The Raider (Montgomery/Taggert 9)

Alex removed his clothing quickly and lay beside her.

Jess pushed him off the top of her. “I want to see all of you. I want to see that you really are Alexander.”

Chuckling, Alex lay still as she inspected him in the fading light.

For the first time Jess could see his face and his body. She knew both of them well, but Alex’s face had always been atop a grotesque body. She ran her hand over his flat, smooth belly, then looked at his face. It was indeed Alex’s face.

“Satisfied?” he asked.

“Not by a long way,” she said, moving her hand down until she grasped his manhood.

Alex was no longer laughing as he pulled her to him. “It’s been such a very long time, Jess.”

“Yes,” was all she could murmur as he moved on top of her.

His hands caressed the inside of her thighs, then the outside, until she was impatient for him. “Alex,” she whispered and he entered her as smoothly as water lapping at a ship’s bottom.

He made love to her slowly, gently, until the passion began to rise in both of them. Eagerly, Jess pushed him onto his back and climbed on top. She opened her eyes for a moment, then smiled at her sense of confusion. The only man who’d ever made love to her before wore a mask, and the only way she’d seen an adult Alexander was as a fat invalid.

But she thought no more as Alex pulled her to him and caressed her buttocks as she moved up and down.

At the last, when they could no longer stand their torment, Alex pushed her beneath him, Jessica’s legs locked about his waist, and finished.

Jess clung to him for a long moment, not wanting to release him, afraid he’d disappear again.

He seemed to understand what she was feeling and pulled away from her to smile. “Who do I become now? The Raider or Alexander?”

She was suddenly serious. “You have to continue to be Alexander in public. People will guess you’re the Raider if you change now.”

“You mind if I’m the Raider at night?” he asked, nuzzling her neck.

“Feel free to raid whatever you find in your bed.”

“Oh?” Alex said, laughing. “Think you’ll sleep with me now?”

“I’ve always wanted to sleep with you,” she protested, then laughed. “Oh, Alex, so that’s why you didn’t want me in your bed. You knew I’d know if you—”

He kissed her. “I thought you might guess. And you learned after I kissed you at my father’s request, didn’t you?”

“Mmmm, maybe,” she said.

He began to tickle her. “ ‘Why, I’d hate you, Alexander,’ ” he mocked in a falsetto voice. “What did you call me? Lying, sneaky, deceitful? You could have written the book. And my hair!”

“It is a little thin, Alex.”

He rubbed his hair and his face on her bare breasts. “You have a lot to answer for.”

“Maybe it will take me a lifetime.”

“At least,” he said, his eyes glowing. “Let’s get back. I have to become Alex again for dinner, then I can raid you tonight.”

Jessica giggled.

One minute they were laughing and the next all hell broke loose. They had been so enraptured with each other that they hadn’t heard the six men sneaking into the cove, their lanterns covered with black cloth.

At a command from someone, the cloths were removed, the lantern doors opened and Jess and Alex were lying in a pool of light, surrounded by six leering men.

Alex used his body to cover Jess as best he could while grabbing her dress and draping it about her. Before them stood the admiral, Pitman behind him.