Chapter 26

Dimitri’s heart thudded almost painfully, but not from the paltry effort it took to hold Lauren above the water. She wasn’t a small woman, but perfectly proportioned to his body, as if she’d been carved from the very essence of the earth and sea for him personally. Her laughter thrilled through him, light and free, and it seemed more relaxed with each passing hour. It was as if the farther she strayed from the glittering precision of her life, the happier she was.

He knew why, of course. That it wasn’t him, it was the idea of him, the idea of being safe, unfettered by consequences, but also unhindered by danger. That the very concept of relaxing in someone’s arms without being watched or judged, without being photographed or recorded, was so unusual that she was building it up into some sort of fantasy vacation in her mind, some time out of time.

She shifted in his arms and breathed his name, and he revised his conclusion.

It was probably mostly about him.

He turned her toward the shore again, stepping easily through the water as Lauren leaned against his chest, her hand braced on his shirt, fingers warm against his skin where they slipped into the button-down front. She was lithe and vital and his, at least for now. And he’d been on this earth long enough, and seen enough injury and death, to understand the value of living in the moment.

He stopped briefly to swipe up his pants at the shoreline. Lauren giggled as he dipped her, making no move to stand on her own. For his part, he had no interest in letting her. They reached the blanket, and he set Lauren down on her feet, startled when she wobbled, then pitched to the side as if she was in the midst of a faint. He went down on a knee to steady her, and she laughed, pulling him farther down, until they both sprawled on the blanket.

“You’re right, this sand is very dangerous,” she said. “I don’t know how I lost my footing.”

“That’s only the beginning of your troubles, I’m afraid.” Dimitri stretched out alongside Lauren, reveling in the way she relaxed by his side, her face turned up to the stars, her smile easy, unforced. He smoothed out her hair by her face and turned his hand so his palm drifted along her cheek, as lightly as he could manage.

“You touch me sometimes like I’m going to break,” she chided him, and he smiled.

“Never that. I touch you like you are made of gold.”

She pouted. “That doesn’t sound very attractive.”

“On the contrary. Gold is hard—hard enough to smash something if you wield it, hard enough to stay pristine over the ages. But apply enough heat, and it melts in your hands, its brilliance undimmed though its form has completely changed. You’re gold not because of whatever money you have stashed away somewhere. You’re gold because you are strength and liquid fire. And I want to stir that fire in you now, to melt you down into nothing but sensation.”

She stared at him. “They seriously teach you how to talk that way in the military?”

He smiled as he reached down to his pants, freeing the condom. He wouldn’t need it, not at first. But, as he’d already learned from this woman, it paid to be ready whenever she was. “Our training is quite extensive,” he said, returning his hand to her waist. “And we learn very quickly that when it’s in our best interests to use strategic coercion, we must move ahead with full commitment.”

“Mmm.” Lauren lifted her hand to caress his cheek. In the starlight, she looked like something out of a painting, a mermaid cast ashore for a precious night, never to return. “And what is it you’re trying to strategically coerce me into, Captain Korba? I think you’ll find that I’m a soft touch.”

“I doubt that quite sincerely.” Dimitri lowered his head to brush Lauren’s lips with his. He had his opening now, and he knew he should take it. Subtly, easily pump her for information about Henry Smithson, about the threat that he posed to the royal family, if any. About his connection to the god Typhon—real or delusional. About the threat that he posed to her.

And yet, Dimitri found he wanted to do nothing more than stare at this woman, wanted to learn nothing more than what made her happy. He could start there, certainly. No one could fault him for beginning his interrogation with caution.

“Where did you originally plan to go on this European tour you arranged for your friends?” he asked. “Surely you didn’t plan to spend the whole of it in O?ros.”

Her laugh was wry. “I’ve learned that your country is bigger than I would have given it credit for,” she said with a smile. “And certainly more interesting. But no.” Her gaze shifted upward, toward the stars. “We were only supposed to spend a few days here, then all of us would have done the full tour—Cannes for a day or so, then Tuscany, Paris, and London. Maybe Amsterdam, if we had time. I didn’t have it all planned out. Sometimes it’s better not to do that. You can get better deals at the last minute—as long as you have enough money to get something, no matter what.”

“You paid for all of it.” It wasn’t a question, and Lauren didn’t take offense.

“Most of it,” she said, her eyes on the night sky. “I wanted to take the vacation as well. I can’t travel with a man, and I don’t enjoy traveling alone.”

Now, they were getting somewhere, but Dimitri resisted the urge to dig deeper. “Yet here you are, traveling with a man to an exotic island. It appears you have broken your own rules, princess.”

She looked at him sternly. “It’s true. Why couldn’t the royal family have assigned a woman to guard me?”

“You’re too tall,” Dimitri dismissed the idea. “For you to be guarded effectively, it was important for you to be properly swept off your feet.”

She lifted a haughty eyebrow. “And that’s what you’ve done?”

He leaned closer to her, so close that when he spoke, his lips moved against hers. “I haven’t yet begun that portion of my assignment, princess. Perhaps tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Her voice sounded fluttery to his ears. “What about tonight?”

“Tonight, it seems that you are already on your back. So I must make do with what circumstances have brought me.” He bent down and pressed his lips to hers, and just that quickly, the desire for her body beneath his surged forth. The waves crashed and thundered, far out to sea, and the breeze stilled around them, holding its breath. Zephyrus always was a romantic.

For her part, Lauren reached up and entangled her fingers in his hair, pulling him toward her, pinning him to her body, shifting him until his knees dropped between hers and she lifted her legs with the strength of a dancer to lock them behind his back, holding him in place. The movement pointed up one of the many advantages of her attire, as their bodies naturally met at the center, his shaft straining against the placket of his boxers as her wet heat beckoned to him.

He stared down at her, and she cracked another smile, at once exasperated and oddly touched. “Dimitri, if you ask me one more time if it’s okay for you to make love to me, I’ll smack you. I hereby give you ultimate permission to pound the living daylights out of me at any appropriate moment that we’re together from now until the end of time. Does that clear things up for you?”

Laughter spilled through him. “Your future husband may object to that. So might the church, were you to become a nun.”

“Then I’ll have to find a way to make them understand.” Lauren reached for him, bringing him close. “Now please, I beg of you. Use that condom by your side and fill me up until I don’t have to think about anything at all except you and your body and how good you feel. You think you could do that for me?”

He shuddered as he reached for the foil package. “I think I can do that for you.”

This time, they came together not with the curiosity of discovery, but as two people who needed each other at a level beyond words. Not to heal or provide comfort, but simply as a point of connection that transcended the moment. Dimitri sank into Lauren with a sigh. Her breath mingled with his, everything clicking together like puzzle pieces pulled from a hopeless jumble. They kissed, explored, laughed and poured themselves into each other as the ocean danced behind him and the stars dipped a little lower, adding their quicksilver magic to the moment. The song of the sea nymphs came later, drifting across the water as Lauren finally dozed, and Zephyrus stirred the breeze again, murmuring his whispered approval.

It was good, Dimitri thought, it was right. It was more joy than he had ever felt in his long life, and he gave thanks for this moment to every god who’d made it possible as he and Lauren lay beneath the stars, their arms wrapped around each other long into the night.