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It was now or never. She drew in a deep calming breath. “You warned me once you’d keep me safe, but could make no promises.”
“That still holds true.”
“And if I want you anyway?” Her voice shook more than she would have liked.
“Ellery, I can’t. You don’t understand.”
“But you want me? As a man wants a woman?” The dark sensual light in his eyes was all the answer she needed.
He wanted her. Desired her. But was that enough? She made up her mind.
For tonight, it would have to be.
She was cut off by the crush of his arm around her waist as he pulled her against him. By the force of his mouth on hers. Immediately, she was soaked by his cold, clinging shirt. Gooseflesh rose on her skin. Rainwater dripped off his hair onto her cheeks, streamed down her face like tears.
An image of her mother flashed before her. The sorrow. The desperation. And in the end, the hopeless resignation. What the hell was she doing? She should tell him to stop. Tell him to leave. But what Ellery whispered was, “You’re wet through.”
“Aye,” he muttered.
Between one breath and the next, his shirt was gone, the carved muscles of his chest dusky in the candle glow. She ached to run her fingers over the swirls of his mage marks, to tease a heat into those eyes born of human desire and not magic.
He glanced down at her damp nightgown. “We can’t have you catching cold,” he murmured.
With one practiced move, her shift lay on the floor around her ankles. Allowing no time for shyness and none for words, he recaptured her lips in another kiss that erased all her doubts. All her questions.
He glided his hand over her shoulder, around one breast, the checked strength in his callused palm almost unbearable. She shuddered, moving into his touch. Her breathing grew ragged as every stroke only made her more impatient for the next. Oh, yes. This pleasure was worth the regret that would follow tomorrow.
She combed her fingers through his hair, loving his crisp rain-smell, the cool touch of his fingers.
As if in supplication, he fell to his knees, his bowed head resting against the flat of her stomach. “…I won’t…not now…” He spoke to himself. No more than a whisper. But the force of his words threatened to break the spell surrounding them.
“Conor?” She hated the need in her voice.
He looked up at her, and any last-minute hesitations that might have been lurking were lost amid the swirl of sin and seduction in his eyes. “You’re safe, Ellery.” His lazy, sexy smile was equal parts reassurance and enticement.
Then his hands encircled her waist. His teeth grazed the long length of her legs; his breath tickling as he dropped kisses up her inner thighs. Her stomach flip-flopped. Her legs grew weak. Small whimpers escaped her throat with every inch of flesh he tormented with his lips.
She wanted to join him on the floor, but he kept her standing. Pushed her back against the wall.
Then his head was between her legs, his tongue flicking against the soft folds. Tasting the nub that lay hidden there. She jerked back. Choked on a shout that would have left no doubt in anyone’s mind what was going on in here.
Her knees turned to jelly. Fisting her hands in the curtains to hold herself up, she melted into him. Into the hot, excruciating feel of him lapping at the most secret center of her. She writhed against him, her pulse quickening as pressure built beneath his hands and his mouth until every stroke of his tongue brought her closer to the edge. As if a bomb had gone off inside her, her inner muscles spasmed. She was wet and swollen and ready, but Conor played her. Probing. Retreating. Knowing just how far to go to keep her suspended in churning, mind-blowing anticipation.
He finally released his death-grip on her waist, allowing her to slide wobbly-kneed to the floor with him.
Boldly taking his face in her hands, she claimed his mouth in a deep, sensual kiss. Savored her essence on his tongue. Rubbed herself against his erection. He was as ready as she was. She leaned into him, whispered into his ear. “Take me.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “I plan to. And nothing stops me tonight.”
He swept her up in his arms and laid her back on the carpet. No time for the bed. He wanted her now. He wouldn’t give her a chance to change her mind. Tonight fealty, responsibility, honor fell away. Only Ellery mattered. Only the pleasure he could give her. The passion she begged for with every caress.
Tomorrow he would gather his burdens back up. Do what he needed to do.
There would be no life with Ellery. But he would leave her a life. She would have to settle for that.
Beneath him, her body shuddered with every brush of his fingers. She bit back a moan, her eyes black with desire. The musky, earthy scent she gave off acted on his brain and his body like an aphrodisiac. And watching her watch him only aroused him more, if that were possible.
He skimmed her with his tongue, delighting in the sweet honey of her flesh, the curves and valleys, the growing need that took her over as she panted for more. He wanted to feel her close around him, to join with her and know the crashing ecstasy that would swallow them both.
