She moved on him and Jed lifted his hips slightly beneath the sheet, wanting her to feel his need. Amy moaned softly and clutched his shoulders. Jed couldn't stifle his muttered exclamation as her clinging fingers sent a spasm through his bandaged left arm. Instantly Amy was squirming to free herself, her expression alarmed.

"Oh, my G.o.d, I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry. We shouldn't be doing this. You should be going to sleep. You need your rest."

He closed his hands firmly around her waist, holding her still. "Hush, Amy," he ordered roughly. "You can't leave me in this condition. I'll go insane."

"But your arm," she protested anxiously. "You shouldn't exert yourself."

"I've already told you, forget my arm. Make love to me, Amy. I need you tonight. I promise not to overdo it. I'll just lie here like a good patient and let my nurse take care of me. How's that?" He watched in silent amus.e.m.e.nt as her eyes filled with a new kind of curiosity. It was a curiosity that was blended with a budding, feminine excitement. Deliberately Jed encouraged the new sensual twist. "Go ahead, honey. Make love to me."

There was a warm flush on her cheeks as she stood up and slowly began to undress. Jed lay still as promised, and watched, enthralled, as she silently slid out of the long yellow dress. It was obvious she was deeply aware of his unwavering attention. Obvious, too, that while she was a bit self-conscious about it, the knowledge that she was getting him even hotter was doing things to her. Exciting things.

"You're built like a s.e.xy little cat," he murmured, his eyes on her small, deliciously curved b.r.e.a.s.t.s as they came into view. "Sleek and soft and responsive as h.e.l.l."

She didn't say anything, but her eyes glowed and as she stepped away from the pool of bright yellow her fingers went to the waistband of her panties. Jed felt the gnawing hunger begin to eat at his vitals as she carefully removed the sc.r.a.p of flimsy gold fabric. She lost a small fraction of her nerve as the dark triangle below her gently curving belly came into view. Jed got only a teasing glimpse of the soft, curling hair that hid her secret places, but he didn't really mind. When she turned away from him he was treated to an equally enticing view of lushly rounded b.u.t.tocks.

Amy made a small production out of picking up the dress and laying it over a chair. Then she spent a few more excruciating seconds putting her underwear into the closet hamper. By the time she turned out the light and walked toward him through the shadows, Jed thought he would explode.

"You're sure this isn't going to be too much for you?" she asked softly as she slipped into bed beside him.

Her small palm rested on his chest.

"Even if I thought it was going to be too much, I couldn't admit it. The code of the Macho Ethic forbids admitting that kind of thing." He groaned as she drew her palm delicately down his chest to the part of him that was straining upward against the sheet. "Jesus, Amy."

She smiled at him, and even in the dim light he could see her pleased excitement. She liked this, he thought with deep satisfaction. She liked turning him on; liked having him respond. That was exactly the way he wanted it.

Her fingers closed gently around him and Jed lifted himself against her hand, his eyes closing in a pleasure that was almost painful.

"Jed?"

"Don't stop, honey. Keep touching me. I can't get enough of it."

She leaned over to kiss his throat as she began to tease him more deliberately with her fingers. Jed twisted his right hand into her hair, pulling the golden brown stuff free from its pins so that it tumbled across his chest. She was subjecting him to a sweet torture and he didn't know how long he could stand it. She cupped the fullness of his manhood and began to trail a string of light, exploratory kisses further down his chest. As her hot, silky mouth drew closer to the apex of his thighs, Jed felt his control start to slip. His hand tightened in her hair.

"Jed?" Her voice was different this time, soft and questioning as her lips paused over his navel. She tried to trace a return path back up his chest.

Jed decided quite suddenly that he couldn't let her. Not just yet. Not until he'd found out what it felt like to have her soft, warm mouth a few inches lower. His grip in her hair urged her to continue.

Amy hesitated a moment under the pressure of his hand as if she wasn't quite sure what to do next.

"Please, Amy." The muttered plea sounded harsh in his own ears, but Amy responded to it.

He felt the warm dampness of her mouth as she worked the tip of her tongue down his body. Jed held his breath as Amy reached her goal. Then she kissed him intimately with soft, exquisite b.u.t.terfly kisses that teased and tormented. Jed felt his entire body threaten to explode. The cool edge of her teeth was an exciting counterpoint to the delicious warmth and wetness of her mouth. Amy's hand cupped the fullness at the base of Jed's trembling manhood, her fingers caressing him until he knew for sure he was going to explode.

"Amy..." He lifted his hips, demanding more of her. He knew she could taste the tiny drops which were escaping from his thrusting shaft, but she didn't seem to mind. She worshipped him with her tongue. Jed wanted to shout his pleasure into the skies.

Then, as if she sensed he could wait no longer, Amy began moving back along the length of his body until she was astride him. Still cradling him in the palm of her hand, she eased his heavy shaft into her. As she sank down onto him, enveloping him completely, Jed shuddered. It was too much. He couldn't wait any longer. He surged upward, holding onto her hips with both hands. He heard her gasp softly.

"I'm sorry, Amy. I can't wait, honey. I can't wait." He groaned as his body took complete control, demanding release. He pumped himself into her, flooding her with the warm evidence of his pa.s.sion. And then as he gave himself up to the hot climax, he heard Amy's small cry as her muscles tightened around him. It was almost unbearable. The shimmering release took him to the edge of consciousness.

She wanted him, Jed realized. He'd never been wanted or needed in his life the way Amy wanted and needed him. And she didn't try to hide it. She held back nothing when they made love. She gave herself completely, with an honest, innocent pa.s.sion that awed him. He couldn't resist such magic, even if he wanted to. Amy reached him in a way no other woman could. She touched him on some level he didn't understand. He didn't care how her magic worked and he didn't want to waste time a.n.a.lyzing it. He only wanted to lose himself again and again in the wonder of her. Amy was all that mattered.

Chapter Fourteen.

The distant murmur of Jed's voice woke Amy the next morning. She stirred amid the tangled sheets, yawning luxuriously.

"Jed?" She waited for his response and when there was none, she turned on her side. The bed was empty beside her. The faint murmur came again. This time Amy pinpointed the location. Jed was talking to someone downstairs. Wondering who he might be conversing with at this hour of the morning brought her to a sitting position. The sheet fell away from her bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s and warm memories of the night flooded back. Before Amy could dwell on them she heard Jed's rare chuckle. The small laugh sounded cool, lacking any real humor. There was no answering voice.

Amy finally realized that Jed was talking on the phone. Perhaps her parents had called. She stretched and got up from the bed to find her kimono. Belting it around her waist, she padded out of the room and into the hall. As she reached the top of the stairs, the low murmur of his voice began to separate into distinct words.

"Skip it, Faxon. Do this favor for me and we'll call it even." He paused. "Yeah, I know, but that's the best I can do. I'm working with limited information. Anything you can get will be useful." There was another pause and then Jed's easy, humorless laugh. "h.e.l.l, no, I'm not working. I'm on vacation, remember? The info I'm asking for is just because I feel like playing a few games. Private games."

Amy descended a few more steps, listening with unabashed interest. She could see Jed standing at an open window, the phone in his hand as he looked out over the sunlit sea. He was wearing only a pair of chinos. His chest and feet were still bare and his hair wasn't yet combed. In the morning light he looked strong and healthy and vigorous. The bandage on his arm just seemed to add to the overall impression of raw male power.

He listened to something the other person was saying and then he said in that nonchalant, very knowing voice that men used with each other when they were talking about women, "You've got the picture, Faxon. I am not fooling around on some lonely island all on my own. We're talking the perfect vacation paradise here. Plenty of sun, sand and-" He glanced back over his shoulder at that moment and saw Amy watching him from the staircase. "And a good friend to share it all with."

The sweet, loving memories of the night that had been in Amy's head when she awoke began to dissolve in the harsh light of day. Sun, sand and a friend. If she hadn't been standing at the top of the stairs would Jed have made that sun, sand and s.e.x? Probably. She had to remember that a man like Jed would view this affair very differently than she had. She had to keep in mind that she was the one in love. Jed had never said or implied anything to give her the impression he even knew what love was, let alone that he felt anything connected with the emotion.

Jed's eyes never left hers as he finished his conversation with the person called Faxon. "Sure, this is just the sort of thing I need to get me back into shape. Everything's healing up fine. I'll be ready to go back to work soon, but don't tell Cutter. You can't blame me if I try to stall a bit." He paused again, listening.

"All right, give me a call when you get the data. You've got the number. Take it easy, Faxon, and thanks."

Very gently Jed replaced the phone in its cradle, his gaze still locked with Amy's.

Amy was trying to adjust to the last part of the phone call. Back to work soon. He was planning to return to those mysterious, dangerous a.s.signments as soon as he was completely healed. The interlude with her was just that: temporary, a way of filling time between a.s.signments. Her place in his universe was already established and he meant to keep her in her proper orbit. Nothing had changed for Jed.

"Who was that?" she asked with distant politeness as she slowly descended the stairs.

"Faxon." He didn't move, but he was watching her warily, as if trying to a.s.sess her reaction to the conversation. "He handles the files at the agency. He owes me a couple of favors."

"I see." She had reached the bottom of the staircase and wasn't sure where to go next. The kitchen seemed a reasonable target. Coffee sounded good. She started in that direction.

"I asked him to find out what he could on Michael Wyman." Jed watched her disappear into the kitchen.

He followed, halting in the doorway. "You never know. There might be something on file. After all, Wyman was involved in a company that had plenty of government contracts for military stuff. A security check was probably run on both partners as well as most of their employees at one time or another. It would have been routine procedure."

"Your agency would have access to that kind of information?"

"The agency wouldn't have been involved in the security clearance check, but Faxon has ways of getting data from the files of other government agencies. He's got a talent for it. As long as the stuff's on a government computer somewhere, he can get it. The man knows computers inside and out."

"Whatever might be in the files would be old information by now," Amy observed coolly as she measured coffee into the pot. She kept her back to him.

"As I said, you never know what might turn up. It's worth a look. If nothing comes of it, we're no worse off than we were yesterday. The same d.a.m.n questions will be bothering us."

Amy nodded politely. She turned on the coffee maker and stood looking out the kitchen window. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it? But then, it always is on Orleana. The perfect vacation paradise. Plenty of sun, sand and friendship. The ideal place to recover from a few picturesque wounds."

"And pick up a few more while I'm at it," Jed said meaningfully.

Instantly Amy was swamped with remorse. She remembered his injured arm and swung around anxiously to glance at it. "Oh, Jed, I didn't mean that the way it sounded. How are you feeling today? Is your arm okay? Any signs of infection?"

Something in his eyes relaxed. A slow grin softened the natural hardness around his mouth. "I like it when you get that stricken look in your eyes. So concerned and anxious. You make me feel wanted."

He walked toward her with a deceptively lazy stride and planted his big hands on her shoulders. Then he dropped a possessive, lingering kiss on her mouth. "It's a temptation to play injured hero just so I can see that look in your eyes."

"That's called manipulation," she managed accusingly.

"Even worse. It's called greed." He released her to reach for a golden yellow papaya that had been ripening on the windowsill. "The truth is, I have absolutely no right to use the injured hero routine."

"You're not an injured hero?"

"Nope. I'm an injured idiot. Only an idiot would have been taken by surprise the way I was last night."

Jed paused on the verge of sinking the knife into the papaya and said thoughtfully, "That's twice in one month. You know, Amy, I think I'm slowing down."

Amy seized the opportunity to say stoutly, "Then it's time to consider a new line of work, isn't it?"

He looked at her as if she hadn't spoken. "I'll cut the papaya for breakfast. Go back upstairs and get dressed. Unless, of course, you'd rather scratch the papaya plans and have something else for breakfast?" There was a deliberately friendly leer in his voice.

Amy pretended not to see the s.e.xy amus.e.m.e.nt in Jed's eyes. The phone rang as she headed for the stairs. She halted on the bottom step, turning back to answer it, but Jed was already walking out of the kitchen to pick up the receiver. Perhaps he was expecting Faxon to return his call very quickly. Amy watched Jed's face as he spoke.

"Oh, h.e.l.lo, Kelso. Yeah, I'd appreciate an update." Jed listened intently and then said quietly, "I see.

I'll have to think about it." There was another long pause and then with a crisp farewell he hung up the phone and met Amy's questioning glance.

"Well?" she prompted anxiously.

"That was Kelso."

She waved aside the obvious. The detached watchfulness was back in his eyes. "What's going on, Jed?"

"Not much. Kelso says Vaden hasn't said much and it doesn't look as though he's going to. He's obviously been in this sort of situation before and knows that his best bet is keeping his mouth shut.

Kelso wants to know if I'm going to press charges. He recommends I don't."

"On what grounds?" Amy demanded, incensed at the idea.

Jed mumbled something unintelligible and stalked back into the kitchen.

"What was that?" Amy called after him.

"I said, Vaden's only comment this morning was that he was the one who was attacked. He claims he pulled the knife to defend himself."

"But that's ridiculous!" Amy hurried after him.

Jed shrugged as he went back to work on the papaya. "Who's to know for certain what happened?

Vaden and I were the only ones present at the time. We both got hurt. What's more, we're both off-islanders, so who cares?"

"I care. Besides, Vaden may be just an island hopper, but you're a guest on this island. My father's guest, for pete's sake."

Jed inclined his head in mocking acknowledgment. "Thank you, but I'm afraid that at this stage the protection of your family's name extends only so far. I'm still an unknown quant.i.ty, at least as far as Kelso is concerned. He'll honor my privileged status only up to a point. Face it, Amy. The easiest thing for Kelso to do is write off last night's events as a cla.s.sic example of a couple of tourists having a little too much to drink and getting into a quarrel. They both got hurt but no one was killed. No property was damaged and nothing was stolen. No big deal."

"Dammit, I will not allow Vaden to get out of this so easily. He used a knife on you, Jed!"

"Don't get so excited, Amy. These things happen."

"How can you stand there and say that? How can you treat it so lightly?" She was rapidly losing her temper.

"I give you my word, I didn't treat it lightly last night."

That stopped her for an instant. "Just how badly is Vaden hurt?"

"He'll recover. He's already got his voice back, although Kelso says he can barely talk. And the bleeding has stopped." Jed casually scooped the little black seeds out of the papaya.

"The bleeding has stopped?" Amy repeated weakly.

"His nose was bleeding when I last saw him." Jed placed the fruit neatly on two plates and looked at her.

"Are you going to get dressed before we eat?"

She stared at him, afraid to ask what he'd done to Vaden that had temporarily deprived the other man of his voice and left his nose bleeding. Aware that her mouth was open, she abruptly closed it and started once more for the stairs. "Whatever it was, he deserved it," she muttered.

"What did you say?" Jed called after her.

"Nothing. I'll be right down. Are you going to press charges, Jed?"

"No. It's not worth it. But I'd like to convince Kelso to keep Vaden out of our hair for a few days. Go on, Amy. When you come back, I'll tell you what Kelso said about his interview with Guthrie."

Amy scurried up the stairs, dashed into the shower and then pulled on a pair of scarlet shorts and an exotically printed blouse. She was downstairs in record time. Jed was pouring the coffee.

"All right," she announced. "Tell me about Guthrie." She reached for a piece of toast as she sat down.

"Guthrie was absolutely stunned to find himself involved in this whole affair." Jed sat down across from her, his amus.e.m.e.nt obvious. "He told Kelso he had no idea I'd followed him up the hill into the warehouse section."

"So what was he doing in that section?"

"Claims he was trying to find a local legend. Ever heard of a lady of the night named Matilda Hawkins?

Apparently she runs a small business operation out of a converted warehouse."

Amy hesitated and then realized who he was talking about. "Mattress Matty? But she retired years ago.