“You and I were meant to be,” he whispered in her ear.
“Aye,” she murmured. “Fate decreed it.”
“No,” he said firmly, and kissed along the column of her neck and smiling when he felt gooseflesh rise over her backside. “It wasn’t fate.” He moved to tease her nipple with his tongue but only for a moment. He brought his lips to hers once again and after a quick kiss, he took hold of her chin, and said, “It was love that brought us together. I love you, dear wife, and I intend to keep you.”
B
liss smiled and was about to tell him the same when a vision hit her.
Leora screamed frantically for Trey. “Bring him to me. Hurry and bring him home.” Her screams turned to pleas until she sunk to her knees, tears streaming down her face.
It was difficult not to share in the woman’s suffering, and even though the vision was brief, the pain lingered though something about it troubled her. Bliss’s eyes finally fluttered open, and she was never so grateful to see Trey and realize that she was in the safety of his arms.
He had carried her closer to the water’s edge though he had kept them partially submerged as he cradled her in his arms.
“Are you all right?” he asked anxiously, and held her even tighter against him.
“Being in your arms always makes everything all right though I am sorry.”
“Why?”
“My vision intruded upon a very special moment for us.”
“Through no fault of yours,” he said. “Do you wish to talk about your vision?”
Now was not the time to discuss Leora’s begging for Trey to come home. She shook her head. “Not now.”
“Is there some reason you don’t wish to discuss certain visions with me?” he asked. “Could they possibly have something to do with me? Something you don’t want me to know?”
She would much prefer to discuss their love for each other though it would be much wiser and made more sense to discuss Leora now, before things turned intimate between them.
“I believe Leora is coming to me in visions.”
His whole body grew taut, and Bliss thought it best to ease herself out of his arms. She sunk lower in the water, suddenly feeling more vulnerable than naked in front of him, and casually moved to deeper water.
He followed, and she was glad she could sense that he did so thinking she needed the cover of the warm water to chase away her sudden chill. She didn’t want him to think that she was pulling away from him . . . or was she? Had the vision reminded her that there were things Trey still needed to settle?
“What does she want from you?” he asked.
She truly didn’t want to tell him that Leora wants his help, wants him to return to her. It would only add to the guilt he already felt over her death. But she couldn’t lie to him, either.
“It’s as if she searches for you, calling out your name.”
“She should haunt
me,
not you. I was the one who failed her.”
“I don’t get the sense that she feels you failed her.”
“Then why torment you?” he asked.
Bliss shook her head. “It is she who is tormented though I’m not sure why. I wish I could make sense of it, but I can’t.”
“And so she continues to come to you.”
“It is odd that she comes to me in visions,” Bliss said. “The dead have always come to me in dreams, not visions. My visions are usually of things to come.”
“Have you seen me helping Leora?”
Bliss hesitated, not wanting to tell him but having no choice. “I have seen her run into your arms.”
“That would take a miracle, or perhaps I die and reunite with her.”
“Do not speak such nonsense,” Bliss snapped. “I have not seen your death.”
“Perhaps you aren’t meant to.”
“Do you wish to die and be reunited with her?”
Trey reached beneath the water and slipped his arm around her waist as he moved closer to her. “At one time, aye, I would have. Now?” He shook his head slowly and gave her lips a gentle kiss. “I have found love, not merely again, but a far stronger love than I even knew existed. And I’m not giving it up.”
Her arms went around his neck, and she kissed him, not gently but with an aching demand. When it ended, she went to speak but Trey pressed a finger to her lips.
“The only thing I want to hear you say is, ‘it’s time we make love.’ ”
She moved his finger away, and, with a teasing grin, said, “I need to tell you?”
He gave her a wicked smile and lowered his mouth to hers.
It was a kiss meant not simply to spark passion but to ignite a fire that would take hours to finish burning.
Their mouths fed hungrily on each other, the thirst so desperate it was not easy to quench. And while they tried to fill themselves, their hands began to explore. Her nipples hardened even more to his teasing touch, and he flared even larger when her hand settled on him and began to stroke.
They were not shy in their actions, each feeling familiar with the other. And though it was their first time together, it didn’t feel that way. It felt as if they were long-lost lovers finally reuniting.
Bliss relished the feel of him, so thick and large in her hand, and was disappointed when he brushed her hand away.
“Your touch makes me want to explode, and I much prefer to explore first.” He scooped her up then and carried her out of the water.
He stood her on her feet for only a moment and went to retrieve his cloak. He quickly spread it out near the water’s edge and reached for her hand to ease her down before he stretched out beside her.
“I want to know every inch of you.” And his mouth and hands did as they itched to do . . . explore.
She shivered at the gentleness of his touch and the strength of his taste. His lips nipped with a fierce love, and she had no doubt that he was laying claim to her. She belonged to him, and he belonged to her, and that knowledge fired the passion already racing through her.
He lavished kisses over every part of her, and just when she thought him finished, he found a new spot to explore intimately.
His tongue did absolutely wicked things to her and made her move with pleasure against his every touch and taste. It was as if he commanded her body, and she didn’t at all mind surrendering to his tantalizing touch.
He knew exactly where to kiss, where to touch, where to linger. And when he finally slipped over her and into her, she wanted to scream with joy at the feel of him burrowing deep inside her.
“I am not hurting you, am I?” he stopped to ask.
“Aye, you are,” she whispered.
He went to pull away.
She held tight to his arms. “You halted the exquisite pleasure you were bringing me by stopping.”
He rested his brow to hers. “I would never hurt you.”
An overwhelming sense of sorrow washed over her, and tears suddenly filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded, and tried to move off her.
“No!” she cried. “Love me. Love me now.”
He hesitated.
“Please, Trey, I love you.”
He brought his lips to hers and, before he kissed her, he said, “And I love you.”
They moved slowly at first, both in no hurry, both lingering in the moment that would seal their fate forever. Then their bodies began to require more, and they obliged, their tempo turning stronger, more demanding.
Bliss raised her legs and wrapped them around him and groaned as his rapid, strong thrusts grew even stronger.
She held tighter to the muscles that contorted in his arms, braced on either side of her, when, suddenly she felt propelled to the edge of some unknown precipice. Soon she would take that step, had to take that step, couldn’t stop herself, and . . .
She screamed as she plunged into pleasure so exquisite that she never wanted to stop falling. She felt the exact moment that Trey joined her, and she tightened around him, wanting to fall along with him . . . and she did.
Her body tingled all over with the most exquisite sensation, and all she wanted to do was linger in every last tingle until there were no more.
“Are you all right?”
Bliss opened her eyes to see Trey braced over her, and she smiled, glad he hadn’t slipped out of her yet and not wanting him to.
She smiled. “I have never felt better.”
“Your tears . . . I have never—”
She grinned.
He shook his head. “This is not the moment I should be thinking such a thing.”
“But you couldn’t help it, for no women you have made love to have ever cried with joy.”
“Coupled with, not made love,” he quickly corrected as he moved to ease off her.
“Must you leave me? I love the feel of you inside me.”
He smiled and kissed her. “I’ll return soon enough.” He slipped off her to rest alongside her.
She turned on her side. “You promised me the whole night.”
“And I will keep my word,” he said, and reached out to tuck her against his chest.
She rested her head there and listened to the rapid beating of his heart. He had yet to calm from their lovemaking, but, then, neither had she—her heart was continued to beat wildly.
“You do realize what this means,” Trey said after a few moments.
“What?”
“That our marriage vows are sealed and cannot be broken. You are my wife and will remain my wife.”
“Are you sure that is what you wish?”
“Like your knowing that you never doubt, this is my knowing that holds no doubt,” Trey said, “and what of you? Do you wish to remain my wife?”
She smiled and traced circles on his chest. “I believe our hearts beat as one, and one cannot survive without the other. That is love, and I love you, so the only true answer would be . . . aye, I wish to remain your wife.”
He lifted her, and she laughed with joy as he tugged her to lie across him.
A pain suddenly struck her that had her gasping for breath.
“Bliss,” Trey cried out, fear tugging at him.
She pointed to the water and he had her up in his arms in an instant and hurried to submerge them both.
The warm water worked its magic, relieving the pain, and Bliss grew annoyed with herself. “I am a fool,” she said.
“You are not,” Trey argued. “If anyone is a fool, it is me for not considering your injury.”
“I am healing just fine.”
He scrunched his brow.
“I am,” she insisted. “I need only to perform several healings close to one another, and I will be fine.”
“I distracted you, so it is my fault, and I will not touch you again tonight.”
Her eyes turned wide. “You can’t mean that. You gave me your word.”
“I caused you pain.”
“You will cause me grievous pain if you do not keep your promise,” she said, her eyes shooting daggers at him as her temper flared.
He looked about to laugh.
“Do not dare make fun of what I say. I have looked forward to this time with you, and I will not have the memory spoiled because I suffer a twinge of pain now and again.”
“It was no twinge”—he stopped abruptly—“you looked forward to making love with me?”
“You did not realize that?” she asked, surprised. “I thought it apparent.”
“That we were attracted to each other was definitely apparent, but that you actually looked forward to making love with me?” He grinned. “I but hoped.”
She gave him a playful poke in the chest. “You tease me. You knew.”
“Perhaps, though it was nice to hear it, to know that I was in your thoughts as much as you were in mine.”
“That, I’m afraid, will only escalate. The closer we grow, the more easily it is for me to know your thoughts.”
“I’m finding the same,” he said.
“What, then, am I thinking,” she challenged with a smile.
He nipped playfully along her bottom lip before kissing her senseless.
“Exactly what I was thinking,” she said after her senses returned.
His hand cupped her breast, his thumb teasing the nipple hard. “And now you want me to make love to you again.”
Her smile grew, then suddenly vanished. “You
aren’t
thinking of making love with me.”
“Not until you do another healing on yourself,” he ordered. “And believe me when I say I’m showing remarkable restraint, for right now I want nothing more than to have you wrap your legs around my waist so that I can plunge into you and endlessly pleasure us both.”
The image sent a tingle racing through her and an ache between her legs.
Trey shook his head. “Damn if I can’t feel your passion racing through me.” He released her suddenly and put a bit of distance between them. “Be done with your healing,” he snapped. “My need for you grows, and I have not the patience to wait.”
The knowledge that he wanted her so badly that he had to walk away from her to stop himself from having her fueled her own passion beyond reason.
“Damn,” he muttered again, and pointed at her. “Heal yourself now.”
The intense passion rising between them wouldn’t allow her to focus, and she knew it would be impossible to do any healing until . . .
“I can’t,” she said. “I can focus on nothing but my aching need for you.”
He clenched a fist and pounded the water, sending it shooting up to splash his chest and face. “I will not see you suffer more pain.” He turned to make his way to shore.
“Your absence will not matter. This ache, this longing to have you deep inside me needs to be satisfied so that my mind is clear enough to focus on healing.”
He seemed to fight himself for a moment, his fist remaining clenched. And then he moved so rapidly that it startled Bliss, and she jumped, causing a pain to hit her and making her cringe.
She thought he would stop and keep his distance, but he didn’t. His hands were suddenly at her waist, lifting her, and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms going around his neck.
“When this is done—”
“You can watch me heal myself,” she said, and tried to kiss him though he didn’t give her a chance.
He lifted her and, with a swift plunge, buried himself deep inside her.
She let out a gasp, and he captured it with a hungry kiss. She held on as he took charge, his body setting a frantic tempo and his hands at her waist helping her match it. The kiss ended as their breathing turned rapid, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before they both exploded with pleasure.
She heard the groan building in Trey and felt herself once again near the edge, only this time, as the pleasurable fury erupted, she was propelled upward to explode over and over again.
They rested brow to brow, their breathing labored, their hearts pounding, and the last of their climaxes rippling through them.
“I’ll never get enough of you,” Trey said breathlessly.