and dies. Jack, you did the best you could.”
“Wasn’t good enough,” he insisted.
“It was, because it was all you could do.” Now that she knew, she could almost understand him cutting himself off from her, from his family, from everything that was important to him.
He’d seen too much loss. And he didn’t want to risk more of it. So by shutting down his heart, he thought he was protecting himself. Instead, he’d welcomed a different kind of pain. Rita laid her head on his chest and listened to the wild thumping of his heart. He stiffened against her and for a second, she thought he was going to shove her aside, but instead, he grabbed her tight, pulled her closer. Buried his face in the curve of her neck.
“Damn it, Rita,” he murmured, “you should have left it alone.”
“I can’t do that, Jack. I can’t leave you alone.” She wondered if he heard the love in her voice. If he understood how much she was feeling for him or that it was so much bigger than what she’d felt for him when they first met.
She held him, rubbing her hands up and down his back, wishing she could reach past the shadows inside him, wishing she could convince him that he wasn’t at fault. But all she could do was show him. What she felt. What she saw when she looked at him.
Drawing his head up, she kissed him, pouring everything she had into the kiss and was rewarded when he groaned and took everything she offered. Her head was spinning when he fast-walked her back to the bed, when he stretched her out and claimed her in every way possible.
Rita’s mind blanked out and her body took over. Sensation flooded her. Tingles of awareness swarmed through her and curls of delicious tension settled in the pit of her stomach and spread like a wildfire. His hands, his mouth, moved over her, driving her wild, until the flames he lit enveloped them both.
She touched and stroked and kissed, wanting him to experience everything she was. Wanting him to know that he wasn’t alone. That she was here. With him. Wanted him to feel the love she couldn’t bring herself to say yet.
Oh, yes, she still loved him. Yes, she still wanted the happily-ever-after with him. But she knew instinctively that he wouldn’t want to hear that now. So she kept it tucked inside and told herself that they were a matched set. Each of them locking away a piece of themselves they wanted no one else to see.
Then he entered her, and all thought fled. She focused only on what he was doing to her, making her feel. His body moved within hers and the incredible friction left her breathless and she didn’t care. Breathing was overrated. She didn’t need air when she had Jack.
He took her higher than she’d gone before, pushing her to reach for the completion she knew was waiting. Rita kept her gaze locked on his. She couldn’t have looked away if it had meant her life. Those ice-blue eyes warmed and steamed and glowed with passion. Watching him and her own reflection in his eyes, she shattered, her body simply splintering into jagged pieces of pleasure that had her screaming his name and clutching his shoulders. And only a moment later, he surrendered to her, emptying himself into her and she held him while he fell.
“Don’t start thinking anything’s changed,” Jack warned her the next morning.
Rita bit her lip and hid a smile. She had been expecting this. She’d known that after what they’d shared the night before Jack would try to pull back again. Pretend that last night hadn’t happened. And she’d come up with a way to combat it. She wasn’t going to argue. She was simply going to ignore his arguments.
Rita had had a long night to think about this. Naturally there hadn’t been any snuggling or cuddling after their amazing bout of lovemaking—and that’s what it had been whether he admitted it or not. It wasn’t just sex. It was making love. And though Rita had spent the rest of the night alone in the guest room, she’d been more hopeful than she had been in six months.
He might not realize it yet, but there was a chink in the wall he was hiding behind. For one brief moment, he’d let his guard down. Let her in. Sure, he’d slammed it shut again quickly, but now that she’d made it through once, she was determined to do it again. Alone in the silence of her own room, Rita had vowed to smash those walls around Jack until nothing was left but the two of them standing in the rubble.
“Okay,” she said brightly. “Got it. Nothing’s changed. This ship is just gorgeous.”
“What?”
She looked at him, pleased to see the confusion on his features. If she kept him off balance, it would be harder for him to plant his feet behind that damn wall.
“I said this ship is gorgeous.” Rita did a fast circle on the main deck of The Sea Queen, taking in the gleaming wood floors, the shining windows and the sweep of sea stretching out behind it. “I’ve never been on a cruise ship before. For some reason I didn’t realize just how big they are.”
“Yeah,” he said irritably, “it’s great.”
“Thanks for inviting me along to see the ship.”
“I didn’t invite you. You invited you.”
“True,” she said with a shrug, “but you didn’t fight me on it. That was practically gracious. Congrats.”
He frowned again and Rita had to fight to hide the smile tugging at her mouth. “So, do you really have to meet with the captain?”
Still frowning, he glanced around, then up at the bridge. “Just to say hello, let him know I’m doing a walk-through.”
“Do you want me with you or can I wander?”
“Come with me, then wander,” he said, heading toward the wide open doors that led to the main lobby and reception area.
Rita was grinning as she followed him inside, then she stopped dead, her mouth dropped open and she did a slow turn to take it all in.
The Sea Queen was palatial. A tiled floor was inlaid with a depiction of what looked like a Middle Ages golden crown. There was a staircase that was so wide she suspected trucks could pass through side by side. Copper railings lined the second and third stories that looked down onto the lobby and deep scarlet rugs climbed the stairs. The ceiling was draped with pendant lights in shades of copper and brass and the walls boasted murals of what, again, looked like the Middle Ages. There was a theme here that went toward ancient royalty, with a hint of magic.
“At night, the pendant lights glow, and starlight flickers against the black ceiling.”
“Wow.” She didn’t even look at him. “I seriously love this. It’s very...magical. I half expect to see wizards and witches walk through the doors.”
“Good,” he said, shoving both hands into the pockets of his black jeans. “That’s what we were going for. The club rooms and bars are all done with the same kind of decor. A little mystical. A lot upscale.”
Now she did look at him in time to see a flash of pride cross his face. “It’s really spectacular,” she said.
Nodding, he said, “Let’s find the captain, then I’ll show you a few of the staterooms.”
