The Jade Dragon (19 page)

“I'm on a time limit.”

“Then we must not waste a single one of those minutes,” she said and flung herself on top of him catching him by surprise and managing to dunk him. He came up spluttering just as she had done, but pulled her up against him, his desire evident.

They stood, the water coming up to the top of Alanna's shoulders. Gregori whispered a heated promise against her cheek, “I love everything about you.” Then he kissed her so thoroughly, so hungrily, so … deliberately, satisfyingly wonderful, she would have said yes to anything he asked her to do right at that very moment.

He loved everything about her.

Would he love her the same when she told him everything? Maybe the risk would be worth a lifetime with Gregori. Would he still love her when she was old and gray and he remained young and vital?

“Stop thinking,” he told her, his broad hands and long fingers trailed down her back to cup her backside and hold her against him. “Just let go.”

She curled her thighs around his, her hands around his neck and leaned back. One of his arms supported her while the other freed itself to roam up over her hip and smooth up over her so-called six-pack to cup a breast. He bent his head and suckled at a nipple. It was taut and numb from the cold water. The warmth of his mouth on her cold skin was the most erotic experience she'd ever felt. A spiral of awareness between breast and womb had a conversation and, poof, her mind was gone. She bucked up into his mouth, her hand holding his head, encouraging him to remain there to continue swirling his tongue around her nipple.

“Oh, Sweet Goddess,” she murmured. “I'm undone.”

“Not yet,” he promised as he switched to share the love with her other breast. “But you will be very, very soon.”

Much as she had boasted of conquests to her sisters in the past, in reality, she'd had very few lovers. She was mostly all hiss and roar, but no action. Her main aim in life had been to tease relentlessly, dally a little on occasion, but never get locked in to a relationship.

Gregori was different. For one, he was a warlock. For another, he was immortal. Mostly though, he was the hunkiest man she'd ever been fortunate to tangle verbally with, so she knew this tangle of limbs in the sea was going to be special. Memorable. Unforgettable.

All teasing and joking aside, she was nervous as hell. She grew still, serious. “Now. In the ocean. Here.”

“Bed would be better,” he grunted, apparently struggling to contain his desire.

“Here in the Mediterranean. This is special.” She reached out with her hands and cupped his face and entwined herself about him like a limpet.

“You are special,” he murmured. “There's no one in the world like you.”

“Then show me,” she said. “Stop fooling around. I want you. You want me. Let's do it.”

Gregori grunted his amusement, but his eyes glowed with promise. “With pleasure.”

No more teasing. No more playfulness. He kissed her, his tongue tracing her lips, his mouth made for plundering. He tasted of the fresh ocean, salty, tangy, male. A guttural moan rose up from her throat as she returned the favor, her hands sliding over his shoulders, down his arms and then her hands, fingers splayed, pressed against his chest. She was more than ready for him.

Without any further prelude or foreplay, she tightened her legs about his waist and slid down, easing herself onto his penis until they were joined. She paused. They looked into each other's eyes. She felt their link merge into one strong beautiful cord and she gasped in wonder. His hands grasped her waist, pushing her down further, completely engulfing him, ensuring he was well and truly inside her and then without words, their eyes focused solely on each other, he began a slow, steady lift and slide, lift and slide, his full length and girth an exquisite pressure against her sensitive lining, the tip of him pressing against her cervix. She could feel his pulse as it thundered through his entire body, she could feel it inside her thrumming, swell, release, swell, release.

“Breathe,” he whispered, and she realized she was holding her breath. “I'm not going to last long,” he admitted.

And truthfully, neither was she. She inhaled as she rose once more, and then plunged down. Her tender nipples brushed against his skin. His hands moved down to cup her bottom and hold her firmly against him. She could feel the pressure building in her clitoris as she rocked backward and forward. “Gregori,” she muttered before losing all coherent thought as the pressure mounted and she thought nothing but how he felt inside her, how her pulse thundered in her veins matching his until her body was racked with the most amazing, prolonged, pulsing orgasm that had her screaming his name.

She was both exhausted and exhilarated, but he wasn't finished and he continued to pump his body into her, the water slapping against their skin as she watched the tension build in his eyes and in the throbbing veins in his neck. She leaned back, her breasts bouncing as he continued to pump into her until she thought she couldn't take any more and then he flung his head back and cried out a guttural roar and his penis pulsed over and over into her until he was both spent and exhausted.

He leaned forward, gathered her up in his arms and together, they clung, her head resting in the crook of his neck as their breathing slowed. They stayed there, water lapping about them for a long time, neither of them speaking.

Alanna was afraid to break the moment, wanting it to last forever. Moisture stung her eyes. She blamed the salt water, but she knew them for what they were. Tears. A mixture of exquisite happiness blended with the sheer futility of her situation because she knew she was going to tell him everything and that this time with him, this special day might be the last.

She would not cloud today with anything other than happiness.

Soon.

She would tell him soon.

Gregori knew making love to Alanna would be a mind-blowing event. What he hadn't expected was just how life-changing it would be as well. He'd seriously underestimated how much she'd got under his skin in such a short time. They were well matched physically as well as in temperament. She kept him on his toes and he knew he was a good match for her. The Fates had chosen well. He had to trust they had made their choices for the right reasons. He just had to decipher those reasons and how to accomplish a satisfactory conclusion for their current predicament.

“I want to show you the rest of the villa,” he said as they wandered back along the path, naked, without embarrassment, letting the rising warmth of the day dry them naturally. He'd sent their clothes back to the loungers and linked his fingers with hers. “I will take you to where we grow our grapes for our rosé. It's a specialty of the region and mine is one of the best.”

“So modest.” Alanna's smile was warm and unguarded. She didn't hide her heart any longer. But her mind was still blocked.

One step at a time he told himself.

“I'd love that. But I'm hungry.”

“Well then,” he squeezed her hand and leaned in to steal a kiss from her lips. “I can fix that easily enough.” He'd alerted his staff prior to their arrival that he would be back for a day and could they please drop off enough food for breakfast and lunch, advising them his visit would be fleeting. He'd noted on their arrival earlier that his caretakers had already been in to the villa, because of the bowl of fresh fruit on the dining table. He hazarded a guess there would be eggs and bacon in the kitchen, too.

“My staff dropped a few items off earlier.”

“You planned this, didn't you?”

“I wouldn't say planned. I'd hoped you would agree to come.”

Alanna stopped suddenly, released her hand from his and hid behind him. “Are they here now? Goddess! We're naked! Your staff will see us like this.”

Gregori roared with laughter. “No. They've been and gone long before we arrived. We're alone for now. I sense they're in their own accommodation nearby. You will meet them later. Perhaps. If not today, another time.”

Alanna peeked out from behind him. “Are you sure?” If, for some miraculous reason she did end up bound to Gregori, they would become her staff too. She'd never live down her first meeting with them, naked. But she hoped he was right, that there would be another time.

“I never took you for being shy.”

“I don't usually wander about naked in the South of France. Actually, I don't wander about naked anywhere except in my own home!”

Gregori tugged her into his arms. He looked into eyes that sparkled with mischief and laughter. She didn't realize just how loud her thoughts were broadcasting. Right this second she was acknowledging to herself that he was a different man in this environment. That there was nothing imposing, scary or arrogant about him and that he really was the most delicious man she'd ever been fortunate enough to meet. He grinned as he heard her also accept that her emotions ran deeper than she wanted them to. In fact she thought that maybe this was what love felt like.

“I love you, too,” he murmured softly, his eyes growing dark with renewed desire.

“Get out of my head,” she said, but she didn't sound particularly annoyed.

“The link between us tells me everything I need to know.”

“Then you'll know I'm wondering what your bedroom looks like?”

“I thought you were hungry.”

“I am,” she told him and walked her fingers down his chest. “For you.”

• • •

They made love in the bedroom, the shower and the kitchen. In the end it was Alanna who called a stop to their lovemaking. “I'm knackered.”

Gregori kissed the back of her wrist. “You … my darling are ravished.”

“Ravished,” Alanna tossed the word around in her head. He'd called her darling. “Ravished, ravished, ravished.” She arched her back and stretched her arms towards the ceiling. “I love that word.”

Gregori reached out, but she evaded him. “No more!” She broke off a piece of bread from a baguette, topped it with a chunk of cheese and held it to his lips. He growled and ate from her hand.

“I want to see your vineyard.”

“You're very demanding for a visitor,” he teased.

“I'm no visitor,” Alanna insisted, and then stopped. She'd nearly said,
I'm your mate.
She broke off another chunk of bread and cheese and filled her mouth before she said something she might regret later.

Instantly, Gregori grew serious. He cupped her face in his hands. “Yes. You are my mate. Your denial will not change that.”

“Stop digging around in my head.”

His smile gentled. “We are linked. If you were more aware, you'd probably hear me also.”

That was definitely interesting and something she would have to explore later. If there was a later. “You should find someone else. I'm broken.”

He looked as if he wanted to argue with her, but instead changed the subject. No sense is spoiling a good day. “I promised you some of my rosé. Next year, you will see the vines harvested and witness the pressing process for yourself. Usually anywhere between August and October. The Provence region is famous for its rosé. I'm very proud of mine.”

He grasped her hand and she let him lead her outside, and up a path on the front side of the house, leading them to a slightly elevated vantage point. “You will be able to see the vines from the top of this rise here. It's one of the smaller vineyards in the area and the wine produced is for my estate and employees personally. I have other larger vineyards located elsewhere that are grown for commercial purposes.”

“Who looked after everything while you've been ensorcelled?”

“Marylebone had the forethought to put someone in charge, to ensure my employees continued to tend the vines and produce the wine each year. I've yet to sample this year's harvest. I wanted to share that pleasure with you.”

She felt so incredibly privileged. “How was your absence explained? Surely they would be worried?”

“Business with Marylebone in the past kept me busy. Staff are used to me not being here. Becoming a winemaker has always been a hobby, something to keep me occupied during the downtimes.” He put his arm out and arced it from left to right, encompassing the land. Stretched out before them were rows and rows of vines that seemed to go on forever. “The good thing about being immortal is, even though I'm ancient in years, I age slowly. It is also a curse. I need interests to motivate and keep me active and interested in the world. Forever is a very long time, so I have my vin Rousseau label. It's become a passion.” He paused and surveyed his land. “I've missed being here.”

Alanna squeezed his hand. To be parted from the land you love for over ten years was unfathomable to her. She felt for him. “I'm so sorry they ensorcelled you.”

He shrugged. “If they had not, we would not be standing here today. Maybe the Fates were right to ring the bells when they did.”

“They have not rung for me.”

“If you bind with me it won't be necessary.”

She felt her eyes grow wide. She could see his certainty. If only she could be as positive as him. “I'm mortal, Gregori. A union between us will only result in anguish. Surely Marylebone won't allow a union between a mortal and an immortal.”

Gregori could see where her thoughts were heading. “There were reasons why Aden's marriage with his first beloved was doomed. The timing wasn't right. Lydia had no magical potential whatsoever, without any chance of ever becoming immortal. They both went against the express wishes of Marylebone. You have bucket loads of magical potential and when your magic is unbound, you will be incomparable. I've no doubt you will eventually be Called to Marylebone.”

Alanna flinched. “I don't know if I want to be the most powerful. That sounds like a whole lot of responsibility to me. It could be lifetimes before my magic returns according to Goran.”