His movements grew faster and harder, and Belle was swept along with him as they traveled on that raging sea toward release. She plunged her fingers into his skin, raking him with her nails as she tried to get even closer to him. "I want it now!" she gasped, feeling her body begin to spiral out of control.

"Oh, you shall have it, I promise." His hand slipped between their bodies and touched her most sensitive nub of flesh. She exploded the moment he touched her, crying out her passion as every muscle in her body tensed and then seemed to shatter.

The feeling of her clenching around his hard shaft was more than John could bear, and he thrust into her one last time, grunting harshly as he poured himself into her. Together they collapsed into a dazed, sweaty tangle of arms and legs, heat radiating from their bodies.

After John's breathing had returned to normal, he brushed a damp tendril from her face and asked, "Well?"

Belle smiled up at him. "You have to ask?"

He breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't going to ask him about his refusal to accept her declaration of love. He felt his body relax and even managed a teasing smile as he said, "Indulge me."

"It was wonderful, John. Like nothing I've ever known. And I have you to thank."

He tweaked her nose. "You played a pivotal role yourself."

"Mmmm," Belle replied noncommittally. "But you were holding back for me, making sure that I was… all right," she finished, unable to think of better words. When John made a move to protest, she placed her hand over his mouth and said, "Shh. I could see it in your face. You're such a gentle, caring man, but you try so hard not to let people see that side of you. Look at everything you did to make this perfect for me. Even pleasuring me before so I wouldn't be scared by my feelings tonight."

"It's because I-because I care about you, Belle. I want everything to be perfect for you."

"Oh, it is, John," she said with a contented sigh. "It is."

"I'm going to protect you," he vowed fiercely. "I'm going to keep you safe."

Belle snuggled into the crook of his arm. "I know, darling. And I'm going to keep you safe, too."

John smiled as an image of her wielding a broadsword floated through his mind.

"I'm not helpless, you know," Belle said.

"I know," he said indulgently.

His tone annoyed her, and she twisted around to face him. "I'm not," she protested. "And you'd better get used to it, because I'm not going to let you try to deal with this monster all by yourself."

John looked down at her and raised one eyebrow. "Surely you don't think I'm going to let you put yourself in danger?"

"Don't you see, John? If you put yourself in danger, you might as well be putting me in danger? It's the same thing." John didn't see, but he didn't want to deal with it while she was lying all warm and soft in his arms. "Didn't you say that you wanted to forget about our problems for a few hours?" he reminded her softly.

"Yes, I guess I did. But it's hard, isn't it?" John's hand strayed to the abrasion on his arm where a bullet had grazed him earlier in the week.

"Yes," he said darkly. "It is."

Chapter 16

Morning came all too quickly, and Belle soon realized that she was going to have to return home. She pulled on her clothes quickly, still not quite able to believe that she had sneaked into John's room the night before. She'd certainly never thought of herself as the reckless, daring type. She sighed to herself, supposing that women did desperate things when in love.

"Is something wrong?" John immediately inquired, pulling a white shirt over his arms.

"What? Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking that I never want to climb a three-story tree again."

"Amen to that."

"Not that getting up the tree was so dreadful. But inching along the branch to your window-"

"It doesn't matter," John cut in firmly. "Since you won't be doing it again."

His concern for her was so plain that Belle forgot to be outraged over his high-handed behavior.

As they quietly made their way through Da-mien's house, Belle wondered at the wisdom of their walking back to her home by themselves while their enemy remained at large. She mentioned her worries to John when they reached the front steps.

John shook his head. "He strikes me as the cowardly type. More likely to move under the cloak of darkness."

"He attacked me during the day," Belle reminded him, stubbornly halting in her tracks.

"Yes, but he used hired thugs, and also you're a woman." John could see that Belle was about to make a protest at being dismissed so casually, so he added diplomatically, "Not that I think you're less than capable, but you must know that most men wouldn't see you as much of a threat. Besides, there is no reason he'd be up and about this early in the morning. Why should he wait out here if I'm probably going to be in bed for several more hours?"

"But he might have seen me last night. And then he'd know that you would have to take me home."

"If he had seen you last night, he would have grabbed you." The thought sent a shiver of fear through John and strengthened his resolve to put an end to this episode as soon as possible. His chin set determinedly, he took Belle's hand and led her down the steps. "Let's be on our way. I'd like to get you home before noon."

Belle took a deep breath of the crisp air. "I don't think I've ever been out this time of the morning. At least not on purpose."

John offered her a rakish grin. "And would you say it was on purpose that you're out now?"