The air was crackling with electricity.
“Why should you?” She was trying to keep her voice steady. “I’m responsible for myself. In the end, we’re all responsible for ourselves.”
“Bullshit. After everything I’ve done to you, I have a responsibility to keep you safe, to keep everything bad away from you. Not to let anyone touch you or take anything away from you.” He laughed harshly. “And the only thing I can think about right now is how much I want to be inside you, have you underneath me. And I can’t stop it, Margaret. What the hell kind of hypocrite does that make me?”
There it was, out in the open.
“Thank goodness.” She gave a sigh of relief and took a step closer to him. “I thought you’d never say it.” She started to unbutton her shirt. “We’ll both feel much better once this is over. All of this guilt and angst is silly. Let’s just do it.”
He went still. “Haven’t you been listening to me? This is— Oh shit.” She had taken off her bra and was pressing her naked breasts against him. “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to make you stop thinking of me as this noble self-sacrifice.” She unbuttoned his shirt and moved her breasts against the thatch of hair on his chest. She inhaled sharply as it caused her nipples to harden. “Sex is good. Great sex is wonderful. It’s part of life. If you want to be responsible for me, just take the responsiblity of giving me what we both want. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next few days, but there’s nothing wrong with taking pleasure now.” She buried her head in his chest. She loved the feel of him, the scent of him. “I won’t ask anything more from you. I think I feel something for you … but you don’t have to worry about that. All I want is to be this close to you and have—”
“Be quiet.” His mouth was on hers, his tongue playing wildly.
She couldn’t breathe. The muscles of her stomach were clenching.
He was tearing the clothes off her. His fingers were between her legs, toying, playing.
She cried and arched toward him. “Lassiter…”
“Shh.” He was naked, too, pulling her down on the stone floor of the cave. His lips were on her breasts, pulling, tugging—
Then he was inside her.
Driving.
Hard.
Deep.
Wild.
She was trying to help him, but he was too hard, too hungry.
All she could do was take, and take, and take.
Then he was pulling her over him, his hands on her waist as he brought her down and down and …
It went on and on, and she could feel the tears run down her cheeks from the sheer pressure and intensity.
How long …
Her head was spinning, and her entire body was moving, rubbing, deep … deep …
“I can’t … do—”
“Yes, you can.” He moved harder. “I know what you are. You can do anything, be anything.… Just a little more…”
He was right: She could do anything. Because she was part of him and he was inside her, taking, burning, clutching every bit of her.…
“Now,” he gasped, his fingers buried in her hips.
Faster.
Deeper.
Wilder.
Her back arched. She cried out as sensation after sensation rocked through her.
Then she collapsed against him, her entire body shuddering. She could feel the tears pouring down her face as she tried desperately to get her breath.
She could feel his heart pounding against her, his arms holding her sealed to him as the minutes passed.
“You’re crying. Did … I hurt you?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.” She moved off him and lay down next to him. The rocks were cool against her body, which still felt hot and vibrantly alive. Every inch of her was glowing, flushed with the feel of him against her, in her. “But that wasn’t why I was crying. You felt … It was beautiful, wasn’t it?” She reached over and pressed her lips to his shoulder. “And you’re beautiful, too. I’ve always thought so. You’re like one of the big cats. Lean and strong and you move … very, very well.”
He chuckled. “I’m glad you approve. Which cat? One of your tigers?”
“More like a panther, but I think that your sexual stamina is probably like a tiger’s. You were very strong just now.” She was trying to catch her breath. “Did you know that when a male and a female tiger come together for the first time, they mate hundreds and hundreds of times in a few days?”
“I wasn’t aware of that. But it sounds fantastic. We’ll have to—” He stopped. “We may have to postpone that for a while.”
She nodded. “No time. It kind of ambushed us, didn’t it? But it was beautiful, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, it was extraordinary.” He reached over and ran the tips of his fingers over her stomach. “You’re extraordinary. I didn’t mean this to happen, you know.”
“Sure you did. It’s the natural thing when two people want sex. It’s instinctive. And if you hadn’t been worried about ethics and responsibility, it could have happened before.”
“I’m still worried. I’m just ignoring it because I’m damn selfish and I’m needing you again.”
“Okay.” She beamed up at him. “Now?”
“No, not okay.” He sat up and looked down at her. “Why? I know a lot about you, Margaret. You don’t come close enough to anyone to have relationships. It’s very rare for you. I thought it was just because you were wary.”
“You’re … different. I’ve always known that. I really don’t know the reason.” She shrugged. “Because I wanted you, because sex is joy, because every minute of joy is important. Life is too short not to reach out and take it. So stop analyzing, Lassiter. I took as much as I gave. You don’t owe me anything.” She tilted her head. “So could we do it just once more? I know we can’t take much more time, but I’d really like—” She inhaled sharply as his finger moved up between her thighs. “We do have a little time?”
“Oh, yes. You’re right: Life is too short,” he said thickly as he moved over her. “We have the time.”
*
“It’s hard to stop.” She was breathing hard, her heart pounding. “Definitely tiger … I want it hundreds and hundreds of times.…” She looked up at him. She loved those pale green eyes, the sensual curve of his mouth, and the feel of him. “I suppose we can’t do that.” She cuddled closer to him, her hand moving over his shoulders, stroking, her nails digging into his back. “But I think you want it, too.”
“No question.”
“Maybe later.” She suddenly giggled. “Because I think I’ve finally convinced you that I’m none of the things that you think I am. I’m not vulnerable. I’m not a martyr. I’m not that gladiator wanting to taste life before I go into the arena.”
“You told me that you didn’t think there were female gladiators.”
“I was wrong. I Googled it later. There were female gladiators and they performed by candlelight in the Coliseum. But they were thought to be inferior.”
“You would have shown them.”