Surviving Demon Island Part 15

She wanted this, needed it, and was d.a.m.n glad she hadn't had to resort to begging to get it.

And now Derek was inside her, and it was magic. A perfect blend of heaven and h.e.l.l, ecstasy and torment as he moved slowly, then thrust hard, gave her an easy stroke or two followed by a punis.h.i.+ng drive that nearly made her cry out with madness.

The things he did to her, the way her body respondedit just wasn't normal for her.

Just like the other night, her gaze was riveted to his, the intimacy almost too much to bear. A connection that went beyond their bodies, and that was something she never did. He'd made her connect with him the night be fore in the first-aid tent, and he was doing it to her again now. She was powerless to do anything but obey his silent command to look, to watch, to bond with him on this intimate, emotional level.

'Feel me,' he commanded, whispering to her in a low, husky voice that made her shudder.

'I do.'

'Feel me, Gina,' he said again, thrusting upward, grinding against her.

Oh, G.o.d, she did feel it, and it was moving her to tears as the tension built, coiling around her center like a snake. Squeezing, tightening with every one of his exquisite thrusts.

He knew her body as if he'd been touching her forever. How could this happen? No man ever made her come as easily as he had the other night, as he had tonight. She wasdifficult. And she nevernot this way. Yet she felt it building, was almost afraid to hope it could happen.

'Let it go, baby,' he said.

She shook her head. She never let go. It was too scary. This was madness. It had never happened.

'Gina, look at me.'

She did, staring into gray eyes that were a vortex of stormy darkness. She was so lost when she looked at him. Yet she felt so safe.

'Let go,' he said again, his voice demanding, gritty with the same need that she felt. Her belly tumbled with sensation and need.

And again, he ground against her, making her so wet she felt it trickle down her thighs. The quivering began then, and she went with it, digging her nails into his broad shoulders as he moved so expertly against her she quivered from the sheer pleasure of it and felt tears sting her eyes.

She was there. G.o.d, she was really there. 'Derek!' she cried as her o.r.g.a.s.m washed over her, making her shudder uncontrollably and tighten around him. It burst inside her and spilled over, a wild ride she was helpless to control. His jaw clenched and he groaned and went with her, emptying inside her while he gripped her b.u.t.tocks, his gaze so intense it was almost painful to look at him.

But she couldn't tear her gaze away, locked with him in this amazing journey that tore her apart, watching his eyes go nearly black as he rode with her to dizzying heights. It was frightening and exhilarating. She couldn't let go no matter where it led.

He trembled then, too, holding tight to her and burying his head in her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him and held him, feeling an inexplicable wave of tenderness, almost as if she had to protect him as he panted against her.

The unfamiliar emotional highs and lows she'd gone through the past few days were the weirdest things.

But right now was definitely a high.

'Whew,' Derek said against her neck.

Gina smiled, grateful he'd broken the spell of intensity that seemed to hover around them. She needed light and easy right now. 'Uh-huh.'

He leaned back, grinned, then swept her into his arms, carrying her to his bed and depositing her there before crawling in next to her. The breeze from the open window and the fan overhead cooled her heated body, though not for long.

Not the way he was looking at her, scanning her body from head to foot. When he reached her eyes, he arched a brow and said, 'I wasn't tired, either.'

'Are you now?' she asked.

'No. You?'

'No.'

'I had thought of dragging you away from that door way and making love to you properly,' he said.

'That seemed pretty d.a.m.n proper to me,' she teased.

Laughing, he said, 'Well, thanks, but I had something different in mind. Something more slow and leisurely. A little time for exploration.'

To prove his point, he began drawing lazy circles around her belly b.u.t.ton. Her abdomen quivered and she laughed and slapped his hand away. 'Exploration, huh? Yeah, I might be up for a little exploration, too,' she said, reaching for his shaft and encircling it with her hand.

It pulsed to life around her palm. Amazing. Oh, yeah, she wanted to spend a really long time playing with every part of his body.

'Haven't you ever dabbled in fun and exploration with a man before?'

'Mmm, not really. I'm more about the release, not the relations.h.i.+p. No lingering, no conversation, no play, and certainly no exploration.'

It took her a few seconds to realize he hadn't replied. She looked up to find a frown on his face and immediately let go of him. 'What?'

He pulled her against him and kissed her. 'You really never had much fun, did you?'

Oh, h.e.l.l. She hadn't meant to launch into a 'poor Gina' scenario. 'I had plenty of fun,' she said, shrugging.

'Bulls.h.i.+t.' He sat up and leaned against the headboard. 'Doesn't sound to me like you even had much in the way of s.e.x.'

Rolling her eyes, she sat up and crossed her legs over each other, pulling the pillow onto her lap. 'I'm hardly a virgin, Derek. I've had plenty of s.e.x.'

'Didn't sound like it from what you just said.'

Sometimes she said too much. 'I've been busy.'

'You're what? Twenty-seven?'

'Twenty-eight.'

'A woman who looks like you, with a career like yours, should have had a ton of men by now.'

And that was exactly what everyone believed. Or what she wanted them to believe. 'I'm selective.'

'You're afraid.'

So much for the afterglow. 'You psychoa.n.a.lyzing me?'

'Maybe.'

She looked out the window, suddenly wanting to be anywhere but here right now. 'Well, stop it. I don't like it.'

'You just don't like it when someone gets close to the truth.'

Her gaze shot to his, anger replacing the pulses of joy from a few moments ago. 'I don't pick on your psyche, Derek. Leave mine the h.e.l.l alone.' She slipped off the bed and padded over to the door, grabbing her dress and tossing it over her head.

'Where are you going?'

'Back to my room.'

'What about fun and exploration?'

She shot him a glare. 'I think I've had enough of that. I'm tired now.'

'Coward,' he said, not even budging from his spot on the bed.

'I am not. I just don't want to talk about my past.'

'Because you're afraid.'

'Because I don't want to. This is stupid. I'm going to bed.' She turned and walked out, slamming the door behind her and storming back to her own bungalow.

She closed and locked her door, took off the dress and threw it in the corner, then crawled between the sheets of her bed.

Dammit, she wasn't at all tired.

Now she was just irritated. She and Derek had had a wonderful time, right up until he wanted to talk about her past, about feelings and emotions, things she wasn't ready to get into.

Like fears.

s.h.i.+t.

So much for getting any sleep.

Derek stared up at the darkness and drummed his fingers across his chest, wis.h.i.+ng he could take the last twenty minutes back.

Great. Why did he have to open his big mouth and start asking Gina questions? Couldn't he have left it alone?

No, he couldn't. Not when she'd started talking about not having relations.h.i.+ps, not having much s.e.x, and not having fun with men.

h.e.l.l, a woman who looked like Gina, a famous actress, gorgeous. He just didn't get it. She should have had a string of lovers by now. But his sixth sense or intuition or whatever the h.e.l.l it was told him she'd barely had a handful, and the guys she'd been with just hadn't melted her b.u.t.ter.

Yet she'd come apart for him tonight. And the other night. So it wasn't like she didn't know how to respond. She sure as h.e.l.l responded to him.

Which made him feel like king of the world.

But it also meant mystery, and he just couldn't let a d.a.m.n mystery go, could he? Why him and no one else?

So instead of spending the next few hours wrapped up in her arms and losing his mind inside her, he was staring up at a dark ceiling, coiled up tight with tension and p.i.s.sed as h.e.l.l at himself.

Because he had to go and ask questions, probe her, demand answers she clearly didn't want to give.

Because he had to go and start caring about her.

Chapter Thirteen.

I nteresting development between the two of them,' the second said. nteresting development between the two of them,' the second said.

The Master nodded and smiled, his chest expanding as he breathed in. 'I felt his power. It energized me. It's raw and untapped, but we can use it to our advantage.'

'Soon, I hope?'

The Master pondered, then shook his head. 'Not yet. Let's give this time to develop and see where it goes. Do you see the potential here? We could have them both. Use one to obtain the other.'

'Ah,' the second said, nodding. 'A bargaining chip.'

'If necessary.' He didn't think it would be. Not once the offer was made. No one turned down power such as this.

'Their hunters are mighty,' the second said.

'But no match for us.'

'They killed many.'

'I'm not worried, and you shouldn't be, either. We will take care of them all, in good time.'

Almost all of them, anyway. He had a plan.

Okay, she was avoiding Derek. Not really the most mature thing Gina could do, but right now her emotions weren't steady. She didn't want to put herself in the position where she might end up alone with him and possibly be forced to have a conversation about what had happened between them.

Wasn't it men who never wanted to open up and talk about emotions? Derek was the last man she'd thought would go all sensitive on her and start questioning her about her past.

She just wasn't going there, no matter how good the s.e.x had been. No matter how she felt about him.

Since they fought at night, they slept at dawn and during the day. After she woke, she spent the early part of the day sparring with Olivia, then the afternoon on target practice with Dalton and Linc, which helped get her mind off Derek. Learning the subtle nuances of the weaponry was important, after all. And Derek didn't have to be the one to teach her everything. The other hunters were more than adept at weapons training.

It was almost like prepping for a film, learning the ins and outs of weapons, deciphering how they worked, how to handle them, the actual mechanics of each piece. Something they hadn't had time to do before they'd gone out hunting. And Ryder and Shay had joined her, working tirelessly dismantling these weapons.

Dalton and Linc were expert teachers, patiently showing them how the weapons worked on the demons. Before long, Jake, Olivia, and Trace had joined in, as well as two other hunters, Rico and Mandy. They had a full cla.s.s in session.

'Who created these things?' Jake asked, playing with the liquid UV light.

'We have some wicked brilliant scientists in our corner.' Mandy, an incredibly gorgeous Amazon with long raven hair and legs a mile long, demonstrated the ten-second approach to loading the liquid UV into the chamber. She didn't look like a demon hunter. She looked like a fas.h.i.+on model.