“You…are attracted to me?”
He nodded.
“Even from the beginning?”
Another incline of his head was his answer.
Her lips quivered, and he could see that she tried to speak. All she managed, however, was to bite down on her bottom lip. A few moments later, she said, “I thought that you…that I… I mean, you tease me horribly and…”
He lowered his face toward her, his lips mere inches away from her own. “I tease you because I like you.”
She opened her mouth, but whatever else she might havesaid was lost to his mastery.
The mere touch of his lips against hers sent waves of pleasure over him, and when he met with no resistance from her, Swift Hawk deepened the kiss. One arm came around her waist, one hand caressed her cheek. She moaned, or was that him?
As though he had asked for too much from her, too soon, she stepped back, out of his embrace.
“I must go.” She took another step back, away from him. “Truly, I must go.”
He bobbed his head in acknowledgment. “Yes, that is best. Go. Now, while I can still let you.”
She didn’t leave right away. Instead, she turned those pale blue eyes on him, and for a moment, the passion he witnessed there tore at his control. But as quickly as he glimpsed that passion, it was gone. Alas, when he glanced at her again, her eyes held only an apology.
“I am truly sorry I disturbed you. I… You… I…” She seemed unable to finish the sentence, and without another word, she spun away from him. Spreading out her hands in front of her, she swam away.
Swift Hawk breathed out deeply, observing her until she rounded a corner and was out of sight.
This meeting between them had been a good thing, he decided, a very good thing, indeed. At least now she knew his intentions toward her, as did he.
Erratic waves darting toward him were the first indication of trouble, for there was no sound of struggle. What was wrong? Had she met someone on her return? Was she unable to yell for help?
Fearing the worst, Swift Hawk rounded the corner where she had disappeared. There was his angel, struggling.
Frantically, she tore at her clothes, until she caught sight of him. She gasped, “There is something beneath my chemise. It swam up to my chest, and whatever it is, it is wrapped aroundme. I am afraid to scream, for I do not want to draw attention. But I cannot get whatever it is off.”
Swift Hawk nodded, even as he cautioned himself to remain as calm as possible. “Do not move. If it is a snake, you will fare better if you remain still.”
“A snake!” she whispered, her words barely audible. “I can hardly breathe.”
“If you are talking, you are fine. But remain as still as you can. I will help you, but you must promise me that you will not move, no matter what I do.” Even as he said it, he was unsheathing his knife and placing it in his mouth. “Promise me.”
She did.
Having come in as close to her as he dared, he sprang at her all at once. Taking hold of her dress, he pulled it up over her head in a quick motion, raising her arms at the same time.
And there it was, a snake, coiled around her waist, its head hidden amongst its own body.
Seeing it, Angelia moaned, making tiny high-pitched sounds that Swift Hawk knew bordered on a scream, though she had the presence of mind to keep silent. She did, however, gasp out, “Kill it. Now. Please.”
What Swift Hawk did was far from an act of violence. Grabbing the snake by its head, he pulled it away from her body in a fast, jerky motion, and flung the beast out into the swirling mass of the river. Watching it as it swam away from them, he took the knife from his mouth and replaced it in his sheath. At last, he turned his attention to her.
Clearly stunned, yet on her feet and still alive, Angelia remained in one place, panting. That she was naked, and that he could see her form entirely from the waist up seemed to escape her notice, allowing him to gape at her.
Her beauty took his breath, and he felt like a man starved, for his mind cleared of all else but thoughts of her, of what he could do with her, of all they could be to one another. His gazecentered on her breasts, their perfect roundness heaving at him with her every heartbeat.
In due time she appeared to catch her breath. “Why didn’t you kill it?”
He paused, collecting his thoughts, for he realized he needed to answer her intelligently, a task that might take more strength than he cared to admit.
