words to my husband the last time I saw him. How long ago was that? Three weeks? A month?
Too long.
Oh, the irony. I ran from that man for two years. And now, I missed him horribly.
My throat closed, my world stilling to a dismal, eye-opening view of my situation. For the first time since jumping from Jade’s bow, I was looking at the real chance of survival. That meant I had to consider the future.
I was married to a man I loved. I loved another man who didn’t know I was married. Choosing between them wasn’t an option. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. I’d rather drown beneath a burning ship.
Ashley wrapped his wet body around mine and pulled me close to all his tempting male heat. His lips fell upon my neck, kissing, nuzzling, and governing the rhythm of my pulse. I melted into the velvet blanket of his chest, so firm and hot, not a dream but real flesh and blood. My man. He belonged to me and no one else.
Heat tangled between my legs. His mouth ravished my skin. I sank into it, into him, and froze.
It felt wrong.
I felt like a fraud.
Pushing at his arms, I wrenched myself away and climbed out of the pool.
I had to tell him about Priest.
I needed to tell Priest about Ashley.
Unless Priest was dead.
A lump lodged in my throat. No, I couldn’t think that way. I would never give up on my husband’s life. He’d outsmarted and outlived every person who’d ever underestimated him.
“We should get moving.” Stomach in knots, I wrung the wetness from my curls and started walking west.
Water splashed behind me, and strong fingers caught my arm, swinging me around.
“I wasn’t trying to…” Ashley raked a hand through his wet hair, and his gaze dipped, roaming over my shredded garment, which was now soaked, transparent, and clinging to my body.
My nipples, the shadow of curls between my legs, everything was on display.
I cocked my head, trying to read him. Was he repulsed knowing another man had defiled me so despicably?
“I want you.” His throat worked for a moment, seeming to push forth words that wouldn’t come. His hand, still scrubbing over his hair, wilted to his nape. “God help me, how could I not? You’re painfully, inconceivably the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen. I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t want you in every way, right now, right there in the water, despite the horrors and abuse your body has endured over the past two weeks. I. Want. You. Selfishly and completely. I want to fuck every torment out of your mind and soul until I’m all that’s left.” He took a breath, his voice softening. “But I would never expect you to want me in that way so soon after…him.”
Something shifted in my chest, locking in place. “Ashley—”
“Be silent.” He held up a finger, glaring at me. “When I pulled you against me in the pool, I wasn’t trying to take from you. I love you. That goes beyond lust. It surpasses carnal pleasure. What I feel for you is deep and fierce and so strong, Bennett. I finally have you back and…” He pressed a fist against his chest. “My heart knows it. And my body knows it. So when I feel your beauty beneath my hands, I harden, thinking about you taking me where you’re deep and fierce and strong.” He straightened, his expression stony. “Damn it all, I’m not saying this decently. I was bred to be a damned gentleman, and I don’t know how to be gentle.”
“Right.” I blew out a breath, my pulse humming through my veins. “First of all, I love you, too. Second, you’ve never been gentle or decent with me. Never treated me like a fragile maiden. Don’t you dare start now.”
“Is there a third point?”
“No, I—”
He was on me before I could blink.
Ashley’s mouth collided with mine, his warm lips parting seductively with the drive of his urgent tongue. He was an assertive kisser before, but now, his passion felt reckless, desperate, as if every stroke was a command to forget, every lick an insistence that I heal.
I surrendered willingly, my body throbbing to give where it had been defiled, all those delicate parts aching to feel his fullness. By the time he let me breathe, I didn’t want air. I just wanted him.
“Fuck me, Ashley.” I palmed the thick, hard swelling in his breeches. “Fuck every torment out of my mind and soul until you’re