Cape Storm Page 0,25

and felt the fiery stroke of his hands over my back, down my hips, between my thighs...

I gasped and dropped my head to the pillow as the relentless pleasure of him filled me.

Nothing mattered in that moment - only the need, the all-encompassing need to feel. Every thrust traveled through my body in shattering waves, as intense as any sensation I'd ever known. I heard David whispering in that liquid, sibilant language that I knew must have been his native tongue, the language of fire, of Djinn. I didn't know the words, but I heard the music - dark, delicious, and utterly abandoned.

He knew just the right spot to hit to shatter me completely. I screamed as another orgasm flooded me like boiling light. It spilled into him, triggering a matching explosion that rocked us both to the core.

The room was full of light.

I caught my breath to hold on to the pure, silvery perfection of that moment, riding the waves, feeling them slowly and gently diminish.

We hadn't said a word, not in English. David still didn't. He continued to move inside me -

slow, gentle strokes - and kissed the small of my back. It was the gentlest gesture after such an aggressive, passionate coupling, and it promised me, without the luxury of words, that whatever boundaries we found ourselves crossing, he would always lead me back.

David eased down next to me on the bed, flushed and glowing and triumphant. Human, and not.

So much power and control, made vulnerable through me.

I felt a tingle of heat in my back. No. Not now. It faded, more like a warning than an attack.

I curled into David's body and recovered my breath. Despite everything the past few hours flooded back, bringing guilt and regret. What right do I have to be happy? I had none.

Maybe I never would. That wasn't safe. I couldn't surrender control like that, not with Bad Bob's mark on my back. What if he'd taken advantage of that moment to strike? What if he'd taken control?

"Jo." David's voice was rough, not quite steady. When I looked up into his eyes, I recognized the expression. "I see I can't make the world stop for long. And you think too much."

"I was just thinking what a terrible risk that was," I said. "Because - "

"Because of the mark."

I nodded. He lifted himself up on one elbow and looked down at me, golden skin still shimmering in the light, flushed in all the right places.

"I know," he said, and trailed his fingertips over the line of my collarbone. "But you're my wife, and no matter what the risks might be, that matters more to me."

"I love you," I whispered. "But you need to be careful. Especially with me." His smile was warm enough to light every candle in the world. "I was, at first. But I fell in love with you instead. Now there is no safety from you." I burrowed close to him, and his arms wrapped around me, and for the moment it was all quiet. All peace.

"For as long as we live," he said, and kissed the top of my head. "Which means forever, if I have any say in it."

Chapter Four

It wasn't heaven, but it was damn close. For the next couple of hours I slept, curled in David's protective arms, feeling safe for the first time I could remember. The motion of the ship was rhythmic and soothing, and for a little while the world did go away, after all.

I could almost - almost - believe it was a honeymoon cruise.

Right up until Cherise threw open the bedroom door and stood there, panting, staring at us with eyes that didn't really see us at all.

"You'd better get out here," she said, as David sat up. I did too, swiping hair back from my face and grabbing at the thousand-thread-count sheets as they threatened to slide away.

Cherise, shockingly, didn't seem to notice any of that - not even David's exposed chest, which frankly should have at least gotten a double take, or a stare, or a patented Cherise come-on.

She just delivered her message and dashed away.

"That's not like her," David said, swinging his legs out of bed. "Is it?"

"Nope. Clothes?"

"Closet." He was already heading there. He pulled open the door and inside was a rainbow of choices, some for him, some for me.

"Underwear?" I asked.

He raised eyebrows. "Is it absolutely necessary?"

"Right now? Yes."

"Top drawer." He nodded toward a delicate-looking dresser, something that would have made