A Warrior Wedding by Teresa Gabelman

Jill crossed her arms, pushing her wet breasts up, drawing his attention which of course made her nipples hard as pebbles.
    “I don’t make deals,” he replied without any give in his voice whatsoever, but his eyes skimmed her body.
    “Okay, bet.” Jill sighed impatiently, but his eyes roaming her wet body was turning her on so badly, her weakness was completely forgotten. His eyes finally met hers with a cocked eyebrow. “If you complete a double backflip off the vine, I will listen to you.”
    “You will listen to me anyway.” Crossing his arms across his massive chest, which was plastered against his wet shirt, he gave her a knowing smirk.
    Snapping her eyes off his amazing body, Jill mentally reminded herself with a smack that she didn’t take to dominance well unless it was in the bedroom. At present, he was being a dominant ass with no sex promised. She gave him a growl of her own, then laughed. “It’s okay. Not many people can pull off a double back flip and I don’t want to peer pressure you into anything, but if you pull it off, I’ll not only listen to you, I’ll be your sex slave.”
    Slade’s head actually fell back as he laughed, but when he snapped his head back, he was more than serious. “You are already my sex slave as I am yours and you will listen to me...do you understand?”
    Jill actually thought she heard herself pant as she nodded. How in the hell could she deny this man anything? Swallowing hard, she leered at him. “Chicken,” she whispered, trying her best to ignore his sex slave talk.
    Slade’s eyes narrowed as he looked out over the water then back to her. “I would do anything for you.” With no further words, he took off running, passing the vine, jumping straight up in the air off the ledge and seemed to hover before flipping into not two, but three perfect backflips and, of course, hitting the water in a perfect dive.
    “Oh. My. God!” Jill laughed in awe. “That was awesome.” She clapped her hands as he swam back and climbed up the ledge.
    Shaking the water off his face, he stared down at Jill. “You happy now?”
    “Yes!” She laughed then hugged him. “Show me how you did that. I can barely do two and then I belly flop in the water almost every time.”
    He shook his head taking her arm to lead her away from the water. “No.”
    “Awe, come on!” she begged with a mischievous grin. “Just once. You said you’d do anything...”
    Picking her up in his arms, Slade headed up the path. “You’re going to hold that over my head?”
    “Absolutely.” Jill nodded before resting her head on his chest suddenly tired beyond belief. “Afraid I’ll do it better than you?”
    Slade’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “You know it.”
    ******
    W hen Jill didn’t answer, Slade looked down at her. She was fast asleep. Hearing the guys up the path, he slowed to a stop to stare at his life in his arms. She was his life and the fear of seeing her sick was killing him. He looked composed on the surface—he made damn sure of that—but inside, a fierce desperate panic threatened to consume him.
    He had heard talk from other doctors, that they could feel death in their patients, knew when the time was close, and he did also. With Jill, he didn’t know if it was his being a doctor, a vampire or a man in love, but all he knew was he had to act fast.
    A water drop from his wet hair hit her cheek making her flinch, but she didn’t wake. Her breathing was even and slow. She had fallen into a deep sleep fast and that worried him. Her pulse beat quickly on the side of her neck, another sign that sent his hidden panic in an uproar. Her coloring was off as well, but that could be due to the cool water. Though he knew that wasn’t it. It was just an excuse he could try to use to make it seem like she was okay, when he knew she wasn’t.
    “What happened?” Trevor’s panicked voice broke into his thoughts. “Is she okay?”
    Slade nodded, not trusting his voice, but when