with unhurried strides, brand walked toward her. the tide slapped against his long legs, but he refused to pause, his pace uniform and steady.

"besides," she added with a taunting grin. "we both needed to cool off, don't you agree?"

"i had everything under control."

"no, you didn't, and neither did i." she rubbed her hands up and down her arms as a tiny shiver went through her.

"this craziness is supposed to cool us off?" he muttered under his breath. if anything, brand was hotter than ever. her nipples had beaded, the dark aureoles pointing directly at him, commanding his attention. the ends of her hair were wet and dripping lazily onto her smooth shoulders. the salt water rolled down her creamy white neck and into the valley between her breasts. everything seemed to point in that direction, including his gaze.

when she was a few yards away from him, erin floated into his arms. her body was warm and slippery as she locked her arms around his neck, and her long legs folded over his hips. the instant her weight settled against him, she felt the strength of him. slowly she raised her soft gaze to his, and her eyes widened slightly.

"brand?"

"as you can see, your plans have backfired, my dear."

"now what?"

she shifted her weight slightly, scooting her derriere over the protrusion, and in the process nearly unmanned him. she was too innocent to understand what she was doing to him. if this continued much longer, they'd end up making love while standing waist-deep in the surf.

"let me taste you," he pleaded, his voice low and guttural.

as though in a trance, erin nodded. she reached back and unfastened her bra. her breasts fell free of the restraining material and settled against the water-slicked planes of his chest. her nipples, pouting prettily, felt so hot, so gloriously wonderful against his cool skin, that for a second he forgot to breathe.

she must have felt it, too, because her breath caught softly then. clenching handfuls of his hair, she began to move, circling her breasts against him, creating a delicious, indescribable friction.

"oh, baby," he groaned as he lifted her higher, sliding his open mouth across her breasts, creating a slick trail, sucking lightly from one breast and then the other, loving the taste of her. his mouth closed around her, and he gloried in the untamed eagerness of her response.

her hands were in his hair, and she was making low whimpering sounds. he languidly paid attention to each breast, rolling his tongue around the passion-beaded nipple, sucking strongly, then gentling the action.

between sighs and moans erin encouraged him to take more and more of her into his mouth, her voice soft and trembling as she pleaded, rotating her hips against him, her feet digging into the small of his back.

brand had reached the limit of his endurance. "erin," he begged, "oh, baby, hold still... please."

"no... oh, brand, i... don't think i can... it feels so good."

"i know, baby, i know. too good."

she gently thrashed against him. "kiss me," she whispered.

brand willingly complied. her mouth opened under the force of his, and her tongue met his in joyous union. the slow, smooth gyration of her hips against him caused the blood to rush to his head until he feared he would lose his footing. he felt as powerless against erin as he was against the flow of the tide.

his hand slipped inside the wide leg of her tap pants and over her bare derriere. then, slowly, gradually, he slipped his fingers toward the warm, moist opening of her womanhood. she opened to him like a rosebud responding to the warming rays of the sun. her pulsating warmth closed around him, and she started to whimper as he gently claimed possession of the innermost part of her body.

making panting sounds, erin squeezed her eyes closed and began to move against him, her actions countering his. her nails dug deep into the thick muscles of his shoulders, but he felt no discomfort as her mouth hungrily latched on to his, her tongue boldly searching out his. he felt her climax and sensed the pulsating waves of undiluted pleasure as she relaxed heavily against him.

gradually, her eyes opened, and their gazes held for a long moment. brand loved her so much that he thought his pounding heart would explode in his chest. she smiled at him. shyly. almost apologetically. her look was so tender that he could have drowned in it.

the sound of laughter coming from behind them on the shore brought brand rudely back to reality.

"there are people coming," erin whispered in a panic.

"i told you before this isn't such a good idea."

"but... brand, i'm nearly naked."

"for all intents and purposes, you are indeed naked."

"do something."

"you're joking."

"we can't just stand here."

"why not? with any luck they'll stroll past and not notice two crazy people lolling around in the surf. forget it, they'll notice."

erin expelled a sharp breath and pressed her forehead against brand's. "this is all my fault."

"i know," he whispered, kissing her soundly. "but i forgive you." he hugged her close, amused. her face was beet red; even her breasts were rosy with embarrassment. he waited until the sound of voices had faded, and then he carried erin effortlessly back onto the beach.

erin was in the kitchen with ginger romano, slicing pineapple into a large stainless-steel bowl for a fresh fruit salad they were making for the evening meal. ginger was shaping hamburger patties, pressing the meat firmly together between the palms of her hands.

"you're quiet this afternoon," ginger said, smiling warmly in erin's direction. the two had been standing side by side for the past ten minutes without a word passing between them. the silence, however, was a comfortable one. erin and ginger had become fast friends in the past few days.

for the first time that afternoon the house was relatively quiet. the two youngest romano children were napping. alex and brand had taken six-year-old bobby to the grocery store with them to buy charcoal briquettes for the barbecue.

erin smiled lazily over at her friend. "i don't mean to be so uncommunicative. i was just thinking, i guess." she was due to leave oahu in two short days. she didn't want to go. seattle was her home, and she loved living in the pacific northwest, but she'd forgotten how beautiful hawaii could be.

"who are you trying to kid?" erin muttered under her breath. it wasn't hawaii she found so relaxing and stimulating. it was being with brand.

"did you say something?" ginger asked.

"not really... i sometimes talk to myself."

"i do that myself when i'm thinking. usually i do it when something's worrying me."

"i was just wondering what's going to become of me and brand." no one had said anything, but erin couldn't shake the feeling that everyone was waiting for them to announce their wedding plans. the pressure was there; it was low-key and subtle, but nevertheless erin could feel it as strongly as she'd felt the tide against her legs when in the ocean.

"i take it you've enjoyed yourself this week?" ginger asked, setting the plate of hamburger patties aside.

"everyone's been wonderful."

"you've been quite a hit yourself. we were all eager to meet you."

"in other words," erin said with a teasing smile, "brand's friends were more curious than generous when it came to sending me that airplane ticket."

"exactly! i do hope you enjoyed this week in hawaii."

"what's there not to enjoy?" erin teased.

"then you might consider moving here," she suggested boldly.

"no way." erin was quick to discount the suggestion. "seattle's home."

"have you lived there long?"

"two years. i graduated from the university of texas, but spent the first two years in florida before transferring."

"you did your graduate work in texas, too?"

"no, i finished up in new york, so you can see why i'm happy to settle in seattle at last. it's my first home, and i intend to stay put for a good long while."

"i can understand that," ginger said thoughtfully. "you were certainly a hit. we're going to be sorry to see you go."

"i passed muster, then?"

"with flying colors. it does my heart good to see the mighty brandon davis fall in love. i was beginning to doubt it would ever happen. he's such a stubborn cuss. he'd date a woman for a few weeks, then lose interest and drop her. i knew from the moment he mentioned your name, you were different, and so did everyone else."

"brand is special." she licked the juice from her fingers and set the paring knife in the sink. "frankly, i can't help worrying that i'm simply more of a challenge to him than the other women he's dated. i'm not like the others. i refused to fall at his feet." although she attempted to make light of the fact, she considered it the bona fide truth.

"i don't think that's it, exactly," ginger countered quickly. she paused and leaned her hip against the counter. "in some ways, perhaps, but not completely. now that i've gotten to know you, i can understand why brand's so enthralled with you. you two complement each other. you seem to balance each other. brand's outgoing, you're a little withdrawn. not unsociable - don't misunderstand me. brand's one hundred percent navy - "

"i'm one hundred percent not."

ginger paused, and her smooth brow pleated in a frown. "it really troubles you, doesn't it?"

erin nodded. "if i hadn't grown up around the military, i probably would naively accept this lifestyle as part of what it means to love brand. but i've been there. the navy expects certain concessions from a wife and family, and frankly, i refuse to make those. i'm a navy brat, and i know what it means to marry a man in the military. it's one of life's cruel practical jokes that i'd meet brand this way and fall for him."

"i don't look at it that way," ginger said, scooting out a stool and sitting down. "before i married alex, i thought long and hard about accepting his proposal. i wasn't keen on marrying a navy man, knowing from the first that i would always place second in his life."

"exactly," erin agreed, but it was so much more than that. if she did marry brand, her life would no longer be her own.

"i prefer to think of alex and myself as a team. we're contributors to the defense and security of our country. i'm proud of alex and the role he plays, but i'm equally satisfied with my own contribution. if it weren't for my talents, my enthusiasm, my dedication, and that of the other wives and families, the navy would lose its effectiveness. i realize i sound like a propaganda machine, but frankly, it's the truth."

"i grew up hearing and believing all that." erin straightened and ceremoniously squared her shoulders, keeping her eyes trained straight ahead. in a monotone, she recited what she could remember of the navy wife-line creed. "i believe that through better understanding of the navy, wives will enjoy and accept more enthusiastically the navy way of life, and we pledge our efforts... blah, blah, blah."