Stones of Fire

76

Cædmon took a deep breath, the sea air invigorating. Bracing his hands on the railing, he stared at the rolling blue Mediterranean waves that danced in the lemony light of early morning. It was the same sea that Odysseus had sailed on his way to battle the Trojans.

Standing beside him, cheeks tinted red from the breeze, Edie also inhaled deeply. ‘Other than a Potomac River dinner cruise, this is the first time I’ve ever been on a big boat. I think I like being on the open sea.’ A mischievous smile playing about her lips, she winked at him. ‘Could be because I was a lady pirate in a past life, what do you think?’

‘I think I’d rather be in a plane high above the sea,’ he grumbled. ‘Too many of these ferry boats have sunk in recent years. Not to mention that travelling by sea is a damn slow way to get from point A to point B.’ Point A being Naples and B their final destination, Malta.

‘Yeah, but in the dead of winter flights into Malta are few and far between. This will actually get us there six hours sooner than if we’d waited for the next available flight. Which you would know if you’d ever watched The Amazing Race. So stop griping.’

‘I have been doing a bit of that, haven’t I?’

‘Understandable. You’re under a lot of stress.’

Truly an understatement. Already, the old paranoia had set it. The niggling fear that an unseen enemy would lurch from the shadows. Danger and treachery but a heartbeat away. If allowed to run rampant, fear could quickly become a man’s worst enemy. More dangerous than an assailant with a gun.

Because of his intelligence training, he knew the drill — always pay with cash, never use your real name and never, ever, sleep in the same bed two nights in a row. Simple enough, but Edie’s Pre-Raphaelite beauty attracted attention wherever she went.

‘Short of knocking me unconscious, there’s nothing you can do to stop me.’

‘You’ve got two very big creases in the middle of your brow. Care to share your worries?’

‘I was thinking about the Ark and the poor blokes at Bethshemesh,’ he lied.

‘And you’re concerned that when we get the Ark from MacFarlane, it may gobble us whole.’

‘Mock me if you must, but the Ark was once used as a supercharged weapon of mass destruction,’ he said, still hoping she would have a change of heart.

‘Aeons ago. Which means there’s nobody around who knows how to activate the ancient electromagnetic technology that once powered it. To operate a piece of machinery, you need an instruction manual. And that manual, whether it was written down or passed verbally from father to son, has long since vanished. In other words, the Ark has lost its oompah-pah. So, no need to worry about it exploding in our faces, or anything like that.’

‘That’s not what I fear. The Ark could be used to convince millions of God-fearing people that the End Times are truly upon us.’

Her eyes focused on the sprightly waves in the distance, Edie sighed. ‘Yeah, that has me worried as well,’ she conceded. ‘While God may not be fooled by MacFarlane’s false piety, a whole lot of good, well-intentioned people will eat up his ramblings. But enough said on that topic, huh?’

Edie turned away from the water. Leaning against the railing, her arms folded across her chest, she stared at him. Brazenly. Although they were surrounded by other travellers, there was something intimate about the wind, the water, the warmth that radiated from their two bodies that countered the cool satin chill of the winter’s day.

Cædmon sidled closer.

After Jules he’d had a few casual relationships, unwilling to get too close. Which is why it made no sense, with the Ark hanging over his head like the Sword of Damocles, to now want the very thing he’d studiously avoided.

Bloody hell. He was daft to think they could make a go of it. They didn’t even live on the same continent.

Torn asunder by Apollonian reason and Dionysian desire, the age-old conflict between head and heart, he simply did not know what to do.

In truth, he didn’t know how he felt about Edie Miller. He’d not had time to analyze his feelings. He only knew it was like coming out of a Tube station and suddenly finding himself in an unfamiliar location.

‘Christ! I need a map,’ he muttered.

‘I beg your pardon.’

‘Nothing.’ He waved away the thought. ‘A bit of nonsense.’

And it was nonsense. He was forty. Middle-aged. He’d long since put happy ever after behind him. And yet…

Edie slid her hand behind his head, pulling him close. ‘You know what? I’m in the mood for a no-nonsense kiss,’ she announced, rising up on tiptoe, giving him no time to say yea or nay.

It took only a second for the unexpected kiss to turn decidedly passionate, Edie sucking his tongue with erotic abandon as she mashed her pelvis against his crotch. Growling, Cædmon framed her face between his hands, angling her head to deepen the contact, suddenly consumed with the overriding urge to slake his lust on her. Like one of his wild Scottish forebears. Civility be damned.

Unbelievably arousing, the kiss, when it finally ended, left both of them panting.

‘Chins will wag,’ he rasped, resting his forehead against hers as he took several deep restorative breaths.

‘I certainly hope so.’ Smiling, Edie caressed his stubbled cheek, making him wish he’d had the time to use the disposable razor he’d purchased in Naples. ‘Being a well-travelled man, you’ve undoubtedly heard of the mile-high club.’ As she spoke, she traced the outline of his lips with the tip of her finger.

‘Er, yes. Although, alas, I’m not a member.’

‘How would you, instead, like to become a bona fide, card-carrying member of the high-seas club?’

He held her stare, silently communicating a wicked and slightly outrageous fantasy. One that involved her sweetly rounded arse and the upholstered bench he’d earlier spied in their cabin.

‘I believe I would enjoy that greatly,’ he replied.

‘And, of course, it goes without saying that membership has its perks.’ She winked at him. Just before she reached down and brazenly cupped his testicles.

Afraid she might have taken public indecency too far, he furtively glanced over his shoulder, relieved to see that they were now alone on deck.

‘How fast do you think we can get to our cabin?’

‘Not fast enough,’ he muttered, smoothing his palm across the front of his corduroy trousers, rearranging himself as best he could.

Taking her by the arm, he strode down the gangway, Edie having to jog to keep up with him. It took only a few moments for them to reach their cabin, his hand shaking as he inserted the key into the lock. He wasted no time dragging her inside, slamming the door shut behind them.

Neither spoke, the only sound being their harshly drawn breaths. A shaft of orange light emanated from the small WC on the other side of the room. While hardly romantic, it did cast a warm glow.

Aching from the want of her, Cædmon stood with his fists tightly clenched at his sides, afraid that he might overwhelm her with the intensity of his passion.

He wanted to go slowly. To be considerate. To savour each and every moment.

He feared it might not be possible.

‘You’ve bewitched me,’ he murmured hoarsely, reaching for her, unable to restrain himself another second.

Splaying his hands on her bottom, he lifted her onto her toes and nestled her against his straining cock. He rocked back and forth, burying his face in the luxurious mass of brown curls. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d felt so strongly about a woman. It had been years. Decades even. This had the feel and urgency of his youth.

Worried he might start growling like an animal in rut, he sought her lips, kissing her deeply, fusing his mouth to hers.

It was Edie who finally pulled away, laughing as she did so. ‘Clothes off this time, okay?’

‘Right.’

Guiltily aware that she was referring to the standup quickie in Canterbury, Cædmon released his hold on her bottom and immediately started kicking off his shoes and unfastening buttons.

Still chuckling, Edie did likewise, removing her jacket and tossing it onto the upholstered bench. Her jeans and turtleneck jumper soon followed. Then, proving herself a confident woman, she pulled off her bra and wound it over her head like a lasso before slinging it across the room. Seeing the small bumblebee tattooed on the ball of her right shoulder, he smiled.

‘An impulsive moment of youthful indiscretion, I’ll wager.’

Craning her neck, Edie glanced at the whimsy. ‘I’ll have you know that for a good many years I took every opportunity to show off my tat. How about you, any skeletons in the closet?’

‘If you’re asking if I ever sported a green Mohawk or a pair of trousers made from a tattered Union Jack, the answer is no.’

‘It’s never too late,’ she retorted, barely able to stifle a giggle. As she spoke, she slid her hands under the waistband of his pants and slipped them off his hips. She then grasped him, moving her hand up and down the throbbing length of him. He thought it best not to mention that bees were the age-old symbol of chaste womanhood.

‘You’re liable to cause an explosion if you keep that up,’ he groaned, entranced by the sight of her hand brazenly fondling his organ.

‘Oh dear. The British are coming! The British are coming!’

Snatching her hand, he pulled her towards him, crushing her bare breasts against his chest as he backed her towards the bed. Gently he nudged Edie down onto the edge of the mattress and knelt before her. Prying her legs apart, he kissed his way up her inner thigh, rubbing his unshaved face against her warm soft skin. Then, bracketing his thumbs on either side of her genitalia, he gently pulled aside the plump folds. As he did, the blood rushed from his heart to his cock in painful surges.

‘The stuff of dreams,’ he whispered, mesmerized by her lush beauty.

He didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. But for now you’re mine. He pressed his mouth to her, laving her with his tongue.

‘Umm… you just hit the sweet spot,’ Edie crooned, leaning back on her hands, her hips coming several inches off the bed. Again proving the bumblebee a poor choice for a tattoo. A few moments later she pulled away from him. ‘That’s way more than I can handle. Too much more and I’ll fall overboard.’

Not about to let her escape, he clambered onto the bed. Covering her body with his, he took a swollen nipple into his mouth and suckled. As he did, he thrust into her. Deeply. Forcefully. Their two bodies melded into one.

Who possessed whom in that instant, he couldn’t say.

Levering his torso away from her breasts, Cædmon raised himself onto his forearms. Edie unabashedly stared at the in-and-out movement of his sex.

‘Now that is what I call a Kodak moment,’ she said with a husky laugh.

‘If you pull out a bloody camera, I’m leaving.’

‘I wouldn’t have taken you for the modest type,’ again she laughed, ‘Big Red.’

Sliding a proprietary hand beneath her hips, he angled her up. ‘I can’t take credit for the colour and the size is entirely your fault.’

‘Oh, God, that feels —’

‘Better,’ he grunted, pressing her thighs to her chest, increasing the friction.

‘Umm… just like that… perfect.’ Smiling, she grasped him by the shoulders. ‘Is this totally crazy or what?’

His climax fast approaching, he somehow found the wherewithal to say, ‘Actually, this is the one sane act in a world gone mad.’