Page 100 of Raven's Rise
Angelet blinked back tears. The very thing that gave Rafe hope was the thing that meant she’d lose him.
She gasped, and Rafe took it for physical pain. He paused just as he was about to remove her gown.
“What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”
“No. It’s nothing,” she said, putting the thought aside.
“You need to lie down, love,” he told her.
A moment later, she was lying down, completely nude, with Rafe kneeling between her legs. He’d stripped off the rest of his clothes, and she eyed him greedily, wanting as much of him as she could take while she could, before she had to give him up.
Rafe took his time, evidently being quite serious about treating her with care. He first looked over her wound. By this time, she didn’t even need it covered with a bandage. The tissue was growing back in a way that promised a scar, and there was bruising that discolored her skin.
Anger flitted over his face when he saw it all.
“It’s healing,” she told him. “It looks worse than it is.”
“You shouldn’t have got hurt at all,” he said. “I wish I could have…” he trailed off. “Angelet, you’ll always be beautiful. You know that.”
“You’ve always made me feel beautiful,” she confessed, feeling unexpectedly shy.
“I will again,” he promised, looking more like himself. “But don’t worry. I’ll treat you carefully. I can do that, you know. Being a civilized man and not a mere bastard soldier.”
She reached out to pull him closer. “Enough chatter. You brought me here to sin with me.”
And Rafe knew all about sin. He knew just how to touch her and when to wait, and always he treated her like glass about to shatter. He ran his hands over every part of her body, but kept his touch light. When he kissed her, his mouth was gentle, not the greedy, demanding kisses from their earlier encounters. Angelet reveled in his attention, her arousal building bit by bit.
At first, she tried to listen with half an ear for footsteps beyond, or any hint that someone else was in the church. But soon enough she was so utterly seduced by what Rafe was doing to her that she forgot what to listen for, and even forgot why she should care.
All that mattered was that she was with him, the man who made her feel as if she was special all on her own. She watched him in the near darkness, and fell in love with him again, even though she knew it was foolish of her. But he was so gorgeous on the surface and so intriguing underneath. And how could she not love someone who made her feel so lovely?
He took his time, alert to her breathing and any hint that she might be past pleasure and into pain, even though he did nothing more than touch her with his hands and mouth. She was certain he’d grow impatient, and give in to his own obvious desire. But he never did. Instead he devoted himself solely to pleasing her, each stroke and touch building on the last until she forgot everything but him.
When she came undone, it started so gently that it took her a moment to realize it was happening, and then she was barely more than one long sigh as she clung to him, enjoying his warmth as she felt the sense of completion ripple through her.
After a moment, he moved above her at last, ready to enter her. There was a pause, and she understood he was waiting for her permission, still not quite sure that she was healed enough to tolerate actual coupling.
She gave that permission with a few whispered words, and he sighed in relief as he slid into her. Still, he kept his word to treat her gently, and he showed incredible restraint as he took his own pleasure from her body, and all she wanted was to make him happy with her, to have a little time when they could be content with each other and need nothing else.
He let out a low moan and then kissed her to muffle any further sound when he finished inside her. Angelet wrapped her arms around him, keeping him as close as she could.
“Oh, I missed you,” he said finally, his voice no louder than breath.
He withdrew, shifted to lie down on his back, and then pulled her to him.
She sidled up till she could tuck her head under his chin. He held her tightly, one strong arm around her shoulders, cradling her to him. She sighed. She never felt more safe and happy than when he held her like this.
Neither of them spoke for several moments. Rafe kept running one hand over her back and her side, then slid his fingers to hover over her chest. “You’re all right?” he asked, his voice a little shaky. He was scared he’d hurt her after all, despite all the care he’d taken.
“I’m marvelous,” she assured him.
“Good.” His arm tightened around her. “There are only so many hours until dawn, and I don’t know how long it will be until the next time.”
Angelet felt cold intrude on her lassitude. There could never be a next time, and the sooner Rafe understood how their lives no longer had any intersection, the less painful it would be. She reached up and pushed his black hair away from his face. “Rafe, we can’t keep meeting like this.”
“We can after I find sufficient bedding.” He smiled and then kissed her nose.
“I meant…we can’t continue this dalliance.”
