‘Let’s go to bed,’ he said softly, and he pulled her backwards, leading her by the wrists.
She let him. It was what she wanted. It was all she wanted. He was all she wanted. And he wanted her. Here and now. Everything else might be a lie, but this was their truth.
She watched dizzily as he stripped off first his trousers and then his boxer shorts.
Now he was as naked as he had been that morning.
Only this time he was bigger, harder...
Suddenly she could hardly breathe. Tiny waves of panic were rippling through her, colliding with the frantic beat of her heart.
‘Don’t be scared,’ he said.
‘I’m not.’ She hesitated. ‘Well, maybe I am a little bit.’
‘You don’t need to be. I won’t hurt you. I won’t let anyone hurt you.’ His eyes were suddenly dark blue and fierce, his face granite-hard like his warrior namesake’s.
He dipped his head and kissed her gently, his hands firm, compelling, sliding slowly over her body, pulling her onto the bed beneath him.
She drew in a sharp breath as his lips found the hollow beneath her ear, and then she dragged in another as his lips trailed down her neck slowly, to her collarbone, and then lower still to her breast.
As his mouth closed around her nipple, her fingers bit into the thick muscles of his arm. She felt him tense.
‘Is that okay?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘Yes...’ she said again.
It was more than okay—only she didn’t have the words or thoughts. Everything was dissolving except this fierce, insatiable hunger. Helplessly, she arched against him, pressing closer, wanting more, needing to satisfy the ache inside her.
Whimpering, she grabbed his hand, flattening the palm against the staccato pulse beating between her legs.
‘Effie...’ He groaned her name and she felt him shift against her.
‘I want you,’ she said.
He stared down at her, his eyes dark with passion. ‘You have me,’ he said hoarsely.
‘No. Inside me.’
His dense black lashes fluttered at her words and her heart pounded. It might hurt, but she wanted to feel him. To feel his heat and strength.
Her hand flexed against him as he started to stroke her through the damp cotton. The tip of his finger slipped beneath the fabric and her hand balled into a fist as he brushed against her clitoris. She arched upwards, legs shaking. Heat was swamping her.
‘Is that okay?’ he said again.
Nodding, she clasped his face, pressing a desperate kiss to his mouth, her breath catching as his fingers caressed her. She felt him move, his body pushing forward, and her own body tensed in sudden panic. How could this work? He would be too big...
‘Don’t be scared,’ he whispered again. His lips brushed against her mouth, her shoulder, her collarbone. ‘It if hurts, or if you change your mind, we can stop any time—’
‘I don’t want to stop.’
He leaned over her, kissed her, and then his hands slid slowly under her bottom, and he pulled her panties down over her thighs, lifting her further up the bed, stretching out over her, parting her legs.
‘I’ll just get a condom.’
She watched as he reached onto the floor for his trousers, shivering with nerves and anticipation as he rolled on the condom.
Breathing out unsteadily, he rubbed the tip of his erection between her thighs, pushing into the slick heat a little deeper each time, and she responded instinctively, opening her body to his, moving her hands to his hips.