Rule (Roam Series, Book Five) (24 page)

“What do you know of this injury?” He gave me a sideways glance, moving toward a clearing and removing the leaf from his own mouth. “Have you studied medicine?”

“I’ve
drawn
an ankle before. The inside,” I added defensively, lifting my eyes at the small lake before us. “It is freezing. I’m not getting in that water.”

He touched the edge of the lake with his fingers, nodding. “Cold,” he confirmed.

“Forget it. I’ll just wash my hands and face.” I moved to the edge of the lake, removing the soap. Sitting down on the hardened, frosted ground, I brushed my hair out of my eyes. “I feel so lost.”

He stood and stared at me, and then back to the lake.

After a moment, he glanced up at the moonlit sky, and I followed his eyes to the treetops. “These are the same stars that you were born beneath, in 1955. These are the same stars that light the ocean sky over your parent’s house, this night. You are not lost, Eva. You are home.”

The stillness of the forest settled over my nerves, calming. I climbed back to my feet, watching him move closer to me. “You always make me feel better. Just with… words.”

His eyes caught mine and held them static; I watched him pull his shirt over his head, his gaze unwavering. When he began to unfasten his belt, I took an involuntary step back.

“What if someone-…,”

“We are alone.”

He stood before me, completely naked, and the spring evening turned into a Carolina night. Unable to look away, I allowed my eyes to wander over him, taking in his tall, exceptionally strong body. The muscled cuts in his torso and chest, even his thighs and legs,
were far different than I’d ever seen; effortless, natural, as though he’d simply been born this way.

Flushing and simultaneously breaking into a sweat, I looked down at the ground to stare intently at a smooth, brown rock.
Thoroughly naked.
“You could have warned me.”

“This is your warning.”

I shivered, the cold-hot sensation of my burning skin against the cool air tightening my body. When he took a step toward me, I backed to the edge of the lake.

My eyes drank him in, finally focusing on the southern half of his body. He made no effort to hide his obvious arousal, and I nearly choked at his size.

Blushing, I looked toward the lake. “Are you getting in the water?” I asked, my voice modest and hesitant to my own ears.
I was so confident in the barn, and now a little nudity turns me into a nervous kid?
Jesus, be mature!

“We are both getting in the water.” He took another step forward, and I had to decide whether to allow him to touch me-
all
of him to touch me- or put my foot into the icy lake.

Losing my nerve, I lowered my foot into the water.

Shocked, I felt that the water was actually cool- but not freezing. “It’s not that cold.”

“No?” Towering, bathed in moonlight, he leaned toward me. I held my palm up, grinning nervously.

“Um, don’t get me wrong- it’s cold.  My feet are okay, but your, um, penis won’t like this.”

He stopped moving, a sudden grin breaking over his face.
Those
dimples again. Damn it.
“You claim to know me very well,” he teased, reaching for my sides.

I smiled, keeping my eyes on his face.
Face, Eva!
“I mean, penises in general don’t like cold…,”
Penises in general? Stop talking!

He bent, grasping my dress at my waist and gathering. “Lift your arms.”

“You have spent a lot of time taking my clothes off over the past two days.”

“I enjoy undressing you.”

My grin fell. I trembled, lifting my arms. He pulled my dress over my head in one movement, tossing it backwards to the ground. His fingers worked over my back, at the clasp of my bra, and I kept my eyes locked in his.

The water seemed to have grown even warmer, and I took another step back.

“These are of no use here.” He tugged at the string band of my panties. I gathered up enough courage to slip them down my legs, balling them and throwing them into the pile of clothing by the lake.

My frequency began, just barely audible, and our feet grew clear in the water.

His fingers found mine as he raised our hands in the air, spinning a slow circle. The first few notes of Bryan Adams’
Everything I Do, I Do for You
began. I cocked one eyebrow, exhaling nervous laughter.

“You’re kind of a sappy guy, did you know that?” I accused, shamefully loving the corniness of the
nineties power ballad.

As if on second thought, he closed his fist over mine, and the music stopped.

“I want to hear
you
.”

I realized that I was grasping the small, round bar of soap so tightly that my fingernails left
half-moon imprints.

He took the soap and bent to dip the bar into the lake.

On his way up, he slid both wet hands up the sides of my legs. By the time he reached my thighs, I could barely keep my balance. The water was nearly hot at this point; I trembled beneath his touch.

The murky black
night turned to a lighted, tropical blue, and the ultra-clear waves lapped at my ankles. Paradise erupted around us in the moonlight. A beautiful light from below the water illuminated the reflection of our bodies below the surface. The crisp air rose to a sultry, humid temperature, and a thick, white mist engulfed us.  “The water…?”

“You are heating the water, Eva.” He gestured to the center of the lake, and I watched as bubbles moved to the surface.

I nodded, knowing my eyes were glowing amber.

Lowering to his knees
, in the shallow part of the lake, he gazed up at me, heavy-lidded. At that moment, I nearly fell backward as he pressed his lips to my inner thigh. His fingers molded into my sides, his thumbs brushing past my navel to toy with the silver stud. A million tiny sensations pulled in the very center of my body, and I took quick, manic breaths as I melted to the water.

He caught me in midair, the desire in his gaze unsettling. “
Slowly
.” He began cupping the water and pouring it over my shoulders, leading me into the deeper part of the lake. I stumbled over a smooth rock, and he caught me again, drawing my naked body against his.

“
Will,
” I breathed, holding onto his arms with all of my strength.

“Better if I hold you.” He dipped his kiss to the nape of my neck, and I whimpered, every part of me below the water now distinctly on fire. “You are so responsive… alert.
I touch, you burn.
” He slid his warm, wet hands over my breast, the scent of the soap filling my thoughts with roses. “You give me more power than I have ever possessed, as king.”

“I can’t
help it
,” I moaned as his hands slid lower, past my stomach, pressing deeply, again and again. The water stopped at my waist, I relished the heat, from the mist, from his touch, from
everywhere
.

“
Do not help it,
” he ordered, cupping my bottom and lifting me against him. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I held his shoulders, weightless.

Screaming, I
cried his name as he thrust into me.

The night sky fell away as I threw my head back, closing my eyes. With nothing but him to hold onto, I
kept my legs fastened around his torso, exhaling sharply at exquisite pain of each of his gentle movements. The water burned now, steam rising around us and disappearing into the unusually hot March air.

“
Will
,” I begged, losing control, setting tiny fires on the surface of the water as I fought what was happening inside me.

“
Lose control, Eva,
” he ordered, coarse, his deep voice the only song in my mind now. I edged toward abandon, crying out softly when he stilled. As I opened my eyes, his face was lit by hundreds of tiny fires encircling the lake.

He
moved once, quickly, and stopped, and I nearly came apart in his arms.

“
I love you,
” he cupped my face in his hands before pressing his lips to mine. “
So help me, I love you, Eva,
” The moment his tongue touched mine again, I cried, unable to control myself any longer.

Time detonated into a series of moments, of uninhibited feelings and unrecognizable sensations. Nothing mattered but Will, and the heart of this man sharing my own strange, destined future.

The multiple fires along the lake rose higher into the sky, creating a blazing ring around us. Even in my dizzied state, I could tell the moment that he found pleasure in me. I wrapped my hands over his neck, waiting until he opened his eyes.

When he did, I let an uncontrollable tear slide over my cheek. “
I love you, Will.
”

He groaned, catching my lips again and tightening his hold on me. Still entwined, he gripped me to him, trying to even his own erratic breathing.

Long minutes- the best minutes of my life- passed as I clung to my husband in the water.

Finally, he lowered us into the lake.

“Quickly, little one. Wash. We must douse these flames.” I nodded, nearly dropping the soap with my quaking arms. Will took over, scrubbing efficiently before cleaning his own skin. “My God, Eva.
What you do to me,
” he stopped moving to catch my lips in his.

“I think… it’s what you do to me, my lord,” I rasped, my voice heavy with renewed desire from his hands on my skin.

“
You belong to me, wife, in every way.
” His tender kiss punctuated his words, and I folded into his arms. “There is much to do. We must prepare for your meeting with your father.”

The moment he mentioned my dad, every flame hissed and extinguished. The boiling surface of the lake stilled
and turned dark, and I sighed shakily.

“Right… my dad.”

Will smirked, grasping my hand. “Sorry, love. I had to sober you a bit.”

“It’s okay,” I hurried through the
now freezing air, reaching for the new gown that Vadoma had given me. “I need to figure out how to control myself. I want to do
that
again.”

His breath on my neck, from behind me, set another small fire just to our right.

“
As do I.
”

He slipped the dress over my shoulders, and I turned in his arms, softening into his kiss.

“I can’t believe… that I
love
you.” I murmured. He smiled into my mouth, hugging me to his chest.

“You are full of surprises, Eva.”

Back at the camp, I cuddled close to Will as we listened to the Romani people sing. One man played a violin, while another blew into some kind of pipe instrument that Will called a pan flute.  A few of them danced, and Will raised his eyes as Sinti brought him a tiny guitar.

“Can you play a guitar?” I asked incredulously.

“This is a gittern… and we shall see,” his eyes sparkled teasingly.

“Will you play something… for me?” I asked, tucking my folded hands between my knees and batting my eyes in the most obnoxiously exaggerated manner possible. He laughed, looking up toward the moon thoughtfully.

“I will,” he acknowledged.

After strumming a few chords, he began the first notes. I waited for recognition, widening my eyes when Will actually started singing.

He has a beautiful voice,
I realized, as he sang some song about crimson and clover. When he finished the ballad, I smiled, tilting my face to his. “Crimson and clover?”

“
Your hair, your eyes.
” He kissed my temple first, then my closed eyelid. “A song from your world… the 1960’s, I believe.”

I love this man,
I thought, drowning in his smoldering, blue gaze.

Back in the tent, we touched and kissed, teasing well into the night. Trying desperately to keep his distance and not set the Romani camp on fire, he finally tucked me against him and quieted.

When Will’s breathing evened behind me, I lay in his arms, listening to the sounds of the camp.

I must have fallen asleep. Hours later, a deep voice rumbled from somewhere outside, followed by Vadoma’s rushed words and Sinti’s protests. Moving carefully out of Will’s arms, I grabbed his gun, strapping the holster to my side beneath the gown.

Slipping from the tent, I noticed first that three men encircled Sinti and Vadoma, while a fourth man towered over them. His tone was threatening, his stance hostile.
Trespassers?

I smoothed my curls away from my face, walking directly to them.
I could take the outer three down, no problem. The fourth is too close to Vadoma; he could grab her.

Clearing my throat, I decided to try to diffuse the situation first (if there even
was
a situation.) As I closed in on the fire pit, the three men spied me first, alerting the one in the center. All white males, dressed in royal clothing.
Those clothes, so familiar…
I narrowed my eyes. They looked… very much…