Iris Johansen - Dark Rider

She would die if he didn't. "Yes."

"Thank God!" Some of the tension left him, but he was still braced as if on the rack. He moved stiffly, the first few thrusts slow, easy. "I'll try to-" he whispered. "It's no good. I'm sorry. I can't do-"

He exploded, thrusting short, long, fast, frantic.

She clutched his shoulders, desperately holding on to him as that emptiness grew and the hunger sharpened. She tried to help him, thrusting upward, instinctively clenching around him to keep him inside her when he left her.

"No, don't do that," he gasped. "I can't-"

She had to do it. She had to have all of him. Her head thrashed wildly from side to side on the pillow. She could feel the wetness on her cheeks, and she realized tears were streaming from her eyes. Lani had said this unbearable hunger was supposed to end. Why didn't it? Why was it growing and changing, making a slave of her body until she could only move mindlessly to the rhythm Jared set?

"Please, make it-" She didn't know what she wanted to ask of him. Make the torment stop. Make it go on forever. Belonging. Every stroke was drawing them closer. Jared. Possession. Darkness. Hunger. Faster, harder, Jared's breath was a harsh sob above her.

Or was she the one who was sobbing? It didn't matter, they were one.

"Now!" he said through his teeth, plunging to the heart of her.

She screamed as the dark hunger exploded, splintered into a brilliance like nothing she'd ever known. Jared collapsed on top of her. "Dear God."

It seemed they lay joined together a long time, but Jared's breath was still harsh and uneven when he leaned forward and his lips brushed her closed lids. "I think it's safe to assume you found me 'pleasant.' You're definitely more Kanoa than prim Cassandra."

His voice was a velvet reverberation in the darkness, Cassie thought dreamily, as lazily seductive as a summer breeze. This was beautiful, but she wanted it to start again. Soon he would touch her, stroke her, and the flames would start.

She opened her eyes. He was only a heartbeat away, looking down at her, his eyes so blue and clear she felt as if she were looking into forever. She wanted it to be forever. She wanted to float on and on in this special place until there were no more tomorrows. "Ku'aihelani," she murmured.

"I beg your pardon?" He kissed the tip of her nose. "I don't believe I know that word."

"It's not a word, it's a place. It's where-" She broke off as she came fully awake. This was not forever. This was no Ku'aihelani. What was she thinking? "Never mind."

"But I do mind. I'm a very curious man." He tugged at the lobe of her ear with his teeth, pressing just hard enough to send a tiny tingling through her. "I want to know about this Ku'aihelani. I want to know everything about you."

So that he could possess her mind as he had her body. Panic shot through her as the memory of that joining surged back. Dear God, what had possessed her? She knew the answer. He had possessed her, and dominated her and made her forget everything except what he had wanted her to feel.

She pushed him away with all her strength, catching him unawares. She jumped out of bed, looking around wildly for her sarong.

"Where the devil are you going?" Jared raised himself on one elbow. "Come back to bed."

"Why?" She picked up the sarong from the floor and jerkily wrapped it around her hips. "It's over. I'm going back to my cabin."

"It's not over. We've barely started."

She whirled on him. "It's over . I chose to come here. I choose to leave. You have nothing to do with it."

His lips tightened. "I beg to disagree. I had considerable to do with it ten minutes ago. I'm reluctant to be cast aside so arbitrarily."

"I told you that I'd walk away. I told you coupling with you would mean nothing to me." She brushed her hair back from her face with a shaking hand. "Nothing at all."

His gaze narrowed on her face. "Then why are you running away?"

"I'm not running away."

"I think you are." He held out his hand in invitation-naked, powerful, infinitely sexual. "Prove it," he said softly. "Stay. I've only begun to show you the way of it. Pleasure has many faces."

And his was the most alluring she had ever known. She took a half step forward before she realized what she was doing. She moistened her lips. "I'll come again… when it pleases me."

"Now." There was steel beneath the velvet.

She glared at him. "Only when it pleases me. I set the pace."

"The devil you will." He swung his legs to the floor. "You forget where you are. I can do what I will with you." He moved across the cabin. "Get back into that-" He broke off as he saw her face. "By God, I believe you're afraid."

"I'm not afraid."

"Did I hurt you?" He touched her cheek with infinite gentleness. "I know I was rough, but I didn't think I-"

"You didn't hurt me." His touch was causing her to tremble again. She wanted to lean forward against him, she wanted to reach out and-

She took a step back. "Why should I fear you?"

"I don't know." He studied her for a moment before adding roughly, "But, then, I never know what you're thinking. I keep forgetting what a child you are. Christ, maybe this is how all virgins respond after-" He turned away from her. "Get the hell out of here."

She stood unmoving, surprised by the sudden reversal.

"Leave," he said harshly. "Before I change my mind. You may have had enough of me, but I'm not so easily satisfied."

Neither was she, she realized in despair. She turned toward the door.

"Wait!" He snatched up his shirt from the floor and crossed back toward her. "Put this on."

She shook her head. She needed to be completely removed from him. She wanted nothing of his to remind her of that feeling of possession.

"Damn heathen shamelessness," he muttered. He forced her arms into the shirt. "There are seamen on duty out there."

"I know. I saw them when I came to you."

"And they saw you, no doubt." He started to button the shirt. "I don't want you to come to me like this again. At least wear a cloak."

"It's too warm for a cloak." The shirt smelled of him, and the soft linen was like a caress against her breasts, his caress. "And I don't want this. Take it off."

"If I do, I won't let you out of here until morning," he said grimly. "By God, I'm not letting any other man see you naked. You're so fond of being the one to choose. I warn you, make the right choice now."

She opened her lips to argue and then changed her mind. She wanted only to get away from him. "It's not worth discussing." She opened the door. "Good night."

"I doubt it," he muttered. "I'll see you tomorrow night."

She tensed, not looking at him. "I'm not sure- I may not decide to come to you tomorrow night."

"Then I'll come to you."

"No! I choose."

"It doesn't work that way. I'm willing to let you go tonight, but I'm no tame pup waiting for you to pick me up and play with me." He shook his head. "Poor Cassie, things aren't working out the way you expected, are they? Well, they aren't working out the way I thought, either. I hoped I'd be able to take you and then forget you. But it seems it's going to take more than one night." His tone laden with determination, he repeated, "I'll see you tomorrow night. I'll give you until midnight to come to me."

"I won't be here." The door slammed behind her.

Free. But she didn't feel free. His scent was on the shirt, on her skin, and she felt as if his hands were still on her body. She moved quickly down the deck toward her cabin. Once she was alone, she would scrub her skin until no hint of his touch remained.

But the memory would remain, the memory of the way he looked, the way he felt within her… Sweet Mary, she was beginning to tremble again. Lani had never told her that she would feel like this afterward. If coupling meant nothing, why did she feel as if a tight chain bound her to Danemount even when she was no longer with him? She had the odd feeling that if either of them moved too far away from the other, the chain would tear them apart.