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Why not? she wondered. No one else was present, and anyway the garment was so big on her that it reached below her knees. It was much less immodest than a sheer nightrail. With that thought she swiftly shed her constrictive clothing and donned the billowy shirt. Then she curled up in the broad chair, placing her head against its back.
I’ll just rest, she assured herself. That is all.
Seconds later she was asleep.
Chapter 9
THE MOAN AWAKENED HER. Blinking, she tried to get her bearings. She was in her cabin, but for some reason she was not in bed. Another moan sounded just in front of her.
Drake. She was on her feet in an instant, leaning over the bed. He was sweating profusely, thrashing about in discomfort. Alex hurried to the basin and rinsed a cloth in cool water. Returning to the bedside, she bathed his face, murmuring softly to him.
Drake’s eyes opened, focused on her face. “Alexandria?”
“Yes, Drake, it’s me.”
“My head is throbbing.” The words were unclear, but Alex understood them.
“I know it is,” she soothed. “I’ll put a compress on to ease the swelling.” So saying, she gently pressed the damp cloth against his badly swollen head. Drake gritted his teeth but, after a moment, visibly relaxed.
She thought he had gone back to sleep when he suddenly said, “My mouth is so dry. Could you possibly …” He didn’t finish the sentence seeming to have forgotten what he’d asked for. But Alex was already filling his glass with water, making sure to add a few drops of laudanum.
“Here, drink this,” she coaxed, holding the water to his lips. She hadn’t the strength to raise him up, so she merely offered him a sip at a time. He seemed to understand, and after he had drunk his fill, he smiled.
“Thank you.” His brilliant green eyes were slightly dulled from the drug, but his words were coherent. He watched her place the glass on the desk, then return to his bedside.
“Can I get you anything else?” she asked, seeing that he was still awake.
She looked so beautiful standing there, almost ethereal in her white shirt, with her delicate features framed by the cloud of tumbled, honey-colored hair. Perhaps the laudanum was making him silly. Still, the sudden surge of feeling was uncontrollable.
“Come here,” he murmured, patting the side of the bed.
Alex hesitated, but then realized he was barely conscious. Soon the medicine would take effect, causing him to drift off again. There was no harm in sitting with him for a moment.
His gaze was intense as she lowered herself to the bed. Slowly he lifted his hand and wrapped a tendril of her hair around it. “Have I told you how beautiful your hair is?” he asked in a husky voice. “It generates its own sunlight, sometimes soft and glowing, other times blazing with fire.” He reached up with his other hand to stroke her cheek. “When I opened my eyes and saw you here I wasn’t certain if I was awake or dreaming. You’ve filled my dreams so many nights … and whether my eyes are open or closed, it seems you are always there. Can you tell me why that is, my lovely Alexandria?”
Alex could barely breathe. Reason told her the drug was making him behave so strangely, but her body was responding wildly to his caressing words. She stared at him with wide, apprehensive eyes.
Drake gave her a slow, melting smile. “Don’t look so frightened, sweetheart. Surely by now you know I would never hurt you?” The hand that caressed her cheek slid around to stroke the nape of her neck. He was drowning in her eyes, which shone like flawless opals and spoke to him of need and want despite her mind’s ambivalence.
Alex felt him tug her head down, and she placed her hands against his chest, holding herself back. But who was she afraid of, she thought wildly, Drake or herself? How many times had she relived those moments in his arms, longed to repeat them?
Drake glanced down at her restraining hands. “Don’t,” he whispered, meeting her confused gaze once more. “Don’t stop me. God knows I fought it as hard as I could, but it’s no use. I want you,
Alexandria … God help me, I need you.”
He drew her down to him, covering her trembling mouth with his.
The moment their lips touched, wild flames erupted, licked along their nerve endings, and ignited an explosion that shook them to the very core of their beings. Tightening his grip on her back, Drake parted her lips and thrust his tongue into her mouth in an act of undisputed possession.
There was never a question of denial. As much a prisoner of the overwhelming physical sensations as he, Alex capitulated completely to Drake’s unspoken demand. Her hands slid to his bare shoulders; her mouth moved with his in a kiss that took and gave and still wasn’t enough.
Drake tangled his hands in her hair, the pain in his skull minor compared to the unbearable ache in his groin. Nothing mattered now but putting out the fire that only this woman could ignite in him. Like a starving man, he kissed her eyelids, her cheeks, her nose. But always her mouth drew him back, and he drank from it. He wrapped his arms around her, flattening her against him, feeling her tense in his arms.
“No,” he commanded softly. “Don’t pull away.” He couldn’t let her go; he would explode with his need for her. He stroked her back through the barrier of the shirt, burying his lips in her hair. He wanted to tell her, to explain how badly he needed her. Determinedly he struggled to combat the inhibiting effects of the laudanum. “I need you,” he repeated. “Alex … please.”
He had never called her Alex before, and the name was like an endearment. She heard his plea, and it touched an answering voice inside of her. In a rush she melted against him, wanting to be absorbed into his power.
Drake felt her surrender and knew a sense of triumph that was staggering. Urgently, greedily, he took what was his. Her shirt had ridden up to her thighs, and he reached down to caress her bare legs. It still wasn’t enough. He slid his hands beneath the shirt, exploring the contours of her naked body. Her skin was like hot silk, her body coming to life beneath his seeking hands. He stroked the slender lines of her back, then moved around to cup her breasts in his palms. Alex trembled, then moaned softly as Drake circled her hardened nipples with his thumbs.
