Love Song For A Raven

by Elizabeth Lowell

  When Janna knew she could absorb no more of the emotional currents sweeping through and around her, she found a log that was thickly encrusted with moss, sat down and was soon lost in her sketches. Several hours passed before she looked up. Raven was back. She could sense his presence as surely as she had sensed that the Queen Charlottes were islands set apart from time. She looked over her shoulder and smiled. Raven’s black eyes kindled in response.

  „How long have you been there?“ she asked.

  „Long enough to admire your stillness, your concentration, your elegance,“ he said in a deep, soft voice. „You’re like a doe listening for danger at the edge of the forest.“

  Janna’s eyes widened to reveal silver-green depths. She had never thought of herself as elegant or doelike. The realization that Raven saw those qualities in her was an immaterial caress shivering over her.

  „Are you ready for a break?“ Raven asked, glancing down at the sketch pad.

  „My hand is numb,“ she admitted. „It’s been a long time since I’ve drawn for that many hours. There’s so much here, so many emotions, so little time to capture even the smallest echo of Eden—“

  Raven took the pad and pencils from Janna and packed them carefully. „Follow me,“ he said, shouldering the rucksack. „I have something I want to show you.“

  She followed without question as he turned back to the forest that knew neither trail nor the possession of man. Within moments the sea was invisible, its sounds and scents lost.

  Nothing penetrated the mist-haunted silence but the distant cry of a raven.

  „Stay in my footsteps,“ he cautioned. „We have to walk the edge of a small bog.“

  Soon the forest in front of them thinned dramatically, giving way to a clearing, where stunted evergreens struggled to maintain a toehold in land too wet to support them. The surface appeared solid, but Raven’s footprints glistened with water squeezed from the humus by his weight. Water stood in small pools stained the color of tea by tannin leached from the surrounding forest. The water trickled away in small rills and rivulets until they came together in a creek. The water was absolutely clean, utterly unique in its amber clarity.

  A small cabin stood just beyond the bog. The walls were of weathered cedar and the roof was finished with cedar shingles. Moss grew from every crevice between the shingles and clung to the walls. Yet the cabin was new rather than old; windows gleamed against the darker backdrop of the forest and the front door was finished with metal hinges.

  „How did you find it?“ Janna asked softly as she came up to stand beside Raven.

  „I built it with my own hands.“

  She turned and looked at him. His eyes were very black, yet like the creek they were crystalline in their clarity. He was looking at the tiny cabin but he was seeing something else from his past, something that haunted him. His high cheekbones, straight nose and the powerful line of his jaw had never looked more solid, more elemental, a man carved from the enduring things of the earth.

  „Come,“ Raven said quietly, turning to Janna and holding out his hand.

  The hard warmth of Raven’s palm sent a tremor through Janna. She laced her fingers deeply with his as he led her to the cabin. There was no lock on the door, no bolt, nothing to keep out intruders. In Eden there were no intruders, just one man and one woman and the land that knew no time.

  Raven opened the door, lifted Janna into his arms and carried her into the shelter that he had built years ago. He left the door open, inviting in the fragrance of cedar and the unearthly radiance of mist-filtered light. There was little furniture in the room – a table, a chair, shelves that held shells and glass fishing floats that had drifted across the empty Pacific to be washed up on a distant shore. A fire was laid in a hearth that had been built from water-smoothed beach stones. Blankets had been folded to make a sleeping pallet close to the hearth.

  „I would have brought you here sooner,“ Raven said as he kissed Janna’s hair, „but there’s only one room, only one place to sleep, and I was trying very hard to keep my hands off you.“ He smiled almost sadly. „I failed rather spectacularly, didn’t I?“

  „I’m glad,“ Janna said, pressing her lips against the corded muscles of his neck. „I love your hands on me, Raven.“

  His powerful arms flexed as he whispered her name, shifting her in his grasp until he could capture her mouth. The taste of him swept through her like a wind from the sea. She made a small sound at the back of her throat as she felt herself sliding over his hard body. With one arm he caught her hips against his own and moved slowly. She shivered and clung to his strength, knowing again the elemental pleasure of having him desire her.

  Reluctantly Raven let Janna slide the rest of the way down his body until her feet touched the floor. He bit her lips in a series of tiny, hard kisses that made her breath break into a moan. When his tongue thrust slowly into her mouth she moved against him with sensual abandon. He groaned, let his mouth mate with hers for a wild moment, then lifted his head.

  „No more,“ he said almost roughly.

  „Why not?“ Janna murmured, standing on tiptoe to kiss the pulse beating violently in Raven’s throat.

  „Because I promised myself that I would feed you first.“

  „What a lovely idea,“ she murmured, kicking out of her tennis shoes and stepping out of her jeans and panties with a few quick motions. „I thought you hadn’t noticed that there were a few paragraphs you overlooked.“

  „Help,“ Raven said, but his smile said that the long, curving length of Janna’s body was beautiful to him.

  „You know,“ Janna said as she began to unbutton the big shirt that fit her like a dress.

  Then she looked up and saw Raven’s smile and decided that the shirt could wait. She would much rather touch him. With fingers that trembled she opened his flannel shirt, discovering the male textures of hair and hard muscle beneath.

  „What paragraphs?“ Raven persisted, though his pulse beat visibly, strongly, quickening with every touch of her mouth.

  „That shelf of books that I read.“

  „Are you trying to tell me that last night I overlooked some paragraphs that intrigued you?“ Raven’s breath hissed in as Janna’s tongue traced the flat disk of his nipple. He groaned when her teeth scraped delicately over him, bringing him to a hard point that she teased with her lips. „Did I miss something?“ he asked hoarsely.

  „Only the paragraphs dealing with ways to pleasure a man. An understandable oversight on your part,“ Janna added, smiling as she found and nuzzled Raven’s other nipple into erect sensitivity. „After all,“ she pointed out reasonably, „I’m not a man.“

  Raven’s big hand smoothed over her bare, silky hip and then tangled in the warm thatch of hair between her thighs. She was incredibly soft, hot, melting at his touch, and the knowledge that she wanted him as much as he wanted her made him feel heavy and very male.

  „You’re right,“ he said deeply, sliding his fingertips into Janna’s utterly feminine heat. „You’re definitely not a man,“ he groaned, loving her soft flesh with slow movements of his hand. „And I thank God for it.“

  Janna’s fingers clenched on Raven’s belt as she felt the first shimmering forerunners of ecstasy stream through her. Biting her lip against a moan, she tugged at the belt buckle until it opened. Beneath her fingers the warm metal buttons on Raven’s jeans gave way with soft popping sounds.

  „Janna…“

  Raven’s breath caught and his hips jerked reflexively against her caressing hands. His fingers closed over hers, preventing her from undressing him.

  „Raven?“ she asked softly, kissing the suddenly hot skin of his chest. „Don’t you want me to touch you?“

  He made a tearing sound that could have been laughter or a curse. „I’d die to have you touch me,“ he said roughly. „But if you take off my jeans, I’m going to open your legs and…“ The words ended in a groan when Janna’s fingers caressed Raven through the soft cotton of his underwear. „
Don’t undress me,“ he growled, dragging his open mouth across her forehead, her cheek, her lips, tasting her, needing her. „There are other ways I want to love you before I slide into you.“

  „Whatever you say,“ Janna murmured as she eased her fingers into the front opening of Raven’s briefs.

  She felt every muscle in his body tighten when she discovered and freed his erect flesh, bringing it into her caressing hands.

  „Janna-“

  „You’re still dressed,“ she pointed out, slowly stroking Raven with hands that were both gentle and possessive, smiling at his hot response.

  „You can get arrested for being ‘dressed’ like this,“ he retorted, stifling a groan of pure sensual pleasure as she rubbed slowly over him.

  „There aren’t any police in paradise,“ Janna said dreamily, absorbed in appreciating the results of her handiwork. When Raven didn’t answer, she glanced up almost guiltily. His face was drawn, and his eyes were narrow black slits. „You don’t mind being – “

  „Looked at the way a cat looks at cream?“ offered Raven.

  His smile made Janna weak. „Is that how I’m looking at you?“ she whispered.

  „Yes,“ he said huskily. „And it makes me feel ten feet tall and as hard as the mountains.“

  „You are.“

  „Only with you,“ he said, shuddering heavily and thrusting between her palms. „Only with you.“

  With a harsh sound Raven buried one hand in Janna’s thick auburn hair, pulling her head back until her body arched into his. With his other hand he began unbuttoning her shirt, but the sweet fire of her fingers kept distracting him.

  „You’re hell on my clothes.“ Raven rasped.

  His arm flexed and the shirt parted beneath his big hand, sending buttons flying. He rubbed his palm across the hardened tip of Janna’s breast until she called his name on a broken sound of pleasure. He caught the sensitive nipple between his fingers and tugged, smiling fiercely as she moaned.

  „Come closer,“ Raven said, his voice so deep it was a growl. „Closer, small warrior. I’ll show you another way to tease me. And you. Oh God, come closer!“

  Raven’s fingers shifted, sliding down Janna’s body until he could rub lightly over the softness hidden between her legs. When she opened to invite a deeper touch he smiled and moved his hips suddenly, sliding his hot flesh between her legs. Her eyes widened with surprise and then became heavy-lidded with pleasure as his hips moved again. She held him more tightly against herself and moved her hips in turn, stroking him, watching him, enjoying the frank sensuality of his smile. Her fingers pressed him closer and then closer still, wanting more of him, needing him in a way that shook her.

  „Raven, I…“

  Janna’s breath caught in a moan as she felt heat spreading out from her body, heat caressing Raven’s male flesh, heat pleading for him to share it as it was meant to be shared…deeply. She opened her eyes and saw his face contorted as though he were in torment. She knew then that he wanted her so much that not taking her was agony for him. Instinctively she shifted, guiding him, pressing him into her softness. But that only increased the sweet agony, reminding them with every breath what it would be like to be completely joined.

  Raven’s eyes opened suddenly, utterly black, nearly wild with need. The pallet was across the room. It might as well have been across the world. He had to be inside Janna. He had to have her now. His arms closed around her with sudden, savage strength.

  „Wrap your legs around me,“ he said, lifting her without warning. „Put your arms around my neck now and – yes – now!“ he said hoarsely, thrusting into her welcoming body, feeling her close hotly around him.

  Raven knew that his hands were probably bruising Janna with their powerful grip, but he couldn’t force himself to let go. She was demanding him, every bit of him, with an abandon he could only fiercely enjoy. He drove into her again and again, watching her eyes haze with silver as she began to come apart in his arms. He felt the tiny ecstatic ripples deep within her body, the spreading satin heat of her response, and he savored her nails pricking him with each sweet cry that was torn from her lips. He fought to control himself but it was impossible, the pleasure he felt was too savage, too deep, pulse after pulse of ecstasy pouring out of him, shaking him to his soul.

  Janna closed her eyes and rested her head on Raven’s powerful shoulder as she whispered her love too softly for him to hear.

  But he did hear. He spoke her name in the silence of his mind, apologizing for keeping her in his savage Eden, promising to release her in just one more day, giving her back to her own life. Just one more day, one among thousands.

  I think I’ve loved you since the moment you pulled me out of the sea.

  Raven brushed his lips over Janna’s hair and wished bitterly that gratitude were another name for love.

  Chapter 8

  Janna watched the harbor at Masset slide closer with every instant. Futilely she wished that the Black Star’s engines would fail or that the storm could have lasted a few more days, a few more weeks, forever. But that was a dream. Reality was Raven guiding the boat smoothly to a rest against the commercial dock to fill up on fuel. Reality was the fact that Raven had said nothing to her about seeing her again after she walked off the boat. Reality was a numbness spreading through Janna’s soul, freezing her.

  Raven glanced at Janna and then quickly looked away. The closer they had come to Masset, the more she had retreated from him. He wasn’t surprised by her withdrawal, but he was surprised by the tearing pain that he felt because of it. He had known nothing like it, even when Angel had turned on him in her rage and her despair. He wanted to go to Janna and hold her close against his body, to hear her words of love just once more. The temptation was almost overwhelming.

  Grimly Raven flexed his hands on the wheel, relaxing them. It was bad enough that he had taken Janna when she would have been vulnerable to any man. If he prolonged his own pleasure at her expense any longer, he wouldn’t be able to meet his own eyes in the shaving mirror.

  „Want ‘em topped, Raven?“ called the lanky boy running the pumps.

  Raven waved his agreement without looking up.

  Because it hurt too much to watch Raven, Janna turned her attention to the boy. He had black hair and dark brown eyes and a promise of future power in his long body. Janna noticed his confidence as he tied off the boat and wondered if Raven had looked like that as a teenager. The realization that she would never know was another kind of pain lancing through her.

  „You seen Uncle yet?“ asked the boy.

  „No,“ Raven said, vaulting easily up onto the dock. Other men hailed him. He waved in answer, but didn’t look away from the boy.

  „Did he want me for something? Is that gallery agent holding up payment again?“

  Raven’s voice sounded unusually deep, impossibly resonant, carrying across the water like the tone of a perfectly cast bell. For the first time in days Janna was conscious of Raven’s sheer size. He was literally head and shoulders above the men around him. Yet to her it was the other men who looked wrong, different, out of place, unreal. Raven had become the standard against which she measured others. The realization shocked her.

  „Nah,“ the boy muttered, jiggling the nozzle against the boat. „That agent ain’t said nothing but yessir and nosir since you told him there was plenty of white galleries that’d take Uncle’s carvings, pay him on time and kiss his Indian ass in the bargain.“

  Janna saw Raven’s razor smile and realized that although he had always cherished her, even at the times of his greatest need, there was a core of cold savagery in him – and that he used it to protect those he loved.

  „Glad to hear it,“ Raven said with satisfaction. „What’s the problem, then?“

  „Uncle says he’s falling in love and it’s all your fault.“ Strong white teeth gleamed in the boy’s tanned face.

  „Oh?“ Raven grumbled. „What have I done now?“

  The boy jerked his chin in t
he direction of the land. „You left her in Uncle’s lap while she was waiting for you to get back from Totem Inlet.“

  Janna saw Raven turn and look up the dock toward land. Suddenly his face was transformed, all darkness gone, a broad smile flashing as he held out his arms. The slender blonde who had been sneaking down the dock to surprise Raven laughed and ran toward him openly, throwing herself into his arms with the confidence of a woman who knows she will be caught and held securely. Raven’s big arms closed around her, and he whirled around and around on the dock while the woman laughed joyously and clung to him.

  Feeling as though she were being spun around herself, Janna swayed and then leaned against the cabin wall, wondering where all her strength had gone. She could barely stand. Only then did she admit to herself how much she had hoped that a man as passionately and wildly aroused as Raven had been when they made love must have been at least a little bit involved with his emotions as well as his body.

  Oh, he’s in love, all right, Janna admitted to herself. But not with me. I was just a temporary Eve in Raven’s own savage Eden.

  Janna looked away from the slender, elegant blonde who was only now being set down on feet shod in Italian leather sandals. Glumly Janna looked at her own feet. They were covered by tennis shoes that were cracked from repeated bouts with salt water and the galley oven. The unflattering comparisons didn’t stop there, either. Instead of wearing a clingy sea-green sweater, her own body was draped in an oversize man’s shirt whose sleeves kept coming unrolled over her knuckles. Instead of smooth, scented hands, her own were chapped by seawater and covered by various nicks and welts that had come from wrestling with stubborn oyster shells.