Fire and Ash (Immortal Touch) (24 page)

She
sucked in a deep breath at the euphoric feel of his rigidness deep within her. The man was truly testing her sanity. “Dammit, Ash…why do you do these things to me?”

“I only wanted
…to see how far…I could push you.” He grasped her hips, guiding her in a rhythm that matched the music. “This is what you want, isn’t it?”

The only response she could provide was something
resembling
ohh…

“
Isn’t it?
” He drove himself deeper into her, almost painfully so.

“Yes…
yes
…” Any pride she might have had was swallowed up by her hunger for him. And what was pride worth, anyway? Certainly its value couldn’t compare to this. She was floating somewhere above the clouds, lost in the hedonistic rhapsody he had created for her.

“You feel…so good…”
he groaned.

“I…
oh
…”

“So fucking good…”

The only coherent word her mouth could form was his name. “
Ash…
”

“That’s it, baby…let yourself go…show me how much
…you need me...” His cobalt eyes were clouded over with the heat of his fire. “Can’t you feel…how much…I need you?”

She could feel it, could see it in his eyes, and the
revelation that she could affect him so strongly was sublime. Pulsating waves of rapture rolled through her like the tide, a vortex of sensations stronger than the gulf surge during a hurricane. Her muscles tensed, every nerve ending in her cried out with the exquisite intensity, and if it was indeed true that the French referred to sexual culmination as
la petite mort,
then Ash was spot on. Death truly did have much more to offer.

He pulled her tightly against his chest
as he climaxed with her, flattening her breasts against the still-warm paraffin that melded them together. She lay limp on top of him, waiting for her breathing to slow to a more normal tempo, feeling somehow like crying but not sure why. The sheer magnitude of her fixation on him was terrifying. Rick had never made her feel like this, never come even close.
No one
had ever made her feel this way. No one ever would again.

“Feel better now?” he eventually murmured into her hair.
A loaded question if ever there was one.

“Much.”
If it was her pent-up frustration he was referring to, then yes, she was indeed better. It did seem as if a plug had been pulled and all her tension had drained away like tepid bathwater. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

His lips
twitched with wry amusement. “Yes. You did.”

She
attempted to sit up so she could have a look at his burns but he held her trapped against him. “I can’t believe I did that…I’m so sorry…”

The low
chuckle surprised her. “You still don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?”

“Sami, there is a very tenuous line between pleasure and pain. And when you erase that line, what you end up with is a respectful merger between the two. Do you understand?”

“You’re telling me you…
like
pain?”

“That is exactly what I’m telling you.
I think you could learn to like it yourself. Or have you forgotten already?”

She hadn’t forgotten. She would never forget. The scar
s could very well be there forever to remind her. “That’s why you cut me.”

“Yes.
More or less.”

He was so
damn confusing. How could he assume that it was okay to do something like that to a person? To deliberately hurt them? Laiken’s words came back as a stern warning.
You find somebody who’s into that kinda shit, you need to run the other way. And fast. Because they’re dangerous.

Problem was, she didn’t want to run. She wanted to stay right here, wrapped in his muscular arms, and if a little pain now and then was what he craved then she could
learn to handle it. The one thing she couldn’t handle was losing her fix. Her addiction to him was complete and irreversible.

“Ash?”

“Hm?”

“Do you always…I mean, have you ever done anything like that before? With…other women?” She wasn’t sure why she needed to know, why it could even matter. But she couldn’t
prevent herself from asking.

“No one who survived.”

And what the hell did that mean? Honestly, sometimes she wished she had a
Reid-to-English
dictionary to translate for her. “I’m going to assume you mean that in a figurative sense.”

“Of course.” He sounded deliberately innocent.

“So…why me?”

“Because you let me.”

Well then - there you had it. She’d always assumed that those other women were the weak ones, that she was stronger and more independent, when all along it was her who was the easy target.

“I can tell you that you’re the only person I ever allowed any measure of control over me,” he offered.

“You mean…the thing with the handcuffs?”

“Yes, the thing with the handcuffs.” He smiled suggestively. “That was nice…we’ll have to try that again.”

“But you could have drowned!”

“
I did drown. That was the whole point.”

“
What do you mean, you…”

“Please hold all questions until the end of the tour
.” He smacked her sharply on the bottom, eliciting a startled yelp from her.

“You drive me
crazy!
I will
never
be able to figure you out.”

“I know.”

“Are you ever going to let me in?”

“You’re getting there,
sweetheart. You’re getting there.”

There was one more thing she wanted to know. “Why did you choose that word?”

“What word?”

“
Mine.
”

“Isn’t that what you are now?”
She felt him stirring and growing stiff inside her and couldn’t believe he was already hungering for more. The very thought sent bolts of electricity rushing through her as well.

“Ash…” Her legs
tightened against his hard thighs.

“
Mine. No one but me will ever touch you again. Every part of you now belongs to me. Every part…” His hips moved smoothly, gracefully, like the swaying of some exotically sensuous dance. “Is that clear?”

“
Mm…crystal.” Lost in her growing pleasure, she barely comprehended the words. Anything he wanted she’d willingly give, no matter what it might be.

And when the sun rose in the
early morning hours, he was still showing her precisely who she belonged to.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“How long are you planning on keeping me in the dark?”

Eva placed herself between Julian and the
sheet music on the kitchen table before him, crossing her arms with a look of mock indignation.

He feigned ignorance.
“If it isn’t bright enough in here, turn on some more lights.”

“Tha
t’s not what I meant and you know it!”

“What can you
possibly
be referring to, then?” Leaning back in his chair, he patted his knees and she perched herself on them, one hand reaching behind his neck to ruffle the ends of his silky flaxen hair. “Would this have anything to do with a certain upcoming event?”

“Mom told me
she knows where you’re taking me for our honeymoon. You know she’s going to wind up spilling the beans so you may as well be the one to talk.”

“
All right…what would you like to talk about? Politics? The weather?”

“Julian Radley Winter! You tell me right now where we’re
going or I swear I’ll call Mom right now and believe me, I can get it out of her in two seconds flat. Frankly, I’m surprised she hasn’t blabbed already.”

“Your mother
has been sworn to secrecy.”

“If I call her, she’ll tell me. She can’t help herself. Her mouth is
an unstoppable force.”

“Naughty little girl…are you
trying to strong-arm me?”

“Is it working?”

“Sorry, no. I might be open to accepting a bribe, though. How about a kiss?”

“Well…” It was pretty hard to fabricate reluctance for something that tempting.
She granted his request and enjoyed it every bit as much as he did. Maybe more. “There, you have your buyoff. Will you tell me now?”

“No, I don’t
think I will.” He grinned impudently.

“I cannot believe you would steal a kiss under false pretenses, sir
!” She tried to stay serious, but simply couldn’t do it. Whenever he smiled, her own lips curved up automatically in response. It warmed her heart to see him truly happy, when he’d once renounced the possibility of ever experiencing such an emotion again.

“
You don’t know me very well then, do you,” he said before stealing another.

“You should be ashamed
,” she admonished him, pouting playfully.

“Oh, I am…I
truly am…”

“Uh-huh.”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes, I really want to know!”

“Are you
sure
you want to know?”

“I’m sure!”

“Are you absolutely, positively, one hundred percent…”

“
Jules!
”

He laughed at her impatience.
“Very well. But I blame you if you’re not happy with the destination choice.”

“Why me?”

“You’re the one who made a point of how much you liked the beach.”

“O
hh…so it’s by the ocean then! Which one?”

“How
do the Virgin Islands sound to you?”

“
The Virgin Islands? Are you
serious?
” Squealing like a child on Christmas morning, she threw her arms around his neck and practically crushed him in her enthusiasm. “That is…oh my gosh, that’s
awesome!
I can’t wait! So where are we staying? How long will we be there? Wait - what are we going to do with Rio?” She was practically babbling in her excitement.

He smiled with pleasure at her unrestrained delight. “We’ll be staying at the Ritz-Carlton in
Saint Thomas. I’ve booked the Presidential suite for two weeks. As for Rio - Lainie’s agreed to stay here and take care of him. She’s flying in a few days before the wedding.”

“Oh - that’s great! That’ll give us a few days to visit with her
before we leave.” Eva tried to restrain herself from bouncing up and down. “Two weeks on Saint Thomas Island…oh my gosh, Jules, you have got to be the sweetest, most romantic man in the entire world!”

“Man? Now don’t insult me, darling.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” A sudden thought occurred to her. “Do you think…will it be safe to have Lainie here?”

“I should think so, provided we all watch what we say
and avoid any mention of certain topics. Just in case, I’ll speak to her beforehand and explain the situation to her. We’ll accommodate our…ah, dietary requirements before she arrives. With that out of the way there should be no reason for her to bring any of it up.”

“Well, you just thought of everything, didn’t you?”
She was impressed.

“I’ve always been a very organized
individual. Unlike some people…”

“Now don’t insult
me,
dahling.
”

He laughed at her snarky
parody of him. “That was the worst British accent I do believe I’ve ever heard.”

“So does the
Presidential suite overlook the ocean?” Eva’s one-track mind was still focused on their vacation.

“Of course.
What did you expect?”

“
God…all this must be setting you back a small fortune. What with the wedding and reception on top of that, not to mention the lodging for all the guests…”

“I happen to have a small fortune, as you well know. And this is the first time I’ve ever had anything worthwhile to spend my inheritance on.
I think my grandfather would have approved…he always did prefer the finer things in life.” He tweaked her nose gently. “At the moment, I can’t imagine anything finer than you.”

“You’re going to have me more spoiled than
Rio.”

“That’s the plan.”

Only one short month away. It was almost inconceivable. “Julian…” Eva caught his dark eyes and held them intently. “Are you sure, I mean
really
sure, that you want to do this?”

H
e gave her an apprehensive look. “What sort of question is that - of course I’m sure! You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”