This time, she knew, there would be no holding back, no stopping for fear of being caught or what tomorrow might bring. He would be hers before the night was through.
And he loved her.
The realization sang through her as he lowered her to the bed. This man, who had known so much heartache, who had survived by sheer will, clinging to control and balance in every aspect of his life, had given it all up in coming to her and asking for her love. He had entrusted himself to her. Tears burned her eyes at the realization of what that must have cost him, this proud man who had kept walls up about his heart since childhood.
His rough hands felt wondrous on her skin as he undressed her, peeling off the fine silk of her clothes. It was when she was fully bared to him that he paused. Uncertainty clouded his gaze.
She understood at once. Grabbing up his hand, she placed it on her aching breast, squeezing his fingers around her. “I will not break, Peter,” she whispered into the dim light of dusk, gazing up with trust into his beloved face. “I promise.”
He groaned, his fingers convulsing. She gasped, pleasure coursing through her, and arched up into his touch. “Peter.”
The desire coating that one word, her body’s untutored reaction, seemed to snap his tightly held control. He tugged at his clothing, his hands clumsy in their desperation. Her fingers joined his, and soon the fabric lay in an untidy heap beside her own. He stretched out beside her on the ancient bed. But Lenora would have none of his caution. She tugged at his shoulders until he lay atop her, the incredible strength and weight of him pinning her to the mattress.
“I’m too heavy,” he insisted.
“And I have told you before, I am stronger than I look.”
He searched deep into her eyes before relaxing, his gaze turning infinitely tender. “I know you are,” he whispered. His mouth found hers, and there was no more room for words.
The rasp of his beard drove her wild as his lips trailed down her body. This time there was no shock when he claimed the sensitive buds of her nipples, no surprise when he moved lower, across her belly, and buried his face between her legs. She opened up for him, welcoming him, reveling in the way he adored her body, bringing her to the pinnacle of pleasure, nearly sending her over the edge. She grasped his hair, pressing him into the core of her, almost coming apart when he growled in approval, the sound filling her up until she thought she would burst.
But this would be no one-sided coming together this time. With a yank, she pulled him away from her, though her body cried out for completion.
“I need you now, Peter,” she gasped. “Inside me.”
He needed no further urgings. Moving up her body, he settled his lean hips between the cradle of her thighs. But even then, as he positioned himself at the throbbing center of her, he held back.
“Are you certain?”
And she had not thought her heart could be any fuller, any more his. This incredible man, who would deny himself in that very moment if she asked him to. In answer, she wrapped her legs about his hips and brought him home.
The twinge of pain hardly registered in her pleasure-infused mind. Her entire focus was on the heat of him as he entered, his hiss of breath as he eased himself into her folds, the way he filled her up, body and soul.
His brow rested against her own, his breathing ragged. “Are you well?”
She smiled up at him. “More than well. But…”
He stilled. “But what?”
“Is there more?”
A hoarse laugh escaped him. “Ah, love, so much more.”
He began to move in her, slowly at first. Pleasure filled Lenora, bringing her to where she had been and beyond. Yet still he kept such control over his movements. The silly man, always so careful. But words would do nothing just then. Lenora knew the only thing that would release him was the reaction of her body.
So she let him know, with every dig of her nails into his sweat-slicked back, every lift of her hips, every gasp into his ear, that he could let go. But it was only when her teeth closed over his shoulder that he seemed to fully understand what she needed from him. The jerk of his hips grew more desperate, his breathing growing harsher. Lenora pressed her heels into the bed, meeting him thrust for thrust. The pleasure built, swirling in eddies, the wave growing in strength until, with one final thrust, it crashed over her head.
She heard Peter’s shout echo her own cry of completion, felt him shudder. And then he collapsed to the bed—beside her, of course, the wonderful man—and pulled her into the crook of his arm. The last things she remembered were his lips on her hair and the steady beat of his heart under her ear.
***
It was the sunlight on her face that woke Lenora. She yawned, stretched, and peered blearily around the room, utter contentment making her limbs weak and lazy. She could lie like this forever, she decided with a small smile, replete after a night of lovemaking, next to the man she loved. She reached to the side, searching for Peter’s warmth—and her heart stuttered in panic. For the sheets were empty and cold.
Had he left? For a moment, the fear rose up, hot and desperate.
But reason was quick to reassert itself. Peter loved her. There was nothing to fear.
Just then she heard footsteps on the stairs. The door to her bedroom opened, and there he was.
