She looped her arms around his neck and held him, waiting.
He spoke close to her ear. “If I tell you, it will place a great burden on us both. On you, to obey my orders and to become a fugitive as we are, to never fall into the hands of the Blackshirts. On me, to keep you safe, because I cannot risk you giving us away. My people-” he hesitated.
“What?” she whispered, but she had half guessed what he would say.
“-my people have all sworn an oath to die rather than be taken.” The words came in one breath and he fell silent for a moment, allowing them to hang in the air. “
On the last word he turned his head and kissed her. His kiss was hard, carnal, demanding and her answering arousal was swift and powerful. Desire clouded her mind and shortened her breath. She reached for him, aching with a hunger partially sated during the darkness and which had built afresh in the past hours.
His lips that had spoken of death were warm and alive. The erotic touch of his tongue against hers sent a shudder through her. She felt his arousal through the skirt that covered her spread thighs, his erection pushing hard against the wetness between her legs.
Her muscles ached deep inside her. He released her mouth and caught her hand, holding it against his chest so that she could feel the thud of his heartbeat against her fingertips. He looked down at her, his eyes dark and turbulent. “It’s more than twenty-four hours since you’ve slept properly.”
The desire she felt was powerful enough to chase away exhaustion, urgent enough to provide temporary amnesia about the events of the last two days. She linked her hands behind his head, pulling him down until his mouth touched hers again. “Kiss me again.”
His head bent slowly toward her until at last he joined his mouth to hers.
He reached down and slipped his hands beneath the fabric of her dress. She moaned and tried to catch his hand between her legs as it brushed against her hungry clit. All she wanted was for him to give her release. She would have done anything he said if he would only continue to caress her.
“Not yet,” he murmured against her mouth and let his fingers wander against her side until he reached the tender, sensitive flesh of her breasts. She tried to move her own hands between her legs, but he caught her wrists and held her.
“If you make me hold your arms, then I cannot caress your breasts, can I? Which do you want?”
“You know what I want.” She raised her arms to rest on his shoulders again.
He lifted her skirt around her waist and she raised up to bare the throbbing moistness at the base of her belly. With a grunt of approval, Marco stroked her breasts again, then reached down with one hand to slip his fingers between her thighs and into her. She moaned with pleasure as he stroked inside her and he gave a tiny nod of satisfaction at the sound.
“Loosen my trousers.”
She dropped her hands to the space between them and fumbled with the ties that held the material together. His erection throbbed and pulsed against the back of her hand until at last she undid the final knot and parted the opening to reveal his organ. The head glistened with a pearly drop, and she stroked the slit, smiling as she made it quiver under her fingers. She looked up, still holding his cock and gazed into his eyes. A deep flush had colored his high cheekbones, and his eyes were misty with desire. He returned her smile with a sensual curve of his lips, still stroking her breasts.
The fire pulsing through her bordered on pain. She needed him to fill her so full she would never want again. He stretched her with his fingers, but that wasn’t enough. She wanted more.
She kissed him hard, relishing the scrape of his growing beard against the softness of her mouth, then raised herself on her knees on the bench, gathering her skirts in one hand. He withdrew his fingers and allowed her naked cunt to brush his cock, mingling their juices.
His hands gripped her hips as she positioned herself over his thighs, then very slowly took the tip of his cock into her. She paused as she felt it nudge apart the lips of her cunt, giving herself the time to savor the small penetration. Gradually she lowered her body, taking a tiny piece more of him with each movement. When she wanted to go faster, he held her, making her wait.
When at last she had taken all of him inside her, she let out a breath and held still. She could feel the movement of his cock inside her as it sought to fill her even more, to penetrate even deeper. Marco held her tight against him, and they waited for several breathless, wonderful heartbeats.
Still holding her waist with one hand, he moved the other between her legs and touched her throbbing clit, once, twice. The spark snaked through her from her cunt to her breasts and her inner muscles grasped his cock tighter in response.
He smiled as he felt her reaction and thrust deeper. As if coordinated by a force beyond their own bodies, they inhaled together, then let out their breath as they peaked at the same instant. Emma could not hold back a cry, quickly stifled by Marco’s mouth on hers.
For a few glorious seconds, she felt the warmth and strength of his climax inside her, complementing and extending her orgasm. Eyes closed, she clung to his neck to keep herself from falling. She felt the shudders go through him, initiating and imitating the tremors deep inside her.
My God, sex was always good, she made sure of that, but she’d never experienced sex like this.
She wanted it to last forever, this closeness, this oneness, this wholeness she felt with him. When he withdrew from her she would feel empty, lacking. At last, as the waves quieted and died, she opened her eyes and found Marco’s gaze fixed on her face.
Words were impossible. She gave him a tentative smile. Had he felt the same shattering emotions?
She kissed the side of his mouth, where a tiny white scar marred the line of his lower lip.
He licked the spot she had touched with the tip of his tongue. “I never want to let you go,” he murmured.
“I know. Nor I you.” She gave a little laugh. “Not a very original conversation. But I’ve never said that before to anyone.”
She felt his chest move against her as he drew in a deep breath. “
She frowned, searching her memory. There had been a number of people on the shore when they’d found her. “Was that what they were doing? Silly me, I thought they were looking for survivors.”
She eased herself off his lap at last. Her skirts fell to cover the top of her legs and she stood beside him, still holding his hand. “Believe me, Marco, even if I’d known what was going on, I would never betray you.”
“I know.” He rubbed his thumb over the back of her fingers and sighed. “Pray that I can convince my people here of that.”
“What are the chances?”
“Not good. The people are tense, afraid-”
She had seen him with his people. Despite what he had said earlier, that he cared more for her, she knew they were dear to him. In her heart as well as in the flesh she and Marco had become one. She straightened her back and took a deep breath. If she thought about the caning any more she would change her mind. “Don’t spend your time and energy. You have things to do. I’ll take the punishment.”
He tightened his grip on her hand, a frown creasing his forehead. “Emma-” he began in protest.
She put her fingers on his lips. “I’ve decided. It’s best for you and for your people. I can’t say I think it’s a good idea…” A small shiver went through her and she turned her thoughts away from what would happen, “…but all things considered, it’s the only solution. When you’ve settled it with them, I hope you’ll tell me what it’s all about.”
She gave him a brave smile and forced back the tears that threatened.
Chapter Six
For fifteen minutes after Marco left her, Emma paced her cell. Ten steps one way, six the other. Turn. Ten, turn, six, turn.
