He mounted the wooden stairs with her and guided her to a room that boasted a large, high bed. When Drew opened those curtains as well, moonlight flooded in-bright enough that she could see the wryness in his smile as he turned back to her.
“It’s fortunate you decided to put an end to my misery, sweeting. I didn’t know how much longer I could endure not making love to you.”
Roslyn smiled. “Please don’t endure any longer.”
He stepped closer and took her face in his hands. For a long moment he simply gazed at her. “I have missed this…just touching you.”
“I have missed it, too,” Roslyn replied softly.
She raised her face to his, already anticipating the heat of his kisses, but Drew surprised her by reaching into his pocket and drawing out a pouch, which contained several small sponges and a vial of liquid.
“You said you wanted to take precautions against conceiving, so I brought this. Sponges soaked in vinegar should prevent my seed from taking root.”
It warmed her that he’d remembered her concern and taken the trouble to alleviate it. “Thank you,” Roslyn murmured sincerely.
He laid the pouch on the bedside table, then turned down the covers.
Returning to her, he pulled the pins from her hair and fanned it out over her shoulders. Then he undressed her in the hushed silence, and let her undress him.
When he stood naked before her, Roslyn caught her breath in awe. Moonlight poured over him, highlighting the chiseled planes of his face, the broad expanse of his chest, the virile contours of his body. His form was lean and powerful, sculpted and graceful, like that of a Greek god. And when he took her in his arms, she could feel sleek muscles rippling under taut skin.
The first touch of his lips was warm, intimate, almost sweet, but it kindled a flame in her that she knew would quickly grow. Then all thought fled as she lost herself in the pleasure of touch and taste and need. The tender, openmouthed kisses Drew cherished on her made her whimper, and so did the sensual hands that began to caress her. Her breasts swelled in arousal, while a tremulous pulsing heated her body.
Roslyn almost cried out in disappointment when his mouth left hers, but he only lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed, where he gently laid her down and then sat beside her.
Holding her gaze then, he made use of the pouch he’d brought…wetting a sponge, parting her legs and easing it deep inside her woman’s passage. Roslyn trembled at the delicacy of his touch, at the sensual eroticism he was deliberately employing. She was breathless by the time Drew stretched out beside her, bracing his weight on one elbow.
Longing to have him inside her, she reached for him, but he shook his head. “Not yet. We have all night.”
He bent his head to suckle her breasts. The touch of his searing mouth sent a streak of fire traveling downward to the heated, throbbing core of her body, making her arch up off the mattress.
“Drew, please…” she pleaded.
“What do you want, sweetheart?”
“I want
He moved closer, pressing his body against hers-his hard belly, his sinewed thighs, and between his legs, his thick arousal-but nothing more. She relished feeling the naked heat and strength of him, but it wasn’t enough.
“Hurry,” she whispered.
“No. We need to take our time.”
Roslyn bit her lip, ready to scream, but she managed to quell her hunger for another few moments as he caressed her.
His fingers trailed down her body to the juncture of her thighs, gliding through the soft curls to find her slick cleft. She was already hot and swollen for him, even before he began stroking her aching flesh with exquisite tenderness.
“Drew, I can’t bear it…please.”
She exhaled a ragged sigh when finally he eased his body over hers, nestling his splendid length in the cradle of her thighs. And she met his first silken penetration with a blissful moan.
Her moans increased as he began to move inside her. Her hands roaming restlessly down his back, Roslyn clutched the taut curves of his flexing buttocks, urging him to quicken his pace. But he wouldn’t obey.
Instead he aroused her slowly, gliding in and then withdrawing. Thrusting, penetrating, filling…then sliding almost free, leaving her aching with want, gasping with need. He sought her pleasure, courted it, wooed it, whispering soft erotic things in her ear, until she was half wild with passion.
Drew was feeling the same wildness as he reveled in the feel and scent and taste of her. There was urgency in his every heartbeat, yet he forced himself to slow down. He wanted this to last. Wanted her passion to be blazing-hot.
His face taut with concentration, he drew back to watch Roslyn’s pleasure…and found his gaze captured by her desire-hazed eyes.
Quivering, she wrapped her legs around his hips, locking him close, surrounding him, drawing him in. Gritting his teeth, Drew plunged even deeper into her searing wetness, planting himself to the hilt inside her. Her harsh gasps becoming frenzied, she bucked against him, surging upward, making him share her helpless shudders as his own frenzy mounted.
She was flame-hot in her arousal; she was liquid fire beneath his aching body. He rode her harder, no longer in control of his response.
The rhythm of their desire turned explosive, and an instant later, Roslyn’s entire body clenched. Her keening cry melted his heart, while her convulsive ecstasy propelled his own body to a tempestuous climax.
Drew poured his desire into her, driving with fierce possessiveness, deeper and deeper, as if he couldn’t get far enough inside her. Groans tearing from his throat, he pounded into her, quaking, jolting, arching, until finally contracting powerfully and drenching her with his hot, spurting seed.
In the aftermath, they clung to each other with gasping shudders. When the tremors faded, Drew somehow found the energy to shift his weight so that he wasn’t crushing her, but their loins were still joined, his mouth buried in her hair.
The harshness of his breathing calmed as the night settled in around them. With a slow, sated exhalation, Drew shut his eyes. Their lovemaking had been a savage explosion of the senses, yet despite the fierceness, he’d never felt such intimacy, such tenderness, as he felt right this moment with Roslyn.
He was pondering what to say when he became aware of the slow evenness of her breathing and realized that she was no longer awake.
Drew smiled ruefully. He had set out to rouse her passion, but instead he’d put her to sleep. Carefully, he eased onto his side while leaving Roslyn still trapped in the shelter of his body. He didn’t want to fall asleep, though. He would rather watch her.
Surveying her exquisite beauty in the moonlight, he was hard-pressed to understand why he felt so content in her arms. Why she satisfied him so completely. Why her warmth touched him so.
But the simple truth was, Roslyn filled a need he’d never had a name for until now. It seemed irrational at this point in his life to discover there was this huge need inside him, yet he couldn’t deny it. She stanched a loneliness he hadn’t even known he was suffering from. She kindled delight and joy in him-
Drew suddenly went very still. He was experiencing some of the same symptoms she had tried to describe. He felt happy in her presence. He felt restless and empty without her. He felt a hunger that went far beyond the physical.
Something clenched in his chest; not pain, but wonder.
Was it possible he was actually falling in love with her? Was he capable of love after all?
How else could he explain the powerful emotions he felt for her? If his yearning for her was only carnal desire, it wouldn’t touch his heart and mind.
Drew closed his eyes, testing the theory. Roslyn had slipped beneath his defenses, that was for certain, but the knowledge didn’t make him cringe as he expected. Indeed, it was profoundly appealing-the thought of sharing intimacy and love and affection with her for the rest of their days.
