He traced the pattern of freckles from her thigh to her knee, circling her kneecap and the small scar there before caressing his way back up the inside of her thighs. He felt the humid warmth of her body and traced her feminine core with his fingertip. She shifted on the bed, her hands reaching for him, but it was his turn to tease her. Plus if she touched him, he feared his control would splinter into a million pieces and this would be over too quickly.
He parted her folds and then leaned down to taste her. He closed his eyes as he sucked her intimate flesh, causing her to draw her legs closer around him and her hands to fall to the back of his head. She gripped his hair as her hips lifted upward toward his mouth and his tongue.
She was addicting. He couldn’t get enough of her. He pushed one finger into her body and heard her call his name. She was wet and ready for him. He fumbled, trying to free himself from his trousers. He lifted his head, looked up at her and saw that she was watching him. Her eyes were filled with passion and desire.
He stood up, shoved his pants and underwear off in a move that definitely couldn’t be called graceful, and then he lowered himself on top of her. He slowly used his chest and body to caress hers as he moved over her. She shifted her legs so that her thighs were on either side of his and he moved his hips forward, felt the tip of his erection at the opening of her body. He hesitated. This time was different from their weekend in Key West, but the passion in her eyes was the same.
Slowly he entered her, trying to make it last because she felt so damned good. She gripped his rock-hard flesh as he entered her and drove himself all the way home and then forced himself to stay still once he was fully seated in her body.
Her hands were on his shoulders, running up and down his back and then reaching lower to cup his butt and try to get him to move. But he needed a moment before he did that. A moment to make sure that she was with him. He lowered his head to her neck, and then bit her lightly before moving lower, kissing the full globes of her breasts.
She tightened as she arched underneath him. She looked up at him and whispered dark, sexual words that made his control disappear along with his willpower, and he found himself thrusting deeper into her body. Driving toward his climax and carrying her along with him.
He pushed her legs higher, putting her feet on his shoulders so he could go deeper, and pounded into her faster and faster until he heard her calling out his name and he spilled himself inside her. He thrust into her three more times before he let go of her legs and fell forward, bracing himself on his arms. He kissed the pert pink nipple on her left breast as he rested his head on her shoulder and tried to catch his breath.
He got up and left her for a few moments to wash up and then came back and lay down next to her on the bed. He was aware of the time and knew he should already be at the private airport and getting on his family’s jet so he could travel with them to Alma, but he couldn’t make himself leave.
He knew that this wasn’t love. He wasn’t going to lie to her or himself. But she was pregnant with his child and this fired him with an enthusiasm he just couldn’t muster when he thought of being king. He didn’t want the throne, but his father, who couldn’t inherit it because he’d never had his marriage annulled after divorcing Rafe’s mother, had been very clear that he thought Rafe needed to do his duty.
He stroked his hand down Emily’s arm. She had turned on her side and had her head on his shoulder.
“What are you thinking?”
“That I’m glad you came here today. Did you ever think of not telling me?” he asked.
He suspected he knew the answer, but wanted to hear it from her.
“No. It wasn’t easy to track you down—you’re pretty secretive about this penthouse bachelor pad, aren’t you? But Harry has lots of friends who have connections. It only took him six hours to find you.”
“Harry scares me,” Rafe admitted. The owner of Shady Harry’s bar had been fun and gregarious when Rafe had been partying and buying rounds for the entire place. But the next morning when he’d spotted the older man as he’d left Emily’s cottage, Harry had given him a look that said to watch his back. “What’s he to you?”
“He and my mom dated for a while,” Emily said. “He’s sort of like my stepdad. Why?”
“I have a feeling if I show up in Key West he’s going to be waiting with a shotgun.”
“You’re not going to Key West, you’re going to Alma. I’ve seen pictures. It’s really beautiful,” she said.
Not as beautiful as she was, Rafe thought. He leaned up on his elbow, put his hand flat on her stomach and realized he couldn’t control this any more than he could say no to the people in Alma who’d asked his family to come back and rule the country.