Love Song For A Raven

„Whatever you say,“ Janna murmured as she eased her fingers into the front opening of Raven’s briefs.

She felt every muscle in his body tighten when she discovered and freed his erect flesh, bringing it into her caressing hands.

„Janna-“

„You’re still dressed,“ she pointed out, slowly stroking Raven with hands that were both gentle and possessive, smiling at his hot response.

„You can get arrested for being ‘dressed’ like this,“ he retorted, stifling a groan of pure sensual pleasure as she rubbed slowly over him.

„There aren’t any police in paradise,“ Janna said dreamily, absorbed in appreciating the results of her handiwork. When Raven didn’t answer, she glanced up almost guiltily. His face was drawn, and his eyes were narrow black slits. „You don’t mind being – “

„Looked at the way a cat looks at cream?“ offered Raven.

His smile made Janna weak. „Is that how I’m looking at you?“ she whispered.

„Yes,“ he said huskily. „And it makes me feel ten feet tall and as hard as the mountains.“

„You are.“

„Only with you,“ he said, shuddering heavily and thrusting between her palms. „Only with you.“

With a harsh sound Raven buried one hand in Janna’s thick auburn hair, pulling her head back until her body arched into his. With his other hand he began unbuttoning her shirt, but the sweet fire of her fingers kept distracting him.

„You’re hell on my clothes.“ Raven rasped.

His arm flexed and the shirt parted beneath his big hand, sending buttons flying. He rubbed his palm across the hardened tip of Janna’s breast until she called his name on a broken sound of pleasure. He caught the sensitive nipple between his fingers and tugged, smiling fiercely as she moaned.

„Come closer,“ Raven said, his voice so deep it was a growl. „Closer, small warrior. I’ll show you another way to tease me. And you. Oh God, come closer!“

Raven’s fingers shifted, sliding down Janna’s body until he could rub lightly over the softness hidden between her legs. When she opened to invite a deeper touch he smiled and moved his hips suddenly, sliding his hot flesh between her legs. Her eyes widened with surprise and then became heavy-lidded with pleasure as his hips moved again. She held him more tightly against herself and moved her hips in turn, stroking him, watching him, enjoying the frank sensuality of his smile. Her fingers pressed him closer and then closer still, wanting more of him, needing him in a way that shook her.

„Raven, I…“

Janna’s breath caught in a moan as she felt heat spreading out from her body, heat caressing Raven’s male flesh, heat pleading for him to share it as it was meant to be shared…deeply. She opened her eyes and saw his face contorted as though he were in torment. She knew then that he wanted her so much that not taking her was agony for him. Instinctively she shifted, guiding him, pressing him into her softness. But that only increased the sweet agony, reminding them with every breath what it would be like to be completely joined.

Raven’s eyes opened suddenly, utterly black, nearly wild with need. The pallet was across the room. It might as well have been across the world. He had to be inside Janna. He had to have her now. His arms closed around her with sudden, savage strength.

„Wrap your legs around me,“ he said, lifting her without warning. „Put your arms around my neck now and – yes – now!“ he said hoarsely, thrusting into her welcoming body, feeling her close hotly around him.

Raven knew that his hands were probably bruising Janna with their powerful grip, but he couldn’t force himself to let go. She was demanding him, every bit of him, with an abandon he could only fiercely enjoy. He drove into her again and again, watching her eyes haze with silver as she began to come apart in his arms. He felt the tiny ecstatic ripples deep within her body, the spreading satin heat of her response, and he savored her nails pricking him with each sweet cry that was torn from her lips. He fought to control himself but it was impossible, the pleasure he felt was too savage, too deep, pulse after pulse of ecstasy pouring out of him, shaking him to his soul.

Janna closed her eyes and rested her head on Raven’s powerful shoulder as she whispered her love too softly for him to hear.

But he did hear. He spoke her name in the silence of his mind, apologizing for keeping her in his savage Eden, promising to release her in just one more day, giving her back to her own life. Just one more day, one among thousands.

Ithink I’ve loved you since the moment you pulled me out of the sea.

Raven brushed his lips over Janna’s hair and wished bitterly that gratitude were another name for love.

Chapter 8

Janna watched the harbor at Masset slide closer with every instant. Futilely she wished that the Black Star’s engines would fail or that the storm could have lasted a few more days, a few more weeks, forever. But that was a dream. Reality was Raven guiding the boat smoothly to a rest against the commercial dock to fill up on fuel. Reality was the fact that Raven had said nothing to her about seeing her again after she walked off the boat. Reality was a numbness spreading through Janna’s soul, freezing her.

Raven glanced at Janna and then quickly looked away. The closer they had come to Masset, the more she had retreated from him. He wasn’t surprised by her withdrawal, but he was surprised by the tearing pain that he felt because of it. He had known nothing like it, even when Angel had turned on him in her rage and her despair. He wanted to go to Janna and hold her close against his body, to hear her words of love just once more. The temptation was almost overwhelming.

Grimly Raven flexed his hands on the wheel, relaxing them. It was bad enough that he had taken Janna when she would have been vulnerable to any man. If he prolonged his own pleasure at her expense any longer, he wouldn’t be able to meet his own eyes in the shaving mirror.

„Want ‘em topped, Raven?“ called the lanky boy running the pumps.

Raven waved his agreement without looking up.

Because it hurt too much to watch Raven, Janna turned her attention to the boy. He had black hair and dark brown eyes and a promise of future power in his long body. Janna noticed his confidence as he tied off the boat and wondered if Raven had looked like that as a teenager. The realization that she would never know was another kind of pain lancing through her.

„You seen Uncle yet?“ asked the boy.

„No,“ Raven said, vaulting easily up onto the dock. Other men hailed him. He waved in answer, but didn’t look away from the boy.

„Did he want me for something? Is that gallery agent holding up payment again?“

Raven’s voice sounded unusually deep, impossibly resonant, carrying across the water like the tone of a perfectly cast bell. For the first time in days Janna was conscious of Raven’s sheer size. He was literally head and shoulders above the men around him. Yet to her it was the other men who looked wrong, different, out of place, unreal. Raven had become the standard against which she measured others. The realization shocked her.