He gently squeezed her hand. “Go on.”
Glancing to where the boat had been pulled ashore, she was surprised to see it gone.
In answer to the question in her eyes, Jonathan said, “They’ll be back later.”
She realized that for this moment, nay, for this day, she was free. No one was about, except her and Jonathan. There were no boundaries. She could not stop the smile that ached her cheeks as she looked at Jonathan. Just for one day, she would not do what was expected of her.
Oh, I may pay for this recklessness, but I will live!
She took him by the shoulders and spun him around. “Hide your eyes.” She pushed him gently towards the water. “And do not turn back to me until I say to.”
She pulled up her skirt hem enough to remove her slippers and hose, and carefully lay them aside. With her feet now naked in the warm sand, she sifted the rough grains between her toes and looked at Jonathan. He stood at the water’s edge, facing the ocean, hands clasped behind his back. His unbound hair, held back by the breeze, flowed freely over wide shoulders, his pants tightly gripping his legs.
Yes. This day is my own.
“Turn around,” she commanded, and laughed as she wiggled her foot, showing him her feet were bare.
He beckoned her to the water’s edge. “After you, milady,” he said, with a most courtly bow.
She inclined her head in response and stood tentatively in the water, her skirts lifted modestly above her ankles. It felt cool against her skin, the small waves swirling sand over her feet.
“Oh! I cannot move my feet!” she laughed, fighting to keep her balance. Jonathan was there in a moment, holding her firm about her waist. Laughing, she spun around and scooped water, splashing Jonathan before he knew what she was about.
He started toward her, feigning a menacing look.
“’Tis not fair play! You cannot accost a lady!” she admonished. She turned and ran as fast as she could, her gown dragging in the water.
“’Tis not fair, you say?” he laughed as he gave chase.
Lunging toward her, he lost his footing and landed in the water. He rolled onto his back, his chest heaving with laughter.
Catherine spun around to face him.
“You are a sprite, milady,” he said, panting. He held his hand out. “Pray, have mercy on me and help me rise.”
She stopped just beyond his reach and eyed him cautiously, an eyebrow raised, questioning his intentions. He looked at her with such innocence, her caution melted away. She offered her hand, but lost her balance when he pulled her down into the water next to him.
“Now this is fair play!” His laughter flowed at her scowl.
“Oh...you!” She lunged at him, but he caught her wrists and held her at a distance, but close enough for her to feel the heat of his body.
She stopped struggling against him knowing full well she was no match for his strength, nor did she wish to struggle against him. She was just happy to be so near.
He was too beautiful for words. His hair was tousled, dripping wet about his face and his wide grin revealed perfectly straight white teeth.
She bit her lip, her body already reacting to the knowledge of what it felt like to touch his chest and the rippling lines of his stomach.
Then she giggled, imaging what a sight she must be. Her own hair had fallen about her shoulders, wet with the salty water, and her dress, soaked through, felt tight against her skin. Suddenly, she was all too aware of his searing gaze.
She had one day alone with him. One day to explore the depths of her feelings for him. She wanted, nay, needed to be truly one with him. She looked around. The beach, though empty, provided little privacy. There is one place, she thought, that could offer such; a cave, where as a child, she hid to escape the pain of her mother’s death.
“Come with me.” She pulled her wrists from his grasp and stood.
He studied her with narrowed eyes, twinkling slivers of amusement. “What revenge do you have planned for me?” he teased. “Should I be frightened?”
She considered what she was about to do. “Nay.” A blush colored her cheeks. She ducked her head, avoiding his eyes. “It is I who should be frightened.”
She turned and began the walk toward the rocky walls that turned sharply to face the ocean, leaving Jonathan to scramble to his feet and chase after her.
“I’d follow you anywhere, Catherine, but might you tell me where you are leading me?”
She glanced sideways at him. The desire in his eyes had cooled a bit, replaced with curiosity.
“A place I went as a child when I wanted to be alone. ‘Tis there, around those rocks. I do not believe many know of it.”
“And you trust me with this knowledge?” he laughed.
Catherine nodded, granting him a small smile. If only he knew what else I will trust him with.
They rounded the rocks, stepping gingerly over the seaweed sprawled on the sand, its salty stench assaulting their noses. She peered around the corner. There it was. The gaping hole in the cliff. Over time the entrance had eroded further by the punishing assault of the waves.
She ducked her head to step into the cave and waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness inside. The air smelled dank, causing her to wrinkle her nose, but was much the same as she remembered it. The sand where she stood never dried, she recalled, but farther inside the cave, where it sloped upwards, the sand was soft and untouched by the tide.
“Catherine?”
She turned as the already dim light darkened even more. The mouth of the cave was blocked by Jonathan’s silhouette, his shoulders almost spanning the width of the entrance. The walls reverberated with his potency.
With trembling hands, she pulled on the ties of her gown. She breathed deeply as the bodice loosened and she felt the gown fall away slightly from her skin. As the moments passed, anticipation took to seed, growing palpably around them. Jonathan moved not a muscle, though Catherine could see his body poised and controlled. Keeping her eyes on him, she slid her gown off her shoulders and carefully pushed the sleeves down her arms. For a moment her courage waned and she stopped, feeling woefully inexperienced in the art of seduction.
Jonathan instantly closed the gap between them and tangled his hand in her hair, pulling her face to his. His kiss was hot, fierce, instantly setting her on fire. He teased her mouth until she parted her lips. His tongue, velvet heat, stroked her own and branded it as his.
She released the grip on her gown and twined her arms about his neck. She could taste in his kiss that he wanted her as desperately as she wanted him. It was a heady feeling, an aphrodisiac that took over. “Touch me,” she whispered against his lips.
He pulled back and looked down upon her for a long, agonizing moment. “Catherine…”
Her body ached for his touch. Anywhere and everywhere. “Please.”
Slowly, with one hand still fisted in her hair, Jonathan trailed the other down her neck to rest just above the soft swell of her breasts.
She arched and pressed upwards in encouragement. “Please,” she begged again.
His fingers tugged at the top of her gown and gently pulled it down, freeing her from the confines of the fabric.
She bit her lip at the sudden desire to be more for him. She wanted him to think she was perfect. She looked down at herself, wondering…was she good enough for him?
“Look at me, Catherine.”
She raised her eyes and all doubt vanished.
His fingers followed the crevice and touched her lightly beneath her breasts before cupping her fullness in his hand.
She couldn’t have looked away if she wanted to. And still he hesitated.
She pressed into his hand, wanting him to take more. “I am not a fragile flower, Jonathan. I am a woman grown.”
With a husky moan, he cupped her breast and slowly rubbed his thumb over her nipple, teasing it to a hard peak.
She threw her head back and cried out, reveling in the tiny shivers that raked her bod
y.
He planted steamy kisses on the soft skin beneath her ear, along her jaw, and trailed down her neck, and stopped, resting in the curve of her neck. Pulled hard against his chest, she felt his body quiver against hers, fighting to regain control. Harsh breaths shuddered through his chest as he held very, very still.
“I cannot possibly behave like a gentleman when you bewitch me so, milady.”
“Then,” she whispered, “be not a gentleman and call me not a lady.”
His grasp on her slowly released and Catherine gently pushed him away. They stood apart, yet bound together by undeniable attraction. She dared herself to go on. She slowly raised her hands and hooked her thumbs at the top of her gown, which hung loosely about her waist. She eased it down and pushed it past her hips, letting it crumple to her feet. A shiver ran through her body.
The lack of light concealed the true depths of Jonathan’s reaction as she stood before him. She had the disadvantage of not being able to see his face clearly, but the way he stood so still, muscles coiled tight, she knew neither of them would be turning back from what they were about to do. She could feel the heat from his eyes as he soaked up the sight of her and watched her every move. Encouraged, and driven by her own curiosity, she unhurriedly trailed her fingers up along the length of her thighs, over her lush hips, and across her flat, smooth belly. Her body flushed at the touch of her own hands as they brushed underneath her breasts, smoothing over her nipples before trailing back down again sensuously to her hips. She stepped out from the gown gathered at her feet and stood a fingerbreadth away from Jonathan.
He looked down upon her, his lower lip caught between his teeth. She took his hands in her own and turned with him slightly so that the light shining off the water and pouring into the cave would reflect upon his face.
His amber eyes had turned liquid gold, heavily lidded with desire. He cradled her face in his hands before he treated himself to the taste of her lips in a slow, luxurious kiss, his tongue finding hers once again.
But that was not enough. She needed more. She ached to feel his skin under her hands, her flesh against his. She pulled up hard on his tunic to give her access to what lay beneath. Her hands splayed against the ridges of his stomach and slid up over his powerful chest.
A low growl rumbled deep in his chest when he broke their kiss. He held her face apart from his. But she would not hesitate. She would not waste what moments she still had with him. Her hand snaked around his back, as she touched her tongue to her full lips, swollen by his kisses.
He needed no further encouragement. Jonathan released her and stripped himself of his tunic and untied his breeches, dropping them to the ground.
Catherine’s eyes grew wide at his bronzed skin pulled tight over his wide shoulders, smooth expansive chest, bundled muscles of his arms, rippled stomach, and narrow hips…and his rising desire.
“Catherine…”
“Shh…” she managed to say. “No words. Come.” She pulled him deeper into the cave and turned to him, pressing her body against his, reveling in the searing heat at every point their flesh touched. She felt his hardness against her belly and moved wantonly against the swell.
Pushing away her hair to expose the curve of her neck, he dipped his face and planted feather-light kisses along her jaw and down her throat, his hand stroking the small of her back. He lowered her to the soft sand and, in one fluid motion, he stretched the length of his body next to hers and ran his hand along her waist and hips, drawing her leg up over his.
Her skin flamed anew where he squeezed her buttock, pulling her closer to him. The intimacy with which they lay, with his shaft pressed hard between the moistness of her thighs, fired such an exquisite longing within her. She could not stop herself from touching him wherever she could. Her hands ran over the corded muscles of his shoulders and back, the smooth skin over his tight buttocks. She wanted to know everything about him. She wanted to etch into her memory, right down to her soul, what he felt like.
She never knew her body was so capable of tightening with such pleasure. Her fingers threaded through his thick hair and pulled him into a soul-searing kiss, searching for a release.
But he would grant her no such boon. Sliding his hand slowly up her side and finding its way to her breast, his kiss softened and slowed. He pulled on her lower lip, flicking his tongue at the corner of her mouth. Her sigh of satisfaction melted into a moan when he gently massaged her soft mound, nipping the tight bud between his fingers.
The fever that ran through her when she first kissed him paled when compared to the inferno that melted her now. She thought she would scream in agonizing pleasure when he took her in his mouth to suckle her. She arched her back in response with her breath coming in short bursts.
She shuddered. “Love me now, Jonathan. Please.”
He raised his head and shifted his body over hers, putting his weight on his elbows. Their hearts beat furiously against one another, their flesh hot and slick between them.
His teeth grazed her jaw before nipping the lobes of her ears. Then his words brushed across her even more gently than his touch. “There is no reason to rush. We have much time, my love.”
“No. No time.” She was hungry for him. She wanted him to fill her now, until she no longer felt separate from him. “Now.” She shifted under him until her thighs cradled and tightened around his hips.
He laughed softly. “You are much too impatient.” But he conceded, and slowly slid into her hot, wet tightness.
She gripped his shoulders as she gently filled her, and reveled in the explosive union of body and soul. “More,” she breathed.
When he met resistance against her thin barrier, he stopped.
“Catherine?” Jonathan searched her face for words she might not say. All was quiet but for the noise of the distant ocean as the waves pulsated against the rocks outside.
“Please do not stop,” she pleaded.
“You must be certain.”
“I have never been more certain of anything in my entire life. Please. I want this.”
He nodded as he considered her words. Then he pressed deeper, his hips moving against hers, slowly at first, then stronger as her heat wrapped around him. He thrust hard, penetrating the barrier between them.
Catherine arched against the pain that shot through her and Jonathan’s mouth captured the sounds that would have escaped her lips. He stilled, letting her accustom herself to the size of him inside her.
“You are so beautiful, Catherine.” He rested his forehead against hers. “You cannot possibly know what you do to me.”
The knowledge that she had the power to excite him made her bold. She smiled wantonly. “Show me.”
He studied her, as if weighing her commitment. “As you wish, milady.” He claimed her mouth and began the dizzying torture of seduction, probing her mouth with his tongue. With a long draw on her lower lip, he broke the kiss, and as she wished, he began slow, deep strokes, watching her face as he moved inside her.
The friction against her very core brought her to a precipice where, wave upon wave, the air trapped in her lungs swelled and burst forth, filling her heart, spilling over into her loins, and exploding beyond her very soul. His name stuck in her throat as she gasped for air. She road the crest, clutching his hard buttocks, bringing him closer, and then, when she thought she could go no higher, she shattered into a thousand fiery stars.
His rhythm pounded faster, his thrusts deeper as she tightened her legs around his waist, demanding more of him. He rose above her, filling her, driving harder, before calling out her name with his own release, then collapsing against her.
She unlocked her ankles, sliding her heels up and down the length of his strong thighs. A satisfied smile danced on her lips. She marveled at the way their bodies fit, at the way her skin was still afire where he touched and kissed her, where he lay within her. His back tightened in response to the lazy lines she trailed with her fingers. Planting small kisses upon his shoulder, she strov
e to remember the taste of him upon her lips.
Jonathan rolled to his side and propped himself upon his elbow, watching her, his hand resting protectively across her hip.
She smoothed back the wild tangle of his hair and smiled. “Thank you.”
His brows rose in question.
“For showing me. For giving me something to remember.”
She closed her eyes to his tender caress upon her face, across her shoulders, and down to the hollow space between her breasts.
“Nay, ‘tis you who have given me something to dream about, Catherine. It will be sweet torture until I return.” He leaned close and brushed his lips against hers. “I want more of you. More than this.” He gestured about the cave. “Not just when I find myself in port, but every moment of every day. I want you forever.”
Her heart lurched. Their moments together were stolen at best and the moments were fast running out. Jonathan would leave. Galen and her father would return. What then? What if she failed to convince her father of Jonathan’s worthiness? What if Galen refused to let her go?
Jonathan lifted her chin to search her eyes. “What say you? Am I alone in these feelings? Tell me you want me to return.”
She knew not what tomorrow would bring. But she was certain of one thing. “Aye,” she whispered. “I would like that very, very much.”
Chapter 31
Bryce stared at his clenched hand, a piece of paper choked in its grip. Proof. But what, he thought, if this was just a sick, twisted joke? Brandi certainly wouldn’t be above stooping this low to hurt Eryn. She obviously had a personal vendetta against her. Blinded by his own jealously, he had stepped right in the middle of it. And now Brandi had him by the balls. But if he played along, he thought, he had a good chance of getting out of this with his marriage intact and with Brandi out of their lives for good.
Slowly he eased his fingers open, exposing the crushed page from Eryn’s journal. He ignored the slight trembling of his hands as he pulled the crumpled paper apart and smoothed it out on his desk.
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