in a deep, soft voice. „You’re like a doe listening for danger at the edge of the forest.“
Janna’s eyes widened to reveal silver-green depths. She had never thought of herself as elegant or doelike. The realization that Raven saw those qualities in her was an immaterial caress shivering over her.
„Are you ready for a break?“ Raven asked, glancing down at the sketch pad.
„My hand is numb,“ she admitted. „It’s been a long time since I’ve drawn for that many hours. There’s so much here, so many emotions, so little time to capture even the smallest echo of Eden--“
Raven took the pad and pencils from Janna and packed them carefully. „Follow me,“ he said, shouldering the rucksack. „I have something I want to show you.“
She followed without question as he turned back to the forest that knew neither trail nor the possession of man. Within moments the sea was invisible, its sounds and scents lost.
Nothing penetrated the mist-haunted silence but the distant cry of a raven.
„Stay in my footsteps,“ he cautioned. „We have to walk the edge of a small bog.“
Soon the forest in front of them thinned dramatically, giving way to a clearing, where stunted evergreens struggled to maintain a toehold in land too wet to support them. The surface appeared solid, but Raven’s footprints glistened with water squeezed from the humus by his weight. Water stood in small pools stained the color of tea by tannin leached from the surrounding forest. The water trickled away in small rills and rivulets until they came together in a creek. The water was absolutely clean, utterly unique in its amber clarity.
A small cabin stood just beyond the bog. The walls were of weathered cedar and the roof was finished with cedar shingles. Moss grew from every crevice between the shingles and clung to the walls. Yet the cabin was new rather than old; windows gleamed against the darker backdrop of the forest and the front door was finished with metal hinges.
„How did you find it?“ Janna asked softly as she came up to stand beside Raven.
„I built it with my own hands.“
She turned and looked at him. His eyes were very black, yet like the creek they were crystalline in their clarity. He was looking at the tiny cabin but he was seeing something else from his past, something that haunted him. His high cheekbones, straight nose and the powerful line of his jaw had never looked more solid, more elemental, a man carved from the enduring things of the earth.
„Come,“ Raven said quietly, turning to Janna and holding out his hand.
The hard warmth of Raven’s palm sent a tremor through Janna. She laced her fingers deeply with his as he led her to the cabin. There was no lock on the door, no bolt, nothing to keep out intruders. In Eden there were no intruders, just one man and one woman and the land that knew no time.
Raven opened the door, lifted Janna into his arms and carried her into the shelter that he had built years ago. He left the door open, inviting in the fragrance of cedar and the unearthly radiance of mist-filtered light. There was little furniture in the room – a table, a chair, shelves that held shells and glass fishing floats that had drifted across the empty Pacific to be washed up on a distant shore. A fire was laid in a hearth that had been built from water-smoothed beach stones. Blankets had been folded to make a sleeping pallet close to the hearth.
„I would have brought you here sooner,“ Raven said as he kissed Janna’s hair, „but there’s only one room, only one place to sleep, and I was trying very hard to keep my hands off you.“ He smiled almost sadly. „I failed rather spectacularly, didn’t I?“
„I’m glad,“ Janna said, pressing her lips against the corded muscles of his neck. „I love your hands on me, Raven.“
His powerful arms flexed as he whispered her name, shifting her in his grasp until he could capture her mouth. The taste of him swept through her like a wind from the sea. She made a small sound at the back of her throat as she felt herself sliding over his hard body. With one arm he caught her hips against his own and moved slowly. She shivered and clung to his strength, knowing again the elemental pleasure of having him desire her.
Reluctantly Raven let Janna slide the rest of the way down his body until her feet touched the floor. He bit her lips in a series of tiny, hard kisses that made her breath break into a moan. When his tongue thrust slowly into her mouth she moved against him with sensual abandon. He groaned, let his mouth mate with hers for a wild moment, then lifted his head.
„No more,“ he said almost roughly.
„Why not?“ Janna murmured, standing on tiptoe to kiss the pulse beating violently in Raven’s throat.
„Because I promised myself that I would feed you first.“
„What a lovely idea,“ she murmured, kicking out of her tennis shoes and stepping out of her jeans and panties with a few quick motions. „I thought you hadn’t noticed that there were a few paragraphs you overlooked.“
„Help,“ Raven said, but his smile said that the long, curving length of Janna’s body was beautiful to him.
„You know,“ Janna said as she began to unbutton the big shirt that fit her like a dress.
Then she looked up and saw Raven’s smile and decided that the shirt could wait. She would much rather touch him. With fingers that trembled she opened his flannel shirt, discovering the male textures of hair and hard muscle beneath.
„What paragraphs?“ Raven persisted, though his pulse beat visibly, strongly, quickening with every touch of her mouth.
„That shelf of books that I read.“
„Are you trying to tell me that last night I overlooked some paragraphs that intrigued you?“ Raven’s breath hissed in as Janna’s tongue traced the flat disk of his nipple. He groaned when her teeth scraped delicately over him, bringing him to a hard point that she teased with her lips. „Did I miss something?“ he asked hoarsely.
„Only the paragraphs dealing with ways to pleasure a man. An understandable oversight on your part,“ Janna added, smiling as she found and nuzzled Raven’s other nipple into erect sensitivity. „After all,“ she pointed out reasonably, „I’m not a man.“
Raven’s big hand smoothed over her bare, silky hip and then tangled in the warm thatch of hair between her thighs. She was incredibly soft, hot, melting at his touch, and the knowledge that she wanted him as much as he wanted her made him feel heavy and very male.
„You’re right,“ he said deeply, sliding his fingertips into Janna’s utterly feminine heat. „You’re definitely not a man,“ he groaned, loving her soft flesh with slow movements of his hand. „And I thank God for it.“
Janna’s fingers clenched on Raven’s belt as she felt the first shimmering forerunners of ecstasy stream through her. Biting her lip against a moan, she tugged at the belt buckle until it opened. Beneath her fingers the warm metal buttons on Raven’s jeans gave way with soft popping sounds.
„Janna…“
Raven’s breath caught and his hips jerked reflexively against her caressing hands. His fingers closed over hers, preventing her from undressing him.
„Raven?“ she asked softly, kissing the suddenly hot skin of his chest. „Don’t you want me to touch you?“
He made a tearing sound that could have been laughter or a curse. „I’d die to have you touch me,“ he said roughly. „But if you take off my jeans, I’m going to open your legs and…“ The words ended in a groan when Janna’s fingers caressed Raven through the soft cotton of his underwear. „Don’t undress me,“ he growled, dragging his open mouth across her forehead, her cheek, her lips, tasting her, needing her. „There are other ways I want to love you before I slide into you.“
