Lost Honor (28 page)

“Do you think anyone will find us here?” she asked Morgan. She hadn’t thought before about the possibility they might never be rescued.

“I don’t know. We need to prepare for the fact we could be here for a long time.”

He ran his fingers through her hair, separating the salt encrusted strands, and she purred with contentment. If she had to be stranded, doing so with Morgan would create a pleasant adventure.

“So we should make the most of it.” He framed her face with his hands, and then his hot, moist lips came down on hers, possessive and passionate, claiming them as his own.

The blood rushing through her veins simmered and then boiled. The blanket fell away and cool air caressed her naked flesh from the top of her spinning head to the tip of her tingling toes. He slid his arms around her and pulled her close. Her skin met his, fiery and hot. While his tongue explored her mouth, his hands kneaded her breasts, squeezing and caressing, his fingers lightly pinching the nipples. A moistness and need settled between her legs.

Still connected, her arms curled around Morgan’s neck. He tipped her back and guided her to the woolen blanket on the ground behind them. Hovering over her, Morgan’s mouth replaced his hand at her breast. As his teeth bit and his tongue laved, his roaming hands drifted down and stopped between her legs. Fingers slipped between her lower lips and searched for and then played with the bud of her womanhood. Fire seared her as tension coiled tight. She knew the ecstasy she sought, and arching her back, demanding more, she allowed it to build. He would take care of her.

And build.

He would not leave her wanting.

And build.

Her hands clenched. Her toes curled. She squirmed.

And shattered. An array of colorful lights danced in her head.

A hardness probed at her opening, and she spread her legs wide, needing him inside. Their eyes met and clung as he slowly slid into her, her body stretching to accommodate him. A slight discomfit swept the area. But she would never deny him. He had given her overwhelming pleasure three times now. Twice without thought of himself, asking for nothing in return. She wanted him to experience the same remarkable wonder. The idea of their becoming one filled her with indescribable joy.

He halted, and his mouth returned. His tongue dancing with hers, he drew back and drove into her. She couldn’t help a squeak as pain ripped through her.

Deep inside, he stilled. “I’m sorry, but there was no way to spare you. The soreness will fade and never return.”

His mouth ravaged hers as he began to move. The burning slid away, and a new need emerged. And grew. She followed and then matched his movements as he plunged faster, slowed, and quickened. Sensations, newer and brighter, merged with old. She rose up to meet him again and again until she could hold back no longer and erupted in a fiery light. He thrust once more and then collapsed on top of her, joining her in the hazy world where cares disappeared. He remained limp, his pulse and heartbeat rapid, while she idly rubbed his back, luxuriating in the feel of skin on skin until he rolled to her side.

She smiled. She had never felt anything like it. The emotions, the passion. Making love was stupendous. Now, she realized why her brothers always talked about the act when they thought she wasn’t around. She glanced at Morgan and expected to see satisfaction, delight, and total bliss covering his face, but instead witnessed dread as he stared up at the trees.

Was she that bad?

****

What had he done? He hadn’t meant to. But she was so lovely, so passionate, so available and willing and courageous, and he had almost lost her forever. He had only longed to satisfy her, to reassure her, to show her what she meant to him, to give her something for the sacrifice she had offered today. No person had ever willingly sacrificed their life for his. He would never ask it of anyone, wouldn’t expect it. But her unselfish act had touched him deeply. Had embedded in and twisted his soul.

But once he started, he couldn’t stop. Her eagerness had overwhelmed him. He had to have her, to fill her, to make her his own. But now he had ruined Arianna, and he couldn’t marry her. His honor screamed, smashed beneath his boot. The one thing that made him who he was, the most important value in his life, was now crushed because of his stupidity and his weakness in controlling his desire.

He had ruined two women, and he could only marry one. He had promised his mother he would marry Susan and had vowed years ago when his father left them that he would never fail his mother. He had sunk to his lowest point. Had become what he had feared and avoided his entire life. His father.
He
was the reason why he never wanted to feel. Why he never allowed anyone to be close to him.

What if both women were pregnant? Arianna’s life would be over. He would support his child and Arianna, but he couldn’t marry her. His child would be a bastard. And the label would follow him or her the rest of their life.

Maybe they would be forever condemned to this island. Then he could spend the remainder of his existence with Arianna. The woman he truly desired. The woman who held his heart.

“Morgan, did I do something wrong? Was I that bad?”

He pasted on a smile and turned to her. He spied the glittering tears that filled her eyes. Self-loathing soaked into his pores. His stomach ached as if a giant had pounded his fist into it. He forced words around the lump that strangled his throat. “No, you were wonderful.”

“Is it your ribs?”

“I never felt a thing.” While he caressed, licked, and moved inside her, his pain had disappeared.

“Then what is the matter?”

He brushed wayward strands of hair from her face. “Nothing at all.” He didn’t want to hurt her. He wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms and make love to her.

But he would not permit his manhood to rule him again.

Only this time he feared it was his heart.

“Let’s get dressed. My brother left because he believed we wanted to be alone.” He grinned. “Which was true. But I don’t know when he’ll return.” He glanced down at the blood and his seed smeared on her thighs. The proof of her virginity and his despicable deed. “But first…” He scooped her up and slowly stood.

She looped her arms around his neck. “Your ribs.”

“I’ll survive.” He would fight his way to the end of the world and back if it would help her. “We need to wash.”

A delicious red blush covered her face.

He strode into the ocean with her in his arms until the water reached his stomach and then slid her down his body. “Hurry and clean up.”

“You’ll get no argument from me.” She bent over and rubbed her lower half with brisk strokes.

“That will be the first time.”

She straightened and splashed him with water.

“Witch.” His gaze drifted to her firm breasts that had popped to the surface when she stood, the nipples as hard as red berries and good enough to eat.

“Wretch.” She spun from him with an impish grin and continued to wash.

Morgan cupped his hands, filled the hollow with water, lifted them over her head, and separated the two halves.

She screamed and whirled. “You’re going to regret that.” She splashed him relentlessly, her glorious laugher like the singing of birds in the springtime. He retaliated. He couldn’t allow her to have all the fun.

A drop hit him in the eye, and he instinctively closed it. He stepped back. His foot slipped. He lost his balance and started to fall. Into the water. Horror shot through him. His brother. Drowning.

He flailed his arms up and down until he landed with a thud. His heart racing, he sat on the bottom, his head above water. He could breathe. He was alive.

“Morgan.” Arianna rushed to him and threw her arms around his neck. “I didn’t mean—”

He pulled her onto his lap and devoured her lips, ravaged her mouth. The water sizzled around them. He needed more. Abandoning her lips, he raised her up and lowered her onto his rock hard erection. He sank deep inside her moist, hot passage.

“Oh.” She wriggled as she settled onto him.

He had what he desired the most and still wasn’t satisfied. He couldn’t get enough. He circled her waist with his hands and lifted her up and down. She soon caught on.

Her arms around his neck, she pressed close, her breasts at eye level. He opened his mouth and sucked on a pebbled nipple. She tasted so good. Arianna moaned and urged him to a faster, harder rhythm, and he obliged. And continued to until the water around them pulsed with waves and their passion. She screamed her release, and with a grunt, he followed.

When his reasoning returned, he realized he was sitting in the ocean, and instead of fear, his body sang. His muscles were relaxed. As he stroked her hair, he cast his sight out to the ocean and spied the pirate ship barely visible in the distance. They were leaving. Apparently, the crew didn’t believe they were worth the trouble. But now, they were stranded. Would they spend the rest of their lives here or die from starvation?

That he had ruined two women and besmirched his honor, although repugnant to him seemed a moot point at this time.

Chapter Eighteen

They fished, hunted with branches sharpened into spears, made snares with vines, gathered berries, and discovered streams with fresh water. And Morgan had Arianna. He fought against himself to stay away from her at first, but she was so near, so loving, so passionate, and so willing. As days drifted by and he recognized they might never be found, he finally relinquished the battle.

Their idyllic existence brought them closer together. Hand in hand, they explored the island, and away from Harry’s presence, they indulged their desires. Although she had been a virgin when he took her, she was always eager to learn and please him as he was her. They fit together perfectly. He had never felt this way about a woman, and it scared him, but he was powerless to resist.

If not for Harry’s life being wasted and not fulfilled, Morgan would wish they’d never be rescued. Then he’d never have to face the fate that awaited him on the outside world. A fate he had pushed to the back of his mind. He lived as if every day on this island was his last and drew in every available essence of Arianna, taking and accepting whatever she offered and giving back in equal measure. He didn’t want it to happen, but he was falling in love with her.

He tried to deny it, struggled to defeat the emotion, but when she smiled at him or her tingling voice defied him, adding fire to his veins, his heart melted. He could spend an entire day gazing at her. Her sunny hair, her perfect, delicate features, the patch of skin on her chest when she left the two buttons on her shirt unbuttoned, the mole on her ear, the scratch on her cheek, her round breasts, her curvaceous waist, her firm rear, her long legs… He could go on forever.

Arianna insisted on helping him hunt and fish, traversing slippery rocks and facing danger instead of a safer job like gathering berries. She joined Harry and him in felling trees and collecting tree bark and pine boughs for their shelter.

He finally faced his fear, and with help from Arianna and Harry, he learned to swim and got better at it every day. His life was perfect until…

Harry ran into the shelter where Arianna and he drowsed in the afternoon heat. Morgan’s arms surrounded Arianna, planning a passionate encounter. “A brig is coming. It looks like the
Sea Dragon
.”

Arianna jumped up. “Are you sure?”

“See for yourself. I’ve lighted the fire.”

She started to run after Harry and then stopped and looked back at Morgan. “Aren’t you excited? Come on.”

His muscles tense, Morgan pasted on a smile for her benefit. “Sure I am.” He slowly stood, his heart a lead ball weighing down his chest. He was torn. Yearning to keep Arianna as his own in this little world he had created, he didn’t want to be found, didn’t want to face his failure, his loss of honor, and yet, he knew Harry didn’t wish to live here, and he would never ask it of Arianna. She was happy with him, with their life, but he had seen her face. She wanted to return to the outside world, and he couldn’t blame her. She didn’t know of the secrets he kept and the life he’d be forced to lead. That he was a coward. He had never told her about Susan.

Morgan’s worst fear congealed in him. His father lived in him.

His steps heavy, he followed Harry and Arianna to the beach and spied the
Sea
Dragon
heading toward the island. For it was indeed his ship. He would know it anywhere. Harry and Arianna shouted and jumped up and down, attempting to capture their attention. Anytime now they would drop anchor, lower the ship’s boat, and dip their oars deep into the water.

He had no choice but to purge his father’s faults that were ingrained in him. Struggle to regain the honor he had lost.

He must give up Arianna.

She spun and threw her arms around his neck. “Oh, Morgan, they saw us. We are going to be rescued.”

He battled to keep his clenched hands at his side, instead of hugging her to him as he so desperately wished to do.