Page 66 of One Dangerous Desire
A shiver traced up his back, and he began trembling like a novice boy who’d just gotten his first sight of an unclothed woman. That heat and chill brew of anticipation and uncertainty he should have shed as a child. No moment compared to this one between them. This was trust. This was giving of themselves in an irrevocable joining. For better or for worse, he would be hers, and she would be his.
May was trembling too, still biting her lip at she took in his naked form. Seeing her fear made him forget his own.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of, love.” He kneeled on the bed, bending over her, taking her mouth as he eased her onto her back. She stopped shivering. The moment her arms wrapped around his neck, he stopped quivering too. He settled between her thighs, right where he belonged.
He took his time kissing her deeply, thoroughly, before trailing his mouth along her neck, over her breasts, suckling each peak in turn until she bucked against him. He kissed the creamy smooth flesh of her belly, then tugged the ribbon free on her drawers, inching the fabric over the swell of her hips. Scooting down, he positioned himself between her thighs, watched her eyes flutter closed and her full lips open on a gasp as he dipped his finger into her tight, wet heat. Then lowered his head to taste her, laving long, firm strokes until she was shivering again, until she called his name and burst apart beneath him.
“I love you,” she whispered, her voice ragged and low, as he raised his body up to kiss her.
A sharp pain shot through his chest followed by a soothing swell, as if her words had broken something inside him and healed him at the same time.
“I love you, May.” That damnable trembling started again as he sank into her heat, reminding himself to go slow.
Impatient as ever, she lifted her hips to nudge him deeper.
Rex grinned against her neck, licking a line of salty, honeyed skin. “Easy, love.”
“I don’t want easy,” she insisted, bending her knees and sliding a heel along his calf. “I want you.”
He never imagined laughter while he pinned May beneath him and drove into her slick warmth. But when she gusted out a laugh, followed by a moan, he smiled too. Instinct took over. Fear fled. This was the woman he’d dreamed about, ached for. This was May, her sweet body welcoming his, her moans pushing him to drive deeper, to find a rhythm that he promised to remember because it made her clutch at his shoulders, dig her nails into flesh, tug at his hair. She lifted her head to catch his mouth, kissing him until she cried out, calling his name, demanding he come with her over the edge.
Moments later, she reached down to pull the covers over them and curved her body against his, her legs between his, their chests fit together. He wasn’t sure which heartbeat between them was his and which was hers. His trouble-trained mind, always seeking out the dark edges, began dreading the moment when she’d leave his bed. If she didn’t return to her father’s house before morning, he’d give Sedgwick another reason to hate him. Yet he couldn’t imagine letting her go, or spending another night in his huge bed without her by his side.
“You’re worrying,” May said sleepily, nuzzling her head against his chest. “I feel it in your body.”
“We have to get you back home.” The prospect of sending her away made him as miserable as the notion of her traveling the few miles back to Grosvenor Square on her own. Best he accompany her or send her in his carriage.
“Not yet.” She ran her fingers along his bruised cheek. “Does it hurt?”
“To be honest, I can’t feel anything but you.” Whatever the wayward turn of his thoughts, his body knew only May. Her warmth, her soft curves, her brandy-rose scent.
“Then let me stay awhile. Now stop worrying and kiss me.” She closed her eyes and pursed her lips. He grinned before taking everything she offered.
Later, he stroked a finger across her cheek. “Will you always be so bossy?” he teased.
May shrugged, her breasts rising and falling enticingly against his chest. “Perhaps I am too used to getting what I want.”
“Tell me what you want.” Everything, anything, he’d give it to her.
“Just you.” She tilted her hips, his own lovely temptress. “All of you. Nothing hidden. No secrets between us.”
No one could disarm him as she could. If anyone else asked to tear down his walls, he’d build them higher, stronger. But this was May. This was the bliss he’d almost lost. Almost walked away from again.
“You have me, love. You always have.”
AHOWL STARTLEDMay awake. Perhaps a scream. It echoed in her mind, though she could no longer hear the sound.
Rex. His arms, his scent, his heat surrounded her, and she let her body relax against him.
Her eyes snapped open when she heard the sound again, felt it rumbling in his chest before he groaned as if in pain. She stroked his arm with one hand, his sinewy thigh with the other, and he released a contented sigh. His slow, steady breaths told her he was still asleep.
She remained awake, continuing to feather her fingers across his skin, marveling at all his firm edges. He didn’t cry out or rouse again, and she held her breath as she carefully lifted his arm and got out of bed.
The world was so much colder without his body tucked up to hers. When they were married, she looked forward to never having to leave his bed, their bed, in the middle of the night. Never having to part from him again.
Her chemise was dry, but she cursed under her breath when she remembered her bodice had been discarded in his study. His shirt would have to do. It smelled of cologne and his unique scent. She breathed deep as she buttoned the garment and watched the regular rise and fall of his chest as he slumbered.
With one hand on the edge of the bed, she bent over him, brushing a kiss on his uninjured cheek. “No more nightmares, my love,” she whispered, before forcing herself to leave him.
