Love Song For A Raven

Chapter 6

Raven awakened instantly, silently, completely. His senses told him that the storm was over. The wind was little more than a fading whisper. The Black Star lay almost motionless beneath him. Moonlight poured in silver torrents through openings in the spent clouds.

And nearby, someone was crying very softly.

Before Raven could stop himself, he was halfway out of bed and heading for Janna’s bunk in the bow. With an effort of will he forced himself to lie down again. If he went to her, he would give her more than comfort. He would lie beside her and caress her until those beautiful legs opened for him. Then he would slide his hard, violently sensitive flesh into her softness, finding the sweet and wild union that he had been aching for ever since he had seen her struggling so bravely against the storm.

Even as Raven tried to tell himself that surely he could comfort Janna without making love to her, he knew that it wasn’t true. His whole body was flushed with sexual heat, pulsing with the hard beating of his heart. He had never felt so close to the limit of his self-control with a woman. The need to comfort and ravish, to soothe and incite, to find wildness and peace within Janna was tearing him apart.

Grimly Raven lay very still, fighting his unruly body and his equally unruly emotions, knowing that it would be a long time before he got to sleep again. He had been a long time getting to sleep in the first place. He had waited for hours for Janna to stop sketching and come out of the bow cabin so that he could apologize to her in the relative safety of the main cabin. Finally he had been able to stand it no longer. He had knocked at the tiny door to her cabin. There had been a long hesitation before she had answered. Her tone had been subdued, almost flat. He had realized then how much life she usually had in her voice. The difference had gone into him like a knife.

Remembering the lack of music in Janna’s voice did nothing to ease the restlessness in Raven’s body right now. Nor did hearing the muffled, ragged sounds of her fighting not to cry out loud help him to be at peace. Finally, after what seemed far too long, the soft noises faded, merging with the subtle whisper of the wind. Raven sighed in relief and went back to counting silver salmon on the back of his eyelids.

The sound of the bow door furtively opening brought every nerve in Raven’s massive body alive. He heard Janna tiptoe up the two steps into the main cabin. He sensed her crowding against the far side of the aisle that separated his bunk from the galley stove. His nostrils flared as her subtle, indefinable fragrance washed over him like moonlight while she eased past his bunk to the door leading to the stern.

Hands clenched into fists to keep from reaching out to her, Raven listened as Janna passed his bunk in an almost soundless rush of hurrying feet. The cabin door opened, letting in a gust of cool midnight air. Janna stood briefly in the luminous moonlight before she slipped through the door. Raven closed his eyes. It didn’t help. He could still see the firm, moon-silvered rise of her breasts beneath one of his old T-shirts. He wondered if she was wearing the dark lace panties beneath or if nothing except night concealed her vulnerable softness.

It seemed an unreasonably long time before Janna stealthily opened and closed the stern door again and began easing past Raven’s bunk on her way back down the narrow aisle to the bow cabin. He listened to the soft sounds of her approach, smelled the mixed fragrance of womanly warmth and the coolness of rainwashed night. He was congratulating himself on keeping his hands to himself when he saw the gleam of tears on her cheeks.

„Janna,“ he whispered, reaching out and wrapping his hand around her wrist with a reflexive hunger that he had denied too long. „Janna, what’s wrong? No, don’t pull back. I won’t hurt you. I just want to comfort you.“

And it was true, as far as it went. He did want to comfort her. He wanted it as much as he wanted her.

Janna trembled when she felt the power of Raven’s hand wrapped warmly around her wrist.

„Janna?“ he said softly. „Talk to me.“

„I just needed some air,“ she said, trying to control her ragged breathing. She felt like a prize fool. She hadn’t cried in years, yet since she had met Raven, she rained as regularly as the clouds.

„You’re crying.“

„Think of it – “ Her voice broke. She took a breath and finished in a rush, „Think of it as Queen Charlotte s-sunshine.“

Raven’s hand tightened almost painfully on Janna’s arm, then eased to a caress as he ran his fingertips slowly over the softness of her inner wrist. Janna’s breath came in with a raggedness that had nothing to do with tears.

„I’m sorry,“ he said, his voice so deep that it was as much felt as heard. „I didn’t mean to hurt you with that crack about whining and dining. I thought you would – “

„That’s all right,“ she interrupted hurriedly. Her words were quick, staccato, like cold rain whipped by a storm wind. „I was whining. There’s no need for you to – to apologize for telling the truth.“

„Damn it, that’s not what I meant!“ Raven snarled.

„I understand. Really.“ Janna felt her control dissolving again and wanted to crawl off somewhere before she humiliated herself even further. „Raven,“ she said brokenly, „please let go.“ Vainly she tried to pull her wrist free of his warm, immovable grip. „I’m sorry I woke you. I’m s-sorry I – oh, God, please let go of me!“

There was an instant of silence before Raven’s powerful arm flexed and he pulled Janna onto the bunk, into his arms. He had just enough self-control not to kick back the covers and hold her along his hungry, naked length.

„It’s all right,“ Raven said, stroking Janna’s hair and her back, ignoring her struggles to free herself. „Go ahead, small warrior,“ he murmured. „Cry while I hold you. Hold me if you want to. Please, Janna. I would never have said anything about whining if I had thought you would take me seriously. You’ve been so brave, so full of laughter. I expected you to sling an oyster at me with a smart remark about the dangers of going for a walk with a walrus, but instead you believed what was meant to be a silly joke. Can you forgive me?“

Janna made a strangled sound that could have come from tears or laughter or an aching combination of both.

Raven’s arms closed around her, rocking her gently against his huge chest. When her own arms finally stirred and crept around his neck, he felt both relief and a hunger whose violent intensity shocked him, telling him that he was even closer to the edge of his control than he had realized. His only consolation was that Janna was lying across his chest. As long as she didn’t change position, she wouldn’t know what she was doing to him.

So tell her. Better yet, show her, Raven advised himself sardonically. She’s much too generous and vulnerable to turn me away. She thinks she wants me. She’s so damned grateful to me that she’d do anything I asked. She’d do everything. And it would be so hot, so good.

The fugitive thoughts glittered within the darkness of Raven’s mind, darting and gleaming like salmon trying to evade the net. All that kept him from giving in to his hunger was the knowledge that he would hate himself for taking advantage of Janna’s vulnerability.

„What was that about an oyster and a walrus?“ Janna asked finally, sighing and relaxing utterly against Raven’s chest.

He smiled and brushed his lips so lightly over Janna’s hair that she didn’t feel the touch. „Didn’t your brothers ever explain what happens when a tender, innocent, succulent little oyster goes out wining and dining with a walrus?“ he asked.

Janna shook her head, afraid to trust her voice.

„Your education has been dangerously neglected.“

Raven’s deep voice vibrated through her, pervading her to her core, melting her with laughter and heat. Unconsciously she moved her cheek across his chest, snuggling even closer to his warmth. His arms tightened fractionally, shifting the softness of her breasts against him. Heat surged through him like chain lightning, setting fires in his male flesh.

„‘Twas brillig and the slithy toves/Did gyre and gimble in the wabe…’“ Raven quoted deeply, ignoring the hot, hard stirring of his aroused body.

This time he was sure that laughter was causing the soft sounds and softer movements that Janna made against him. He took in a long breath and told himself all the reasons why he would be an insensitive, unforgivable, contemptible, rotten son of a bitch if he took advantage of her now.

Janna lifted her head, looked Raven in the eye and said, „Frumious bandersnatch.“

„Gesundheit,“ he said instantly.

Her lips quivered with the effort of holding back her laughter, but she gamely stuck with it. „It was the frumious bandersnatch that gyred and gimbled in the wabe,“ she explained. „Not a walrus. If you don’t believe me, ask Lewis Carroll.“

„Carroll was too busy waxing his ceilings and shoeing cabbages for kings to worry about who was or wasn’t gyre-ing and gimble-ing in or out of wabes,“ Raven retorted.

Laughter and sudden tears trembled on the brink of release as Janna looked at Raven loving him, wanting him. She sighed his name and brushed her lips over his. He returned the soft kiss until the tip of her tongue traced his upper lip. Then he turned away and very gently tucked Janna’s head against his shoulder.

It was the most exquisitely tender rejection that Janna could imagine; and it wounded her as no other ever could, sliding through her defenses like a silver razor, slicing her open all the way to her soul, leaving her helpless to do anything but curl up inside with pain.

Raven felt the difference in her instantly, a stillness and a withdrawal so complete that he couldn’t believe he was still holding her. „Janna?“

After a long moment she straightened and eased free of Raven’s arms until she could stand in the narrow aisle between his bunk and the galley. She looked down at his powerful body swathed in the dark sheet, at moonlight caught in the transparent black clarity of his eyes, at the big hand held out to her. Even now she could feel the imprint of his warmth on her skin, taste him on the tip of her tongue. She wanted him so much that it was like dying to know that he didn’t want her at all.

„What’s wrong?“ he asked.

„Nothing new,“ Janna said finally, unconsciously echoing Raven’s earlier words to her. She felt the heat and chills of humiliation slowly ebbing, leaving behind only pain and a determination not to make things more uncomfortable for the man who had been so terribly kind and patient with her. „I’m sorry about the kiss, Raven,“ she whispered. „Truly I am. I keep thinking that I have something to give a man in bed. I’m a slow learner. Really slow. Sorry.“

„Janna – damn it! There’s nothing wrong with you!“ Raven said harshly, feeling his control evaporating. He had wanted to spare her, not to hurt her more. Yet everything he said or did only made it worse. Somehow he had to make her understand that it wasn’t that she didn’t turn him on; it was that she wanted him for all the wrong reasons. „It’s the situation, not you. If we’d met any other way than-“

„Don’t,“ she said, cutting across his words. Then, very gently, she said again, „Don’t, Raven. You don’t have to lie to me. I’m a big girl. I can stand the truth. And the truth is that I lack whatever that indefinable something is that arouses a man. I’m sorry I embarrassed you. I promise that it won’t happen again.“ Janna forced a smile and held out her right hand. „Friends?“

„Friends?“ gritted Raven. He stared up at Janna, his eyes as black as night itself. Her smile was infuriating, as brilliant and empty as the moonlight pouring over her outstretched hand. „Friends?“ he repeated, smiling savagely as he reached for her.

There was no warning. One instant Janna was standing in the aisle with a social smile plastered on her face and the next instant she was flat on her back in Raven’s bed with his powerful, naked leg across her thighs, pinning her to the mattress.

„Oh yes,“ he said thickly, „we’re friends, Janna.“ He took both her hands, and as he spoke he began dragging them down the length of his body. „I’m a great believer in friends being honest with each other.“

„Raven? What…?“

The question ended in a gasp as Janna felt Raven’s unmistakable male hardness beneath her hands.

„That’s what,“ he rasped.

Raven was so aroused that she could feel the heavy beat of his pulse as he closed her fingers around him. He felt hot and tight to the point of bursting.

„It’s been like that damn near all the time since I saw you fighting the storm,“ he said flatly. „You smile or you turn around or you lick your lips, and I get so hot all I can think about is opening your legs and burying myself in you. If you give me any more crap about not being sexy enough to turn a man on I’m going to…“

The words became a broken groan as Janna’s fingers moved over Raven slowly, savoring every bit of his erect male flesh. His hips moved reflexively, stroking his hungry length between her caressing hands. He saw her looking at his body, smiling at the very visible proof of his desire for her. He shuddered heavily, moving against her warm hands, feeling a pleasure so intense that he clenched his teeth against a guttural cry.

„No more,“ Raven said finally, his voice ragged. He caught Janna’s face between his big hands. „I won’t take you. It wouldn’t be fair to you. I just wanted you to know that I’ve never had a woman turn me on so hard, so quick. If you were any sexier to me, I’d come just looking at you. How’s that for honest?“

Janna looked up at Raven’s face. His eyes were narrowed, glittering, and his mouth was drawn back as though in pain. His skin was hot to her touch, gleaming with sweat, and every powerful muscle was rigid with passion and control. He stirred hungrily between her hands with each rapid heartbeat, a man more potent than she had ever dreamed. The knowledge that he wanted her so much was a searing wildness racing through her, melting her with a sensual heat that she had never before known. She shivered repeatedly, hotly, tiny convulsions that changed her body within the space of a few breaths. She tried to speak but could not, she could only moan his name as her own buried sensuality burst within her, drenching her with liquid fire.

The scent of her arousal made Raven’s whole body tighten. As though in a hot dream he felt her passionate shivering while her legs shifted, opening for him, pleading for him as her hands drew him closer to her.

„Janna – no.“ And then Raven groaned, feeling the softness and moisture of her. „Oh God,“ he said through clenched teeth as she melted at the first touch of him, bathing him with her heat. „I can’t do this to you. I haven’t even kissed you. You deserve better than this.“

„We’re kissing now,“ Janna whispered.

She moved her hips until Raven’s hot flesh nuzzled against her softness, letting him feel what the honesty of his desire had done to her. He wanted to tell Janna to stop before it was too late, but he couldn’t speak. What she was doing took his breath away. His hands clenched on the T-shirt she wore as he fought not to lose control.

And then it was too late. The shirt ripped from neck to hem as he took her with a single powerful thrust of his hips, burying himself in her. She was sleek and ready and wonderfully tight. He had never felt anything half so good. He withdrew and drove into her again and then again, measuring her taut, welcoming softness with his own hard flesh. He knew he should slow down but it was too late for that, it had been too late since he had first seen her fighting the storm. He had never lost control with a woman but it was happening now, everything spinning away from him as pleasure burst repeatedly, wildly, shaking him to his soul. With a hoarse sound that was Janna’s name, he poured himself into her, knowing only her and the sweet violence of the release she had given to him.

Janna felt the wild trembling of Raven’s body, heard her name a ragged cry on his lips and held him fiercely, savoring every instant of his shuddering climax. The knowledge that he had wanted her so badly and that he had found such a complete release within her moved her in ways that she couldn’t describe. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she held Raven, loving the feel of him in her arms and in her body, feeling love for him like a fierce, sweet agony in her soul, wanting nothing more from life but to hold him until she died.

Finally Raven’s breathing settled into the slow rhythms of relaxation and he stirred as though to roll aside. Janna’s arms tightened in silent protest. She didn’t want it to end. Not yet. Not ever. His thick mustache brushed over her cheek in a silky caress as he kissed her gently and then kissed her again, nibbling softly until his lips met the warm trail of her tears. He stiffened and drew back until he could see the shining evidence against her cheek.

„My God,“ he said, his voice breaking. „I’m sorry, Janna. I didn’t mean to hurt you.“

„No,“ she said quickly, holding Raven as he tried to withdraw from her. „You didn’t hurt me.“

But even as she spoke, he gently eased from her body, his strength making a mockery of her attempts to hold him. As he left her she cried out softly. He stroked her hair with a hand that trembled.

„I’m sorry,“ he whispered, „so sorry. I’ve never lost control like that. I just wanted you too much. I forgot how strong I am, how I’m no good with fragile things. I’m sorry, Janna. God, I – “ His voice broke again.

Raven closed his eyes and fought for the control that seemed to elude him every time he was close to Janna. She heard the raw emotion in his voice and saw the wild glitter of unshed tears in his eyes. With wondering fingertips she caressed his cheek and the thick black curve of his closed eyelashes.

„You didn’t hurt me,“ she said huskily.

„You’re crying,“ he said in a harsh tone. „I must have hurt like hell.“

„No,“ she said, putting her fingers across his warm lips. „Listen to me, Raven. You didn’t hurt. It was knowing how much you wanted me, having you inside me, feeling you fill me with your hunger and need.“ The words stopped in a ragged breath. „It was unbearably beautiful,“ she whispered, kissing him. „That’s why I cried. That’s why I’m still crying.“

Raven’s hand moved against a bulkhead switch. Instantly a soft golden light flooded the bunk. As though to reassure himself of the truth of her words, he went swiftly over her body with his fingertips, searching for any sign that he had hurt her in the violence of his own need.

With wide eyes Janna watched Raven, trembling as he gently parted her legs and touched her with exquisite care. Heat bloomed unexpectedly, making her breath catch. He heard the tiny sound and touched her again, wondering if he had hurt her despite her assurances that he had not. Very lightly he traced the incredible softness of her, expecting her to flinch. She made another stifled sound as he circled her again, seeking her most tender flesh. She shivered helplessly as she melted at his touch.

Raven’s expression changed, became both gentle and… hungry. He caressed Janna again, melting her again, smiling as he felt the proof that he hadn’t hurt her. When his hand pressed against her leg, she shifted unconsciously, giving herself to his touch, watching him while his dark glance moved over her in another kind of caress. She looked down at herself and realized that she was wearing his torn T-shirt like an open vest. The thin cotton clung to her breasts, held by the dampness of her flushed body, and his big hand was curved protectively, possessively, around the vulnerable softness that she had given to him.

„Small warrior,“ Raven whispered as his hand rubbed slowly against Janna. „So soft, so hot, so generous.“

Eyes wide and luminous, Janna lay on the rumpled sheets, watching Raven while he caressed her, feeling as though he were stroking her with silk and fire. Slowly, very slowly, his fingertips smoothed up her body, leaving heat and dampness in their wake. The sensual contrast with the cool air of the cabin made her tremble.

Then Raven’s long index finger finally slid beneath the torn cotton T-shirt, tracing and freeing a breast in the same motion. Janna’s nipple tightened in a tingling rush. She watched his fingertip stroke slowly across her ribs, sliding closer to her other breast. Before he even touched it, the hard rise of her nipple was clear beneath the cotton. Raven’s smile as he peeled aside the clinging cloth made her breath wedge in her throat.

"Raven?’’ she whispered.

He made a rumbling sound that could have meant anything as he traced her tight, velvety peak. She watched in helpless fascination when he bent and touched the dark nipple with the tip of his tongue. A ragged sound came from her that could have been his name. His answer was a husky male laugh and the tender pressure of his teeth closing over her nipple, tugging at her, unraveling her breath and her body in a few rushing instants. She called his name in what she meant to be a question but came out as a broken cry.

„Yes,“ Raven said, understanding the question Janna hadn’t been able to ask. He nuzzled her breast and the curve of her throat, tasting her with obvious pleasure. „I’m going to eat every sweet bit of you. But first I’m going to find out if your mouth is as hot and wild and welcoming as your body is.“ He laughed again, a sound so low that it was more felt than heard. „I’ve never learned a woman’s secrets in reverse order before,“ he murmured, holding himself back long enough to admire Janna’s mouth. „Once I had learned the last secret, the others didn’t interest me. But you do, small warrior. I ache to know if you’ll open these lips as trustingly as you opened the rest of yourself.“

Janna saw the sensual curves of Raven’s mouth and the black, silky gleam of his mustache as he slowly lowered his head. She tried to say his name but could not. Her lips parted for him on a husky sigh. She felt the tiny shudder that took him as he brought his mouth to hers, joining them as completely as he had joined their bodies a few minutes ago.

When Janna felt the hot touch of his tongue, her whole body tightened with a surge of pleasure. His taste swept through her, filling her senses. The tip of his tongue found hers and teased it as he had once teased her breast. She made an inarticulate sound and ran her fingers across the powerful muscles of his shoulders, testing his resilience. As he felt the tiny bite of her nails his tongue thrust deeply into her and withdrew almost instantly, as though he were afraid of hurting her.

„Again,“ Janna whispered, burying her fingers in the thickness of Raven’s hair, pulling his head down to her. „Oh, please, kiss me like that again.“

He took her words and her mouth with a hoarse sound, kissing her so fiercely that her neck arched across the muscular thickness of his forearm. With an effort he brought himself under control again.

„You’re pure hell on my good intentions,“ Raven said huskily, looking at Janna’s reddened lips with a combination of regret and raw hunger.

She looked up at his narrowed eyes and licked her lips uncertainly. They tingled and felt hot and sensitive, and she wanted nothing more than to feel herself crushed within Raven’s arms again.

„What do you mean?“ Janna whispered, touching her tongue to her lips again.

He smiled. „Lick my lips like that and I’ll show you.“

Janna’s eyes widened. Her hands slid up to his cheeks and she held him as she pulled herself toward his mouth. She licked his lips slowly, loving the feel of his breath rushing hotly over her as he groaned. His fingers thrust deeply into her hair, pulling her head back until her neck was a creamy offering to his mouth and he could see her pulse beat heavily beneath her skin. He bit her lips with sensual restraint even as he held her arched helplessly between his powerful hands.

Shivering, watching his eyes, she breathed his name.

„What do you like from a man?“ Raven asked. „Tell me and it’s yours. Whatever you want, however you want it, for as long as you can take it. Just tell me.“

„I don’t know,“ she admitted. „My husband never wanted this.“ Janna’s breath caught, then came out with a ragged sound as Raven’s teeth closed delicately over the pulse beating in her throat.

„You told me all I need to know about your husband,“ Raven said, nuzzling against the sensitive lobe of her ear. „Now tell me what you wanted from your lovers.“

„I don’t know. You’re the only one I ever had.“

Janna felt Raven become utterly still. Slowly his head came up until he could look into her eyes. She tried to make a joke of her inexperience but the words stuck in her throat.

„Ever?“ he asked, hardly able to believe that a woman as sensual and generous as Janna had never found a man to enjoy her.

„I didn’t think anyone would want me. Not really. I even read a whole shelf of how-to manuals for Mark but it didn’t help.“

Her words ended in a soft, tearing sound as Raven’s tongue thrust into her ear. She moaned softly, and her nails bit into the flexed muscles of his chest.

„Books, huh?“ growled Raven, biting her ear sensually, teasing her with his tongue, feeling heat burst through him at her helpless response. He laughed softly and thrust his tongue into her ear as his teeth gently devoured her. „Let me know if I miss any paragraphs that intrigued you.“

„What?“ Janna asked, not understanding anything except the sensations marching over her skin, heat and cold and pleasure impossibly mingling until she shivered.

„I’m going to love you, Janna. All of you,“ Raven said in a deep voice, biting her neck with enough force to leave small marks. „I’m going to love you until you moan and cry and come apart. And then I’m going to start all over again, and then again, until you would kill or die to have me inside you. That’s when I’ll take you and you’ll take me, all of me, and it will be so good you’ll scream.“

It was a sensuous threat and a sensual promise, and Janna wanted both to come true. As she reached for Raven, his fingers laced through hers and he pulled her hands above her head. His black, glittering eyes and elemental male smile made her whole body arch as she tried to reach him, wanting to know the hot penetration of his body once again. When he saw the helpless movement of her legs he smiled and then swore lightly when his body went hard in a single wild rush. He shouldn’t want her again this soon, this much, as though he had never taken her at all. But he did.

And if he let himself look at her hungry softness any longer, he would take her.

Janna gasped as she felt herself picked up and turned onto her stomach as though she weighed nothing. She started to ask a question, then forgot what she had wanted to say as his hands slid beneath her, capturing her breasts. Heat shivered through her as he kneaded her sensitive flesh until her nipples were hard and her breathing was ragged. She sensed his breath on her spine in the instant before his teeth closed on her nape. Caught between his caressing hands and his mouth, Janna moaned his name softly.

„Raven, I want to hold you,“ she said.

She made a broken sound as strong fingers rolled her nipples caressingly, tightening them until fire burst deep in the pit of her stomach. Her leg flexed in helpless response as she tried to roll onto her side, instinctively seeking the fulfillment of his body within hers. His knee slid between her legs, pinning her, making it impossible for her to roll over.

„Don’t you want me to hold you?“ she said.

„Oh, I want it,“ he said through clenched teeth. „Too much. You’re so damned sexy you make me lose control,“ he gritted. „Can’t you feel what you do to me?“

Janna felt the rigid power of Raven against her hip. She moved slowly, caressing and enjoying him in the only way that she could. A husky groan was her reward. Then his hand moved, raking tenderly down her spine until his fingers found the warm crease between her hips. He followed that down and down until he could hold her in his palm once more.

„All that heat waiting,“ Raven whispered as his teeth sank sensually into Janna’s hip. He laughed deep in his throat as he stroked her with his hard palm, hardly able to believe that she wanted him so much. He said her name against her skin again and again, leaving sensual marks each time.

Janna barely heard. Raven’s caressing palm was stripping away her breath, her thoughts, her control. Instinctively she shifted, making more room for him between her legs, wanting more of the incredibly sensual touch. Callused fingertips moved slowly, seeking out and caressing her most sensitive flesh until she made a broken sound and her hips moved with his touch. He rewarded her with another love bite that made her moan. He felt her warmth seep over him at the gently stinging caress and heard her cry of pleasure.

„God,“ he said hoarsely, turning Janna over so that he could bite the soft heat of her inner thigh. „You make me want to cover you everywhere with loving marks.“ He turned and nuzzled the hot secrets that awaited him. „Everywhere,“ he said huskily as his teeth closed on her with exquisite care.

Sensations raced through Janna, making her tremble violently.

„Raven, I-“

„You taste like the sea,“ he said. „Salty, mysterious, wild.“

When Raven parted Janna’s legs with his hands, she gave him what he asked without hesitation, abandoning herself to him because there was no other choice. The tight nub of her passion was no longer hidden from him. He had found it and his sweet, hungry caresses were making her helpless. Her back arched as something wild speared through her, tightening her whole body.

„Raven?“ she cried, sinking her nails heedlessly into his shoulders because he was the only thing real in a world that was coming apart in slow motion around her. „Raven!“

His only answer was a low sound as his teeth closed around her with dark restraint, holding her captive for his loving. His name broke from her lips in fragments as tension coiled within her body more tightly with each instant. She called his name again, frightened now, wholly at the mercy of the sensations spearing through her with every hot caress.

„It’s all right,“ he said huskily, „I won’t hurt you.“ He kissed her very gently, cherishing her tender flesh. „Give yourself to me, small warrior. Let me love you.“

„Yes,“ she whispered as he kissed her again. „Oh, yes.“

And then the heat and hunger of Raven’s loving stripped the world away, leaving ecstasy in its place. His hands gripped Janna’s hips, holding her against him as he caressed her, increasing the wild pleasure sleeting through her, listening to the husky cries he had called from her.

When the last shivering finally faded from Janna, Raven moved slowly up her body, licking the mist of passion from her skin. He wanted her with a violence that shook him, but he made no move to take her. He knew that she had found her release; he didn’t expect her to want him now.

„Raven,“ she said, blindly seeking his lips. „Hold me. Please, hold me.“

He felt her tears against his cheek and wrapped his arms tightly around her, finding both relief and torment in pressing his erect flesh against her.

„Be inside me,“ she whispered, touching him with loving fingers. The thought of being joined with him again made her tremble. „Let me hold all of you, Raven. Let me feel you moving inside me. Please.“

Raven closed his eyes and struggled for control. He knew that Janna might as well have been a virgin, that he shouldn’t take her again so soon. And he knew that if he didn’t feel himself sheathed within her loving softness again he would die.

„Janna – “ he began, trying to explain why it would be better for her if they waited.

„You were right,“ Janna interrupted, whispering against Raven’s mouth as her nails bit into his powerful back, urging him closer to her. „I would kill or die to have you inside me.“

Emotion swept through Raven, changing everything as the world shifted and faded away, leaving only the woman who watched him with luminous silver-green eyes. „I’ll hurt you,“ he said harshly.

„No,“ Janna said, moving her hips so that Raven pressed gently against her softness. „I was made for your loving.“

Raven felt the spreading heat of Janna’s pleasure and wanted her even more now than he had the first time.

„Are you sure?“ he asked huskily, easing into her even as he asked, ready to withdraw at the least sign of her discomfort.

„Oh, yes, I’m sure,“ she said throatily, feeling the secret, hot movements of her body as pleasure shimmered deep within her again.

Raven felt Janna’s pleasure as clearly as she did. He made a thick sound and took her mouth, kissing her deeply, moving slowly within her, drinking her soft cries of love. She was heat and a glittering promise surrounding him, calling to him, loving him. She sank into him like the mist into the forest, inseparable, penetrating his very core, filling him even as he filled her; and then ecstasy swept through them in a wild silver wind, stirring them until they cried out and clung to each other, knowing only each other, letting everything else spin away into darkness.