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The smell of him, the sight of him, the feel of him, totally overwhelmed her starved senses, her body, so sensitive to him that her breasts were aching for his touch even before she felt his hands reaching out to cup them. Eagerly she moved to accommodate and help him, shivering in mute pleasure as she felt the hard familiarity of his palms against the taut peaks of her nipples.
Beneath his robe he was naked and it was heaven to have the luxury of sliding her hands up over his shoulders and down his back, to feel the solid male warmth of his skin, his body beneath her hands, to have the longed-for male reality of his flesh against her own, to feel that she was totally and completely surrounded and protected by him.
‘Silas.’ As she said his name she moved beneath him, silently inviting him to increase the intimacy between them.
As he felt her lifting her body towards his Silas groaned. He could feel her trembling as he touched her and he knew that he was shaking just as much. There hadn’t been this much sexual tension between them even the first time they had made love. It felt as though their bodies were waiting to explode, to meld, to come together so completely that they could never be parted again.
She felt so good, so right…so…so Verity. He wanted to touch her, kiss her, possess her so completely that she would never be able to leave him again.
His hand touched her stomach and she rose up eagerly against him. He bent his mouth towards her breast, holding his breath as he started to lick delicately at her nipple, half afraid he might accidentally hurt her as he forced himself to go slowly, but Verity seemed to have no such inhibitions, her hand going to the back of his head as she pulled him closer to her body so that his mouth opened fully over her damp nipple.
Shuddering, he drew it deeply into his mouth and started to suck rhythmically on her. Beneath his hand he could feel the flesh of her belly grow hot and damp. Her face was flushed with desire, her body trembling as she made small, pleading cries deep in her throat.
Wordlessly he parted her thighs. The room was light enough for him to be able to see her naked body, and her sex. He could remember how shy she had been the first time he had whispered to her how much he wanted to see her, to look at her. But she had still let him and he could still remember the sense of awe and love he had felt, knowing just how much she trusted him.
He could see that same trust in her eyes now and, even though he knew he was deluding himself, it was almost as though there had never been anyone else for her but him, as though her body had never known any other lover, as though it had memories of only him, his touch, his need, his love.
Sombrely he parted her soft outer lips, exposing the secret kernel of her sex. His heart was thudding frantically fast, his own body stiff with arousal and need. He could see her looking at him, silent and wide-eyed as she reached out to caress him with her fingertips.
Very gently he touched her, coaxing, caressing.
Verity gave a low, aching groan, her hand tightening around him. She could feel her body responding to him, aching for him. It had been without him for so long that it needed no preliminaries, hungry and eager now for the longed-for feel of him within it.
‘I want you, Silas,’ she told him jerkily. ‘I need you…now…Oh, yes, now…’ she whispered frantically. ‘Now. Now…now…’
The rhythm of their lovemaking was fast and intense, their shared climax a juddering, explosive catalyst of release that left them both trembling as Silas held Verity in his arms.
‘Stay with me,’ Verity whispered to him as her exhausted body slid into sleep. ‘Don’t leave me, Silas. Please don’t leave me…Not this time…’
As she slept Silas looked down into her face. She was a woman now, a woman with a woman’s needs, a woman’s sexuality. If she hadn’t loved him enough to put their love first before, she was hardly likely to do so now. She might want him sexually, she might even stay for a while, but it wasn’t just his own emotions she was likely to hurt this time, his own heart she could easily break. There was Honor to consider as well.
‘Stay with me,’ she had begged him. But she was the one who had left him
. She was the one who had refused to stay.
Very slowly he eased himself away from her, picking up his discarded robe as he looked down at her.
‘Stay with me,’ she had said. As he bent and kissed her cheek a single tear rolled down her face, but it wasn’t one of her own.
Clenching his jaw, Silas walked towards the door, closing it quietly behind him without daring to look back.
CHAPTER NINE
VERITY surfaced slowly from the deepest and most relaxing sleep she could remember having in a long time. She stretched luxuriously, a womanly knowing smile curling her mouth. Her body felt deliciously, blissfully satisfied. Even her skin where the sunlight shone warmly on her exposed arm on top of the duvet seemed to have a silken, sensuous shimmer to it. She closed her eyes and made a purring sound of female happiness deep in her throat as she savoured the novelty of feeling so good. It was as if she had opened a present, spilling out from it a glowing, sparkling, magical gift of happiness and love. Mmm…Her eyes still closed, she rolled over and reached out for Silas.
Abruptly, Verity opened her eyes properly, her body tensing as her hand rested on the cold empty space on the other half of the bed. Of course. She had known Silas wouldn’t be there in bed beside her—he had Honor to think of, after all—but the pristine smoothness of the unused pillow next to her own suggested that he had left her on her own as speedily as he could, not even pausing for a few moments to savour their closeness, and that hurt!
Her happiness and joy evaporated immediately.
Once before, he had left her like this and she had woken up alone. Then, he had returned carrying arms full of flowers and fresh bagels he had bought from a bakery in her New York neighbourhood.
Then they had shared a breakfast of kisses and bagels in her bed.
Then…
But this was now and instinct told her that the reason for his absence from her bed had nothing to do with any plans he had to surprise her with early morning flowers or other gifts of love.
She could hear footsteps on the stairs leading to her bedroom but she knew, even before the door was pushed open and Honor’s dark head appeared around it, that they did not belong to Silas.
