Nicholas rubbed his hand over his mouth as if he had never seen such a tantalising sight. Oh, and his eyes. The look of love and lust and longing near stole her breath.
Nicholas.
The sudden knock on the door made her gasp. She ran into his arms so he might shield her from the brute downstairs. But Mr Williams called out to them, calming her racing heart.
“I’ve brought supper,” he said.
Nicholas cleared his throat. “Leave it outside. I shall collect it in a moment.” His voice was an octave higher. Doubtless a result of his manhood pressing against her abdomen, or that her bare breasts were crushed against his chest.
“Don’t leave it too long, now, else the rats will come calling.”
They heard the man trudge along the landing, but neither moved to open the door and retrieve their supper. Nicholas looked down at her as his fingertips traced a soft path down her back to her buttocks.
“Are you hungry, love?”
“For you, not food.” She lifted her lips to his.
He kissed her, his mouth moving in a slow teasing rhythm, his tongue grazing her lips, seeking entrance.
She opened for him, the first strokes igniting a fire in her belly, an ache deep in her core, a need greater than she had ever experienced before.
“You’re mine, Helen,” he whispered darkly, his hands roaming over her body as if learning every curve. “You’re the only woman I want, the only woman I mean to have.”
Before she could rouse a coherent thought, he was pulling the pins from her simple chignon and shaking her golden locks free. He tangled his fingers in her hair and tilted her head back, baring her throat and brushing his mouth over the sensitive skin.
A delightful shiver rippled through her.
“Nicholas, make love to me.”
Obeying her command, he scooped her into his strong arms, crossed the room and lowered her gently down on the bed.
“I’ve never seen anything as beautiful,” he said, his voice rich like fine wine as he perused her naked body. “And you were right. In this moment, life is wonderful. Everything is perfect.”
She reached up to him, the surge of raw emotion choking her throat. “I—I’ve lived for this moment. We will be together as we’ve dreamed of all these years. Nothing else matters.”
Whatever happened, they would always have this.
He held her hand and came to kneel between her legs. “I know how much you enjoyed my intimate kisses last time,” he drawled before pressing his lips to the inside of her thigh, inching his way higher to lick her sex, to flick his tongue over her aching bud and drive her insane.
Such was the exquisite torment, she gripped his hair and rocked her hips against his mouth. “Nicholas, I need all of you. I need you on top of me, inside me.” Heaven was moments away, and she wanted to watch him take his pleasure. “I need to see your face when you claim my virtue. Hurry. I can’t wait a second longer.”
He seemed to find her urgency amusing. Still, he took himself in hand and guided the head of his manhood to her entrance. “I’ll be as careful as I can. Tell me to stop if I hurt you.”
She stared into his eyes, not at the length and girth of his shaft. “Do it. Do it now. Make me yours.”
The moment Nicholas pushed into her body and stretched her wide, she felt an instant rush of love. They were joined in a way she’d not thought possible a mere month ago.
“Helen … love … I have never felt anything so divine.”
She tried to breathe evenly against the intrusion. He was so hard, so large. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around him and tilted her hips, drawing him a little deeper.
Then he started moving, rolling his hips ever so slowly, each time giving her a little more of himself—yet she wanted it all.
He heard her silent plea, his mouth settling on one hard nipple, the flicks of his tongue moving in time with each gentle thrust.
He didn’t tell her he was about to push past her maidenhead but she was lost in his drugging kisses, near mindless with need.
The first hard thrust made her gasp.