Page 63 of Modern Romance January 2025 1-4

Stars sprinkled the edges of his vision as everything grew tighter, harder.

‘Are you ready,Chrysi mou?’

He heard muffled laughter, quickly stifled. ‘Can’t you tell?’

She was amused? While he was racked with pleasure-pain at the effort it took to control himself?

He released one breast, tracing a line all the way down her body to the cleft between her legs. His fingers found slick, wet heat and she pushed convulsively into his touch.

‘Lex!’

He heard the strain in her voice and knew they were equals in this, had been from the start. Yet he wasn’t used to feeling so completely at the mercy of impulses he couldn’t control.

‘Tell me you’ve already got that condom on.’

‘I’m always prepared.’

Sex was too important for carelessness. He was meticulous about that and, he dimly realised, so was Portia.

‘I can’t imagine you as a Scout.’ He heard a gurgle of laughter and this time he found himself smiling despite the way his body strained.

Lex nudged her knees wider, lifting her hips, and let himself slide between her legs. He shuddered, close to physical overload.

‘They wouldn’t have let me join the Scouts.’ He clenched his teeth as he positioned himself against her. ‘They met on your father’s land.’

‘He couldn’t have stopped...oh!’

Yes, oh. It never ceased to amaze him how perfect their union was. Every time. Whether rushed and desperate or more considered, at least in the beginning. Each time it felt like the world stopped turning.

Sensation juddered through him as he guided himself home. For the longest moment they both held still, absorbing the wonder of it. Then Lex had to move. Because he was only human and his need for Portia was too strong.

Gripping her hips, he eased back then drove hard, relishing the way she met him, creating a rhythm of surge and retreat that tantalised and heightened their need.

The way they moved together made his brain blank so that all he could think of was Portia and their incredible, tantalising journey towards completion.

Knowing how she responded to his touch, he leaned forward to cup one bobbing breast.

Okay, you like it too. That soft weight, just the perfect size for your palm.

Their rhythm sped up, smooth movements becoming staccato. Breaths growing choppy. Friction impossibly arousing. Until he felt the tight tickle of sensation around his lower body and knew he couldn’t last.

Lex leaned in, his chest to her back, finding the place at the side of her neck that made her shiver. Gently he nipped her there. Grabbing the bed head with one hand, he slid the other down her body, tracing each undulation of torso and belly before delving between her thighs again.

There. That gasp of breath. The shiver across her skin that became a clenching shudder of internal muscles, greedily claiming him.

For a moment Lex hovered on the brink of smugness. Because he’d lasted long enough to bring Portia undone. Then a climax hit them both, a single wave crashing over the pair of them, catching them up and hurling them into another dimension.

Pleasure was too mild a word for what he felt. It was everything. Fire. Bliss. Pure ecstasy. Possessiveness too. Satisfaction. Joy at her rapture. And shock at how perfect the moment. Lex squeezed his eyes shut against the final, phantom shudders.

As the blaze of golden light finally receded and he came back to himself, he knew a hint of disquiet.

Far from satisfying his hunger, this weekend had done nothing to diminish his need for Portia.

The suspicion of disquiet grew. He felt like a swimmer who’d overestimated his abilities as deep water closed overhead. As if he’d ventured out of his depth.

Lex dragged diamond-sharp air into his lungs, feeling the cold clear his head. ‘You were right. It would have been a shame, returning to the city without getting out into the fresh air.’

Portia slanted him a sideways look from dark eyes. ‘Do you miss it? The countryside?’

---