she knew it was crazy, she was grateful for whatever bit of contact she could

have with Leslie for however short a time. She was too tired and wound too

tight to think much beyond that.

Leslie rested her cheek lightly against Dev’s back and closed her eyes. Truth.

Do you love her?

Yes, but never the way I loved you.

• 161 •

RADCLY fFE

v

Leslie awoke in hazy gray light, damp and stiff and aroused. She was in the

same position she had been in the night before when she’d fallen asleep, her

belly and breasts snugged against Dev’s butt and back. Her borrowed jeans

were a size too big for her, but she still felt an uncomfortable tightness in her

groin, a deep throbbing pressure that had her longing for release. She’d never

been so aware of her body, or another woman’s, or of the relentless urgency to

be touched. She inched away and felt Dev stir immediately. Dev must have been

lying awake.

“What time is it?” Leslie whispered.

“About six.”

“I don’t know what I want Þ rst. We skipped dinner and I’m hungry.

I want to brush my teeth. And I have to pee.”

Dev laughed, found the zipper, and opened the bag. She crawled out, gritting

her teeth as pain lanced down her leg, and slowly worked her way into a sitting

position. Her right hip was on Þ re. “The Þ rst two I can help you with. You’re

on your own with the last one.” She leaned over and pulled a dry bag from a

pile. “How about a protein bar to stave off starvation?”

“Let me take a quick run outside and I’ll take you up on it.” Leslie lifted one of

her ruined shoes and grimaced. “They’re a wreck. Would you mind if I wore

your boots?”

“Go ahead.”

After Leslie left the tent, Dev tried her two-way radio. The batteries were still

good, but she couldn’t raise anyone back at Lakeview. From the sounds of the

storm, the wind was still high. She dug out the rubber boots she wore for

shallow water work and followed Leslie out to take care of her own call of

nature. When she was done, she inspected the trench around the tent. Even

though nearly obliterated by the driving downpour, it had nevertheless protected

them from a great deal of runoff. With a sigh, she turned to get the shovel from

the tent to re-dig it.

“Your leg’s bothering you, isn’t it?” Leslie said, stepping from the woods into

the small clearing around the tent. “You’re limping pretty badly this morning.”

“Too much time in one position.” As sore, tired, and emotionally

• 162 •

WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE

exhausted as she was, Dev couldn’t help but smile. Leslie had rolled up the

sleeves and cuffs of Dev’s sweatshirt and jeans, both of which were a size too

big for her, and she looked as young and fresh as she had when they were kids.

“What?” Leslie asked grumpily.

“Nothing.”

Leslie cocked her head and squinted appraisingly at Dev, impatiently brushing

rain from her eyes with one hand. The torrent had subsided to a heavy, steady

deluge. “What do we need to do?”

“For now, just freshen up these trenches to keep the ß oor as dry as we can. If

we have to sleep another night out here, I don’t want the sleeping bag getting

wet.”

“I’m not sleeping out here another night.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be okay. Once we have a Þ re going, we can get things

reasonably dry.”

“Where’s the shovel?” Leslie walked to the tent and yanked down the zipper on

the ß ap. It wasn’t about sleeping wet. She didn’t care if she had to sleep under

the trees in a monsoon. She couldn’t spend another night next to Dev, not

without imploding or attacking her. She couldn’t even look at her without

starting to ache. Dev had circles under her eyes, her wet hair clung in disheveled

strands to her neck, and her work shirt and jeans were mud streaked. And she

was absolutely gorgeous.

“I’ll take care of it,” Dev said.

Leslie turned abruptly and found Dev inches from her. She balled her Þ sts so

she wouldn’t slide her hands into Dev’s hair. “You won’t.

You’ll get in that tent and lie down. You can hardly walk.”

Dev’s jaw tightened. Even in the rain and shadowy light, Leslie’s eyes blazed.

Dev wanted to kiss her. She wanted more than that. She wanted Leslie under

her, naked and open and wet.

“Get in the tent, Dev,” Leslie said, watching the hunger rise in Dev’s face. No

one had ever looked at her like that before, and she craved it now like nothing

she had ever known. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Please.”

“Leslie—”

“Glad to see you two are still in one piece!” Natalie called as she materialized

out of the woods.

Dev jerked and stepped back a pace. Leslie took a long breath and settled

herself before turning to face the ranger. Natalie stood with

• 163 •

RADCLY fFE

her hands on her hips observing them with a curious expression on her face. She

looked tired but disgustingly dry in a rain poncho, nylon rain pants, and boots.

Leslie tried not to snarl.

“Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner,” Natalie said. “How about I give you two a

ride back to land?”

“I’ll take my own boat back,” Leslie said.

“I’m staying here with my equipment,” Dev said.

Slowly shaking her head, Natalie slid her hands through the slits in the poncho

and into her pants pockets. “Sorry, no to both of those ideas. We’re evacuating

all the campsites, so you need to pack up whatever critical items you have,

Dev.” She regarded Leslie pointedly.

“You were lucky to make it here at all, Ms. Harris. The lake is still far too rough

for your craft. You’ll be riding with me.”

Leslie didn’t like being given an ultimatum, but she needed to get back to the

mainland. She needed enough space from Dev to be able to draw a breath that

wasn’t Þ lled with need. “I want to be sure my boat is secure.”

“I’ll help you with that while Dev gets her stuff together.”

Natalie turned and walked back into the woods, leaving Leslie no choice but to

follow. When Natalie stopped on the lake bank, Leslie came up beside her and

studied her boat rocking hard in the churning water. Natalie’s larger, heavier

departmental craft was anchored nearby.

One of them would have to climb down the bank into the water to get more

lines on her boat or it was going to break free. “We’re going to get wet doing

this.”

“I’ll get extra lines from my boat.”

“I couldn’t get much wetter,” Leslie said when Natalie returned with the ropes.

“I’ll go. You stay up here to secure them.”

When Leslie started down the steep, muddy bank, Natalie wrapped an arm

around a tree that canted out over the water, leaned out as far as she could, and

held out her hand.

“Here, grab on so you don’t fall.”

“Thanks.” When Leslie took Natalie’s hand their eyes met.

Natalie’s were dark and considering.

“That was pretty risky, coming out here yesterday,” Natalie said

conversationally.

“She was out here alone,” Leslie said. “You would have done the same.”

• 164 •

WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE

“I wanted to.”

“I can imagine.”

Natalie smiled faintly. “Can you?”

“Yes,” Leslie said softly, “I can.”

• 165 •

• 166 •

WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE

CHAPTER NINETEEN

While Natalie stood at the wheel in the cockpit, her legs braced wide apart for

balance in the buffeting wind and rain, Leslie huddled on the bench across from

Dev. The sky was a muddy brown, the water an angry gray, and both suited her

mood. She hated being rescued, even though she knew it was the wisest course.

The swells were higher than she’d ever seen them on the lake, and even in the

larger, heavier park service craft, the ride was harrowing. In her boat it would

have been impossible. Conversation was impossible, too, but even if she’d

wanted to talk to Dev, Dev clearly didn’t want to talk to her. Dev sat with her

body angled forward toward Natalie, her face impassive.

Leslie wondered what she was thinking. They hadn’t had any time to talk since

Natalie showed up at the campsite, but then Leslie wasn’t sure what she would

say to her. What could she say? I’m sorry?

That hardly seemed to cover how many wrong turns she’d taken with Dev,

starting when they’d been seventeen. Last night, though, might just have been

her crowning moment. They weren’t impulsive kids anymore, but she hadn’t

been able to keep her hands to herself or her mouth shut. She’d been in the

midst of seducing Dev—Leslie cringed inwardly but there was no other word

for it—she’d told Dev she wanted to make love, for God’s sake. And then in

the next breath she’d said no.

What had she been thinking? Nothing, obviously.

When she looked back on her relationship with Dev, it was littered with regret.

The only good thing to come of the entire visit had been that she and Dev had Þ

nally talked about what had happened between them the night of the accident.

Of course, that conversation had nearly

• 167 •

RADCLY fFE

ended with them mindlessly screwing on the shore. Maybe it was better if they

didn’t talk. Leslie stared at Dev and her heart raced. No, it was better if they

weren’t anywhere near one another.

With a sigh, Leslie closed her eyes. Her father was home from the hospital and

headed toward recovery, her mother had hired a temporary cook and part-time

handyman, and she had even gotten the medical tests she was supposed to

have. God knew, she’d certainly had enough rest and relaxation. Any more, and

she would lose her mind. She’d stay to help her mother with the July Fourth

bash, and then she was going back to Manhattan. Back to the orderly, satisfying

life she had chosen, the one that suited her.

“You okay?” Dev shouted over the wind.

Leslie opened her eyes, her pulse racing when her eyes met Dev’s.

“Yes! You?”

Dev grinned ruefully and shrugged.

Even though relieved at the imminent prospect of heading back toward sanity,

Leslie couldn’t ignore the pang at knowing she wouldn’t see Dev again. And

with the heat of Dev’s body still alive in her mind, Leslie feared it would take

more than distance to extinguish the memory.

When the sound of the motor revving down caught Leslie’s attention, she

looked away from Dev with both sorrow and relief.

Natalie was guiding the boat up to the wide, rain-slicked dock alongside

Lakeview’s boathouse. It was deserted, as were the grounds.

Many of the cars that had been in the parking lot were gone, and Leslie

expected that a fair number of people had cut short their vacations when the

weather turned bad. In a way, that wasn’t such a bad thing, because it would

give her mother a break before the inß ux of new guests for the long weekend.

Natalie throttled down, eased the boat against the side of the dock, and called

over her shoulder, “Someone want to climb out and grab the lines?”

Leslie was closer to the dock side and hurriedly clambered out, dragging the

stern line with her. She pulled the craft against the cushioned bumpers attached

to the side of the dock and wrapped a line around a cleat while Natalie jumped

from the bow and did the same.

“Thanks,” Natalie called, hunching her shoulders in the wind.

“No problem.” Out of the corner of her eye, Leslie saw Dev stumble as she

climbed from the boat onto the dock, a grimace of pain on her face. “Dev!”

• 168 •

WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE

Leslie lunged for her, but Natalie was closer.

“Hey there,” Natalie cried, grasping Dev around the waist and steadying her so

she didn’t fall. Her face concerned, she smoothed her free hand over Dev’s