Perhaps because they were still mentally connected, he awoke slowly and pulled her in close to him. He shifted his position without warning and came up onto his forearms, one on each side of her, putting his body into position over hers.
Oh my. The pose was at once suggestive and stimulating.
He said, "And so, let me ensure I understand this correctly. If I kiss you like this"—he kissed her, slowly at first, lips to lips, then slipped his tongue sensuously within her mouth—"would you find yourself soon married to me?" He kissed her again, his tongue sweeping into her mouth as though he could take possession of her with little more than a caress.
As she kissed him back, excitement raced through her body like a fire gone wild. Indeed, raw passion flooded her body. All at once, her heart picked up speed and was pounding so fast and so loudly, she was certain he could hear it.
It was their first kiss since reaching the age of majority, and suddenly the craving for more of his caresses was more important, it seemed, than breathing. She couldn't think; she could only feel. She answered his passion with a similar one of her own and kissed him back as though her life might depend upon his seduction of her.
Yet, as close as they were right now, even this wasn't enough to satisfy her. She wanted, she needed more…more of him. Truly, she would have given him anything at this moment, had he only asked. But, he didn't ask. And, perhaps because he wasn't overly demanding more from her, a disturbing image flashed through her mind: it was a mental impression of her mother crying, her mother entirely distraught.
Gasping, Amelia turned her head away from Gray Falcon and murmured, "I can't do this with you. Now it is you who is teasing me, not the opposite."
"Teasing? I? Would I tease you? Or would I be seriously courting you?"
"Oh, stop it. You know you don't need to court me. I already love you."
"But, not as a man you would marry."
"Because I can't."
"Áa,you can."
"Wait! If you are going to arouse me like this, then I should be able to do it to you, also."
"Do it, then." He grinned down at her. "And, let's see what happens when you do."
He brought his weight to the side, and, still bending over her, he used his hand to stroke her cheeks, her neck, her ears. And, where his hand went, his lips followed.
She groaned and turned her head away. "This is not fair. You tell me I am not allowed to trifle with you, but you can do so with me?"
"Because I wish to see more passion for me within your eyes. If I am to spend my nights thinking of you, then it should be the same for you."
"But, it is already this way for me and—"
Whatever else she was about to say became silenced as he kissed one of her ears and then kissed his way across her cheeks to her other ear. She stirred uneasily, groaning with pleasure.
"This is what you think of me, then?" she whispered, while she brought her shoulders back as though inviting him to touch her chest. But, she continued, murmuring, "I poured my heart out to you, and you treat me now as though I were…as though I were a cheap woman, and one of easy virtue."
"Do not say this about yourself. I do not think this of you. I have never thought of you in this way, and I never will."
"Well, if you did believe this of me, it would probably be a correct perception, but it's only true where you are concerned."
"I know this."
"Then, why are you doing this to me? Making me wish for you? It's as though…as though you believe all you have to do is kiss me and I'll gladly invite you to sleep with me."
He laughed. "Did you not tell me to do this?"
"Yes, I did, but—"
"Am I not acting as you implored me to do?"
"Yes, but I didn't know then what your requirements were to be should we make love. Please, you know now that I can't marry you."
"I do not know this," he said as he brought his body once again into position over hers. He gazed down at her, but only for a moment before bending toward her and kissing her again while his hand caressed her cheeks, her ears, her neck. And, then his hand ventured lower and lower.
Oh, how good it felt. Had he really accused her of having no desire for him? Was he blind? She wanted this. She wanted him to do more, to touch her chest, to touch her stomach, to—
