"I don't have to be. You'll recall, it's vitally necessary that I'm not."
His hands slipped down to cup her buttocks. "I'm going to lift you. Put your limbs about my hips."
"Why--" She instinctively clasped him with her legs as he sank deep within her. Her eyes closed and she lost her breath. The sensation was tight, stretched, hot. "What a peculiar--" He was walking. She grabbed hold of him. "Where are--"
"Here." He pressed her back against the tapestry. "Nasim can't see here. Only straight ahead."
Nasim. She should be grateful he couldn't see, but she couldn't seem to think. She was only aware of Kadar inside her and the soft tapestry against her buttocks.
And then she was aware of nothing but sensation, as Kadar began to lunge in and out of her with frantic force.
Need. More. Move.
She was making soft, frantic cries deep in her throat as the fever grew.
He reached between them, his thumb seeking, finding.
Her teeth bit into his shoulder to stifle a scream as his thumb pressed, teased, rotated. "Ah, you like it?"
She couldn't answer. The muscles of her belly were tensing and releasing with every movement, and the tension was mounting, growing.
"Kadar, it's--"
"I know." His hand left her and he was driving harder, faster. "Let it go," he said through his teeth. "I'm trying, but I don't know if--"
Release. More fiery and climactic than anything that had gone before. She clutched him tighter. Tears streamed down her face.
"Good," he gasped. "Oh, God." He plunged to the quick.
She was vaguely aware of him shuddering, flexing within her, as she desperately held on to him.
His chest was laboring as he fought for breath. "Are you all right? Did I--hurt you?"
She didn't know if she was all right or not. She felt as if she had been through a storm that had uprooted everything she knew and tossed it to the winds.
"Selene?"
"Not hurt. I'm--It was--"
"Hush. It will be fine soon." He left her body and shifted his hold. He was carrying her toward the divan.
Softness beneath her. Kadar beside her, cradling her.
"Before it was pleasant," she whispered. "That was not--pleasant. It felt--I was not myself. I didn't know it would be like that."
"No, pleasant isn't the word. Much too tame." He brushed his lips across hers. "But I think your pleasure was as intense as mine."
Yes, it had been pleasure, she realized. The sensation had been so intense that it had been hard to identify. "Will it be like that again? Is that what you feel all the time?"
"The pleasure is deeper with you." He cupped her breast. "But it will be like that again every time."
"Then I can see why you rutted with every woman in Scotland."
He chuckled. "I'm glad for your understanding." He bent and ran his tongue over her nipple. "But I fear you've spoiled me for other women."
Her breast was swelling beneath his touch and she could feel a tingling between her thighs. "Are we going to--"
"Soon. But the urgency is gone." His fingers were delving between her thighs. "I thought we'd play a little first."
