Page 8 of Nauti Boy (Nauti 1)

“Permission to come aboard?” A nervous smile trembled on her lips.

“Always. ” His deep voice raced across her nerve endings, sending frissons of heat to lick at her flesh.

He moved back into the interior of the houseboat, his lashes lowering over his brilliant eyes as he watched her.

Kelly stepped onto the small deck, trying to ignore the shaking in her knees as she crossed it and entered the main section of the craft.

She had known for four years that when he came home for good, he would claim her once and for all. She had waited for him like an immature child, weaving dreams and fantasies of what would happen when he came home at last. Somehow she had known that would be his last tour, despite his threats to reenlist. A year ago, she had felt it. Something had changed in him, the way he watched her, the tension that emanated from him whenever they were together.

As it was now. She could feel it tightening in and around her body, reminding her of all the desires and explicit fantasies that had tormented her through the years.

“Thirsty?” He moved to the low fridge, opening it to pull out a beer and lift it to her in invitation.

“No. ” She shook her head as she pushed her hair from her shoulder and faced him awkwardly.

God, she had no idea what to say to him.

He continued to stare back at her intently.

“I’m sorry,” she sighed; she didn’t know what else to say. “It was my fault Ray didn’t tell you what happened. ”

His lips quirked as he lowered his head, hiding the hurt she knew he must have been feeling.

He finally shrugged as he lifted his gaze. “Why didn’t you let him?”

She blinked furiously at the tears that threatened to fill her eyes.

“You couldn’t do anything. ” She shrugged heavily. “You were a world away, Rowdy. You weren’t free. I didn’t want you to worry. ”

He snorted at that. “I would have come home, Kelly. I could have come home without repercussion. ”

And that was what had scared here.

She breathed in roughly. “I’m doing okay. I’ve been seeing a therapist and she’s really helped. It’s just, sometimes, I still get scared. ” She shrugged helplessly. “I feel like such a wimp. ”

And she felt watched. Stalked. Not that she had told Ray or her mother how she felt. Her therapist assured her it was normal, under the circumstances. But it eroded her confidence, kept her awake long into the night. His eyes darkened as he moved slowly toward her.

She stepped back instinctively.

“You’re scared to death of me,” he said softly.

She could hear the dark torment in his voice, see it in his eyes.

“I’m not scared of you. ” She fought the trembling of her lips as she stared up at him, fought to stand in place rather than running as she wanted to.

“Then what are you scared of?” He reached out, his fingers running down a long curl that fell over her shoulder. “Why are you trembling, Kelly?”

“You’ve always made me tremble. ” She bit her lip at the admission. “Now…” She stared back at him miserably. “I’m not scared of you, Rowdy, but forgetting…sometimes, I can’t forget. ”

His thumb smoothed down her cheek, nearly taking her breath with the latent sensuality of his touch.

“Are you going to keep running, Kelly?” he asked then. “You knew if you told me what happened I’d come home. You knew I would have never stayed away. What couldn’t you handle about that?”

“You couldn’t come home—”

“Bullshit,” he growled. “I would have found a way back to you, you knew it. But you swore my dad to secrecy and, it seems, my cousins as well. You were scared of me. ”

“No…” She shook her head again, desperate to make him believe her now.

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