he said.

“No. Why did you keep track over the
years?”

“You know why. You’d be better off if I
hadn’t.”

“You’re not trying to tell me that you still
care about me -- if you ever did. You walked out and left me with
nothing but lies.” This time the pain came raging through with
hurricane force. She gritted her teeth, shaking with the effort to
maintain a semblance of composure.

His voice dropped, becoming husky, almost
raspy. “Baby, I had my reasons. It couldn’t be helped.”

“Are you stuck in an infinite loop or
something? You need to find a new line, that one is played,” she
snapped, desperate to keep from responding to the raw emotion in
his voice and the beseeching look in his eyes.

He paused for a second, opening his mouth as
though to respond. Instead he stood up to clear the table. When he
spoke again it was on a totally different and not particularly
welcome subject. “You know we ate at that little Waffle House on
McFarland almost daily when we were together.”

Tonya pursed her lips, briefly perturbed by
the swift subject change. She had hoped he’d forgotten, but it was
like him to throw that out to catch her off-balance. Bastard. “That
had nothing to do with my stories. I’d forgotten all about it. I
live in Alabama; the damned places are ubiquitous back home.” Pride
forced her to tell the bald-faced lie and what was worse she knew
he knew she lied.

“No. Of course not,” Nate said softly. “I
just remember that I always got my hash browns scattered, covered,
topped and chunked. I also noticed that the murders are getting
increasingly gruesome. I shudder to think what
Chunked
will
look like. The BDSM theme of
Covered
caught me off guard,
though. You have a diabolical mind.”