His voice was harsh but Isla didn’t seem to mind.
Theo had believed he already enjoyed the finest view possible, until she reached back and undid the black lace bra, letting it slide down her arms and freeing her breasts to sway above him.
Was it possible to come just from looking at a woman?
He felt so close, so aroused that for long seconds he couldn’t move. Finally, with a shuddering breath he closed the distance between them. Hands gently cradling her bare hips, he kissed her belly. A tiny, fervent yet featherlight kiss right above their baby. Then more kisses, gentle and full of wonderment and desire.
He tightened his grip as she sighed and he felt her wobble as if her knees loosened. He knew the feeling, he was experiencing it right now.
‘Easy,glykia mou.’ His breath feathered her skin and she quivered anew, her hands anchoring on his bare shoulders. Even that simple touch felt like a gift.
As for Isla, she was a miracle. He couldn’t imagine wanting another woman the way he did her. Because of the baby she carried? No, it was more than that. Impending motherhood merely added to her potent allure.
Theo skimmed his lips across her abdomen, intrigued by the swell of her pregnancy. Then he kissed his way down to the silky thatch of chestnut hair, nuzzling as he went.
He heard her call his name but because of the rush of blood in his ears he couldn’t tell if it was a question or a plea. He slid one hand between her thighs, a grunt of satisfaction escaping as she widened her stance, allowing him access. She was slippery, ready for him, and his erection rose against the confines of his trousers. He was so needy it physically hurt but this wasn’t the time for urgent sex.
Theo reminded himself she was pregnant, of the need to be especially gentle. He ignored the ache in his groin, the sense that his lower body had turned leaden, and concentrated on her.
His questing touch reached her clitoris and she stiffened, fingers tightening on his shoulders. As he delved further and deeper, she shuddered and sighed, her pelvis tilting up the way a sunflower follows bright light.
Isla was that light for him, always drawing him. He knew that if he hadn’t been locked up in prison, he’d never have been able to keep his distance, even knowing their separation was for the best.
But now there was nothing keeping them apart. His scruples and fears about involving her in his life meant nothing now she carried their child. She belonged with him and he intended to prove it to her.
He smiled as he leaned in and kissed her intimately, drawing in her scent and taste. Slowly he feasted, taking his time, not like the starving man he was, who’d gone without for so long. Instead, he savoured every exquisite sensation and above all Isla’s responses.
He knew she had doubts about marriage and them being a family, but he’d win her over. One way or another.
Mouth still on her, he looked up and saw her, head thrown back, breasts thrust forward, looking wild and beautiful. He’d never known a more enthralling woman. Sweet and tender yet determined and with a core of strength that made her all the more alluring.
With or without the baby she was a woman worth winning.
She looked down, their gazes meshing, heat saturated him at their powerful, erotic connection. He drew on her soft flesh and she shuddered. He felt the tiny tremble begin low in her body and did it again.
Her fingers threaded his hair, clamping his skull as she tilted into his caress. His senses were full of her arousal, exacerbating his own need.
‘Theo!’ It was a cry of exultation and surrender as her body grew taut as a drawn bow, still for just a moment, before completion crashed upon her and he gathered her close as she shivered in ecstasy.
When the shudders stopped he nudged her towards the bed. The backs of her legs touched the mattress and she collapsed onto it. The dreamy bliss on Isla’s face told him everything he needed to know. As did her pale arm reaching out for him.
Isla’s body had turned to jelly and her soul to radiant light. Theo had given her ecstasy but far more too.
Crazy as it sounded to what was left of her logical mind, it felt as if he’d given back something precious that had been destroyed with his deceit and rejection.
His tenderness made her throat catch. The reverence of his kneeling form before her, his expression of wonder as he’d surveyed her...
She’d known he was thinking of their baby, of the marvel of new life they’d created. Then, when he kissed her there, she’d felt utterly precious. It was a sensation beyond anything she’d experienced and it vanquished her doubts, as surely as if he’d melted an armoury of bristling weapons, turning them into molten gold.
Some men would have been horrified by an unexpected pregnancy. Theo’s uninhibited delight in both her news and her body undid every defence. If she hadn’t already been impatient for his lovemaking, that would have won her over.
Isla’s body floated on the wide bed. But she found the energy to reach out an arm in invitation because, wonderful as that had been, she needed more. She needed Theo.
He stood beside the bed, hands clenched as if resisting the impulse to touch her.
‘I should get a condom.’
‘It’s a bit late for that.’ Then she bit her lip. She’d momentarily forgotten that protection wasn’t just against pregnancy. ‘Unless you...?’