Chapter 5

 

Royce dropped his cup. The world spun. Heat like nothing he’d experienced journeyed to his thighs and chest.

Simone inhaled deeply, her resultant sigh followed by a throaty moan. Gently, she squeezed his sac, her touch firmer on his rod, strokes quick.

He fell back, helpless as a newborn, unwilling and unable to stop her. His limbs were too weak, his need far beyond intense. She smelled of life. Her touch held hope he didn’t know existed.

She licked his curls, then tugged them with her teeth.

Joy bubbled inside him. He wanted to shout and carry on like a man gone mad. He could scarcely breathe, not caring if he ever drew a full breath again. She’d mentioned magic that healed. Of everything the world offered, nothing proved more miraculous than a woman honoring a man as she did him.

She licked his crown and explored the bumpy skin on the back.

Pleasure raged. The room lurched. He gripped the sheet.

Her mouth was exquisitely hot, delightfully wet.

She took his shaft inside.

Rapture burst, then rolled in waves, too mighty for him to contain. He cupped her head and wrapped his legs around her, needing them to be close.

Her lips slid down his length, her tongue bathing and teasing him as she descended.

He was so hard his skin stung. Pain didn’t result, only immeasurable satisfaction.

Her nose touched his pelt, his cock sheltered fully inside her mouth, her breath skipping over him.

He struggled for control. This had to last an eternity. He wouldn’t settle for anything less.

She released him in small measures, then glided down, imprisoning him.

Each stroke tested his resolve to stall his release, her sweeping tongue impossible to resist.

He ground his teeth and battled his crushing need. Her alluring fragrance washed over him, mocking his meager struggle.

She caressed his sac and trapped his crown between her lips, suckling, licking, damning him to follow her lead. Her power greater than any he possessed.

His passion broke, hurling him to a place he never wanted to leave, his seed spurting into her mouth before he could stop it and spare her.

She swallowed his offering, accepting who he was. A man reduced to an animal state, stripped of civilization, unmasking his basest nature. She’d given him the greatest gift she could by not turning away.

Euphoria engulfed him, his need to indulge in his primitive nature boundless. To hell with being proper and English. Nature had always intended this for her creatures and more. Heaving chests, sweaty bodies, tangled limbs, lids too heavy to lift.

He dropped his hands.

Simone licked his rod clean, then rested her chin on his uninjured thigh. “Have you forgotten the pain?”

He laughed loudly, unmindful of those outside, though he should take care. To have the women or Tristan come in here now would be disaster. He quelled his outburst and kept his voice low. “I can’t feel anything except my cock and balls. Pure magic.”

She laughed softly. “I tended you well?”

“You’re a miracle worker. Never has there been a healer like you.”

“I have yet to finish.”

He strove to lift himself and failed, his weakened state keeping him from looking at her. “What do you mean? What’s left to do?”

She eased his right ball into her mouth.

His head nearly blew off. “Oh my dear God.” He gasped and choked, too much pleasure threatening to do him in. “Stop.”

She released his testicle. “Why? This hurts?” She lapped his sac.

He shuddered, wanting more, unable to bear it so soon after gaining relief. Each time she touched him increased his sensitivity to everything she did. “In a manner of speaking, yes, it bloody well hurts.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s discomforting in a good way.”

“Then you like this.”

“What else? But—”

She tongued his ball back inside and suckled gently.

He writhed, wanting to get away, desperate to be closer.

Simone leaned on his leg. Her confining weight settled the matter.

She played with him at will. Her carnal torture stunned and seemed endless, yet also too brief. He knew heaven a second time.

She licked his seed eagerly. “Are you tired?”

He might never function normally again. A small price to pay for ecstasy. “Not at all.”

“Why are you yawning?”

Royce stopped, not wanting her to think him frail. “Simply a habit I have. Truth is I have never been more…more…”

“What?”

He couldn’t capture the word, fatigue overtaking him. “Give me a moment.”

“For what?”

“To answer. Alert. That’s it.” He grinned in relief. “I have never been more alert than I am now.”

“Put your legs on the bed.”

Movement wasn’t conceivable any longer. Perhaps tomorrow he’d be able to do as she asked. “Why?”

“So I can get on too.”

What a swine he was, not considering her comfort. Twice, he tried to hoist his legs and failed.

“I should help you.”

“No, I can do this.”

He finally managed, too exhausted to do anything except sprawl.

She lifted her cloth and straddled him. Her cunt nestled against his cock. She released the silk.

It skimmed his thighs. His rod twitched with renewed life. “What are you doing?”

“Pleasuring you.”

“No. Wait.”

She pushed to one knee and directed his crown to her slit.

Royce grabbed her arms and forcibly rolled them over to put her beneath him. The mattress shook.

Her eyes rounded. “What are you doing?”

“Stopping you.” If they were to couple, he’d risk filling her with his child. Then what? Have her and his son or daughter ripped away, both sold into slavery to another man if he couldn’t prevent it because Bishop had outwitted him? “What were you thinking? What in the bloody hell is the matter with you?”

She blinked. “I want you. You want me. I proved that with your happiness.” She slipped her arms around his neck. “This is what lovers do.”

He grabbed her wrists and held them to the bed. “And what happens then? You and I cannot create new life.”

Hurt flared in her eyes. She turned away. “You would hate a child that looked like me?”

He loosened his hold, pained that she’d think him heartless enough to worry about skin color or culture. In everything that counted, she beat him soundly. Her acceptance inexhaustible, manner genuine, affection pure. “Have you even been with a man before?”

She shrugged.

“Is that a no?”

“Do you dislike virgins?”

He’d guessed correctly about her state and loathed himself for allowing their situation to come this far, sending the wrong signals that his desire for her could ever be acceptable. His only sensible option meant leaving this bed and room, then keeping far away from her.

He wasn’t able to manage a first step. He lowered his head. “I don’t want to cause you any distress.”

“Gavra said the pain only lasts a moment before pleasure replaces it, with the right man.”

He’d forgotten about Gavra. If she saw this, she’d shoot him. He still couldn’t leave. Simone’s scent and heat bound him to her more easily than the strongest chains and shackles. “That’s not what I meant. No man should mount a woman unless he can remain at her side for a lifetime.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it and averted her gaze.

He tilted her chin so she couldn’t avoid him or the truth. “You know I must leave this isle.”

“What does it matter what may happen? As long as a woman and a man’s hearts are one, they are together even when they part.”

He fought laughter and sorrow. “What am I to do with you?”

“Give me joy. I saw to yours. You have not seen to mine.”

She should be in Parliament. Her skillful arguments would trounce the fools there.

A prudent man would have turned his back on this scene and left. He pushed to his knees.

She reached for him. “What are you doing? You should lie down. Your wound.”

“To hell with it.” He untied her cloth and pushed the silk aside.

Crimson patches colored her cheeks and throat. She pressed her hands on her scar, unable to cover it. The jagged mark looked worse than the previous glimpse he’d had.

He lay down and eased her into his arms. “What happened? Who did that to you? Please tell me.”

She gripped his shoulders. “A pirate.”

“When?”

“I had just turned twelve.”

Still a child. My God. “Was he from the group that lived here before Tristan arrived?”

“Oui.” She snatched a breath. “They came to our shores one day and killed everyone who was old, sick, or lame, and those who fought them. My family died then. My grandmother was teaching me to heal. Pirates broke into our house. They shot my grandfather. When my mother cried out, they shot her too. I tried to protect my grandmother. A pirate slashed my leg with his dagger. I felt nothing and refused to let him near her. He stabbed me again, twisted the blade, and laughed. I couldn’t fight any longer. He cut my grandmother’s throat. As she died, he and another man dragged me to the bed. I must have screamed. My father and brothers burst inside to save me. They died too, falling next to my mother and grandparents.”

Royce couldn’t find words to comfort. He held her close, praying that would suffice.

Her breath skipped over his skin. “Should I be quiet now?”

“Only if that would be easier for you.”

“I can never forget. I want you to know everything.”

“I promise to listen.” Although the world had always been an appalling place, he would never understand brutality and wasted lives.

She pressed her face to his neck. “The pirates fought over who would mount me first. They were hitting each other when island men stormed in. After they killed the pirates, they hid me in the forest and warned that I should be quiet and still like an insect hunted by a lizard. I lost so much blood I was dizzy, and bound my leg as I did yours on the beach. I knew enough to put the healing leaves on me from the nearby bushes. I stayed behind them all day and night. There were horrible screams and laughter where my people lived. I thought I would die in my hiding place. I was too afraid to come out.”

She trembled and caught more air. “Gavra found me the next morning, an Englishman at her side. By then, our families were gone, the pirate captain owning everything we once called ours. Because of my wound, none of the white men bothered me. There were other women to rape. Some killed themselves to keep from lying beneath an Englishman. Canela offered herself willingly to the capitaine. He had a white woman and pushed Canela away. He used us to build the stone house and see to everyone’s food and drink. We were their slaves. When the infants came from what the pirates did, they left the newborns in the forest to die because they were brown like the islanders, not white like them. None knew who fathered which child. All of them used the women repeatedly. They promised to kill the mothers if they tried to save their children.”

He wanted to be sick. “I’m so sorry.”

She hugged him. “My people survived. With Tristan’s help, we made the isle what it was before the raid. Not all Englishmen are bad. Even Gavra knows that. Although the pirates used her as they did the others, she loves James. You are as fine as him and Capitaine.”

“You’re wrong. I’m not worthy of you.”

“How can you say such a thing?” She pressed close. “You worry about my sadness and comfort even if you refuse to pleasure me.”

He smiled. “I’ve hardly refused. I want nothing more. I hope you know that.”

“I did before you untied my cloth. Does my ruined leg sicken you?”

“Of course not.” He kissed the uneven skin. “Never.”

She cradled his face. “What had you planned to do before I told you about the pirates?”

Something he shouldn’t. That was his downfall here, following his heart and lust rather than hard reason. “I was going to bring you great joy without taking your virginity.”

“How? Is it too late for that now?”

It had been even before they met. He eased back. “Stay where you are.”

She grabbed his arm. “Will you leave now?”

“Not this bed or you until we finish. But you must promise to remain beneath me. I expect your full obedience.”

“Even if you tell me to stop breathing, I will.”

He tapped her nose playfully. “Not that. But you must be quiet lest the others hear.”

Short of the door, women conversed and laughed, children shrieked, hens cackled.

Simone sighed. “I’ll keep my tongue so you may take me as you will, for as long as you desire.”

For him, their lifetimes wouldn’t be enough.

* * * *

Simone had hoped he’d make her his for all time. She had his desire. She needed his heart. Her hunger for their shared lives was so great she’d nearly confessed what Tristan had said about failing to find a way for Royce to leave the island.

She feared making him sad, ruining their moment.

He eased the cloth from beneath her, dropped it on the floor, then sat on his heels and took her in.

Her cheeks and throat got hot. “You stare.”

“Any sane man would. Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”

“My skin is brown.”

“Oui, wonderfully rich.”

“My eyes will never be like the English, more colorful than rainbows.”

“Your shade is far warmer, the loveliest I’ve ever seen.”

She stroked his knee. “I like your green color better.”

He grinned, crinkling the corners of his eyes. “We’ll call it a tie then.”

“A what?”

“Never mind. Time for pleasure.” He fitted his mouth to hers, his hand on her breast.

She gave him her all, her length pressed to his, their hearts beating as one. Tasting him chased away sadness and doubt. He squeezed her breast as a lover should, proving she already belonged to him.

She always would.

On each strained breath, their chests tapped. His musk perfumed the air, mingling with her scent, creating a fragrance that belonged to them, no one else.

She eased his tongue aside and slipped hers into his mouth. He smiled. So did she, their lips still joined. Their searching kiss healed her soul, pushing away the bad she’d known, making her impatient for happiness. He matched her eager desire, then exceeded it, his grunts and growls wonderfully primitive, delightfully male, proving his strength. His whiskers bit into her cheeks and chin, another reminder of the man he was.

She softened beneath him, moisture dampening her slit, preparing her for his passion.

He tore his mouth free, slid down, and latched on to her nipple.

A rare thrill whisked through Simone, weakening and arousing her further. He lapped and teased her tip, his suckling gentle, then firm.

She loved both.

He settled on her other breast, his hair sliding across her arm, his mouth and tongue worshipping her flesh. She’d lived too long without knowing this and would die when it ended, already aching at the coming loss. “Never leave.”

At her whisper, he lifted his head. “What?”

“Why did you stop?”

“You said something I didn’t hear.”

“Only praise. Go on.”

“Gladly. See that you don’t interrupt me again, unless it’s with more praise.”

“Always.”

He winked and trailed kisses down her torso and belly, his stubble tickling her.

She giggled.

“Shh.” He pressed his face to her mound and moaned lustily, though not loud enough for the others to hear.

His pleasure delighted Simone as nothing had. He wanted her as a person, not only as a woman who could satisfy his craving. She mattered to him.

Loving him was easy. Repeatedly, he’d proved he was a good man, worrying about her pleasure and future as much as his own. After so many trials, good fortune had come to her at last.

She lifted her hips, offering herself to him. Being with a man wasn’t something to fear any longer. Royce would never hurt her.

He licked her cleft.

His intimacy opened her heart and freed her soul. Hope, joy, excitement, and lust rushed to the surface. Emotions she’d locked away for too long. Willingly, she submitted to her restive feelings, allowing them and him to guide her.

He tongued her opening and eased her nub between his teeth, imprisoning it gently. Her pulse jumped. His firm hold on her hip restrained her further. She held her breath. He slid his hand between her buttocks and stroked her tightest opening.

Air poured from her.

He suckled and licked, fast and firm.

Outrageous desire coiled within, filling her so quickly she feared she might burst and fly apart. The feeling overwhelmed and grew breathtaking.

She spun and soared. Pleasure deep within her channel broke free, a pulse inside beating rhythmically and hard. Her legs fell over. She fought to breathe.

Royce looked up. “Shh.”

She covered her mouth unaware she’d made a sound.

He wagged his finger and lapped her nub.

Simone bucked. “No.” The pleasure was too much to endure. “I may die if you lick me again.”

“Trust me, you won’t.”

“Please.” She gripped his hair. “The feeling is too…”

“What?”

“There is no word.”

“Then your release was bad?”

“No. Wondrous. Glorious. Miraculous.”

“That’s several words. How about this—it was magic.”

“The best kind.” She pulled him onto her and kissed him deeply, her legs wrapped around his lean hips. She tried to roll them over to be on top to let his wound rest.

He was too big and heavy, kissing her at his leisure, with a male’s right. One she’d given him.

They broke free, laughing softly and gulping air.

He touched his nose to hers. “I take it you enjoyed that.”

“I never want to do anything else.”

His humor faded, replaced by a troubled look.

She touched his mouth. “Was I wrong to say what I did?”

“What? No. Pity the world doesn’t let one do whatever they want for as long as they wish. James told me that in a few weeks, the women are going to need this room. I’m afraid they will run us out.”

“We can use this until they do, then go to your bedchamber.”

“Not with a guard outside the window.”

She’d forgotten about that. “We can go to my chamber.”

“And risk having Gavra, Tristan, or Diana see us and rail at you? I think not.”

Simone clung to him. “What they say means nothing. I do want I want. What we did today isn’t wrong.”

“Not for us, but the world doesn’t consist of this room.”

“It should. Please stay in here with me today until we have to go. Being alone is too sad.”

He held her to him and stroked her hair. “Of course, I’ll stay. I’m sorry you lost everyone you loved.”

“You did too. Tell me about your family. Why you have no one.”

His hand paused on her hair. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping? Aren’t you tired after your release?”

She dreaded closing her eyes, fearing he’d disappear and she’d never see him again. “I can sleep later. Talk to me. Tell me your past.”

He eased them to the mattress. “Not much to tell. I wanted to grow up like my father, as a boy usually does, until I realized he wasn’t an honest man. His desires came before anyone else’s, especially his wife and family. You said your brothers and father gave their lives to protect you. That’s what men do. Why God made them, to protect and cherish women. I have no doubt if my mother and sisters had been in the same situation, my father would have run in the opposite direction, with no thought except to save himself.”

“He sounds like the pirates. Oh no.” She covered her mouth. “Forgive me for my words.”

“No need. You’re quite right. He always was a coward.”

“You had sisters?”

Grief tightened his features. “I try not to think of them. It’s too hard.”

“Now I made you sad.”

“Not you. The situation. My father took everything our family had and left us impoverished. England, unlike this isle, isn’t populated solely by kind people who will aid you in hard times, especially if they believe you deserved what happened. If you can’t pay for things, you go without, even if that means shelter and food. Anyone without employment or money either begs, which is a criminal act, or ends up in the workhouse, forced to toil long hours in order to eat. Many succumb to starvation or illness. Those who have unpaid debts languish in prison until they can pay what they owe along with the price required for their stay in those hellholes. Any man who would put his family through that is a bloody beast who deserves to die.”

“How did you survive?”

“By any work I could get, no matter how loathsome. That didn’t save my mother and sisters from their fates.”

She cupped his face. “Your nightmares are about them.”

“They’re always close to me. They’re why I’ve become what I am.”

“A merchant who sails on ships.”

He lowered his face. “Among other things.”

Simone wanted to ask more, but dreaded making him sadder. Today they’d share joy and hope, not a past no one could change.

She kissed his lids and drew him into her. “Sleep. When you wake, I will tend to your wound and your passion.”

“As far as I’m concerned, we can forget about everything except pleasure.”

“In this room we’ll have nothing else. When the others run us away, I promise to find another place where we can be alone. No one will keep us apart.”

“Tristan will have something to say about that.”

“He does not own me. No one does.”

Royce stared at her.

She’d never seen him so intense and dismayed. “What?”

“Nothing.” He rested his head against her shoulder and closed his eyes.