Page 83 of Secrets of the Marriage Bed
He couldn’t speak for the lump in his throat. Longing.
She didn’t seem to notice as she returned to kissing her way down his body, pausing to nip his chin and lick at his nipples. He burned for her, his body on fire, his mind focused only on the feel of her tongue and lips and teeth. Finally she straddled his shins and sat back to admire his erection with a particularly arousing smile.
His breath caught in his throat at the idea she might...
She glanced at his face from beneath her lashes. ‘Oh, I nearly forgot.’
He blinked, startled by her words. She reached back and felt in the pocket of the robe she’d been wearing and brought forth... The necklace from the Dunstan ruby parure, glowing gently in the soft light of the fire and the candle beside the bed.
‘Julia?’
Her smile grew as artfully she arranged it just above his erection, the stones shockingly cold against his stomach at first. She drew back to take in the results of her handiwork. ‘Tit for tat,’ she said, her face full of mischief.
‘Naughty.’ He’d made love to her the first night they met with her wearing the full complement of rubies, the bracelets circling her breasts, an earbob in her navel and the necklace draped across her mons. A picture he would never forget as long as he lived.
He raised his head and gazed down at himself. ‘They looked better on you.’
‘That is your opinion, sir. To me you look good enough to eat.’
He groaned.
She leaned forward, gently cupping him, and delicately she licked up his shaft, circling her tongue around the crest.
Against his will, his hips rose up and he fisted his hands in the sheets to keep himself still. When she took him in the warm wet heat of her mouth his mind went blank and his body rigid with desire. Tenderly, she swirled her tongue around the head. His spine tingled.
He croaked a warning.
Slowly, she released him and raised her head. Her eyes had a wicked gleam, her smile was teasing. ‘Still ready, I see, Duke.’
In an instant he had her on her back.
‘Now, Alistair,’ she said, her voice husky with need.
A gentle touch confirmed she was ready and he pressed home to the hilt.
Her ecstatic sigh had him moving, setting a rhythm tied to each nuanced expression of pleasure on her face.
He thrust harder. Nails scraped his back. A hand kneaded his buttocks. Her legs came up around his waist.
‘Yes...’ she breathed. ‘Alistair, yes.’
He drove into her and she moved her hips, setting the pace and the depth of penetration. Her inner muscles stroked him the way her mouth had and he lost all sense of self. They were one. He felt her body tighten as she approached her climax.
His own roared along his veins with unstoppable force. He couldn’t... He must...
Then she shattered with his name a soft cry on her lips. He fell apart.
Never had he felt such an incredible feeling of pure joy. A sensation that went far beyond pleasure. An intimacy of the soul.
Longing filled him for something he had sought all his life, yet never dared to hope for until now. Warming a heart he’d thought frozen out of existence. He drifted on the warm tide of pleasure.
As bliss waned, so did the inexplicable emotions. When he finally came to his senses, he realised with dawning horror that he had not withdrawn from her body. His stomach fell away. The loss of control shook him to the core of his being.
Idiot!What on earth had been going on in his head? This was a physical connection, nothing else. He didnotneed it, though he had enjoyed it immensely, as had she. He certainly did not want ridiculous feelings cluttering up his mind or messing with his plans.
Anger at his stupidity filled him, and an odd sense of loss. Too bad. This must never happen again.
He rose and went for water and a cloth.
