Summer Mahogany by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online Page A

engulfed her, licking her nerve ends until her skin burned. He was seducing her, making love to her in his mind. And the spiritual union was as real to Gina as it would have been if her flesh had actually experienced his possession.
    When the soundless music playing between them rose to a crescendo, they strained toward each other without breaking the invisible barrier of inches. Rhyder seemed to strive for control.
    "Gina," His voice was low and charged by the emotion-packed minutes. "Can you read my mind, too?"
    "Yes," she answered weakly.
    The spell that gripped them was broken by the long breath Rhyder exhaled, a sound of angry exasperation. He widened the distance between them, an expressionless mask stealing over his face.
    "I think you'd better leave," he told her levelly.
    Gina was stung by his withdrawal. "After I've cleared away the coffee things," she insisted stubbornly.
    "Don't bother. I'll take care of them after you've gone," responded Rhyder in the same calm tone he had used before.
    "You always seem to be telling me to leave," she sighed in frustration.
    "I'm just trying to do what's right," he said with faint tautness.
    "Right for whom?" Gina challenged. "For me? I think I'm a better judge of that."
    He controlled the impatience that flashed across his face and said firmly, but gently, "Gina, I don't want to argue with you. This time you will go quietly without involving us in some harsh disagreement. We're both on edge," he breathed in, "and it isn't going to get any easier."
    "All right." Gina submitted reluctantly to his logic and left with a simple goodbye.
     
    THAT EVENING a rising, lopsided moon found Gina wandering along the quiet beach. Although Rhyder had not indicated that he would be meeting her for a moonlight swim, Gina had come on the chance he'd be there.
    But the sands were deserted. There was only the soft rustle of nightlife and the subdued rush of waves onto the beach. For nearly an hour she waited, staring at the moon. It was almost full, looking as if someone had chiseled a silvery arc from its circle. Finally she returned home.
    By the following afternoon, the portent of yesterday's mare's tail and mackerel sky had come true. It was raining steadily, without any sign of letup. The weather kept her grandfather at home. Gina was trapped there, as well, spending most of the rainy hours restlessly prowling the house trying to think of a valid excuse to leave.
    She wanted to see Rhyder, but she didn't want her grandfather to know. It was the first time in her sixteen years that she could ever remember wanting to keep something from him. The subsequent guilt made her all the more tense.
    The cloud-covered sky brought an early darkness. At half-past eight Nate Gaynes was dozing in his big armchair. From past experience Gina knew he would probably sleep there until after midnight before rousing to go to his bed.
    All day long the events of the previous day and the comments Rhyder had made had been running through her mind. A decision had formed, one that Gina didn't want to think about in case she lost her courage. With her grandfather sleeping in the chair, she had the chance to put it into action.
    Quietly she slipped out of the house and ran through the steadily falling raindrops to the harbor. Her heart was hammering madly against her ribs when she reached the dock. A light gleamed in the darkness from the port window of the Sea Witch II . Rhyder was there.
    Pausing only for an instant, she hopped aboard and darted down the steps to knock at the galley door. It was opened almost instantly by Rhyder, who had probably risen at the sound of footsteps on deck. He stared at her for a stunned moment before becoming aware of the falling rain. He took hold of a wet wrist and drew her inside.
    "What are you doing out in this downpour?" he muttered as he shut the door behind her.
    "I wanted to see you." There was lilt of urgency in her voice.
    He stared at her for another second, taking in the cotton