chapter twenty-six.

"That was fun. Let's do it again."

Dane chuckled tiredly. "The woman is trying to send me to an early grave," he murmured into the crook of her neck.

Her foot slid luxuriously down the length of his leg. "What better way to go?" She was slack beneath him and loving it.

He lifted his head, brushing a damp lock from her cheek, his gaze following his fingertips. "You're an incredible woman, Tess," he whispered.

After that, he was calling her incredible? Her hands gently rubbed his slick back. "Magnificent in bed as he is on the floor. Gee. What another plus."

His grin bore a touch of masculine arrogance. "That you've naught to compare with is certainly to my advantage."

She nipped playfully at his chest. "Now don't go getting a swelled head, Blackwell," she murmured dryly. Her hands moved lower, fondling his tight b.u.t.tocks.

" 'Tis well I do not, love, yet if you continue 324.

touching me like that," he moaned when feminine muscles squeezed him more fully inside her. "Ahh- there are other parts of me I fear shall swell quite rapidly for your pleasures."

Tess laughed, husky-soft and mischievous. "My, such an accommodating man I married."

Dane saw the startled flash in her eyes. "What ails you, Tess?" he asked with a frown, feeling her grow tense beneath him. Dane shifted his weight, lying on his side, and curling close around her.

"Jesus, Dane." She rubbed her forehead. "I'm not wife material." Her whispered words sounded almost panicked. "I don't know the first thing about being one in this century. I can't cook without electricity. I lived in a world with machines and packaged food and-"

"Tess," he interrupted calmly. "You will not lift a finger if that is your desire. The servants will see to such matters."

"You have servants!" she wailed. "Oh, that's just great! I can't get used to Duncan puttering around me, let alone an entire staff." She paused, eyeing him cautiously. "Just exactly how rich are you?"

His lips twitched; she looked a bit insulted at the thought, "You will want for naught, love."

"Careful, Dane, that's a loaded question to any woman."

"Spend me into the poor house, my little witch," he murmured, bending to sample the lush morsels displayed for him. "I freely admit I did not wed you for the domestic tranquility you would bring to our marriage." His mouth opened.

325.

"Then why did you marry me?" The words tumbled from her lips in a frightened rush, her body growing still as gla.s.s beside him, and Dane paused on his way to his target. He settled back a bit, his gaze searching her features. And he saw her heart laid open for him, braced and ready to take the plunge of cutting words. Ahh, love, he thought, what a brave and fragile creature you are.

"Because, Tess," his knuckles fanned across her cheek, "I'm mad with love for you."

Her eyes widened a fraction, and he heard her sharp intake of breath.

"You're not just saying that 'cause I made an honest captain out of you," she managed in a small voice. "Are you, Dane?"

Tender humor lit his features. "Oh, nay, my sweet, nay."

Hot tears p.r.i.c.ked her eyes, pewter soft and glossy. "I-I didn't think any man could." Her lowered lip quivered, and she bit it to hold back the flood, squeezing her eyes shut. The crystal droplets trickled down her cheeks. Her voice broke as she whispered, "I love you, too."

Dane's heart slammed against the wall of his chest, ceased pumping, he swore, for an entire beat, then thundered wildly. His vision blurred, and he swiftly gathered her close, raining kisses over her face and throat. She cried, the sound ripping him in two.

"Ahh, G.o.d." He pressed her head to his chest. "Do not weep, Tess, I beg of you. I cannot bear it."

"Oh, shut up, it's a woman thing. You wouldn't 326.

understand."

"If you insist."

"Do you have a choice?"

He grinned above her, loving it when her curves yielded against him. "I think mayhaps I've loved you since you boldly confessed to searching my rooms," he said after a moment.

"Cabin," she corrected with a sniffle, draping a leg over his thigh. "That was so long ago. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

His hand moved to the curve of her b.u.t.tocks, filling with the plump mound. "I did not want you to believe I was saying the words merely to keep you here."

She gave him a shove. "Lame excuse, Blackwell. It's not like I've got a rip in time handy." Then she leaned back, baring her bosom to his hungry gaze. He leered suggestively, lowering his head.

She pushed at his shoulder. "You know, I don't even know where you live-or do you just ride the seas for the American cause?"

G.o.d, he loved the way she talked. "My family purchased land in the Florida Territory. 'Tis just begun to yield sugar cane and fruit from trees I'd imported from the tropics," he said, then sought the skin denied.

She held him back again. "Those wouldn't be oranges, by any chance?"

He groaned, his lips hovering over her taut nipple. "Why do I sense you already know that?" He met her gaze and saw laughter dancing there. "Speak what is on your mind, witch."

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"Florida is noted for its oranges in my time, Dane, along with its beaches, seafood, and resorts." Her pitch rose as his lips closed over the rosy crest, taking it fully into his mouth.

Briefly Dane wondered what might become of his plantation but was more interested in making love to his wife again. If she'd cease this prattling.

"Wh-what's the name of this place?"

Her hand, soft as a kitten's paw, burned over the skin of his chest. "Last I was there, 'Coral Keys' graced the gates."

She stilled, lifting her head from the pillow. "But-that's where I lived! Good grief! Do the citizens have you to thank for it?"

He gave a small shrug, his lips and tongue worrying the plump underside of her breast, a hand ma.s.saging her b.u.t.tocks. " Tis but three families within the lands surrounding my home," he murmured against her skin. "The city is half a day's ride."

"Well, ah-you'll be pleased to know Coral Keys doesn't sta-ohh, jeez-!" His fingers found her, warm and wet, and Tess couldn't speak as he thrust into her.

Dane refrained from asking if she knew of his family's heritage, his descendants. Nay, their descendants. Would the future change now that Tess was here in his century and married to him? Sweet Jesus, it was too confusing to ponder overlong on the theory, especially knowing she was ready for him. Their time was now, and it made him even more determined to get back what was rightfully his. The plantation would not survive long without 328.

him. And he would not survive without Tess.

He suddenly found himself shoved onto his back with a force he wouldn't have believed her capable of. She was like a prowling cat, feline grace and that black Jaguar draping her back as she slithered on top of him.

Her lithe body was like glowing embers searing his skin, woman-hot and musky, nearly painful it felt so good. Her fingers slid into his hair, holding him captive, and Dane's head reeled when her lips feasted on his own. Briefly she caught his lower lip between her teeth, nibbling, sipping, then brushed her tongue across his teeth, savagely outlining the inside of his lips, before thrusting deep inside his mouth. Dane thought he'd come apart at the seams with the wild thrill of her. He was stone rigid and burning to the point of agony when she spread her thighs over him, and he tried to muster the strength to move his arms. He never got the chance.

She sat up, straddling his hips, her raven tresses an untamed swirl about her. A devilish grin coasted across her lips as her fingers wrapped around his arousal, slowly stroking him until he thought he'd explode in her hand. His muscles went rigid with excitement, the blood pulsing in his groin as his hands molded up her thighs to cup her b.u.t.tocks and bring her closer to his heat.

"Come to me, Tess. Quickly."

"I love you, pirate," she whispered, holding his gaze as she guided him smoothly inside her. "Let me show you."

She did, the ride white-hot and primitive. Mo-329 ments later Dane arched, his hoa.r.s.e growl of rapture scorching the walls of the house.

Thundering hooves vibrated against the deserted sh.o.r.e, water fountaining out behind in a cool salty mist as the gray roan raced across the ocean's hem, kicking up clumps of sand and broken sh.e.l.ls in its wake. Feminine laughter tumbled over the crush of waves, the pure sound ringing down the barren coast. The rider's clothing clung to her, thin and damp from the spray, molded to her body like a second skin, outlining supple curves, firm b.r.e.a.s.t.s taut with cold. Snugly behind her sat a bare-chested man, dark breeches covering him from waist to knee, his hands familiarly around her slender waist. A full moon hovered in the onyx sky, splashing the couple with gentle strokes of silver.

The mount veered sharply toward the tree line,

and upon reaching the seclusion of the private la

goon, they slid from the steed's back, coming to

gether in a heady embrace, their silhouettes

blending into one beneath the shroud of palms.

Liquid crystal flowed effortlessly down the jagged

rocks, spilling into the tidal pool with a soothing

trickle. The tiny realm captured the lovers, yet

abandoned them to their desires, the elements.

A solitary figure stood motionless, watching the

lovers with dispa.s.sionate eyes from his perch on the

rise above. A thin smile twisted the observer's lips

as the man peeled off his breeches, then drew the

thin nightrail up over her head, tossing it carelessly