He smiled at her, pondering the fact that one of the things he’d always detested about women was their penchant for deception.
Theodosia possessed no such fault. On the contrary, she always spoke honestly about her desire, knowing that he would help her to understand the unfamiliar feelings she experienced when with him.
So as not to startle her, he lowered his massive frame onto the bed as slowly as possible. Stretched out and lying on his side beside her, he curled his hand over her smooth thigh and smiled at her again.
She laid her hand on top of his and felt something right about the moment. Something comforting, as if she belonged right where she was…
In his arms, basking in the warmth of his smile.
“Desire—all by itself—feels good, Theodosia,” Roman explained. “And now that you’ve sampled a big part of the pleasure that can be had between a man and a woman, your body recognizes it and— well, I guess you start the pleasure all on your own just by thinking about it.”
“I’ve sampled a big part of the pleasure,” Theodosia mused aloud. “I take that to mean that I have not gone full circle.”
“No.”
She understood what he meant. Without realizing it, she began to fantasize about making love with Roman. Being intimately joined with him—and ultimately creating a child with him.
Her thoughts proved so beautiful that she didn’t want to let them go.
But memories of Lillian forced her to do so. She pulled the fantasies from her mind and reminded herself that the child was not to be her own. It would be Lillian’s, and Lillian’s preference in men was obvious in Upton. Her sister hadn’t fallen in love with and married a rugged Texan who wore revolvers at his hips and could track anything under the sun. Lillian had married a brilliant Harvard professor who had dozens of academic awards to his credit.
She could not make love with Roman and risk conceiving. Period.
“You can’t get with child by touching me, Theodosia,” Roman whispered, seeing her every thought within the depths of her eyes. “And it won’t happen by my touching you, either. You know that.”
She did know. Moving away from him so she could see him in his entirety, she dropped her gaze and reached out to hold him again. The instant she touched him, the initial pleasure she’d felt only moments ago became an ache that she knew only Roman could soothe.
“Roman?”
He didn’t answer but waited patiently for her to complete her intimate exploration. Only then would he fulfill her need.
He moved his hips slightly forward, coaxing her to continue.
Her eyes tracing the path her fingers took, Theodosia slid her hand up and down, savoring the incredible feel of him.
She thought him velvet, she thought him stone.
She thought him magnificent.
Raising her gaze to his face, she sent him a silent plea.
He rose to his knees and gently pushed her shoulder until she was lying on her back. Lifting his leg over her hip, he straddled her thighs.
Theodosia lay motionless, staring at him so intently that his image etched itself in every crevice of her mind.
Looming above her, keeping her captured between his legs, and gazing down at her with smoldering intent in his vivid blue eyes, he presented a majestic picture of strength and masculinity. She waited in sheer awe for whatever he would do to her.
Slowly, carefully, he lay upon her, covering her body with his own. Desire pumped steadily through him. God, she felt good beneath him. All soft and warm and willing.
Without realizing her own actions, Theodosia parted her legs and lifted her hips into his. His rigid manhood pushed into her belly, and although the sensation sent her to greater heights of desire, she knew something wasn’t right.
She wanted to feel him lower. Closer to the ache that continued to throb throughout her womanhood.
With her hands on the mattress, she tried to push herself toward the headboard of the bed.
Roman was well aware that she struggled to position herself in such a way as to feel him poised between her thighs. The woman had no willpower. Impossible as it seemed to be, he would have to be strong enough for both of them.
He took a deep, ragged breath, closed his eyes, and forced himself to concentrate upon the fact that if he made love to her, Theodosia would later hate herself and him, too.
