At first, all she could manage was a wobbly nod and a broken gasp. “God, yes. Oh, God . . . it’s so good.”
He kept his eyes locked on hers as he picked up the pace of his thrusts, murmuring words of praise for how soft she felt around him, how beautiful she was, and how much he craved her.
It was all fuel to the fire of her senses, ratcheting up her ecstasy as his deep strokes and slow withdrawals brought her careening toward the peak of another climax.
She clung to him, digging her fingers into the bulky curves of his shoulders as she gripped him tightly with her thighs and her sex.
“Can’t get enough of me, can you?” He grinned, smugly arrogant.
What would have pissed her off only an hour ago instead inflamed her with unabashed need. “Shut up and fuck me harder.”
He chuckled darkly. “Yes, Your Grace.”
Faith, did he ever oblige.
He rocked into her with relentless power, giving more pleasure than she could take. The wave of bliss that crashed over her was so shocking and profound it brought hot tears to her eyes. She cried out as she came, shuddering with the force of it.
Darion drove deeper then, his tempo urgent before he snarled her name and hurtled off the edge of his own release.
They didn’t let go of each other, not even when the last aftershocks had ebbed. Selene rested her cheek against his shoulder, grappling with the confusion of emotions and bliss that spiraled through her as Darion held her in his arms.
He drew back abruptly, and she saw that his shoulder was wet with her tears. A scowl furrowed his brow. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.” Embarrassed, she swiped impatiently at her damp eyelashes and cheeks. “It’s not that. It’s just . . . I’ve never felt . . . I didn’t know it could be so . . .”
She was babbling. And dammit, those tears were still leaking out of her.
Smiling, Darion leaned forward and kissed her. This time it was a tender meeting of their mouths, his lips infinitely soft.
“Incredible,” he whispered in between kisses. “I believe that’s the word you’re looking for.”
It was incredible.Hewas incredible.
Now that it was over, she suddenly felt awkward and vulnerable. Holding his naked body against her--inside her--felt overwhelmingly intimate. Terrifyingly so.
But it was much worse than that.
She didn’t have a single regret for what they’d just shared, but she couldn’t afford to let herself sink into his tender caresses and pretty words. She couldn’t allow her heart to get caught in a trap. She had made that mistake before and it had come at the cost of thousands of lives.
She wanted to believe Darion was different. She wanted to believe that so desperately right now, it nearly scared her to death.
She put her hand against his chest and eased herself out from beneath him. She couldn’t look at him, fearful he would see how deeply he affected her.
“Hey, where are you going?” he said, confusion in his deep voice as she started to straighten her skewed bodice. His knuckles coaxingly brushed her arm. “We’re just getting started.”
Selene forced herself to move away from his tender touch. She slid off the edge of the table, arranging her long skirts. “You should get dressed. Someone may come to the door.”
“You should’ve thought about that before,” he joked as he drew his pants up and loosely fastened the tie. He was smiling as he took her shoulders in his hands and turned her around to face him. “God, you look so beautiful like this, all flushed and in disarray. I want to muss you up all over again.”
She didn’t let herself return his smile. It was nearly impossible to maintain a cool facade when he was looking at her with renewed hunger in his glittering eyes.
She was too shaken by the tangled confusion of her emotions to her let down her guard, despite the pleasure they had just shared.
“Please go now, Darion. I have duties to attend, so I’d like to get on with them.”
He stared at her, all the humor and tenderness fading from his handsome face. “What are you doing?”
“It was just sex,” she said, which wasn’t untrue. Still, it felt like the worst sort of lie as it slipped off her tongue. “Pleasurable or not, it changes nothing between us.”
