Jessica got instructions to Marcus's chamber from a half-grown girl with an enormous orange flower tucked behind her ear. She gestured the way to Marcus's chamber with a wrinkling of her eyes that Jessica could only assume was a giggle, and before Jessica could ask any more, she scampered away.
She knocked on the door lightly, and when Marcus called for her to come in, she entered, shutting the door behind her.
Marcus stood in front of a wide window of foggy glass, gazing out over the fading light. The sunset streaked the room with orange and red, salmon pink and indigo. He only wore the cloth, slung low over his hips, and as he turned towards her, the flash of light reflected in her eyes reminded her that though he was her lover, he was far from human.
Jessica had been practicing what she wanted to say ever since she left her room, but now faced with the reality of her lover, the vital presence of his body, his soul, the words were small and paltry. They died on her lips. Instead, he reached for her, and mutely, she went to him.
“Jessica... There is a great deal to say, and even now I don't know how to say it,” he said roughly. “I... I want you. I need you...”
The currents of doubt almost made her step back, but the rawness of his tone called to her.
“Then take me,” she said.
Jessica reached up to cup her hand around the back of his neck, dragging him down for a deep kiss. He felt almost reluctant at first, but when he felt the edge of her tongue run over his lower lip, something broke his control. Suddenly his arms were around her, so tightly that she gasped. He eased up, but only so that he could drag her to the enormous bed. It was made up with pure white, amazingly crisp sheets, and for a moment, all Jessica could do was revel in how luxurious it was to make love in a bed, a real bed, after all this time. She sunk into the mattress with a sigh, and then he was rising over her, his mouth so hungry at her throat and her shoulders that a deep shiver went through her.
Twice she felt his teeth at her shoulder, and twice he backed off. Jessica only knew that there was a deep need inside her that welled up for him and everything he was, and she laid her hand on his forearm.
“Do it,” she whispered achingly. “Mark me, show the world that I'm yours...”
His groan was almost pained, and then he bit her, not hard enough to break skin but close. She gasped at the sweet pain of it. She dug her nails into his arms, leaving marks of her own. The moment he let her go, she was flooded with an array of sensations that rolled through her like a river of firecrackers, her entire body tingling.
“Oh yes, I want you, I want you so...”
Marcus's growl vibrated through both their bodies, and for a moment, she wondered if she saw that his eyes had slit pupils rather than round ones. Then he reached down to tear the cloth from both their bodies, as if it anything that separated them burned.
Skin to skin, they embraced like the first lovers in the world, discovering, unable to get enough of each other. There was something desperate about his motions, something wild and needy. Jessica tried to calm him, but in a matter of moments, she was carried away by their desire as well. She was not any more patient than he was, and she found herself clawing at him. Her nails raked down his back and his thighs, urging him to kiss her harder, to suck on her nipples and to dip his tongue into the sweet cup of her navel.
“I’ll never get enough of you,” he groaned, his face pressed against her hip. “Not if I lived a hundred years. Not if I lived a thousand...”
She could feel the thick weight of his manhood against her thigh. For a moment, she thought he would take her right then, but instead, he rolled over on his back. He was large, but uncommonly quick. His heavy hands came down on her hips, and with nothing more than that to warn her, he heaved her on top of his hips, her legs trailing to either side of him.
“Oh!” Jessica said in surprise, looking down at her lover. Even if he was beneath her, however, Marcus had ceded none of his strength or his domination. Sitting on top of him, she felt as light as a toy, something that he liked to look at and to touch. He ran his hands down her body, cupping her breasts in his palms before squeezing enough to make her groan.
Underneath her, she could feel his shaft hot against her most intimate flesh. She could feel the way he longed to enter her, but with his hands keeping her still, she could not move things forward. She was on top of him, but she was helpless, and she keened with need.
“Oh god, please,” she cried out. “Please, please...”
Marcus didn't seem to hear her. His hands tight on her hips, he rolled his body up to meet hers. It felt like riding in a way, and she could feel her cheeks light up red with need and longing. She knew that he was driving both of them to a frenzy. Surely, he would give in to their desire soon, surely...
She thought he was going to drive her mad with desire before that point, but then she looked down, catching his gaze with her own. Something passed between them then, some kind of understanding that had no words, no logic.
Abruptly, Marcus was done teasing. He held her steady with one hand, and with the other, he guided his manhood into her entrance. He let her weight carry her down, and in a few heartbeats, he was lodged fully inside her, their bodies as close as they could get.
“Oh...” she whispered, and then his hands closed over her hips again.
He lifted her as if she weighed nothing at all, driving up into her over and over again. She could feel the red heat inside her start to pulse in time with his thrusts, and after that, she was lost to the primal rhythm of their lovemaking. Her body was tensing as if being wrenched tight, and every moment that passed, she thought she would snap. When she didn't, and the tension only rose higher, she started to sob, begging for the release that she knew only Marcus could give her.
Jessica looked down at this beautiful man, the one that had saved her life again and again, and she knew in her heart that he was the only one who would ever open her like this. The only man who could give her this much pleasure, this much wild delight.
He growled deep in his throat, thrusting up into her one more time, and then her body toppled over the edge. She felt as if she were coming apart into a shower of silver stars. Everything she was scattered by the pleasure that was rushing over her. She shook, Marcus's name on her lips, and when she felt him spill inside her, she knew that they belonged to one another.
Her body felt as limp as a rag as she sprawled over his chest. It occurred to her vaguely that he might be suffocating, but his arms came up around her, holding her close.
“I love you,” she sighed softly, and without a moment of hesitation, he responded.
“I love you. God, I love you so much.”
He rolled them to their sides, pulling away from her at last, but he did not let go of her. Instead, Jessica clung close to him, her face buried in his chest, matching him breath for breath.
“Now will you tell me what's wrong?” she asked, and he sighed, a rumbling sound.
“Jessica...”
She sat up, waiting for his response, but there was a knock at the door, brisk and commanding. Marcus looked up, dire murder in his eyes, but then the door swung open. Jessica yelped, grabbing for her discarded cloth, but Marcus rose up naked and furious to face the intruder.
The woman who entered the room as if she owned it was not one of the People of the Trees. Instead, she was tall and lean, her skin the brown of teak and her long dark hair swinging past her shoulders in a braid. There was a cat-like amusement and indifference in her eyes, and instinctively, Jessica knew that this was another shifter.
“I gave you long enough,” she said to Marcus. “The longer you stay, the greater the danger.”
“Marcus...what is she talking about?”
Marcus turned to her, his eyes dark. There was something distant about him now that made her want to cry. A moment ago, they had been as close as two people could be, and now he felt as if he were sailing far away.
“Jessica, this is Verrine. She's of my people. She's from the sanctuary where I was taking the sword. The message from the fish was received and when I didn't show up at the appointed time, she came looking for me.”
Verrine turned those vivid green eyes to Jessica. To her surprise, she felt no enmity from the shifter woman, only a warmth, if a feline, feckless warmth.
“And I see that he has a companion that he has kept at least slightly in the dark. Well, pet, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that the village where the sanctuary is located is close, a five hour march or so. The bad news... is that the hunters are hot on your trail, and it is a war they are after.”
She paused delicately, and suddenly Jessica knew what a picture she made in Marcus's bed, her hair tousled, a purplish love bite at her shoulder and her lips kissed to bright red.
“I don't suppose you will consent to be left behind...”
“No,” Jessica said, even as Marcus winced. It wasn't worth arguing. Where Marcus went, she went.
“Then we need to move. We have a lead in front of the hunters, but there will be a war, and it is best fought on our terms, on our ground.”
Jessica turned to Marcus. There was a fire in his eyes she had never seen before.
“Marcus?”
“Remember what I said; I love you,” he said. “Always. Remember that.”