by Ann Gimpel
“Agreed,” Karin said and added, “We’ll think better after a few hours’ sleep.”
When a round robin of good nights began, Aura slipped out the door intent on joining Juan on the bridge. She was tired, but she wanted to tell him good night.
Chapter Twenty: Affair of the Heart
Juan balanced atop a high, three-legged stool behind the polished, mahogany wheel. The ship had a second command center down on Deck Two, but it was in an enclosed room where all he’d be staring at was a bank of instruments. He far preferred gazing out the windows at the dark velvet of an Antarctic night. For once, the sky was shot with stars, and he picked out familiar constellations.
From long habit, he revisited the day—every grueling aspect of it—in his mind. He’d done that for as many years as he could remember. The instant replay provided perspective and insight. It was how he’d survived at sea. And as a Vampire. Even though tragedy struck today, they’d picked up five new crew members. It put them four ahead of where they’d been. A good thing since Arkady was woefully shy of crew.
From now on, they’d bring radios. And everyone would wear life jackets, including himself and Viktor. If Viktor had one on, he would have bobbed to the surface. It wouldn’t have been any easier reeling him in, but Juan could have avoided the tense, anxiety-ridden moments, staring at the restless water, willing his friend to appear.
In addition to a full complement of life preservers, the ship also had a stock of specialized coats with inflation devices built into them. Juan had no idea why he and Viktor had gotten out of the habit of wearing their Mustang flotation jackets, but their lapse had just come to a halt. They might not have passengers anymore, but it wasn’t a reason to set basic safety aside. The jackets were bulky as hell, and weighed a ton after they got wet, but they worked.
Once he sorted through the hard parts of the day, he allowed himself to think about Aura. That aspect of things made up for a whole lot. The shell she wore like an armor shield had cracked, and she’d not only let him in, she’d welcomed him.
He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the windows surrounding the bridge, and he was grinning like a fool. He didn’t even try to modulate his joy. Why should he? The impossible had happened. The woman he loved might not have said she loved him—not quite yet, anyway—but she’d told him she’d always be there for him. It was kind of the same thing.
He thought back to what she’d disclosed about herself when they’d had their first serious discussion in the bar. She’d held men at arm’s length to preserve the secret she had a dual identity. Would any of them have believed her, even if she’d told them? Juan doubted it. If a woman had told him she could turn into a wolf or a bear or a bird, he’d have chalked her up as a mental case.
Off on a tangent, he marveled at the existence of a secondary world. It had been there all along, right under his nose. He’d listened when Raphael launched into his “Vampirism in Ten Easy Steps” lectures because he was still having a hell of a hard time believing Vampires existed. Let alone the other creatures Raphael mentioned in passing.
“Amazing level of denial,” Juan muttered. “I was one, and I still didn’t believe in them. Not for months.” He grimaced as he recalled frantically drinking blood from a variety of animals, all the while telling himself he didn’t really need it. That he could stop anytime. Shit! He’d sounded like a drug addict.
He checked his course indicators, an exercise he did every half hour. The seas were calm for this neck of the woods. Two-foot swells with the wind at less than ten knots. Weather didn’t get much better in the Southern Ocean. He hoped to hell it held as they made a run for McMurdo. Conditions could change fast, and pack ice might force them into a major course correction. It wouldn’t crush Arkady like it had Shackleton’s Endurance, but it could trap them for months while they ran out of food and fuel. The net effect would be the same, except South Georgia Island—and so far, the Antarctic continent—were devoid of anyone who could offer them aid.
The door at the far end of the bridge popped open, admitting a smiling Aura. “Hey there.”
Joy speared him, bright and shimmery with promise. “What a lovely surprise.” He hopped off his stool and walked toward her. “Did dinner break up?”
“Yeah. It’s been a difficult day. Everyone is sloshed and heading for bed.”
Juan quirked a brow. “But not you?”
“I wanted to say good night.” Her smile faltered. She offered him a tentative glance, eyes darting away as soon as they contacted his.
He swept her into a hug before she changed her mind and made a run for it. “I’m glad. I love the bridge at night, and having you here makes it ten times better.” He tilted his upper body back so he could gaze at her.
A brilliant rose crept up from the open neck of her jacket until it stained her cheeks. “Are you, um, working all night?”
“Not much left of it,” Juan replied. “But yes. Vik will relieve me at six.”
A tiny vertical line formed between her eyebrows. “You won’t get any sleep.”
Evidence of her concern touched him. “It’s okay. I’m used to it. A catnap or two, and I’ll be right as rain.”
She gazed up at him, and her full lips curved into a soft smile. “I’ve always wondered where that expression came from. Why is rain any righter than, say, sunshine or clouds or—”
He placed two fingers over her mouth. She flicked her tongue out and licked them. His reaction was instantaneous, like tossing a match onto a pile of dry wood shavings. Heat roared through him, and he crushed his mouth over hers. He may have fantasized making slow, passionate love to her, but his body would never cooperate with the slow part. Urgency spilled through him, and his cock thickened, rising in a column to press against her belly. She opened her mouth to him and twined her arms around his neck. The scents of old leather and candle wax and jasmine bloomed around them; he inhaled hungrily.
He plumbed her mouth with his tongue and forced his body to slow down. They had all the time in the world, and he’d be damned if he wouldn’t savor the kiss. She had an amazing mouth, lips designed for kissing. She sucked on his tongue, and then she sparred with it. Little biting kisses alternated with deep, probing ones as they got to know one another. She tasted of the scotch they’d shared, and spices from the risotto dinner he’d finished on the bridge.
Her nipples felt like polished stones where they pressed against his chest. She moaned into his mouth and straddled one of his legs. Heat from her core seared his thigh, and her hips bucked against him. She tore her mouth from his, and her eyes glowed with delight.
“Tell me no one will bother us,” she said breathlessly.
He smoothed hair back from her face. “No one will bother us. Everyone is asleep. Back in the day when we had twenty-five crew, there were always several of us in here. Not anymore.”
His entire body vibrated with wanting her, but he didn’t want to scare her off, either. “Why’d you ask?”
“What? About anyone coming in here?” Her lips were swollen from their kisses, and her cheeks tinted the shade of pink roses.
“Yes. Did you have something in mind?” He held his breath. His cock beat like an ancillary heart where it was jammed against her lower body.
She drew her tongue over her lower lip and snaked a hand between their bodies, curving it around his erection. A low, purring growl rose, filling his chest. It fit his mood exactly. Hungry male cat intent on marking his mate.
Instead of answering with words, she let go of him long enough to unzip his jacket and pull it off his shoulders, tossing it over a chair. Once it was out of the way, she ran her fingers beneath his stretchy black underwear top. The touch of her fingertips against his bare skin, teasing his nipples, drove him half-mad with lust, but his cock wanted more contact too. The simple pressure of fabric stretched across its sensitive head was almost enough to make him come.
His nipples turned into points of liquid heat as she flicked her nails over them. “Much mo
re of that, and you’ll end up spread-eagled across the chart table.” He took advantage of her not being smushed against him to cup her breasts through her layers of clothing.
“Chart table, huh? It’s a nice, flat surface. Maybe a wee bit hard. How well does it work?” She sent a coquettish look his way.
“I have no idea. Viktor may have had sex in here once or twice, but I never did.”
“Good,” she said, her tone low, fierce. “I want how we come together for the first time to be special. Something brand new for both of us.”
He unzipped her jacket and repositioned his hands so only one layer separated them from the high, firm globes of her breasts. She made a harsh, groaning sound and recaptured his cock, rubbing harder.
Juan reached down and disentangled her fingers. “Your touch feels amazing, but I don’t want to come yet, and if you do that for very much longer, I will.”
Desire turned her eyes a deep, mossy green. “What do you want to do right now?”
“Look at you. I want to see the body I’ve imagined in my fantasies.”
She grinned and took a step back from him. Hooking fingers beneath her top, she pulled it over her head. The vest she hadn’t bothered to unzip left at the same time. She wasn’t wearing a bra. Juan stared at the perfection spread before him. She had broad shoulders for a woman, shapely with lean muscles. Her breasts were tipped with strawberry-colored nipples. They were hard, pebbled, and as big as silver dollars.
He surged forward and claimed both breasts, filling his hands with them. “But I don’t have everything off,” she protested. “Neither do you.”
Juan bent his head and suckled a breast. The nipple fluttered against his tongue, and his cock jerked against his belly. He told it to stand down. Its turn would come, but not until he’d savored Aura’s lush body. She buried her fingers in his hair as he lashed his tongue from one breast to the other and back again.
“I’ve dreamed about your hair,” she murmured. “It’s like wheat sheaves glowing on a summer day. Gold, but with these subtle red highlights.”
He raised his mouth from her breasts. “Did you stop with my hair?” he teased.
“Oh hell, no, but you should leave a girl a bit of privacy.” She caught the edges of his top and dragged it over his head. Once he was naked from the waist up, she took a step back, and he felt the heat of her gaze as she took him in.
He had an attack of self-consciousness at her frank contemplation. None of his lovers had ever bothered to take the time to study at him. Not like she was doing.
“Were you a pirate in a former life?” She ran a fingertip gently over the worst of his scars.
“It would have been a lot more fun than how I got all those marks. That one was an unruly shark in a diving incident. The others”—he shrugged—“came from a variety of accidents and occasional knife fights in seedy bars.”
“What happened to the shark?”
“I killed him.”
“Better than him killing you.” Aura moved to the waistband of his pants.
“Hang on,” Juan said. “Let me get rid of my boots.” Bending, he toed first one and then the other off. When he glanced at her feet, he saw she wore slippers. “Smart cookie.” He pointed at her feet.
“It’s not as calculating as you might think.” She winked, flicking her lush lashes his way. “I stopped in my cabin for the slippers before I came up here mostly because my feet were tired. Those Muck boots get heavy when you wear them all day.”
“Wellingtons.”
“Where I come from, they’re called Muck boots. Company used to be in Washington. Or maybe it was Oregon, but none of that matters. You took those boots off for a reason, fellow.”
His breath accelerated, and his heart slammed against his ribs as she slid the waist of his trousers down his legs. They pooled around his feet, and he stepped out of them. All that remained were his shorts. She curved her fingers over the ridged flesh jutting from his body, and he pushed into her touch and her warmth.
“Nice,” she murmured. “Why didn’t you tell me you were hung like a donkey?”
He laughed. “Would it have mattered? I wanted you to love me for my mind, wench.”
She laughed too, and the musical tones warmed his soul. Letting go of him abruptly, she gave his shorts a shove, and they joined his pants on the floor. He moved them aside and reached for her thick, woolen trousers. His fingers shook a little as he undid the snap and the zipper, and levered them down her legs.
Because he knelt in front of her, the musk of her center hit him like a fine-tuned aphrodisiac. He fastened his mouth over her mound and worked her panties out of the way. They slipped partway down her legs, but he was too busy to worry about them. He licked her swollen nub, teasing it with his tongue and sucking the slick globe while he drove two fingers between her legs, hunting for the dark, hidden mysteries of her body.
She writhed against him, panting and moaning, and tangled her hands in his hair again. He sank his fingers inside her and upped the ante with his tongue. She thrust her hips against his mouth, and he felt her muscles contract, gripping his fingers. He swirled his tongue around her nub and then sucked hard. She dissolved around him in a flood of scorching heat, but he kept the stimulation flowing until he was sure her orgasm had played itself out.
Color made beautiful patterns across her breasts and face when he looked up at her. He got to his feet, so aroused he was surprised his legs cooperated. “About that chart table...”
“Grand idea,” she got out between heaving breaths, and stepped away from her pants and slippers. Pushing her underwear the rest of the way down, she got rid of it too and glided across the bridge to the generous, elevated table.
The movement of her hips mesmerized him, and he couldn’t have not followed her if he’d tried. Maybe she’d used magic to ensorcel him. If she had, he welcomed it. She spread herself over the chart table, chest down. The cheeks of her ass parted, framing her sex with its halo of spiky, golden curls.
A woman had never been so alluring, and he’d never been more aroused. Juan didn’t recognize the sounds that emerged from him. He’d never made any of them before. Desperation, hunger, lust all rolled into one, and he rushed forward. Grasping his cock, he positioned it at her entrance. Her labia were hot and slippery, and he slid slowly inside.
She rotated her hips at first. As he got deeper, she thrust backward, claiming more of him each time. Juan concentrated on breathing. Just breathing until the urgency spiraling out of control receded a little. He bent low over her body and wrapped his arms around her, settling one hand over a breast and the other over the slick, swollen nub between her legs.
He tasted her on his lips. The sweet musk of her passion inflamed him each time he inhaled. He nuzzled her neck, stringing kisses wherever his lips connected with tantalizing flesh. When he thought he could move without exploding, he withdrew very slowly and then pressed into her again, equally slowly. She thrashed beneath him, moaning and urging him to go faster, deeper. After far too short a time, his carefully choreographed lovemaking fell apart. He thrust hard, fast, deep, glorying in the sensations spilling through him. As he plunged into her, he rubbed her clit. She jammed her fingers over his and showed him what she needed. Smaller circles, more pressure.
He rode a ragged edge of control, determined to love her until she crested again. His release could wait. It had to. Her vault tightened around him, and he upped the pace and the pressure. Where his mouth contacted her shoulder, he bit her. She screamed as orgasm took her. The rhythmic contractions around his cock drove him mad. No reason to wait any longer. Even if he’d wanted to, it was too late. White-hot gouts of semen juddered from him. He came hard and for so long it felt like he’d been transported to another world.
He lay across her for delicious moments while the world came back into focus. “Darling, my darling,” he crooned. “It will be better next time. I promise. It’s been so long, I—”
She jackknifed beneath him until they la
y on their sides on the chart table, facing one another. Reaching between them, she cradled his still-hard cock in one hand. “Anything better would damn near kill me.” She wrapped her other arm around his neck and kissed him hard.
Juan kissed her back. They might have drowsed for a while until he startled awake. “Jesus. The ship. I have to check everything.”
She murmured sleepily, and he jumped to his feet, dragging on discarded clothing as he assessed the various instruments. Luckily, nothing had gone to hell while he was otherwise occupied. Juan winced. He’d never shirked his duty to any ship he’d been on. A grin started in his belly and spread to his mouth. He and Aura would just have to make love when he wasn’t on duty.
How difficult could that be?
“Is everything okay?”
When he turned, she was getting dressed. “Yeah. All fine. I didn’t expect it not to be. Sailing is a lot like flying. Extended periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. Things don’t often turn to crap, but when they do, it happens damned fast.”
Aura shrugged into her jacket. “The goddess owed us this one.”
“Got your order in before you accosted me and lured me away from my post?” He chuckled.
“You might say so, except you seduced me. Time to go.” She pointed out the windows. “Dawn’s not far off. I might turn into a pumpkin.”
He closed the distance to her and hugged her tight. “Be my pumpkin, and all will be well.”
She trained luminous eyes on his face. “I’m happy. So happy it hurts.”
“Me too. I’ll do my damnedest to make certain we stay that way.” He hesitated before adding, “Rowana would be happy for us.”
Aura’s green eyes grew soft and wistful. “Indeed she would. I’m going to head for the galley. Since I’m up, I’ll get coffee and breakfast going for everyone.”
“Sounds great. See you very soon.”
The door to the bridge flew open, and Viktor strode in. He stopped after three paces and stared from one to the other of them before winking lewdly. “Appears I timed this well.”
