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he added before she could lay into him the way she wanted to. “You never gave me reason to think you were anything but faithful. You deserved my trust.”
    The look in his eyes said it all. Sadness, regret, apology…and something else. Unresolved grief? “Sam, did you ever let yourself mourn for our baby?”
    “Yes. What I’ve never let myself regret much until now was losing you. Knowing you were giving what belonged to me to half the guys in Tampa.”
    She wanted to lay the blame for that back on him. Badly. Before she could form the words, the flimsy walls began to shake again. Her anger forgotten, she dived into Sam’s arms when an entire palmetto frond, torn by the storm from one of the tough plants, flew through the shattered window and landed not six inches from her side of the bed. She stared out the ruined window, transfixed, as a whole small tree the storm apparently had ripped by its roots from the sand flew by. Vegetation, chunks of roof and walls, even swirling sand all tossed about like seedpods in the wind. Would anything be left after the storm passed? An ominous roar rang in her ears. Water slapped against wood and shot under the door, undulating over the rough boards like a deadly serpent.
    “Marcy. We’ll get through this. Just like we’ve managed to survive everything else. Right now we need to find something and block off that window. Sorry, baby, I should have thought about this before the wind started blowing again.” He hugged her hard, then rolled to the edge of the bed, waded through the rising puddle of water on the floor, and started taking the bathroom door off its hinges.
    Funny how being close to Sam seemed to calm her fear. Firmly refusing to think about what might come through that window next, Marcy slid out of the bed to help. “How are you going to keep the wind from sending that door flying?”
    “We’ll prop it with that dresser. It ought to be heavy enough.”
    Marcy gave the knotty-pine armoire a tentative shove. “It’s heavy enough that I can’t move it.”
    “Together, I think we can manage.” Setting the door flat on the floor, he added his strength to hers. Droplets of water glowed on his tanned, muscular body, slithering over his bulging muscles each time he leaned into the heavy chest. By the time they got the window blocked, they both were panting and soaked. “Now we can be fairly well assured that nothing’s going to fly in here and skewer us. Grab some towels out of the bathroom and let’s dry off as best we can. Much as I like looking at you naked, I don’t want to get the blankets soaked.”
    “What about the water? It’s rising awfully fast.”
    “That’s the storm surge. I don’t expect it will come much higher, and it’ll recede soon enough as the storm blows out to sea.” Sam’s voice lacked its usual authority and assurance.
    Maybe…but maybe not. Perhaps they’d be swept away on the wind, never to be heard from again. Damn it, she didn’t want to die, but if this was going to end up being their watery grave, she wasn’t about to leave so much unresolved. So much resentment where there used to be so much love. Lying back on the bed, she forced a smile. “Let’s make this time for us…now. No yesterdays and no tomorrows. Please, for God’s sake, love me now.” The roar outside subsided, replaced by an even more ominous quiet. Another lull as Kellen gathered her destructive strength to strike again.
    He sat beside her, regarding her sternly as though she were an errant child begging for absolution of her sins. For some reason, that look got her juices flowing even thicker, as did his next words. “If you want me, babe, it’s got to be just me. You’ve got to take me for better or worse, the way I am.”
    Was he talking about his sterility or her other lovers? It didn’t matter, because she wanted him now, whatever the terms. “I do.” Reaching out, she laid a hand on his thigh, thrilled at the reflexive tightening she saw in