I have baggage and resentments and insecurities I didn't even realize were there until I met you. I'm not going to let myself be hurt again.
No one's going to hurt you.
In a subtle gesture of protection, he slipped an arm around her and looked up at the sky.
Look how big the moon is tonight. Just hanging there. You can see Venus, and the little star that dogs her. There's Orion.
He lifted her hand, tracing the sky with it as he had once traced his charts.
And the
Twins. See?
Yes.
She watched their joined hands connect stars while the breeze lifted lovingly off the water and stirred the flowers that grew wild in the rock.
Romantic, mysterious, Coco had said. Yes, he was, and Megan realized she was much more susceptible to both than she would have believed.
For she was here, wasn't she, standing on a cliff with a seafaring man whose callused hand held hers, whose voice helped her see the pictures painted by the stars.
His body was warm and solid against hers. And her blood was pumping fast and free in her veins.
Alive. The wind and the sea and the man made her feel so alive.
And perhaps there was something more those ghosts of the Calhouns'. The cliffs seemed to invite spirits to walk, the air filled with contentment. And the glow of love that had outlasted time.
I shouldn't be here like this.
But she didn't move away, not even when his lips brushed over her hair.
Listen,
he murmured.
Close your eyes and listen, and you can hear the stars breathing.
She obeyed, and listened to the whisper and throb of the air. And of her own heart.
Why do you make me feel this way?
I don't have an answer. Not everything adds up neat, Meg.
Because he had a great
need to see her face, he turned her gently.
Not everything has to.
And kissed her.
His lips skimmed hers, journeyed up to her temple, over her brow and down.
How's the headache?
It's gone. Nearly.
No. Keep your eyes closed.
His lips traced over them, soft as air, before trailing slowly over her face.
Kiss me back, will you?
How could she not, when his mouth was so tempting on hers? With a small sound of surrender, she let her heart lead. Just for tonight, she promised herself. Just for a moment.
That slow, melting change almost undid him. She went pliant in his arms, those hesitant lips heating, parting, offering. It took all his willpower not to drag her against him and plunder.
She wouldn't resist. Perhaps he'd known that there would be enough magic on those cliffs to bewitch them both, to seduce her into surrender and to remind him to take care.
I want you, Megan.
He took his lips down her throat, up over her jaw.
I want you
so much it's got me tied in knots.
I know. I wish...
She pressed her face to his shoulder.
I'm not playing games,
Nathaniel.
I know.
He stroked a hand down her hair.
It would be easier if you were, because I know all the rules.
Cupping her face, he lifted it.
And how to break them.
He