Page 306 of Once an Angel
he wouldn't be sleeping at this late hour. He sat propped against the pillows, reading by the flickering
light of a single candle. The heavy curtains of the four-poster had been drawn back and tied with incongruous lengths of hemp.
The downy comforter rode low on his abdomen. His chest was bare, his hair tousled. The candlelight danced off his gold spectacles. There was something so compelling about eyeglasses on a handsome man—such a teasing hint of leashed potential that Emily felt her breath catch with desire.
He looked up then to find her peering in at him. His eyes darkened with surprise, then displeasure.
Seeing no chance of honorable retreat, she crept into the room and stood shivering in the middle of his Aubus-son carpet. A fire stoked by fresh coal crackled on the grate. Justin laid aside the book, then
drew off his spectacles and folded them on the nightstand. Emily approached the bed. It loomed over
her, sumptuous, warm, and inviting. Unlike its occupant.
"I ... um ... I wanted . . ." She stammered, unable to find her words beneath his harsh gaze.
He threw back the comforter and bounded out of the bed, dragging the sheet around his waist. Emily realized he was nude beneath it.
He paced the bedroom in long strides. "So this is what it's come to between us. You think you can waltz in here after you've made it clear what you think of me." He paused in his pacing to glower at her. "Do you think me so desperate I'd take any scrap you'd care to throw my way?"
Dumbfounded by his impassioned speech, Emily felt her mouth fall open.
He raked a hand through his hair and circled her. "How could you expect me to face myself in the
mirror tomorrow if I compromise my honor for a few fleeting seconds of ecstasy?" He caught her by
the shoulders and gave her a hard little shake. "Do you think you're so charming in that silly little nightdress that I can't resist tumbling you? Do you think I have no pride when it comes to you?"
"B-b-but I—"
"Well, you're right," he shouted. "I don't!"
With that, his lips came down on hers. Emily tilted her head back, giving the full measure of her mouth
to his possession. His tongue plundered her with warm, rough abandon. She answered his desperate plea with a soft swirl of her own.
He swung her around to the bed and laid her beneath him. His hands tore at her drawers, shoving them away with none of the artful preliminaries he excelled in. It was as if he were afraid any hesitation might give the lonely night cause to take her back. He pressed himself into her, groaning when he found her as ready for him as he was for her.
Emily wrapped her arms around him, shivering at his rough urgency. She had been cold before, but now
a molten fire was spreading through her blood. His tongue invaded her mouth, taking her there just as
his hips were taking her lower. There was a savage edge to Justin's love-making she'd never experienced before. Both shock and pleasure rippled through her as he dragged her hips to the edge of the bed and stood between her legs, spreading and molding her until she could feel each of his fierce strokes pounding at the mouth of her womb. She wanted to scream beneath the force of it. She bit her lip, tasting blood. She felt her eyes roll back as her body threatened to succumb to that dark netherworld between pleasure and swooning.
He cupped her face in his hands. "Look at me, Emily," he commanded her hoarsely. "Look at me now."
She met his devouring gaze, seeing the beautiful face of the man she loved strained in an agony of pleasure. Still holding her gaze in his golden vise, he pinned her shoulders to the bed, forcing her
writhing body still for an even deeper possession.
Without warning, spasms of ecstasy wracked them both, and not even Justin's mouth on hers could completely muffle her broken wail.
* * *
Emily awoke with her mouth pressed against Justin's chest. Their bodies lay in a sleepy tangle, her leg thrown over his, his arm cupping her rump. The fire cast fingers of flame against the shadows. Caught
in the cradle of Justin's arms, she found the massive bed warmer and cozier than she ever could have dreamed.
She rubbed her cheek against his chest, utterly sated. He had made love to her again after the first time, extinguishing the candle and taking her with such reverent gentleness it had made her weep. His hands had stroked and soothed her tender flesh as if to ease away the rough edges of their desperate coupling.
