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“Civilized people don't just pull it out and piss where they’re standing.”

“Oh, we’re civilized? I didn’t realize.”

Was his dick still out? I rubbed my head. “I know what you’re doing, troublemaker.”

He dropped his brow on my shoulder, sliding one hand around my back, the other trying to right his pants and fighting with the weight of his scabbard and sword.

“You’re not just torturing yourself.” I reached for his belt and knocked his hand away. “You’re torturing me, too.”

Damn, he was still hanging out, his warm length overfilling my hand. I tucked him back in the pants but let my fingers linger, tracing the soft skin. How could I not? He was a beautiful temptation, and I wasn’t the one with the damned vow.

His mouth found my neck, and his hands clenched on my hips. But when he hardened against my palm, I released him.

He buried a groan in my shoulder. “Evie.”

“I need to keep watch—”

“Tallis is on it.” He nodded his head behind me.

Craning my neck, I found Tallis standing down the road with his back to us.

I zipped up Roark’s pants and buckled his belt, fully aware the action contradicted my words. “Doesn’t have to be like this, you know. Don’t you think, after all the suffering you’ve been through, God would be forgiving of this? Us?”

He closed his eyes and made a stubborn expression.

I struggled to understand his idea of God, but if I were I believer, I’d be questioning the hell out of my faith. “You made your vow to God in the old world. In a world where God made promises back. Promises he didn’t keep. I mean, he told Noah he’d never destroy the world again, right? But the Drone did, and God didn't stop it. Instead, he let us suffer and perish, and here we are, trying our damnedest to start again.”

His thumbs stroked the indentations in my hips. “Genesis 9:11 states ‘And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off anymore by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.’” He drew a long breath. “The earth is not destroyed. Humanity is. And it wasn’t because of a flood.”

Note to self. Never use biblical references when arguing with a priest.

“I’m afraid…” He cupped my face, his throat bouncing with a swallow, as he lowered his brow to mine. “Our first shag was massive and brilliant. We do that again and…I’ll lose myself inside ye. I’ll lose me love for Him.”

Wow. Okay. Unsure what to say to that, I fell back on one of our favorite jokes. “Voodoo vagina?”

He grinned, but it faded quickly. His palm warmed my cheek, guiding my face to the hard bricks that defined his chest. “Do ye know wha’ I would do if something happened to ye?”

“Yes.”

“No.” A fierce rejection. “Ye den’ know. Wha’ I went through when the Drone took ye from me, ripped ye from me arms…” Steel bands wrapped around me and stole my breath. “In that moment, I lost me faith. Why would God send ye to me only to rip ye away?”

“Why would God send the only woman on the planet to a virile, celibate man?”

“To tempt me. I would’ve sold me soul to get ye back.”

Not a comforting thought considering he was the guardian of my soul. I wiggled my arms free and hugged his neck. “But I am back. You freed me.” In more ways than one.

He made a noise low in his throat. “Ah sure. But when the Drone had ye, I was off me nut imagining brutal, desperate things.” His brogue thickened, the whole accent coming from the front of his mouth. “I couldn’t get to ye. Didn’t know wha’ that sick tosser was doing to ye—”

I silenced him with my lips on his, and he bathed me with a shuddering exhale. Maybe his dwelling on bad memories was an indication we’d been idle on this road too long.

I leaned away and he followed, chasing my mouth and catching it. His tongue dragged against mine, and his hands curled around my neck, tilting my head to deepen the kiss. The way he ate at my mouth, the sheer and intense focus as he licked and sucked, showed exactly how much my captivity on Malta had tormented him.

When his brow touched mine, I moved my lips along his whiskers and paused at his ear. “I’m here. We’re fine. And we’re going to stay that way.” Unless Michio strangled us over this display of affection.

I risked a glance over Roark’s shoulder, and sure enough, Michio stood across the street, jaw hard as stone and eyes full of fire. Seeing him like that both turned me on and filled me with guilt.

Roark kissed my cheek and nuzzled my neck. “Is Doc cheesed off?”