“That is a much better reaction. I trust you are angry with him and not yourself.”
She stopped her movement near the terrace windows. “I think I am. Yes, def initely.” She turned and faced him. “Even that, however—I don’t plan to indulge in it. I have already wasted too much time on that childish dream.”
The air grew thick with things unspoken, and with the tightening tethers of excitement that desire created. They just looked at each other. He dared not be the one to give voice to it. He could be very wrong.
She smiled tentatively. “I was wondering if perhaps we could kiss again.”
That was all he needed to hear. He strode over to her, took her in his arms, and kissed her again. Both triumph and relief burst in him when their lips met.
He prolonged that kiss while his hands noted her body under his hold, and how she trembled with excitement and fear. His conscience waged a little battle and chose an easy truce.
He stopped kissing her. “I left after that kiss in your chambers so I would not take advantage of you. I cannot be that good if you stay here.”
“I do not want you to be good.”
He lifted her chin and studied her face in the dim moonlight filtering through the window. He wanted her so much he could devour her right now.
“Are you going to pretend I am your old lover?”
“I’m here because on the bridge I didn’t think about him at all. Not once. Do you think you can do that again?”
“If you are sure that you want me to, I know that I can. Pleasure is one thing I know about.”
She stretched up and kissed him. “I thought it might be. You are not given to half measures when a topic interests you.”
He found the little buttons on her undressing gown and released one. “There will be no half measures tonight, just so you know.”
When she did not object, he continued with the buttons.
* * *
She discovered that pleasure could obscure everything. Time and place. Fear and sorrow. Bit by bit, as his fingers released those buttons, one part of the world disappeared while excitement took its place.
When the undressing gown fell and she found herself in his embrace, warmth and care defeated the worst of the day’s emotions. After that, she responded to his kisses as she had on the bridge, with joy.
She could tell he was being careful, as if he wasn’t sure she knew her own mind. She pressed the back of his neck and kissed him so he might believe her. She used her tongue against his palette until he held her head and they shared dueling kisses that released their mutual passion. She felt the desire in him, controlled but hot.
His mouth moved to her neck while his hands explored her body with firm caresses. Each touch thrilled her and removed her further from the world. Glorious pleasure astonished her when he caressed her breast. Her nightdress offered little protection from his expert teases. Then the nightdress fell too, and she almost wept from how good it felt. No city now. No chamber. No walls and no world. Just a tightening space with him and her and incredible sensations.
Strong arms lifted her. She floated down gently and felt the linen beneath her nakedness. She saw her breasts, firm and high, their tips so hard that even the air titillated her. Beside the bed, a white shirt billowed. She looked over to see Kevin watching her while he undressed, his gaze full of hard lights and his expression firmed by desire.
He joined her and gathered her into his arms. A kiss, then he watched his hand make feather caresses on her breasts. He looked in her eyes. “It is charming that you do not realize just how beautiful you are.”
His head dipped and his tongue flicked at one tight tip. Her breath caught at what that did to her, how a tremble moved down her body, carrying pleasure through her core. Again and again he made it happen. She exalted in her astonishing responses. The caresses began again, exploring, knowing, each one beckoning her further into their intimacy.
She came out of herself a little when his caresses lowered and he touched between her thighs. She knew it should not all go one way. When she reached down to caress him too, he took her hand and gathered the other and held them both above her head. “Another time,” he said.
Laid out like that, her body vulnerable and wanting, she could only accept. With his mouth and hands, he commanded her toward abandon. She went gladly, exalting in how pleasure and desire ruled all of her, even her awareness. Helpless to the slow, long climb in her arousal, she gave up control and kept wanting more.
Suddenly, every sense, every need, collected to one, small spot. He stroked her there and the intensity made her thrash. He stilled her legs with his own and soothed her with a kiss on her cheek, but still he forced the sharp pleasure higher. She almost wept with need, but just as she did, a wonderful burst of pleasure left her breathless and stunned.
He moved over her, starting to fill her. He released her hands and she grasped at him, the only reality where she dwelled. The feel of him in her was so right. Perfect. Her body and soul welcomed that fullness as a wonderful completion to what had happened in this bed.
* * *
“If you are cold, I can light a low fire.”
The breeze coming from the terrace had chilled with the night. He could close the windows but enjoyed the fresh contrast on his warm skin.
Rosamund nestled closer, tucked under the coverlet. “This is fine. Pleasant.”
He bundled her more, and pulled her under his arm.
“Do you want me to go?” she asked, her voice muffled against his body.
“I’d prefer you
