“Come upstairs with me,” she whispered in his ear.
God help him, but he followed. After all, what did it matter at this point? Henry couldn’t hang him twice for the same offense.
Besides ‘twas infinitely better to spend the night in her arms than walking the parapets.
She led him to her room where the fire had burned low in the hearth, and a single tallow candle lit the room. It smelled of roses and apples, and the smell instantly warmed him.
Draven stopped in the center of the room and pulled her into his arms. He leaned his face down into the hollow of her throat and inhaled the precious scent that was his Emily.
She cupped his elbows in her hands and nuzzled her head against his neck. Draven swallowed. She had seen him in ways no one ever had. When he looked into her eyes he didn’t see the bastard demon born of hell, he saw himself as he wanted to be. Kind, heroic, noble, and most of all lovable.
He touched her lips with his fingertips. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For seeing the best inside of me.”
She smiled at him. “I only see what is there.”
Not believing it for a minute, he leaned forward and kissed her.
Emily surrendered herself to him with a gentle moan of pleasure.
“I have never seen anything more wondrous than you,” he said softly.
She smiled at him. He enveloped her with his arms and held her close to the heat of his body.
Emily trembled. For some reason, she felt as though she’d come home after a long absence.
Something about being with this man just felt so very right.
She looked up to see if he felt it as well. She didn’t know, but his gaze burned into hers.
He dipped his head toward her lips and she welcomed his kiss. Emily moaned deep in her throat as their lips met. This was what she had been aching for. Time alone with a man she loved as he rained kisses on her.
With a boldness that astounded her, she took his lips between her teeth and tugged gently. She wanted to devour this man, to feel every inch of him against her and to never, ever let him go.
Draven’s head swam as he tasted the sweet nectar of her mouth. She clutched at his back with her hands, pulling him so close to her that he feared he might actually hurt her.
In her innocence, she rubbed her breasts against his chest, searing him with heat. Draven moaned as she shifted her weight in his arms and her hip collided with his swollen groin.
“Emily.” He groaned, trying to pull back from her.
Instead, she leaned forward, recapturing his lips with her own.
His will shredded by her touch, Draven was past the point of rational thought. All he could focus on was the manifestation of his dreams. The pleasure of her smell, the feel of her hip grinding against the part of him he had longed to give her.
“Make love to me, Draven, for the rest of the night.” Emily buried her hands in his hair.
She felt him tugging at the hem of her gown, lifting it up so that he was able to touch the bare flesh of her buttocks as he kissed her fiercely, demandingly.
She reveled in the feel of him, in the knowledge that she would never want another man the way she wanted Draven.
Never.
Ecstasy tore through her as chills erupted the length of her body. She wasn’t sure what thrilled her more, the feel of his tongue stroking her neck or the strong hands that touched her in places no other man had ever touched.
Draven cupped her face in his hands and kissed her deeply.
