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aggressor, her hand caressing him in excited possession.
Chazz seemed delighted to relinquish control, and his lazy grin was soon
replaced with a deep groan as Teel found her way through the labyrinth of
his feelings, exposing the core of the man and joining her inmost self with
him.
Ecstasy took them both, and then they sank together, Chazz folding her
close.
"You took me apart, beautiful lady, you took me apart." The words were
barely out of his mouth when he was asleep, his hold binding her to him
throughout the night.
Teel slept. When she awoke, it was still outside. Chazz's iron hands had
loosened somewhat around her, but she was still within the protective circle
of his arms. She turned her head on the pillow and looked at him long and
hard. It brought a raw, sweet pang to realize that she loved him. God, what a
mess! In love with a lecher who cruised the ports of the jet set seeking his
prey. She sighed deeply, momentarily overcome by the hopelessness of her
predicament. Still, without Chazz, Teel mused to herself, lifting one finger
to gently trace his features, she would never have known what it meant to
love. Her mouth lifted in a wry smile. Sweet irony.
As she lay there she had no sense of time passing. She knew only one thing.
She was leaving the Deirdre, Chazz, and everything connected with his life
on the next available flight back to New York and reality. Running away
wasn't usually her solution to difficult situations, bat Ab line she was going
to gallop. The idea of Chazz ever Saline out what he meant to her threatened
to tear ier acart in two.
What a paradox! She had run to the Deirdre for succor, for surcease from
fear, for rescue from her ordeal in the jungle. Now she was enmeshed in as
frightening an ordeal as before. Oh, she was no longer in danger of dying of
exposure or starvation, but her spirit was in danger of being destroyed by
Chazz Herman. If she stayed here any longer, she wouldn't be able to leave.
She would end up being his concubine. She swallowed a bitter chuckle in
the darkness. You're a fool, Teel Barrett. Where in all of blue Hades did you
find that word? She chided herself, needing to punish herself for the
weakness that kept her in bed with Chazz Herman, as if chained by love for
him. How long did she think he would keep her? she scolded herself as she
cuddled against the warm, hard form curved around her. He would sicken of
her just as he had the rest, an inner voice promised her, the harsh thoughts
freezing the blood in her veins. Go back to your work, she told herself.
Maybe after a few years she'd forget him. Ha! She would never forget him.
Maybe that was true, she argued with the voice, but her work was important
and fulfilling. She would make it be enough for her.
In the dawn silence she heard the ship come awake. She knew Rowan would
be in the galley, preparing breakfast, serving the crew. Teel edged out of
bed, grateful for Chazz's heavy breathing, aware by the sound that he was in
deep sleep. He would probably wake up with a hangover. If she hurried and
was lucky, she could be well away before he even thought to ask for her.
She took a short, freezing-cold shower in an effort to remind herself of hard
reality, of unrelenting necessity, while she ached for Chazz's touch.
Darby raised his eyebrows at her appearance on deck and would have
hurried off to get her breakfast, but Teel forestalled him. "Didn't you tell me
that Chazz had informed the State Department of my plight and that a new
passport had been issued to me?"
Darby nodded and explained that the new passport was in Chazz's rolltop
desk. He nodded slowly when she asked him if he could get it for her. But
when she asked for transportation to the nearest port with an airport, Darby
frowned.
"Please." Teel placed an entreating hand on his sleeve as he regarded her,
open-mouthed. "I must return to my school. I'm way overdue. I must go
today." She tried to keep her voice from rising. "And I want to see my aunt.
She must be so worried."
Darby stared at her for long moments, then nodded once. "I'll pack clothes
for ya to take," he told her, "and don't waste your breath arguing 'cause you
won't change my mind."
Just before noon Teel boarded the dinghy, which was manned by one of the
crew. Tears filled her eyes as she waved good-bye to Darby, the captain, and
Rowan, all of whom stood at the rail waving back at her.
The inhabitants of the bustling tourist town where she was let off paid scant
attention to Teel. She went to the cable office and wired her aunt for money,
then after picking it up at the local bank, she arranged to fly to Acapulco
Airport. There she made connections to Mexico City and on to JFK Airport.
In New York, tired and miserable, she booked a room at the Algonquin
Hotel for one night. She knew she couldn't face even the short trip to Selby.
She was exhausted.
Once in her hotel room, she dialed her friend and assistant, Nancy Weil.
"Yes, Nancy, it's really me. Yes, I'm fine. Yes, of course I'll tell you all
about it when I reach home." She tried not to cry when she thought of all the
memories she wouldn't be able to share with Nancy. "What? No, of course I
haven't forgotten the Special Olympics tryouts here in New York next
month. Are the children excited?"
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