“Let go, Mari. I’m here. I’ve got you.”
Marc.
Always tempting her senses, teasing her into feeling her courage. She found herself responding as she always had to his challenges. He put his left arm around her, holding her against his body when she shattered.
The lulling sound of the locusts penetrated her consciousness. She blinked her eyes open slowly as convulsions of pleasure still shimmered through her flesh.
“See, Mari? Your bo
dy trusts me. You just have to let your mind trust me, as well.” He kissed her, quick, fierce…hungry.
“Let’s go inside,” he said.
Mari heard his gruff voice through a thick haze of combined arousal and satiation. She opened her mouth, an agreement on her tongue, when someone called out from the sidewalk.
“Marc?”
Mari’s breath froze on an inhale.
“Liam?”
Marc’s response made her jump. She frantically pushed away from him and started righting her mussed clothing.
“Uh, sorry to bother you,” Liam called. “I saw the bike.”
She put her hands on Marc’s shoulders and shoved. “Go on. Talk to him,” she whispered. Even in the midst of her mortification and disbelief at her wantonness, Mari missed his hard heat.
“I got a call from my captain,” she heard Liam say. “I need to get back to Chicago tonight, but I should make it back for Brendan’s birthday party. Mom said you were staying. Can I take your car? You can keep the bike and we’ll switch when I get back.”
Mari felt like a fool standing in the dark shadows of the tree when Liam surely knew she was there. She smoothed her hair, but there was nothing she could do about the heat and color in her cheeks—the telltale signs of her impulsivity when it came to Marc. She held her chin up as she joined the two men at the edge of the yard.
“Well, as I live and breathe, if it isn’t Mari Itani,” Liam said, deadpan.
She met Liam’s amused glance and broke into a grin. She couldn’t help it. Liam had always made her laugh.
He held out his arms invitingly. “Give me a hug, girl. We never got around to saying hello last night.”
She went willingly, gasping when Liam squeezed her so tight her breath whooshed out of her lungs. Marc tapped his brother’s elbow after several seconds.
“Haven’t you got some emergency in Chicago?” Marc prompted.
“Oh, right,” Liam agreed. He grinned devilishly as he released Mari. “I guess I should let you two get back to whatever emergency you were attending to behind that tree.”
Mari glanced at Marc furtively. “Don’t hurry away on my part, Liam. I was just about to go inside.”
“Mari,” Marc growled a quiet warning, which she ignored.
“Good night, both of you. Liam…it was wonderful to see you,” Mari said before she hurried toward the house.
“Nice timing,” she heard Marc say with dark sarcasm.
She flew up the front porch steps to the sound of Liam’s low, male laughter.
Chapter Four
The beachgoers would love the new day, Mari decided. She peered through the screen door the next morning. Bright sunshine had turned Sycamore Avenue into a picture of small-town Americana, complete with whitewashed fences and robins twittering in the lush, mature oaks and maples.
She glanced toward the top of the street, her gaze lingering on the Kavanaugh house. It stunned her, how nervous she was about seeing Marc again. How excited.