Page 3 of Nauti Boy (Nauti 1)

The husky, fear-laden voice twisted at his guts and had pure, unbridled fury simmering in his mind. What had happened to Kelly?

“It’s home, isn’t it?”

He had been ready to catch her as she ran at him. She always ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck, pressing her tight little breasts against his chest, and slapping a kiss to his cheek. For eight years, he could count on Kelly’s greeting. Until today. He wondered in which direction the sun would rise now. Some things should just never change.

“Oh. Yeah. ” She nodded, her eyes darting around the room before a nervous smile tilted her soft pink lips, trembled there for a moment, then disappeared. “We weren’t expecting you. Did you tell Mom and Ray you were coming?”

“No. I never do. ” His battle instincts were humming now. This wasn’t normal. It was so far from normal that he knew with a clench of his gut that he wasn’t going to like whatever the hell had been going on here.

Suddenly, nearly a year of his father’s discomfort when they talked on the phone rose within his mind. Every time he had asked about Kelly, Ray Mackay’s voice had tightened. When Rowdy asked to talk to her, he was given excuses.

The letters he had received from Kelly had changed, too. She no longer sent pictures, no longer filled the exchanges with innuendo or teasing comments. She had still written, but it was different, a difference he couldn’t put his finger on, couldn’t explain. He had felt it, though.

“No, you’re always sneaking up on us. ” There was that nervous smile again, the way her eyes darted around the room.

Rowdy held himself where he was, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. He could be a patient man when he had to be. But he had also learned that sometimes, there was no choice but to forge ahead and confront whatever enemy waited in the dark. He’d learned to forge ahead just as well as he had learned to wait.

“What’s going on, Kelly?” He straightened from the doorway, dropped his arms, and tucked his thumbs in the waistband of his low-slung jeans.

His chest was bare, the cooling breeze from the air conditioner drying the sweat that had dampened his flesh. He’d been cleaning the Harley, polishing his baby and getting her ready for her first ride in over a year. He’d dumped his duffel bag in his room and headed straight for the garage, knowing his father and stepmother would be at the marina, and figuring Kelly would be there as well.

The fact that she wasn’t was interesting. Her reaction to him even more so.

“Nothing’s going on. ” That damned quick, nervous little smile was starting to get on his nerves.

She was scared of him, and it was eating a hole in his soul. Kelly had never been scared of him, not once, he had always made certain of it. Now she was watching him as though she were terrified he was going to jump her any second.

“You’re a lousy liar, baby,” he grunted, heading for the fridge and watching as she edged out of his way.

She kept her eyes on him, watching him suspiciously as he opened the door and grabbed a bottle of water. Uncapping it, his gaze locked with hers, he brought it slowly to his lips.

Now there was a glimmer of the girl he had left eight years ago. Shyly watching as he drank from the bottle, her little tongue flicking out to swipe over her own lips, as though she were thirsty. A hungry little gleam filled the soft depths of her eyes, darkening them, making them appear stormy, cloudy as it mixed with the fear.

“When did you get back?” She crossed her arms over her breasts, tearing her gaze from his. “Do Mom and Ray know you’re home?”

“Not yet. ” He recapped the bottle and set it on the kitchen isle as he continued to watch her. “I had Dawg pick me up from the airport this morning. We pulled in here about seven. ”

She nodded, a jerky little movement that had his fingers tightening as he watched her. The suspicion growing in his mind sent black anger swirling through him. Something had changed her, something dark and ugly, and he could see it in her eyes, in the regret and the anger and the fear that filled her expression.

The girl he had loved nearly all her life was terrified of him. She wasn’t wary, or nervous, she was flat out scared. This was the same girl he had held as a child when her father died. He’d been a scrawny teenager, she had been too young to understand the sudden death that had rocked her world, and had sought out the boy who ruffled her hair, teased her about her skinned knees, and protected her from the bullies.

This was the same girl he’d taken to her senior prom when her date had stood her up. The one he had danced with on the dance floor and had to hide his erection from because he knew he couldn’t touch her, couldn’t have her. The girl he had kissed one night when he’d had too much to drink, the one he had touched too intimately before he headed back to base four years before. She was his girl, and suddenly, she was terrified of him.

“So where’s my hug?” He leaned against the middle counter, watching her closely.

What little color had returned to her face, drained. Her eyes jerked to his, then away, her throat working as she swallowed tightly.

“I have to get dressed. I have to get to work. ” She turned on her heel, moving for the doorway.

“Kelly. ” Knowing he was making a mistake, feeling that knowledge to the soles of his booted feet, Rowdy reached out to catch her wrist.

His fingers touched her, curled around the bare skin when she shrieked, turning on him with a flash of fear as she jerked away from him, her body tightening defensively.

“What?” She gave it a good fight. She tried to cover her reaction, but the way she suddenly backed away from him and the fear on her face gave her away. There was no hiding the fact that his touch had terrified her. “Kelly, where’s Dad?” He kept his voice cool. But fury was racing through him. Only one thing could cause a reaction like this, only one thing would have changed the teasing, tempting little minx he had known into a terrified, scurrying little rabbit.

“The marina. ” She licked her lips again, her gaze jumping away from him, her expression warring between fear and frustration. “I have to get dressed. I’ll…I’ll be down later. ”

She ran from him. As quick as that she turned tail in those sloppy, ill-fitting clothes she was wearing and moved from the kitchen to the staircase in the entryway and rushed upstairs.

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