Page 60 of Against Ebony Irish Seas

“I lovevin chaud!”

She leaned against his shoulder as he pulled out the thermos and filled two tea mugs. The smell of cinnamon and cloves warmed her as much as the wine, and she tilted her head back as she saw the first few stars appear. The ocean continued its thundering assault on the beach, but rather than being intimidated by its force, she embraced its power. The sea wasn’t afraid of anything, she thought. She needed to be more like the sea.

“It’s the kind of place where words aren’t needed, isn’t it?” Jamie turned his head to look at her. “I thought you’d understand that.”

The fire flickered over his face, illuminating all the angles she knew and loved. “Yes.”

They sat and drank their wine, and when the wind began to gust, Jamie pulled her to her feet. “We should go. The weather is turning, I think.”

In the waning light—the colors of indigo and black merging on the horizon—she watched him put out the fire. When he extended his hand to her, she grasped it firmly, knowing what was next, wanting it as much as the sea needed the rocks to crest against.

When they entered his cottage, words didn’t seem necessary here either. Hand in hand, they walked to his bedroom, a room she’d passed before with curiosity and hope. Undressing each other slowly—at first with amusement given all their outer clothes—and then with rising longing.

Their mouths met as his hands eased her clothes away, his kisses coming in heated passes over her lips. She caressed the strong line of his shoulders and chest as she helped him out of his shirt, and then her hands drifted lower to explore him as he undid his pants. He was hard and beautiful, and as she touched him for the first time and heard his groan, she knew she had never wanted anyone or anything more than him and this moment.

When their bodies were bare, he brought her against him, warming the last bit of chill in her bones from their time at the sea.

“I know it might be too soon,” he said, his voice low and resonant, “but I need to say it now. I love you, Sophie.”

Joy shot through her, and she closed her eyes as the words filled her mind, her heart, her very soul. “I love you too,” she answered when she opened her eyes, gazing into the cobalt heat awaiting her. “It doesn’t feel too soon, does it? It’s like we’ve known each other forever.”

“It is,” he said, kissing the soft line of her neck. “Come and let me know you more,mo chroí.”

He laid a trail of fire over her skin, and like the glass she used in her art, she melted from their heat. His kisses made her body bare to him, first her mouth, and then her breasts, and then lower, to the place that ached for him.

His fingers searched for the curves that made her moan, and she soon was seeking out the places where her touch brought him that two-edged pleasure of foreplay. His groans became her joy, and when he finally put on the condom, laid her back, and slid inside her, his thrusts had her finding a bliss she’d never known.

When she came, she sought to link their hands, riding the wave of her pleasure as he joined her, their cries mingling in the quiet of the home he’d given to her. They floated on that ribbon of bliss, tucked around each other, until he finally raised his head, his eyes shining brightly in the soft light of the room.

Everything she could ever want lay in that single gaze, and as she brought his mouth down to her, she knew she was sealing something precious, something rare, something that would alter the path of her life forever.

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

He shot straight out of bed, his heart beating madly.

Crying out, he beheld Sorcha standing beside the bed.

“There’s someone outside,” she said quietly. “Hurry. You might catch them.”

He rolled out of bed quickly, rousing Sophie, and tugged on his jeans before racing to the parlor and jamming his feet into his wellies by the door.

“Jamie, what’s the matter?” Sophie’s voice was sharp with alarm.

“Stay where you are,” he called back.

Footsteps scattered outside as he tore open the front door. In the dark night, he could make out two slim forms running down his driveway.

“Hey!”

Neither one turned around, and he watched as a car flipped its lights on. The doors opened, illuminating the interior, and for a moment, he could make out the backs of the two forms as they ducked inside. Male. Teenagers, from the slenderness of their frames. The tires squealed as they punched the gas, and he took off at a run to better see the license plate.

“Jamie!”

He was winded by the time the car disappeared from sight down the next bend. Sophie was rushing toward him, so he jogged back to her.

“I told you to stay inside.”

“What happened? Did someone try to break in?”

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