Page 29 of Revelations of A Secret Princess

Caro’s hands slipped up over wide shoulders to the back of his head, fingertips slipping into thick hair that, like his mouth, was surprisingly soft.

Now there was no thought of leaving, of doing anything more than giving in to this compulsion.

Her breathing grew short and her pulse unsteady as the kiss became more than slow seduction. She needed Jake as surely as her oxygen-starved lungs needed air.

She gloried in it all. From the feel of his muscled thighs against hers to the possessive clasp of those powerful hands and the magic of his mouth moving with hers. She shuddered as Jake’s tongue swept deep in a caress that detonated explosions right through her.

When he pulled back to nip at her lower lip, then press kisses to the corner of her mouth and down to her jawline, Caro muffled a cry. He made her feel things she’d never felt before.

‘Don’t,’ he murmured, nuzzling that sensitive spot at the base of her neck. ‘I want to hear you.’

Her eyes snapped open. Eyes the colour of mercury, silvery bright, snagged hers.

‘I want to know what you like.’ His voice was different. Husky deep, like treacle over gravel, its rich abrasiveness turning everything inside her molten.

‘Everything. I like everything.’

Caro didn’t care that her voice betrayed her need. Not when he pressed close so his erection nudged her. She squirmed, planting her hands on his shoulders, trying to get closer.

‘Everything?’ One straight black eyebrow rose. His chest pushed her sensitised breasts as he drew a breath. Instantly her hard nipples ached and the ache drew down like an arrow, through her belly to the empty place between her legs.

She hesitated. A lifetime’s practice in self-denial and caution closed her throat.

But not for long. Despite the alarm bells clanging in the back of her mind, and the hazy thought that for reasons she couldn’t recall this was a bad idea, it felt so good. In Jake’s arms Caro felt a wonder and a yearning that was totally new.

‘Everything,’ she gasped, cupping the back of his skull and tugging his mouth back to hers.

Now there was no languor, just fire and sizzling sensation. He looped an arm around her back while his other hand strayed over skin and fragile cotton, exploring, making her gasp. His fingers slid between her thighs, over her panties. She pushed up to meet his touch, eliciting a growl of approval from the mouth welded to hers.

The sound burred over her bare arms and slid like a liquid channel, down to the place where she burned for him.

Caro was aware of movement. The wide lounger behind her legs, then she was in Jake’s arms, eyes popping open as he lowered her onto it and came down above her.

Fire was everywhere. Fire and longing. She plucked at his T shirt, drawing it up as she curled her ankles around his legs to stop him moving away. The press of his body set her alight.

‘Wait.’ It might have been an order except his voice was raw with a need that matched hers. Jake pulled back to straddle her hips, yanking his T shirt off.

Caro’s mouth dried. She’d never seen a man with a body like his. Wide shoulders, a powerful, deep chest with a light fuzz of dark hair that accentuated the contours of muscles. Below that smoother skin, taut with more muscle that tapered to a narrow waist.

Caro reached for him but he caught her hands and shook his head. ‘Soon.’ He bent low, pushing up her old camisole top. Then he took her nipple in his mouth, drawing hard.

Caro didn’t mean to cry out but the shocking delight was too exquisite. Need sang in her blood and she fought to free her wrists and reach for him.

‘Patience, Caro.’ He crooned her name, turning it into a caress as he moved to her other breast, using his free hand, his lips and tongue to work magic.

She felt almost overwrought at the sensations he evoked. After years of celibacy and emotional numbness, he brought her to life with a vengeance. Delight danced through her and the need for more, more, more.

When he moved lower, his tongue slicking her navel and beyond, Caro didn’t know whether to weep or cheer. She loved what he was doing but she was teetering on an edge, where one nudge would make her fall off the precipice. She wanted to be with him when that happened.

Then his downward progress stopped. He traced a wide arc low across her belly. Then he looked up and the question in his eyes punctured the delirium of need.

‘Caro?’ For the first time since she’d known him, Jake looked hesitant. A line appeared between those dark eyebrows and his chest expanded as if on a sustaining breath. ‘Are these what I think?’

Even then her bewitched brain couldn’t make sense of his words. She levered herself up. He was looking at the pale striations across her abdomen.

Stretch marks.

Acquired during her eight and a quarter months of pregnancy.

---