Dreams: Part Two (9 page)

She slid him a speculative, mischievous glance. “You’re going to teach me, I gather?“

Colby’s grin widened. “I consider it my privilege as your husband. Now that you’re married to me, life’s never going to be the same for you again, honey.“

Or for him, Colby added silently. He used one hand to shove Specter to the side so he could check the rear-view mirror. Satisfied that everything was clear, he returned his concentration to the winding road ahead.

Life had definitely taken a surprising twist, but Colby was satisfied. He wondered how long it would take Diana to accept her fate as willingly as he had. She was still struggling with her emotions and the vast changes that had taken place in her life this summer. Deep down he knew she was still frightened.

So was he, but for different reasons. Colby realized he wasn’t going to be able to relax until he knew Diana had settled down and truly accepted the drastic upheaval in her life.

And while he was waiting for her to adjust to having a husband and a baby, he sure as hell did not want Aaron Crown subverting her with promises of a glowing career at Carruthers and Yale.

“Colby? Is something wrong?“

“No, honey. I was thinking about some plot problems I’m having.“

“Thinking up some horrific twists for
Blood Mist!“

“Not exactly. I’ve already got the horrific parts worked out. I was thinking up ways for the hero to save the fair lady.“

“What kind of a jam is she in?“

“She’s trapped.“

“Aha. And the hero has to free her?“

“Something like that.“ He was going to do his best, Colby decided, even if the fair lady didn’t want to be freed.

They reached Fulbrook Corners later that evening, and the next day Colby got back to work on
Blood Mist.
There had been so many distractions lately that he was getting impatient with the slow progress of his writing.

He wasn’t completely insensitive to Diana’s feelings about her career, he told himself as he called up the third chapter of
Blood Mist
on his word processor. He knew how he’d feel if someone tried to tell him he would have to give up writing – homicidal.

But he wasn’t asking her to give up her career. He just wanted her to trust him enough to take some time away from it while she reset her priorities.

Amazons were a hardheaded, stubborn, feisty bunch. Obviously they all needed a strong man to take them in hand and show them what it meant to be a truly well-rounded woman.

Colby grinned wickedly to himself as Chapter Three appeared on the computer screen. Diana would throttle him if she knew what he was thinking. It wasn’t his fault that she sometimes brought out his primitive side.

He stared for a minute at the last paragraphs he’d written before leaving for Portland.

Banner crouched at the top of the falls and watched the water turn bloodred in the light of the setting sun. He knew that some day he would have to return to the cave hidden behind the veil of thundering water. The forces that had been set in motion last night while he had slept in the grotto would one day pull him back here to this place.

But he sensed that day was still far off in his future. He was only seventeen. There was much to learn before he returned to uncover the ancient secrets behind the falls. He knew the first thing he must do was become a man. Banner wondered how long that would take and did not realize that simply by asking the question he had begun the process.

It wasn’t hard to tell where the inspiration for this story had sprung from, Colby thought wryly as he went to work.

He had never forgotten the night he had spent in Chained Lady Cave when he was a teenager. He had been dreaming about it ever since.

Diana seemed to understand about his writing. She left him to it with no complaint. She went into town in her sedate Buick to pick up the mail and groceries, and she stayed out of Colby’s way the rest of the day.

One thing about being married to a strong-minded career woman, he told himself when he took a quick break for coffee, was that she didn’t hassle a man about his work. She was perfectly capable of entertaining herself without masculine assistance.

When he finally turned off the small computer later that evening, he realized it was nearly time for dinner. Colby stood up, stretched and sniffed the aroma that was coming from the kitchen. Rice and stir-fried vegetables. One of these days, he was going to have to sit down with Diana and show her how to read a cookbook.

There were a lot of things he wanted to teach Diana.

He glanced out the window at Brandon’s dashing little red sports car and decided to give Diana a lesson in how to have a little fun. From what she’d told him, she’d had a seriously deprived adolescence.

“You want to drive out to Chained Lady Falls and make out tonight?“ Colby asked as he strolled into the kitchen.

Diana’s head came around in startled surprise. “Do I want to do what?“

“You heard me.“ He helped himself to a cracker and cream cheese. “You said you never dated in high school. I’ll bet you never had the thrilling teenage experience of making out in the back seat of a car.“

Diana raised her eyes heavenward. “I’ll admit I missed that particular ritual of youth.“

“Don’t worry, it’s not too late.“ He settled back against the counter and munched his cracker. He grinned, aware that she was intrigued by the idea. “We’ll take the Mazda.“

“Brandon’s car doesn’t have a back seat,“ she pointed out demurely as she sliced green peppers. “Aren’t you supposed to use a back seat?“

“We’re not going to take your car, that’s for sure. It’s too dull. Brandon’s car has some style. Besides, it works just as well in the front seat as it does in the back seat.“

“You had a lot of experience in that Corvette you owned back when you were a senior in high school, I take it?“

Colby gave her a thoughtful look. “It’s hard to remember. It’s been over twenty years. But I think it will come back to me once I get the car parked.“

Diana giggled. It was a delightful sound. Colby stared at her, realizing he’d never heard her laugh quite like that.

“I’ll just bet it will all come back to you in a hurry.“

“Hey, are you complaining? You told me you never had an opportunity to date a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks. You always wondered what you’d missed, you said. Well, I’m going to fill in the gap in your education.“

“How can I resist such a magnanimous offer?“

“Hurry up and get dinner on the table. I’m getting all worked up just thinking about that gear shift in Brandon’s car.“

“Christ, that damned gearshift is going to emasculate me before we finish this,“ Colby growled two hours later. “I must have been out of my mind to come up with this idea.“

“Maybe you’re just out of practice.“ Diana was lying across his lap, wedged between him and the steering wheel.

She looked up at him with teasing eyes as he tried to angle himself more comfortably across the seats.

“I think the problem is that they’ve shrunk the front seats of modern cars.“ And by so doing, had definitely increased the frustration factor, he decided. He could feel Diana’s sweetly rounded rear pressed tantalizingly against the bulge in his jeans. The sensation was inflaming him, but he could hardly move.

“Aren’t we supposed to have the radio on?“ Diana asked. “I had a girlfriend once who dated guys like you, and she said they always had the radio on.“

“I can’t reach the ignition or the buttons on the radio.“

“I can.“ Diana twisted in his lap.

“Ouch! For crying out loud, woman, be careful.“ Colby swore as she ground her tail into his sensitized groin. “I have future plans for that portion of my anatomy.“

“Sorry.“ An instant later, music from a distant rock station filled the little car with a pagan beat. “There, that’s better. Now, shouldn’t you have a cigarette in one hand?“

“I don’t smoke,“ he said, inhaling sharply as she readjusted herself across his thighs. “Never did.“

“Oh. Well, what about a black leather motorcycle jacket? Shouldn’t you be wearing one?“

“I haven’t owned one in twenty years.“

“Darn.“ Diana brightened. “Well, at least you’ve got jeans on. Now you’re supposed to feed me some clever line about how we won’t really go all the way, and how you just want to touch me, and how you’ll still respect me in the morning if we do happen to go all the way.“

“For a woman who never got to experience this kind of thing firsthand, you sure know a hell of a lot about it.“

“I told you, I had this girlfriend who used to give me a blow-by-blow account of all her dates.“

“What happened to her?“

“She came to a bad end. Wound up pregnant and had to drop out of high school. I never saw her again.“

“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about that happening to you, do we? You’re already pregnant and you’re a long time out of high school. Geez, lady, I guess that makes you the perfect date for a guy like me.“ Colby held his breath as he teased her. The one thing Diana had not been able to laugh about thus far was her pregnancy.

“I guess it does,“ Diana said softly. Her eyes danced with wicked amusement. She reached down to unzip his jeans.

Colby was enchanted. The humor in her was real. He felt an exhilarating sense of relief, as if some major hurdle had been crossed. He grinned and slid his hand up under the hem of her blouse.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to unbutton it?“

“Too obvious. You have to sneak up on a girl’s, uh, frontal area. If you just start unbuttoning her blouse, she’ll feel obligated to protest.“

“I get it. This way she can pretend not to know what’s happening until it’s too late to slap his hand away, right?“

“Right.“ He groaned with pleasure as he found the snap of her bra and freed it. “Oh, baby,“ he muttered as he cupped her breast. “This is good. Very, very, good.“

“Should I tell you to stop now?“ Diana asked innocently.

“If you do, I’ll go crazy.“ He shifted his right leg to get better leverage and sucked in his breath as the gearshift caught him again. “Damn.“

“Colby, are you all right?“

“Fine,“ he gasped, unwilling to call a halt when he was this aroused. “Could you, uh, lift up a little?“

“Like this?“

“Yeah. Easy, honey. Take it easy. My zipper…“

“Oh, sorry. Here, let me finish getting it down.“

“No.
Wait a second. Not like that. Things are kind of jammed up inside. Let me do it.“ Colby found the zipper tag and started to ease it down cautiously.

“The windows are getting steamed up.“

“They’re supposed to get steamed up,“ Colby informed her as he tried to find a more comfortable position on the seat. “Steamed up windows are crucial to the essential ambience of the situation.“

“But it’s such a beautiful night.“ Diana reached over the front seat to wipe her hand across the slanting rear windshield.

“Diana.
You’re going to ruin me for life.“

“Oops. Oh, now I see why you keep the windshields fogged up.“

“Yeah? Why?“ he grumbled as she settled back down into his lap.

“So the other make-out artists can’t see you.“

“What the hell? What other make-out artists? Don’t tell me someone else is parked here? I didn’t hear another car.“

Colby snapped his head around to stare out the rear window. “I don’t see another car.“

“Over there. He’s just pulling into the parking area now, see? You can’t hear the engine yet. The noise of the falls is too loud.“

“He’s got his lights off,“ Colby said slowly as he studied the faint gleam of moonlight on a sleek fender. The shape of that fender brought back old memories.

“Probably doesn’t want to disturb us.“

“Let’s get out of here,“ Colby said abruptly. He lifted Diana off his lap. “Come on, honey. Slide on over.“

“Ouch. My head.“ Diana rubbed the top of her head where she had struck it on the roof. “Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed that someone might recognize us. It’s probably just a couple of teenagers who are here for the same reason we are.“

“Everyone in town knows this car. They saw it a lot when Brandon was visiting a while back.“ He twisted the key in the ignition.

“Then they’ll think it’s Brandon sitting here.“

“Tomorrow when they realize I’m driving his car, they’ll know it was you and me sitting here tonight. Forget it. This town has enough to talk about as it is. I’m not going to have everyone saying Savagar hasn’t changed one bit in twenty years. They’ll laugh themselves to death down at the post office.“

Colby spun the wheel as the engine caught. He sent the little Mazda rocketing out of the parking area and onto River Road. He didn’t switch on the lights until he was a hundred feet away from the parking lot near the falls.

Then he glanced in his rearview mirror and realized the other car was following. The black Corvette was right on his bumper.

“Colby, whats wrong? What are you doing? Why are we slowing down?“ Diana turned in her seat to stare at the dark shape of the car that was following closely behind them. She could see nothing beyond the glare of its headlights.

“I’m trying to tell whoever that is behind us that I’m not in the mood for a race.“

“You think it’s some kid who’s trying to goad you into a drag race?“

“Some things don’t change, especially in small towns like Fulbrook Corners.“

“Does it bring back old memories?“ Diana asked lightly.

“It makes me goddamned mad, is what it does.“

“He’s not going around us.“ Diana drew a startled breath. “Colby, he’s coming closer. He’s right on top of us. He’s going to hit us if he’s not careful.“

“I
see him.“ Colby’s voice was suddenly very cold. “Turn around and tighten your seat belt.“

“But, Colby, I think…“

“Do it,“ he snapped, his eyes on the side mirror. His foot eased down on the accelerator. The Mazda pulled quickly away from the heavy monster behind it.