Chapter One

With Your Love I'm Born Again

Eighteen months later…

Carolyn stretched lazily against her husband's side and sighed in her contentment. They'd spent the night indulging their insatiable passion for each other, finally falling asleep from exhaustion only when a cockerel crowed somewhere in the distance.

Carolyn settled deeper into Daniel's embrace. This was the time of day she enjoyed the most. When they could be alone, together and their day had yet to begin. When anything seemed possible.

Life with growing twins and her work as a full-time author, whose books were in high demand, could be hectic and wearing at times. There never seemed to be enough hours in the day to get everything done.

Outside, the sun was barely above the horizon, shafting faint golden rays through the drawn curtains at the windows. The summer heat would rise soon enough, sucking the moisture from the air and parching everything it touched. The long season stretched ahead, making her feel oddly restless.

"Are you awake?" Carolyn rose up onto one elbow to kiss a trail across her husband's naked chest.

"Not until now," Daniel groaned, tightening his arm across her back to draw her closer. He stretched his full length against her, his naked, warm skin an intoxicating caress. "Why are you awake? We have an hour or two yet. Go back to sleep."

"No reason…" Carolyn shook her head slowly. "I was lying here thinking about all we have to be thankful for. I love this time of day when it's just us."

Daniel cracked open one eye. "Before the twin tiny terrors descend on us again, do you mean?"

"Yes…" Carolyn nodded with an indulgent laugh. "We seem to have so little time to ourselves these days. Not that I'm complaining."

Daniel yawned. "I suppose it could be worse. We must be grateful that Cousin Harriet has finally found her rightful place in life and kept to it all these past months. And Owen, too. Maybe he's finally learned his lesson. He seems to be a changed man, from what Harriet has told you when she telephones."

He shrugged, twining his fingers through hers where they lay on his chest. "And your parents have learned they may visit only when we invite them. Though I doubt your mother will ever be entirely happy with the arrangement."

"I guess life could not be more perfect," Carolyn agreed, snuggling closer.

"And yet?" Daniel pulled back to look down at her. "What is on your mind, Mrs Gregg? Tell me. Your frown gives you away."

"I was just thinking…" Carolyn shrugged. "At times, it seems just a little too perfect. I keep… waiting for something to happen. To you. To us."

Daniel drew back further, pushing himself up against the pillows behind him. He took his wife by her shoulders and drew her to face him. "What sort of something do you fear may happen? Or are you jumping at shadows?"

"I don't honestly know…" Carolyn sighed, laying the palm of her hand against his bearded cheek. "I just keep getting this odd feeling lately. I guess, George Turner worries me for one. He hates both of us for what we did to him. How do we know he's truly gone?"

"That demon's spite need not concern you for a single moment," her husband told her seriously, looking deep into her eyes. "As long as we possess the demon knife of Arjen, then he is kept at bay. If he survived his master's wrath. No doubt he's stewing in that displeasure even now. Trying to make amends for his folly."

"And you…" Carolyn laid her hands flat against the solid wall of his chest. "This… Us… The twins… All of it. Sometimes lately, I feel a shiver passing through me and I'm sure I can feel eyes watching me. But there's never anyone there."

"I will not demean your fears by saying it's all in your imagination," Daniel replied seriously. "Why did you not tell me before now?"

"I just didn't want to worry you," Carolyn replied seriously. "You do enough already. You're marvellous with Danny and Lucy, taking the pressure off me when I have a deadline I can't miss. Jonathan and Candy love you. They barely remember anything about Bobby now."

"If you truly feel there is something amiss then I shall look into it." Daniel smoothed his palm over her cheek and down to encompass the softly rounded swell of her breast. "You are not to worry. Not about me, not about any of it."

"I am a mother. It's in my job description to worry," Carolyn whispered, closing her eyes against the sensuous nature of his intimate caress.

"You're not my mother," Daniel told her teasingly, moulding her soft flesh as he ran the ball of his thumb back and forth across the burgeoning tip. "Since we're both now wide awake, Mrs Gregg. Do you want to fool around some more?"

"I thought you'd never ask…" Carolyn moved upwards, settling herself astride his thighs. "We don't have long."

"We have long enough," her husband assured her against the warm caress of her lips as his hands travelled eagerly down her naked body.

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"It's so hot already today…" Carolyn fanned herself with her hand as she looked out the open kitchen window at the last blooms on her roses.

They weren't doing well in the summer heat. Their tired heads were hanging down and they looked forlorn.

"It's the last day of school tomorrow," Jonathan said helpfully as he packed his lunch box into his bag. "Then we're on the summer break." He punched the air happily. "No school for weeks and weeks!"

"Weeks and weeks!" Lucy pipped up, sitting in her chair at the table and eating her toast.

"Yeah…" Candy high-fived her little sister. "What are we going to do for the whole summer?"

Daniel looked up from helping his son with his glass of milk. "I guess we could all get away and go out to the island for a few days."

"Oh, could we?" Candy asked. "That would be so groovy!"

"Elroy will be happy to see us. And Mr Peabody," Jonathan enthused. "Can we, Mum?"

"I don't see why not?" Carolyn ruffled his hair in passing. "I'm sure I can spare a few days."

"All right!" Jonathan punched the air happily.

"All right!" Danny parroted, not to be outdone by his big brother.

Only Daniel saw the worried look in his wife's green eyes. She was still nibbling on her concerns and he felt powerless to help her. Once they returned he would summon Lucius and together they would explore their realm for any clues or trails of discontent. Until then…

"It will do us all good to get away," he said, wiping his son's mouth clean on a cloth.

※※※※※

Reaching the end of the Spirit Island pier, Daniel sighed his contentment as he stared up at the moon and stars shining far above him. He'd always loved this time of night. The hushed hour before the dawn when the world held its breath as if waiting to be born once more with the sunrise.

He smiled as he pulled the large towel from his waist and dropped it behind him. Stretching his arms above his head, he dived cleanly into the moonlit waters.

The passing of his long body through the ocean's surface made barely a ripple or hardly any sound in the warm summer darkness. He relished his ability to power through the water like a fish. He felt completely at home in the ocean. Unlike many seamen of his generation, he didn't believe that learning to swim was of no use, and only served to prolong your inevitable, watery end, if your ship foundered beyond any hope of rescue or sight of land.

Possessing the same iron-clad conviction, his father had taught his son to swim at a very young age. Warm summer days had been spent honing his skills in the local streams and rivers whenever his father was home from the sea.

He kept promising that Daniel could take ship with him, to those places beyond the blue horizon, as soon as he was old enough and had learned his lessons well. The young boy applied himself to his tasks with renewed determination, willing his slender body to grow faster and the years to pass quickly.

And then, early one cold April morning, without any warning of what was to come, the elder Gregg had rowed his seven-year-old son out into the middle of the Schooner Bay harbour and thrown him overboard. He'd shouted to the boy to remember his lessons and work at rescuing himself by swimming back to the shore.

Given no choice, the determined child had fought his way to the surface and began to swim back toward the docks. His father had kept pace with him in his boat, watching for any signs of distress. But Daniel had refused to show his fear that morning. Failure was not an option. He was certain sure a golden opportunity for breathtaking adventures lay just beyond his grasp.

His father may have been a harsh and uncompromising sea captain, but his young son loved him. He knew how to save himself from the ignominy of going under and needing to be rescued in full view of the watching dock workers who didn't seem inclined to lift a single finger to help him.

Daniel's dubious reward, after finally staggering ashore, shivering and blue with cold, was a hearty round of cheers, many heavy slaps on his back, and a large tot of raw black rum that seared its way down his young throat and made him cough until his wide eyes watered anew. His empty stomach tried to revolt at the sudden assault of the harsh liquid, but he managed to choke back the bile.

He clamped his lips together as he huddled into the roughness of the thick blanket his father had thrown around his shoulders. He also felt a rising sense of achievement and pride that warmed his frozen limbs. He'd found a very small place among these rough men and gained stern approval in the watching eyes of his father.

"Well done, Danny boy. Well done, lad. I knew you could do it…" His father's large hand had clasped his slim shoulder tightly. "A chip of the old block and no mistake. I've a good mind to take you to sea with me, this season. I stand in need of a resourceful cabin boy."

He shook his head as he leaned closer, staring down into his son's wide blue eyes. "Now, you mind me. Not a word of this morning's adventure to your loving mother. She wouldn't understand what we men must do."

"All right, F… F… Father…" Daniel had managed to reply through lips that still felt swollen and numb with cold. "You can… count on me. I won't… carry her… any tales…"

The heady fumes from the rum had wreathed his brain in a fog of masculine bonhomie. All his secret dreams had finally come true. The limitless ocean had always sung her siren's call to his restless young soul and he yearned to answer her. His mother's loving apron strings had become a chaff and a restraint he'd strived to sever as he grew older and beyond her loving control.

I'm finally going to sea!

Right then, the young boy felt as if he could have walked on the water, not swum through it. He would have said and done anything to maintain that approving look in his father's eyes and the incredible new sense of belonging in his harsh world.

"Good lad…" His father had ruffled his son's dark curls. "You've got the makings of a fine seaman. We'll begin your lessons in earnest tomorrow. I sail again at the end of the week."

He placed an arm around his son's shoulders. "For now, we'd better get you home and dried off before your mother wakes. Otherwise, I'll catch the sharp edge of her tongue. She'll still have something to say about you shipping out with me, no doubt."

He grinned. "We don't allow women aboard any ships we captain, right, lad? Petticoats cause an honest seaman nothing but trouble. Remember that." He shook his head ruefully. "Come on, Danny. Let's go home."

"Danny…" Daniel murmured now after he'd surfaced through the waves and leaned backwards to float on the dark waters.

His young son, fast asleep with the rest of the Gull Cottage family, in the main cabin above the shoreline, would not be taught to swim in the same rough way. His lips curved in a wry smile. This was the twentieth century and he knew Carolyn wouldn't approve.

He shook his head. "Danny…" he said again.

He'd been called Danny until his father's untimely death at sea. It was reported that the uncompromising seadog had chosen to go down with his foundering ship rather than swim for his life. They'd been too far from the sight of any land or hope of rescue. Those few lucky seamen who'd managed to save themselves by clinging to the floating wreckage and were eventually rescued had lived to tell the tale and embellish it as the years passed.

That was when young Danny had become Daniel to all who knew and respected him. And then, he'd finally become his late father in truth.

The young and uncompromising Captain Daniel Gregg had emerged when he'd found his first love and taken full command of his very first ship. That had been a heady moment and he silently thanked his late father even as he'd grasped her wheel between his large hands and felt the incredible power that was now under his sole control.

The vastness of the far horizon beckoned to his soul like the sirens of old. He felt he was always destined to always sail toward it and beyond to places he'd never seen. And true to his father's stern observation, in all the years since, he'd never once allowed a single woman aboard any ship he commanded.

He turned his face up to the full moon, riding high in the starry sky. Her serene white countenance beamed down at him as she had always done.

"I would have chosen to go down with my ship, as my father did before I allowed myself to become shore-bound like the Admiral," he commented with a sigh. "Instead, I managed to kick the blasted gas heater on with my blasted foot…"

He sculled his arms, lazily keeping himself afloat. "But then I would never have existed in this time. I would never have met Carolyn. I wouldn't have found all that I have now. I would have had no need to make a deal with a demon…"

He stared up at the moon's uncaring face. "Forgive me. I'm sorry, Father. But I did allow one woman aboard my ship. And I'm very glad I did. 'For thy sweet love remembe'd such wealth brings, that then I scorn to change my state with kings…'" he whispered his favourite of the Bard's sonnets. "With her love, I was born again…"

The words meant so much more to him now than they ever did in the last hundred or more years. He'd come to fully understand their meaning. He knew he wouldn't change a single thing about his present life or circumstances. He'd long since decided to ignore the siren's call of the limitless ocean.

With one final glance at the far horizon, he rolled over, lazily setting out to swim for the distant shore and his love with powerful and even strokes. It was time he went home again.

※※※※※

Carolyn turned over in their bed, reaching out in the darkness for the warm, solid comfort of her husband's body. She loved to snuggle against him in the early hours before dawn.

Even after all the years they'd spent together in this way, it reassured her of his ongoing reality. Of course, there were other benefits from waking early, before the twins stirred.

But Daniel wasn't there. The sheets were cold on his side, signalling he'd been gone for some time. Why had he left her?

She sat up to look around the room in frowning confusion. "Daniel?"

But the shadows were silent and still. The warm breathlessness of the night enfolded her confused senses. The bedside clock declared the hour to be half past the hour of four in the morning. The sun would soon be up.

"Blast…" She got out of bed silently. Pulling on her silk dressing gown, she belted it firmly over her nightdress before padding out into the main room of the cabin.

But Daniel wasn't there either. The coffee pot was cold and no food had been prepared.

"Where are you?" she asked of the shadows, looking around the large room.

Her gaze fell on the huge bearskin rug lying on the floor before the open fireplace. Wanton memories of their first visit to this cabin brought warmth to her cheeks. That was the very spot where their twins had been conceived. It had been a precious time between them when anything seemed possible. They'd been exploring their limits, not knowing if they truly existed.

Now the only intimate privacy they could manage was to shut their bedroom door and hope they would not be interrupted. Of course, they would not have it any other way. She shook her head as she walked to the front door and opened it to look out into the moonlit night.

Nothing moved and no one replied to her softly-voiced call. The smaller of the two cabins was in darkness. Carolyn grimaced. At least, Elroy and Mr Peabody had the good sense to sleep the night through.

She looked back into the cabin behind her. Tucked up in the bedrooms, her children and Martha were all still asleep. It seemed as if the whole world was slumbering, except for one seemingly restless man-ghost who must have gone out into the moonlight for some reason.

Slipping her feet into the pair of sandals beside the door, Carolyn walked down the steps and onto the path that led toward the pier. It took her to the edge of the water and from there she could make out a dark shape swimming powerfully toward her through the moonlit ocean.

"There you are," she breathed gratefully, turning to walk to the end of the pier.

She sat down on the wooden planking next to the discarded towel, dangling her feet over the edge as her husband swam toward her and reached the shallows where he could stand up. Carolyn smiled. Of course, she'd observed such a scene before in the movies and written about it in her books, but it never got old.

An impossibly sexy man slowly rose from the waves, shaking the water from his hair, then lifting his hands to squeeze out the excess before sweeping it all back from his eyes. This was real life and far beyond any two-dimensional, celluloid imaginings or the pages of one of her novels. Her breathing hitched with desire and need.

She watched her husband walk through the creaming waves to lean his forearms on the pier beside her with the lower half of his body still concealed beneath the water. Carolyn's smile widened as she studied him. She knew he always liked to swim without the impediment of clothing. The water was clear enough for her to make out every muscular line and sinew of his powerful body. The sight heated her blood and narrowed her eyes with desire. Suddenly sleep was the furthest thing from her mind.

"I woke up and you weren't there," she complained softly. "You shouldn't go swimming out here all alone. It's not safe. Anything could happen."

"Did you want me to wake you up so you could have come with me?" her husband teased. "It's glorious out here, tonight. I was remembering the time when my father first taught me to swim."

"No, thanks." Carolyn shook her head quickly. "It looks cold…"

"Not once you get used to it." Daniel watched her closely. "Do you still feel there's something menacing us?"

"I…" Carolyn raised helpless shoulders. "Yes and no…"

"I will call for Lucius as soon as we get back home," Daniel replied. "We will scout the realm beyond and anything near that may be the source of your worries."

"Thank you…" Carolyn breathed. "I'm sure it's nothing. It's probably just my hormones trying to strike a balance."

"I will keep you safe." Her husband held out his free hand invitingly. "But, for now, since you're out and bed and here with me…"

Wary of his intent and the mischievous look in his moon-darkened eyes, Carolyn placed her small hand within his. "Come back to bed," she invited softly, tugging on his fingers. "I'm too wide awake to sleep now, anyway. And I can think of a sure way to warm you up…"

"So can I…" Her husband smiled as he tightened his grip and suddenly propelled her into the water beside him, turning to catch her in his arms and bring her upright and against his chest as her feet touched the bottom.

"Oh, look what you've done…" Carolyn shook her head, even if she couldn't hide her sensual smile. "Now we're both wet." She slid her arms around his neck and her fingers through his damp curls.

"But you're not cold…" Daniel replied as he held her closer to him, slowly drawing up both hems of her nightwear to her hips with one hand. "Besides, we might be interrupted if we went inside now. I swear the twins seem to know the very moment we're waking up."

"Yes, you've got a good point there…" Carolyn whispered as she parted her legs around his waist, settling her lower body more fully against his.

"Good morning, Mrs Gregg…" Daniel whispered against the side of her neck as he sank slowly to the sandy bottom until only their heads and shoulders were above the water. "We don't have long…"

"Then stop talking and kiss me…" Carolyn urged, her fingers tangling in his curls.

Her husband kissed the tip of her nose. "Say, please…"

"Please…" Carolyn didn't need any further urging as she rose against him into the first early streaks of the dawn. "I love you so much…"

"With your love I was born again…" Daniel replied as their entwined bodies merged with the water and the moonlight. There was no longer any need for words.

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