come back only as fragments. The fact I remembered you at all is something that shouldn't have happened—" She realized suddenly that she'd just revealed too much about herself. Oh, God. What was he doing to her? Making her break rules left and right? Suddenly scared of how dangerous he was to her, she tightened her grip on the pearl, comforted by the fact she still had it as her protection. "I mean—"
"I know you die and come back," Ian interrupted. "You don't need to hide it." He held his shirt toward her again and this time there was no mistaking the blazing heat in his eyes. "But I'm glad to know that our lovemaking was so significant that you recall it at least on some level, even though you shouldn't have been able to. Clearly, I really did blow your mind." And just like that, his torment seemed to disappear, swallowed up by the sheer force of his will, shoved back into whatever dungeon he kept it in, as if the mere acknowledgment that he had affected her had given him some sense of peace. "Put this on, Alice."
She stared at his tee shirt, still dripping with ocean water. "What? Why?" She didn't understand this man. Not her response to him, not his response to her, and now? His shirt? "Are you trying to claim me like some teenage couple? Wear my letter jacket and we'll be going steady?"
He cocked his eyebrow. "No, but if that would work, I'd go back to high school and join the football team. It'd be easier than dealing with you cutting me off all the time."
She blinked at his haunted tone. Was he really affected by her trying to put space between them? "Then why do you want me to wear your shirt?"
"Because," he said, his voice low with desire so intense that it vibrated through her, "as absolutely breathtaking as your naked body is, and as much as I want to haul you into my arms and run my hands over every inch of it, the fact that there are two other men watching you is not something that I'm going to handle well in about thirty seconds."
Alice's stomach dropped at his possessiveness, and fear pulsed more strongly through her. Fear not just of the way he was behaving, but also of the fact that a part of her seemed to preen and bask at his claim on her. Using any excuse to break from his stare, she glanced over his shoulder at the other men, the ones she'd forgotten about completely the moment she'd seen Ian rise out of the water like the god of the sea himself.
Both Ry and the other man were still watching her. They didn't seem to be checking out her body. They were watching her face, and their feet were braced in a battle stance. Warriors who were waiting for something to happen, who were primed to leap into action. What were they expecting? What did they all know that she didn't?
Ry nodded once, his eyes turbulent with evil and darkness. "He's right, my lady," he said, his voice far more deferential than she would ever have expected from a man who carried such a dark presence. "You being naked is going to be a major problem very quickly. Ian's a little unstable these days, I'm no ball of sunshine, and we don't have time to get in a brawl."
She glanced back at Ian, and was startled to see that he wasn't denying Ry's comment. "He's right, Alice. I'm a fucking mess these days. Humor me." Violence began to swirl around her, and it was coming right from Ian. "Now, Alice," he said. "Just do it."
His eyes had darkened to a possessive dark brown that made chills run down her spine. She couldn't belong to him. That would destroy everything. "No," she protested, taking another step back, trying desperately to take back her space. "I have my own clothes. I'll put those on." She turned to head toward the beach, but Ian caught her arm, stepping in front of her so he blocked both her own path and the view of the other men.
"I know where your clothes are," he said, his voice low and rough, as if he were fighting to contain himself. "I saw them when I got here. If you go get them, you will be walking right toward Ry and Vaughn with every inch of your unbelievable body exposed." His grip tightened