MacKenzie's Lady (11 page)

❧

Holly squinted against the bright sunlight and looked across the football field. She could just make out Mac's tall figure patiently dealing with a bruised knee. She smiled and sat down in the bleachers again, hardly aware of the hard seat.

If she had ever wondered how Mac would deal with children, she was getting her answer today. She had been a little hesitant about asking him to help with the school's mini Olympics. What if it turned out that he hated children and wanted absolutely nothing to do with them? A stern voice had reminded her that if that was the case, it was better to find out now than later.

He had agreed easily. Ken hadn't shown up yet but Mac had arrived bright and early. In the time since then, he had been endlessly patient with the trials and tribulations of the budding athletes. He had congratulated winners, consoled losers, wiped noses and controlled overexcited children without ever looking in the least bit ruffled.

Holly smiled, leaning her elbows on the seat behind her and tilting her face to the sun. She was taking a much-needed break and enjoying every moment of it. She felt as if all was right with her world. She was in love with Mac and he was in love with her. The words might not have been spoken but the feeling was there. By the end of summer, she'd be willing to bet that she'd be planning a wedding.

And maybe a baby shower. She brushed aside the niggling thought. Mac would accept their baby, if she was pregnant. She no longer had any doubts about that. He might be upset at first, but he'd get over it. They loved each other. Anything else was secondary to that.

"You look like the cat that just ate the canary." She opened her eyes and blinked against the dazzling sun for a moment before she found the source of the voice.

"Ken. I see you managed to time your arrival beautifully. We're going to be wrapping this up in an hour or so."

He shrugged and sat down next to her, giving her an engaging grin. "I ran out of gas," he offered.

"Sure you did." Her disbelief was obvious but there was no heat behind it.

"Where's your friend?" He scanned the field in front of them, looking for a head of bright auburn.

"Maryann is running the nurse's station." Holly pointed toward the far end of the field and Ken could pick out the rich red glint he had been looking for. "Why do you want to know?"

"I want to know which end of the field to avoid." He shrugged in answer to her frown. "I'm just looking out for my personal safety. If I get near her, I'm likely to be needing medical attention and she's not likely to dole it out after she's torn me limb from limb."

Holly's frown deepened as she stared toward the small tent that had been set up for Maryann. She couldn't argue with his assessment. Maryann had been unfailingly hostile toward him. After the debacle of the double date, she hadn't tried to throw them together but they had bumped into each other once or twice and her friend had been cold enough to freeze Vesuvius.

With a mental shrug Holly abandoned her speculation. She was just going to have to chalk it up to fate. It was a pity, because she liked Ken, but if Maryann didn't like him, there wasn't anything she could do to change it.

She switched her attention to Mac, her face relaxing in a tender smile as she watched him gently pick up and dust off a small girl who had just fallen down. Ken didn't have to turn his head to guess whom she was watching. The look in her eyes said it all.

"He's always been good with kids," he commented idly.

"He's wonderful with them. He seems to have such endless patience. He never loses his temper. I'm beginning to think he doesn't even have a temper."

"Oh, he's got one all right. Luckily he doesn't lose it often."

Holly dragged her eyes away from Mac's tall figure and looked at her companion. "Have you seen him lose his temper?" Ken had known Mac a long time and it occurred to her that she might gain a lot of insight into Mac's sometimes enigmatic personality by talking to his best friend.

He nodded. "A time or two. That was enough."

"What happened?"

"Once was in 'Nam. We were in Saigon and he found out that an officer in another unit had brutalized a young Vietnamese girl that Mac and I knew. She was a prostitute but she was just a kid, probably not more than fifteen or so. A cute little thing. Mac used to keep chocolate in his pocket to give her when we saw her in a bar. She worshiped Mac and I think he was checking into ways to get her out of the country."

He was silent for a long moment, his eyes dark and far away, seeing things Holly could only guess at. Just when she thought he wasn't going to continue, he seemed to remember where he was and went on.

"Anyway, this guy had all but killed her and Mac found out about it. He went to visit her in the hospital and when he came out of there, it was like looking into the face of death. He didn't even hear you talking to him.

"A couple of us followed him. I don't think he knew we were with him. He dragged the guy out of bed and asked him if he was the one who'd attacked the girl. I think he might have been able to control it if the guy hadn't sneered and asked why Mac cared about a cheap little slut."

"What happened?" Holly's voice was hushed.

Ken shrugged. "Mac beat him half to death. It took four of us to pull him off the guy before he killed him. I got a black eye and one of the others lost a tooth. We had him pretty well under control when the MP's showed up and hauled him off to the stockade. Luckily, Mac didn't break any of the other guy's bones. And since neither one of them was in uniform when it happened and the guy was a known troublemaker, Mac spent a few days in the stockade and got a slap on the wrist."

He shook his head, reminiscing. "Take my word for it, you don't want to see Mac lose his temper." He smiled crookedly. "It's like trying to handle an angry grizzly bear."

"What happened to the girl?"

Ken's smile faded. "The hospital took a hit while Mac was in jail. She was killed."

Holly shivered, rubbing her hands up and down her arms in an attempt to warm a chill that the hot summer sun couldn't touch. Ken leaned over to touch her lightly on the back of the hand.

"The thing to remember about Mac is all that control of his takes its toll. The kind of work we're in is high pressure. A lot of guys crack. Some of them deal with vermin for so long that they become vermin themselves. You've got to have a way to handle it. I cope by refusing to take life seriously. Mac copes by distancing himself from it and putting on that sleepy facade. But he's a crusader at heart and it eats at him that we can't help every sad, unhappy junkie and hooker that we meet.

"Don't lose sight of the vulnerability underneath the strength. He needs you. Remember that, no matter what happens."

Holly searched the unaccustomed solemnity of his face. "What could happen?"

But her whispered question was destined to go unanswered, even if Ken had had an answer for her.

"I see you managed to arrive after all the work was done." Mac's deep tones broke the tense silence. His dark-blue eyes shifted from one to the other, an unasked question in their depths. Holly's tongue seemed to be glued to the roof of her mouth and she couldn't think of a single coherent sentence.

Ken got to his feet and swung down off the bleachers, giving Mac a grin as he landed in front of him. "I ran out of gas. I can't tell you how devastated I am to think that I might have missed all the fun."

Mac smiled lazily. "That's okay. I knew you wouldn't want to miss everything so I figured you could help with the cleanup."

Ken groaned theatrically as the two men started across the field together, leaving Holly alone. She hugged herself. Why did it suddenly feel as if the sun had gone in and wouldn't be back out for a long time?

H
olly stretched and rolled over, presenting her back to the sun. The soft canvas cushion that covered the redwood lounger smelled hot with faint traces of suntan oil. She turned her head to the side, closing her eyes and letting the burning rays soak away every care she'd ever had.

Ten days. Ten luxurious days since she'd last been in a classroom. Much as she enjoyed her job, she had to admit that she relished the time away from it. Her smile deepened as she heard the patio door slide open. Of course, she had to admit that this summer vacation was different from any she'd had before. This year she had Mac.

The cushion sank near her left hip. "You're beginning to look like a very pale lobster."

"Why don't you put some lotion on my back, since you're just sitting there doing nothing."

"Look who's talking about doing nothing," he jeered mildly. "I have a couple of steaks marinating for dinner tonight."

"Did you remember to put them in the marinade this time?" she asked without opening her eyes.

His palm came heavily on her bottom, startling a yelp out of her. "Don't get nasty, Ms Reynolds. You're in a rather vulnerable position at the moment." He unhooked the back of her bikini to emphasize the point.

"Brute." But the word died on a sigh of pleasure as his hands, slick with suntan oil, came down on her heated back. He stroked his palms over her shoulders, applying just the right amount of pressure to turn her into a quivering mound of jelly.

"I went over to see Maryann today and I picked up my mail. There was a letter from James." His hands stopped moving for a moment and there seemed to be a waiting stillness about him.

"How is he?" His hands began to move again and Holly dismissed the odd impression.

"Okay, I guess."

"You don't sound too sure."

"I don't know. It wasn't anything specific. He just seemed a little upset. The sentences were disjointed, and he kept saying that this assignment wasn't anything like what he'd expected. He sounded worried or excited or something. Maybe he's met a beautiful European countess who's offered to make him a kept man."

"Mmm, maybe. I know I'd certainly jump at the chance." His hands continued to stroke her back for a few more minutes and the subject of the letter was dropped.

"If you don't watch out, you're going to become permanently attached to that lounger, which is going to make it difficult to buy clothes. I don't think you've moved since school ended."

Holly rolled onto her back, clutching her top as she did so. She gave him a mock-indignant glare. "How can you say that? Who was it who made me give up my hard-earned rest and go to Disneyland? You dragged me all over the park yesterday. And if I'm tired, you've got no one to blame but yourself. I think we went on every ride at least twice, and you fed me enough ice cream and junk food to ruin my diet for the next six months."

He lifted his shoulders, his face the picture of innocence. "What can I say? I like Disneyland. Besides, I didn't hear you do much complaining. Who insisted that we go on '
Pirates of the Caribbean
' the third time?"

She sniffed haughtily and lay back, closing her eyes. "I'm a good sport. Naturally, I didn't want to spoil your fun."

"You're just too nice to me." His hands, still slick with oil, came to rest on her bare stomach. He stroked his palms upward, sliding under the loose bikini top to cup her breasts and then sliding away before she could do more than gasp.

"Mac! What are you doing?" She couldn't sit up without risking losing her top. His broad frame, blocking the sun, was surrounded by a dazzling halo. He smiled down at her, his palms resting lightly against her sides.

"Well, since I have this oil on my hands, I've got to do something with it, and we certainly don't want to risk your burning something important."

"I'm hardly likely to burn 'something important' when my bathing suit covers... Mac!" His name was punctuated by the soft plop of Holly's bikini top hitting the surface of the pool. Her hands came up automatically to cover her breasts but his fingers caught her wrists and drew them away.

"Mac, what if someone sees us! It's broad daylight, for heaven's sake."

"The hedges are very high. Nobody can see us. But if it bothers you..." He stood up, lifting her easily into his arms, and carried her across the lawn to where a small Victorian gazebo stood, its white paint sparkling in the sun.

He laid her on a sofa, catching both her wrists in one hand, stretching her arms over her head and pinning them gently against the cushions. Holly's pulse accelerated madly. There was something wild and pagan about lying beneath him as she was.

His free hand came to rest just beneath her breasts. She could not drag her eyes from his face. His features were shadowed—mysterious planes and angles. The sun that streamed through the sides of the gazebo found copper highlights in his hair and seemed to catch in the blue of his eyes. He was all bronze and blues: the darkly tanned skin of shoulders and chest, the thick brown pelt of hair on his chest, tapering to a narrow line that disappeared into his electric blue trunks that matched the mesmerizing glint of his eyes.

His finger brushed soft as a butterfly's wing over the tip of her breast. His eyes never left her body as he repeated the caress until she finally arched upward, a soft moan catching in her throat as she sought to deepen the caress.

"You're such a good sport. I can see that you just don't want to spoil my fun." His hand left her body and she bit her lip to hold back a groan of frustration. But Mac was only changing the angle of his assault. He had brought the suntan oil with him and picked up the bottle, hot from lying in the sun, and flipped open the cap with his thumb.

"I wouldn't want you to burn." He tilted the bottle and a thin stream of warm oil slid across her taut nipple causing her to gasp. It seemed to pool in the pit of her stomach, a burning liquid weight that pulsed with life. Mac repeated the gesture on the other breast and her stomach tightened.

She closed her eyes against the dazzling light and gave herself up to the magic only he could create. His palm spread the oil over her breasts in a slow circular motion, stroking the excess down across her stomach and coming to a halt at the top of her bikini bottom. His fingers slid just beneath the band, feeling the fluttering pulse that beat there.

He hesitated a long, tense moment until Holly thrust her hips upward, arching against the restraint of his hand around her wrists. Her breath left her in a sob as his fingers eased down to cup her femininity. His head dipped and he caught one swollen nipple between his lips, rolling his tongue around it and then nibbling gently with his teeth.

Holly tugged demandingly against the hand that manacled her wrists, and his fingers slid away, allowing her to bury her hands in the thickness of his hair and pull him closer. He obligingly took her into his mouth, his cheeks flexing in a rhythm that tugged at her breast and echoed deep in her belly.

She was whimpering helplessly when his mouth left her breasts and moved across her stomach, nibbling and tasting along the way. His tongue explored the indentation of her navel as he sank to his knees beside the sofa, his fingers locking around the bikini bottoms and tugging them over her hips and down her legs.

Holly felt as if she were on fire. Every inch of her body burned. The sun created a hazy red glow inside her closed lids as Mac's teeth nipped gently at the soft flesh of her inner thigh. Her legs fell apart with abandon as his tongue soothed the sensuous tingle.

His fingers touched her lightly and she shuddered with reaction. "You're so hot," he whispered huskily, so close that his breath brushed over her. Her own breath caught, only to leave her in a rush as he tasted the honey of her desire. Her body went rigid, her fingers clawing against the sofa fabric, trying to hold on to some reality in a world that was suddenly spinning madly around her.

"Mac, Mac, Mac." His name became a breathless litany as he forced her to climb endlessly upward, her body totally under his control. She opened her eyes as his mouth left her, hearing her own whimpering protest as if from a great distance. His huge shadow blocked out the light and she caught a glimpse of the hungry glitter in his eyes before his body came down on hers, seeking and finding entrance.

Her body arched convulsively as he surged inward. He had brought her to such a fine pitch that rippling contractions seized her immediately. Her nails bit into his hips as she shuddered with fulfillment.

Mac held himself still, beads of sweat breaking out across his naked back as he reined his own passion to savor hers. His eyes were fierce on her rapt expression. As the last delicious shudder ran through her, he lowered his torso until she could feel the furred muscles of his chest gently crushing her breasts.

His mouth caught hers as he began to move within her. Holly's hands moved frantically up and down his sun-hot, sweat-slicked back. So sensitized was she that each movement sent shock waves of pleasurable agony through her. His lips twisted hungrily over hers, his tongue slipping inside to mate with hers. Her scent filled his mustache, adding another element to the smell of hot sun, suntan oil and sweat.

She brought her legs up to twine around his hips, urging him still deeper, her fingers biting deeply into the taut muscles of his buttocks. With a groan, Mac tore his mouth from hers, burying his face against her shoulder, his huge body shaking with endless waves of pleasure.

Minutes—or was it hours?—later, Mac stirred at her side, his arm heavy against her stomach. Her fingers were threaded through his hair and she felt as if she could lie just where she was for the next century or two. A warm breeze flicked playfully across their bodies and Holly opened her eyes, suddenly aware of the fact that the gazebo was hardly as secluded as their bedroom. She shifted uncomfortably. Now that their passion was spent, she was uneasy. Mac was right. The hedges were very high and nobody could possibly see in, but she was still uneasy. What if someone came to read a meter or something?

Mac stirred reluctantly, lifting his head as she started to slide out from under his arm. "Where are you going?" She

was struggling with the bikini bottom, which had twisted itself into an uncooperative rope.

"Someone might see us."

"You weren't too worried about that a few minutes ago." He yawned, running his fingers through his tousled hair as he leaned on one elbow and watched her fumbling attempts to untangle the bikini and keep an eye on the surrounding yard.

"A few minutes ago I was busy defending my virtue and I had other things on my mind."

His brows shot up. "Defending your virtue? If that's the way you defend it, I'd like to see you when you surrender it."

The look she shot him was tinged with roguish humor, her dark eyes twinkling as she finally succeeded in getting one foot into her bikini. She fluttered her eyelashes. "What could I do against a big, strong man like you? I didn't dare resist."

"You were very brave." He got to his feet and stretched, magnificently unself-conscious. Despite herself, Holly couldn't help the feeling of possessive pleasure that took hold of her as she admired the ripple of muscles beneath his skin.

He caught her eyes on him and his expression softened to such tenderness that she felt as if her heart would stop.

"I love you." The words didn't need to be thought out. She didn't weigh the pros and cons. She just said them quietly, asking for nothing in return.

His eyes had an arrested look, followed by a look of joy that was almost frightening in its intensity. He cleared the sofa in one long step and caught her in his arms, causing Holly to forget completely about their nakedness.

"Oh Lord, Holly, what am I going to do with you?" The words were thick and muffled against her hair.

"I think you've already done it." She tried to lighten the atmosphere a little, though her eyes sparkled with unshed tears.

He bent and swung her up against his chest, carrying her toward the house. "You are the most beautiful, giving woman I have ever known."

She wound her arms around his neck and let him carry her into the bedroom, content. It was only much later that she realized he hadn't actually said that he loved her, and she wondered about the shadow of pain that had darkened his eyes.