Nicole Jordan - The Passion

He gazed at her, wanting to chase away the shadows in her beautiful eyes. She was thinking of the morning to come, he knew.

Shifting his position, he eased over her.

"So do I, angel," he whispered huskily as his mouth lowered to find hers. "So do I."

In his embrace I discovered the wonder and the anguish of desire .

Confusion was Aurora's first reaction as she slowly stirred awake. Her body felt unusually sensitive, her lips and breasts tender, while an unfamiliar discomfort throbbed between her thighs. Blinking at the sunlight filtering through the chinks in the shutters, she tried to place the strange, spartan bedchamber. More bewildering, she was pressed against a hard, warm, male body that was decidedly nude…

Memory came rushing back full force. Her marriage. Her husband. Nicholas Sabine.

For a moment she lay in his arms remembering, her cheek against his shoulder, their limbs entwined. For much of the night he had made love to her with exquisite tenderness and passion. What she had expected to be a brief, obligatory bedding had become a true wedding night. Nicholas had awakened her to desire, given her her first taste of ecstasy, leaving her trembling and shaken.

And she had surrendered to him completely, responding with an abandon verging on desperation. Despite their pact, the dire future he faced had added a primal urgency to their lovemaking.

Aurora bit her lower lip hard. Last night he had made her forget her sadness, but the dreaded morning had come. Today he would die.

She squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't allow herself to care for him. He was a condemned man…

Yet it was already too late. She had begun to feel a deep affinity for her new husband, which made it all the harder to think of him dying.

The tears she'd been fighting started slipping down her cheeks and onto his bare shoulder. When she felt him stiffen, she realized he was awake.

Determinedly, she drew a shaky breath, trying to stem the flow of tears.

"I don't want you to grieve for me, Aurora," he said in a low voice.

"I c-can't help it."

"God, please don't cry… I would rather face a brigade of charging cavalry than one weeping woman." His hand came up to caress her cheek. "Your tears are the worst possible torture for me."

"I… I'm sorry."

She closed her eyes while his thumb carefully wiped the tears away. After a while she drew another shuddering breath, determined not to weep. Yet she could no longer bear to remain idle while he went to his death.

"This cannot be allowed to happen," Aurora vowed, her own voice low and fierce, "I won't allow it. I intend to visit the governor at once and compel him to stay your sentence. Sweet heaven, how could I have been so blind not to think of it before now?"

Disentangling himself from her nude form, Nick sat up, turning his back to her. "Might I remind you of your promise to help my sister?" he said quietly. "Your cousin has arranged to escort you to Montserrat today – this afternoon."

"I can't leave here as long as there is a chance your life could be spared."

Nicholas raked a hand through his hair. He had feared this very response from her. She wouldn't abandon him to his fate, not now. Not after the incredible night just past. The passion that had blazed between them had shocked them both, creating an emotional bond that would be hard to break.

With a silent oath, Nick glanced down at her to see tears glistening wetly on her lashes. It made him ache to see her crying, yet he couldn't allow his fate to come before his sister's. He couldn't take the risk. Somehow he had to sever the bond between them.

She was gazing up at him, her eyes intensely blue, her hair a golden cloud, her lush lips swollen from his kisses. She was as beautiful as anything he had ever seen. And as vulnerable.

Reaching for her hand, he raised it to his lips, pressing a kiss on her knuckles. "I thank you for making my last night a pleasant diversion, sweetheart, but it is over now. Since our marriage has been consummated, there is no longer any need for a pretense of affection between us."

When the color drained from her face, Nicholas locked his jaw. He wanted to take back the cruel words making light of the searing passion they had shared. But he couldn't allow himself to be swayed by the hurt in her eyes.

He forced himself to hold her gaze, even when she pulled back her hand and drew the covers to her breasts in a defensive gesture.

Schooling his features to impassivity, he rose and went to the washstand to clean away the results of the night's passion. He could feel her watching his naked back, but when he turned to dress, she averted her face.

"We had a bargain, you will remember," Nicholas said coolly as he drew on his drawers. "Your financial independence in exchange for supporting my sister. I trust you will honor our agreement."

Her chin came up at that, as if he had stung her pride. "Certainly I shall."

He was glad to hear the edge of anger in her tone; that was far more bearable than tears.

He donned his breeches, then sat in one of the wing chairs before the hearth to pull on his boots. "Your cousin Percy has all the documents you will need, and my letter to Raven as well. Show it to her when you reach Montserrat, along with my ring as proof of our marriage. She will recognize the ship emblem – "

Just then a thudding noise sounded in the outer room. Nick froze, while Aurora flinched. Someone was pounding on the parlor door. The garrison soldiers, no doubt.

"Sir, we have orders to return you to your cell," a brusque voice called out.

"One moment, if you please," Nicholas responded. "I have yet to finish dressing."

He drew on his second boot, then his shirt. Without haste he tied his cravat and donned his waistcoat and coat. All the while, Aurora remained silent, still stunned and hurt by his sudden coldness.

"So this is farewell," he said when he finally turned to her.

"I suppose so," she replied, her voice barely a whisper. She stared back at him, searching for any sign of the passionate, considerate lover she had known last night. There was none. He was a stranger again, his lean face beautiful and hard.

"I am counting on you to care for my sister," he repeated.

"You have my word," she forced herself to say tonelessly.

"And you will set sail for Montserrat today as you promised?"

"Yes."

"Then I can rest in peace."

When she put a hand over her mouth to hold back a sob, he took a step toward her, then stopped abruptly. A muscle tightened grimly in his jaw, but he remained silent.

He gave her one long last look before turning away. As she watched, Nicholas left the bedchamber without another word, shutting the door softly behind him.

Aurora stared after him numbly, wondering how he could have turned so cold after his exquisite tenderness last night. Wondering how she could bear the feelings of dread and anguish that were gnawing so relentlessly at her.

But there was still time, perhaps, to save him…

She had just thrown off the covers when a tentative rap sounded on the bedchamber door. Her heart skipped a violent beat, her first thought that Nicholas had returned. But the voice that called out softly was female and belonged to her personal maid.

"My lady, 'tis I, Nell. The gentleman… your husband… bid me see to you."

"Come in, Nell," Aurora said, hiding her fierce disappointment as she rose and went to the washstand.

Nell blinked to see her normally modest mistress entirely unclothed. "I… I've brought your traveling dress for the journey this afternoon, my lady, and ordered hot water for your bath – "

"No." Aurora shook her head. Soaking in a hot bath might have eased the unfamiliar aches of her body, but there wasn't time. "Thank you, Nell, but I will make do with wash water. And then you must help me dress quickly. I must pay a call on the governor at once, and there isn't a moment to lose."

She had to try to save Nicholas, even if it meant defying his wishes and breaking any or all of her promises to him.

Aurora found the governor, Lord Hearn, at his plantation home, where she pleaded fervently with him to intervene with the navy and spare her husband's life. It took all her powers of persuasion to convince him simply to consider such a politically damaging step. Even then, his lordship insisted on discussing the matter with his lieutenant governor first.

She wasted precious time searching for Percy, making a fruitless trip home. By the time she tracked him down at his offices, nearly three hours had passed since she had said farewell to Nicholas in their bridal bower, and the day had turned chill gray, with dark storm clouds threatening to the south.

When she met Percy coming out of his offices, his expression looked as grim as she had ever seen it. He greeted her tersely, saying he was just on his way home to find her. And when she began telling him about the governor's possible willingness to intervene, Percy shook his head. "Aurora, I am afraid it is too late."

"Too late? What do you mean?"

"I received a message from Commander Madsen only moments ago. He has already acted. Nicholas is gone."

Aurora felt herself turn white. "No… that can't be true."

"I'm sorry. It is."

"He can't be dead," she whispered hoarsely. She pressed her hand to her mouth, trying to stem her cry of despair as pain lashed through her.