Shadow Lover by Anne Stuart Read Free Book Online Page A

completely sexual, his mouth open on hers, his arms pulling her young body against his. It was a hungry, lost kiss, and she didn't even hesitate, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him back with all her inexpert passion.
    It seemed to go on for a breathless lifetime; it was over in a heartbeat. And he was gone, disappearing into the darkness, out of her life forever. Taking a fistful of her gold jewelry, including the only thing she'd ever cared about.
    She stood there in shock, trembling all over, and then she moved, throwing on clothes with abandon. He'd taunted and teased and tormented her all her life. He wasn't going to get away with robbing her as well, making up for it with a goodbye kiss that was everything she'd ever fantasized and more. By the time she reached the front sidewalk she thought she could see him heading toward
Lighthouse
Beach
, and she started after him, silent, determined.
    Running away from an island six miles off the coast of the mainland was not the easiest thing to do. Alex had tried it before, when he was fifteen, stealing a friend's catamaran and disappearing for over a week. The police had found him in Boston and brought him home, unrepentent and hostile and enticingly experienced.
    Whose boat was he planning to steal this time? Or was he going high-tech and planning on taking one of the small private planes parked at the island airport? Sally had paid for flying lessons for his sixteenth birthday, and she'd regretted it ever since.
    But he was heading toward the beach, not the airport, and if she could only see where she was going she could catch up with him. Threaten to scream at the top of her lungs if he didn't give her back the charm bracelet.
    He could have the rest, with her blessing. She was willing to pay almost anything to get him out of her life, and he was right. The MacDowells were more than generous with their checkbooks, if not with their emotions. If he were gone she could have Sally to herself, with no wicked, beautiful bad boy to distract either of them.
    The light from the quarter moon was fitful, and there were dark clouds scudding across the sky, obscuring it. She slipped on the loose stones that led to the beach, going down on one knee, and she could feel the bite of the broken shells through her jeans. She didn't care. She scrambled back to her feet, keeping his tail, straight back firmly in sight.
    She wasn't afraid of him, she told herself, over and over again. For all that he'd taunted and tormented her during the years he'd been an almost-brother to her. She wasn't worried that he could try to silence her by force. If she started screaming for someone to stop him from leaving, he'd probably just shrug his shoulders and grin.
    And disappear.
    The tide was high that night; the sea was rough from the remnants of a late-summer storm. He came to a stop at the edge of the beach, staring out across the narrow channel of water to Chappaquiddick, then turned and looked back toward
Water Street
and the old house.
    Without thinking Carolyn ducked down, out of sight behind an overturned dinghy. She hid there, trying to catch her breath. Silly to be so panicked, she told herself furiously. She started to rise, to go after him, when she heard the voices.
    He wasn't alone out there at the edge of the water. She should have known that—he wouldn't be planning to swim off the island. He must have arranged to meet someone.
    They were arguing, she could tell that much and nothing more. Cautiously she raised her head, peering over the boat. The clouds had covered the moon now, and the two figures were in shadows. Much of the same size and the same build, she couldn't even tell which one was Alex. Whether the person he was arguing with was male or female, young or old, stranger or almost-relative.
    "Fuck you!" Alex's furious voice carried on the night air, and he shoved the other person, turning away and starting down the beach.
    It happened so quickly Carolyn thought she'd