Love's Fiery Jewel (32 page)

"No...Damien ...no, please ...I'm frightened.
I've never... please, Damien..." Directing a pleading
glance into the translucent eyes lifted to hers, she
trembled violently. "You mustn't.. .you can't..."

Moving to cup her smooth, firm buttocks in his hands,
Damien whispered softly, assuringly, "Yes, darling, I Must ...I must have all of you."

Shaking her head violently, Amethyst muttered softly,
"No, Damien ...no..." But Damien was deaf to her
protests as he spread a warm spray of kisses along the
tender curls. Somewhere, somehow, Amethyst's restraining hands lost their strength, the warm sensation of
his tongue again slipping inside the tender crease
transporting her past the realm of reasonable thought.
She was floating, drifting in a world of breathless
sensation, transported higher and higher out of herself to
groan loudly, pleadingly for release from the ecstatic
aura that held her suspended while each nerve in her
body screamed for more and more and more...

Lost to his own passion, Damien pressed deeper, more
lovingly, drawing, seeking, devouring the sweetness
within. He would not stop, he could not stop, driven by a
wild desire to know every part of Amethyst, experience
every facet her beautiful body had to offer, to taste her,
to titillate her, to consume her completely... as
completely as his passion for her was consuming him...

Amethyst was shaking now, trembling violently
under his touch, her low, pleading groans and cries
turning to moans of pleasure, the intoxicating sounds
exciting his senses, driving him to even further excesses
of loving assault. The soft, ecstatic cries continued on,
only to stop abruptly as Amethyst's slender body began a
deep shudder of ecstasy to release in throbbing,
convulsive spasms the final, ultimate tribute to his
lovemaking. Accepting it gratefully, greedily, Damien
swallowed deeply of its sweetness, basking in its
splendor, drawing deeply again and again and again...
until she could give no more.

In a few moments he too was naked, sliding his long,
powerful body against hers in an intimate caress, his
manhood pressed heavily against the tight black curls as he cupped Amethyst's chin lightly in his palm.

The flush of passion had left her face. Her eyes were
closed, the thick fan of black lashes resting lightly against
her ivory cheeks. A surge of familiar emotion overwhelming him, Damien whispered huskily against her
lips, "You belong to me...only me, Amethyst. Tell me,
darling. I want to hear you say it. Tell me you belong to
me..."

When she did not respond, Damien insisted lightly,
"Amethyst, answer me, darling... Amethyst..."

There was no response fromthe beautiful lips so close
to his. His anger flaring, Damien lifted himself slightly,
moving to slide his manhood within her in a quick,
smooth thrust. Her eyes snapping open, Amethyst gasped
as he came to rest inside her, the deep purple gaze
meeting the silver glow of his eyes to be held hypnotically
as Damien began moving slowly within her. The rhythm
of his impetus gradually increasing, Damien watched as
the soft light of passion gradually returned to Amethyst's
gaze, escalating until she was gasping in the throes of the
brilliant emotion, her lids fluttering almost closed again
and again as ecstasy mounted, assuming control of her
mind and body as it responded to his searching thrusts,
meeting and returning their force boldly. Steadily taking
her higher and higher onto the euphoric plane in an
unaltering course to the pinnacle of passion, Damien led
her to the brink, pausing to hold her breathless, her body
screaming, demanding relief from the flaming emotions
he had raised within her.

His throbbing voice low and demanding, Damien
whispered softly against her lips, "Tell me now who owns
you, Amethyst.. .who owns you more completely than
you own yourself." When still she did not respond,
Damien demanded angril,"Now, Amethyst! Tell me...
to whom do you belong? Tell me now, damn you," he continued, his voice a low growl," Tell me now or I swear
I will leave you here as you are now and walk away never
to return to your bed again!"

His heart pounding violently at the scope of the
commitment he had uttered in anger, Damien searched
her face for sign of a response, but there was none. His
eyes closing briefly in defeat, Damien made a small
movement to withdraw when Amethyst's hand snapped
to his shoulder to stay him.

In a voice hardly recognizable as her own, Amethyst
heard herself whisper, "No...don't go, Damien, please.
You...I belong to you, Damien.. .1 belong to
you...

Exaltation swept over him, exploding into a supreme
joy that held Damien speechless, his eyes devouring her
exquisite face as her words echoed in his ears."...1
belong to you, Damien.. .1 belong to you..."

No longer able to restrain the motion filling his being,
Damien began thrusting deep and hard within her, his
low passionate groans carrying them faultlessly, unerringly over the summit of passion to careen simultaneously in a long, brilliant spiral of glory to the breathless,
ecstatic conclusion of their act of love.

His body spent, but unwilling to separate from her,
Damien lifted himself to his elbows, his hand moving to
caress Amethyst's cheek as he leaned forward to whisper
hoarsely against her lips, "Ours is a magnificent joining,
Amethyst... a splendor beyond..."

Inexplicably unable to go on, Damien buried his face
in her ebony tresses, his arms slipping under and around
her to draw her tightly against him, the strength and
intensity of his embrace speaking far more loudly than
words.

The cabin floor pitched beneath her, rolling and dipping violently as Amethyst strained to retain her grip
on the bunk on which she lay. The world outside the
porthole had gone suddenly dark. A violent winter storm
had descended, driving the freezing sleet of the January
Atlantic against the Sally's hull to prove the small iron
stove bolted to the floor pathetically inadequate in
relieving the frigid temperature of the cabin. Bracing
herself in her bunk, fully dressed with a blanket wrapped
around her against the bone-chilling dampness that had
pervaded the room, Amethyst watched with horrified
fascination as the great lantern over the desk swayed
wildly from side to side as the ship rose and plunged on
the raging sea. Her panic so complete that she was past
tears, Amethyst prayed dry-eyed to the Lord above that
he would greet her kindly when she met her end.

But she did not want to dip! She was not ready to give
up her life! Suddenly enraged, Amethyst muttered
furiously under her breath as she strained to hold herself
upright on the bunk, "Where is he, damn him? It is all
his fault that I sit here with eternity clearly in sight! It
has been hours since the storm started, and he has sent
me not a word of encouragement, extends not a grain of
consideration. Damn him!"

Damien's disposition had seen a marked deterioration
during this, their last week at sea, his former victorious
air of satisfaction with their arrangement changing to an
attitude of moody irritation. Countless times she had
turned to find his dark glance resting on her person, only
to be diverted when her questioning eyes met his. Still
stunned and bewildered by his changing moods after
many hours spent in contemplation of his confusing
conduct, she had merely laid his attitude to the fact that
their journey was near its end, and the responsibilities of
a stormy winter sea weighed heavily on his mind.

But this time there was no excuse for his blatant disregard for her feelings! What had begun as a small
winter squall had now evolved into a raging storm,
subjecting the Sally to long hours of battering blows by
the giant, angry waves Amethyst had seen through the
porthole. Creaking and groaning under the devastating
beating, the Sally was lifted effortlessly again and again
to the crest of the waves, only to be plunged into the
deep, dark valley between that preceded each smashing
upsurge to follow. How long could the ship hold out
against such battering? Would she break apart in the sea,
abandoning her people to unmarked graves? Why had
she not heard from Damien? Were circumstances so dire
that he could not spare one man to bring her a word of
comfort? Damn him!

Her anger escalating with the violence of the storm,
Amethyst found the confines of the room too small to
contain her fury with the man who so selfishly was
sending her to a watery grave! Struggling to her feet,
Amethyst dodged the desk chair as it careened across the
room, thankful that most of the other furniture was
bolted to the floor, providing her a less hazardous path to
the doorway. She would show him! She would not sit
below like a frightened child while Damien Straith
ignored her existence!

Abandoning the inadequate blanket on the bunk,
Amethyst made a wavering path to the chest. Struggling
to maintain her balance, she lifted the top and removed
Damien's cape. Wrapping it securely around her she
fastened the front, completely ignoring the fact that she
was all but lost in its ample folds. Paying no attention to
the creaking groans of the ship and the howls of the
January wind as it screeched its fury overhead, Amethyst
jerked open the door to the passageway. Bounced roughly
from side to side, she made her way with single-minded
determination down the narrow corridor that led to the stairway. The screech of the storm grew louder with each
step she ascended, sending chills of apprehension down
her spine, but her resolve was firm. She would see
Damien Straith and confront him with his sheer
disregard for her life by taking her on this ill-fated
voyage.

Amethyst had taken but two steps on the slushy,
frozen deck of the Sally when the full folly of her actions
hit her for the first time. Gripped by a powerful gust of
wind, she was slammed against the rail, only to be
knocked from her feet by the next wild plunge of the
deck. Breathless with a severe pain in her ribs where she
had struck the rail, Amethyst could do no more than grip
the ropes hanging from the belaying pins, to be swung
effortlessly back and forth with the violent motion of the
deck beneath her. She could hear nothing over the
screaming of the wind, nor see anything past the deluge
that beat into her face, freezing her, numbing her,
turning the hands that held the rope into inefficient,
clutching fingers of ice. She could no longer feel the rope
in her hand, nor the frozen deck against her legs, and
straining to see past the rivulets of freezing rain that
blurred her vision, she fought to regain her feet. Finally
achieving her goal, she held tight to the rail, noticing for
the first time the group of sailors swaying on the opposite
side of the deck, their attention riveted on the main mast
as they firmly supported their footing with the yards of
hemp on the rail. Her eyes following the direction of their
gaze, Amethyst gasped incredulously. High above them a
man swung precariously on the shrouds as he struggled
to free a clew that had become hooked on the yardarm,
causing the main sail to flap wildly in the raging wind.
Unable to take her eyes from the swaying figure high
above them, Amethyst failed to take into account the
reason for the deep lurching of the ship the moment before a giant wave crashed over them, its tons of
freezing fury efficiently dislodging her stiff fingers to
send her crashing painfully against the spar opposite her.
Striking her head with a resounding crack, she was
momentarily disoriented, long enough to slide with the
next deep plunge to the far side of the deck. But there was
no time to reach for support, to clutch for life before the
following wave crashed on deck, lifting her in a swirling,
frozen fury, carrying her, she was certain in a moment of
blinding clarity, into the raging sea that awaited her.
Unable to see or feel past the swirling darkness engulfing
her, she gave herself up to the raging elements so bent on
taking her life.

But a powerful force interrupted her seemingly
inevitable passage into the sea, jerking mercilessly at her
hair, staying her only to grasp painfully at her shoulders,
to hold her swaying tightly against a totally human force.
Opening her eyes, she strained to see through her water
blurred vision, finally coming into contact with dark eyes
as a familiar voice demanded, "Are you alright, Miss
Greer? Can you walk?"

Jeremy! Jeremy Barnes! Recognition sent a thrill of
hope through her veins, but unable to summon her voice,
she nodded dumbly into his face the second before her
eyes moved upward again to spot the figure that still
swayed high overhead. How was it the man had not been
washed into the sea by the last crushing wave? How had
he still retained his hold on the frozen ropes? What
divine providence still allowed him his life?

Noting the direction of her glance, Jeremy shouted
over the howling wind, "You needn't fear, Miss
Amethyst. The Captain will be alright, but you must go
below now."

The Captain! It was Damien swinging so tenaciously
overhead, his tenuous grip on life a matter of raw courage and supreme determination. But she had no more time to
speculate as Jeremy Barnes drew her with him in a
steady, sure path to safety while the elements raged
around them.

Hardly cognizant of her descent to the berth deck,
Amethyst felt completely conscious only when her feet
touched the floor of the captain's cabin. Leaning over to
jerk a chair behind her, Jeremy Barnes pushed her down
gently. His voice hoarse from hours of shouting above
the roar of the storm, he said quietly, "Will you be
alright now, Miss Greer? I am needed on deck and..."

Swallowing tightly, Amethyst nodded, her voice a
raspy croak as she whispered softly, "But the Captain...
he must come down ...he will be killed..."

A note of confidence entering his voice, Jeremy
responded quickly, "You needn't worry about the
Captain, Miss. He has almost freed the sail. If he allowed
it to remain almost unfurled in that manner once it had
broken loose, he ran the risk of having the ship capsize or
splitting the main mast before this storm blows itself
out."