“Aye,” he hugged Grace to him. “Yet I kept a piece back from her.”
“I remember, you kept the piece needed to say alive.”
“Aye, and was cursed for eternity because I didn’t love her enough to give everything. My own selfishness caused my curse.”
She looked at him, stroking his cheek with her palm. “I don’t think it is wrong to keep living, even when your heart is broken.”
“Perhaps. For now, live or die, I keep nothing of my heart, my soul, my life. I give it all to you.”
“Then let us not worry about the future. Come make love with me. We’ll seal our fate together.”
Luc reached for her clothing as she reached for his. They undressed each other. Every inch of skin revealed, he worshipped with his lips, his tongue, his touch, his body, his soul.
She answered each devotion with praiseful attention of her own. He felt her heart race when he stroked her breast. His galloped in echo. Her sighs filled his ears with melody. He groaned in counterpoint. She was the key he needed to unlock intense rapture, and unmatched love. He grasped her hips. They plunged together, sailing the seas of pleasure through the long stormy night.
***
The seas calmed with the dawn. Luc rose and dressed. He climbed the ladder to the deck, blinking in the brilliant sunlight.
All signs of storm and flood were gone, and the air held a distinct chill. He ran, slower than he had in years, from port to starboard then bow to stern, ending where he started, looking out over the rail, brow furrowed. Hands sweaty and chest tight, he gripped the amulet. ’Twas one thing he knew for certain existed.
A woman existed in his bed of that he was also certain. But which woman?
“Luc?”
He whipped around at the sound of Grace’s voice. “I…I didn’t hear you.”
He basked a moment in that glorious, stone-melting smile.
“I was very quiet.”
The dogs and the cat followed her onto the deck. The cat settled in a sunny spot. Mercury and Mars explored.
“I should have heard you, felt what you felt as you got out of bed,” he said “The curse. It doesn’t seem to be working.” He blinked again, to make sure she was really before him. “My hearing is normal, I can’t sense your movements or the dogs’, the cat’s.” He closed his eyes to concentrate. “I can’t even teleport.”
His heart began to race, full-blown hysteria a mere breath away.
“Really, that’s amazing.” Her brow wrinkled. “Why is that important?”
Calm down, he ordered himself and drew in a deep breath. He swiped his palms against his shirt.
“I just ran the length and breadth of the ship, but no faster than any other man.”
Grace smiled softly, but with an edge of confusion. “So that’s what all that pounding was. It woke me, so I came to find you.”
“Did you hear me? The curse isn’t working.” He hefted her into his arms. “You used to be light as a feather.”
“And now?”
“Now you are a wonderful, gorgeous armful of woman.” Luc set her down. “I’ll break my back if I keep that up.”
She giggled. “Not lighter than the proverbial feather, am I?”
“No.” He smiled back, calmer now that Grace was beside him. “What does all this mean?” He waved a hand at her, at the sea.
“I think that out there, means we are at sea. Although, if I’m not mistaken, those humps on the horizon are islands.”
Luc rummaged in a nearby box, withdrawing a spyglass, and aiming it at the humps. “Aye, those are islands alright, and I know them well.”
