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
