Page 62 of A Touch So Wicked

Damian was silent a long time, then he said, “I will consider your request.”

“When can I leave?”

“When I decide the time is right.”

He grasped her shoulders and pulled her against him. His voice held a desperate note. “You don’t understand, do you, sweeting?”

“What am I supposed to understand?”

His voice was taut, as if stretched to the limit. “That no matter how hard I try to stay away from you, I find myself being drawn ever closer. Lust is a strange emotion. I’ve been smitten before, but never like this. I’ve always prided myself on my self-control, until you came along. What happened to me, Elissa? Has your old nurse put a spell on me?”

“There is no such thing,” Elissa scoffed.

He shifted, melding their bodies together. “Can you feel how much I want you?”

Her breath hitched; desire pounded through her. He was already swollen and hard. Her resolve melted as she fell headlong into his passion, letting it fill her until there was nothing but raw need throbbing through her.

“You shouldna be here,” she whispered tremulously.

He gave her a wolfish grin, then captured her lips, moving his mouth passionately over hers. Elissa tried to tell herself she didn’t want this, but the lie stung her tongue. Dimly she recalled Nan’s words earlier tonight, after she’d denied that she carried Damian’s bairn.

Will ye be able to say that tomorrow with the same confidence?

Not if Damian had his way tonight, a small voice cautioned. The warning was like chaff in the wind as Damian’s mouth and hands made a mockery of her resolve. She wanted to feel him close to her, wanted to savor every dazzling, exciting moment while she could, before reality intruded. Her mouth clung to his; her arms crept around his neck, needing more than mere kisses.

She responded eagerly, holding nothing of herself back. The urgent pressure of his body against hers made her feel gloriously alive. His kiss deepened; she responded with a moan of surrender. She wanted him inside her…now.

Damian ended the kiss; she clung to his lips, breathless, dazed. He regarded her solemnly, his voice raw with feeling. “There’s no place I would rather be at this moment.”

“I’ll never forgive you for doing this to me.”

He bunched her nightdress in his fists and raised it slowly upward. “Doing what?”

Her heart slammed against her ribs. “Making me want you.”

She raised her eyes to his and saw naught but his raw need. There was no pretense in his steady gaze, only a dark and heady intensity that hung heavy in the air. It was effortless seduction, and she was his willing partner.

His hand found her. She felt her wetness flow over his fingers, felt hot and damp and swollen as he slid his fingers inside to tease and arouse. His fingers reached deeply. She uttered a raw cry and climaxed violently, arching up against him.

She returned to reality slowly, dimly aware that they were both naked, and that Damian was stroking her breasts, his silver eyes aglow with anticipation. He kissed her open mouth, drawing in her small panting breaths as his clever hands began arousing her again.

“’Tis my turn, sweeting,” he murmured brokenly.

He settled himself into a comfortable position against the headboard and suspended her over his rigid arousal. Elissa felt the engorged tip nudge her opening and guided him inside.

Damian’s lashes drifted downward as Elissa’s tight sheath closed around him. Intense pleasure overwhelmed him as he thrust upward. He groaned. Paradise could never be as sweet, as perfect as this moment. His thoughts scattered as she melted around him, and suddenly he was desperately frantic, wildly rampant, for he felt like a cannon ready to explode.

“Hurry, sweeting,” he gasped harshly. “I don’t know how much longer I can wait.”

He opened his mouth and took one turgid nipple into his mouth, suckling her. He heard her breath quicken and felt his control slipping. He thrust upward, at the same time bringing her hips forcefully downward. She writhed and thrashed in a fierce fury and clung to him more tightly each time his engorged erection lunged inside her.

When he felt her stiffen and vibrate around him, he allowed his own climax to burst upon him. He continued to pump vigorously until he was utterly drained, totally spent. Then he slid down onto the mattress and held himself inside her. Elissa stirred and settled into his arms. He held her close while she slept, his mind churning restlessly.

What had just taken place between him and Elissa was an eruption of raw, unbridled desire. His hunger for Elissa was a wild, uncontrollable thing that shook him to the core. He’d always been a man who depended on his wits to survive. He’d been a loner most of his life, a ruthless soldier with neither kith nor kin. He had friends like Dickon, but not since he’d lost his father at Culloden and his mother years before that had anyone really cared about his welfare. Misterly gave him a sense of belonging, of finding the peace that had been lacking in his life.

As for Elissa, she made him human, changing him from the Demon Knight to a man. Lust was part of it, but what he felt for Elissa was more than that, and not nearly as simple to define. For his own preservation, he vowed to keep that elusive emotion at bay lest he lose everything he’d struggled so hard to achieve.

He couldn’t bear to lose Misterly. He already loved the land, and he’d even come to appreciate the dour, hardworking Highlanders. Lady Marianne was an exceptional woman who had survived the loss of loved ones, and little Lora was an adorable urchin who seemed to like him for himself. There were few people he could say that about.