Free Swept Away by Phoebe Conn

primitive of human needs and she clutched his shoulders, urging him to finish what he had begun. She saw him shift his weight, and watched the muscles ripple across his back as he positioned himself above her. When he hesitated a moment, she noticed they were a striking pair, for he was dark while her usually creamy skin was flushed with a rosy glow that extended from her cheeks to the tips of her toes.
    In the next instant she felt the blunt tip of his manhood brush against her, but he retained the same languid rhythm that had marked his gestures all evening. After his first shallow probings, he began to plunge deeper with each new thrust, but with deliberate care he withdrew each time he felt her grow tense. As relentless as the rising tide, with every new approach he filled her more completely until finally he lay fully contained within the warm channel that he had taken such care to prepare. That her body had accommodated his so easily convinced Eden she had been born to be his mate. That it had been Alex’s clever use of the exotic oil that had permitted them to join so easily did not occur to her.
    Eden slipped her arms around Alex’s waist as she returned his deep kisses. He seemed content, but she knew there had to be more to making love, and impatient to discover it, she rolled her hips against his, silently demanding that he continue and show her all there was to see and feel. This time he abandoned his cautious pace, and lost himself in the wonder of her eager acceptance. She felt the rapture she had craved swell within her, and poised on the edge of paradise, she lunged for it. Her graceful writhing drove Alex to increase the speed of his deep thrusts until the blinding moment of ecstasy overtook him with a convulsive shudder that echoed hers in endless ripples of joy.
    A long while passed before Eden became aware of Alex’s weight, but she found it very pleasant to be pinned beneath him still. She could feel the warmth of his breath against her throat and cuddled close. She ruffled his soft silver hair and decided her mother had been right: there was nothing more glorious than being with the man you loved.
     
     
    As they left for Briarcliff the next day, Alex sent his cook’s son to deliver a message to Raven. It took the poor lad a long while to locate the dock where the Jamaican Wind was moored, and then he had to wait for more than an hour for the captain to return from an errand.
    Recognizing both the messenger and the heavy vellum stationery, Raven ripped open the envelope, afraid it contained bad news, but not in his worst imaginings had he envisioned the hastily scrawled note would announce an elopement. Stunned, he handed the boy a generous tip for his trouble and sent him on home. He then retreated to the quiet of his cabin, where his temper swiftly erupted into a blazing fit of fury.
    “The diabolical witch!” he shrieked, for he could make no sense of what had happened. As far as he knew, Alex had meant to be honest with Eden about his heart condition. How could he have married her instead? Alex was not the type of man to make spur-of-the-moment decisions. All his judgments where well thought out and sound. Raven was positive there was no way he could have been the one to suggest marriage. No, it had to have been Eden’s idea.
    She was a rare beauty, and obviously bright, but he had not even suspected she possessed a character so devoid of morals as this ridiculous elopement proved her to have. Had she enticed Alex into marriage by promising to make his last days happy? Or had she simply seduced him then demanded he offer marriage? What had the bitch done to talk Alex into a marriage that could not possibly endure?
    “She’ll kill him,” he swore under his breath. “As surely as putting a pistol to his head, she’ll kill him with that luscious body of hers.”
    Unable to shake that hideous thought, Raven paced his cabin with an anguished stride. He knew Alex was no fool. If what he wanted