Lyon tried to be tender, but she was making it an impossible quest. She kept moving against him restlessly, demandingly, urgently. Lyon 's discipline deserted him.
'Easy, love, don't let me hurt you.'
' Lyon!'
'Christina, why did you let me think you'd been with other men?'
Lyon was stretched out on his back, his hands behind his head. Christina was cuddled up against his side, one shapely leg draped over his thigh. Her face rested on his chest. 'Let you think?' she asked him.
'You know my meaning,' Lyon said, ignoring the laughter he'd heard in her voice.
'It seemed unimportant to argue with you. Your mind was set on the matter. Besides, you probably wouldn't have believed the truth anyway.'
'I might have believed you,' he protested. He knew he was lying. No, he wouldn't have believed her.
'Why did you think I'd-'
'It's the way you kissed me,' Lyon explained, grinning.
'What is the matter with the way I kiss you? I was only imitating you.'
'Oh, nothing's the matter, love. I like your… enthusiasm.'
'Thank you, Lyon,' Christina said, after she'd given him a good look to see if he was jesting with her or not. 'I like the way you kiss, too.'
'What else do you imitate?' Lyon asked. Because he was teasing her, he was unprepared for her answer. 'Oh, everything. I'm quite good at it, you know, especially if I like what I'm imitating.'
'I'm sorry I hurt you, Christina,' Lyon whispered. 'If you'd told me you were a virgin before, I could have made it easier for you.'
Lyon was feeling a bit guilty, but terribly arrogant, too. She belonged to him. He hadn't realized just how possessive he could be. Lyon wanted to believe Christina wouldn't have given herself to him unless she loved him.
He knew she'd reached fulfillment. Lord, she'd cried out his name loud enough for the streetwalkers to hear. A smile settled on his face. She hadn't been the delicate little flower he'd thought she was. When she let go, she let go. Wild. Totally uncontrolled. And loud, Lyon admitted. His ears were still ringing from her lusty shouts. Lyon didn't think he could ever be happier. No, Christina hadn't held back. He had the scratches to prove it.
Now all he wanted to hear from her was the truth inside her heart. He wanted her to tell him how much she loved him.
Lyon let out a long sigh. He was acting just like a virgin on his wedding night. Uncertain. Vulnerable.
' Lyon, do all Englishmen have such hair on their bodies?'
Her question nudged him away from his thoughts. 'Some do, others don't,' he answered with a shrug that nearly pushed her off his chest. 'Haven't you ever seen Mr. Summerton without his shirt on, love?' he teased.
'Who?'
He wasn't going to remind her again. If the woman couldn't keep her lies straight, he certainly wasn't going to help. Lyon was immediately irritated. He knew it was his own fault for bringing up the lie, but that didn't seem to matter. 'Christina, now that we've become so intimate, you don't have to fabricate stories any longer. I want to know everything about you,' he added, his voice a little more intense than he wished. 'No matter what your childhood was like, I'll still care for you.'
Christina didn't want to answer his questions. She didn't want to have to lie to him again… not now. A warm glow still surrounded her heart. Lyon had been such a tender lover. 'Did I please you, Lyon?' she asked, trailing her fingers down his chest to distract him.
'Very much,' he answered. He captured her hand when she'd reached his navel. 'Honey, tell me about-'
'Aren't you going to ask me if you pleased me?' she asked, pulling her hand free of his grasp.
'No.'
'Why not?'
Lyon took a deep breath. He could feel himself getting hard again. 'Because I know I pleased you,' he ground out. 'Christina, stop that. It's too soon for you. We can't make love again.'
Her hand touched his arousal, stealing the breath out of his protest. Lyon let out a low groan. His hand dropped to his side when she began to place wet kisses on the flat of his indrawn stomach. She moved lower to taste more of him.
'No more,' Lyon commanded.
He pulled her by her hair, twisting the curls to get her attention. 'If you want to tease, you'd better wait until tomorrow,' he warned. 'A man can only take so much, Christina.'
'How much?' she whispered. Her mouth was getting closer to his hard shaft.
Lyon jerked her back up to his chest. 'We only have this one night,' Christina protested.
'No, Christina,' Lyon said. 'We have a lifetime.'
She didn't answer him, but she knew he was wrong. Her eyes filled with tears when she turned her face away from him. Christina was almost desperate to touch him again, to taste all of him. The memory of her Lyon would have to stay with her… forever.
She lowered her head to his stomach again. She kissed him there, moved to his thighs next, and finally between them.
His scent was just as intoxicating as the taste of him. She was only given a few minutes to learn his secrets, however, before Lyon dragged her up on top of him.
He kissed her hungrily as he rolled her to his side. Christina moved her leg over his thigh and begged him with her mouth and her hands to come to her.
She was more than ready for him. Lyon was shaken when he touched the sweet wetness between her thighs. He slowly penetrated her warmth, holding her hips in a fierce grip, determined not to let her hurt herself by pushing up against him too quickly.
She bit him on his shoulder in retaliation. Lyon was driving her mad. He slowly penetrated her, then withdrew just as slowly. It was agonizing. Maddening.
He had the patience and the endurance of a warrior. She thought she could withstand the sweet torment for the rest of her life. But Lyon was far more adept at the ways of loving than she was. When his hand slipped between them and he touched the heat of her in such a knowing way, her control completely vanished.
Her climax was unimaginable, consuming her. Christina clung to him, her face pillowed against the side of his neck, her eyes tightly closed against the hot sensations shooting through her body.
Lyon was no longer controlled. His thrusts became powerful. When she instinctively arched against him, tightened herself around him, he found his release. The force of his climax stunned him. Lyon felt it in the very depths of his soul.
He was at peace.
Several long minutes elapsed before he could slow his racing heart or his ragged breath. He was too content to move.
Christina was crying. Lyon suddenly felt the wetness of her tears on his shoulder. The realization jarred him out of his haze. 'Christina?' he whispered, hugging her close to him. 'Did I hurt you again?'
'No.'
'You're all right?'
She nodded against his chin.
'Then why are you crying?'
If he hadn't sounded so caring, she might have been able to restrain herself. There wasn't any need to be quiet about it now, since he knew she was weeping, and she was soon wailing, loud and undignified as a crazed old squaw.
Lyon was horrified. He rolled Christina on her back, brushed her hair out of her face, and gently wiped her tears away. 'Tell me, love. What is it?'
'Nothing.'
It was a ludicrous answer, of course, but Lyon held his patience. 'I really didn't hurt you?' he asked, unable to keep fear out of his voice. 'Please, Christina. Quit crying and tell me what's the matter.'
'No.'
His sigh was strong enough to dry the tears from her cheeks. Lyon cupped the sides of her face, his thumbs
