“Be silent.” He held up a finger, glaring at me. “When I pulled you against me in the pool, I wasn’t trying to take from you. I love you. That goes beyond lust. It surpasses carnal pleasure. What I feel for you is deep and fierce and so strong, Bennett. I finally have you back and…” He pressed a fist against his chest. “My heart knows it. And my body knows it. So when I feel your beauty beneath my hands, I harden, thinking about you taking me where you’re deep and fierce and strong.” He straightened, his expression stony. “Damn it all, I’m not saying this decently. I was bred to be a damned gentleman, and I don’t know how to be gentle.”

“Right.” I blew out a breath, my pulse humming through my veins. “First of all, I love you, too. Second, you’ve never been gentle or decent with me. Never treated me like a fragile maiden. Don’t you dare start now.”

“Is there a third point?”

“No, I—”

He was on me before I could blink.

40

Ashley’s mouth collided with mine, his warm lips parting seductively with the drive of his urgent tongue. He was an assertive kisser before, but now, his passion felt reckless, desperate, as if every stroke was a command to forget, every lick an insistence that I heal.

I surrendered willingly, my body throbbing to give where it had been defiled, all those delicate parts aching to feel his fullness. By the time he let me breathe, I didn’t want air. I just wanted him.

“Fuck me, Ashley.” I palmed the thick, hard swelling in his breeches. “Fuck every torment out of my mind and soul until you’re all that’s left.”

A ragged groan tore from his throat, and he dropped his forehead to mine. “I will. I’ll bed you so often and thoroughly you’ll grow tired of looking at me. But not here. Not until I have control of our situation.” His hand shook as he gripped my fingers and slid them away from his erection. “You stand much in need of nourishment, proper clothing, and a closer inspection of the contusion on your head.” He glanced around at the surrounding wilderness. “We’ve moved some distance through the wood, whence we know not. We need our wits about us as we approach the other shore.”

I groaned, dropped my head to his chest, and sighed. “You’re right.”

After another long drink from the lagoon, we resumed our westerly expedition. Other than the chatter of birds in the canopies overhead, the walk was relatively quiet. Until he remembered what I’d said before our hunt for water.

“Harbour Island…” He plodded ahead of me, using a branch to clear away the foliage. “Tell me why you want to go there.”

“Um… Yes, about that… I haven’t been completely honest with you. The day you captured me—”