Copper Beach

shadows.

    In that senses-shattering moment, she could have sworn that the flaring ultralight currents of their overheated auras had established a harmonic link, a breathtakingly intimate resonance.

    She had just time enough to think, Such a thing isn’t possible.

    And then they were collapsing together into the damp sheets, and she could not think coherently at all.

14

    SHE AWOKE TO THE INTOXICATING FRAGRANCE OF FRESHLY brewed coffee.
    Sam.

    She opened her eyes to the early light of a Seattle summer morning and bolted upright on a tide of adrenaline. Sam had spent the night in her bed.

    She knew he had not gone back to the sofa, because she had a distinct recollection of him returning from the bathroom after the heated lovemaking. Mentally, she corrected herself: the heated sex. No love involved on either side. They barely knew each other.

    It came down to a one-night stand. She never did one-night stands. Too risky.

    Newton was nowhere to be seen. A shiver of alarm shot through her. He was always there to greet her first thing in the morning.

    As if on cue, she heard Newton in the hall. He trotted into the bedroom, put his front paws up on the bed and licked her hand.

    “Well, good morning to you, too,” she said.

    She rubbed his ears. Newton gave her another perfunctory lick on the hand and bounced off, tail high. He disappeared back down the hall, as if he had more important things to do.

    She forced herself to focus on the chain of events during the night. When Sam had returned to the bed, he had pulled her close and fallen into a profound sleep. She had expected to spend the short time left until dawn lying awake, worrying about the weird, unsettling sensations she had experienced and the possible ramifications of what had happened.

    But the exhaustion that had come over her had been beyond any normal postcoital languor. Probably because there had been as much paranormal as normal energy involved, she thought. She had never before engaged in sex with all of her senses wide open. Until last night, she would not have believed such an encounter was even possible.

    Her phone chimed, snapping her out of her reverie. She scooped it up off the nightstand and glanced at the screen. The familiar caller ID calmed her. Ralph, the day doorman.

    “Good morning, Ralph,” she said. She glanced at the clock again. “Early-morning package delivery?”

    “There is a gentleman here to see you.” Ralph spoke very quietly into the phone. “A Mr. Strickland.”

    “Dawson? Are you sure?”

    “Says he’s your brother, but you never mentioned a brother.”

    “Dawson is my stepbrother,” she said. She spoke automatically while she tried to think. “What does he want?”

    Sam came to stand in the doorway of the bedroom. Newton was at his heels. Sam had obviously showered and shaved. His dark hair was still damp. He wore a charcoal-gray pullover and a pair of black trousers. He had a cup of coffee in his hand and a little heat in his eyes. She was suddenly very conscious of her wild hair and the faded nightgown.

    “Mr. Strickland says he wants to talk to you,” Ralph said, his voice still barely above a whisper. “But if you’d rather not see him, I’ll be happy to tell him that you’re not at home. After all, you were scheduled to be out of town this week, anyway.”

    She smiled a little at Ralph’s protective tones. He knew she had spent the night with a man and that said male was still under her roof. The door staff knew everything that went on in the building. He was trying to shield her from any possible awkwardness that might result if her stepbrother walked in on the situation. As if Dawson has ever shown any interest in my social life, she thought. So long as she kept a low profile and did not embarrass the clan, Dawson and the rest of the perfect blended family pretty much ignored her.

    “I appreciate that, Ralph, but it’s okay,” she said. “Tell Dawson that I’m just heading into the shower. I need about thirty minutes to get dressed. If he wants to wait that long, you can send him up then.”

    “Let me see if he’ll wait,” Ralph said.

    There was some mumbled conversation on the other end of the connection. Ralph came back on the phone.

    “Mr. Strickland says he’ll go down the block to Starbucks and get a latte,” Ralph said. “He’ll be back in half an hour.”

    “Thanks, Ralph.” She ended the connection and tossed the phone down onto the nightstand. She