Abandoning his intentions to prolong the moment, Julian shoved himself downward, gripping Aurora's thighs and lifting them high over his shoulders.
He felt her start of surprise, but he didn't wait, lowering his head and taking her in the most intimate of caresses. His lips opened her, his tongue gliding over her sweetness, possessing her in a hot, wild caress that nearly brought him to his knees. He heard her sharp cry of pleasure, felt her fingers clench in his hair, but all he knew was the unbearable ecstasy of her taste, her velvety softness, the tiny inner rippling of her flesh. He repeated the caress, taking her more fully, a hard shudder wracking his body as she sobbed his name, begged him to continue.
He couldn't stop if his very life depended on it.
Anchoring her legs, Julian gave her what they both needed, penetrating her with deep, heated strokes of his tongue, his heart slamming against his ribs as he brought his wife closer and closer to climax.
Abruptly she arched, a high thin cry escaping her as she plunged over the edge, her body dissolving into exquisite spasms of completion.
Julian couldn't withstand another moment.
Raising up, he surged into her in one blind, inexorable thrust, his hands gripping her bottom, pulling her harder, more fully against him, forcing him as deep inside her as he could go. His eyes slid shut and he shuddered, her contractions pulsing around his rigid shaft—once, twice—igniting the climax already clamoring at his loins.
With a feral shout he surrendered, crushing her hips to his, pouring his seed into her in great explosive bursts of release.
Drenched in sweat, Julian collapsed, Aurora's body damp and shivering under his. He could scarcely breathe, much less speak, so he simply buried his face in the fragrant cloud of his wife's hair, his thumbs gently stroking her hips.
It took long minutes for the dark haze of passion to lift.
"Did I hurt you?" he managed at last, his voice sounding hoarse, shattered to his own ears.
Aurora shook her head against his shoulder.
"But I'm hurting you now." Julian attempted to lift himself away, only to feel Aurora's arms clamp more tightly about his back.
"No," she whispered fiercely.
Unsteadily, Julian rose up, propping himself on his elbows and studying his wife's beautiful, flushed face from beneath hooded lids. "No?"
"No." She wriggled a bit, her inner muscles tightening, drawing him into an exquisite pool of liquid heat. "Stay with me."
Julian bit back a groan, his body surging to life with astounding speed. "I'm here, soleil," he replied softly, pushing deeper into her velvety warmth. "Better?"
"Ummm … no—not better, wonderful."
A chuckle rumbled from Julian's chest. "Do you know," he murmured, stroking damp strands of hair from her face, "for a woman who tells me she adores my lovemaking, you say 'no' with appalling frequency?"
Aurora's lips curved. "Only when you attempt to leave me or make me wait. Although I must say, tonight's delay was magnificent—worth every exquisite moment."
"I've imagined doing that to you since that first night in Dawlish's," Julian confessed, tracing her soft kiss-swollen mouth with his forefinger.
Her flush intensified. "Then what took you so long?"
"I was busy realizing my other fantasies."
"I see." Aurora raised her legs to hug his flanks. "Does that mean all those fantasies have now been exhausted?"
"Exhausted?" Julian shook his head, rolling over and settling Aurora astride him. "Somehow, soleil, I doubt that word will ever apply to us." He brought her mouth down to his, deepening his presence in her body and unleashing the inferno that seemed never to subside.
And the fire raged on.
* * *
Aurora was lost in slumber, her body curved softly against Julian's, when he heard the creak from the hallway.
It was a fleeting sound, gone as quickly as it had come. But it was enough.
The hair on