The rush of emotion he felt when he interpreted the expression in her eyes was shocking in its intensity.
She was grieving.
His expression was both stern and tender as he came down beside her, lowering his long body so that they lay thigh to thigh.
‘Listen to me. You are beautiful.’
She gave a teary smile, loving him so much it hurt. ‘Inside, maybe.’
‘Everywhere,’ he contradicted. ‘Inside and out. And I want to love every part of you. You have lost something, I know, but let me give you something to fill the space...’ He took her hand and laid it on his chest where she could feel the heavy thud of his heartbeat, strong and steady. She could feel it vibrating through her own body; it was as if they were one...but she craved an even more intimate joining.
‘I want you,’ she said simply.
His eyes darkened in response to the husky plea. ‘Then, agape mou, you shall have me.’
Arms braced above her head either side, he leaned down and kissed her, and she sighed into his mouth, eager for his taste, wanting to fill her senses with it. The heat was searing and she whimpered as she was swept away on a tidal wave of primitive need.
The erotic exploration of tongue against tongue continued as he lowered his body beside her and turned her onto her side to face him. He lifted his mouth from hers, but only to kiss his way down her neck and then over the quivering mounds of her breasts.
A keening cry escaped her lips at the first brush of his tongue over first one nipple and then the other, then when he took one into his mouth and sucked on it sensuously she gasped.
Her damp nipples continued to ache from his ministrations as he slid lower, his tongue leaving a wet trail over the slight mound of her belly while his fingers moved into the soft curls at the apex of her legs, stroking the damp folds gently and then parting them until he found the tight nub nestling inside.
She was so focused on the new, agonisingly blissful sensations he was creating that she didn’t realise at first where he was kissing.
She stiffened, rejection making her eyes fly wide open, hating that he was touching the ugly scarred tissue on her thigh, imagining the disgust he had to be feeling. She didn’t want him to have to pretend to be enjoying it. ‘No!’
‘Yes!’ he insisted.
For the space of a heartbeat their eyes connected, and she was the first to look away.
Quivering but quiescent now, she lay there as he gently kissed the damaged skin, her face wet with silent tears that slid unnoticed down her face.
‘You can’t want to do that.’
Her broken whisper felt like a tight fist around his heart. In response, he loosed a low growl and dragged himself up her body until they were face to face. Holding her gaze, he took her hand and curled her fingers around the hard, silky shaft of his erection. His whole body was trembling with need as she stroked him, breathing in the male musk of his warm body.
She looked into his eyes and the desire blazing there burnt away her last doubts and inhibitions; she suddenly felt free.
Kissing her passionately once again, Nik pulled her on top of him and held her there, his hands curved over her bottom, continuing to kiss her into mindless submission until he finally rolled them both over, reversing their position.
Lying beneath him, Chloe gave herself over to the sensations bombarding her. She surrendered to the feelings, as she surrendered to him.
Then he parted her legs and she held her breath and released it in a low, slow sigh when he finally slid into her. She grabbed his hips, her back arching to deepen the pressure, wanting more.
With a groan he obeyed, giving her everything he’d got.
‘Put your legs around me, Chloe.’
She did and he sank deeper into her, each strong movement of him inside her sending her deeper into herself, into him. It became one and the same, and they were both at the core of a firestorm, and when it broke the effect on every nerve cell in her body was electric!
She turned her head on the pillow, where beside her Nik lay gasping for air, his chest heaving and the sweat on his skin cooling.
She began to worry that he was cooling towards her because he suddenly seemed so far apart from her, but before the fear could take root he reached out and dragged her against him, as close as possible.
‘What are you doing all the way over there?’ he asked, propping his chin on the top of her hair-rumpled head as he pulled up a sheet to cover them both.
‘Does it still hurt?’ he asked quietly when they were both lying still.