Page 45 of One Bridegroom Required!

‘Oh, I think you can take me, Holly. You’re so ripe and ready for me, sweetheart, and I haven’t even started.’

He dropped to the ground over her, his knees to either side of her hips so that she was confronted with the sight of his manhood pushing a hard, tight column against his belly, and she gave a little moan of wonder. Forgetting everything, she raised her hand falteringly, then let it fall, but he captured it with his, raised it to his mouth and kissed it, his eyes never leaving her face.

‘If you want to touch me, sweetheart—then I’m all yours.’

Curiosity made her reach out, her fingertips lightly skating down the broad, silken shaft.

He bore it for no more than a few seconds before his hand came down again, but this time it halted hers with steely insistence. ‘Don’t,’ he said tersely.

‘You don’t like it?’

‘You know damned well I do,’ he ground out painfully, as he sucked in a deep breath of control.

‘Then why stop?’

‘No games, Holly.’ His laugh was hollow. ‘No games—okay? No pretence. This is going to be so good. So good. We both know that. Because you want me, baby—you want me real bad.’

What she had wanted was for him to kiss her. She wanted him to kiss her now. Oh, she wanted this, too—but a kiss was what she longed for.

And maybe he sensed it, for he lowered his head to hers. But the kiss was not sweet, or tender—it did nothing for her emotions but everything for her senses, making desire accelerate so rapidly that she felt she was spinning in a dark vortex where Luke was the only thing that mattered. He kissed her until she had no breath left in her body and every last trace of resistance had flown. With that kiss he claimed her and made her his.

Eventually he wonderingly raised his head, and carefully brushed a lock of hair from her face. ‘Are you on the pill?’

She shook her head and began to blush, thanking heaven that the darkness meant he wouldn’t be able to see. For heaven’s sake, she had been touching him just about as intimately as a woman could touch a man—so why was the mention of contraception making her suddenly go all coy? Was she hurt that his words had been so prosaic, lacking the tenderness she had been longing to hear?

He took a condom from his pocket and slid it on, then moved back over her again, taking some of his weight on his elbows, and she shivered with anticipation as she felt the hard, warm weight of him. The feel of crisp, hair-roughened skin. Experimentally, she scraped her fingernails over the rock-hard globes of his buttocks, and felt him jerk beneath her touch with pleasure.

Luke looked down at her, revelling in the feel of her softness beneath him. He had longed for this moment since he had first seen her standing in all her colt-like beauty outside the shop, her face framed by the flames of her hair. She had been a fever in his blood ever since, and he wondered if only this would cure him of his obsession.

He trickled a leisurely finger over her peaking nipple, then bent and took the rosy nub into the warm, moist cavern of his mouth.

‘Oh!’ Holly’s eyes shivered to a close as she felt his tongue slicking against her.

She felt his hand on the flat of her belly, circling its palm over the heat which radiated from her skin, and she felt her hips rise up to meet his, demanding more, more—as if instinct was controlling her and she no longer had dominance over her own body. She tried to pull his hand down to where the ache was becoming unbearable, but he wouldn’t let her.

He laughed unsteadily. ‘Yes’ You’re greedy, Holly,’ he whispered against her ear. ‘I knew you would be. Wild, artistic, temperamental—seeking out every new sensation you can, is that it?’

Blindly she nodded her head, not knowing what she was agreeing to, only that if he didn’t do something soon to ease this terrible wanting she would explode.

‘Please, Luke...’ she beseeched him. ‘Oh, please!’

At last! This was where he had wanted her, soft and naked and writhing beneath him, begging him to bring her to fulfilment. That in itself should have been victory enough, and yet Luke was suddenly aware of a void...of this not being enough.

‘Please,’ she pleaded again.

His mouth hardened as he felt her impatience. She wanted satisfaction, and she wanted it quickly. ‘You heartless little bitch,’ he whispered, the sight of her naked against the luxurious folds of creamy silk exciting him to fever-pitch. ‘I’m just a body to you, aren’t I, Holly? A hot, slick machine designed to bring you pleasure.’ But he drew in a deep breath until he had himself under control once more.

‘W-what?’ she stumbled, trying in vain to surface from this enchantment.

‘Nothing.’ He let his hand drift downwards, a featherlight flick to where she was taut and molten, and she gasped. ‘God, you’re responsive,’ he murmured, disbelief growing on his face as he realised how close to the edge she was. He flicked again, then circled, around and around, and felt her arch beneath him, her body stretched with unbearable tightness until the spasms began and he could feel her pulsing beneath his finger, while she clung to him, making little cries of pleasure into his ear.

Her eyes flickered open as the sensations began to fade, and she looked at him in bewilderment. ‘W-what happened?’

‘What happened? You had just about the quickest orgasm on record, sweetheart, that’s what happened.’

She gave him a befuddled gaze. ‘But I...don’t understand.’

His laugh was as cold as his body was hot and longing to thrust into her moist heat. ‘Oh, come on—baby—I think we’re both a little too experi

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