And excitement.
How had she never understood what an exciting man she’d married? The seventeen-year-old Alicia must have been blind. And insane.
This was no time for regrets. Not when her tall, handsome, overwhelmingly virile husband prowled toward her with such purpose. There was none of his earlier reticence in the way he drew her into his arms and tugged her under him. There was just hunger and a masculine strength that made her feel both delicate as a lily and stronger than steel.
She thought she’d measured his passion in his kisses. But now he was insatiable. He touched her everywhere, kissing her as if he couldn’t get enough of her mouth, whispering praise until she trembled with delight.
He touched her between her legs, stroking the sleek folds. She shuddered against him as frenzied response flared. New, strange, astonishing pleasure. She cried out his name and jerked her hips up to meet him. She wanted him to take her, to fill the lonely reaches of her soul, to feed her starving senses. Her arms closed hard around him, feeling the coil and release of the muscles in his back as he moved over her.
He rose above her, caging her between his arms, and she caught the turbulent emotion in his face as he stared down at her. The moment spun into eternity, then shattered when with a single commanding thrust, he joined his body to hers.
Her muscles tightened in instinctive protest at his powerful possession. After the years without him, the invasion felt unfamiliar, uncomfortable. He was a large man, and she’d been chaste for so long. She dragged in a shuddering breath, struggling to adjust to his size and vigor.
Another breath, heavy with Sebastian’s musky, male essence. She shifted, angled her hips, felt him slide further inside her. Then magically all awkwardness flowed away, and with perfect naturalness, she arched up to join him in a union as much of soul as body.
And recognized with despairing clarity that she’d never stopped loving him.
Her fingers curled into the hot, bare skin of his shoulders as the inexorable truth rolled over her like a huge wave. Then she closed her eyes and gave herself up to Sebastian.
Right now he was hers. She refused to let the old, unsure Alicia ruin this ultimate closeness. She clenched around him in a silent plea to stay with her, never to leave.
She felt his tension as he held himself still, then with hard, purposeful strokes that built her arousal to an inferno, he began to move. The dance wasn’t new to her, although this moment’s radiant intimacy was.
She soared higher and higher until she touched the burning sky. She shook and sighed and clung to him, blind to everything but the rising tension inside her. This was beyond anything she’d ever felt. Beyond anything she’d even imagined.
At the peak, glittering light blinded her and she cried out. Such fierce rapture. Such glory.
Such love.
Vaguely through the swirling storm of passion, she heard Sebastian’s deep groan. He shuddered and plunged deep, spilling liquid heat inside her. For a long moment, he held himself taut before he slumped over her, his body heavy with satisfaction.
Alicia lay in a haze of physical sensation. So this was what a man’s possession could be. She’d been a wife for eleven years, yet she’d had no idea. No idea at all what she’d missed.
The air was redolent of their lovemaking. It was as if she breathed the memory of pleasure. She tightened her grip on Seba
stian’s back, feeling the sinews flex as he settled himself against her without withdrawing. She’d never felt so close to another person. For the first time in her life, she felt whole.
The fire burned low, leaving the room in twilight. Alicia stared up at the ceiling, watching the shadows gather. Nothing could dull the glow she felt. She felt made anew. She felt capable of conquering the world. She felt tired and languorous and ready to sleep for a week. Maintaining the long pretense that she cared nothing for her husband had exhausted her, like a huge weight dragging behind her wherever she went.
Right now, she felt lighter than air. Free. Fulfilled.
With sudden desperation, her fingers dug into his back. Oh, dear heaven, don’t let fate take Sebastian away, now that she’d discovered him again. Not now that she was finally woman enough to be his wife in every sense.
He’d undoubtedly wanted her when he’d taken her. Not even the most inexperienced woman could have assumed otherwise. But had Sebastian intended this night to be a last goodbye to an unhappy past? Or had they taken the first step in a long, joyful journey together?
***
Kinvarra gasped for breath, his heartbeat drumming wildly in his ears. An ocean of satisfaction flooded his body, even as he cursed himself for losing control. He’d planned to take his time, prepare Alicia, raise her to peak after peak of ecstasy before he sought his own relief. But when he’d touched his wife’s naked body and read desire in her shining eyes, he hadn’t been able to hold back.
He’d been hungry, even hungrier than he’d been as an eager boy, although at least this time, praise the angels, she hadn’t closed away in fear. Instead she’d achieved her own delight in his arms. He’d felt the way she tightened, milking him, and he hadn’t mistaken her broken cry as she’d arched to take him deep in the final moments.
His big body still pressed her into the mattress. She must feel crushed, suffocated. He was a swine not to shift away.
But how sweet it was to lie here in the aftermath, to let his hands wander her silky skin, to listen to the soft music of her breathing, to rest surrounded by Alicia.
Heaven couldn’t offer an eternity of bliss purer than this moment.
Making love to his wife offered a profundity of experience he’d never known. He’d grieve forever if this was the sum of happiness allotted to him. If he was to possess her only this once.