In a strained voice, he said, “I have not seen you fully naked since we returned from London. I want to. I need to.”
She nodded and released her legs.
“Is this a favorite gown?”
No sooner did she shake her head than he rent her gown in two, top to bottom, with his dagger. The burst of cool air felt good on her burning skin. He pulled the shreds of the gown off her, and she was naked.
He stood still a moment, his eyes raking over every inch of her. Then he closed the distance between them; his mouth was on hers, and his hand between her legs.Aye, aye.How she needed him.
His tunic felt rough against her breasts. She pulled her mouth away to say, “Your clothes, too.”
He threw the bedclothes back with one hand as he lifted her onto the bed. Before getting in beside her, he shed his own clothes. How did men undress so quickly? The thought flitted through her mind and was gone before he climbed up the steps of the high bed. That and every other thought left her as he lay down beside her and pulled her into his arms.
“God in heaven, how I want you, Jamie Rayburn,” she said.
In an instant, his mouth was on hers, and she felt the warmth of his skin against her, head to toe. Their tongues moved against each other in deep, hungry kisses. His hand was on her breast, and she moaned into his mouth as he took the nipple between his thumb and finger. When she tore her mouth away, he lowered himself to play with her other nipple with his tongue. She pounded the bed with her fist because it wasn’t enough.
“Aye,” she said on a breath as he finally took her breast in his mouth and sent sensations jangling through her every nerve. She arched her back, wanting more still, but his hand moving up the inside of her leg distracted her. When he cupped her, she gasped.
Jamie had magic in his fingers. He claimed her mouth again as they did their work, racking her body with an onslaught of pleasure and tension.Not yet, she was going to say, because she did not want this only for her… and then she didn’t care.
“You are mine,” he said against her ear, and she was. She exploded into waves of pleasure.
Before she could catch her breath, he rolled her so that she lay on top of him. His shaft pressed against her, reminding her of his need and reigniting hers. One of his hands gripped her bottom and the other covered her breast as they kissed surrounded by the curtain of her hair.
She eased herself slowly down his body as she pressed kisses to his neck and chest. Straddling him, she turned her face to feel the hair of his chest against her cheek. He seemed to hold his breath as she ran her tongue down the center of his chest, tasting the salt of his skin. When she circled his nipple with her tongue, he groaned and gripped her hips.
She moved to one side of him and reached for his shaft, wanting to feel the hardness of his need for her. As she wrapped her hand around it, his moan echoed her own desire. She pressed wet kisses down his chest and stomach, letting her hair slide over him as she held his stiff rod in her hand. She wanted to please him, to pleasure him, to make him hers.
Her cheek brushed his shaft as she ran her kisses lower.
“ ’Tis more than I can stand,” he said, but he did not stop her when she took him in her mouth. His hands were in her hair, and his hips rose to meet her as she moved her mouth up and down. His moans egged her on and made her ache between her legs.
Suddenly, he sat up, pulling her up with him. Strong arms lifted her onto his lap. “Wrap your legs around me,” he said, his voice thick with desire. “I want to be inside you when I have my release.”
Her womb tightened at his words. “I want us to be one,” he said.
His hands splayed over her back, holding her tight against him, as he took her mouth in hot, deep kisses.
She lifted herself to position the tip of his shaft at her entrance. The feel of him against her sent a spasm of anticipation through her.
She put her hands on either side of Jamie’s face and looked into his eyes. Her emotions were so strong they choked her, overwhelmed her. She feared she might weep, though from joy or sadness she did not know. She wanted to take him inside her and make him a part of her forever.
She wanted to tell him she loved him, but she did not. “Jesus, help me,” Jamie cried between clenched teeth as she lowered herself onto him.
The sensation of him sliding inside her was so intense, she gasped and squeezed her eyes closed.
Hearts racing and breathing hard, they clung to each other, fighting to remain still to prolong the moment. When he reached between them to touch her, she was almost too sensitive to bear it. Then he began to move inside her. She felt the pressure build and build inside her until a burst of stars lit up her vision as waves of pleasure pulsed through her.
But he did not stop. With his hands gripping her hips now, he moved against her without mercy, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The tension built inside her again, and she rocked against him, her hands clawing at his back.
From a distance, she heard him calling out to her as jolts of sensation shook her again. This time, they were so strong that she screamed. She screamed his name.
He wrapped his arms so tightly around her she could not breathe and fell back against the bed, bringing her with him. She lay on top of him, both of them breathing hard, their skin glistening with sweat.
“Jesus and all the saints!” he said, as if in praise of the miracle that had occurred between them.
She rested her head against his chest. His heart was beating as fast as hers, urgent and insistent in her ear.