* * *
It entered what was left of his mind that he now remembered why he had made such efforts to see her again. Her artless kisses enchanted him. Her tentative touches inspired him. Her begging passion had him gritting his teeth to maintain control of himself.
More. There had to be more. He kissed down to her breast and laved the tip through her shirt. Her hand gripped his hair and a lovely moan reached his ear.
She was past restraint or worry. Free. He caressed her breast, teasing to evoke more of those moans until their timbre turned needy and urgent.
This divan would never do. He slid to the carpet, guiding her with him, and laid her down. She embraced him there and held him close while her body arched to his hand and mouth.
“I need to see you.” He unbuttoned the shirt and cast the edges aside. She did not object. The moonlight pooled around them, showing her expression of ecstasy and her pale nakedness. Her breath shortened and her full breasts rose higher. He used his mouth, flicking and nipping at the tight tips until she could not contain her cries.
He continued driving her mad while he caressed her thighs, moving higher with each stroke until he cupped her mound. She parted her legs to permit more and pressed down against his hold. A wave of a savage urge crashed in him. He reminded himself he had made a promise. It became a damned chant in his head. A curse. He ignored it and unbuttoned the pantaloons so he could caress down her hips. She was naked beneath them. He pushed them down. She raised her hips to allow it.
Retreat became impossible. Unnecessary. This was not a woman importuned or even truly seduced. She was with him, matching his desire with her own. He reached low to pull the pantaloons off her legs so she laid free and open on the carpet. He would give pleasure and take it, and if she wanted everything—
The promise repeated again, like a boring tutor demanding attention.
Hell.
He kissed her hard and moved his hand to the moisture of her mound. When he inserted a finger, her hips rose, taking him in. She held his head to that kiss, offering her fevered response while she rode the simulacrum of completion. His head filled with images of how it should really be, and his hunger turned ferocious.
She reached for his hip, and pulled at him. “Now. Please, now.”
When he resisted, her hand went to the bulge where his phallus strained against his garments. Artless still.
She sought to improve her caress. It worked. One touch and his mind exploded.
He clenched his jaw. Mindless now, he mounted her, fully clothed, and pressed against her for some relief. It did not come soon enough, but it did eventually. For him at least.
He rolled off her after recovering himself. She lay there, gasping, her legs bent, exposed. A tiny frown puckered her brow.
He put his hand to her again. At the first touch, she bucked and cried out. He dipped low and kissed her cheek. “Don’t stop me. You will allow this and be glad for it. I am only being fair.”
She gripped his shoulder and permitted him to explore and invade until her abandon left her moaning and begging. Then she screamed into the night while her moisture flowed.
Any annoyance with his promise faded to nothing while he watched her find perfect freedom in her release. It was a beautiful sight, as was the peace that followed. No worries. No fears. He would not have missed the way it transformed her for anything, not even his own pleasure.
* * *
“You were good to your word.” They were her first words, spoken while they lay in an embrace on the carpet. The pantaloons remained bunched near her feet, leaving her naked and beautiful.
He kissed her. “I am first and foremost a gentleman, inconvenient though that might be sometimes.” Inconvenient did not do it justice tonight. It had been all but impossible to keep his word. He had amazed himself. It had been years, a lifetime, since he’d done such a thing. He could not even remember the last time. He must have been younger than twenty.
He looked at the pale, warm woman in his arms. Her eyes remained closed and her face relaxed. Her dark lips in this light contrasted starkly with her skin.
He owed her nothing. He did not even know her name. No one would have known if he had—
Except himself, of course.
“You were very kind,” she said. “At the end. I did not realize why—”
“That was new for you?”
She nodded.
“Do not blame your former lover. Unless someone explains a woman’s potential to us, men are very stupid about such things.”
She turned in his arms and laid her head on his chest. “Who explained it to you?”
