He moved to undo the tie of her bed robe and she moved back a little to let him do it. She knew no modesty, no shame, just pleasure and anticipation as he slipped his hands beneath the robe and around her waist, with only the slender barrier of her linen shift between his palms and her warm and willing flesh.
With a low moan, she relaxed against him, and let the robe glide from her shoulders to fall upon the floor. His arousal pressed against her, sending a host of new sensations through her already eager body.
“Make love with me, Ranulf,” she pleaded in a whisper. “We are as good as married now, for you’ll never break your pledge and neither will I.”
“My wife. My lovely, loving wife,” he whispered in return as he swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. “I will never forsake you.”
She watched with avid desire, frantic need, as he threw off his shirt and peeled away his breeches. He was magnificent, from the top of his ruddy-haired head to the soles of his feet. He was wonderful and good and hers to desire.
And never had she desired him more.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SHE HELD OUTher arms to him in silent invitation, not wanting to speak. Not needing to, as he quickly joined her on the bed, covering her with his beautiful body. As they kissed again, he worked his hand beneath the hem of her shift and slowly, slowly, pushed it upward along her naked thigh.
She gasped when his hand slid between her thighs, to caress her there, too.
“Are you frightened, Bea?” he asked gently. “Would you like me to stop?”
“No,” she answered honestly. “I…I think I like it.” He stroked again. She closed her eyes and answered in what was almost a purr. “Indeed, I like it very much.”
He smiled to hear her answer, delighted that she felt no hesitation, that she so obviously enjoyed her lover’s touch. For love her he would, tonight and every night, if that was what she wanted. He was hers to love and hers to desire.
This time, he would take his time. This would be no quick coupling of the sort he’d had when the urges of nature grew too strong, or the sordid seduction he’d practiced on those other young women all those years ago.
He was going to make love with Bea, loving her as he’d never loved a woman.
And as he kissed and caressed her, he truly understood that this was true. What he’d felt for Celeste had been merely a combination of admiration and desire. He had never imagined alife with Celeste. Never dreamed of her holding their child in her arms. Never wanted to sit by the warm flames of a hearth with her, listening to her talk about the cook or the laundry or the hundred other little things that made a life complete.
“My dearest, sweetest angel,” he murmured, brushing a kiss upon her forehead and then the tip of her nose. “I love you. I’ve loved you for weeks— months. I think I started to love you the moment I saw you standing on the steps in courtyard of Tregellas. But I thought…feared…”
“It doesn’t matter now,” she assured him. “I love you.”
“You make me so happy, Bea!”
“I’m very happy, too.” A sultry look came into her blue eyes, a look that made her seem far older than her years. “But unless I’ve misunderstood something, we’ll be happier yet if you don’t stop. Please don’t stop, Ranulf.”
His pleasure slipped into sensual desire. “I shall happily obey, my queen, my empress. My love.”
He kissed her lightly, his lips barely touching hers, and with that same teasing touch, he moved down her neck to her collarbone.
“What have we here?” he whispered as his fingertip traced the neckline of her shift. “A barrier. I shall have to storm it.”
“How do you intend to do that, sir knight? There’s no room in this bed for a trebuchet or other siege machine.”
“I believe…with my teeth,” he murmured, biting the end of the drawstring that tied the neck of her garment and pulling until the knot came undone. “Success.”
“And now?” she whispered breathlessly.
“Now I claim the prize that lies within.”
She closed her eyes and sighed as he insinuated his hand beneath her shift to cup her breast.
“Very nice and worth the storming,” he murmured as he nuzzled her shift lower. “Worth the waiting, too.”
Arching, she ran her hands over his broad shoulders. “I didn’t like the waiting,” she confessed. “But now you and your magnificent body are mine.”
His tongue found her nipple and swirled about the taut tip, sending a fresh wave of need over her. “I’m delighted I meet with your approval, my lady.”
