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how they all looked alike. When their faces were so close that their two eyes blurred almost into one before they closed. At least in this he was no different from anyone else.
    She felt his searching hand. She liked his touch. It was warm and somehow gentle. Not like others who had hurt her. She let the suit strap slip so that she could feel his hand on her naked skin. His breath began to come hard into her mouth.
    She let her fingers drift lightly across his wet bathing-suit from his stomach to his thigh. He was strong, too. All ridged muscles etched sharply on him. She closed her hand

    gently on him. She took her face from hhn and pressed his head down to her breast.
    She felt his teeth hard behind his lips. He tried to turn his face, but she held him tight. She looked down at him, half smiling to herself. This was what was so wonderful. ' What they would do for her, what she could make them do. This was what she Hked about being a woman. Because, in the end, she was always the stronger.
    "Ross," she whispered. She could see the flaming agony in his eyes.
    He almost cried aloud. She felt him shudder, then the heat of his body came through his wet bathing-suit. An echoing warmth ran through her and she caught her breath. For a moment she clung to him tightly, then it was gone and they were still.
    He rolled away from her and lay face downward on the sand. He was breathing deeply.
    She turned toward him and stroked his hair gently. "Ross, baby," she whispered. "You're sweet."
    Slowly he turned his face to her. There was a curious shame in his eyes. "Why did you do that, Marja?" he asked harshly.
    Her eyes were wide, the smile on her lips held the knowledge of all women. "Because I like you, honey," she replied easily. "And I wanted you to be happy."
    The comers of his mouth worked as he tried to keep his lips from trembling. For a moment he felt on the verge of tears. He knew he was older than she, but right now he felt like a child next to her. He tore his eyes from her gaze. "Don't do it again. Ever." His voice was cracked and rough.
    "Don't you like it, honey?" she asked softly.
    He didn't took at her. He spat out his answer. "No."

    "Then I won't, honey," she said.
    He felt her move in the sand beside him and turned to look at her. She was sitting up, running her hand through the sparkling gold of her hair. An animal vitaUty seemed to flow from her.
    She looked down at him and smiled. "I told yuh the sand would get in my hair." She got to her feet. "I'm goin* in to wash it out. Come in with me." She held out her hands toward him.
    He didn't move from his place in the sand. He looked up at her over his shoulder, "Go ahead in," he said. "I'll be along in a minute."
    He watched her run into the water and tumble into a breaker before he got to his feet and ran down the beach after her.

    Chapter 4
    THE FIRST dusky purple of evening clouded the sky. In the west the sun still fought back the night, a flaming red ball reaching back desperately to all its yesterdays. The warmth began to leave the air.
    Marja sat up on the blanket Ross had spread for them. "I wonder what time it is," she said.
    He opened his eyes and squinted at the sky. "About a quarter after six," he answered.
    "How can you tell?"
    He grinned at her. "I was a Boy Scout once."
    "I never knew a Boy Scout before," she laughed, dropping her hand to his knee.
    Instinctively he tensed. She felt his movement and took her hand away quickly. "I'm sorry, I forgot."
    "Don't be sorry," he said.
    "But you don't like me to touch you," she said.
    He shook his head. "It's not that, really. I'm just not used to it, I guess."

    "Then you do like me?" she asked.
    "I liked you from the moment I saw you through the dirty windows of the poolroom."
    "Honest?" She was smiling now.
    "Honest," he answered, his eyes serious. "I saw you walking down the block with Francie and I couldn't keep my eyes off you. You ruined my game. Mike took me to the cleaners."
    "Mike?" she said