Possession Read online

  So his life was back on track. The problem was, he was no longer sure it was the track he wanted to be on. Oh, he still wanted the business, even had plans to expand it. Then again, it wasn’t so much the track, but the person who was missing from it.

  Akela…

  He headed for the shore near his cabin. He didn’t like that things had ended between them the way they had. Then again, he’d suspected all along that they would end badly. How could it be otherwise considering the circumstances? A fugitive on the run, wanted for murder. A sexy FBI agent who had been caught in his seductive web. Nowhere in the scenario was there room for happily-ever-after.

  He steadied the kayak and stepped out into the shallow water, hauling the boat up to shore with him after placing the paddle inside. He’d long stopped challenging the voice that asked him if he’d really been interested in a long-term relationship with the conservative federal agent. There were some things, he was coming to understand, that couldn’t be questioned. And love was one of them.

  Unfortunately, the woman he chose to fall in love with was the one woman he could never have.

  He grimaced, taking off his wet boots and walking toward the cabin. The sun was slanting against the porch and for a minute he thought he saw Akela standing there at the top of the stairs. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand, thinking he’d been out on the water too long—or, more precisely, gone without her for much too long.

  “Hi.”

  He hadn’t been imagining things. There, wearing a pretty flowered dress and the kind of strappy red sandals that were designed to turn anyone’s head, her brown hair curling around her beautiful face, was Akela.

  Claude drew to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, remembering every precious moment they’d spent together. He hadn’t even dared hope that she might be willing to reenter his life once his innocence was proven. Only his dreams had conjured up the vision he was seeing.

  He didn’t know what to say. So he said nothing.

  Akela looked suddenly uncomfortable. “I, um, went by your place in the city a couple of times,” she said, looking everywhere but at him. “I figured you’d probably come out here to get your feet back under you.” She gestured toward the kayak. “That’s something I’ve always wanted to try.”

  Claude still couldn’t find words to say to her. He hefted his boots on top of the steps then rolled up his jeans a couple of turns.

  “What are you doing here, Akela?”

  He was as surprised by his question as she apparently was, and was even more startled by the brusque way it had come out.

  “I…” she trailed off.

  He climbed the steps and stood directly in front of her, the heels she wore putting her almost nose to nose with him. Looking at her, he wanted her more than he wanted his next breath.

  Unable to suppress the urge any longer, he curved his hand around to the back of her neck and hauled her to him for a kiss—one that was harsher than he’d intended and that was filled with all the emotions twisting in his stomach.

  She made a strangled sound and he broke off, staring at her eyes wide with shock.

  The screen door hinges squeaked behind her. Claude blinked, for a moment shoved back in time when Akela had been there for professional rather than personal reasons. Had new evidence surfaced? Had she come to arrest him again? To finally put him behind bars and throw away the key?

  His heart turned over in his chest as he looked down at the four-year-old who stood next to Akela, taking her mother’s hand in her smaller one.

  Akela cleared her throat. “Claude, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Daisy. Daisy, this is Mr. Claude.”

  He crouched down so he was at eye level with the girl. “Well, hello, Miss Daisy. What a nice surprise it is to see you here.”

  The little girl was all blond curls and smiles. “Mommy and I are making you breakfast.”

  Every brick Claude had used to defend himself against Akela, the wall he’d erected to protect her from him, crumbled away, leaving him strangely exposed and vulnerable to these two women—two amazing ladies who were much more than a man like him would ever deserve.

  “Daisy, honey,” Akela said, her voice thick, “why don’t you go in and arrange the place settings?”

  “Okay!”

  The four-year-old rushed for the door, which clapped shut after she went inside.

  One of the hardest things Claude had ever done in his life was rise to his feet to face Akela.

  “I’m…”

  He was what? Sorry? An apology seemed to fall way short of the mark when it came to how he’d been handling this.

  Then the significance of not only Akela’s appearance, but her show of faith by bringing her daughter with her, hit him full force in the solar plexus.

  “I know this, our visit, must come as a shock to you, Claude,” Akela whispered, her moist silver eyes revealing the demons she, herself, must be battling. “I’d hoped that what we shared was more…well, more than just sex.”

  Claude suddenly couldn’t breathe.

  “I…well, the simple truth of it is that I haven’t been doing very well without you,” she said. “I can’t sleep at night, and when I do, my dreams are filled with you. I can’t eat. I can’t concentrate on my job…” She smiled awkwardly, sadly. “And I’m coming to learn that there are some facts I’ve got to face.”

  Claude simply looked at her, wondering if he’d ever seen anything so beautiful in his life.

  “The first of which is that I love you.”

  His stomach clenched. She…loved…him.

  Around him the bayou sang her song. Water trickled. Cypresses whispered. Birds fluttered.

  Akela laughed without humor. “I know, that’s probably the last thing you want to hear from any woman—”

  Claude enfolded her in his arms so quickly she lost her balance. He immediately steadied her, burying his nose in her soft hair, breathing in her sweet, citrusy scent.

  “Au contraire, chere,” he murmured, holding her so tightly he was afraid he might be hurting her. “Those are exactly the words a hard, jaded man like me needed to hear.” He pulled back to look at her, then kissed her lingeringly. “But not just from any woman. From you.”

  And right then, that moment, he vowed that while he might not be the man deserving of her love now, he would do all he could to be that man for the rest of their lives together.

  Then he took her hand and led her to the house where Miss Daisy was setting the table for breakfast for three.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-5093-6

  POSSESSION

  Copyright © 2005 by Lori and Tony Karayianni.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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