He remained locked before her, waiting—silently insisting. His fierce expression forced her own fiery need to burst free.
‘I’m tired of feeling nothing,’ she cried at him breathlessly. ‘I want to feel good. This feels good. I want to feel more good. Like this. With you.’
His eyes widened but he nodded. ‘Okay.’
He lifted his hands from her waist to her wrists. She was holding her dress tightly to her chest but she knew what he was about to do. He applied gentle pressure to her wrists; he pulled her arms away from her body, making her beautiful dress slither to the floor. The tight bodice had meant she’d not needed underwear so now her breasts were bared. His coal eyes blazed into hers for a long moment before his gaze then lowered. His tension tripled as he stared at her. Stark, savage hunger built in his expression—an echo of her own. With a muffled groan he bent and pressed his mouth to her—kissing, caressing, caring. Unable to resist, she leaned back against the wall, shuddering with the intensity of the sensations he was arousing in her with every hot breath, each slide of his tongue and tease of his fingers. Her body arched as she was lost in the delight of it. Of him. He was so overpowering, so perfect.
‘Oh…’ She closed her eyes as his hands roved lower.
She was almost scared at how incredible it felt. ‘Alek.’ She couldn’t stand it any more. ‘Alek.’
‘Yes,’ he muttered, as breathless as she. ‘Yes, darling.’
She tumbled into incoherence, into nothing but heat and light, burgeoning sensations of pleasure and want. She arched against him as he slipped his hand beneath her silk panties, writhing until he had to hold her hips still with a hard hand so he could pleasure her, so he could coax her to the very crest of that most incredible feeling. He stroked her hard until she shook in his arms and screamed out the agony of ecstasy.
‘You are so hot,’ he said as he picked her up and carried her to his bed as if she weighed nothing. ‘I knew you were.’
She didn’t care what he knew, she just needed him closer. She needed more. ‘Alek.’
She pulled him down to her. She’d never been this close to anyone and she didn’t want it to end yet, not now she’d only just begun to discover him. Her hand slid up his chest, gingerly spreading her fingers to explore him.
‘You can touch me.’ He drew a shaking breath. ‘Anywhere you want. Anyhow.’
She realised he wanted her to touch him. As much as she wanted him to touch her. This was give and take. Desire and hunger. She slid her hand further and watched him tense with pleasure at her touch. And then all reticence fled and she was driven to discover more. She helped him out of his suit, relishing the slow revelation of his gorgeous body. She caressed every inch of his muscled beauty, pausing when she ran her fingers over a jagged scar on his rump—not wanting to hurt him but wondering what had happened. He smiled, pulling her closer, and she forgot her question in the heat and tease of his kisses. He’d locked her in a dungeon of desire—hidden deep inside the heart of the palace, she was a prisoner to the overwhelming lust he aroused.
‘Please,’ she whispered. Her throat was so dry the word hardly sounded.
‘Hester,’ he groaned. ‘I need you to tell me what you want me to do.’
‘I thought you didn’t like being told what to do?’ She shuddered as he slid his leg between hers.
‘I can make an exception for you.’ He gazed into her eyes, his hips grinding delightfully against hers in a slow, tormenting motion. ‘Do you want me to kiss you?’
‘Yes.’
So he did—so thoroughly and lushly that she arched, unable to resist the urges of her body. He kissed, not just her mouth, but her neck and her chest. He kissed, nipped and nibbled, working his way lower and lower, kissing parts of her that had never been kissed before.
‘Do you want me to touch you?’ he breathed huskily against her belly.
‘Yes.’
His hands swept over her—more and more intimately teasing and tormenting her until she writhed beneath him and even though he’d made her soar only minutes before, that empty ache inside was utterly unbearable.
And somehow he knew. He lifted himself up above her and looked directly, deeply into her eyes. ‘Do you want me inside you?’
She wanted everything. Most of all she didn’t want this good feeling to end. ‘Yes.’
But he didn’t smile. ‘You’re sure?’
‘This is like a dream, Alek. Just for tonight.’
‘A dream?’ He shook his head. ‘This isn’t a dream you can wake up from and take back, Hester.’
Her anger built. She’d not had this—not opened herself up to anyone—ever. And all she wanted was him. Now. And she didn’t want him to make her wait any longer. ‘Don’t say anything more,’ she moaned. ‘Don’t spoil it.’
He tensed.
‘And don’t stop,’ she demanded fiercely. ‘Yes. I want you.’
His smile spread across his face and then he kissed her again. Until she arched, until she moaned, until she couldn’t form words. For a moment he paused—vaguely she realised he was protecting them both—but then he was back, big and heavy against her, and she revelled in it. He slid his hand beneath her bottom and held her still enough for him to press close. She gasped as she felt his thickness sear into her.
‘Hester?’ he breathed.
‘Yes. Alek.’ She wanted this. Him.
As he pushed closer still she trembled. He was so big and so strong and she was suddenly overwhelmed. But he moved so slowly, so carefully and then he kissed her again—in that deep, lush way, as if he’d wanted nothing more in all his life than to kiss her. As if she were the very oxygen he needed to survive. That was when everything melted within her and he slid to the
