by Anne, Melody
I have a great table. Why don’t you come back down here? she replied. She’d been hoping to arrive before he did.
We can’t eat down there and I brought a late lunch, he countered. As her stomach rumbled, she realized she’d forgotten to eat again. Food sounded fantastic. Even if she went up to the third floor, they wouldn’t be in any less of a public place. She’d still be fine.
Picking up her bag, she didn’t bother responding but made her way up the stairs. On the second level, she found the children’s section, and she smiled as she watched a man with a circle of kids around him while he read. The boys and girls were fascinated with the variety of his storytelling voices. If only she could play her different parts as well when dealing with Rafe.
Continuing over to the next flight of stairs, she went upward, then frowned as she realized she was in the stacks section, the part of the library her classmates had said they would go to when they wanted to make out with their boyfriends.
Well, this wasn’t a college campus, and if Rafe thought they were going to be doing any touching, then he had another thing coming. She was there to pore over the pages of his ancestor’s journal, take notes, and learn all that she could. She wasn’t there to get screwed on a hard table — both literally and figuratively.
When she rounded the corner and found Rafe sitting at a covered table with an elegantly presented lunch, she felt her heart speed up.
A smile crossed her face without her even thinking about it. Of course, Rafe couldn’t just bring a sandwich in a brown paper bag. That would be too pedestrian of him. And too plebeian for that dyed-in-the-cashmere aristocrat.
“You look lovely, Ari,” he said as he stood and moved to her chair, holding it out for her.
“Isn’t this a bit much for lunch in a library?” she asked while trying not to enjoy his compliment.
“Nothing is too much for you. Not ever,” he whispered against her ear, sending shivers down her spine.
“We’re here for the journal and nothing else, Rafe,” she reminded him in a breathy whisper.
“That’s what you’re here for. I have…other plans,” he said mysteriously.
“Well, put those plans away…and anything else you might be thinking about taking out that should remain hidden. We’re in public,” she reminded him as she looked at the food — an out-of-the-ordinary chicken salad, artisan rolls, exotic fruit, and small appetizers. Yum. He’d even managed to bring in a bottle of wine.
She knew she shouldn’t accept the wine, but she couldn’t resist, knowing that because he’d chosen it, it would be spectacular. How her tastes had changed since meeting him. She used to despise alcohol, and with good reason, considering the trouble it had gotten her into on more than one occasion. She still avoided anything other than wine, and she now knew how to distinguish between good wine and rotgut. This definitely wasn’t rotgut.
“We’ll have lunch, and then I’ll leave you alone for a while to study the journal,” he said, and she looked at him with suspicion. What was he up to now?
“Hey, I’m trying to compromise,” he told her as he held up his hands.
“I don’t know if I trust you, Rafe. Scratch that. I know I don’t trust you,” she said, though the lifting of her lips took away some of the sting.
“You’ll just have to learn how to trust me again,” he said, then took a bite of lunch.
“Again? I never trusted you,” she said.
He looked wounded and was slow in answering.
“I will just have to earn your trust, then. I want to earn it, and your respect, too. I want to be with you. You will soon realize how important this is to me. You will soon know I want only the best for you — for us.”
“We can’t turn back time, Rafe. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but there isn’t a magic wand available that you can just wave and — abracadabra! — the past is forgotten,” she said, and the hurt in his eyes made her feel like a heel. She was close to apologizing when he looked down and the moment was over.
They finished their lunch, keeping the topics on anything but the two of them, and Ari found herself relaxing. When they were done, a man came in and quietly removed all traces of the meal, and then Rafe pulled out the journal.
Ari gladly took it, excited to get started again. Soon she was lost in the world of William and Saphronia, and she didn’t notice when Rafe got up and left.
She also didn’t notice when the floor was closed off and she was left all alone with Rafe.
Hours passed without Ari’s notice. When most of the lights downstairs in the library went out, and they dimmed on the floor she was on, she kept on reading. She was oblivious to the rest of the world as she sank into the tragic love story between William and Saphronia.
The days creep by with an agonizing slowness, and now two full months are lost in uncertainty, nay, in terror. No word from you has reached my eager hands, and I do not know whether you are still among the living or — I cannot force my pen to write such words. Without you, my life is all confusion and woe. My father has demanded that I marry another, a man who is twenty years my senior, a man whose habits and tastes are utterly uncongenial, a man whom I could never love — even if you had not appropriated that most tender of feelings all to yourself. Father declares that this man will be able to take care of me and provide a secure life for my future children. I have expressed my love for you and you alone, but he says he would never sanction a marriage with a man who is a mere soldier and one who has cast his lot in with the North, among people who, in his words, would deprive his family and those around us of their rights and their freedom. He adds, so cruelly, that you will likely die on the field of battle or find another helpmeet with whom to spend your life, and that I am giving into silly and girlish ideas. Oh, if only a letter from you would reach me and tell me how you are and whether I am still the object of your devotion, just as you are of mine! I will never give up — not even with my dying breath.
Our rigid system of social laws should not allow me, a mere girl, even to ponder such an act as I am pondering — to leave one’s home and one’s connections is against all maidenly training. But should I come to you? Despite all the dangers of war, whither thou goest, I will go. If I hear nothing from you, then I must do just that.
I love you with a devotion that absorbs all else.
Ever yours,
Saphronia
Ari couldn’t stop a tear from falling as she read a letter so fraught with suffering. The terror Saphronia was feeling — the pain and anguish of not knowing whether William was alive or dead. It would be too much for anyone to bear. If she were Saphronia, she too would have crossed enemy lines to find out.
“Are you enjoying the journal?”
Ari jumped as Rafe sat down on the table next to the journal. She quickly spirited it over, not wanting the delicate tome to get harmed.
“Oh, yes, Rafe. You really should read this. It’s very beautiful,” she said, although knowing he just couldn’t appreciate it the way she did.
“I already told you that I would like for you to tell me all about it,” he said, lifting his hand and stroking her cheek.
Ari lost all concentration on the book as she looked into Rafe’s eyes. That was the point when she noticed the quiet. Of course, it was a library, but she heard nothing, not the turning of pages, or the rustle of books being removed from shelves.
She tore her gaze from Rafe and looked around, noticing how dim the library lighting was.
“Are they closing?” she asked, thinking it was probably a wise idea for the two of them to leave.
“They closed an hour ago. It’s just you and me,” he said.
Ari’s head whipped back around to Rafe and saw the ardor in his eyes.
Oh, no.
She wasn’t strong enough for this. It’s why she’d chosen to meet him in public.
“How are we able to be here all alone?”
“I funded this library. They are more than accommodating when I have a
special request.”
She should have known he would somehow take a level playing field and “un-level” it to make it work completely to his advantage. She was dealing with Rafe, after all.
“I think it’s time to go,” she said as she stood.
“Not yet.” He stood, too, and drew her into his arms. “I’ve been dying to do this all day.”
With that, he pulled her against him and didn’t hesitate to press his lips to hers. Ari resisted for all of two seconds before she gave in to him.
What would the harm be to feel pleasure for just a few moments? Would it really break her heart to be with him one more time? Maybe it would be good for her. Maybe she would finally get over him for good. It seemed the tender love story of William and Saphronia had weakened the walls of protection around her heart.
She didn’t know whether she was just trying to convince herself or not, but she knew that she wanted this — wanted him so much, it was burning her entire body alive. She didn’t have the will to resist anymore. She just wanted to be taken to another world.
And Rafe could certainly do that.
“I want you, Ari. Tell me no, and I’ll stop.” He leaned back to look into her eyes.
She didn’t want to tell him no. She didn’t want to stop.
“I should…” She hesitated as his hands made their way down her back and gripped her hips, tugging her against his hardness.
“No, you shouldn’t. What you should do is enjoy every second of this, accept what only I can give you and cry out in pleasure,” he said, nibbling her neck.
Oh, yes, that was the right place.
“I need…” She didn’t know how to complete that sentence. She needed so much.
“You need me,” he said. He lifted her up and sat her on a high table, spreading her legs apart, wedging himself between her thighs, pressing his concealed hardness against her heat.
At that moment she was grateful that she was wearing a skirt, that she could feel the hardness of his arousal through the thin silk of her panties.
Though turmoil boiled inside her, she did want him, she did want the pleasure he could give. Her desire outweighed her guilt at betraying herself and her principles.
“Yes, I want you,” she admitted.
Rafe stopped moving against her; he looked into her eyes, his body pressed tightly against hers. He’d been pushing and pushing, and now he hesitated. But she didn’t want to give herself time to back out of this. She wanted him.
“You’re sure?” he asked.
“Yes.” As he gazed at her, she was more than sure.
“Once we start, we won’t stop,” he warned her.
“Then don’t stop, Rafe. Take me,” she said. She wrapped her hands around his neck and tugged him to her.
His head descended and he claimed her mouth hungrily, his hand reaching up to undo her blouse. He finished with the buttons in record time, and then tossed the garment somewhere behind her. Next, her bra came off and then his warm hands were cupping her flesh, holding up the weight as he leaned back and looked at her.
“Damn! You are even more spectacular than I remembered,” Rafe said with whispered reverence.
He massaged her breasts, his thumbs tracing the edges of her puckered flesh. She wanted his mouth on them, but he didn’t give her that; he just kneaded the flesh, then pinched her nipples between his fingers as he elongated them, sending heat straight to her core.
Finally, when she was about to scream in frustration, he bent his head and the feel of his tongue lapping against her skin had her crying out. Yes, it had been too long. She needed this.
He moved back and forth between her breasts, his hands kneading the flesh as his mouth ravished her peaked nipples. Somehow she’d ended up lying back on the table with him above her. She didn’t know how. All her concentration had been on not exploding from just the attention he was giving her breasts.
Within moments, he had them both stripped free of clothing, and she was lying bare before him, feeling a sense of euphoria at the unrestrained lust in his eyes.
“I want to make this last all night, Ari, but I don’t think I can,” he said in apology as his finger drifted down her stomach and caressed the outside of her core.
“How about we just do it more than once?” she suggested, wanting him inside her more than anything else, but also wanting it to last forever. She didn’t know whether it would happen again after tonight. She didn’t know how she would feel tomorrow.
Rafe’s eyes rounded, and he couldn’t even speak for a moment. He quickly sheathed himself before poising his body above hers. “You’re coming back to my house when this is done.”
There was the Rafe she knew, demanding, insistent, trying to get his own way, even when he was nearly delirious with passion.
“Right now, I would agree to anything,” she gasped as he began slowly sliding into her.
“Now that is something I love to hear,” he said. He surged forward, knocking the breath from her as his impressive erection nestled inside her body.
“Yes, Rafe,” she called as he pulled back and then quickly began a rhythm that was thrilling for both of them.
“You’re mine, Ari. I won’t live without you. I won’t lose myself that way,” he cried as his body crashed against hers.
She knew she should shake her head, knew she should disagree, but she felt so right in this moment that she couldn’t think of why. There was nothing but pleasure lodged in her brain as he continued thrusting inside her.
Two years was too long to go without this feeling.
“I’m sorry, Ari,” he cried as he sped up, a thin sheen of sweat coating his chest.
What was he sorry for? She had no idea.
He pounded against her, and Ari’s world shattered. She shook as her body gripped him, the orgasm lasting for an eternity.
Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, she heard Rafe crying out as he found his pleasure, but she could barely process it. All of her concentration was focused on the pulsing in her core, the pressure inside her breasts, and the fire shooting through her veins.
When she finally came back down from the mountain they’d climbed together, she opened her eyes, finding herself looking into Rafe’s very satisfied expression.
“We were meant to be one, Ari,” he said as he dropped down and gently caressed her lips.
“There has never been a problem with us in this department, Rafe. It doesn’t mean anything,” she replied. She didn’t regret her decision to have sex with him again, but she needed to remember it was only sex.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Ari. What we have is beyond unusual, and beyond wonderful. I’ve never found so much pleasure with anyone else. I needed to change the sex, control it, master the woman to find any enjoyment. With you, all I need is one look, one taste, one touch. You turn my blood to fire, make me see only you and the starry night that you create. We are good together, and I will prove that to you.”
Ari saw the truth in his eyes and felt a stirring of hope inside of her. Yet that was a dangerous emotion to be feeling right now. It could end up causing her to crash so hard that she’d never recover.
When he kissed her again, Ari thrust those thoughts aside. She would take her one night with him. She would enjoy it. Tomorrow, she would allow herself to think.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lia
“We need to go back to the beach. There are too many uninhabited islands out here, and there is no way that anyone will find us if we are hidden in this cave,” Shane said.
Lia didn’t want to leave their cave. They’d been there for two days, only venturing out to find food and materials for burning. Other than that, they’d made a lot of love and talked for hours on end.
She felt as if she knew Shane, as if he were a part of her now. She’d been so blind to the man he was, but then he’d been blind to her, as well. One could learn a lot about a person when no one else was around, and she was glad they’d finally opened up to each other.<
br />
A quiet confidence seemed to whisper to her heart that they would be OK. Maybe it was nothing more than feeling a kinship for the only other person on a deserted island, but she didn’t think so. She was in love with him. But could she trust those emotions?
“I love our little paradise,” she said while he packed the tent. She was too unhappy about having to leave to want to make departure more inevitable.
“Well, look on the bright side. It may take them several more days, or even weeks, to find us,” he said with a laugh as he took a survey of their area, making sure he had everything.
There weren’t a lot of supplies left, and they needed everything they had. He was acting flippant about how long a rescue could take, but she knew he was concerned. The island had an abundance of fruit and nuts, but still, they weren’t used to living in the wild, and they didn’t have enough to make them comfortable for long.
“I can always hope it will be a few more days, at least,” she said with a smile. And she did cherish that hope.
“I have to admit that I’m shocked, Lia. I would have never taken you for a wilderness girl. You enjoy the spas far too much.”
“Oh, I still enjoy the spas, Shane. I just love all of this time one-on-one. I’ve never felt this satisfied and this happy in my life. A spa definitely can’t satisfy me in the areas you do.” She walked up to him and pulled his head down, kissing him deeply.
When he came up for air, he smiled. “Well, not the reputable spas, at least.”
It took her a second to understand his meaning, and then she burst out laughing. “Which ones have you been hanging out in, Shane Grayson?” she asked with mock anger.
“Well…”
“Shane Grayson!” she said, horrified.
“I’m just kidding. I would never even think of entering a house of ill repute,” he assured her a bit too earnestly.
She glared at him for a moment before deciding he’d only been trying to get a reaction from her.
“You’ve been all over the world. I’m sure you have done things that would shock most people,” she said, worried about the women he had been with. One of the reasons she’d been so leery of starting up with him again is because he was a known playboy. What if he did have women waiting for him in every port on every continent?
