“You’re worried that I’ll need him. You think something’s going to happen to me,” she said.
Ewan couldn’t stomach another lie. “Yes.”
“And you won’t be able to take care of me,” Nina added in a quiet voice. “You’re more than worried about it, Ewan. You’re terrified of something happening to me while we’re alone here. Something you can’t prevent, something you can’t fix.”
“Yes,” he whispered.
“Why?”
“Because . . .” he began but could not bring himself to finish.
Nina moved toward him. Within reach, but not reaching. They stared at each other with so little distance between them all it would take was a single step to put them together, but neither of them took it.
“I’m going to ask you something, Ewan, and I want you to be honest with me. No matter if you think it will hurt me. I need you to be honest,” Nina said.
He could only nod his assent.
“Was it you? For me. Before,” she added. “Was I in love with you before the accident?”
Relief tore through him, razor-sharp and shredding. It almost sent him to his knees, but Ewan managed to keep himself upright. He wanted to take her in his arms, but wisely did not.
“Yes,” he said.
Her eyes gleamed with unshed tears. “Did you love me, too?”
“Yes, Nina. I loved you.”
“I’m the woman you were talking about? The one you loved.”
“Yes,” Ewan said.
She closed her eyes and let out long, slow sigh. Her shoulders slumped, but did not shake with sobs. Again, Ewan stopped himself from embracing her, uncertain if that’s what she wanted. He waited for her to ask him if he still loved her. Begged the absent Onegod and the universe itself for her to ask, so he would be able to tell her, yes. Yes.
Yes.
Nina straightened and turned slightly to stare toward the windows again. She looked back at him with a small smile.
“The angels are bowling. My mother used to say that when I was a kid . . .” She trailed off slowly, her eyes going wide at what she’d said. “I remember that.”
Hope and despair warred inside him. “Yeah? That’s fantastic, Nina.”
She hesitated, looking as though she meant to take that final step toward him, but hung back. “When my sister was scared, she’d ask if she could sleep in my bed.”
Seeing her remember was like watching liquid fill a glass of rocks. Her entire expression animated, joy suffusing her. Her eyes glinted with happy tears that still didn’t fall.
“That’s all I remember,” Nina said. “But there will be more, won’t there?”
Before he could answer, she was in his arms. She took his face in her hands. She kissed him, hard but slowly, easing off the pressure after a few seconds with a gasp. Her tongue slipped between his lips to tease his. She pressed herself against him, then pulled away so she could look deeply into his eyes.
“I’m going to remember everything,” Nina said.
* * *
Ewan’s arms slipped around her waist. “I hope so. More than anything, I want that.”
“Baby, this feels . . . good. It feels right.” She kissed him again, savoring his taste, but only for a moment before pulling away. Giddiness swept over her; she held back a flurry of hysterical giggles. “I called you ‘baby.’”
“You can call me whatever you want,” he said into her kiss.
She didn’t ask him why he hadn’t told her the truth before but had come clean now. Somehow in this moment, it didn’t matter. She had loved him and he had loved her. She loved him now. And he . . . he loved her, too. She didn’t have to ask him if it was still true. She’d known it for a long time without being aware.
Again, she slanted her mouth across his. Desire began its heated descent from their stroking tongues down through her chest and lower, to her belly and then between her legs. She pressed herself to him, relishing the pressure of his hardening erection against her.
Ewan groaned into her open mouth. When she took his tongue between her teeth and bit gently, his body surged against hers. She ground against him harder, sucking his tongue before moving her mouth to his throat and biting harder, there.
“I want you,” she told him. “Right here. Right now.”
In a fluid motion, she pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and settled herself in front of him on the table. Fast and smooth and graceful, because yeah, everything was working right now. She wasn’t clumsy any longer. Not hesitant. Not embarrassed or ashamed. She pulled her leggings down, over her hips and thighs until she tugged them off over her ankles. She exposed her tiny cotton panties beneath.
Nina stroked a fingertip over her arousal through the cotton. “Here. I want your mouth here.”
“Nina . . .” Ewan licked his lips, his gaze burning into her. “There’s something—”
“Not now.” She shook her head. She eased aside the cotton to reveal herself to him. “Your mouth. Here. Now.”
Ewan muttered a curse and leaned to grip her hips. His mouth brushed the inside of her thighs, one at a time. Nina leaned back with a small, eager sigh and opened her legs. Behind her, the china clinked as the table rocked.
Instead of the heat and soft wetness of his stroking tongue, she felt only the gust of his breath. Then cooler air as he pulled away. Confused, she lifted herself to look at him.
“What’s wrong?” When he didn’t answer, she cupped his face and made a small, low laugh. “Are you going to ask me again if this is what I want? You said you weren’t going to ask me that all the time. I want this. I want you. Now.”
With a groan as his reply, Ewan bent back between her thighs. He nuzzled her. His tongue found her center. She moaned when he suckled gently. When he parted her to swipe along every inch of her heat, a jagged cry escaped her throat.
There would be time later for her to ask him all the questions she’d so far kept silent. They could cuddle naked and talk and he would tell her everything. Now, all she could think of was the rising inferno of her desire. All she wanted was sweet release beneath his hands and tongue.
“Wait, wait,” Nina muttered, nevertheless. She pushed at the top of Ewan’s head until he stopped. She struggled to sit. “Not here. Bed.”
He nodded and helped her off the table. She took him by the hand and led him up the stairs into his room. She looked over her shoulder at him, fingers still linked with his.
“Your bed’s bigger,” she murmured and let go of his hand to yank the comforter and sheets back. Then she turned and lay herself back on the huge expanse of his bed and offered herself to him.
Ewan didn’t cover her with his body, not immediately. He took the time to tug his sweater off over his head. Then his shirt. Pants. He undressed quickly and efficiently, pausing to slow only when Nina murmured, “Slowly, please, it’s too nice a view to rush.”
When he was naked, he moved over her body and undressed her. Too slowly now. She regretted her command. She was too eager but had done this to herself, so she laughed as he took his time revealing every bare inch of her to his questing hands and exploring mouth. She arched under him as he took a nipple into his mouth. Her hands found the thickness of his hair. She laughed again, full of joy. Shaking with it.
“Now,” she told him as she reached between them to guide him inside her.
“Don’t you need—”
“Now,” she whispered. “I need you, right now. Inside me.”
Ewan made no more protests. He fit inside her. His mouth on hers. Their bodies moved in perfect sync. Her desire spiraled up and up until she gasped with it. He followed her within seconds, shuddering and crying out his own release into her mouth.
When he’d collapsed next to her, an arm flung across her belly, Nina turned her face to breathe him in. Naked, sticky, she half rolled to tangle their legs together. She put her arm around his back and let her fingers drift down his spine to the twin dimples at the base of it.
“How long ha
ve I loved you, Ewan?”
“Not long enough,” he said. “But I hope it’s going to be for the rest of our lives.”
Somehow, that was the answer she’d been waiting for.
* * *
Nina was still asleep when Ewan woke to the pinkish light of dawn. A quick look out the bedroom window showed clear skies, at least as clear as they ever got on the island. The yard was saturated, so rocky the ground couldn’t absorb all the water. Puddles swamped the ground, but the rain had stopped.
He’d left his personal comm downstairs last night when Nina seduced him in the kitchen. He didn’t feel like getting up to retrieve it now. Even if communications with the mainland had been retrieved, Ewan couldn’t imagine there was anything he’d want to know. Not right now. Not when everything here had become perfection.
He watched her sleep, pushing aside his desire to kiss her awake and make love to her again. For now, he was content to settle back into the pillows with her next to him. The sound of her slow breathing soothed him.
She had remembered.
Not the details, that much was clear. But she’d been able to put enough of the pieces together to remember that they’d loved each other, and nothing bad had happened to her with the recollection. Ewan still had some residual wariness, and the sooner Zulik could get here and check her out, the better, but for now everything seemed as bright and clear and promising as the morning outside.
Sunshine after the storm.
Her stomach gurgled before her eyes opened. Nina’s lips curved into a smile. She giggled softly and snuggled against him. Her fingers found his cock, stroking him from half-hard to fully erect within a minute. She pushed up on her elbow to look at him with a familiar wicked grin.
“I need breakfast,” she said with a wink. “Got any idea what I might be able to eat?”
Less than an hour later, sated and sweating and both of them starving, Nina had urged him into a quick shower before making him breakfast. Still naked. Easy and natural, as though this had been their life the entire time. They laughed together as she served him from the pan of eggs she’d scrambled, sitting on his lap, insisting he take bites of toast directly from her fingers. They kissed, leisurely and sensuously.
“Was it always like this?” Nina whispered into his ear, then pulled away to shake her head. “Don’t answer me. I’ll remember.”
“This is how I want it always to be,” Ewan told her.
She smiled. “That sounds perfect.”
There was so much left for him to tell her, but if he so much as hinted that he had more to say, Nina cut him off with kisses and more laughter and tickling fingers. When he tried again, she put her hand over his mouth. Her expression went briefly solemn.
“Not now,” she told him. “Later, you can tell me why we ended. Right now, let’s just be here. In this.”
All he could do was agree.
Breakfast finished, the restless look on Nina’s face prompted Ewan to suggest they get outside. Take a walk. Get some fresh air. They dressed quickly, pausing to kiss in ways that threatened to heat up enough that a walk would be forgotten. Somehow, they made it out the back door and through the sodden garden to head for the stone stairs leading to the water.
“You’ll be all right?” he asked as she paused at the top of them.
Nina nodded, looking at the stairs, not him. “Shiny fine. I’m not afraid.”
He gestured for her to follow as he headed for the edge of the water. The waves broke far enough from shore that the water only licked at the rocks here. Whatever storms had been wracking the seas had calmed. He kicked one, sending it into the water with a small splash.
“It’s hypnotic, isn’t it?” she said. “The sound of the ocean. Rush, rush, hush, hush.”
She imitated the waves and gave him a grin. Ewan bent to pluck up a stone and tossed it along the water, hoping it would skip. It didn’t.
A moment later, Nina took up her own stone and took aim. Hers managed a single skip before it sunk. She laughed and got another.
So did Ewan. For a few minutes they both tried skipping stones without saying anything. The water tickled the toes of his boots. He glanced up, saw her watching him.
“I love you,” she said.
It seemed like the perfect time to pull her into his arms for a kiss, so he did. “I love you, Nina Bronson.”
“I believe you. I don’t know why. I have every reason not to,” she added seriously.
The words stung him, but Ewan nodded. “I know. Believe me, I do.”
Shadows sifted through her gaze, and for a moment, Nina’s lips turned downward. She made an obvious effort at pushing away the frown. By unspoken agreement, they started walking again. It took only a few minutes to reach the stairs. Nina paused at the bottom, looking to the top, but not starting up them.
“You helped me face my fears. I think that’s how I knew,” she told him.
Ewan put his arm around her waist, drawing her close. “There’s so much you still need to hear, Nina, and I swear you, I’m going to make sure you learn all of it. When it’s safe. But there’s something I have to tell you right now—”
He was going to tell her they had to leave the island as soon as possible, that there was a new treatment she would need that would hopefully help her remember everything. His words cut off at the distinctive sound of an airtranspo. Nina was already turning, trying to catch sight of the noise’s source.
“It’s coming around the other side of the island,” she said. “Is it the doc? Maybe it’s Aggie and Jerome!”
She’d started up the stairs before he could stop her. Ewan started after her, both of them taking the steep steps two at a time. It wouldn’t be Aggie or Jerome, and if it was Zulik, Ewan had missed the doc’s message saying he’d been able to get the airtranspo sooner than expected.
“C’mon, slowpoke,” Nina called over her shoulder with a grin Ewan could not return.
Something about this felt off, and not only because he was selfishly wishing they could stay here alone forever, loving each other, without threats. He didn’t reply, but kept his attention on the stairs in front of him. They were still wet from all the rain, as was the ground at the top of the cliff.
All public transpos, both ground and air, were identical. Design changes were international and across the board, with older models being immediately removed from service. The vehicle they could both see heading toward the landing area was not Ewan’s private service airtranspo, which had been painted with his company’s logo. This was a public aircraft, and it careened toward them as though it were out of control.
It should not have made it past security at all, but clearly it had undergone some damage while trying and had managed to get past despite its scrambled guidance systems. The craft was coming in too low and too fast. It zoomed over their heads.
Nina and Ewan both ducked. Nina shouted something he couldn’t make out. Before he could answer, the earth on the cliff’s edge gave way. His boots slipped. He staggered.
He began to fall.
CHAPTER TWENTY
This is war.
The sound of engines. Confusion. Attacks.
This is her job and her purpose. To protect. To serve.
Assess the situation.
The airtranspo was on an unsteady trajectory, so close overhead that Nina swore she felt the brush of metal against her hair as she ducked. Cursing, she went to the ground, rolling onto her back so she could get up on her feet again as soon as it passed. It circled the house, dipping low to the landing area before swirling up into the sky again for what looked to be a second pass. Behind her, Ewan’s shout turned Nina toward him.
Protect the client.
She didn’t think. She moved. The cliff’s edge had fallen away, taking Ewan with it. She watched like this was a viddy put into slow motion. She lunged. She grabbed.
Her hand slapped into Ewan’s arm right below his elbow. Her fingers gripped. His wrist twisted, his hand turning so his own fingers could
circle her forearm.
She had him, tight, but he was completely suspended now and the jolt of her stopping his plummet to the beach below was hard enough to force Nina to stagger forward too close to the crumbling edge. As the earth gave way beneath her feet, she knew without a doubt that they would both tumble over the cliff and end up splattered on the rocks below.
Instead, she pulled. Hard. Pushed with her feet, sending more dirt over the edge but moving backward. She held Ewan by only one arm but brought him with her. He got his other arm up and over the cliff’s edge and dug his fingers into the dirt. She pulled again. He pushed, scrabbling. She reached with her other hand to grab the back of his shirt. Yanked again. He was almost up and over, safe, when the airtranspo made another dive over them before disappearing around the side of the house.
Nina expected the noise of a crash, perhaps even an explosion. A loud series of bangs hit her ears. The ground thumped. The glass windows in the house shook.
Nina pulled one more time and got Ewan up and over, onto safe ground. He pushed with his toes, getting farther from the edge before he rolled onto his back, panting. Safe.
Eliminate the threat.
The words in her head, her own voice. Memories of battle. Other things, too, explosions, fighting, the grunt and smack of flesh on flesh. Pain. So much pain.
Nina spent a scant minute making sure Ewan was all right. Then she took off for the front of the house and the landing area. Whoever was in that airtranspo was going to have to face her, and it was not going to go well for them. She didn’t know what “assess, protect, and eliminate” meant, but she was starting to have an idea.
“You stay,” she shouted over her shoulder at him, fully aware of the irony in this command. Telling him to do what she’d balked at so fiercely.
Behind her, Ewan had gotten to his feet. “Nina! Wait!”
She was not going to wait. Whatever had been yanked free inside her would not stop. She expected her arms and legs to shake, her stomach to be sick. How had she become so strong? What was happening?