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The night sky lit with fireworks. Conor drew her closer into the curve of his arm.
‘Isn’t it perfect, querida?’ he asked softly.
Arden closed her eyes.
‘Perfect,’ she whispered.
Thank you, God, she thought, and the fireworks were still there, exploding on her closed lids in exquisite bursts of scarlet.
It was very late when they reached El Corazon. The house lay wreathed in silence, the servants were all gone to their rooms for the night.
Conor opened the door and they stepped quietly inside. He kissed her, put his arm around her waist, and slowly, they climbed the steps to the second floor. At the landing, he paused and turned Arden towards him.
‘I’ve been thinking about our wager,’ he said softly.
Her smile was tremulous. ‘Yes,’ she whispered, ‘so have I.’
He smiled back at her and stroked his hand lightly against her flushed cheek.
‘I’ll understand if you don’t want to keep it, sweetheart.’
Arden smiled, loving him all the more for that simple show of understanding.
‘Do you want me to keep it?’ she asked.
He took her in his arms and kissed her until she was breathless.
‘What do you think?’ he murmured, pressing his mouth to her hair.
A sigh whispered from her lips. ‘I think I want you to take me to your room,’ she said softly.
Conor drew back and cupped her shoulders in his hands. He smiled into her eyes, kissed her again, and then lifted her into his arms.
She clasped her arms around his neck and buried her face against his neck while he carried her down the hall to his room. The door snicked shut after them, and he lowered her slowly to the floor. Velvety darkness closed around them.
‘How I want you,’ Conor whispered. He stroked his fingers lightly over her face and she shut her eyes, hearing only the thudding beat of her heart and the whisper of his breath. ‘Mi amor,’ he said thickly, and his hands moved down her throat and across her breasts, his thumbs sweeping in tight arcs over her nipples.
She said his name, her voice broken and husky with desire, and he unbuttoned her blouse and let it fall away from her, unclasped her bra and let it follow the blouse. He kissed her deeply, almost violently, bending her back over his arm, and his hand swept over her body, branding her with flame.
She trembled as he dropped to his knees before her. ‘Arden,’ he sighed, his breath warm against her belly. She clutched his shoulders for support as he stripped away her skirt, her panties; her knees buckled when he clasped her hips and drew her towards him and when he put his mouth on her, she cried out his name.
‘So sweet,’ he whispered, tasting her. ‘So sweet and fresh, like a flower.’
He rose and pulled off his clothing, and then he took her in his arms again and carried her to the bed. There was a wildness in him tonight, she could feel it in the hard tension of his muscled shoulders, in the sharpness of his teeth as he nipped at her throat.
‘Arden,’ he said, and he clasped her wrists and drew her hands high over her head. ‘Mi amor,’ he whispered, and he entered her, slowly, exquisitely, so that she could feel the power of him filling her inch by inch.
She cried out his name, twisted her hands free, and dug them into his hair, drawing him down to her with a ferocity that matched the rapidly increasing thrusts of his body. She arched up from the bed, locked her legs around his hips, pleading wordlessly for him to bury himself deep within her.
I love you, she thought. She gave a little sob and pressed her lips to his throat, arched as if in pain above her. Oh, Conor, she thought, how I love you!
‘Querida,’ he whispered. He bent to her, caught her mouth with his and kissed her, his tongue moving against hers like silk. He tasted of heat and of the night, of the commingled passion of their straining bodies.
‘Look at me, Arden,’ he said, in a voice that pleaded as much as it commanded. She did as he’d asked, opening her eyes and focusing on him as he rose above her in the moment that preceded his final possession. ‘Yes, like that. Like that...’
He groaned, thrust deep, and Arden cried out, her call a keening note of promise and release that soared upwards into the darkness.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
