Nicole Jordan - The Passion

"How ill-mannered of me to disappoint him," Nicholas replied sardonically.

"This is hardly the moment for levity," Clune commented coolly. "Gerrod considers you gallows bait and is quite anxious to remedy the mistake that was made in letting you slip away. Actually, he was making inquiries about your American cousin Deverill. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he suspects your impersonation."

"What if he does?"

"Then it makes your situation doubly precarious. I would play least in sight, if I were you. In fact, this might be an excellent time to take yourself back to the Colonies."

"Or it might be a good time to pay the zealous captain a visit."

"You cannot be serious," Clune said with a frown.

A muscle hardened in Nick's jaw, while a grim smile curved his lips.

"Devil take it, I know that look," Lucian observed. "You're spoiling for a fight, Nick – and I cannot blame you. But in this case, I agree with Dare. The odds are too much against you. It would be far wiser to relinquish your desire for retribution and get yourself safely away. There may come a point in the future when you can confront Gerrod, but on your own turf."

"Perhaps." Grimly Nicholas turned back to the window, the tension in his muscles screaming for release. He would indeed relish the exultation of a physical fight and the chance to lock horns again with Gerrod. But his cousin was right, Nick knew. It would be suicidal to act now with the entire British navy against him. There were smarter ways to fight his battle with Gerrod.

It was the battle for Aurora's heart that he didn't dare lose.

Nicholas locked his jaw against the cold wave of dread that swept through him. By rights he should be alarmed by the news of Gerrod's blood quest. But the captain wasn't the cause of the cloying fear in his chest.

What terrified him was Aurora and the choice she intended to make in husbands.

The thought of never again knowing his touch, his fierce caress, is more than I can bear .

Her reflections bleak, Aurora entered her bedchamber to find the lamps had strangely been dimmed. Nicholas . She came to an abrupt halt, her heart leaping as she felt his presence.

"Oh, my lady, 'tis very dark here," her maid said from behind her.

"It's all right, Nell… I have changed my mind. I don't wish to prepare for bed just yet. I think I would prefer to sit quietly for a moment."

"Very well, my lady. Shall I turn up the lamp?"

"No, thank you. Please, seek your own bed. I won't require you this evening."

The maidservant curtsied and withdrew. Carefully bolting the door, Aurora turned around, her eyes searching the dim room. Nicholas sat in the shadows in the far corner, watching her.

She pressed a hand to her mouth, wondering for the thousandth time how she would ever tell him of her decision.

"So you spoke to him," he said finally, breaking the tense silence.

Slowly she nodded, struggling against the flood of tightness that closed around her throat. "Yes. Geoffrey still wants me for his wife."

For the span of several heartbeats, Nicholas made no reply. He simply watched her, his eyes dark and intense.

"I can't leave him, Nicholas. He has been hurt enough."

His voice was low and flat when he ventured to speak. "You want to sever our marriage."

"I… I have no choice. I cannot hurt him more than he has already been hurt. He has lost his arm, Nicholas. Can you imagine what it would be like to suffer such a fate? Geoffrey needs me to stand by him."

Time pulsed between them, dark and endless.

"What about your needs, Aurora?" Nicholas asked at last. "What of mine?"

Aurora shook her head. "My needs can't be allowed to matter. As for yours… You are far stronger than Geoffrey is."

Nicholas gave a mirthless laugh.

"I have known Geoffrey all my life, Nicholas," she said pleadingly, trying to make him understand. "He is part of my past… part of me…"

"And you love him." The words were stark, bleak.

She lowered her gaze. "I cannot abandon him. Can you not see that?"

"I see that you're trying to protect him. You're set on protecting everyone but yourself."

Hearing the sudden harshness of his tone, Aurora wrapped her arms around herself, as if to defend herself against his recriminations.

After a moment Nicholas drew a slow breath. "What do you want me to do?"

"I… I want you to try and seek an annulment."

He was silent and completely still. She moved closer, searching his expression in the shadows. He stared back at her, his face torn with a raw and agonizing emotion that mirrored her own.

"Very well," he said finally. "I'll try."

"You will try?"

"To have our marriage annulled. So you can be free to wed your true love."

She had expected fierce resistance, not this quiet resignation. Perhaps he didn't love her as much as he'd claimed. Despair coursed through Aurora at the thought.

"You will forget me in time, Nicholas," she said, aching. "You will find someone who can be the wife you want."

"You think so?"

He lunged to his feet suddenly, no longer resigned. Covering the short distance between them, he reached for her, his hands closing on her shoulders. His velvet grasp was inescapable as he held her in a soft, dangerous embrace. "You think I could ever forget you, sweetheart? That I could forget what we shared?"

"It was just passion…"

"No. It was far more." His eyes blazed. "I love you, Aurora. Understand that. Taste it, breathe it…"

Without warning his mouth came down on hers. His kiss was fierce, demanding, harsh, as if to punish her. She was struggling for breath before he finally ended it.

When he drew back, the dark hunger in his eyes held a power and starkness that both frightened and compelled her.

She read the intent there, even before he swung her into his arms and carried her to the bed, letting her down none too gently.

Aurora tried to sit up but found herself pinned by his strong body. "Nicholas… we can't do this."

"We can." His whisper was wild and low. "You need to remember what you are giving up."

Flattening his hand alongside her head, he held himself above her, staring down. His eyes were ablaze with angry fire, consuming fire. The gentleness she knew in him was gone.

"Can your precious Geoffrey make you feel what I do?" he demanded. Deliberately he reached beneath her skirts and swept his palm along her bare thigh. "Can he set your blood on fire with just a touch? Can he make your nipples tighten, your skin flush? Can he make you grow wet… like this…?"

He found the center of her desire, hot and throbbing.

When he slid his finger into her, she gasped, straining against him.

It was all the invitation Nicholas needed. His eyes were fierce, naked in intent, as he fumbled with the buttons of his breeches.

"Nicholas…"

He kissed her again, to silence her protest. He had to make her feel the desire raking through his body, his fierce need.

He couldn't have anticipated the explosion of passion he unleashed from her. She gripped his head, her hands clutching his hair as she tried to draw his mouth closer, his tongue deeper.

When she frantically welcomed his devouring kiss, he shoved her skirts to her waist and moved over her. He could feel the pulse of fire lash through her as he sank into her, hard, deep, claiming her in a savage stroke of hunger.

It was like sliding into fire. She arched wildly beneath him and moaned into his mouth, a panicky, anguished sound of need. A sound that would haunt him forever.

Shuddering, he drove into her, feverish with intensity. She came almost at once, convulsing in his arms with a wild cry. Aurora sobbed his name as with one last strong plunge the peak burst on him, helplessly, savagely.