His promise settled her nerves, as did, astonishingly, his intimation that she was his first innocent. For some reason that knowledge made the already tight band of unrecognisable emotion in her chest tauten. She had no time to dwell on it, however. He was taking her mouth again, although this time the kiss was gentle. Or as gentle as a powerful man who rode the very edge of his control could be. One hand left her hair to retake control of her thigh.
‘Esmeralda.’ Her name was a hoarse command as he opened her even wider.
One she heeded by lifting her gaze to his. Eyes almost black with intense lust seared hers as the crown of his penis breached her core. Dizzy excitement warred with the unknown.
‘Put your arms around me,’ he ordered.
She obeyed. Her fingers slid around and latched onto the hot, smooth skin of his lower back.
Then, with a single, guttural oath, he pushed himself inside her.
The sharpest lance of pain arched through her, snatching a helpless scream from her throat. His mouth clamped on hers, devouring the sound as if it belonged to him. And right at that moment it did. They both stilled, breathing ragged, bodies clenched as they fought through pleasure and pain. The pain wasn’t as fleeting as he’d said. It gripped her as if wanting her to remember this moment. To imprint on her psyche the awe and magnitude of sharing her body with Zaid Al-Ameen.
After a handful of heartbeats he lifted his head to look at her as he drew back and surged into her again.
Pain diminished, dissolved, then gave way to pleasure. A different, more potent pleasure than that she’d experienced a little while ago. On the third thrust, Zaid buried himself to the hilt inside her. They both groaned.
His thrusts gained pace, the strokes of possession masterful.
His hand left her thigh to clamp on her hip, holding her in place as he kept his promise to make her completely his. And through it all he watched her, his gaze intense as he absorbed every particle of her pleasure, fused it with his.
Her eyes rolled. Her fingers dug into his back. The scream that rose this time was one of awe and bliss she’d never dreamed possible.
‘Zaid...’ Her sigh of his name was meant to ground her in this room, on this plane of reality for a little while longer, but it was no use.
She was soaring once again, but this time towards a higher state of bliss she knew instinctively would change her for ever. His relentless pace told her he intended to make sure of it.
Sweat bathed her skin, bathed his as the intensity of their coupling grew to a breaking point. She clamped her legs around his waist in an instinctive move. One that pleased him enough to draw a hoarse moan from him. And then, between one moment and the next, she was caught in the grip of a wild, ecstatic fever.
‘Zaid!’
‘Yes,’ he groaned above her. ‘Give in to it. Take all of it.’
‘Oh... God.’ Surrender had never felt so right. Esme flew higher than before, but not before she felt him lower his head to whisper in her ear.
‘Habiba.’ Sweetheart. Darling. She’d heard many Ja’ahrians use that term of endearment. But coming from Zaid at that moment, Esme felt as if he’d showered her with a thousand priceless gems.
Tears prickled the back of her eyes, and finally, she let go completely.
* * *
Zaid couldn’t tear his gaze from the beautiful woman writhing in ecstasy beneath him. Everything about her captivated him. It had from the first moment he’d seen her, but nothing had prepared him for this. For his total absorption in her pleasure or the reality that it triggered his own to an unconscionable level.
He never wanted it to end. Although he knew, like all things, that it would. It must. He didn’t understand the part of him that already deeply mourned that future loss. Neither did he want to dwell on it right now. That would be a problem for when the sun rose.
For now...
Her back arched from the bed as bliss rolled over her. Presented with the perfection of her breasts, he lowered his head and fed his wild hunger. She felt exquisite. Her body was a magnificent prize he wanted to gorge on for a very long time.
As for the gift of her innocence she’d bestowed on him? The thrill of primitive pleasure that had stormed his blood at her confession had only intensified the moment he’d penetrated her. He hadn’t needed the visual evidence he was sure was staining his sheets to know she’d spoken the truth. He’d felt it and revelled shamelessly in it.
She gave another cry beneath him, her nails scoring grooves in his back as her pleasure reached its zenith. He held out for as long as he could. Until, feeling the strong ripples of her flesh milking his own, he finally succumbed to the sublime ecstasy that beckoned.
The roar that ripped from his throat was as primal as the sexual act itself. Zaid wasn’t ashamed to admit it was the most electric, intense climax he’d ever experienced. One that perhaps could be repeated, given that even as their bodies cooled in the aftermath, he was already anticipating their next coupling?
He gathered her close, exhaling in satisfaction when her hand stole up his body to rest on his chest. He smoothed her hair back from her face and pressed a kiss on her forehead. Watched her beautiful mouth curve in a tired post-coital smile and her stunning eyes begin to droop in slumber.
Reluctantly, he let her sleep because she needed to recover from her first sexual experience. And also because he wanted time to sift through the questions crowding his brain. Although one question that had gnawed at him had been answered.