Burning Hearts (17 page)

She squeezed his hand and he squeezed back.
It was a wordless exchange that meant she’d never abandon him, and
he knew that he’d never be alone again.

After a few moments of thoughtful silence and
still hands, she asked, “I know we’ve discussed this before, but
what was the trigger? Tell me again. What made you flee Egypt and
come here?”

His voice went back to its
normal timbre. “I just woke up one morning and I felt
this…
lure
…like
something or some
one
”—he winked at her—“was pulling me away from the Jinn and
toward…another place. For several days, I felt this pull and
resisted, feeling like it was some delusion of my mind. But after
awhile, I relented, believing it to be a sign, and sought out my
aunt.” He smiled. “She was so happy to hear from me. She didn’t
know where I’d been, fearing I was lost somewhere after my mother
died.”

“
In a way, you were lost.
You were with the Jinn in Egypt, but you never really fitted in,
did you?”

He smiled and kissed her cheek. “You’re
right.” He began caressing her hand again. “Now that I’m here, with
you, I know this is where I’m meant to be.”

Using a bit more force, she squeezed his
hand, and his strokes came to a halt. “I won’t let them take you,
you know? I won’t let the Jinn take you back to Egypt. I’ll kill
them all,” she promised.

Suddenly he took her, not-so-gently pushing
her body down onto the bed. Her red hair escaped the confines of
the towel and fanned out on top of the covers. The remaining towel
that’d been tightly wound around her broke free, as his body, fully
clothed, rubbed against her skin. A breath hitched in his throat,
sensing her exposure. But he kept his eyes closed as he
passionately kissed her lips, before moving to the side of her
neck, sweeping his lips across its excitable surface, igniting a
fire trail.

She let out a moan and quickly covered her
mouth. “My parents,” she squeaked nervously after removing her
quaking hand.

He stopped tormenting her with fiery kisses
and flicks of his hot tongue against her neck.

He finally looked at her, but only at her
eyes. “I’m sorry. I got…carried away.”

“
No, it’s okay. Um, I need
to cover myself.”

He closed his eyes, rolling off of her. She
quickly secured the bath towel around her naked body and sat up
with her red hair, now dry and wild, fluffed in a sexy mess.

He left the bed and stood before her, his
fiery blue eyes open, taking in every bit of her disheveled state;
his smile had a certain pride to it. “Well, I’ll let you get back
to sleep,” he said as if mission accomplished. “I want to see you
tomorrow. Can I pick you up, around noon?”

She smiled. “Sure. What do you have in
mind?”

He smiled back, wagging his finger. “It’s a
surprise.”

“
Ooh, tell me, I can’t stand
the suspense!”

He chuckled. “Be patient, my sweet.” He
leaned down and kissed her forehead. “My love.”

She caught his face and brought his lips to
hers, kissing him passionately as he did to her moments ago on the
bed. The fire was still there.

He reluctantly tore himself away from her
embrace. “Don’t tempt me,” he said in a deep voice. “Or I’ll take
you away from here and no one will hear us.”

She shuddered in libidinous ecstasy. Val had
never produced such feelings in her. Riddick was cute, but Malcolm
was…exotic, exciting, and exquisitely proficient in seduction.

He smiled. “I love you,” he said in a gentler
tone.

All talk of kidnapping and pleasing her until
the sun came up had left his hot lips.

“
I love you too.” She
smiled. “I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.”

“
Oh, don’t eat
lunch.”

She raised her eyebrow. “Ah, so your surprise
involves food?”

He smiled. “You got me. But I won’t tell you
where.”

“
Well, with your innate
frequent flier miles, I’m okay with Paris or Rome…”

He chuckled. “I’d love to, but I can’t travel
that far. Half-human, remember? I can only make it so far in a
single leap without needing a lot of rest.”

“
That’s okay. Anywhere with
you will be great.”

“
I’m glad you said that. Oh,
and wear a bathing suit…or bikini. I checked your dresser drawers.”
He grinned. “I like the two-piece polka-dot one.”

She gasped, and then smiled. “You sneaky
snake. Don’t make me take off my towel and throw it at you.”

His jaw tightened. For a moment, he looked
frightening as his fiery blue eyes flashed. She tensed as he
brought his lips to her ear and softly threatened again, “Don’t
tempt me.”

She felt his smile as he
kissed her cheek, and then disappeared in a
whoosh
. She sighed, plopping onto the
bed. There was no chance of going back to sleep tonight.

~~~

“
My parents love you, you
know.”

“
Who wouldn’t? I’m
adorable.”

Jenna giggled. “That you are.” She thought
over when Malcolm had picked her up, how friendly he’d been toward
her parents. “I was sure my dad was gonna go ballistic, knowing I
have another boyfriend, but he seemed totally cool about it. My mom
too.”

Malcolm stopped at a small, pebbled lot near
the Rojo River and shut off the engine. “Why would your dad go
ballistic?”

“
I’d told him that after the
breakup with Val, I was never, ever gonna have another boyfriend.
Again.”

“
Does he know Val pressured
you to have sex?”

She shook her head. “No way! Val would be
dead by now if he knew.” She sighed. “No, I just told my dad that
things didn’t work out.”

He gently clasped her hand. “About last
night…I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

She furrowed her brow, upset. “Wrong
idea?”

“
That I was pressuring you
to have sex.”

She chuckled. “Oh, that!”

He was confused. “Why are you laughing?”

“
I thought you were saying
you didn’t wanna have sex with me.” She blushed,
embarrassed.

“
Well, I think it was pretty
obvious that I did.” He lifted his hand to her mouth and rubbed his
thumb against her lips. “I can’t see how any guy could resist
you…in that towel.” He scanned her body with his fiery blue eyes.
“By the way, are you wearing that polka-dot two-piece?” He grinned,
hopeful.

She grinned back. “You’ll just have to wait
and see.”

~~~

While he managed the picnic basket, she
helped by carrying the blanket toward a soft grassy area near the
water. There were shouts in the distance and the sound of a boat
motor.

“
Oh, no
,” she groaned, laying out the large red-flannel blanket.
“We’re not alone.”

“
It’s all right,” he said,
setting down the picnic basket. “I’ll make sure we’re not
bothered.”

“
How?”

He smirked. “If they come
near, I’ll
persuade
them to go away.”

“
Ah, what a neat little
trick you have there, Mr. King.” She set her backpack on the
blanket. Instead of homework, her amulet and dagger were
inside.

He pointed to it, making
a
tsk
ing sound of
disapproval. “You brought work on our
vacation
?” he scolded. He tried to
act serious, but his mouth betrayed him, smiling at her.

She stuck her nose up in the air, acting
haughty. “A Mage is never off while evil is afoot.”

He laughed, catching her in a hug, and then
brought her gently down with him on the blanket. “Don’t you want to
get undressed?” He kissed her lips, urging her to give into his
desires. “I’m dying to see you in that bikini.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, playing
her own game of persuasion. “Why don’t you strip first?”

He smiled. “All right.” He stood up before
her, and began to quickly take off his white T-shirt until she
stopped him.

“
Slowly,” she urged, halting
his progress; he let his shirt fall, the bottom hem reaching the
top of his thighs. She stretched her legs, crossing them at the
ankles, but elevated her upper body with propped arms, tilting her
head forward so she could see every bit of the show. “I wanna take
this in slowly,” she said with a smile. “You didn’t happen to bring
a boom box full of stripper music along in that picnic basket, did
you?”

He smiled. “No, sorry. You’ll have to contend
with the twittering birds and splashing fish.”

“
I’ll just run a fast beat
in my head while you do your thing.”

She watched as he slowly pulled off his
T-shirt, revealing a muscular chest of smooth caramel skin. Then he
kicked off his sneakers and bent down, pulling off his white socks.
Finally, he unzipped his blue jeans, taking his time, smiling at
Jenna as he lowered his pants to his feet, and set them aside with
his other clothes on the blanket.

She wrinkled her nose, disappointed; the
electrified music that she’d been playing in her head ended with a
loud pop! of flying sparks.

“
Trunks?”

She scanned his baggy red swimming shorts
that fell to his knees. His legs were muscular and just the right
amount of hairy.

He held out his hands. “What were you
expecting?”

She bit her lip, and then replied, “Something
a bit tighter.” She smiled. “Something to hug your curves.”

He grinned, pointing his chin at her. “Your
turn.”

They switched positions and Malcolm
stretched, watching her intently; his blue eyes were ablaze with
anticipation.

She kicked her flip-flops off and slowly, she
unbuttoned her jean dress. She held either side of the garment and
with dramatic flair, threw it wide apart and off, letting it fall
on the grass.

He wasn’t smiling.

She held out her hands, wearing a mischievous
smile on her face. “What?”

He shook his head. “That’s not the polka-dot
bikini.” He sounded disappointed.

“
I know.” She gestured with
both hands at her plain white one piece. “I thought we’d work up to
it.”

He finally smiled. “I was on top of you while
you were naked.” He waved at her conservative bathing suit. “I
think this is a step back.”

She wagged her finger. “But you didn’t see
anything.”

“
But I felt something,” he
said in a deep voice.

She blushed. “Naughty Jinni.”

He stood up and went to her, loosening her
bun, letting her red hair fall down her back. “So,” he began,
holding her in his arms, “does this mean that next time, I’ll see
you in that two-piece?” He kissed her lips, enticing her to
agree.

She wrapped her arms around his neck,
smiling. “Have you ever been skinny-dipping?”

He grinned. “Ooh, so we’re skipping the
two-piece entirely?”

“
Maybe. You’ll have to wait
and see. But only if you’re on your best behavior.”

“
That’s difficult when I’m
around you.” He held her close, kissing her passionately. After
what seemed like an eternity, he pulled his lips from hers and
asked, “Where’s the sunscreen?” Then he winked. “It’s a tough job,
but someone’s got to do it.”

She slapped her forehead. “I forgot!” Then
she shook her head. “I brought a knife to slay demons and a
necklace that helps me hide from them, but I left behind the one
thing to protect me from the big bad sun.”

“
It’s okay.” He winked
again. “Next time.” Then he went back to kissing her as he held
onto her hips, massaging her curves with his talented fingers,
making her legs feel like jelly.

Their romantic moment abruptly ended when her
stomach growled like a ravenous bear. “Oh!” She turned away from
his face, embarrassed.

He chuckled, giving her a hug. “Don’t worry.
Sit. Let’s eat.”

Malcolm had prepared turkey sandwiches on
wheat bread, with Jenna’s having a tomato like she preferred. She
washed it down with homemade lemonade, and for dessert, he served
key lime pie.

“
How’d you keep all this
stuff cold?”

“
Ice packs. Why?” He smiled.
“Thought it was some Jinni trick?”

She chewed up a grape and swallowed.
“Possibly.” She smiled. “Never know with you demons.”

“
You’ll always know with me.
I’ll never trick you.” He leaned forward and kissed the tip of her
nose. “I love you.”

“
I love you too.”

~~~

They relaxed under the sun, letting their
food settle, as they sat on the blanket; Jenna was between
Malcolm’s legs, her back to his chest, as he ran his fingertips
through her hair.

“
Why do they call it the
Rojo River? I know ‘rojo’ is Spanish for ‘red,’ but what’s the
significance?”

Jenna thought back to her history lessons.
“If I remember correctly, there was a battle here a long time ago
after the Civil War, between the Native Americans and the white
settlers from the east. Hundreds were slaughtered, and it’s said
the river turned red from all their blood, and stayed that way for
years, until a member of the tribe and a white settler made peace,
and then it was cleansed.” She shrugged against his muscled chest.
“That’s the legend, anyway.”

“
Legends have a bit of truth
in them.”

“
It’s not a very romantic
spot now that I think about it.”

He shifted. “Do you want to leave?”