Something in the Water... (13 page)

No, he wasn’t flattering himself, or soothing a wounded ego, he decided, as she hopped from bed, smoothing down a lightweight dress. She’d really been crying. But over him? Just as his heart missed beats, he felt blood pooling when he saw the yellow dress she was wearing. It was so lemony it could have made his lips pucker. Warm sunlight streamed from behind her, illuminating curves of legs and an outline of panties. A long silk ribbon to the halter top of the dress bodice hung in front, over a bare shoulder, and the end looked like a curl of blond hair; it brushed the tip of her right breast. He wanted to cross the room, lower his mouth to a bud, sponging her through cloth until she was as wet as a river.

Without thinking, he closed the door, then wished he hadn’t. “I…don’t want to let in the cool air,” he found himself saying, the explanation sounding ridiculous, since he didn’t really care about the air-conditioning, only about being alone with her. But now the room seemed stifling, despite a breeze from open windows that made the white curtains ruffle. She turned abruptly toward the windows as if to be closer to the rustling air.

Rex followed, feeling drawn. Ariel Anderson engen
dered a craving, like an addiction. The pungent, heady scent of August leaves and flowers didn’t help; it melded with scents of sex. His eyes skated down, over the swell of her breasts and belly, and his throat tightened.

Her voice was infuriatingly indecipherable. “I thought you left.”

She’d said it as if she didn’t care, but the puffy eyes claimed differently, just fueling his sense of the way things between them ought to be. “I came to tell you I need to stay a few days.”

She turned toward him. “You…”

Bands were swirling around his chest, just the way silk ties had bound his wrists the previous night. He tried but failed to push aside memories of how she’d pranced around him, strapping him to the bed. He’d never felt that level of pure sexual frustration. “Found trace in the water,” he managed to explain.

A blond eyebrow arched. “Trace?”

“Evidence that the bug’s been in the water. Not live,” he clarified. “But I found virus casings. Just remnants. Particles.” Feeling like he was rambling, he continued filling her in. “I need to take more samples. See if I find anything live. Do some interviews with the community, and then look for a connection between Bliss and Szuzi, the infected village in South America.” He shook his head. “There could be antibodies in some of the blood samples. I might be able to tell if anyone’s been infected in the past.”

Ariel’s eyes widened. He could see traces of salty tears on her cheeks and wanted to lick them off. “Do you think people here are infected?”

“Maybe.”

Her eyes lifted, locked to his and held, and then it hit him like a freight train. The two of them might be infected. They’d joked about it, sure. But now that he’d found trace evidence…Why hadn’t he been more careful?

“I’m going to be here a few days. I’ll…”
Stay out of your way.
The words were a lie. His mind hazed when he thought about touching her, sliding his hand along the long length of her arm. Even now, he could feel the crashing pulse at her wrist. “I’ll have to draw a blood sample from you.”

“Just me?”

He shook his head. The way he felt, the first tube he intended to draw was his own. “Everybody’s. And I’ve got to contact Studs Underwood.” He paused, his eyes sharpening, as if to assure her that he’d rather not. “We need to hold a town meeting, to let everyone know we’re running tests, but that the bug’s not lethal. Otherwise, we’ll keep things quiet. Bliss doesn’t have its own news station, so…”

“You don’t want coverage?”

Despite her concern, her eyes were flicking over him, making him aware that he was still wearing the lab coat he’d pulled on over his jeans. He wanted to take it off. He shook his head. “Not now. And I’ll be careful not to cause any hysteria. If there is an infected area, though, and people travel…”

“I see,” she murmured, her eyes returning to the window and the staggering view they’d enjoyed last night—the now cloudless blue sky shimmering above a lacy canopy of green leaves.

Frustration was making him antsy. Against his better judgement, he reached, almost gasping when his fingers
touched the smooth skin above her elbow. Startled, she turned more fully toward him. A jolt shot into his fingertips and they instinctively tightened, curving around her arm, his thumb settling on a vein in the hollow where soon he’d be drawing her blood, to find out if…

They were infected.

“See what?” he asked, his voice gruff. He could see the rapidly beating pulse in her neck that deserved nothing less than the attentions of his mouth.

Silence had fallen. It was full of tension. The breeze lifted the skirt of her dress, and his hand flexed, tugged. When she stopped short of his chest, he felt a rush of annoyance. Angling his head down, he moved to cover her mouth, intending to kiss it until it was stung and swollen. But she turned and his lips brushed her cheek instead. He registered the smoothness, tasted the salt.

“Dammit, Ariel, you were crying,” he murmured.

“No,” she denied.

He circled a hand around her neck, tilting her head and bringing her eyes to his. “Liar.”

She edged backward, but with the window behind her, there was nowhere to go, and he used that for leverage, sighing in relief as their bodies collided. “You wanted me to go,” he found himself muttering. “Because all you care about is your reputation.” He paused. “And your story.”

Oh, he’d taken it all in. He hated the people who’d hurt her, too. But it was the past. “You want your relatives to think you’re a good girl,” he continued. “The whole town to understand what that bastard of a sheriff did to you—”

When those heart-stopping eyes implored him, he re
alized she could have pushed him over with a feather. “Do you blame me?”

“No,” he said, his fingers softening, strumming at the pulse point, glad it announced excitement she’d rather hide. “Yes,” he then muttered, changing his mind, his voice husky with accusation. “You care too much what people think.”

“You’re wrong about that,” she defended herself. “Didn’t you see me dump that jerk in the spring?”

“Yeah. But you didn’t toss his wife out this morning.” His eyes said the rest…how they could have lain there instead, naked. “Why should you still care?” he demanded softly, need infusing his voice, pulling it down octaves. “Can’t you see how far you’ve come? How much you’ve grown?”

She eyed him. “Ah. You’re telling me I can never go back home again? Well, thanks for the advice.”

Maybe she hadn’t wanted it, but he continued. “These people are history.” Arguing seemed foolish, since she knew what he wanted. Why he was bothering to argue. She wanted the same. As he leaned nearer, his head spun, and when he doused the creamy column of her neck with his tongue, he muttered, “Forget about all of them. Let them go.”

“Maybe I should.”

Her heart beat against his chest. “Team up with me,” he urged. “Who knows where the story’s going to lead. If World Health and the military show up, you’ll be ready, Ariel. You can deal with Studs. And these people. Work with me to organize things while I run tests.”

He glanced toward the bed again, sorry her notes were strewn over the sheets. More than anything, he
wanted to grab her hand and urge her to lie down with him. He dragged a hand through his hair, shoving it back, and when his gaze returned to hers, her expression was unreadable.

“Do you think that will happen?”

“Will the World Health Organization show?” He shook his head. “I don’t know. But you need to know what’s happening…for your story.”

“I…thought we’d leave it at last night. It was so…” She hesitated. “Perfect.”

So, that’s what she was thinking? His heart staggered like a crazy drunk in his chest. “Today can be perfect,” he muttered. “Tonight.”

As if to prove it, his mouth was on hers in a flash. Like lightning, his tongue darted, then rolled like a thundercloud, turbulent and forcefully convincing. “We can do it again,” he whispered, powerless to ignore the assault to his senses as her tongue engaged in a quick, hot battle that threatened to turn into a war. Her arms circled his neck, and he could feel her limbs turning languid and pliable, and think of a thousand ways to bend them further.

She exhaled shakily. “You mean…keep having sex while we’re both here working?”

“And then I’ll leave,” he whispered.

She kissed him again, saying yes. They’d be bedmates, and at the agreement, a scalding wave washed over him, but it didn’t satisfy. “What are you afraid of?”

“I’m not afraid,” she said.

But she was. “I’m not them, Ariel. I’m nothing like the people who hurt you.”

She didn’t look so sure.

Suddenly, he tightened the embrace, pulling her closer. The wall and window frame grounded her. He rolled his hips, meeting her pelvic bone and felt pleasure blind him. His words were strangled. “Admit it, Ariel. You want this.” His hands raced down, cupped her buttocks and pressed her against his erection. “This,” he clarified, muttering against her mouth, his lips dampening hers.

“Yes.”

“Let’s forget everything else,” he said. Already, the words sounded mangled. “Let’s get back in bed.” His eyes fixed on lips he’d already savaged. Just looking at them, so bruised and slick, he felt unsteady, as if the floor had ceased to be solid. It had turned to water and begun to flow.

“But…” she whispered.

“No buts,” he whispered back.

“Rex…what if we really are infected?”

He knew he should fear that what was happening between them wasn’t real, at least not in the usual sense of the word, but he didn’t give a damn. The pressure against the fly of his jeans was excruciating. Stretching his arms down, his fingertips grasping the dress hem, his hands whirled like a wild wind, rustling up her skirt. A heartfelt sigh came from someplace deeper than her throat…deeper than her chest. It shuddered up from her belly and was released in a hot utterance as his fingers stroked her thighs.

Quickly, he stripped down her panties, and as she stepped from them, he kicked off his shoes. His hand found the snap of his jeans, flicked it open, then jerked down the zipper. Then the pants were gone. He hadn’t bothered with briefs.

“The door,” she said, sounding unbalanced.

He didn’t want to leave her, since he was afraid she’d change her mind, but he did. Locking it, he returned, lifting a condom from the dresser as he passed. Luckily, she’d kept some, and now he hesitated to think what might have happened if one hadn’t been handy. He was so sexed up. He readied himself as he approached. He was almost there when she parted those gorgeous legs. Settling hands on her waist, he lifted her and she felt as light as a feather as she circled her legs around his back. He’d meant to head for the bed. But it was strewn with papers, and besides, there was no time. Reaching between them, she quickly guided him in, gasping.

Ecstasy exploded as his mouth found hers for the greediest kiss they’d ever shared. Had he really been about to leave? What had he been thinking?

His muscles strained, but he braced her weight, his buttocks clenching as he arched. She stretched, every inch of him merging into her. Melting. He moaned, a hand hitting the wall above her head, and his shoulders hunched, curling as he drove his hips to hers, her soft pants telling him he wasn’t alone in passion.

“I didn’t want to leave,” he muttered, sucking breaths between his teeth as he thrust deeply inside.

“I didn’t want you to, Rex.”

Against his neck, the words were hoarse. He found her mouth once more and kissed her. Over and over, his tongue parted her lips like a river. Lower…well, that was a river, too—unfathomable. He was taut now. Fingers were shredding his back. As the nails dragged down, taking skin, he shuddered, shutting his eyes as they raked his backside, making him cry out. She was getting tighter, slicker and hotter around him. Through
the condom, he could feel every sensation. Pushing, he slowly drove apart each tight inch of her, registering her whimper as gloved fire fisted him.

She suddenly bucked—wild, brazen. Then silence took them. Everything shattered into heartbeats. Breaths. The pound of hips and the focus of the climb. He tunneled, racing. And then she clenched, spasms rocking her. A shaky exhalation fluttered in his ear.

“Come inside me,” she whispered urgently.

“A siren’s song,” he muttered, the words lost in a kiss, his tongue feeling too big for his mouth as her breathless command became a last push that sent him reeling another mind-bending inch to release.

A heartbeat brought him back. Maybe hers. Maybe his. Either way, Rex knew he’d been crazy to think he could drive away from Bliss without a backward glance. On one pretext or another, he would have returned. She was still shaking with climax, and he almost smiled, realizing it was just as likely Ariel Anderson would have come looking for him.

A
RIEL HOPPED OUT
of the passenger side of the mobile lab, and as Rex locked his door and circled around, she rearranged their gear in the seat—their notebooks, syringes and the tray for blood samples. Keeping the door open, she grabbed Rex and spun him close, into the shade cast by the vehicle. She slid her hand over his backside, exhaling a deep sigh as she did so. Then another, as he leaned for a quick, thorough kiss.

Then she glanced over his shoulder at the jammed gravel parking lot of the Outskirts Motel. Most visitors to Bliss stayed near the spring, but the main venues—the Ivy Terrace, Rustic Inn and teahouse—had quickly filled because of the Harvest Festival. Now some were forced to stay farther from town, at a motel appropriately named the Outskirts. Four low-slung buildings were arranged in a square, the parking lot was in the middle.

Earlier in the week, Rex had drawn a blood sample that he’d found interesting from a man staying here named Lawrence Nathan. Because the man had left the interview early, Rex wanted to draw another tube of blood and to question him further, since he’d said he was interested in wild habitats and rain forests.

Rex said, “Ready?”

She shook her head, reaching on tiptoes for another kiss that infused her with tantalizing heat. “Hmm,” she whispered, feeling his warmth mingle with the mid-morning sunlight; it seeped through his lab coat and jeans to her pale lavender suit.

His gaze flicked over her, approvingly. “You’re sure you can take another day of this?”

The week had been flying by. She’d been on hand as Rex had taken blood samples and conducted interviews, and through that, she’d been able to question people herself. She was very clear on the direction she wanted to take for the story. She smiled, thinking of their nights of passion. “Do I look tired to you?”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

“This is the last interview, anyway,” she reminded him.

Tomorrow was the Harvest Festival. Thinking of it brought a touch of depression. After all, the recipe book hadn’t yet been found, and her mother, Gran and Great-gran were beside themselves. All the more reason Ariel figured she’d wait until after the festival to have a heart-to-heart with her mother.

“Later, I’m going to help my relatives pack up stuff to take to the festival,” she said, murmuring the words against Rex’s lips. Already, the booths were set up at the fairgrounds. “You’re going to have fun,” she promised.

“Watching guys play saws and display prize pigs?”

“You might get to eat some ramps,” she said.

“Huh?”

“Wild onions.”

When he grimaced, she added, “Snob.”

She knew he really wasn’t, though. “Are your notes
done?” he asked, although his tone told her countless things other than her human-interest story were on his mind.

She nodded. “I’m still toying with the new angle on it.”

“Jack and Ryan said it was a go?”

She nodded once more. After serious thought, she’d decided to contact her bosses one more time, regarding the story. She hoped, with the permission of the CDC, to introduce the mystery of the possible love bug and to explore the history of the town’s blackouts in a light, fun, upbeat way for her fifteen-minute spot.

“If it works out,” she said, “people will love it.”

“It’ll work out,” he promised. “Jessica okayed our end.”

Regarding Ryan, she’d been surprised when he’d engaged in their usual flirtation. She’d realized light-years, not days, had passed since she’d seen him. Looking into Rex’s blue eyes, it was hard even to imagine the other man now…his sandy hair and brown eyes. Had his professional air really made her feel he’d be a good partner? Next to what she’d shared with Rex, Ryan’s flirtation was tame. Child’s play, she thought now. She and Rex had found something so much more elemental, a passion strong enough to weather life storms.

“I think everything’s together,” she finally said, enjoying the feel of his arms wrapped around her. She wanted more right now, though. She could take it, too. He’d taught her that in the past days. She didn’t care how passion made her look, either. After Joanie had stormed out of the house, Ariel hadn’t been surprised at the renewed disdain she’d been met with in town. In the hardware store, some of Joanie’s ex-high school friends had made a point of moving their conversation to an
other aisle. And in Jack’s Diner, Studs and one of his buddies had snubbed her and Rex, pointedly lifting their check from the table and leaving. Even Elsinore Gibbet had been cool.

She’d seen it all coming, which was why she’d flung herself across the bed and wept when she’d thought Rex was gone. She’d lived this too many times, so she’d known exactly what was coming down the pike. So far, as usual, Ariel had done nothing but push Studs into the spring, fully dressed. Still, when she was with Rex, none of it mattered any longer. One touch of his mouth, and the past really did seem to recede, like a bad dream almost forgotten. Shifting her weight, she brought her hips to his, igniting a spark that almost took her breath.

“Careful,” he murmured.

But the lift of his hips and glint of awareness in his eyes undercut the warning. So did the firm mouth that smacked against hers. The kiss, like his body, was warm and as she parted her lips and greeted the tongue that slipped inside, she was achingly aware of memories of their nights together.

All at once, she was down on her knees, taking the heated length of him into her mouth…then lying on her tummy, raising her backside. Even now, a shudder rocked her because she could feel his trembling hands on her lower back and hear his chesty moan as he entered her from behind, the movement slow and deep.
That’s right, babe, open for me. Let me in.

Yes, it would be easy to drag him inside the mobile-lab unit, pull the curtains and lock the door.

She broke the kiss and glanced hungrily into his eyes.

He looked as tempted as she was. “We’ve got to finish interviewing,” he reminded her, the huskiness of his voice making clear that he’d rather be back in bed. Or on the floor. Or against a wall.

She forced her attention to the previous subject. “You were asking about my taping tomorrow,” she said to jump-start the conversation. “When I actually begin, I imagine I’ll need to make adjustments.”

“You’re doing interviews live, right?”

“Right.”

“What about your cameraman?”

“I touched base this morning. We talked about what I’ll need from him. His name’s Don. He seemed smart. Really on top of things.” She’d been worried that something might happen, causing him not to show. “I’d hoped to bring someone with me from Pittsburgh, so I wouldn’t have to worry about their reliability.”

“He’ll show,” Rex promised.

After speaking with Don, she had no doubt that things would run smoothly, but she smiled. “What?” she asked rhetorically, shooting him a sexy smile. “Do you have ESP?”

His mouth found hers and his tongue flickered, the pointed hot spear of its tip working wonders. Pulling away, he said, “About certain things.” He flashed a smile, his teeth looking as white as moonlight against his tan skin and in the dark shadows cast by the mobile lab.

“Like?”

“The fact that we’re going to have sex real soon.”

“You should open a shop. You know, buy some crystal balls and tarot cards.”

“Your relatives already did that,” he teased, his breath
hovering closer before his tongue traced her lips again. “And given the way I feel, I suspect it’s you who stole that recipe book, lady.”

She widened her eyes in mock surprise.
“Moi?”

He nodded slowly. “You’ve given me one of those potions that Matilda used to make for her lovers right before she killed them.”

Sex was thrumming through her now. “Maybe,” she agreed. “I’m feeling sexy enough that we probably should call in the World Health Organization.”

“The military, at least.”

She was glad neither had come to Bliss.

“You should definitely be arrested,” he added.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Not by Studs,” she begged.

He chuckled. “I reserve all rights to handcuff you, Ariel.”

“Too bad there are no toy shops in Bliss.”

His voice turned throaty. “What would be your pleasure?”

She thought of all the things she’d seen, over the years, in magazines and the windows of such shops—the fancy vibrators, flavored paints and ribbed condoms. She could only shake her head. “We’d just have to experiment.”

“That could be arranged.”

She really wished there was such a shop nearby. After the way Joanie had barged into the house, Ariel better understood her own reactions in the past. Maybe it hadn’t been the best way to respond, but some people here were so narrow-minded. It was hard to suppress the urge to fight back, however counterproductively, by
shocking all of them. Even the nicest girl in the world would want to walk down Bliss Run Road naked, if she had to put up with all these prudes!

When her lips touched Rex’s again, the thoughts skated backward, skittering to some lost, tucked away, far-off corner of her mind. Every inch of her was humming. Breaking the kiss, she tilted back her head and surveyed him for a long moment. If the truth be told, she could do so for hours. Days and nights had passed, and the passion had seemed endless. Everything else had become a blur. A town meeting had been called and she’d helped Rex, as well as herself by working on the story, but she lived for the moments they were in bed.

She’d heard some scandalous tales, too. As it turned out, not everyone in Bliss was a prude. Antibodies to Romeo had been found, but only in the blood of people who’d lived in Bliss in the late seventies, including her mother, Gran and Great-gran, which had led Rex to believe there had been an outbreak in the summer of 1977. The results had led both he and Ariel to test themselves, and they’d come up clean, with no antibodies at all.

Surprisingly, the summering visitors seemed unperturbed by the possibility of an outbreak, especially once they’d understood that the bug caused no harm, and that, in the worst case scenario, they might only become less inhibited and experience an improvement in their sex lives.

Only Jeb Pass had shown undue concern. The teenager had pulled Rex and Ariel aside, adamantly saying he was sure the town was infected. He’d declared that’s why there hadn’t been mass hysteria at the
possibility of an outbreak. He’d demanded to know everything Rex could tell him about the case. Because a live bug hadn’t been found in the water or blood tests, Jeb was sure this proved the CDC’s testing methods were faulty. In careful detail, he’d talked about his friendship with a girl named Michelle, who’d come to Bliss with her family every summer. This year, he’d said, had begun like every other, but in the past few days, everything had changed.

“We went to the movies,” he’d begun, glancing around the front room of the library where Elsinore Gibbet and Carl DeLyle had insisted the interviews be conducted. Because the mobile library, despite being a trailer, was the only edifice besides Stud Underwood’s office that qualified as a public building in Bliss, the choice had seemed logical, and Rex and Ariel had gone with it.

“Go on,” Rex had said.

“Michelle was…all over me,” Jeb had continued. “I mean…” A blush had crept into his cheeks. “She was rubbing my legs and kissing me, all during the movie.” Pausing, he’d swallowed hard, the red in his cheeks deepening. “Do you…uh…need more detail, sir?”

Taking mercy on him, Rex had said, “That’s enough. The important thing is that you feel Michelle’s behavior has changed.”

Looking relieved, Jeb had nodded. “That’s affirmative,” he’d said, making Ariel bite back a smile. She suspected he’d heard the response on episodes of
Star Trek
and had waited to say the words himself for years.

“And you say this happened recently?”

Jeb had nodded. “Again, affirmative. All at once.
Overnight. Uh…” The lump had seemed to lodge in the boy’s throat again, and he’d swallowed around it. “Not that I really mind,” he’d said.

Rex’s lips had twitched. “Judging by the hickey on your neck, I think that goes without saying.”

Watching Rex take notes, Jeb had flushed more darkly at the comment, then added, “That’s why I think something’s wrong with your tests. Maybe they can’t detect the virus now. Maybe it’s mutated, so it doesn’t look the same as it did in South America. Did you think of that? I mean, maybe it’s…oh, I don’t know, become invisible or something. Smaller. So, equipment can’t detect it.” Jeb had been thinking out loud. “Viruses do mutate. Don’t they, Dr. Houston?”

Rex had nodded. “Yep. It is in the nature of the beast. The proteins in viruses form an envelope in which material from other cells can grow. So, they can do just about anything.”

Jeb had swiftly bobbed his head. “That’s what I was thinking. Marsh and I—he’s my best buddy—have been reading about them. And like I say, I think that’s what’s happened, Dr. Houston.”

Once more, he’d glanced around, then lowered his voice. “Can’t you see?” he’d plunged on. “Michelle is all over me. And Marsh and I had to deliver Jay Jones’s paper route. And I noticed something else suspicious that I can’t talk about yet….”

Rex had squinted, his mind back on the first comment. “A paper route…?”

Jeb was getting more agitated. “Yeah. And well, you have to know Jay Jones. He’s always on time. Never forgets his homework. Head of the chess club and class
president. But Marsh and I found him at the spring, practically doing it with one of the summer visitors. He was right there in front of everybody! And the bag of newspapers was just lying in the grass!”

“So, you delivered them?”

“Yeah. And…” His voice had dropped as he’d jerked his head to the side. “Look at Chicken Giblets, I mean Miss Gibbet.” He’d paused significantly as Rex and Ariel’s gaze had followed his. “She’s never married. She hates men, especially Mr. DeLyle. But look at how she’s laughing and smiling, talking to him now.”

Rex had nodded once more.

“They usually hate each other,” Jeb had repeated.

Ariel had spoken for the first time. “That’s true.”

“Only love songs are playing on the local radio station, and the Bliss theater’s only showing romantic movies.” Jeb had glanced toward Ariel, his cheeks turning another shade pinker, if that was possible. “And your relatives. The uh…”