Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

***THEO***

T heo growled deep in his chest, then rolled between Eden's legs. "God, I want you so badly," he said, the tip of his swollen manhood poised at her heated opening. "But I'm afraid I'm going to hurt you, so we have to take this slowly. I want you to enjoy it too."

Eden's answer was to spread her legs wider, and he groaned, feeling his control slowly slipping away. "Please, Theo," she begged. "Don't make me wait any longer."

He filled her with one long, slow stroke of his hips, then froze when her eyes widened and filled with pain for a second, fighting with every ounce of his strength against the urge to bury himself inside her welcoming heat again. When the pain slowly faded from Eden's eyes and she lifted her hips to him, he pulled out of her, then buried himself inside her again, groaning when her body clamped around him, and she let out a little moan of pleasure.

With each thrust of his hips, her body slowly stretched to take him deeper, until he was driving himself fully into her, his restraint completely gone. Eden opened pleasure-filled eyes and looked up at him, her nails digging into his shoulders again, her body clenched around him, and he knew she was about to soar over the edge and braced himself. When it came, her climax left her trembling and panting underneath him, and he gave her a second to recover before rolling over on his back and taking her with him.

Eden let out a little cry of surprise, then sighed when he lowered her onto his throbbing erection. Grabbing her by the hips, he lifted her, then brought her down again, driving himself deeper inside her. She cried out again, this time with pleasure, and began to ride him, her head thrown back in abandon, and it nearly pulled him over the edge. He held himself back, then reached up and began to toy with her breasts, massaging the white globes, teasing her hard nipples with his thumb and finger.

He could feel her body signaling another climax and reached down between them, found her slick nib, and began to rub it in little circles. She rode him harder, her breath coming in short gasps as she tumbled over into bliss again, this time taking him with her, his body pulsing and throbbing as he emptied himself inside her, crying out her name.

Eden collapsed on top of him, her chest still heaving, and he wrapped his arms around her, wishing they could stay that way forever, but the fire had burned low, and Eden began to shiver. Rolling her over onto her back, he covered them both up with one of the rough blankets, then pulled her back into his arms with a contented sigh. She snuggled up to him, put her head on his chest, wrapped her arm around him, and lay there without saying a word for a long time.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" he finally asked when the silence had gone on too long. "I tried to be careful, but……"

"You didn't hurt me, Theo. It was amazing. I had no idea it could be like that," she said, looking up at him. "When can we do it again? "

He laughed, "I might need a few minutes to recover," he said. "Don't forget that I'm an old man."

"You sure didn't seem like an old man a few minutes ago," Eden said, grinning up at him, a blush on her cheeks. "Not at all."

"Well, I've got the grey hairs to prove it," he said. "A whole bunch of them."

"Really, I've never noticed," Eden said, throwing back the blanket and running her hands over his chest. "I don't see any here. Maybe I need to look lower."

When her hand closed around him, pleasure shot through him. "I don't think you'll find them there," he said, then let out a long sigh when she began to explore his swelling manhood with her fingers. "But you're welcome to look some more."

It was a long time before Theo finally got up and put some more wood on the fire, then settled back down next to Eden and gathered her into his arms. "I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but you should know that this is for keeps, Eden," he said. "I don't know what we'll face when we finally make it back, but I'm not letting you go."

"Good, because I wasn't planning on letting you get away from me," she said. "We belong together, Theo, no matter what anyone thinks. I feel complete when I'm with you. I've never felt that way before."

"I didn't believe in true love until I met you," he said, reaching down to stroke her cheek. "It scared me at first. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I couldn't let myself believe that it was possible to fall in love at first sight. I came here looking for a new direction in my life, and I found you. It wasn't the answer I was expecting, but now I understand that it doesn't matter what else I do with my life as long as I'm with you. I love you, Eden, and I want to be with you forever."

"Oh, Theo, I love you too," Eden said. "I love you so much sometimes it scares me."

"Then I guess we're even," he said. "I love you more than I ever thought possible, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life proving it to you."

"Oh, Theo, you don't have to prove it," she said. "You already have."

They fell asleep wrapped up together, the fire casting shadows on the cave walls, secure in the love they shared, ready to face what the next day would bring as an untied force for the first time. The sun was just beginning to brighten the horizon when the last coal turned to ash in the firepit, but neither of them was awake to see it. Nor did they see the cave walls around them begin to shimmer or feel the slight shaking of the ground as the island shifted under them again, and they were propelled back to where they belonged.

***Eden***

Eden woke to the sound of birds chirping and opened her eyes to find the sun shining into the cave's opening, then closed them again, not ready to leave the warmth of Theo's embrace. She lay there listening to his even breathing, feeling his body pressed up against hers, and let out a happy sigh, then slipped out from under the blankets. The cave was cold in the early morning air, so she slipped her dress back on, then went over and pulled the lid off the basket to see what they had for breakfast.

When it was clear that breakfast would wipe out their meager food supply, she decided to use what she'd learned and forage for something to add to the meal. Looking back over at Theo, still sound asleep, she decided not to wake him. She wasn't going to go far; she'd be back before he missed her. After emptying the basket, she carried it out of the cave, then stood looking around at the jungle for any plants that she recognized.

When nothing popped right out at her, she paused, glancing out at the ocean, wondering if she was making a mistake going off on her own, then took a step toward a trail she'd spotted. It hit her then that something wasn't right, and she paused again, looked back out at the ocean, then let out a shout of excitement. When her heart had stopped pounding and she could breathe again, she started backing toward the cave, so happy there were tears in her eyes.

"Theo, come look," she cried, forgetting that he was still asleep. "Hurry, you're going to want to see this."

He came stumbling out of the cave a few seconds later, a look of panic on his face. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Are the villagers coming?"

She looked over at him, smiling when she saw his hair still mussed from sleep, thinking he looked more like a little boy than a man. "Eden, what's wrong," he said, getting frustrated. "Stop grinning at me and tell me what's going on."

"I was just wondering if our little boy will look like you or me," she said, then shook her head. "But that wasn't why I called you out here."

"Our little boy," Theo echoed, and then a smile spread across his face. "I like the sound of that."

"Me too, and the good news is I can have him in a modern hospital," she said, pointing to the ocean. "Look what's out there."

Theo looked out at the water, then back over at her. "There's a boat," he said. "So what?"

She waited for it to sink in, then laughed when she saw the look on his face. "We're back," he finally said, sweeping her up into his arms. "We're back in our own time or place, or whatever; I never thought I'd be so happy to see a boat."

"Now comes the hard part," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "We have to face everyone. Do you think they've been looking for us?"

"Assuming we've been gone as much time here as we were there, I'm sure they are," he said. "We'd better get back."

"You might want to get dressed first," she said, reaching around and squeezing his firm buttocks with both hands. "Rose stuffed our swimming suits into the bottom of the basket. We should put them on."

"I have a better idea," he said, sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her back into the cave. "How about you get naked again, and we make love in our own time before we go back."

"Theo, they're probably looking for us," she protested, but her body was already warming at the thought. "We should get back."

"An hour isn't going to make any difference. I want you to myself for a little bit longer," he said. "I have a feeling we're not going to get much time alone when we get back."

"Okay, you talked me into it," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "But an hour, that's it."

It was more like two before they stumbled out of the cave and made their way down to the beach. "Are you sure you want to go back?" Theo asked, taking her hand. "There are going to be a lot of questions we can't answer without looking like we've lost our minds."

She shrugged her shoulders. "We'll just have to play it by ear," she said. "But I think we have to tell Max the truth. He should know what the island is capable of. "

"I don't know if he'll believe us," Theo said. "But I think we'd better give it a try."

"Theo, does he know?" she asked, looking over at him. "I mean about you being……"

"A dragon shifter," he finished for her, then nodded his head. "He knows. All my friends do because they're shifters too, but that's obviously a secret."

"I would never tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me," she said. "But now that we're back, I think I do have a few questions, but it can wait for later."

"We can talk as much as you want," he said. "I'll answer any question that you have. After all, if we have kids, they could be shifters, too."

She stopped, then looked over at him. "I never thought of that," she said. "Now I really have some questions."

He laughed, "I thought you might," he said. "But don't worry, you're perfectly safe. Having my babies won't hurt you."

"I never thought it would," she said. "They'll be a piece of you, and you'd never hurt me."

"I love you, Eden," he said, pulling her into his arms. "You do know that we're going to have to get married, and soon."

"Oh, really?" she asked. "Well then, I should warn you that I want a proper proposal, a flowery speech, a ring, you down on one knee, the works."

He laughed, "I'll have to see what I can do about that," he said, then kissed her until she was breathless. "Now, let's go see how much trouble we're in."