Deceived

made love to her? She remembered the bitterness in his voice as he spoke of her sister lying like a dead woman when he had exercised his husbandly rights. Still, she should not encourage him, for he had no right to make love to her. No right at all! 'Ohhhhhh!' His tongue and his kisses were moving down her torso, and her belly was both aching and roiling with nervousness.

'You are so soft,' he murmured, looking up at her a moment, the anger now gone from his eyes.

'Let me go, Valerian,' she pleaded. 'Why must you shame me?'

'You do not feel shamed, you little liar,' he said, his voice tinged with amusement. 'You know damned well I intend marrying you. Besides, you are as warm and as willing as your sister was cold and unwilling. I will never let you go, Aurora!'

'Why?'

'Because you are mine,' he answered, and then his lips began to kiss her upon her belly, pushing his tongue into her navel to tease at her until, unable to help herself, she began to writhe beneath his attentions.

I will not be his, Aurora thought mutinously. I will not! Yet if she would not, then why did she lie in his embrace, enjoying his passionate attentions? Cally had once said she must be wanton. Was she a wanton? Yet Cally had also said Valerian Hawkesworth had abused her with his attentions, and Aurora did not feel abused at all by him. Still, she felt it her duty to make a further protest of his actions. 'You will ruin me for St. John,' she said low.

'You mean St. John has not ruined you for me?' he mocked her.

Aurora attempted to smack him, but he caught her hand, and kissed the palm. 'I am a virgin,' she snapped furiously.

'Then I shall certainly ruin you for St. John,' he agreed.

'But why?' she demanded.

'Because you are mine,' he repeated, piercing her with a hungry gaze. 'You belong to me, Aurora. You feel the attraction between us every bit as much as I feel it, but you will not admit to it. St. John will not have you or St. Timothy,' he said fiercely.

'But you already have St. Timothy,' she said desperately.

'No, I do not. Not until its heiress is my wife, and you are its heiress. If my cousin learned of it, and you were his wife, he would take the island for himself.'

'I will admit to deceiving you, and sign my property over to you,' she said, half angry. This wasn't about her, or had it been about Cally. It was about land.

'No,' he said.

'Why?'

'Because I want you,' he answered her. 'I want you!'

'You will never have me,' she cried. 'Not really!'

He laughed at her mockingly. 'Oh, yes, I will, Aurora. You cannot deny me, for the fires of passion run as hotly in your veins as they do in mine. You are not your sister, cold and unfeeling. You are warm, and loving, and I shall have you! All of you!'

'No!' she protested, but she knew that she lied not only to him, but to herself as well. She could feel his member now pulsing insistently against her thigh. She whimpered, but whether from fear or eagerness she would never know. His big body slid over hers.

'Put your arms about me, Aurora,' he whispered to her. 'Hold tight, my precious, and I will take you to paradise.'

She felt the tears prickling behind her eyelids, and she could not keep the words from her lips. 'I am afraid, Valerian.'

'No, my precious, not you!' he reassured her. 'Trust me, Aurora. Do you not know I love you, you little fool?'

'I don't believe you,' she said, sliding her arms about him.

'You will in time,' he reassured her.

She was so ready for him. He slipped just the head of his manhood into her passage, and feeling it, she stiffened, but he caressed her face and made soft, reassuring noises in her ear even as he moved himself a little deeper. She could feel the walls of her channel giving way reluctantly, opening before him, welcoming him. Then suddenly he ceased his forward movement. She felt him pressing against something within her that seemed to be impeding him. He drew back and pushed against it. Aurora cried out, but he would show her no mercy, and pulling himself back again, he thrust hard within her, causing her to scream softly, and the tears to slide down her cheeks.

It hurt! Dear God how it hurt! The pain swept up her body into her chest, almost suffocating her with its intensity. It swept down into her thighs, making them feel leaden and incapable of movement. She could feel him, hard and throbbing, now deep within her. She sobbed, and he kissed the tears from her face even as he began a rhythmic movement within her aching body. And the pain was gone. As cruelly as it had overtaken her, it was now totally gone, to be replaced with a wave of pleasure that swept over her, leaving her gasping with surprise. Her body began to find his rhythm, and imitate it with an instinct she hadn't even known she possessed until then.

'That's it, my precious,' he encouraged her tenderly.

Aurora's hands found the flat of his back. Her fingers began to knead at him first, and then, unable to help herself, she was clawing at him. He groaned as if pained, but he seemed to be waiting for something. Slowly, Aurora felt a change taking place within her. There was nothing but an incredible, wonderful feeling claiming her, and she was drowning in it, and didn't care. Then suddenly her body convulsed, and she cried aloud, the pleasure so intense, she thought she would die. Half sobbing, she clung to him even as his member released its burning love juices within her, and they both slipped into a half-conscious state.

He rolled off her after a few moments, his arms wrapped tightly about her, holding her close. Aurora listened to the beat of his heart beneath her ear. His chest was smooth and warm. She felt very shy of him now. The intimacy between them had been more than she had ever anticipated, and she wasn't certain what to say.

'Did I hurt you badly?' he asked her softly, his hand caressing her as he spoke. It was as if he were attempting to quiet a skittish animal.

'It hurt terribly, and then it was wonderful,' she answered. 'Will it hurt the next time?'

'No,' he said.

'Will it be wonderful again?'

'If you want it to be,' he replied, smiling in the darkness at the ingenuousness of the question. Then, 'I will see the magistrate tomorrow about obtaining a special license so we may be married right away.'

'I will not marry you, Valerian,' Aurora told him.

'Yes, my dear, you will' came his reply. 'We are pledged.'

'I will be your mistress if you will, but you cannot hold me to a promise our fathers made, Valerian,' she insisted.

'I can, Aurora, and I will,' he said in implacable tones.

'You cannot force me,' she insisted.

'Oh, but I can. I could send a new overseer and manager for the plantation on the next boat to the Indies with orders to dispossess your mother, your brother, and his wife, Aurora.'

She pulled away from him, crying, 'You would not be so cruel!'

'Will you test my resolve, my precious?' he asked her.

'But you said you loved me!' She sounded betrayed.

'I do, which is why I will not let you behave foolishly. You could be carrying my child even now, Aurora.' He forced her onto her back and played along her lips with his fingers, finally