A Ripple In Time | Captain James Nicholls

Chapter Ten

"Belle, I...I know what you are." She was not sure if she had heard the words right, maybe this was all a torturous dream, she hoped it was. The words stung as they were repeated in her mind and still James did not look at her. She tried to speak but her throat was unbearably dry, she wanted to cry but she could not.

Reaching out she touched his shoulder but withdrew her hand when he flinched away. One simple movement caused her heart to shatter. He would be no different than the others, he would run now that he knew her true nature and she would be left with no one except Adam. The silence stabbed at her heart, it almost felt as if a wooden stake had been drove into her chest. "James, please. Look at me." He could hear the crack in her voice and it cracked his resolve, he turned just so that she could look upon his face. The emotions she saw were too numerous to decipher, but the betrayal was there, in his crystal blue eyes and it masked the love he felt. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Her hand was raised to touch his cheek, to press her hand against his skin, but she let it fall back to the bed, tears finally beginning to well in her eyes. "I'm sorry, James." The Captain could not stand to see her in such distress, despite better judgement as his mind told him to follow he leaned forward, closer to Izabella until he could press his lips firmly against hers, if only to assure her that he was not going anywhere when he could not find the words to speak.

Her body sank instinctively against his, and he fought back a moan at the exquisite sensation. The sharp curve of her cheekbone beneath his palm burned him, and he dropped his hand to her waist, bringing her closer, so the soft swell of her breasts pressed against him. One of her hands rose to his cheek, holding it tenderly, as she sighed against his kiss, her teeth nipping his bottom lip.

He shouldn't, but he couldn't resist. Belle's heart nearly stopped when she felt the questing, questioning weight of Jim's tongue against her parted lips. She was too far gone to deny him anything. She loved him. She opened her lips further, and threw caution to the winds. She was going to rot in hell for this, for what she was, she may as well enjoy it to the full. She stretched up in his arms, feeling her entire body tingle and simmer with over a month's worth of unsatisfied desire, as his arms tightened around her waist, pulling her hard against him. He moaned quietly against her mouth, and she shuddered, as the sound set her body aflame. She felt alive with him and it was truly reinvigorating.

The pleasure and the heat spreading along every limb and every extremity of James's body felt enough to burn him alive. He could feel the boundaries of his control loosening with every caress of their lips, every moan he drew from her. Her hips gently moved against his, almost unconsciously, and he needed to stop it right there. With an anguished groan, he pulled away from her heavenly mouth, looking down on her. Her breath trembled in little pants, her eyes were like two flaming embers, and he was both stunned and glad to see she was flushed. "James, please," she shut her eyes, willing him not to say it, even as heat flared anew at his words. She loved him.

"Why did you lie?" She closed her eyes and pulled him further into her bed. His eyes were distant yet solely focused on her, and the intensity those amazing blue held were in their own way, frightening. This time when she lifted her hand to his cheek he did not flinch nor resist her touch, the soft smile that formed on her red lips was enchanting.

"I was going to tell you, truly I was." She paused, hand falling back into her lap. The bright gold eyes that had looked dead at him lowered almost in shame. "I thought if you knew me for how I am around others and how I am around you that maybe, in time, when I did reveal what I was you would not be frightened or leave me. It was a purely selfish act and I am sorry for that." His eyes softened and so did the features of his face, did he still hold a certain amount of anger and betrayal, yes, but he understood her motives for keeping her nature secret and for that he could not be as angry as he wished to be.