He plunged forward, wildness overcoming restraint as he took her with a force and beauty as hot and violent as the lightning to which she had mentally compared him. He was lifting her up to meet each strong thrust, grinding against her as if he wanted to reach beyond closeness to a unity that couldn’t be broken as passion passed.
She was vaguely conscious that he was talking to her as he moved, telling her how sweet she was, how good she felt around him, of the other ways he was going to love her. His words were as hoarse and wild as the rhythm of his movements. Sometimes shockingly graphic, sometimes tender as a mother’s kiss. She tried to help him, meet fire with fire, but once loosed, he overwhelmed her. It was like a tempest picking her up, tossing her from crest to crest, yet never letting her leave the center of power.
Lightning, power, strength that never conquered, beauty that never yielded. It couldn’t go on. Yet it did. A moment. Forever. Darkness. Flame. Lightning again. A breathless shock that burned her to the core, then another, spreading, rippling in patterns of power. Daniel’s power. So much power in one man, she thought feverishly. So much beauty and primitive need that-Then she could think no more as the lightning struck with a final blue-white force that absorbed the flame and the darkness and everything in the world except the man who wielded it.
She heard Daniel cry out and then felt the heavy weight of him upon her. His heart was beating so hard it appeared to be trying to burst from his chest. Or was that her own heartbeat? It was difficult to tell, so closely were they joined in body and spirit. He shifted off her and to the side, still holding her with possessive strength.
“Did I hurt you?” His question was gruff, but she could still detect the concern. “I didn’t mean to be so rough. I think I went a little crazy.”
Hurt? She didn’t know if there’d been any pain or not. It had all been too world-shaking for her to separate the sensations she had been experiencing. She was conscious of a slight ache between her thighs now that Daniel had left her, but she wasn’t certain whether it was soreness or an aching emptiness to be refilled. “You didn’t hurt me.”
“You’re sure?” His palm reached between her thighs to rub her with loving gentleness. “You felt so good that I wanted to take every bit of you.” His tone was rueful. “I think I tried to do just that. Next time I’ll try to act more the gentleman. You can see I’m not used to the role.”
“I didn’t mind.” The words were so inadequate. She felt tongue-tied, and the tears were stinging behind her closed lids. How could she tell him what a precious gift he had given her? The final healing. It had come so swiftly out of this darkness that had seemed suspended in time. Her own need to give comfort to Daniel had flowed effortlessly into the giving of her body as well. Giving. That was the key. It was being taken that was the horror. Giving was beautiful. Giving was love. Her lips curved in a smile of radiant tenderness invisible to him in the darkness. And Daniel had given her that beauty. He had been rough and passionate as a storm at sea yet he had still given as well as taken. Why was he worrying so about a roughness that she had instigated herself? “You were upset.”
He stiffened. His hand ceased its intimate petting motion and dropped away from her. “And you felt sorry for me,” he said with soft violence. “Dammit, you felt sorry for me!”
“No,” she protested. “I mean, yes, I did feel sorry for you. I wanted to help you.” He had rolled away from her, and she could hear him moving in the darkness, pulling on his clothes. “But that’s not-”
“The hell it wasn’t. You felt sorry for me.” His voice was jerky. “My God, you even told me how grateful you were to me. So grateful you decided to give the guy a little tip for his trouble.”
“A tip?” Zilah tried to smother the anger that flared at his choice of words. She sat up. “I don’t give tips of that nature.” Her voice was taut with pain. “Contrary to what you may think, I am not a whore.”
“Oh, hell, I’ve done it again.” The light of the lantern snapped on to reveal Daniel kneeling in front of her. He was dressed, with the exception of his shirt. His hair was a tousled mass of flame and his eyes were narrowed in concern on her face. “I’ve hurt your feelings, haven’t I? I’m sorry. I guess my damn pride got in the way. I couldn’t stand the thought of being a charity case. It brings back too many memories.”
“Memories?”
The light of the lantern struck sleek shadows over his naked shoulders as he shrugged. “I was an orphan from the time I was six. I guarantee that it doesn’t give you a liking for being on the receiving end.” His gaze wandered down her body to rest with compulsive intensity on the soft velvet folds that his hand had so recently caressed. His tongue ran over his lips to moisten their sudden dryness. “On the other hand, there’s a distinct possibility I could change my mind given the right set of circumstances. You’re lovely, Zilah.”
She felt a familiar tingling begin where his gaze was caressing her. “You’re not very steadfast.”
“Oh, but I am.” His gaze flew back to her face, and he answered with surprising gravity. “I’m as steadfast as the North Star. Once my course is set, I don’t change. Remember that.”
She was caught up in those swirls of dark intimacy once again and for a moment she couldn’t break free. She pulled her eyes away from his with an effort and lowered them to the glittering silver sheet on which they were sitting. “I’ll remember.” She felt suddenly shy. Strange after all they’d experienced together to feel this sudden rush of shyness. She reached for the blue shirt Daniel had taken off her earlier and slipped it on hurriedly. “I wasn’t treating you like a charity case, you know. I just wanted to help.” She lifted her eyes to meet his. “I still do.” She drew a deep breath and turned away, snatching up her clothes and pulling them on quickly. “And I intend to do just that, whether you think it’s charity or not. As I said before, you can be a very idiotic man, Daniel.”
He frowned. “Idiotic? What the hell do you-What are you doing?”
She glanced up from where she was kneeling, stuffing items hastily in the backpack. “Packing up. We’re getting out of here. Grab the sheet and the lantern, will you?” She was crawling toward the opening, dragging the backpack behind her.
“Zilah, dammit, come back here!”
“Not a chance,” she said over her shoulder. “If you’re so determined to keep me safe, you’ll have to do it under an open sky.” She heard him growl something under his breath but she ignored it serenely. By the time she had negotiated the barricade that Daniel had erected at the mouth of the cave he was right behind her. His expression was grim in the halo of light from the lantern. “This is crazy, Zilah. Get back into the cave.”
“And lie awake worrying about you all night?” She shook her head. “You know that if I weren’t along, you’d be taking your chances out here.”
He went still. “Worrying about me?”
“Yes, worrying,” she echoed softly. “I think I may be worrying quite a bit about you from now on, Daniel.” She sat down and leaned her back against the stony wall of the cliff. “If you’ll sit down and get settled, we’ll be able to turn out the lantern. For someone who is so concerned about Hassan discovering us, you’re being very reckless.”
He dropped down beside her, still scowling. “Zilah, you’re being-”
She swiftly put her fingers over his lips. “Shall I tell you something David Bradford once told me when I was going through a bad time? He said, ‘I can’t claim to understand your pain. We all experience sadness and pain in accordance with our own natures. But if you’ll let me, I’ll share it. Open to me, give to me, and we’ll handle it together. That’s how it should be between friends.’” Her eyes were glowing softly. “And we are friends, Daniel. Despite what happened in that cave tonight, I know I don’t have any right to expect more from you. I don’t want you to feel pressured or harried. I realize that I’m nothing special in your life, that you probably would have reacted to any woman in the same way. Sex hasn’t as much emotional significance to a man as it does to a woman.” She smiled a little shakily. “But we do have friendship. We couldn’t have gone through what we did today without jumping a few hundred boundaries or so.” She nestled her head on his shoulder with the endearing confidence of a small child. “So, like it or not, we’re in this together, Daniel.”