Elizabeth Lowell - Desert Rain

Come on, Shannon, smile like Im your lover. You do know what a lover is...

Holly grabbed sunglasses and a bottle of mineral water from the catering van...

Holly tossed her canteen into the back of the open Jeep.

Holly called Lincs name again and again, screaming at him to jump and save himself.

You recognize me, Holly said, suddenly nervous.

Moving quickly, Holly jammed her feet into her shoes and untied the tent flap.

For an instant Holly went cold. She had forgotten that she was the Royce Reflection...

The interior of the tent was warm. It was filled with golden light...

Holly rubbed the skillet with sand, wrapped it in newspaper, and stacked it...

Holly dressed quickly. She was too shaken by her own headlong passion to argue...

Holly? Beth called. Can I come in? Holly glanced toward the bedroom door.

Beth froze, looking guilty and defiant at the same time.

Holly, are you awake? Beths voice brought Holly out...

Holly opened her mouth to answer Linc, but it was impossible.

It was very dark by the time Holly and Beth stepped outside.

Roger looked from Hollys stricken face to Lincs narrow-eyed fury.

Before Linc set Holly on her feet, he shut the door to the master bedroom...

Holly saw nothing but gentleness and regret in Lincs eyes.

Deliberately Lincs palms caressed up the length of Hollys thighs.

Hollys smile was brilliant. It ignored the hot needles of fatigue...

Shannon, are you all right? Roger shouted. Holly couldnt answer.

Holly awoke before her alarm went off. It was always like that...

Shannon? Holly turned and saw one of the technicians...

Slowly Linc released his hold on Holly. If I had known what I was getting into...

Holly drove the Jeep with the leashed savagery that had become part of every...

Holly was perched on a pile of boulders that was bigger than a house.

Come on, Shannon, smile like Im your lover. You do know what a lover is, dont you, sweetie?

Holly Shannon North bit back what she wanted to say and smiled as she had been trained to do.

Jerry was the hottest fashion photographer outside of Paris, but he had a mouth like a razor blade. Since Holly had refused to sleep with him, he had become nearly impossible to work with.

The flash that burst in Hollys face was reflected in flexible metal shields held by sweating technicians.

Better, but not good enough, Jerry said. I know youre ice from the neck down, but lets keep it our secret, lovey.

Holly lowered her eyelids until her unusual sherry-colored eyes were only glints beneath thick black lashes. Long hair fell like black water over her bare shoulders and upper arms. Her smile widened without becoming a bit softer.

Jerry grunted.

Motionless, Holly waited. Perspiration made fine tendrils of hair curl over the high temples and slanted cheekbones that had transformed a young girl called Holly North into Shannon, an internationally famous model.

Now give me a pout, Jerry ordered. Lots of lip just begging to be bitten.

Holly pouted.

Turn left, Jerry said harshly. Make that hair fly. Make every man who looks at you want to feel it sliding over his naked skin.

Holly turned with the grace that was as much a part of her as her long legs and lithe body.

The heat that had everyone else short-tempered and sweating was like wine to her. She had been raised in Palm Springs scorching, brilliant, endless summers. The desert sun that bleached out most people made her bloom.

A delicate rose flush glowed beneath her skin, hinting at the heat within, a heat that only one man had ever touched.

Lincoln McKenzie.

Dont think about him, Holly told herself automatically. It only hurts you.

Though she tried not to think of Linc, she couldnt help herself. The feel of Palm Springs in the summer was too unique. She couldnt make herself believe that she was in New York or Paris, Hong Kong or London or Rome, and Lincoln McKenzie was half a world away.

Holly knew that Linc lived here, near enough to touch. He was part of the desert, as strong as the mountains rising in stark grandeur beyond the city.

Memories of Linc, like the sun, fired her skin.

She had worshipped Linc since she was nine years old and he was seventeen, riding one of the Arabian horses his family raised. The first time she saw him was a moment so vivid Holly could still smell the sage and dust, see Lincs slow smile and hazel eyes, feel the velvet flutter of the horses nostrils and her own heart as she stood in the path of his mount and smiled up at him.

Lovely! Jerry said. Keep it up! Over the shoulder now. Turn. Faster! Again. Again! Again!

Feeling like a leaf caught in the winds of time, Holly turned and spun, giving herself to the desert heat and her memories of one man.

She couldnt mark the day or even the month when her young girls crush on Linc had changed into something deeper, hotter, more consuming. Although their ranches shared a common boundary, the two families did not socialize.

Yet as Holly grew older, she saw Linc frequently at horse shows and auctions and training rings. With each meeting she fell more completely under his spell.

Each time, it crushed her that Linc didnt notice her.

Yeah, good, Jerry muttered. Now a little brighter, less pout. Big smile, baby. Gimme teeth.

Holly smiled at the camera, but her eyes were focused on the past.

On her sixteenth birthday she had been baby-sitting Beth McKenzie, Lincs half-sister, who was only nine. The McKenzies came home very late, arguing and more than a little drunk. Holly had never heard people swear at each other like that.

When Linc showed up unexpectedly, Holly ran to him. He drove her home, talking softly to her until she stopped shaking. When he learned that she had turned sixteen at midnight, he teased her gently about sweet sixteen and never been kissed.

What began as a comforting gesture became different, deeper, the timeless kiss of a man holding a woman he desired. Holly responded with an innocent abandon that had all but destroyed Lincs control.

After a long time he had taken her face between his hands and looked at her, memorizing the moment and the moonlight pouring over her dazed face. The smile she gave him had been that of Eve newly awakened to the possibilities of being a woman.

Thats the smile I want! said Jerry triumphantly. My God, babe, if you were only half as hot as you look. Left shoulder. Gimme some heat. Yeah. Yeah! Turn on for me, babe!