“I am being truthful,” he countered. “As I have told you before, you are undeniably lovely, Elysande.”
She had never felt lovely before, not even on the previous occasion when he had spoken those words to her. Indeed, her appearance had never been a concern of hers. “I am uncommonly ordinary.”
“Nothing about you is ordinary.” He traced her lips with the pad of his thumb. “Everything about you, from your intellect to your smile, is utterly extraordinary. I promise you.”
Heavens.How did he always know what to say? Could she guard her heart from this man? The answer increasingly appeared to be a resounding no.
Did she care? In this moment, decidedly not.
“You are too kind,” she managed to say, sure she was flushing from her toes to her hairline.
He had a way of looking at her, as if she were the only woman he wished to see, that set her at sixes and sevens without fail. And his words…how could she arm herself against them?
“Never doubt yourself.” He slid nearer to her, his big body and warmth both welcome. “I am a fortunate man indeed to call you my wife.”
She reached for him, feeling bold. Her arms twined around his neck, and suddenly, she found herself flush against him, chest to hip. Her breasts spilled into the muscled strength of him, her nipples going hard, and when his thick length brushed her belly, molten heat slid to her core at the evidence of his desire.
“I feel the same,” she managed to say, stumbling over the words a bit as the tide of desire rose ever higher.
“Damn,” he growled, rubbing his growing beard against her cheek. “You make me want you every second of every hour of every day.”
She was not certain how she possessed such power over him, but she relished it, for he had the same effect upon her. At least in this madness, they were equals.
“Is it done to make love in the morning?” The moment the question left her, she blushed furiously, aware of how wanton she sounded. “Forgive me. I did not mean to suggest—”
His mouth on hers effectively ended the remainder of her sentence. This kiss was different from the drugging, frenzied meeting of mouths they had shared last night. This kiss took its time. He angled his lips over hers, beginning with light, gentle movements. And then on a groan, he licked at her seam. She opened for him, eager and ready for more.
Later, perhaps, she would chastise him for silencing her with a kiss. For now, she was basking in the sensual onslaught. He wedged a thigh between hers, the crisp hairs on his leg a new sensation that was strangely pleasing. Yet another evidence of the difference between them and how perfectly they fit together despite their disparities. She surged forward, and his thigh met with her most sensitive inner flesh.
A rush of desire started in her center and rippled outward. The friction felt good. Very good. And so did he. His lips, his body, every part of him. Making love with him the night before had awakened her in a new way. She was more aware than she had ever been, alive and filled with possibility.
And yearning. That, too.
The languor of his kiss gave way to more of the same ferocity of the night before. The pressure of his lips on hers increased, and he caught the fullness of her lower lip in his teeth and tugged hard. A breathy moan fled her lips as he rolled her gently to her back, his large body settling over hers.
The prominent ridge of his cock pressed into her thigh. He wanted her. The knowledge sent an answering spark to her core, where she was already wet and throbbing for him. Deep within, there was a soreness, the ghost of pain, and yet, even that new ache was the source of so much need.
“Ellie,” he murmured against her lips, his bright gaze on hers, his breath coasting over her mouth. “My God, Ellie.”
She loved the way he called her Ellie, and in her delirium, she decided she should forbid anyone else from ever using the diminutive again. It should belong to him alone, as she did. Stupid thought. She had been Ellie all her life. How could this man transform her sobriquet into not just an endearment, but a seduction?
She did not know, but he somehow did.
His hot hand skimmed over her waist, her hip. He kissed her again and she forgot to worry about her name. Heavens, she forgot her name altogether. She was nothing but a mass of sensations, a bundle of feelings wound tightly together, dipped in sunshine and longing. He caressed her inner thigh, urging her to open for him, and then his fingers replaced the leg he had inserted between hers. His touch lingered over her bud.
“So soft and wet.” He said this as if it were the highest praise, and she accepted it as such. His kisses traveled along her jaw to her ear, and he gently bit the lobe. “I could devour you.”
Her head rolled back on the pillow as he moved down her throat.
Yes please.
She was not certain if she said the words aloud or if they only existed in her mind. The difference hardly mattered when he sucked her nipple and thumbed that exquisitely sensitive nub hidden in her folds. A finger teased her entrance, painting the evidence of her desire over her.
He released her nipple. “Feel how slick you are, love.”
Her hips were moving now. Seeking. That elusive sensation, so wondrous she had never been fully capable of imagining, beckoned. She wanted to be stretched and filled by him. She wanted his cock deep inside her. He sucked her other nipple and gave her his finger instead, sinking it slowly into her cunny.
“Are you sore?” he asked softly, tonguing the stiff peak of her breast as he simultaneously worked her nub and slid his finger to the knuckle.
