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“Until then,” he continued, pausing just before their lips touched to listen to her sharp, delicate breaths. “I’m yours.”
Chapter Fifteen
As Rafe set his lips so surely to hers, Sylvia had to remind herself to breathe. This man, who looked at and held her with such tenderness, was also in possession of a most wicked mouth. Sylvia arched against his muscular front, giving in to the heat already building between them once again. She appeared to have lost all composure. All sense of control.
It is only for tonight.
But for this one night, she would allow herself to be at his mercy. Completely.
Rafe let out a low moan of approval, as if he had heard the thought, then gently rolled on top of Sylvia. He pressed his forearms firmly into the mattress, bracketing her between them. The kiss turned hungrier as their tongues tangled together, both seeming to wrestle for control. Rafe began to laugh and pulled back.
“Do you ever let anyone lead you?”
“Not usually, no.”
Rafe grinned down at her and ran his fingers through her disheveled hair. “Good.”
He then leaned in and gave her a fierce, deep kiss that left Sylvia breathless. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, until her senses were full of his heat, his scent, his weight. She never wanted this to end. She wanted to feel him against her forever. Rafe moved to adjust himself to keep from crushing her, and Sylvia let out a whimper. Without a word, Rafe flipped them over. Now Sylvia sat astride him.
“There,” he panted. “I’ve always preferred this position anyway. Marvelous view.”
Sylvia managed an amused smile even while she tried not to think of the women who came before her. Then privately vowed that after tonight, they would all be a very distant memory. She had never been interested in competing over a man before. But now, with Rafe, she felt strangely possessive. Jealous, even. It went against so many of her own principles, and yet, as she stared down at his flushed cheeks and drew her hands along the lean muscles of his chest, a single word echoed in her mind in time with her heartbeat:
Mine. Mine. Mine.
Thank God he couldn’t tell, and she would have vehemently denied it, if asked. Sylvia slowly caressed his pectorals and down along the hard planes of his stomach. Rafe’s breath caught when she paused to linger at his defined obliques.
“You’re built like a statue. Remarkable.”
Her fingers slipped lower, and the groan Rafe emitted was extremely satisfying. She glanced up. He was riveted, watching her every movement.
The corner of her mouth lifted. “I think these are no longer needed,” she said as she ran a finger along the waistband of his breeches.
Rafe raised an eyebrow. “Well, then, we’ll just have to do something about that.”
Sylvia looked down and smiled. His hands moved toward the placard at the front of his breeches and made quick work of the buttons. Sylvia reluctantly moved aside so he could pull the garment off, and gasped. He was completely bare underneath.
Rafe turned to her. “They didn’t fit correctly with my drawers on,” he explained, though it really wasn’t necessary. “All right. Now you.”
Sylvia tore her eyes away from the impressive specimen resting between his legs. “Me?” she squeaked.
Rafe slowly nodded. “I’m afraid trousers of any kind are no longer welcome here.”
Sylvia rose to her knees and began the process of unbuttoning. When she glanced over, Rafe had leaned back and laced his hands behind his head, which did fantastic things to his arms. His chest was rising more rapidly, and his gaze was fixed on her hands. Then he looked up. His eyes burned nearly black.
“Keep going.”
His deep murmur set off a thundering pulse in her core. Sylvia gave herself a shake and finished the last few buttons. She pushed the wool fabric along with her drawers down over her hips and pulled them off her legs with as much grace as she could manage.
“I never dreamed watching someone remove their trousers could be so…diverting,” he drawled. Sylvia then began to unlace her corset, but Rafe sat up and turned her around. “Allow me. It will go faster.”
“You have somewhere else you need to be?” she teased, trying to fight down the nerves that had suddenly taken hold.
Rafe placed a lazy kiss against the back of her shoulder. “No. All I need is right here.”
The quip shouldn’t have made her feel so good. It was simply more of their usual banter.
It meant nothing.
