“No.” She recoiled as if he offered her a snake. “You go home, Ian. I have no interest in living by your rules ever again. I like it here.”
Ian stiffened. “Alicia—”
“No.” She staggered farther into the yard. “You will not control me. No one will. I do as I please.” Thunder rumbled and large drops of rain spattered the silk of her dress. She laughed, dancing in a circle as she unbuttoned the bodice and bared her breasts. “Daniel, come dance with me.”
Ian’s face reddened. “Stop this behavior, young lady. I raised you to be better than a common whore.”
Izzy fisted her hands. Damn the little bitch for hurting him. Couldn’t he see what she’d become? Just like before, he wouldn’t let go. Why couldn’t he just give up and walk away?
The gris-gris bag zinged a scorching sting to her chest. Because Ian doesn’t walk away. He never gives up on those he loves.
Oh, God. Tears filled Izzy’s eyes as she yanked the bag free from her shirt. Yes, I get it, Celeste. Whether she filed for divorce or just irritated him until he had to go for a ride, he would always come back.
Always.
“Alicia, it’s time to go.” Ian grabbed her wrist.
“No!” She fought like an animal, kicked, clawed, then finally, out-winded, crumpled to a heap in the sandy mud.
“Come on,” Ian whispered as he bent to carry her. “I’ll take you home.”
“Never.” She jerked Ian’s pistol from his waist and waved him back. “I’ll die first.”
Christ. Izzy’s stomach knotted. It was going to happen. Alicia would die and the guilt would tear Ian apart. Not again. Not again. Please, God.
“Ian, let her stay.” The words were out before she could stop them.
He shot her a glance that shouted ‘no’.
“Yes.” Alicia pointed the barrel toward the jungle. “Leave. Let me stay.”
He heaved a long sigh, and stepped back. Relief shuddered through Izzy.
“I can’t.” He lunged for the gun.
“No!” Izzy’s scream melded with the crack of the pistol.
Oh, God. Oh, God. No, no. She flung herself to the ground, to Ian’s side. Alicia moaned and wiggled from beneath him, her dress covered in blood. Christ, which one of them was shot? Please not Ian. Please no.
Izzy rolled him over, cradling his head on her lap. He coughed, blood pouring from the hole in his stomach. His men charged from the trees, shock crushing their expressions.
“I— I didn’t mean to.” Alicia’s eyes widened. She dropped the gun to the ground. “He shouldn’t have…I— I.” She ran to the door and threw her arms around Daniel. “Make them leave. Make them.”
Daniel signaled his men and they lowered their guns, falling back into the shadows. He glanced at Ian, then took Alicia’s hand and pulled her inside.
The lieutenant knelt beside Ian. “Sir, do you want us to take her by force?”
“No,” he wheezed. “Gather the men. Make ready to sail.”
“Yes, Sir.” He stood but didn’t leave.
“Well, don’t just stand there.” Izzy jumped to her feet, panic pumping through her. “Get some men over here. We have to carry him to the ship. We have to stop this bleeding.” She stripped off her coat and pressed it against Ian’s wound.
The lieutenant’s jaw tightened and sorrow pinched his mouth. He shook his head. “It’s too late.”
“The hell it is.” She’d carry him herself if she had to. She wouldn’t lose him now. Couldn’t.
“Izzy, stop.” Ian’s hand clasped hers. Rain drummed down on them, mixing with his blood, a watery red river washing away their second chance. “He’s right. Let me go. There’s nothing you can do.” He squeezed her hand as his eyes slid shut.
“No!” Tears poured down her face. “I won’t let you go. Not again.” She wasn’t giving up ever again. She’d fight for what she wanted.
The gris-gris bag pulsed hot. Now. Wish now. Celeste’s voice rushed through the rain.
Izzy ripped it from her neck and clasped it in her right hand, then wrapped Ian’s right hand around hers. She leaned over his body, her tears dripping onto his face as she kissed his forehead, the tip of his nose and finally his lips. “Come back to me,” she whispered.
Squeezing her eyes closed, she prayed. “Please God or Great Bondye, please, send him back to me. I don’t care what we have to work through from here on out, just give me back my Ian.”
The bag grew wet between their palms, but she kept praying. Begging. Stroking her fingers over his whiskered jaw. “Come back to me. Come back to me. Please, come back.”
Thunder rumbled and lightning cracked high above the trees, the noise so deafening the ground shuddered.
“Izzy?” His hoarse voice broke through her fear, his eyes narrow slits of pain. “Darlin’, where the hell are we?”
***
“Place him here on the bed.” Izzy stepped aside as Ian’s men helped him to the berth, ignoring the urge to throw them from the room so she could talk to him alone.
Disbelief rippled through her. How had he found her? How was he here? Ian. Her real Ian. Her heart pounded, doubt and hope warring deep inside. Would he stay – or be ripped from her again, replaced by other Ian? Dear God, were there two Ians?
Damn it, she’d managed to hold it together in the jungle so the men wouldn’t ask too many questions, but now she wanted answers.
“Shall we remove his wet clothes, Ma’am?”
“No!” Christ, no. “I’ll see to him.” They couldn’t see the fading gun-shot. They’d never understand. Hell, she didn’t understand. “You go. Anchors away or full speed ahead. Whatever. Just get us out of Jamaica.”
The lieutenant frowned, then looked at Ian. “Orders, Sir?”
Ian nodded. “Take us someplace safe for now.”
“Yes, Sir.” The door clicked shut.
Izzy flung herself onto the bed and tore off Ian’s bloody shirt, her hands shaking as she ran them over his abs. His smooth, healed abs.
“How? How is this possible?” The wound was nothing but a scar. She pressed her lips to it, then trailed up his chest until she reached his mouth, raining sloppy kisses over his skin. “I don’t understand how Celeste got you here.”
Celeste’s spell. That’s all he’d managed to say in the jungle, but now everything whirled in her brain, no answers, no explanations, just questions. How? As she prayed with one gris-gris bag, was Celeste casting a spell with another?
“Hey.” He grinned, the dimple hollow in his cheek. “Aren’t you glad to see me?”
Tears burned her eyes, an impossible lump in her throat. She tried to smile, forced her lips to curve, but as she nodded, a sob ripped through her. The tears gushed down her cheeks, and she buried her face against his heart.
“Don’t cry, darlin’.” He brushed kisses to the top of her head. “I was just joking. You’re stuck with me anyway. Celeste said this was a once in a lifetime deal.”
“But you almost died. Or you did die.” She’d held his head in her lap while he bled out. “And it’s my fault. All of this. I wouldn’t listen to you about Daniel, about the stunt. And then—” She choked. “Then the stupid divorce. I was just so scared you were going to leave me and…and—”
“Shhh. I know.” He stroked down her back, the heat from his hand warm against the wet material, soothing, reassuring. “Stand up. Let’s get these clothes off before you get sick.”
“No.” She jumped to her feet. “Let me take care of you. You were just shot for God’s sake.” Guilt cut through her like a sword.
He stood and held out his arms. “I’m fine. But when have I ever stopped you from getting me naked?” He winked.
“Stop it. Stop being nice to me.” She unbuttoned his pants.
“Can’t help it.” He pulled her against him. “I love you.” He nibbled down her neck. “I’ve always loved you. Always will.” He cupped her face in his palms. “When that set exploded and I couldn’t find you, I –” His
voice cracked and his eyes glistened. “I wanted to die.”
His words fisted her heart with pain. She shouldn’t have been so damned stubborn. What if she’d been killed in that explosion? He would have been left all alone, no other family.
“I’m sorry. I swam to the surface to tell you I was okay, but…” She shrugged.
“You were here.”
“Yeah.” She blew a long breath and threaded her fingers through his, leaning into his heat, needing to know this was real. “Why were you there that day anyway?”
He gave her a crooked grin. “It was your birthday.”
“And?” Had he forgiven her before she was blown up?
“I came to give you a present. My copy of the divorce papers— shredded.” He winked. “And if you wouldn’t listen to me, I was going to kidnap you.”
A ridiculous thrill shivered through her. “You were?”
“Yeah. But then…” He shook his head. “The rescue team couldn’t find you. They pronounced you dead. But I wouldn’t believe it. I rented a boat and circled the site and went diving for hours on end. That’s when Celeste came to me. She told me about the birthday spell and what she thought happened to you.”
He stepped back and stripped off his boot and pants, then sat on the bed, looking so healthy, so alive…so damned sexy in his tight boxer briefs.
Kneeling between his legs, she snuggled against his chest, her fingers stroking the trail of hair below his naval. “But how did you know where I was?”
“We didn’t at first, but I could feel you.” He shrugged. “So we hired a medium and had a séance.”
“A séance? So I’m…” Dead was a sobering thought. She shivered.
He stood. “Clothes off. Right now. You’re cold.” He stripped her, then climbed into bed and tucked them both beneath the blanket, wrapping her in his heat. But shivers still rippled through her. Was it true? Was she…?
“Am I dead?” she whispered against his chest.
“Um, maybe. Kind of. I’m not sure.” He blew a long breath. “I never really understood that part. Celeste said that since she cast the spell at the same time you would’ve died, you were caught in some kind of parallel dimension of the past or of the afterlife.” Confusion wrinkled his brow. “Something like that.”
“What about Daniel. How could he be here?”
“He was hurt in the explosion, darlin’. He’s in a coma – on life support. They don’t have any hope for recovery.”
Dread raced through her. “What about the other actors?” All the crew and extras.
“A few people were hurt, but not seriously.”
Thank God. “But you were here. I mean other you. And you weren’t dead. Aren’t dead.” Damn it, this made no sense.
“That was just an echo of me. Like half of me. Celeste said because I let Alicia’s death kill part of who I was, that part of me was here. That’s how I could feel you, how I knew you weren’t dead.”
But Alicia was. Izzy swallowed hard. “Do you remember what happened on the island…with Alicia?”
Pain pinched his brow. “Yes, I saw it. Saw what she really was. I had already come to terms with it though. I’ve been going to therapy to deal with everything.”
“Everything, meaning me too?” God, had he learned to live without her?
“Everything meaning my grief and my paranoia. No amount of therapy would get me over you, if that’s what you mean. I dreamed about you every night this past week. And hell, I had the weirdest images about pirates and sword fights and ships…Oh.” He stopped and reached to the floor, pulling a small book out of his coat. “It’s How to Sail.” He grinned. “Celeste said I would need it, so I’ve been studying.”
“Um, yeah. The captain kinda needs to know that part.” She squeezed his hand and tried to keep her voice light, but her thoughts raced toward a dark place. Were they dead? And if they were, what the hell did that mean?
You’re together. Celeste’s voice whispered through her mind.
Yes, they were. And that’s what really mattered.
He traced her lips, then sighed, and closed his eyes. “I love you, Iz. God, you don’t know how much. You’re everything to me. My family, my best friend.”
“Lover?” God, she wanted him. Wanted to feel alive again, feel Ian pulsing inside of her.
His eyes popped open. “Do you even have to ask?”
“Do you know how freakin’ horny I am?”
He grinned. “Didn’t other me take care of that? I sure as hell dreamed I was kissing you, touching you.”
“No. He was a tease.”
Ian barked out a laugh. “Well I’m not.”
“Prove it,” she purred, rising so she straddled his hips. “I need to feel you as close as possible. I have to know this is real.”
His eyes darkened, his gaze dropping from her mouth to her nipples. His breath caught. “Help me get these damn shorts off.” He tugged until the boxer briefs landed on the floor, then rolled until she lay trapped beneath his weight.
She expected the kiss to be needy, rough, as harsh as his breathing. Instead, his lips rolled over hers in a lush, slow cadence. His tongue swept between her lips, a silky rasp, hot, drugging, before he trailed wet open-mouthed kisses down her neck. His breath fanned over her damp skin, setting her on fire.
“God, Izzy.” His words whispered over her breast, his whiskers like sand paper, erotic and rough. “You don’t know how freakin’ much I’ve missed this. Missed you.” He sucked a nipple into his mouth, then teased it with his teeth. Biting. Tugging. Sucking. Before he moved to the other side.
Her heart slammed against her ribs, and she forgot how to breathe, forgot everything and anything existed except the man driving her crazy.
Callused palms cupped her breasts, squeezing as long, lean fingers plucked her nipples. She tangled one hand in his hair, the other she slicked over his back, his shoulders. His cock lay heavy and hot against her thigh, the seeping head leaving a wet kiss on her skin. Christ, she had to feel him. Had to taste him.
“Stop.” She rose up on her elbows.
He lifted his head, dark hair hanging over one eye. “Why?”
“You know why.” She circled his cock and gave him a squeeze. “I want to suck you.”
He groaned. “Damn it, I don’t know how much I can take. It’s been too long.”
“Let’s find out.”
Climbing to her knees, she pushed him onto his back. His dick stood thick and hard, cum glistening on the tip. Her sex clenched, aching to have him inside her, but she’d missed the taste of him on her tongue, the powerful feeling swallowing his cock gave her.
She bent and gave him one long, slow lick. His hand fisted the blanket then moved to the back of her head.
“Suck me. Please. You don’t know how many nights I’ve jacked off remembering the feel of my cock in your mouth.” His fingers threaded into her hair, urging her toward his swollen head.
Moisture trickled down her thigh. Damn, just the thought of him jacking off made her hot. Grasping his base, she opened her mouth and slid down his thick length until he bumped the back of her throat.
“Oh, yes. Yes. Take me deep. Just like that.” His hips twitched as he pumped, his breath ragged.
Slipping her palms up his body, she pinched his nipples, rolling them between her fingertips the way she knew he loved. She hollowed her cheeks, sucking all the way to his tip, her hand massaging his balls as she swallowed him.
“Stop. Christ, stop or I’m going to come.” He gripped her shoulders, tugging.
She pulled off with a pop and made a show of licking her lips.
“You think it’s funny to torture me, huh? We’ll see how much you like it.” Flipping her over, he placed her hands on the headboard. “Leave them there.”
He hovered above her body, giving each nipple a quick, wet kiss before licking down to her stomach. His tongue swirled in her belly-button, making her squirm.
“That tickles.”
“Too ba
d. Don’t move.” His hands slid under her butt, and he lifted her to his mouth. He brushed his whiskers over her thigh, sending delicious shivers down her spine. “Now watch.” He lowered his dark head and flattened his tongue, licking through her wet folds.
“Ian!” Her body knotted, lifting off the bed, needing more.
He lapped her slick opening, one finger slipping inside, dragging moisture to her rear. One gentle push had him knuckle deep in her rosette.
“Ohhhh.” Her groans filled the room. “Don’t stop.”
He chuckled, the vibration pushing her closer to the edge. Sensations twisted low in her belly. The room started to spin, her heart thundering, her entire body so tight, so tense, so ready for release. “Please. Ian, please. Make me come.”
“Mmm. Mmmm.” He lapped, flicking his tongue over and over and over. The humming of his lips twisted her nerves tighter, tighter, tighter.
“Don’t stop. Don’t stop,” she chanted. So damned close. Just a little more…
He fastened onto her nub, sucking it into his mouth the same time he slid two fingers inside her, stroking, stroking, stroking, keeping rhythm with the one in her ass.
“Ian. Oh, God. Yes, yes. Right there.” She arched into his mouth as her climax ripped through her, blinding, white heat, frying her from the inside out.
“Ahhh.” She was floating, floating on a cloud of pleasure, high from the best orgasm in months. “So good. So good.” She stretched like a cat.
He lifted his head and grinned, his mouth wet from her juices. “Mmm. You taste even better than I remember.” His hands slid up her body, caressing every inch of her skin, taking her hands in his. “Let’s see if the rest is better than I remember.”
When he settled his weight over her, she smiled. “This is what I missed.”
“I haven’t got to the good stuff yet, darlin’.” He waggled his eyebrows.
She laughed but shook her head. “This is good stuff. Just being close with you. I love lying in bed, whispering in the dark…”
He captured her face between his palms and kissed her. “I love you,” he whispered. “Remember that.”
She wrapped her legs around his waist, drowning in the wonderful feel of security.
Twice In A Lifetime Page 6