With a muttered word, Angel cut the throttle and put the gear into neutral.

“We’ve fouled his line,” Angel said. “Let him reel in and untangle it.”

Hawk stopped trying to bring in the line. Even without his pressure pulling, the joined lines popped above water between the two boats. In the rich sunset light the lines shone like thin silver cables, fairly humming with tension.

The current was pushing the two boats apart, but they remained held together by the slender, surprisingly strong fishing line and the two hooks snagged one through the other.

The man in the blue boat fumbled with the humming line for a moment, but it was far too tightly drawn. He tugged, trying to bring the joined hooks within reach. The current forcing the boats apart was too strong. He leaned out until he nearly fell into the water. He was inches too short.

He shrugged, pulled a knife, and cut the line just above his hook.

Horrified, Angel watched the knife descend. She knew that once the tension was released, the line would come shooting back like a released rubber band; and the deadly hook would be flying behind, a weapon aimed at Hawk, who was holding the rod.

There was no time to explain or to warn Hawk. Angel sprang out of the cockpit, took two running leaps, and threw herself at Hawk’s head, protecting his eyes from the hook that was slashing back through the water.

“What the hell!” Hawk said, automatically grabbing Angel and bracing both of them.

“The hook – ” Angel began as she pulled Hawk’s face down against her breasts.

Then pain took her breath away.

Instantly Hawk realized what had happened. Angel’s hands loosened, releasing him, but he held her tightly while he looked over her shoulder.

Part of the hook’s steel curve was buried in her sweater. The rest was in her flesh, just next to her shoulder blade. As he watched, a single drop of crimson welled silently, staining the soft green sweater.

With a savage curse, Hawk released Angel and pulled a jackknife from his pocket. He looped the fishing line over his fingers and cut through it without putting the least pressure on the hook embedded in Angel’s back.

As soon as Angel was free, she headed back toward the wheel.

“Don’t move,” said Hawk curtly, grabbing her arm.

“We’re drifting.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

Hawk lowered Angel carefully into a seat at the stern of the boat. Then he moved with frightening speed.

Rather than take the time to reel in the two remaining lines, he cut them. An instant later he vanished into the cockpit and lifted the big boat into roaring life.

Within minutes he brought the boat into a sheltered anchorage on the northeast side of Deepwater Bay. In another man such speed would have been reckless. In Hawk, it was as controlled as the swoop of a raptor.

In a few strides he was back at the stern of the boat, lowering the anchor.

“Are you all right?” Hawk asked, looking at the lines of strain around Angel’s mouth.

She started to shrug. Her face tightened as the motion of her shoulders made the hook’s sharp point dig deeper.

“I’ll live,” she said, drawing a slow, careful breath.

Hawk muttered a vicious curse.

“It’s just pain,” said Angel, her voice low.

She closed her eyes for a moment, using her mind to draw tension from her body. She had learned that fighting pain only increased it. If you accepted pain, you could begin to control your response to it. Once Angel had learned that, she had found the courage to live without drugs and walk without a cane.

When Angel’s eyes opened, they were clear, unafraid of pain.

“Let’s see what the damage is,” she said quietly.

Hawk’s eyes narrowed.

“Unless you mind?” she asked, seeing Hawk’s reaction. “If it bothers you, I can call Carlson off the Black Moon.”

As Angel spoke, she looked toward the troller that was anchored a few hundred feet away.

Hawk stared at Angel’s tranquil face, hardly able to believe her calm. If he hadn’t seen blood well beneath her sweater, he wouldn’t have known from her actions that there was a hook buried in her satin flesh.

Grimly Hawk acknowledged that Angel was an actress worthy of any stage in the world.

“I’ve seen worse injuries,” Hawk said curtly.

He followed Angel into the cabin and switched on all the lights. When he turned around, Angel was sitting with her back presented to the strongest source of light.

Hawk knelt beside her. His mouth thinned to a harsh line when he saw the blood seeping through the soft green yarn of Angel’s sweater. With exquisite gentleness, he eased the sweater over the steel curve and straight shank of the hook, managing not to exert any pressure on the hook itself.

When Hawk saw beneath the sweater, he said a single, violent word under his breath. The hook was almost as long as his thumb. He could see neither the hook’s glittering tip nor the barb that was designed to sink into flesh and stay there.

“It’s in past the barb, isn’t it?” Angel asked.

Only the slightest quiver in her voice showed how much the hook hurt her.

“Yes.”

She moved as though to take off her sweater.

“Don’t, Angel. I can see enough.”

“If the entry angle isn’t too steep, you can push the barb through, cut if off, and then remove the hook,” she said. “Otherwise you’ll have to cut the skin to free the barb.”

Angel’s matter-of-fact words exactly paralleled Hawk’s thoughts.

“Either way, it will hurt like hell,” he said bluntly.

“Then you’ll get to hear your fishing guide scream and swear and otherwise make a fool of herself.”

When Hawk didn’t answer, Angel turned just enough to look into his eyes.

“It’s only pain, Hawk. It passes.”

“I could take you to a doctor.”

“Why? You have quicker hands than any doctor who ever treated me.”

“Angel… ”

“There are pliers and a wire cutter in the tackle box. If you don’t want to do it, call Carlson. He’s seen me scream before.”

Hawk hesitated, wanting to ask when and why Carlson had seen Angel scream with pain. But it was the wrong time for questions.

With another soft, vicious curse, Hawk went to the tackle box. He found two pairs of needle nose pliers and the wire cutter. He brought them back, doused them with alcohol, and went to where Angel waited.

“Ready?” asked Hawk, his voice flat.

“Just a moment.”

Angel closed her eyes and reached for the cascading colors. They poured through her mind, colors too beautiful to describe, too pure to be real.

“Now,” she murmured, and began naming the fantastic colors in her mind.

Using the pliers for grip and leverage on the steel shank, Hawk forced the hook to complete its shallow curve through Angel’s flesh. He cut off the barb cleanly, then pulled out what remained of the hook in a swift, smooth motion.

Angel gasped and made a low sound of pain.

Hawk dropped the bloody, broken hook into the tackle box and wrapped his hands around Angel’s arms, bracing her and looking at the twin wounds on her golden skin.

“It’s done,” Hawk said, his voice harsh.

“Thank you,” Angel said, her voice trembling.

She let out a long, ragged sigh.

“When was your last tetanus shot?” Hawk asked.

“I don’t fish with rusty hooks,” said Angel indignantly, breathing more deeply now that the hook didn’t dig into her with each breath. “Anyway, my shots are current. There’s some antibiotic salve in a kit in the tackle box. That should take care of infection.”

Hawk hesitated. “Can you move your shoulder blades, twist around a bit?”

“Why?”

“You’ve only bled about six drops. That’s not enough to clean out the deepest part of the wound.”

Angel rotated her shoulder blades slowly. Her sweater slipped down her back. She gathered the soft folds and pulled them over her head with an impatient motion.

Hawk’s breath shortened at the satin sheen and movement of Angel’s skin. She wore no more on her back than a wisp of apricot bra and two bright drops of blood, one on each wound left by the hook as it stitched through her flesh. Despite her movements, no more blood came.

“This will hurt,” said Hawk.

It was his only warning. One arm slid around Angel’s waist and the other crossed just above her breasts as he bent his mouth to her back. He sucked hard on first one wound, then the other. The force of his suction drew blood, which naturally cleansed her flesh.

After an initial, sharp breath, Angel neither moved nor protested. The intimacy of Hawk’s hard arms and lips held her motionless. His mouth should have hurt her, but all she felt was his heat and strength.

For an instant before Hawk lifted his head, Angel thought she felt his mouth soften and caress her. When she turned to look at him, she saw a drop of her blood on his lips.

“Are you all right?” asked Hawk.

His voice was husky in the odd, breathless silence that had closed around the cabin.

Angel nodded. Her fingertip slowly came up to Hawk’s mouth. Before she could touch the crimson trembling on his lip, his tongue moved, absorbing the drop. His eyes darkened almost to black as the salt-sweet taste of her spread through him. Slowly he stood and pulled Angel to her feet.

“You’re pale,” he said softly. “Lie down on the forward bunk. I’ll bring in the salve and bandages.”

Angel swayed slightly. She felt weak, almost dizzy – and foolish. It was Hawk’s closeness, not pain, that was affecting her so strongly.

With a swift movement, Hawk opened the small door on the far side of the cockpit. Gently he helped Angel onto the triangular bed that filled the space beneath the bow. She lay facedown, listening to him move about the cabin behind her. There was enough room for her to sit up in the bow, but she didn’t. She was content to just to lie quietly, waiting for Hawk to come to her.